Week 58 Training Log

Week 58. A very busy week in work was ahead of me so I had to structure this week carefully. Tuesday to Thursday I was due to be at the Pembrokeshire County Show So I would be doing no training for three days. This was however an ideal opportunity to place what is known as, my big day. A kind of race simulation day, so Monday went like this. I was in the pool for 6 am where I swam for 1 hr and 20 mins, 1900 mts of full stroke swim and 1900 mts of pull, totalling the race distance of 3800 mts. Home then for a couple of hours rest and refuelling then out on the bike for 5 and a half hours. I took loads of food with me and made sure that I had been carbing up for three days prior to the Monday. I had absolutely no issues with energy loss. It was a really good ride and I feel I had plenty in the tank when I finished. I was fortunate enough on the ride to bump into local superstar Oliver Simon and we rode together for around half an hour o that lifted me a bit. A couple of hours off again and it was time for the run leg. Our poor dog Paddy had been in for most of the day so the run was arranged at the quarry in the mountains so that he could come with me. It was going to be a really tough run in the quarry as its all hills, but I guess I have to endure the tough stuff. I planed a 2hr run and off we set. At the bottom of the mountain, the sun was shining and it was quite warm but within twenty minutes cloud was starting to drift in, and quite quickly. I took a home made energy gel half way up the first hill and it almost put me on my backside. I think my heart was beating so fast climbing the hill that the gel went round my body and straight to my head in a second. Immediately I felt like I was having an almighty sugar low and I felt like I was drunk. For a moment I could barely open my eyes and talk, horrible. It soon passed and I carried on jogging at a very slow pace. The cloud was coming in thicker and faster but we were almost to the top of the mountain. As the summit came close I could feel the temperature dropping and I could see the cloud getting thicker. Soon I couldn’t see more that fifty feet in front and kept losing sight of paddy. My 2 hour run was going to have to be cut short as my priority was now just to get back down safely. By the time I reached the bottom I had clocked up 1 hour and seven minutes. That was going to have to do I’d had it for the day, paddy felt a bit cheated though.

The plan now was to sit down for three days at the county show and make as many balloon animals as I could, all the time allowing my legs to recover. Friday morning I set up the Turbo trainer in the garage and forced myself to do a forty five minute session of high cardio work. I don’t mind the Turbo when I watch a film at the same time, but when its just music in the headphones it’s hard to keep going. You soon get bored of watching the pool of sweat form under the bike. Forty five minutes up, not a second longer I eased up for a cool down or warm down, which ever way you want to look at it. Trouble was I eased up a little too quickly and began to see stars in front of my eyes as my heart raced to push blood round a body that had suddenly stopped working. I tried to increase the cadence a bit while I gathered myself together and soon felt normal again. Despite the boredom that was a really good short session. It’s not often in my type of training that I push my heart to those kinds of limits, perhaps on big steep hills or in a short time trial mode, but not often. Saturday morning and it was the same again, only this time I didn’t slow down quite so quickly, An unexpected turn happened on Sunday morning. A ladies triathlon relay team known as The Old Birds had lost their cyclist for the bike leg due to an accident. They asked if I would stand in for her, not because I’m a lady / bird because I’m obviously not, and I’d like to think, not because I’m old, because I’m not that either, am I!!!

I was delighted to stand in. any extra training at this stage is good as long as it’s relevant. All I had to do was wait for the swimmer to pass me the band and I could cycle like there was no tomorrow as I didn’t have to save anything for the run. Despite the rain coming down I really enjoyed the ride. I pushed the heart the max once again as I buried my head to avoid the wind. I came in after eleven miles in 33 minutes which I was quite pleased with as it’s quite a hilly route. I think The Old Birds were pleased with their overall performance and hopefully I did alright for them. I’d like to say to The Old Birds that I would be happy to stand in again for any like in the future, but my condition still stands, I’m not wearing the T shirt.

A brief spell of work followed the triathlon then I had a monster to confront. My longest run before the Ironman . A twenty miler lay ahead and hopefully in or around 3 hours. When this run was put into the schedule I hadn’t planned on a sprinting bike leg in the morning. Still here we go. After the initial awkward beginning of around 2 miles I settled into a rhythm and felt quite good. I was conscious not to go out to fast as I had a long way to go, but the pace I was setting felt quite brisk and comfortable. I was feeling the same at around the 10 mile point. I became aware of a slight ache in my knees, nothing to do with previous injuries, just a ware and tare joint ache, I slowed up a little and hoped that it would pass and sure enough it did. I carried on to around mile 16, a little slower but still fairly steady. I was determined not to walk the hills as I have done in the passed but run the whole way unless taking a drink or a jelly cube, in which case I’d stop for one minute. Between mile 16 and 18 the rhythm seemed to just vanish and I found myself taking long slow strides, short fast strides, short and slow and generally all over the place. Leg muscles started to hurt at this point and I could feel that a hamstring cramp was imminent. I battled to the top of the hill that I was on and then slowed it right down as I reached the summit. I only had 2 more miles to go and I was doing alright for time so I very slowly began to increase the pace and concentrate on my strides and rhythm. It was a tough 2 miles but at least I had the rhythm back which is a huge help. I made it home in 3 hrs 3 mins which I was ecstatic about. I ran my self a cold bath while I downed a banana milk shake. I was wasted for the rest of the evening but I had done it. I didn’t have to run for more than 2 hours again until race day, thank God. It was that thought that got me through the last 4 miles, I don’t have to do this again.