Week 25 Training log

This is it. Possibly the most painful piece of paper that I own. It is my registration acceptance for Ironman Wales 2012. GULP!!!!!! And away we go.
Oh yeah. the new wetsuit is fine, a good fit and allows me to breath, always a bonus.

Still in a build period as its been the season to be jolly and all that. Managed to maintain my weight over Christmas which is fantastic, that will save some work after. I'm not at the fitness level that I was before I became ill before Christmas and I don't think I'll be able to get there untill the kids go back to school. So next week will be another build week .
Spent a lot of time over the holidays taking our dog for long walks. We have a six month old Springer Spanial called Paddy. I find myself constantly inspired by his ahtleticism and fitness. His energy knows no bounds and he floats about like his joints are floating on air. If I could just capture a small percentage of his energy I think I would be super human and it would make Ironman training a walk in the park, maybe I should try eating what he eats. Paddy will be my training partner as he grows over the next eight months. we both particularly like the sand dunes at Fresh Water West.

Week 24 Training log

Bad Cards

I was asked to add something on my blog about the effects of fitness on things like concentration and quick thinking.
This happened after a family get together for my sons 8th birthday. As usual at these events the night turns into a game of cards. It was noticed by some of the players that my concentration levels were no as they often are. How this was noticed defeats me, for I have the attention span of a young goldfish....What was that.. oh yeah as I was saying, I have the attention span of a young goldfish, mmm what mmmm, apple crumble, oh yeah, I have the attention span of a... er, of a..er. gold thingy, and that's on a good day.
It was assumed therfore that any gain in fitness obviously effects your goldfish, I mean concentration.
Any way they said that this information should be passed on to others who may also be suffering from goldfish...er oh sod it.

A bit of a build up week leading up to christmas with just under six hours training in total. After being Ill for the week before, it was wise to go from the bottom again and work up. I was busy wth work as well last week which probably helped to keep the traning down, otherwise I may have over done it in my first week back.

Three steady runs, one of which was extremly wet were enough to maintain the fitness and keep the legs moving.
Started doing sprint sets in swimming. Now, I was begining to think that my swim fitness was getting pretty good. That was untill i tried 200 metre sprints on a time. Oh my god how wrong was I. I was huffing and blowing through any hole I could find, and on completion of my first 200 set I had only thirty seconds rest before going again. I managed four before finding myself with no recovery time at all.
I'm not disclosing the times involved here out of embarrassment as my ten year old daughter can do the same thing for a lot longer in almost half the time.

I'm ending this week with some praise. Not for myself, but for Wiggle. The company I bought my wet suit from. You may remember from a week ago that I was having trouble with the wetsuit fitting.
Well dispite the fact that the thirty day returns date had passed and the suit had been used, Wiggle aggreed to change the suit for a larger size. I haven't had a swim in it yet, but just trying it on it feels so much better without being too big, I'de say just right. Nice one Wiggle.

www.wiggle.co.uk

Training update 17th Dec

Well, last nights wetsuit test wasn't a great success. Once I got it on and started swimming it felt like a python was getting tighter and tighter around my chest and wind pipe, very worrying.
I tried to swim in short sets in a staedy fashion but before long the breathlessness returned. Surly the suit is to small I thought. All the movement was fine, I just struggled to breath, which is not what you want when taking on a 2.4 mile sea swim.
I got home and broke the news, carefully, to Joanne who to be fair was very understanding. To send it back wasn't really an option, not without being a bit devious. I decided to Google wetsuit breathing problems.
I was by no means alone with my concerns. many people on many forums had experienced the same problem. It turns out that the suit is probably the right size.
I just need to spend more time putting it on properly and getting all the right bits pulled up so they make a little slack around the chest area.
Another trick is to spend a little time in the suit before getting in the water so that your body adjusts to breathing in it. All in all, lots of good advice and I feel a bit more confident about it. The over riding message was " It takes time to get used to and adjust."
Great.

Week 23 training log

Week 23 12/12
Well my unbroken run of training came to an end this week. Last friday night I came down with some sort of stomach bug, much the same as I had at the end of September.
It kept me off training untill Wednesday. Fortunately this happened at the beginning of my four days rest period so I would only lose three days. Every cloud, as they say.
Possibly down to my ill state, by Thursday I was feeling the signs of a little cold. Not! I repeat not! Man flu. I took to the gym for a couple of hours just to get the body working again, nothing that I'm prepared to call training. Tonight I,m taking my new wet suit to the pool to try a few lengths in the water. The wet suit is a christmas present off my wife Joanne, thankyou dear.
Starting a new 17 day set on Monday.

Week 23 Training Log

Sports beans.
I came across these little energy bombs and thought I'd give them a try and report back to the shop that I got them from with my feedback. Basically you would'nt want to rely on them. They are however ideal for in between feeds. Especialy on a ride, you get into a rythem with your feeds, perhaps something like a banana or flapjack every 20 - 30 minutes. Sometimes you get caught short between feeds, that's when the beans come in. There are around 20 beans in a pack totaling 100Kcal so just 3 or 4 beans between feeds works really well. Good for runs aswell because you can have a little energy boost often rather than a whole gell. taste good too.

Again I'm at the end of another 17 days. Last week I think I spoke a little too soon about not craving the rest period. After another half marathon on Monday, I needed it. A tough run as most runs are around Pembrokeshire. It's never flat for long. Tuesdy, or session 2 Ride was murder. possibly one of the most unpleasant rides I've had in a long time, if not ever. An hour of strength training around a hill climbing route I have then 2 hours of not so hilly terrain. 1 hour to go, and around 16 miles the heavens opened and down came the rain, freezing cold rain that stung like needles. The rain then became harder and turned into hail. At this point the wind also got involved. Someone was determined to stop me getting home. My legs hurt and my face hurt too and worst still I was begining to get cold as I couldn't get and speed to keep warm. For a second I contemplated just laying in a ditch and waiting for it to pass over.

The words of Keanu Reeves in the film Point Break, (great film) "I caught my first tube today". sprang to mind yesterday when while swimming I did my first Tumble turn. It was by no means graceful or efficiant but it's a start and I can work on it. I know that tumble turns will mean nothing when swimming in the sea, but it helps to get the body used to not stopping even for a second every 25 metres.

Once again the three days of training was brought to an end with a Yoga class. A chance to stretch out those muscles and relax a little.
Four days off now to start planning the next 17 days.

Week 22 was a change to my original plan. I had hoped to get some good mileage in on the bike this week, but on checking out the long range weather forecast I thought better of it. So it was time to hit the gym and get on with some strength work using weights.
I am trying to keep upper body sessions seperate from lower body ones so I can fit them in around my runs. I don't want to be running the day after a heavy weight session on the legs.
Again you'll notice that I have changed the format of the visual training log. It became apparent to me that once I started doing multiple sessions in one day, the old method would become clogged and messy. So now I just call it session, after all it doesn't really matter what the day was actually called.
I'm finding both Yoga and Pilates really good for me. Not only are they relaxing but they give my body the real good overall stretch that it needs.
One hour down on the target this week but I still have to be happy with 11 hours of training in a week, especially as it didn't include any bike work. It's easy to knock out 3-4 hours of training on a bike in one go, not so easy to make those hours up in the gym. Saying that, I found this week easier going than this time in the last 17 day block. It seems to have gone much faster and with less hurt, I'm not yet craving the rest after 3 days next week. Hoping for some better weather next week so I can get out on the bike again.