Years ago I used to follow a fellow ironman blogger who was also just getting started with all of this distance stuff. She had a coach and great team of supporters. She was a fantastic writer and very openly shared every detail of her training. Early on, I was learning right along with her.
One of the terms she coined, and closely associated with the training of the Navy Seals was Hell Week. Hell Week summons the imagination of a week filled with dread and despair and during Tracy's journey it was just that. A hellashish week of work, juggling work, family and the rigors of training for an Ironman. I'm not quite sure what happened to Tracy, she shutdown her blog after a few years and having had successfully completed an Ironman, has likely moved on to another challenge. From my memory, Hell week was exactly how she would describe it, something undesirable that she could not wait to be done with.
I still use the term Hell Week to describe my final weeks of perpetration but for me it's different. It's not hell week because I don't enjoy it, sometimes there's nothing better that I would rather do. The sense of accomplishment when looking back at the training log after completing a monster week is a thing of beauty. The thing is, I love to accomplish work. Whether it's mowing the lawn, a office desk free of bills, a freshly cleaned house or a 20 miles run. It's all work and there always progress to be seen by the time it all said and done.
So Hell Week, a week where a hell of a lot of work is accomplished. Training wise it's my peak volume week and also puts an incredible strain on my other work and family obligations. A little more swimming, a ton of biking and a decent spike in run volume and core strength. I shoot for 20 hours spread across the disciplines. I've practiced mini surges in run volume all season, so I feel prepared for the jump in running volume. These are the last two weeks to push for a gain in fitness. Following my peak weeks, we move into taper and focus on recovery, fitness maintenance and preparation for the race.
My Hell Week look roughly like this.
Swimming: 2 x 1 hr sessions.
Biking: 12ish hrs, w/ longest race sim brick
Running: 4-5 hrs, 40-50 miles. Several short 1hr runs + mid week long run (18-20 miles)
Core/Yoga: 2+ hrs
I've followed this pattern for each of the Ironman races I've completed. I'm certainly not saying it's the only way, but it's my way and I'm confident that this final push will have me trained, rested and ready to race in just 3 more weeks!
Hope all is well.
Train Smart.
