Week 45 Training log

Greetings readers. May is finaly producing the weather that it's meant to so there shouldn't be any reason to hold back on the training. That is unless you've had a particularly busy week in other areas. Unfortunatly life for me can't all be about training for Ironman. This week there were pressing home matters to attend to, work matters to brush up on and family needs to be scheduled in as well. Saying that I still managed to put in a good 12 hours this week. Starting Monday with a trip to the mountains for some running hill work. I would certainly recomend this course in the mountains for anyone looking to improve their leg strength and aerobic capacity, it really is a tough one. This was after a 40 min session in the pool working on upper body strength and skills using a pull bouy. Tuesday It was on the bike for my longest ride of the year so far, 4 hrs, covering about 64 miles. The wind was horrendous in places and worse in others. At home it didn't seem that windy but as you get towards the coast it really pickes up. The ride felt good despite the wind and i felt fairly fresh at the end. That evening I went to a local off road track with Paddy ( the dog ) to do some running drills, butt kicks, strides and of course, skipping. Wednesday, 6am start up the field, more run drills, home for some breakfast, take the kids to school then to the pool for a 1 hr endurance/skills session. This of course as it's Wednesday was followed by Yoga, which I managed to stay awake through, this time. Woke up Thursday not feeling brill so I opted for a rest day rather than make my condition worse. Friday, with the May sun beating down, I thought I would go off plan a little. What a beautiful morning for a sea swim. I packed up my wetsuit, goggle, hats and ear plugs. I also loaded the bike into the car. My plan was to swim for as long as I felt I comfortably could then take to the bike for some hill work. The sea at Broad Haven was lovely, not flat calm but pretty close to it. i went out about 10 feet and could still clearly see the bottom. I then swam for 45 minutes across the beach and back. I later mapped where I had gone on google maps and found that I had swum about 1.5 miles in total, not bad, my longest sea swim to date. Felt a little dizzy when I got out but was basicly able to walk in a straight line, ish. I took about 15 minutes to get dry and ready to go off on the bike,( I'll be hoping for a faster transition 1 on the big day). I got on the bike and set off down the road towards the first clime. Almost straight away my stomach started to react, a strange feeling, not like I felt sick, more like I felt completely empty, starving even. All the advice in books warn you of this feeling and tell you, after the swim just sip gently from an energy drink don't eat anything for the first 20 min to half an hour. To be honest even though I felt as if I were starving, I didn't want to eat anything, I didn't even want to drink anything. I guess you have to force yourself to drink something. I didn't have to put up with this feeling for long because the next thing I new my back wheel was shaking quite violently. I stopped ti inspect, it had almost a cm of play between the break blocks. I carfully headed back to the car after just half an hour and made my way home, still happy with the succsess of the swim, quite a mile stone. Took the back wheel to the bike shop where they diagnosed bearings, A busy weekend with work for me but I was able to fit in a long run on sunday morning of 2.10 hours around 14.5 miles. I set out to do this run at my intended marathon pace of 10 km per hr or approximatly 1 mile every 9 minutes. I returned home to find i was 3 minutes fast, Doh!! The reality is I probably wont even make that pace on Ironman day. It's now only two and a half weeks to the long course weekend, ( Friday 2.4 mile swim - Saturday 112 mile ride - Sunday Marathon). I'll have to taper for the last week so it really only leaves one and a half weeks to make any improvements. I'm quite excited about about the weekend and I'm hoping to enjoy all of it.

Week 44 Training log.

A bit of a taper week this week, a chance to recooperate and prepare myself, firstly for my longest run since December on Friday and Build period 2, which begins next week. Monday I swam 4000 mts in the pool in 1hr.30 min. Not a blistering pace I know but an economical pace. The only way I can keep track of my metreage is to follow distance programs. eg. Swim 50m - 5 sec rest, 100 m - 10 sec rest, 150 m - 15 sec rest, increasing 50 mts each time up to 400, giving me a total of 1800mts. I did this as a full stroke swim warm up, then stuck the pull bouy between my legs and did it again just pulling. finally another 400 mts full stroke to swim down. Sounds a bit dull I know but the longer you swim for the more your mind wonders onto other things. Lined myself up for a 1500 mtr sea swim with Pembrokeshire Trathlon club on June 4th as a warm up for both the long course weekend on June 8th and the Coastal Triathlon in July. A High tempo / intesity ride on Tuesday evening taking myself to some anarobic thresholds, pulling back just as the lactic acid creeps into the legs. Wednesday it was back to the old routine of 1 hr swim then yoga. Nearly fell asleep in yoga, I'm sure I heard myself snore. This can't be training. Rest day Thursday before the big run on Friday. The run was steady and comfortable 13 miles in 1hr 56 min. the same course I did in November in 1hr 46 min but I'm not worried about that. I now have to step up to Build period 2. Similar format to Build 1 but more. More volume and more intensity. I'll see you on the other side of the first week of that, week 45.

Week 43 Training log / my birthday

A fairly normal week in the life an Ironman wannabe this week. Started the ball rolling with a swim, concentrating on technique and a good strong catch/pull. An hour in the gym after working on swim specific upper body exercises and all over leg exercises. Back in the pool on Tuesday for a fairly gentle skills session, again focusing on technique. this was followed by an hour strength training run over some rolling terain. High knees, butt kicks and even skipping. It was pouring with rain as well, just to had to the session. A 3.15 endurance ride on Wednesday followed by a 30 minute strength run session. This involved running in the sea and up the steep hill onto the coast path and back across the beach. A good walk for Paddy as well. Thursday I was back in pool for another strength and skills set, by now my swimming was feeling really good. It does pay to keep your swim training consistant. Another full body workout in the gym followed with extra attention to the core and legs. Friday, A short active recovry bike ride, just to ease back before the storm of Saturday. Saturday May 5th, my birthday. What better way to spend your 41st birthday than to hit the road for a 2 hour ride, dump the bike in the garage, change into running shoes and press on down the road on a 1.30 run. This to date is the hardest single session I have ever, ever done. Still bags of room for improvment in terms of distance. Happy birthday to me. Sunday. It's been a while but it was back in the sea. 25 minutes, and after the initial transition period it felt pretty good. I used a couple of markers in the sea and swam between then. A word of caution about this, One of my markers was a boat that was anchored and the other was a rock outcrop. I swam towards the rock then made a left turn toward the boat. I reached the boat then turned back for the rock. Trouble with this method was the rock. You see as I was swimming the tide was comming in and when I turned from the boat to head back for the rock, you guest it, the rock was gone. I spotted a bouy in the same area as the rock an swam for that.

Week 42 taining log.

Well hello again, welcome to week 42. A bit of a stop, start week this week with things going on at home. Hot water problems, waiting in for plumbers and Paddy, our dog came back from the vets at the end of last week so I had to keep a close eye on him for the first few days. He also had to go back for a post op check. Monday was taken off while waiting for the plumber, it wasn't such a bad thing after my longest run since christmas on the Sunday. The day of rest probably did more good than halm. Tuesday was a bright but a little chilly day, probably the best day of the week for my longest ride. A good bumpy Pembrokeshire ride with a fair bit of wind in places. Had plenty of energy throughout and finshed strong 3 hours later. I think as much as anything I was trying to prove a point that I made in last weeks blog when I went for a 1 hour run on Tuesday night. The legs felt a little stiff at first but soon I was running like I hadn't done the 3 hour ride in the morning. Wednesday I was at the mercy of the plumber again but was able to get in a 45 minute swim and a good work out in the gym, legs and upper body. A 2.15 ride on Wednesday which I felt really good on, then straight to the gym for a full work out again. To cool down at the end of the weight session I hopped on the treadmill for 15 minutes. Just a swim on Friday due to the vets visit. Saturday promised the best of the weather for the weekend so I went for my longest run that day to finish the week off.

Week 41 training log

After the Easter break it was time to get back in the zone in week 41.
Monday was a steady 1 hour run, a gentle jog to start but no need for the power walking anymore.
The weather forcast was a bit missleading this week, forcasting a pretty miserable week. I set the week out accordingly with some gym work to avoid the worst of the weather.
Tuesday saw me in the gym for 2.30 hours. A 45 min spin on the gym bike then an allover workout on the weights. Swim specific exercises for the upper body and general strength exercises for the legs. This session was finished off with a 15 min run at quite high tempo on the treadmill. ( 12-13 KPH)

Wednesday. In the pool for 45 minutes of pull, just to top up the hurt from the gym the day before. By the end of this my arms felt like they were about three feet longer with rocks for shoulders. At least I had a Yoga class to look forward to after.
Thursday. Another long run @ 1.15 then straight to the gym for a weights session on the legs. (ouch)
Time to get on the bike again Friday and took myself off on part of the Ironman route. 2.30 later, return home then straight to the pool for a kick and pull session.
By the end of Friday I was ready for a day off.
Saturday, rest day.
Sunday, My new longest run since the end of last year @ 1.30 (11m)
A fairly comfortable run which I really enjoyed after the first couple of miles.
I feel like I'm more or less back to where I left off before hurting the knee back in January.
recently I have been observing some of the changes that I have noticed in myself over the last 40 weeks. Obviously my fitness has improved greatly but not necessarily in ways that you may expect. I still get puffed out after short exertions, but that's not really the way I've trained. My apearence hasn't really changed. My weight has fluctuated over the 40 weeks but I am definatly more tonned. My legs feel completly solid without having bulging muscles. The biggest change has to be in my recovery time after exertion. 40 weeks ago a 10K run would have meant a couple of days off to recover and indeed a 10K run was an event. 40 weeks later I am able to run 2-3 10K+ runs in training in a week, after each I am able to go swimming or the gym for an hour and then complete another long run the day after. Brick sessions have helped I think. A two hour ride followed by a half hour run was something that I wouldn't have contemplated at the begining, not to mention having an hour swim before the bike.
Although I haven't done it yet, I'm confident that I could run for an hour to an hourand a half in the morning and then go again in the evening. Maybe even throw in a swim in the middle.
So as I was saying at the begining. I still get puffed out after short exertions, the difference now is that I can do those short exertions over and over again and will get stronger the longer it goes on for. Overall I am very pleased with the way things have gone over the last 40 weeks. I have another two months of build training to make myself stronger before the peak period training starts so there is still time to make more improvements.

Weeks 39-40 Easter Holidays training log

School holidays always bring a slow down in training so I have compiled both weeks into one training log.
Usually I'd write out my training programme in advance so that I know what to aim for throughout the week, but during the Easter holidays I simply grabbed what I could, when I could. To be honest it worked out quite well, certainly as far as my running goes. Running is something you can do on the spur of the moment and it doesn't have to take up much time. As an added bonus Paddy (our dog) gets a good run out as well. His open water swimming is coming along nicely as well, especially when there's a tasty duck on the water. Thankfully he hasn't caught one yet. I think they see him coming and play games with him,
I had been two weeks off the bike before getting back on on Friday and it showed. Three and half hours and I was just about cooked. I have now covered the entire Ironman bike course so they had better not change anything. There is only one part that scares me and that is a particularly steep and nasty hill that on the day I'll reach at around 70 miles and then again at about 109 miles. It's hard enough the first let alone after 109 miles. Don't they know we have to run a bl~#*y marathon to run after.

Week 38 Training Log

This week seems to have been non-stop. Almost every aspect of my training as been a brick session, one discipline off the back of another.
I'm really pleased with the progress in my running. I'm up to one and a half hours after fourty minutes warm up. I did try to shorten the warm up but the knee wouldn't have it.
Some really comfortable and confident swims this week, touching 3000 mts in an hour now, Not bad considering I only learned to swim a year ago, well properly anyway.
Excellent full brick session on Friday, swim ride and run.

Pembrokeshire Duathlon April 1st Sunday. Took two minutes off last years time comming in at 1:17:12 The first run was almost exactly the same time as last year but the ride and second run were faster which to my mind means better progress than a faster 1st run. All good on fairly tired legs from the week leading up to it.

Pembrokeshire Duathlon
2011
1st run 0.23.49
Ride 0.42.31
2nd ride 0.13.11


2012
0.23.44
0.40.45
0.12.43