Wow, Wildflower sure did sneak up on me. It seems like Boney Mountain was just yesterday, but I'm now staring at the Wildflower Long Course entry on my calendar looming large on May 2nd. With a little over a week to go, I decided to look back at my training plan versus training accomplished during the month preceding the race.

The 4-6 weeks just before a race are critical. You've spent time up to that point building your fitness base and slowly increasing volume. Your longest, hardest, and most race-like workouts happen during that critical month. Also, you start to stray from a Life In Zone 2 by mixing in higher intensity workouts intended to build speed (Beast Wife loves this part; I get tired and start missing Zone 2). It's critically important that you spend those last 4-6 weeks focused and dedicated to ensure your best race possible. Here's how I did (actual training accomplished each day in italics):

Day of the Week: Planned Workout // Actual Workout

5 Weeks out

Monday: Weights // Weights
Tuesday: Swim (2500 total, 5x400 main set) // Rest
Wednesday: Spin Class + 10 min. run on treadmill // Rest again...
Thursday: Run (11 miles) // Run (11 miles)
Friday: Swim (2200 total, 1600 variable intervals) // Swim (2500 total, 5x400 main set)
Saturday: Brick (40 mile bike, 10K run) // Brick fail (58 mile bike through Malibu Canyons, no run)
Sunday: 10K run // Rest (sooooooo tired)
Planned Summary: 1 Weights, 2 Swims, 2 Bikes, 4 Runs, 0 Rest
Actual Summary: 1 Weights, 1 Swim, 1 Bike, 1 Run, 3 Rest

Key Takeaways: Well, there goes focused and dedicated. I at least managed to get all three disciplines covered and didn't skip the longest workouts. My excuse for NOT executing my brick on Saturday was that I spent much of that 58 mile ride through the canyons in a world of hurt. The route went PCH, Latigo Canyon Rd., Mulholland Hwy, Stunt Rd., and Topanga Canyon back to PCH. Latigo is one of my favorite climbs, and the loop in general was awesome, scenic, and, in Mulholland's case, famous. Stunt Road is now my least favorite climb because of what it did to me (is it the new Boney Mountain???). Stunt came up at mile 35, and by around mile 40 I actually had to stop, clip out, and contemplate whether I would ever make it out of the canyon. To add strange to my feeling of defeat, I noticed my heart rate stayed fairly under control (Zone 3 with occasional spikes into Zone 4). I wasn't flat-lining, and I felt well-fueled. My legs (and my mind) failed me. Good thing I mixed in weights that week. Now the mental toughness aspect.... that's another story.

4 Weeks out

Monday: Rest// Rest
Tuesday: Swim (1600 total)/ Run in the rain (14 miles)
Wednesday: Spin class + 10 minutes on treadmill// Rest (feeling that 14 miles)
Thursday: Run 6 miles (10K pace)// Rest again.....
Friday: Easy swim// Rest (again) & travel to Lake Perris
Saturday: Big Rock Olympic Triathlon// Big Rock Olympic Triathlon!
Sunday: Easy 30 mile bike ride// 45 mile "easy" bike that didn't feel easy
Planned Summary: 0 Weights, 3 Swims, 3 Bikes, 3 Runs, 1 Rest
Actual Summary: 0 Weights, 1 Swim, 2 Bike, 2 Run, 4 Rest

Key Takeaways: Make that two weeks in a row where "focused" and "dedicated" were not words used to describe me. "Rested" would be a good word though. Also "lazy." Discouraged by my lack of tenacity, I went a bit overboard with the 14 mile rain run on the one day all year it rained hard in LA (it was actually really fun to run in the rain, I felt like a happy child). The prevalence of skipped workouts I can partially attribute to training burnout. Burnout potential is a key reason why triathletes will tell you to make sure you have an "off-season." Physical and mental breaks from training during the year are important to keep you fresh and hungry. I, of course, did have an off-season....

Also of note that week was the Big Rock Triathlon, which is a solid, intimate, Olympic distance tri positioned perfectly for a Wildflower tune-up. This year, I very memorably pushed hard on the bike to avoid getting passed by Beast Wife. Her wave started 6 minutes after mine, so I had a headstart to protect. It was terrifying. The course loops back on itself several times so I had to keep seeing her. Whenever we'd pass each other, I'd quickly drop into aero or speed up my run cadence to try to look as strong, confident, and badass as possible so she wouldn't suspect that I was suffering. Seeing form breakdown is like blood in the water to Beast Wife. The result was a very satisfying race and a faster bike split than Beast Wife (she still beat me overall, naturally). Another result was a silently enraged Beast Wife.

Beast Wife on Race Day

3 Weeks out

Monday: Rest // Rest
Tuesday: Swim (1,800 total, 8x100 sprint) // Rest.... again
Wednesday: Spin class +10 minutes on treadmill // Run (6 miles)
Thursday: Run (7 miles) // Rest
Friday: Swim (1,600 total, 2x400 race pace) // Run (6 miles)
Saturday: Brick (60 mile bike, 20 minute run) // Brick (60 mile bike, 20 minute run)
Sunday: Run (12 miles) // Run (12 miles)
Planned Summary: 0 Weights, 2 Swims, 2 Bikes, 4 Runs, 1 Rest
Actual Summary: 0 Weights, 0 Swims, 1 Bike, 4 Runs, 3 Rest

Key Takeaways: Don't anger Beast Wife. She won't admit this, but her silent rage after Big Rock lit the fire for her negative split of our 60 mile ride on PCH. And by negative split, I mean dropping me. Like an anvil. I had a great ride, wasn't dogging it, felt good, and got dropped. You can't give people like that bulletin-board material because it just becomes motivation. Bravo, Beast Wife. She also managed to drop me during our Sunday run on Westridge Canyon trail, but that was more to be expected. Similar to my Stunt Rd. experience, my heart rate stayed very low while my legs and mind started to shutdown on me. I think that's a good sign for my fitness level, so hopefully my leg strength starts to catch up...soon. I lost some additional time at the 6 mile turn-around point when I stopped to smell the flowers, to listen to the birds chirping, and to consider a life in the wilderness so I didn't have to climb back out of the canyon. Overall, an excellent weekend workout to top off a subpar (yet restful) week.

1-2 Weeks Out

Monday-Sunday: CRAM FOR THE RACE! // ?????

16-weeks-worth of great training memories (especially counting the brutal, humbling Boney Mountains, Stunt Roads, and Beast Wife Drop Rides) signal to me that I'm ready for Wildflower (once I'm done cramming this week, of course). One of my great joys in competing in triathlons the past two years has been the journey to get as race-ready as I can, whatever that happens to look like. I have certainly fallen short of the training volume I should have been folding in during the aforementioned most critical weeks of training. But that's just part of my Wildflower story this year. While I didn't keep a training journal (I should really do that), in general the 16 weeks looked like this:

Strong Start>>Consistent Build of Fitness Base>>Boney Mountain>>Mental/Physical Burnout>>Big Rock>>Rest Often/Get Lazy>>Freak Out>>Cram for the race>>Taper>>Wildflower

I think it's safe to say that I should monitor my performance to plan a little earlier than one week before race day. My "Rest Often/Get Lazy" approach during the critical month before Wildflower probably needed a tweak. And I'll have to watch out for burnout, spend some more time strength training, and figure out a way to build some mental fortitude for my next race journey. Crossword puzzles, maybe?

No time for that now though. I gotta cram for the race....