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.

Week 52 Training log (1 year on)

Week 52, Oh my word, it’s been a full year of training and there have been many ups and downs. Week 52 however was mainly on the up side. Despite the weather and many soakings I was able to stick to the week’s schedule. It started Monday with a 14 mile endurance run. It was pouring with rain before I set off and I have to be honest, I nearly didn’t go, but I dug deep and put on my rain mac and off I went. I think the rain had gone through the mac before the end of the first mile. After the first three or four miles you almost forget it’s raining. The actual distance was just a little under 14.5 miles and I made it in 2 hrs 2mins which is a pretty good time for me. Perhaps the rain helped. Tuesday was an hour in the gym on the weights followed by a fast pace 2 hour ride on the bike. Again I was getting wet. Wednesday and it was the longest ride of the week at 3 hours. I had the Coastal Triathlon on the weekend so I didn’t want to burn myself out for that by doing silly mileage on the bike. At the same time I didn’t want to take the week off in preparation for the triathlon, it had to fit in to a full weeks training. Thursday was a bit of a mix up day. With some better planning and a look at the weather at the beginning of the week I could have saved myself some soakings. Thursday was the first dry day of the week and where was I? In the gym and the pool. One hour weights, fourty five minute spin on the gym bike, fifteen minute brick run on the treadmill then half an hour in the pool using upper body only. A chilax day on Friday to preserve some energy for the Triathlon. Saturday July 7th, Pembrokeshire Coastal Triathlon, 1500 m sea swim, 40 KM ride and a 10 K run . I was quite excited about this event, mainly because I felt no pressure on it. I had put it at the end of an eleven hour training week so I was treating it as another training day. The weather settled down in time for race day and it was a beautiful morning, quite a strong breeze but dry. Around 290 competitors lined up for the start on the swim and as the claxon sounded we all ran to the sea. It was a very busy start with bodies everywhere. For the first one hundred metres you couldn’t take two strokes without swimming into someone. It began to even out after the first bouy but still wasn’t as relaxed as I would have liked. I managed to pull ahead of the group that I was battling with and gained a few metres of open space to swim in. The Velcro on my watch strap began to come unstuck and soon it was hanging off my wrist. I had to stop pulling and re-fit my watch which put me back in the middle of the pack that I had just got out of. This happened four times during the swim. (Need a new watch strap). I finished the swim in a time of 27.07 mins. A very clean and swift transition and out onto the bike course. No drama on the route and overall I was very pleased with my pace, finishing the ride in 1 hr 32 mins. Another smooth transition into the run and off across the beach. The first part of the run took us up the coast path out of Broad Haven and it was murder. Up hill, slippy with large puddles. Impossible to get any kind of rhythm and within half a mile I had a bad stitch which forced me to stop for a minute or two. I carried on up the path to the first water station at about 3 K. I took on some water, ignoring the energy drink and the stitch began to feel a lot better. Just after the station we were back on the road and I was able to settle into a rhythm. Still a lot of climbing to go but when we reached the 7 Km mark it was nearly all down hill. Overall it was a really tough run course which I finished in 59 minutes. Overall my time was 3hours 2 mins. I had an hour and a half to get home and changed then I was off to work, how about that.

This diagram shows how the years training has been broken up into the various disciplines. Each column represents the hours in each sport.

Week 51 Training Log

Week 51. Started off on Monday morning with a spring in my step. This was it, the real work starts here, and it was a lovely day. Originally a pool swim was scheduled but as it was such a nice day I decided to head to the beach. 9,am it’s quiet at the beach, just a couple of dog walkers. So it’s no wonder that you get some funny looks when you walk down the beach in a wet suit and straight into the sea. I started steady and from the right hand side of Broad Haven and headed out away from sure for about 5 minutes. I lined myself up between two points, one behind me and one in front to aim at and set off towards Little Haven. The sea wasn’t as clear as it has been recently but we haven’t had the best of weather lately. I got out beyond the left hand point of Broad Haven and was soon in Little Haven waters, this is where the drama started. When you’re swimming in the sea, it’s easy to let your mind wonder and start scaring yourself. Every little thing you see out of the corner of your eye manifests it’s self into something that could potentially eat you. This seemed to be happening a lot today, I was quite twitchy and a little worried about my surroundings. Perhaps it was all a bit too quiet. Then I flinched, I’m sure I saw a jelly fish. I know I know, it’s just a jelly fish, but when you’re already twitchy, it doesn’t help. I watched my arm pull and noticed that I was creating an air bubble that was rising to the surface. Perhaps it was that which I saw. I watched the arm pull a little longer and reassured my self that’s all it was. Less than a minute later I felt something nudge my leg, not hard but just enough to feel it. OMG the mind started going ape. Sharks nudge before they strike, don’t they? Maybe a seal playing, in which case I wish it would sod off and play somewhere else, I was getting scared and at least 4 minutes from any kind of land. I don’t care how good you are at swimming, you aint going to out swim anything that wants to eat you, or for that matter, play with you, or play with you before it eats you. My heart was racing but I was conscious that I had to at least head for the nearest land but I also had to get back. If I headed for Little Haven beach I probably wouldn’t be brave enough to get back in the sea to swim back to Broad Haven, which would mean a barefooted walk in a wetsuit around the road. Almost at the same time that all this was flooding through my mind I took a stroke with my left arm and placed my left hand on something. ##@@#@’’+==#. !! That was it. I shot bolt upright with panic and immediately I could see that I was surrounded by jelly fish. I had to get out of there quick. I tuned back to Broad Haven and swam away as fast as I could. This whole thing must have looked hilarious from the houses on top of the headland. I imagined that they could see the jelly fish before I got there and were just waiting for me to swim into them. Yeah, very funny. I soon burnt out and had to slow down but by then I was well clear. Gonna have to get my head into shape again before I go in the sea again.

I went home and rested for a while before heading out on a two hour run. This was tough, still feeling the fatigue from previous sessions. I’m breaking in some new trainers as well so that may have had some thing to do with it. Tuesday and it was back in the gym for a weights session then rested for the rest of the day. Wednesday and I was off on the bike in the rain for a 4 hour ride. My objective was to perform a negative split. (Complete the second half of the ride faster than the first.) The course was 64 miles so after 32 I checked the time. 2hrs 2 min. All I had to do was get back i9n 2hrs or less. I started off well, then I got to the hills. I eventually returned home in a second leg time of 2 hrs 3 min. Not quite there but I was spent. At least it was consistent. A busy day on Thursday with lots to do, so an early start was needed. In the gym for 6.15am, not my local gym I must add, but one a few miles away. More strength work on my poor legs. They had already stated that they had had enough this week, but my general rul is, as long as I’m sleeping, then I keep going, unless I’ve slowed down to an almost stop. Home then for some breakfast, porridge with almonds and raisins with golden syrup, mmmmm. Take the kids to school then out on the bike in the rain for some hill work for an hour. Stick it in a big gear and grind up the hill several times. After an easy ride home on some shaky legs, a quick dry off then down to the pool to give my upper body a pasting, it only seems fair after the legs have had so much grief lately. An hour of pull with the hand paddles. My shoulders and triceps were aching something terrible after this session. That was it for the day. I headed home after a shower and had some lunch followed by a sneaky half hour snooze. After a hearty meal of two helpings of my mother in laws Lancashire Hot Pot and I think three helpings of Swiss apple pie a good nights sleep was called for. A chance to recharge the batteries for Friday. This consisted of a fast ride for 1:45 hrs followed by a brick run of 30 mins. It was designed to be a kind of race simulation of next weekends Olympic triathlon in Broad Haven, yes swimming in Broad Haven again. That will be it for this week, I’ll give myself the weekend to recover before we start all over again next week.

ouch, it hurts, make it stop

Im only writing this today to see if i can blog with my phone,and it appears that i can. Im only half way through the first week of intensive build the lower half of my body wants to throw in the towel. Between the weights and toys four hour ride, i feel like Im killing myself.

Week 50 Training Log

A fairly steady start back into training with some light weights work in the gym Monday morning, just to get the muscles used to bearing load again. Some squats, leg raises and calf raises all using weights that I was using a few months ago. Home for about an hour then off on the bike for a short fast spin, nothing too strenuous, just get the heart racing and the blood pumping. Tuesday I felt like raising the game a little. I had a one hour run scheduled, but at a fairly easy pace, probably about the ten minute mile mark, but I was feeling quite good on Tuesday morning after Mondays warm up. So I set off at the start of the run a quite a good pace, not so that I would blow or kill myself but faster than I would have otherwise gone. I felt fine, I was sweating a lot and I was blowing quite hard but other than that I felt comfortable. The last four- five minutes of the first half hour were very slightly up hill, you might call it a false flat, but when your running it, you know it isn’t flat. This caused the sweat to pour even more and the blowing to get harder but still I didn’t slow. I was beginning to feel the fatigue in the legs from the marathon. I reached the half hour point and rested for a short while. I don’t think I’ve gone that hard on a run of half an hour for a very long time, if ever. I set off back knowing that it was now a kind of down hill false flat and I opened up the stride and worked on keeping the pace fairly high and appearing strong. I think I managed that. In the afternoon it was back on the bike for some strength and speed work. Similar to Monday, but with more emphasis on strength. I went everywhere in a big gear and ground my way up the hills. When the road flattened out, I put it in as high a gear as I could and time trialled over the aero bars. Now, Wednesday was frustrating. Between now and four weeks prior to the Ironman I need to work on leg strength, even more than I have done before. Now our local sports centre / gym open’s at 7am and my wife doesn’t leave for work until about 8:10. so I have an hour open to me in the mornings to go to the gym and work on leg strength and still be able to get back before she goes to work, brilliant. I even recall seeing on the gym wall a poster that was full from top to bottom with peoples names. The poster was asking if anyone would be interested in the gym opening half an hour early at 6:30. It said, write your name below if you are interested. As I said, the poster was full. People had even started going up the side of the poster just to get their names on. I thought to myself, if they have started this early bird opening it could be quite busy, so I prepared myself for a little disappointment, and thought I may not get access to as much equipment as I might like. I only wanted an hour so I left at 6:55. Like I said, I didn’t know if they had started the 6:30 starts yet. I arrived in the car park and I was only one of three cars in it. Usually the blue rinse swim crowd are here at this time, making sure they have their lane space and a few other gym users, but nothing, no queue, only a few staff milling about inside. I got out the car and and waited outside the centre door for it to open at 7. Sure enough, at 7.o.clock one of the life guards opened the door to me and said. “You do know we don’t open until half past seven don’t you”. What the chuffing hell!!!!...........From seven, to a possible half past six to a complete U turn to seven chuffing thirty!!! Arrggghhh. When and how did this happen. By seven o.clock the day was ruined, I was already mad. I went home, grabbed the dog and took him up the field where I did half an hour of run drills. By the time I returned home I had cooled down a little and myself some breakfast and a coffee. Once the kids were safely delivered to school I took off on the bike for a fairly up tempo 3 hour ride. In fact it was that up tempo that a ride the usually takes three hours, only took two and three quarters. Brill. Thursday I was helping out with the kids school but I managed to fit in a forty five minute swim. It’s always nice to get back into the water after time out of it. It’s funny, the water has become a kind of safe friend to me, I feel calm in the water and I know I can’t get hurt. I know that It’s only my mind and concentration that will make me stop. Physically I know that if I’m swimming efficiently, I can swim all day, but you do get bored. Friday and it was back to the gym ( after nine o.clock) for some more weights. A little heavier this time, just a step up. Same exercises but slightly more weight. Then it was off to the beach with Paddy ( the dog) and some work on the sand dunes. Unfortunately I hadn’t left a lot of energy in my legs from the gym and I really struggled to pull myself over the dunes of Freshwater West. I managed four lengths of the beach and once over the dunes and that was hard going. A busy weekend with work so I’ll wrap this week up at 10.15 moderately steady hours. Oooohh the next few weeks are gonna hurt.

Week 49 Training Log

Week 49 was always intended to be a bit of a rest / recovery week, but this has been ridiculous. There's no doubt that over the last year I have become incredibly fit compared to recent years. I think last weekend has proven that. As I have spoken about in previous logs, my powers of recovery are amazing. I mean, a whole marathon the day after a 112 mile ride. That was the stuff of dreams twelve months ago. When you look at these incredible people that complete consecutive marathons like seven in a row it does go to show that anything is possible if you try hard enough. The down side to this level of fitness revolves around the immune system. If you remember, the week leading up to the long weekend I adopted a bit of a cold. A real nuisance considering what lay ahead, but it was just a sniffle, nothing too serious. At each stage of the Long course weekend I new the cold was there, but it didn’t really effect my performance, as far as I’m aware anyway. It seems now though that the cold was just waiting in the wings to pounce, waiting until I’d finished the Swim, the ride and marathon. Waiting until my immune system was at its lowest point. The cold then put on a pair of Dr Martin boots and kicked the crap out of me. So during week 49, I have done nothing except blow my nose and drink hot lemon. On the plus side, the time has given me a chance to reflect. I’ve looked back at the course and seen where I can make improvements for September, I’ve noted mistakes I’ve made on the ride and I know that I can resolve them and I’ve worked out the outline of the training programme that will get me up to four weeks before the Ironman. This programme gives me the increase in cycling that is so desperately needed, strength work in particular. It also gives me the increases in running distance and again leg strength. In the marathon just gone I don’t feel there were any problems, after all it was my first marathon and it was a particularly tough course. In my mind the only thing to improve on is the time, although saying that, if I can pull out a 4:30 marathon on Ironman day I’ll be fairly happy. Throughout the marathon and even at the end I felt aerobically good . I didn’t struggle in that sense at all. I took the marathon at a fairly relaxed pace and even walked the hills and feed stations. This was because I didn’t want to lose the use of my legs half way round. I kind of knew that the legs would give before I became exhausted. So I need to spend the time available working on my leg strength and muscular endurance so that I can run more and walk less, therefore bringing down the time. The same applies to the bike leg where I’m looking to take off a good 45 minutes from my time but still not be exhausted. It’s going to be a tough call. Looking at the weather outside, it’s not great, it’s a pretty good week to stuck in not training. I’ll have to get back to it Monday regardless, I’ve built in a warm up week before I hit the high volume and intensity stuff, the warm up must start Monday if I’m to make my targets before the four week taper in the middle of August. I’m looking forward to the Triathlon club Coastal triathlon on the 7th July in Broad Haven, Olympic distance so it’s a 1500mt swim 40 K ride and a 10 K run. The tempo is going to be fast so I’m bound to get swept along and it should make for a good aerobic training session. Rather annoyingly for my family, partly due to frustration, I have spent parts of this weekend saying “This time last week I was…..” or “I’d just be coming in for the second loop about now.” I’ve been getting a lot of rolled eyes, and quite rightly so. Like I said I’m just frustrated and need to get back out there. It reminds me of that great Andy Williams song…Born free, as free as the wind blows, as free as the grass grows……….. Apologies to my family, and well done Laurie on a magnificent run yesterday, that looked like a great come back from the halfway point. Very well done mate.

Week 48 training log & Long course weekend

The Swim. So, this was the week of the Long course weekend. 3.8 K swim, 112 mile Bike ride and a marathon all over three days. You can read about Monday to Thursday on my 3,2 and 1 one days to go blogs. Friday came around all to fast and in the morning there were still no nerves. past lunch time, nothing. Then around 3 o,clock it hit me. I've never before felt such a change from no nerves to bricking. 4.30 I set off to Tenby to register for the whole weekend and I think I was actually shaking in the car on the way. I arrived at the Expo to register and went straight upstairs. There was a big queue for the swim registration but a very short queue of about 5 for the long course. Let me explain. You can if you wish just do one or two of the three events throughout the weekend, or if your insane you can sign up for all three and try to complete them within a given time.I went for the second one. There was a lot of nervouse tention near the start of the swim and it was suggested that the organisers had shortend the swim from 3800 mts to just 2000 mts. This was a little disappointing. I was confident for the swim after Mondays triumph and really wanted to post a 3800 mtr time, but there we are. We all filed down to the water after the race briefing that nobody could hear and entered the sea for a warm up. There must have been nearly 1000 people all warming up in the same small patch of sea, it was going to be an interesting start. By now the nerves had actually gone and I was really looking forward to getting started. Hang back to left I kept telling myself but when the horn goes for the start you get so cought up in the moment that you foget all your plans and i found myself near the middle and running at the sea. A huge squash occured as we all trid to squeeze round the first bouy, I took a few body blows but nothing serious and I expect I gave a few as well, I really have no idea. My swimming was steady and not rushed, just how I had prcticed it. Things began to thin out as we reached the second bouy and I found myself with a good bit of space to swim in. Around two more bouys and it was out of the water for the first lap in a time of about 15 minutes, over the timing matt and back into the water fort he second lap, There was far more space now and I ws really begining to settle into a good rhythm. Again a few body blows from people who wern't looking where they were going. Out of the water for the second time and up the ramp to the finish and collect the first of the Long course medals. All in all I was very pleased with my time of 33.10 and my performance in the water, bring on the ride tomorrow morning. The Ride. I only managed to get a bout four hours sleep on Friday night. All sorts of things going through my head about the swim and about the ride which was to follow, 112 miles of Pembrokeshire national parks ( Not short of a hill or two I can tel you). 8am and we were off. I think it was something like 1300 riders took part so there were lots of groups all over the roads for the first 20 miles or so. Thie riding seemed easy for the first 30 or so miles and I felt comfortable with my pace, not to fast not to slow. There was a five and a half hr first lap cut off so everyone was keen to finish that first lap within that time. I knew that I would make that time quite easily, I just wanted to make sure that I made it. As a result I completed the first lap in about four hours fifteen minutes which really was a bit to fast knowing that i had a second loop to go. The course was made up of two loops, one of 71 miles and another of 41. The 41 mile loop was a repeat of the last 41 mile of the first loop. It just so happened that it was also the part with all the hills in it. The second loop is where all the drama and pain started. Unlike the first there were no groups of riders to shelter from the wind behind, I was out there on my own and the fact that I had completed the first loop a little too fast was catching up on me. The run down into Lamphey wasn't to bad so I tried to rest a little and take it easy and try to let the legs recover. By mile 90 I had had it, there was nothing left to give and I still hadthe biggest hills to go. The thought of tomorrows marathon was playing on my mind as well and moral was very low. Over the last couple of miles I had noticed someone catching me up. It took him a long time so I don't think he was feeling much better than I was. Eventualy he cought me and we rode the rest of the rout together. What a difference that made, just having someone to talk to and take your mind off the task at hand. Our pace didn't quicken by the time didn't drag so much and moral was a lot higher. As we rode on we passed other cyclists with equaly low moral. Finally we reached the bottom of the biggest climb on the course and dared each other not to get off and walk. We finaly arived back in Tenby after approximatly 7:45:00. That's one bike ride that I was glad to finish. That second loop just wasn't nice and it's the same course for Ironman so I've got some serious bike training to do. After getting back home I took a cold bath to recharge the muscles and My wife( Joanne) gave be a leg massage. Lots of veg and chicken for tea and the last of my potato soup, thank god. Had a much better nights sleep after the ride whioch was a good start for the marathon the next day. The Marathon. Fortunatly when I woke up Sunday morning my legs didn't feel anything like as bad as they did when I went to bed. They felt very tired and if at any other time I had a training run scheduled for that morning, I would have canceled it. That wasn't an option for this morning, because this morning I had to run a marathon as the final part of the long weekend, and providing I ran that marathon within the six hour cut off time I would get the Long course medal, which is what it's all been about. Not to get that medal now would be like missing the time cut off of Ironman by less than a minute. I have never done a mrathon before, the furthest I have run is 16 miles and some say that's roughly where you find the illusive wall. I sttod there on the start line knowing that all I have to do is get back within six hours, surly I had it in my legs to run half of it and walk the rest and still come in in time. My plan was to take it real slow, about 10-11 minute miles and walk through the feed stations. This is the plan that I had worked with during training. I decided to add a little more to the plan, walk the hills and run the flats. I felt I stood more chance of finishing without injury this way. We were off and Tenby was buzzing, there were people everywhere, kids sticking thier hands out for high fives, It would have been easy to go out like a bullet, but I stayed very controlled and tried not to be fazed by all the runners passing me, instead saying "I'll see you later" a bit cocky i know but I've read so much about these kind of starts. Oner lap of Tenby and it was out into the country for one of the most brutal marathon causes in the country. We came to the first hill at about 3 miles and I instantly put my plan into action and walked, more runners passed. Local knowledge can get you a long way on a route like this. I knew exactly where the hills where and how long and what was around the next corner. As these runners passed I watched them as they came to a sharp right hand bend and then almost every one of them stopped and walked as they saw the incline ahead. It was at this point that I found myself a running buddy. He was from East London and was more than happy to share my plan if it was going to get him home within the cut off. We ran the first half of the marathon in 2 hours and the time just flew by, we chatted about work and other stuff but not the run. By mile 16 he was struggling to stay with me even though I was slowing a little to help him catch up. Eventually the gap between us was to big for me to slow any more and I pressed on alone. There was no sign of the 16 mile wall so I assumed it must be waiting for me somewhere else, perhaps mile 20 I thought, I don't know why I thought 20, I was just thinking of any old rubbish to keep my mind occupied. 20 came and went, 21, 22, still nothing, 4 miles to go and apart from some achey legs I was still feeling fairly fresh, aerobicly I felt brilliant. Still walking the hills I was making pretty good time for my first marathon, and now I was doing all the passing. Peolple walking on the flats because they went out to fast, people limping, laying in gate ways, I was passing them all now. 23, 24, only two miles to go and all the hills were done, WOW, this is it. At this point I had been ruynning for about 4 hrs 15 minutes. My daughter and niece met me with one mile to go which lifted me even more. Onwards, onwards, onwards, one leg in front of the other, come on lets go. around 200 mts to go and I put my foot down, gotta finish strong, into the finish shoot to the crouds and family waiting for me, high fives as I passed. across the line in 4:35. Fantastic and still didn't feel like I had run a marathon, couldn't have done it any faster. I can only atribute this feeling to the many hrs of endurance training that I have done over the last 47 weeks. It works. bring on Ironman 2012. Overall a fantastic weekend from which I met some fantastic people and will take some equaly fantastic memories, I can't wait to do it again next year. It's going to be a fairly restfull week ahead but I don't want to sit around for long. What this weekend has shown me is that There is still a lot of work to be done in preperation for Ironman. After the ride on Saturday I sat in my car and said to myself "Right, go and run a marathon now." I think I swore at myself then. but that's exactly what I'm going to have to do in three months time.