Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Last week snapshot....

Been out of the blogging loop recently, new job and lots of training have led me to neglect the site so apologies for that!

Just a quick one post with a snapshot of my last 7 days training...I'd just come off 17 days of straight training and was pretty knackered so took off the Sunday & Monday leading up to this....

Tuesday: -

Morning Swim 2.4k in an hour - 300,400,500,400,300 - felt really good!
Evening Run 9 miles in 75 minutes, this was pretty fast for me and I felt really good! Pretty much ran on feel and was pleased!

Wednesday: -

Had picked up a snotty cold overnight but was reasonably okay - did 31 miles in 1 hour 50 with a group, which went really well - lots of racing up hills and stuff which was cool!

Took Thursday and Friday off as was full of snot and wanted to be fit for Saturday

Saturday: -

95 mile ride in to a 4 mile run - this went really well and was really pleased at how good I felt! There were 3 of us doing the ride and it wasn't particuarly hilly but most of it a new route which was good! The first 35 miles were the hilliest and had what little wind there was in our faces but after this we mostly had the wind behind us and it flattened out - still slower than planned IM pace but I think we averaged about 17.4 so still close enough - it was nice to be off the bike and start running and th 4 miles (2 out and back) were fine - I slowed myself down and found 9 min/miles to be easy so knocked those out quite happily! Felt fine for the rest of the day so all good!

Sunday: -

Went out for a 21 mile loop - it was crazy windy, when the wind was behind me I was easily cruising at 27/28 mph but for the 7 mile run home in to the wind it was a struggle (on the drops, low gear) to maintain 15 mph and stopping pedalling stopped me within 10ft! Urgh not cool - I was totally wiped out for the rest of the day!

Monday - day off

Tuesday: - Knocked out a 3k swim non-stop in about 53 minutes (forgot my watch, so guessing by pool clock)! Woke up and was not interested in swimming but went along anyway - once I got in and started swimming I decided to do 3 * 1k but at 1k I decided to add a bit more on to cut down on the other two intervals and then I just kept going and going and decided just to do the full 120 lengths - with no watch I just cruised it and felt fine the whole time, slightly sore neck for a bit but otherwise fine!

Thats were I am now....I'm not losing weight and I am always hungry but otherwise all good!

Tonight is a 1 hour 7 minute run (make up the 7 mins I lost this morning), tomorrow night is gym then swim, its my birthday on Thursday and we're going out for a meal so I doubt I'll get any training in...maybe an early morning run! Friday is an evening coached swim and Saturday is a 90 mile ride into 9 mile run! Then round things off with another 2 hours cycling on Sunday.......superb!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Ironman Update 2 months to go....

The year seems to be flying by and its crazy to be in May already but I guess that when you spend most of your time training, working or sleeping there is little time to remember all the other fun & games that go on! April was a solid month of training and although I didn't hit 40 hours, there was a small matter of the London Marathon which snuck in the middle and the recovery etc left me slightly short!

Swim: - 7.6 miles, 5.6 hours
Bike: - 319.6 miles, 18.8 hours
Run: - 61.4 miles, 9.6 hours
Cross train: - 10 miles, 4.7 hours

Total: - 398.59 miles, 38.73 hours

Swim: - less than usual in the pool this month, but some good sessions - I've been concentrating on the other two disciplines while maintaining my swimming quite nicely!

Bike: - lots of cycling, lots of hills, faster stuff and laps of the Forestman course! Its going pretty well and I've no complaints, put in some 100 mile plus weekends and there will be plenty more come May...

I feel in pretty good shape for the ride, a few more 100 mile rides will give me the peace of mind (I hope) in order to relax on the actual day, I also need to relax my shoulders a bit more in order to aid the comfort side of things, which will tell after 6-7 hours in the saddle.

Run: - pretty much totally dominated by the London Marathon...short story is that it didn't go to plan but was amazing, long story is here... http://ironmantd2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/virgin-london-marathon-2011.html

I had very tight legs for the whole of April and never really settled in to my rhythm on any of my long runs, I have now ran twice since the marathon, first run was not good and I struggled but the second, along the Devon coastal path felt more like my old self which was a good feeling....there is no doubt it takes sometime to shake 26.2 miles out of the body....especially for a first timer!

So overall I am happy, as of today (3rd May) I have 7.5 weeks to go, which with a 3 week taper (gradual decrease till game day) leaves me 4.5 weeks of quality hard training...that's a month...just one normal little month...gulp! I've introduced a lot more protein into my diet and with this and a lot of will power has got my weight too a slightly more reasonable level, but a bit more weight loss will be very beneficial indeed! When taper time comes around I'll be able to drop a kilo or two more.

Soooo not much more time for all you lovely people to donate if you can....

www.justgiving.com/timdonell or www.justgiving.com/timdonell1

It really makes a difference!!!