Good Luck Stephen Bandfield at Gerogia Death Race!

I want to wish one of the people I am coaching and good friend, Stephen Bandfield (Tye Dye Guy), the best of luck at the grueling and always exciting Georgia Death Race this weekend. He'll be traversing 71 tough miles through the Southern Appalachian Mountains this Saturday.

You can track him at Livetrail here (bib#16) https://georgiadeathrace.livetrail.net/coureur.php

You got this man! 👍👍⛰️🏅

Core Training - March 20 - Practicing What I Preach

#Core this morning after my swim. Wall sits, back extensions, side planks, and leg lifts today. Strength is the backbone of solid endurance training. #triathlon #ultrarunning #ironman #usatrichamps #ultrarunning #utmb #utmbmontblanc pic.twitter.com/u26GXhfjxc

— Coach Iron Pete Triathlon Endurance (@ironpete_ultra) March 20, 2019

More swimming improvement!

This is amazing! This was my swim this morning (March 13). Last swim like this was on January 23.

Descending sets with paddles.

500m 1:00 rest (prev 7:11, now 6:57)

400m 1:00 rest (prev 5:44, now 5:34)

300m 0:45 rest (prev 4:16, now 4:09)

200m 0:30 rest (prev 2:49, now 2:42)

100m finish (prev 1:22, now 1:17).

To the left is the workout on January 23. To the right was this morning's workout. Big difference!

Hard work pays off. If I get my bike and run to improve more along these lines, I will be unstoppable!

Hard Work = Significant Gains! (Swimming)

It wasn't even two months ago that I just barely broke the 3 minutes/200 meter pace for my swimming. This means going under 12 minutes for the 800 meter distance.

Well, I just did that distance again...and I did it three times in a tough 4500 meter workout this morning. With a 1 minute rest after each 800.

The times were definitely telling... 11:38, 11:40, and 11:47.



Those are significantly faster than 12 minutes!

I was pleasantly surprised that I posted the 11:38 for the first 800. And then pleasantly surprised that I held it on the second set.

I did slip a little on the third set. The water was very warm and I was starting to overheat in the water. Towards the end of the last 800 I was actually starting to dry heave in the water due to the heat.

But I held it together and still posted a time a lot better than 12 minutes.

I am going to do very well with the swim portion of my triathlons. Once this weather warms up, I'll more accurately gauge where I am with the cycling and the running. I think I'll be pleased there too. :-)

Tweet: Recovery Week Going Well

@ironpete_ultra Tweet:

Post-swim coffee break. My #recovery week was sorely needed...and I'm not too sore anymore. I'll be starting the new training cycle with a bang on Monday! #buildinrest #stronger #triathlon #ultrarunning #utmb #utmbtraining #ironman #ironmantraining

Today - Light Activity Day; Tomorrow - 20+Trail Miles

After running 9 miles and cycling 20 miles yesterday, today is a rest day. Do I look rested?

Just 2000m easy swimming and some core this morning. That's it!

Tomorrow I head out to Sourland Mountain Preserve with a small group of dedicated trail runners to get in at least 18 miles of rugged running. This is definitely necessary to get in my trail legs for UTMB.

It's been quite the training so far. It's Ironman training, but with a lot of dirt. I have to excel at both triathlon and ultrarunning this year, so I have to keep the training on a knife-edge balance to make sure I get in both elements.

And light activity days like this one are absolutely necessary. It's not just physical recovery, but a mental one too. I can basically catch up on other stuff while I look at where I go with my training in the future. It's definitely a day to refocus and to plan for the future.

With 9 weeks left till the first big race, the NJ Marathon, every day is critical now, even if I'm not training hard for it.

The 3:25 Goal at NJ Marathon on April 28 Just Got More Realistic!

The best thing about running with a club like the Raritan Valley Road Runners is that anyone can be pushed into a faster pace than normal. 

Picture of the Raritan Valley Road Runners this morning before the run. A strong group today!

I was pushed through the two Dragon loops through Rutgers and I would up finishing 15 miles at a 8:08 pace, which is starting to turn very comfortable for me.

My goal time of 3:25 for the NJ Marathon (7:48 pace) and a sub 4 hour marathon leg at Ironman Ireland is starting to get very realistic.

With still more than 2 months of training to go before the NJ Marathon (April 28), I'm looking quite good here! With a bit more work, hopefully I can actually crush that time!

The next few weeks are going to be VERY exciting!