Awesome weeks training, in fact my highest 7 day total total to date which is good, I also feel good so that if it wasn't for the London Marathon on Sunday I would be good to carry on with a similiar weeks worth of training!
Monday : - as I had rested (hangover) on Sunday I used Monday as a training day, and knocked out a a good 1 hour, 19.5 mile ride from the house, good route with only one nasty hill and lots of good riding in it so will use this more often
Tuesday : - Morning swim, various 400's, i.e 400m warm up, 4*100 drills, 4 * 100 sprints, then more 400's for a 2.4 k swim.
In the evening I knocked out a good 7.2 mile run practicing my 9 min run/1 min walk routine which I plan to employ in the Marathon next week - I averaged 8.5 minutes per mile on this quite easily but will back it off on marathon day - my two runs this coming week will be at this pace to check I am comfortable with it.
Wednesday : - Into the gym for a small brick (20 min cycle, 5 min run) not sure what benefit these have but I guess they must do something and its all a good workout - I then went and did some weights and core work, all building a base and keeping shoulders strong!
Then it was in to the pool for swimwise (coaching session) this was a total failure as I kept getting loads of cramp in my feet! I'd been working a tennis ball into my feet most the afternoon and as they tightened back up it was causing me issues! Still managed 1.2k of drills and other swimming, so not all lost!
Thursday : - I went and jonied in rugby training as the weather was good, 2 hours of running around and sprinting meant my legs were pretty shot afterwards - I didn't fancy going out for an interval session or fast run and would definitely have got more from this session anyway!
Friday : - 2k morning swim, 5*400 but I was tired and my speed was down with legs being very tight from the nights running before! Still got it done and its all good! I know my swim is fine for the time being and will increase as per the schedule so I am not in anyway worried about this!
Saturday : - Great cycle, 70 miles in 3hours 54 minutes, went out with a friend at 8.30 and whilst a slight nip in the air the sun was out in full force and it soon got hot! The first 2.5 hours were pretty speedy and we both some reasonable efforts in to get round averaging 18.9 mph which is much faster than planned and I could feel some tiredness creeping in to the legs although it had taken an hour for me to click in to gear anyway!
After 50 odd miles we backed it off a bit and spun through some leafy lanes enjoying the fantastic weather before my friend left me at 55 miles and I carried on spinning around over some rolling hills to round out for 70 miles feeling pretty fresh, I then slipped on my trainers for the prescribed 15 minute run, went straight on to a track and run for 7.5 minutes before turning around and coming back for a whole 1.81 miles! I noticed that I was running at 8.11 min/miles which is a good pace for me, I expected to be slower but it seemed to be the natural pace for me, slowing down (or even speeding up) would have caused a lot more difficulty! Something to address for the future as my IM marathon will be a lot slower!
Sunday: - Due out for 2 hours with the local group, I was expecting (hoping) for a nice sociable ride....and yet we ended up knocking out a fast and flat 1.45 hours/35 miles of riding (with obligatory cake stop by the sea), it was a great ride actually and we averaged 20.4 for the outward journey and slightly less on the way home - I put in a few good stints at the front including a good 2 miles at 25 mph+ however I was hanging on towards the end and grateful for the slightly slower pace for the last 3-4 miles!
Felt fine afterwards though and was tempted by swimming in the evening but I was already over my suggested timetable by 2 hours so with an eye on the marathon we knocked up a superb BBQ and sat in the sun!
All in all feeling good, am slightly stiff today but seeing the osteopath (also my riding partner) tonight to work some tension outof them!
The rest of the week is mostly spend slowing down and getting prepared for Sunday - I am swimming Tuesday morning, nothing hard, probably one of my usual routines, a 4-5 mile run on tuesday night trying the 9/1 method again, Wednesday is busy with the vicar (wedding stuff), Thursday was going to be a morning swim but I think I'll do an evening gentle ride instead followed by a short jog and swim on Friday night...then its go time!
Gulp.....
Monday, April 11, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Summer Sun...Somethings Begun.....
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh....what beautiful weather, I reckon 22-24 degrees C is my perfect temperature for everyday so the last few days has been very nearly ideal! Obviously on holiday I like it hotter but for day to day you can beat it....and England bathed in golden sunshine is about as good as it gets!
Training has been really good too, got a 4 hour bike ride tomorrow into a 15 min run and then a further two hours on the bike on Sunday which should also be really nice....I'll be toasty brown (red) by the end of this weekend! I also have sore muscles and am tired anyway from this last week so by Sunday I shall be nicely cooked! Then next week is a very quiet gentle week leading in to the London Marathon, the week after has some prescribed sessions but again is pretty easy to recover and no running! Then it picks right back up for the final 9 weeks of intense hard training! I am really looking forward to the race now and feel I am on the right path, knowing it is only 11 weeks to go is a great feeling as it has been a long journey and the end is looming large!
In other news I finish my current job in less than two weeks (21st April) and then have till the 3rd May off due to bank holidays and accrued holiday so 11 days of time off will be awesome during which I plan to do loads and loads and loads of pedalling including a crack at the Ironman course under race conditions which will be pretty good I think! I then start my new job on the 3rd which I am very much looking forward to...unfortunately no shower so no cycling to work....though with hills out that way thats no bad thing!
Back in the gym I have been getting back in to doing some weight lifting and core work, only light stuff to help strenghten the general body areas rather than for packing on muscle but its all good and will give some base to when I start putting more muscle back on after the ironman!
Other than that its time to enjoy some sun...woohoo!
Training has been really good too, got a 4 hour bike ride tomorrow into a 15 min run and then a further two hours on the bike on Sunday which should also be really nice....I'll be toasty brown (red) by the end of this weekend! I also have sore muscles and am tired anyway from this last week so by Sunday I shall be nicely cooked! Then next week is a very quiet gentle week leading in to the London Marathon, the week after has some prescribed sessions but again is pretty easy to recover and no running! Then it picks right back up for the final 9 weeks of intense hard training! I am really looking forward to the race now and feel I am on the right path, knowing it is only 11 weeks to go is a great feeling as it has been a long journey and the end is looming large!
In other news I finish my current job in less than two weeks (21st April) and then have till the 3rd May off due to bank holidays and accrued holiday so 11 days of time off will be awesome during which I plan to do loads and loads and loads of pedalling including a crack at the Ironman course under race conditions which will be pretty good I think! I then start my new job on the 3rd which I am very much looking forward to...unfortunately no shower so no cycling to work....though with hills out that way thats no bad thing!
Back in the gym I have been getting back in to doing some weight lifting and core work, only light stuff to help strenghten the general body areas rather than for packing on muscle but its all good and will give some base to when I start putting more muscle back on after the ironman!
Other than that its time to enjoy some sun...woohoo!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Ironman Update #13 (from a round robin e-mail)
Unlucky 13...well no, not really, in fact March has been a very good month really and a step up in training as provided a few breakthrough sessions too - as with everything, training goes in peaks, troughs and plateaus and it is always nice to break through off a plateau and notice some real improvements...so what has this month looked like: -
Swim - 14.4 miles, 10 hours
Bike - 325.8 miles, 18.2 hours
Run - 68.8 miles, 10.2 hours
X-train - 5.5 miles, 2.1 hours
Total - 414.56 miles, 40.61 hours
Swimming -
I won't lie, I can barely remember the swimming I have done this month, despite it being a large quantity, its mostly been steady state swimming, I have been working hard on the efficiency of my stroke and keeping my body high in the water. I am far less concerned with speed now and happier to swim efficiently whilst maintaining a reasonable pace.....14.4 miles is still a very long way to swim! I am confident that in a lake with a wetsuit I can comfortably do 1 hour 5 mins for the swim which is pretty reasonable and won't compromise the rest of the race!
Bike -
ahhh thats what this month has been all about, the nice weather and the clocks going back turn cycling from a necessarily evil in to the more interesting hobby that I vaguely remember from last summer! Up to the beginning of March I was only averaging 40miles per week, that has now been over 100 per week for the last 3 weeks! Being able to commute on a 45 mile round trip also has its advantages!
My previous best commute was to average 18.4 mph and be very tired, now I can do it quite happily averaging nearly 20 mph without overexerting myself - that is a big improvement and provided one of the breakthroughs that I mentioned - I won't be averaging that in the race but its good to get that reasonably easily!
Having said that I have been working on my pacing a lot and calculating how fast I go for how long etc which at the very least keeps my brain occupied on the long rides!
Run -
I had a 20 mile race at the beginning of March which seems an age ago now, it went fine and wasn't too bad! I say this slightly matter of factly but 20 miles is still a bloody long way and really hurts your legs! However I hit my target and it was only the boring scenery that really got to me in the end! I followed this up with a really tough 14.5 mile run down the Avon Valley Path before picking up an injury to my Achilles which I think was caused by a tight calf muscle!
However it seems to have cleared up now so back in the mixer as far as running is concerned...we hope! The London Marathon is in two weeks so fingers crossed I'll be okay for that, with the last 1.5 weeks off running I will continue to train right up to and through the marathon itself. For the marathon I will be doing a run/walk strategy - roughtly 9 mins running, 1 min walking - all of my longest runs have been done using run/walk (apart from the 20 mile race where I ran the whole way!) and not only do I run faster this way, I also recover a lot quicker afterwards which will be important after London as I can't afford to miss a few weeks through recovery.......oh and if anyone in London has some floor space I can adopt for the night of Saturday 16th I would be most grateful???
So where does that leave me right now...well I am 49 hours up on this point last year so I am progressing very nicely, I am starting to feel a bit of confidence that I can at least finish the race....I guess it all depends on what state I will finish in!
Its 12 weeks to go from Sunday just gone and I am now in to a more regimented schedule which I picked up from the internet - this lists out all the key sessions to help me focus on what I need to do and gives me more confidence that I will be in good shape for the day!
So 12 weeks to go and I have a fair bit more to raise so please donate....I really need the motivation now!
www.justgiving.com/timdonell
or
www.justgiving.com/timdonell1
Thanks everyone!
Swim - 14.4 miles, 10 hours
Bike - 325.8 miles, 18.2 hours
Run - 68.8 miles, 10.2 hours
X-train - 5.5 miles, 2.1 hours
Total - 414.56 miles, 40.61 hours
Swimming -
I won't lie, I can barely remember the swimming I have done this month, despite it being a large quantity, its mostly been steady state swimming, I have been working hard on the efficiency of my stroke and keeping my body high in the water. I am far less concerned with speed now and happier to swim efficiently whilst maintaining a reasonable pace.....14.4 miles is still a very long way to swim! I am confident that in a lake with a wetsuit I can comfortably do 1 hour 5 mins for the swim which is pretty reasonable and won't compromise the rest of the race!
Bike -
ahhh thats what this month has been all about, the nice weather and the clocks going back turn cycling from a necessarily evil in to the more interesting hobby that I vaguely remember from last summer! Up to the beginning of March I was only averaging 40miles per week, that has now been over 100 per week for the last 3 weeks! Being able to commute on a 45 mile round trip also has its advantages!
My previous best commute was to average 18.4 mph and be very tired, now I can do it quite happily averaging nearly 20 mph without overexerting myself - that is a big improvement and provided one of the breakthroughs that I mentioned - I won't be averaging that in the race but its good to get that reasonably easily!
Having said that I have been working on my pacing a lot and calculating how fast I go for how long etc which at the very least keeps my brain occupied on the long rides!
Run -
I had a 20 mile race at the beginning of March which seems an age ago now, it went fine and wasn't too bad! I say this slightly matter of factly but 20 miles is still a bloody long way and really hurts your legs! However I hit my target and it was only the boring scenery that really got to me in the end! I followed this up with a really tough 14.5 mile run down the Avon Valley Path before picking up an injury to my Achilles which I think was caused by a tight calf muscle!
However it seems to have cleared up now so back in the mixer as far as running is concerned...we hope! The London Marathon is in two weeks so fingers crossed I'll be okay for that, with the last 1.5 weeks off running I will continue to train right up to and through the marathon itself. For the marathon I will be doing a run/walk strategy - roughtly 9 mins running, 1 min walking - all of my longest runs have been done using run/walk (apart from the 20 mile race where I ran the whole way!) and not only do I run faster this way, I also recover a lot quicker afterwards which will be important after London as I can't afford to miss a few weeks through recovery.......oh and if anyone in London has some floor space I can adopt for the night of Saturday 16th I would be most grateful???
So where does that leave me right now...well I am 49 hours up on this point last year so I am progressing very nicely, I am starting to feel a bit of confidence that I can at least finish the race....I guess it all depends on what state I will finish in!
Its 12 weeks to go from Sunday just gone and I am now in to a more regimented schedule which I picked up from the internet - this lists out all the key sessions to help me focus on what I need to do and gives me more confidence that I will be in good shape for the day!
So 12 weeks to go and I have a fair bit more to raise so please donate....I really need the motivation now!
www.justgiving.com/timdonell
or
www.justgiving.com/timdonell1
Thanks everyone!
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Lion, the Witch and March...
Is it still March....I mean really - considering how time flies these days it seems like February was an awful long time ago and April still lurks over the distant horizon that is this Friday! I am however of course not complaining, one does not mind that March still has plenty to play for and that with this beautiful weather we've been having the 'here and now' is a quite lovely place to be!
So as for last week - it was always going to be a struggle as I was away for the weekend and had lots of other stuff booked in so...
Monday - nafffink (rest day)
Tuesday - Swam in the morning, Achilles was back to square one so all pulling
Wednesday - this was supposed to be a cycle to work day but as the girlfriend was sick I checked she was all okay rather than shooting off early doors, I then felt rough in the evening and couldn't face swimming! It may have been sympathy sickness but she had a bug that was going around her office and stopped her dead for 36 hours so any sign and I was relaxing!
Thursday - still not great but went for kill or cure cycle to work, it was pretty steady and I couldn't quite get going even with a push in the middle, looking at last year I was faster then with the same heart rate (17.6mph ave, 135 bpm ave) which left me a bit confused! However I guess it showed that I wasn't 100%, but it cleared out the bug, on the way home which is net up hill I easily smashed it averaging 19.6 mph with HR at 137 - who knows what was lurking in my system!
Friday - had the day off so after sorting some stuff out I went for a 52 mile, 3 hour ride - not very fast but lots of good climbing and superb weather - I'm getting used to riding on my own for longer distances now without getting too bored - its all about the weather (cold and rain = can't be arsed = get bored quickly), that and concentrating on Ironman pacing!
Basically over the last week I have been doing a lot of research on pacing for the bike, how it should feel etc - whilst everyone is different, a successful amateur triathlete that I follow always keeps his bike HR around the 130 mark, which is about 70% - so I have been concentrating on keeping it within this range but also making sure that my perceived power (i.e. how hard am I pushing the pedals) remains even and not too aggressive. The general outcome seems to be that I average around the 17.5 mph mark, obviously that is hill dependent and it may be a bit faster on the Forestman course as whilst there are plenty of hills only one will really hit the speed hard - however we will see, I'd rather err on the side of caution! That would give me a 6.5 hour bike split (plus a few minutes here and there for aid stations, cups of tea, passing out) - that is more than reasonable! So I will continue to concentrate on that pace/HR and see where that brings me in a month or so's time - if by the time of the race I can bump that closer to 18mph thats all good - however its only 20 minutes faster over 112 miles so may not be worth it at the expense of surviving the run!
As I keep reminding myself - its purely about finshing the race, so all this research is to enable me to finish not to hit any specific time (other than 15.59 hours) - so a 1.25 hour swim (inc T1) and a 6.5 hour bike puts me nicely at 7 hours 45 minutes up tot T2, so say 8 hours coming out of T2 and I have 7 hours and 59 minutes to complete the marathon....lovely stuff!
Anyway a bigger week this week beckons so all good stuff - lets hope I can start running again this week, its the London Marathon in 20 days!
So as for last week - it was always going to be a struggle as I was away for the weekend and had lots of other stuff booked in so...
Monday - nafffink (rest day)
Tuesday - Swam in the morning, Achilles was back to square one so all pulling
Wednesday - this was supposed to be a cycle to work day but as the girlfriend was sick I checked she was all okay rather than shooting off early doors, I then felt rough in the evening and couldn't face swimming! It may have been sympathy sickness but she had a bug that was going around her office and stopped her dead for 36 hours so any sign and I was relaxing!
Thursday - still not great but went for kill or cure cycle to work, it was pretty steady and I couldn't quite get going even with a push in the middle, looking at last year I was faster then with the same heart rate (17.6mph ave, 135 bpm ave) which left me a bit confused! However I guess it showed that I wasn't 100%, but it cleared out the bug, on the way home which is net up hill I easily smashed it averaging 19.6 mph with HR at 137 - who knows what was lurking in my system!
Friday - had the day off so after sorting some stuff out I went for a 52 mile, 3 hour ride - not very fast but lots of good climbing and superb weather - I'm getting used to riding on my own for longer distances now without getting too bored - its all about the weather (cold and rain = can't be arsed = get bored quickly), that and concentrating on Ironman pacing!
Basically over the last week I have been doing a lot of research on pacing for the bike, how it should feel etc - whilst everyone is different, a successful amateur triathlete that I follow always keeps his bike HR around the 130 mark, which is about 70% - so I have been concentrating on keeping it within this range but also making sure that my perceived power (i.e. how hard am I pushing the pedals) remains even and not too aggressive. The general outcome seems to be that I average around the 17.5 mph mark, obviously that is hill dependent and it may be a bit faster on the Forestman course as whilst there are plenty of hills only one will really hit the speed hard - however we will see, I'd rather err on the side of caution! That would give me a 6.5 hour bike split (plus a few minutes here and there for aid stations, cups of tea, passing out) - that is more than reasonable! So I will continue to concentrate on that pace/HR and see where that brings me in a month or so's time - if by the time of the race I can bump that closer to 18mph thats all good - however its only 20 minutes faster over 112 miles so may not be worth it at the expense of surviving the run!
As I keep reminding myself - its purely about finshing the race, so all this research is to enable me to finish not to hit any specific time (other than 15.59 hours) - so a 1.25 hour swim (inc T1) and a 6.5 hour bike puts me nicely at 7 hours 45 minutes up tot T2, so say 8 hours coming out of T2 and I have 7 hours and 59 minutes to complete the marathon....lovely stuff!
Anyway a bigger week this week beckons so all good stuff - lets hope I can start running again this week, its the London Marathon in 20 days!
Monday, March 21, 2011
3 Weeks of March...
Been a really good week of training for the 3rd week of March! I was worried about my achilles last Monday and how it would affect my training - in the end it was fine up until the very end and provided one of my biggest weeks of training this year!
Monday - rest day
Tuesday - a 2.2k swim in the morning with the pull buoy the whole way and pushing off one footed so as not to aggravate the Achilles - it was noticeably sore afterwards however!
I rested again in the evening with some frustration as I knew I needed to rest the Achilles!
Wednesday - went to the gym for the first time in 18 months before swim coaching - sat on the bike for 30 mins spinning hard, then did a load of rowing and core work to total an hours work - which was really good, I then went in to the pool for a coached session for an hour and 2.3k of drills and sustained speed work - so a good quality two hours on a Wednesday evening!
Thursday - Cycled to and from work, which is 22.5 miles each way so makes for a good days training by the end of it - I'm also carrying my work clothes too so have a hefty back pack on! Averaged 17.5 both ways which isn't my fastest but I felt fine both ways and could have pushed it some more! Great to be back on the bike again - even better when the clocks change at the weekend!
Friday - alarm didn't go off in the morning so missed swimming, went back to the gym in the evening for a quick brick session and some weights/core
Saturday - up early for a 55 mile loop including the first lap of the Forestman course - stunning day so cycling was no trouble! Slightly more hills than I thought there were but nothing too drastic and I felt fine after - could have carried on with no trouble really - averaged a moderate 17.3mph - which was easy really - no problems going a bit faster for double that!
Sunday - again up early and ran to coached swimming for 4.8 miles, just over 2k in the pool and then ran 1.5 miles home - I had planned to make it more like 5 or 6 miles home but my achilles was in all sorts of trouble again - back to square one! I think its my tight calves and hamstrings so lots of massaging them over this week!
The week ahead depends a lot on other things - I am away at the weekend so not training will happen, but I do have Friday off work so will get a good ride in then!
See you then!
Monday - rest day
Tuesday - a 2.2k swim in the morning with the pull buoy the whole way and pushing off one footed so as not to aggravate the Achilles - it was noticeably sore afterwards however!
I rested again in the evening with some frustration as I knew I needed to rest the Achilles!
Wednesday - went to the gym for the first time in 18 months before swim coaching - sat on the bike for 30 mins spinning hard, then did a load of rowing and core work to total an hours work - which was really good, I then went in to the pool for a coached session for an hour and 2.3k of drills and sustained speed work - so a good quality two hours on a Wednesday evening!
Thursday - Cycled to and from work, which is 22.5 miles each way so makes for a good days training by the end of it - I'm also carrying my work clothes too so have a hefty back pack on! Averaged 17.5 both ways which isn't my fastest but I felt fine both ways and could have pushed it some more! Great to be back on the bike again - even better when the clocks change at the weekend!
Friday - alarm didn't go off in the morning so missed swimming, went back to the gym in the evening for a quick brick session and some weights/core
Saturday - up early for a 55 mile loop including the first lap of the Forestman course - stunning day so cycling was no trouble! Slightly more hills than I thought there were but nothing too drastic and I felt fine after - could have carried on with no trouble really - averaged a moderate 17.3mph - which was easy really - no problems going a bit faster for double that!
Sunday - again up early and ran to coached swimming for 4.8 miles, just over 2k in the pool and then ran 1.5 miles home - I had planned to make it more like 5 or 6 miles home but my achilles was in all sorts of trouble again - back to square one! I think its my tight calves and hamstrings so lots of massaging them over this week!
The week ahead depends a lot on other things - I am away at the weekend so not training will happen, but I do have Friday off work so will get a good ride in then!
See you then!
Friday, March 18, 2011
The end is nigh...
99 days to go...we are out of double figures now! Though the title of this post I hope will relate to something else I am cooking up next week!
Anyway back to the challenge, 99 days to go and I need to do lots more cycling, a very lot more cycling! I rode to work and back yesterday which was great - not the fastest I have ever done it but then my HR stuck firmly to the 68/69% average so I wasn't pushing very hard - I also felt fine both on the outward leg and the return leg - which I would hope being as they were only 22.5 miles each, I did however get very tired last night which shouldn't be right after only 45 miles during the day......having said that I suppose its a week day and I have to factor in the 9 hour day in the middle as a contributor!
Revisiting my target times for Forestman made me realise that the 18.7 mph average is my top goal - the bottom is a 16 mph average! I have averaged a fair bit faster over 80 miles before so I am confident that I can sit quite happily in the upper range of that over 112 miles - since yesterday was an easy 17.5 mph average with a loaded backpack I am pretty happy - a nice little reminder - for some reason I had it in my head that 18.7 was my lowest!!
Anyway so tonight will be either swimming or I may go to the gym and do a 1 hour brick - 15min bike, 15 min run, 15 min bike, 15 min run...I'll see how I feel on the way home! Tomorrow is a scheduled 3 hours on the bike - I have planned a 56 mile route which should see me near enough 3 hours - I have plans at 12 so hopefully I'll be able to get it all in by then!
Saturday afternoon is all about rugby (for a change) first watching the mighty 'bridge play...then all the 6 nations games, once again ensuring I am driving therefore not drinking! Sunday will see me in the pool at 8.45 - a new class has started so I'll be up early for a 45 min run then an hours swim, then a further hour or so running! I then have a christening and celebrations after - during which I will be drinking! Though work on Monday may not be so fun so it'll only be gentle!
Unfortunately I am unable to get a long run this weekend however it probably won't do any harm with the achilles issue I had earlier in the week - this seems to be fine though we'll see how it goes tonight! Two smaller runs on Sunday morning should provide a decent tick over anyway!
I also can't get a long run in next weekend either so April 2nd will be my final long run before the London Marathon which isn't ideal but anyhooo I'm only doing it to tick along to the finish anyway so no dramas! I'll hopefully get a few medium runs in next week in the 7/8 mile range!
So that is where I am at right now! Enjoy your weekend...
Anyway back to the challenge, 99 days to go and I need to do lots more cycling, a very lot more cycling! I rode to work and back yesterday which was great - not the fastest I have ever done it but then my HR stuck firmly to the 68/69% average so I wasn't pushing very hard - I also felt fine both on the outward leg and the return leg - which I would hope being as they were only 22.5 miles each, I did however get very tired last night which shouldn't be right after only 45 miles during the day......having said that I suppose its a week day and I have to factor in the 9 hour day in the middle as a contributor!
Revisiting my target times for Forestman made me realise that the 18.7 mph average is my top goal - the bottom is a 16 mph average! I have averaged a fair bit faster over 80 miles before so I am confident that I can sit quite happily in the upper range of that over 112 miles - since yesterday was an easy 17.5 mph average with a loaded backpack I am pretty happy - a nice little reminder - for some reason I had it in my head that 18.7 was my lowest!!
Anyway so tonight will be either swimming or I may go to the gym and do a 1 hour brick - 15min bike, 15 min run, 15 min bike, 15 min run...I'll see how I feel on the way home! Tomorrow is a scheduled 3 hours on the bike - I have planned a 56 mile route which should see me near enough 3 hours - I have plans at 12 so hopefully I'll be able to get it all in by then!
Saturday afternoon is all about rugby (for a change) first watching the mighty 'bridge play...then all the 6 nations games, once again ensuring I am driving therefore not drinking! Sunday will see me in the pool at 8.45 - a new class has started so I'll be up early for a 45 min run then an hours swim, then a further hour or so running! I then have a christening and celebrations after - during which I will be drinking! Though work on Monday may not be so fun so it'll only be gentle!
Unfortunately I am unable to get a long run this weekend however it probably won't do any harm with the achilles issue I had earlier in the week - this seems to be fine though we'll see how it goes tonight! Two smaller runs on Sunday morning should provide a decent tick over anyway!
I also can't get a long run in next weekend either so April 2nd will be my final long run before the London Marathon which isn't ideal but anyhooo I'm only doing it to tick along to the finish anyway so no dramas! I'll hopefully get a few medium runs in next week in the 7/8 mile range!
So that is where I am at right now! Enjoy your weekend...
Monday, March 14, 2011
Troy...
March Week 2 Training - a quiet start to the week, ramping it up towards the end!
Monday - usual rest day, felt okay after the 20mile race the day before though!
Tuesday - a steady 1.95k swim of various drills and floating, although I wasn't really aching there was a definite tiredness in the body!
Wednesday - a nice steady 3 mile run at lunch to break the legs back in - they felt tight but fine, no real niggles and was okay, the did an hours (2.5k) coached swim session in the evening which went well - not a fan of swimming in the evening as I tend to get cramp in my feet!
Thursday - no swim in the morning as had an early start at work, in the evening it was a run - 5.76 miles in 48.36 which was more than pleasing as I felt pretty strong on stiff legs!
Friday - back in the pool for 7*250m, mostly with the pull buoy, which was fine
Saturday - was supposed to be 4 hours on the bike and we were lucky to have some lovely sunshine so it was no overshoes, no gloves and no extra jacket which was sooooo nice! It made such a difference to be warm and out enjoying the sunshine! We kept it mostly flat/rolling and enjoyed some new roads which made a nice change! We did 46 miles in 2.5 hours with an average of 18 mph which was a good ride with some really top quality intervals in the middle hitting it pretty hard! I faded towards the end, hence the reduced time out there - I put this down to 3 weeks of no cycling and the intensity of the last two races still residing slightly in my legs!
Sunday - up and about and met with a friend to run the Avon Valley Path from Salisbury to Fordingbridge which should have been about 15 miles! The weather was not great to begin with so I kept my blue gilet on but as we set off the sun broke out so it was boil in a bag time for a little while! I had underestimated some of the terrain and it was tough going - the overnight rain making the trail pretty slippery in places - it was great to do new paths and trails though taking me through places I didn't know existed! The friend I was with is just getting in to the longer stuff and did brilliantly, turning off at 10 miles to head home, we did get lost as I took us down the wrong path but we made our way over some hills on the road to come out at the right place - in hindsight it would have been a lot easier not to have gone wrong as the correct path sticks to the nice and flat valley floor! We did walk the hills though as they were very steep!
At Downton we rejoined the path and headed up out of town - walking half the long climb but the views back over the preceeding 8.5 miles were pretty cool and we could see all the way back to Salisbury Cathedral which we had ran past not an hour or so earlier! The pics above are of my friend and said view behind him though I don't think the iPhone camera picks out the cathedral well enough!
From there I expected a steady downhill to Hale park - how wrong I was and two nasty steep valleys had to be negotiated first, which required walking to get out the otherside - I was tiring pretty quickly by now and the hills had taken their toll despite the bigger ones being walked - a long but steep downhill allowed me to drop the average pace a bit which was good, and then a mile or so of road section kept it steady - the final hill was again walked and going through 13.1 miles in 2.12 tells its own story! From here it was a drop down to a farm and through some more meadows into Fordingbridge - I was running late for lunch so had the otherhalf pick me up about a mile or so short of the finishline as she was on her way through! I was very tired by this point and although I was still running quite well, this was the hardest run I have ever done - I should have taken on more than the one gel that I used which would have perked up the last few miles I am sure! so it was 14.38 miles in 2.23 hours which was exactly 10 min/miles - not what I would usually expect but it was fine! I really enjoy this kind of running and although slower it is much more fun than tarmac pounding! Looking forward to doing it all again with some more food and not getting lost!
Anyway finished the week with 9.5 hours training, not a large amount but I think the sessions were all beneficial - the only downside being that I now have a very sore achilles tendon on my left foot - after the run I showered and then drove off down to lunch in a full car so legs were quite cramped - think the clutch movement just twinged it a bit - rest and ice for this! Not ideal as I wanted to ramp up the training this week - swimming should be fine and hopefully cycling so I will just take this week off running - hopefully all okay for the weekend though!
See you then!
Monday - usual rest day, felt okay after the 20mile race the day before though!
Tuesday - a steady 1.95k swim of various drills and floating, although I wasn't really aching there was a definite tiredness in the body!
Wednesday - a nice steady 3 mile run at lunch to break the legs back in - they felt tight but fine, no real niggles and was okay, the did an hours (2.5k) coached swim session in the evening which went well - not a fan of swimming in the evening as I tend to get cramp in my feet!
Thursday - no swim in the morning as had an early start at work, in the evening it was a run - 5.76 miles in 48.36 which was more than pleasing as I felt pretty strong on stiff legs!
Friday - back in the pool for 7*250m, mostly with the pull buoy, which was fine
Saturday - was supposed to be 4 hours on the bike and we were lucky to have some lovely sunshine so it was no overshoes, no gloves and no extra jacket which was sooooo nice! It made such a difference to be warm and out enjoying the sunshine! We kept it mostly flat/rolling and enjoyed some new roads which made a nice change! We did 46 miles in 2.5 hours with an average of 18 mph which was a good ride with some really top quality intervals in the middle hitting it pretty hard! I faded towards the end, hence the reduced time out there - I put this down to 3 weeks of no cycling and the intensity of the last two races still residing slightly in my legs!
Sunday - up and about and met with a friend to run the Avon Valley Path from Salisbury to Fordingbridge which should have been about 15 miles! The weather was not great to begin with so I kept my blue gilet on but as we set off the sun broke out so it was boil in a bag time for a little while! I had underestimated some of the terrain and it was tough going - the overnight rain making the trail pretty slippery in places - it was great to do new paths and trails though taking me through places I didn't know existed! The friend I was with is just getting in to the longer stuff and did brilliantly, turning off at 10 miles to head home, we did get lost as I took us down the wrong path but we made our way over some hills on the road to come out at the right place - in hindsight it would have been a lot easier not to have gone wrong as the correct path sticks to the nice and flat valley floor! We did walk the hills though as they were very steep!
From there I expected a steady downhill to Hale park - how wrong I was and two nasty steep valleys had to be negotiated first, which required walking to get out the otherside - I was tiring pretty quickly by now and the hills had taken their toll despite the bigger ones being walked - a long but steep downhill allowed me to drop the average pace a bit which was good, and then a mile or so of road section kept it steady - the final hill was again walked and going through 13.1 miles in 2.12 tells its own story! From here it was a drop down to a farm and through some more meadows into Fordingbridge - I was running late for lunch so had the otherhalf pick me up about a mile or so short of the finishline as she was on her way through! I was very tired by this point and although I was still running quite well, this was the hardest run I have ever done - I should have taken on more than the one gel that I used which would have perked up the last few miles I am sure! so it was 14.38 miles in 2.23 hours which was exactly 10 min/miles - not what I would usually expect but it was fine! I really enjoy this kind of running and although slower it is much more fun than tarmac pounding! Looking forward to doing it all again with some more food and not getting lost!
Anyway finished the week with 9.5 hours training, not a large amount but I think the sessions were all beneficial - the only downside being that I now have a very sore achilles tendon on my left foot - after the run I showered and then drove off down to lunch in a full car so legs were quite cramped - think the clutch movement just twinged it a bit - rest and ice for this! Not ideal as I wanted to ramp up the training this week - swimming should be fine and hopefully cycling so I will just take this week off running - hopefully all okay for the weekend though!
See you then!
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