Week 53 training log

Week 53. As the intensity increases it is becoming harder to maintain volume, never mind increase it. I found myself having to drop 2 hours in mid week but was thankful to get in the two hours that I did. I was having one of those mornings when you just don’t feel like it. I was tired from the early morning start the day before and generally just tired overall. I was due another 4 hour ride, the second of the week. I arrived home after dropping the kids off at school and sat in the car feeling sorry for myself, never a good start to the day. I Gee’d myself up and made up drinks bottles for the ride. I was about to go and get changed and the heavens opened. I ran outside to get the washing in and became almost immediately soaked. Back to feeling sorry for myself. So now I was wet, full of self pity and I couldn’t stop yawning. I thought, this is no good, I’m gonna fall asleep if I ride for 4 hrs like this. Time for plan B. Well actually plan B has always been, go back to bed. I needed plan C. I threw a bag together and an MP3 player and headed for the gym where I pounded the gym bike to within an inch of it’s life to the sound track of AC/DC, Slayer and Electric Six. I pushed a huge gear for as long as I could, then knocked the gears in half and peddled with one leg. After an hour of this my legs were screaming. Into the pool to try and see off the arms as well. I found myself doing timed 100s before slotting the pull bouy between my legs and and pulling for a further 1000 metres.

It wasn't raining on this day, That's just how wet you get on a dry day during a 14 mile run. These early morning run take there toll on you. It’s much harder to run when you’ve been laying down for 7 hours but the benefits are huge. Extra fat burning and completing an hours workout before the day has even begun. This is where it gets hard to fit in the volume. Although I have the time in the day, I’m struggling to increase my volume because the rise in intensity is leaving me so tired. The theory was simple, get up earlier twice a week and get in an extra 2 hours in a week. It simply doesn’t work like that, the body won’t allow it. Maybe over a longer period it will but not right now. I think this is where age may be a barrier. I’m not as young as I once was and as you get older your body tells you to rest more. I believe that if I was the same fitness as I am now but 10 years younger I would find it easier to increase the volume. The fact that after next week the kids are off school for the summer holidays isn’t going to help matters either. They go back to school 1 week before Ironman.