Big month this month as planned, 6 month count down well underway and time to really see if I had prepared myself for a big push mentally as well physically, the final picture looks something like this : -
Swim - 15.1 miles, 9.7 hours
Bike - 313.7 miles, 19.4 hours
Run - 60.8 miles, 10.4 hours
Crosstrain - 4 miles, 1.5 hours
Total 393.62 miles and 41.01 hours - well over double that of January 2010
Swim - loads of swimming this month, new personal best over 100m (1.22) , 400m (5.58) and a mile (26.47) - but most importantly big improvements in technique and consistent speed which are the most important things. I am going to cut down slightly on the swimming in the coming months in order to focus more on the other aspects.
Bike - Couple of bigger rides of 55 & 65 miles interspersed with a lot of turbo trainer (indoor) cycling time and shorter outdoor rides - obviously weather and temperature dictate the amount of outdoor cycling that can be done but it hasn't been too bad - just one crash, when 5 of us all came off in a row on some ice.....note to self - don't ride through fords when it's below freezing!
Its quite difficult to gauge bike fitness at the moment, with so many layers on and dodgy road surfaces, any kind of speed is difficult to come by but as long as the hours in the saddle are maintained then speed will come later on!
Run - One race which was the rough 'n' tumble 10 on 16th January went very well and was good fun (albeit very muddy and wet) and a couple of long runs have been fine only a few shorter runs though as I have been carrying an injury to my hip/glute area - its nothing much but needs rest after long runs! My endurance is fine - it would appear I can run the last 4-5 miles of a 13.5 mile run faster than I can run them straight off...who knew!
So overall its been positive....however as always there has been some downs as well as ups....this last week I have been exhausted, the dizziness that I get came back and I've been pretty wiped out, the video shows a bit about what is like
This isn't actually what causes the problem (so I am told) but the symptoms are the same! As for what sets it off...I don't know and nor the doctors! However during the last week I have been properly tired and have therefore been resting and getting plenty of food in me!
I am adjusting my training going forward to back off the intensity, its too early to be trying to run/ride/swim as fast as possible all the time so hopefully this will prevent me from falling under the weather again, low intensity base endurance is the key so that will be the plan moving on with 5 months to go!
In all honesty I was/am on the edge of giving up, doing a half ironman and returning the money raised to the sponsors myself (from my own pocket, the charity will keep it).....but I am going to see how I am at the end of February - if I can put some solid training behind me and not make myself ill then I will carry on hopefully lowering the intensity will allow me to continue.
So let's see what happens....
Tim, you are showing true IM stats here mate, the consistency comes from the balance of the 3 sports, your results and hours in the bank should already give you that confidence to step off the gas a little and use the break through sessions as the key ones and use the others for recovery.
ReplyDeletePlease don't give up (I am sure you won't) many go through the doubt and hopefully you can find a way around the dizziness, keep the effort up dude, you are putting many IM finishers to shame with the training you are already doing this time of year.
Watching with interest .... lovin' your work as the best podcasters say !
Rosey.
Really kind words rosey, appreciate it!!
ReplyDelete