Dragging myself through training

I woke up this morning feeling very tired and struggled to the pool for 6am. I tricked myself into an easy session suggesting only 100 lengths max. This worked and helped me through to 80. However, once I had hit that mark I was into the swim and I knew that I would hit the 120. What a gullible bugger that I am able to fool myself so easily.
Set out this evening feeling under the weather. Nothing specific, just feeling tired with a dull headache. I thought that maybe the run would clear my head. It didn’t but I was happy with the outcome 75 minutes reasonable pace, steady heart rate. I am finding it interesting how once I start running, swimming or biking, the habit takes over and I can perform far more effectively than I expected. However, I am very tired and am seriously wondering how I will manage the long bike and run tomorrow.

Got to have faith.....

Great swim in the lake this morning, water was a bit chilly (12 degrees) but I soon warmed up with the exception of my feet. I completed the full 3k in just under 55 minutes giving me an estimated time for the full distance of 1:10. I will be very happy with that and so I think that maintenance on the swim is the order of the day. The effort required to improve my swim time by 10% would be massive and it would only give me 7 minutes gain overall. 10% improvement on the bike or run will give me the possibility of upwards of half an hour. This evening my bike ride kept on getting bumped until finally it was too late to complete in the light, so once again I carried the bike into the garden and did the 75 minutes on the rollers. I was due to insert 6 x 6 minute at Z4 intervals though the ride but I only managed to do 4. For some reason I my belief in my ability to do the full 6 got into the way, daft eh? Next time I will go for it earlier in the ride and have faith.

Rolling in the garden

It is Wednesday and so a “brick” day. I wanted to do the session at 6pm and because of the rush hour traffic I thought I would take the rollers outside into the garden. The weather was warm with a gentle breeze, lovely. The novelty of being able to stand up on the peddles still gripped me so I spent 45 minutes, climbing in and out of the saddle, dropping into the aero position and falling off, getting back on and trying again. With all the excitement the 45 minutes soon passed and before I knew it I was out running. The target was 30 minutes but a miscalculation meant that I did 40 minutes and all good. Slightly achy joints this evening but nothing terrible.

A good start to the week

Once again work commitments force 2 training sessions in the evening. (I had to be in London by 7am which meant a 5am wakeup!!!). I was concerned that this would have a detrimental affect on my energy, but it didn’t! After work a 60 minute run then at 10pm a 60 minute swim. The run was great, sun shining and a good pace, not fast but with my heart rate under control. The swim (in the pool obviously) was fine. I did the full hour with the pull buoy with a focus on long even strokes. Apart form some underwater coughing all was good. I was last in the pool (again) with the usual 2 lifeguards patiently waiting for me to finish my laps. The wheezy chest that is still coming and going apparently is nothing to worry about. My good lady (a doctor) had a listen with the stethoscope and there are no “crackles”. All in all a good start to the week

Reflections on the recovery day

 It was a great training week last week.
– I completed the full weeks training
– It was the first time this year in the lake.
– I managed to get out of the saddle and drop into the aero bars whilst on the rollers.
– My energy feels good
I am looking forward to starting it all over again tomorrow

The Lake has opened…..and I couldn’t resist it

I was behind by 30 minutes this week on my swimming so a sneaky Sunday morning session was always on the cards. However, when I woke up this morning I could hear the heavy rain on the windows and the idea of going to the lake lost some of its appeal. Gradually, the thought of getting out there and doing the missing half hour became more compelling. Swimming in April in a lake, something for my belief wall. So without any more pondering I gathered my clobber and headed towards the great outdoors. The water was cold and my throat felt icy for at least the first 500m. Then the rhythm set in and in no time I had a couple of 750 laps under my belt. The sky was a consistent grey and the rain was on and off, the as my energy started to sap on the third lap I spotted a small patch of blue sky. That was all I needed “A sign to say Paul finish what you have started”. So I did. 4 x 750 laps totaling 3k, 800m below the Ironman distance and if it hadn’t have been for the lake closing for swimming I would have been tempted to go the whole hog.

When I arrived home I couldn’t believe how tired I was and again the reality of the situation hit me. In 13 weeks I will doing a longer swim plus 112 miles on the bike and then the marathon. The temptation to be overcome by the size of this challenge is ever present. I have to just focus on the here and now, the next session of training and trust the process.

The schedule suggested that I should have been riding for 45 minute then a quick change and a 90 minute run. However, the various family commitments eroded the day until I was left with a new multi sport event. A 20 minute bike ride followed by and 10 minute drive in the car (to drop my son off) followed by a 90 minute run. By this time it was gone 9pm and I was very tired. After digging deep I made the full distance on the promise to myself of toast and jam when I made it home..

Hills, hills and more hills….. a great day

Today I was very excited to be training with Jamie, a mate from work and one hell of a cyclist. He claimed to be unfit, but I think he was lying. After a reasonably gentle start we hit some Surrey hills for 60 minutes of going up steep hills then coming down them again. Our average speed was low, (I think I held him back) but I had a fantastic workout. I would be struggling to keep moving on a hill and Jamie would just accelerate away as I wasn’t moving. After 3 hours we arrived home I changed into my running gear (far too slowly) and began a 30 minute run. I would normally do an out-and-back for such a short time but after 15 minutes I couldn’t face going back in the same direction so I kept running. My heart rate was around 145 (which I couldn’t seem to do anything about). The run ended up as a 45 minute session. Overall I was chuffed with the both sessions. The bike was a great change from the normal flat slog and I felt that I could have gone further on the run. So all in all good stuff.

Early run....late swim

Because I swam so late last night I was reluctant to swim first thing this morning so I went for the run. It was clearly going to be a beautiful day but at 6am it was freezing cold. I made the mistake of only a vest and thin long sleeved top and my fingers nearly fell off they were so cold. I started out walking uphill to gradually build up my heart rate etc. I only started to run when I reached the top the incline. Gingerly I pick up the pace hoping not to shoot my HR up. All in vain, after a few seconds running hear rate up to 166. I really don’t understand this. Then all through the run the rate was bouncing from 133 to 154 then back again. Either I have a very strange heart or the monitor is up the shoot!!! Very frustrating. This evening I was very tired and contemplated not swimming. Reluctantly, I gathered my kit and headed out the door at 9:50 ready for a 10-11 swim. When I arrived I was told that the pool was closing at 10:30 so I only had half an hour. I am not going to lie to you, I wasn’t devastated. I did my half hour and went home for a high performance cup of tea. If the lake isn’t too cold on Sunday I will make it up with a 1500m swim.

Evening sunshine on the bike

Once again a full work agenda kept me out of the pool this morning and so two sessions this evening. As soon as I was back from work, out on the bike for an hour. A good ride in the sunshine, the only issue being the heavy traffic in the rush hour and a reluctance to overtake too fast in anticipation of dangerous manoeuvres by frustrated motorists. After getting home and eating I then hit the pool at 10pm for 60 minutes of arms only using the pull buoy. As the event draws closer I cannot help but feel that the upper body workout this gives me is more beneficial than struggling with kicking. Of course I could be completely wrong here. When I finished I was the only one on the pool, what a waste!

An accidental step forward.........Yipee!!!!

Today’s training was a brick session; 45 minutes on the bike followed by a 30 minute run I was hoping to get out into the amazing evening sunshine, however with a few home chores I just missed the light and so took to the rollers indoors, which I haven’t done for a long time. All was going fine and boredom was beginning to settle in when something really strange happened. As I was adjusting my position (backside which was going numb) I realised that I was out of the saddle. Now this may not seem like much of an achievement but for me it was quite a moment. On rollers the bike is finely balanced with no momentum to keep you upright so you have to be constantly re-adjusting your balance. On a forward and backward plane you have to ensure your pedal stroke is smooth so that you don’t ride off the front roller. Now it may be just a confidence thing but I am dead chuffed all the same. The implications are that in future during the long winter months I will be able to manage long sessions without have to stop to give my numb glutes a rest. The second interesting fact of the day (to me anyway) was the run. As a rule my heart rate jumps to 156 when I start to run (the hill may have a part in this) and stays there far beyond the hill and for the next 10 minutes or so before clicking back to 136. Although if I insert an interval of Z4 once warmed up my heart rate will come down very quickly. The implications of this peak shortly after starting is the un-necessary use of muscle glycogen so reducing potential endurance. So this evening I started downhill and noticed a steady 130-136 heart rate with no peak. This is probably down to 2 things; firstly I was already warmed up on the bike and secondly the downhill section didn’t demand the extra consumption of oxygen. To test this on my next run on Friday with no bike warm up I will run downhill to start with to see if this makes any difference.

I cant wait for the lake to open!!

An early start at work prevented me from swimming first thing which meant 2 training sessions in the evening which I don’t find is ideal. So early evening I was out for an hour running. As usual my heart rate shot up to 156 as I hit the steady hill at the start. Next time I am definitely starting on the downhill to see if that has an effect. This had the effect of a really slow run as I was trying to slow down to allow my heart rate to stabilise. After 12 minutes or so, it dropped to what I would expect, then it held steady for most of the rest of the way. Towards the end I inserted some Z4 work and surprised myself when my heart rate hit 174. This is over 8 bpm beyond where I have expecting it to be! I have no idea what is going on. With a very heavy heart at 10 pm I left the house and headed for the pool for a 60 minute swim. It wasn’t the greatest session; bit slow and a lack of focus meant that I pottered around with the pull buoy, fins and ended up doing laps with no breathing. In the end this turned out well as it resulted in me reducing the number of strokes to complete one lap from 22 to 19. I cant wait for the lake to open. I would rather be cold than bored.

Achy ankles....but otherwise in reasonable shape

Following on form yesterday I feel in pretty good shape with the exception of my ankles, both of which are a bit achy. I am not sure if this is to be expected. Altogether I am pretty pleased with last week despite being 90 minutes short (30 min swim and 1hr run). Considering the challenges of travel etc and the volcano in iceland, I think that I did pretty well and my sincere hope that this coming week will be a complete one.

This feels more like training

A 4 hour bike followed by a 30 minute run was the programme for today. The weather was fantastic and I left at a very civilized time of the day (11am). This meant that I had a chance for a good breakfast before setting out. The last time that I had done a ling bike followed by a run, I had really struggled with the run. I was determined not to do the same thing today so I took some precautions. I deliberately set off going down hill and warming up slowly. I also fueled more effectively (1 snickers, 2 x lucozade sport, 2 x litres of water and a peanut better sandwich). The bike was fine covering the first 56 miles in 3.5 hours. By the time I had completed the 4 hours I was up to 64 miles, suggesting a 7 hour bike for the Ironman. In transition I changed fully into running gear (which took longer than it should) and set off. Throughout the run I noticed that my heart rate was too high (146-148), I am guessing this was due to fatigue. I need to explore this further since I think it would be unsustainable over the full 26 miles. Perhaps as I become more accustomed to the longer distances it will become less of a problem. It feels good to be building up the bike mileage. The closer I get the 112 the more confident I am feeling.

Home at last

I finally arrived home this afternoon from Zurich after leaving Thursday. It was too late to do the long bike and run so I switched tomorrows schedule to day. The weather was fantastic and it was great to get out n the bike for 30 minutes high cadence (unfortunately I miss-read the schedule and it should have been 45 mins). I followed this with a 90 minute run which felt pretty good. Legs ache a little now but I guess that is to be expected. I am looking forward to testing myself on the long bike ride tomorrow.

10 hours in the car across France.....an enforced rest day

With most of Europe to a halt because the volcano we spent the whole day driving to Calais in order to catch the ferry to Dover on Saturday morning. My intention was to run when we arrived in the evening however, by the time we arrived at 10pm, in the middle of the French countryside in the pitch black. I didn’t fancy being run down by a truck whilst running down an un-lit B road. So with much regret I decided to let this one go.

Who would have thought it ......a volcano!

Owing to the way the day has panned out my swim and bike were shunted together this evening as the news that I might not be getting home for a few days sank in. The volcano in Iceland has grouned all flights and the travel network in Europe is in chaos. This really does bugger my chances of the long ride on Saturday. I am going to have to be creative to make this work, the last thing I want to do is spend 4 hours on some stationary gym bike.  I am very fed up indeed and am battling to stay positive, I miss my family and just want to get home.

Sneaky swim bike and run

I have developed the habit of thinking ahead about when future issues might arise that get in the way of my training. So today I slipped in a 30 minute swim, just in case I have issues later in the week. Later in the evening a 45 minute bike (on one of the spinning bikes in the gym) followed by a 3o minute run with Jennifer again. Nothing dramatic to report just steady stuff.

On the road again....and no pull buoy

Flew off early today to Zurich, so it will be creative training again. The biggest challenge is dovetailing the schedule around the client needs at meals etc. In the past I have skipped meals to train but I have began to realise how important getting the correct nutrition is and so have tried to stick to a good eating regime. 60 mins in the pool and the scoop is that I left the pull buoy at home, so although I didn’t do the distance I would normally do, it was all on my own steam with the buoyancy assistance of the pull buoy. This gets me closer to the goal of being able to do the full ironman distance without the buoyancy assistance of the wetsuit should the need arise. This evening had a great run with Jennifer from work, a steady pace around the lake with no dramas.

Am I still training for an ironman?

The past week has been an opportunity to specifically recover with some light running whilst away on vacation. However, although I know that my fitness will not have been dramatically affected, I have still struggled with the idea that this is ok. The question keeps coming back, in not being on a bike or swimming for the past week, have I lost valuable gains that I have made over the past few months. Logically I know that this thinking is irrational but I cant help the nagging at the back of my mind that until I have completed a long and demanding bike ride successfully in this weeks training it wont feel like I am training for an ironman.  

Bending time

We flew back from Tokyo this morning. We left at 11am and arrived back home by 4pm following an eleven hour flight. This meant that I had the time to do some training but very little energy. I managed a 60 minute bike ride but that was it. The weather was fine so getting out for the first time this year in cycle shorts was really welcome. The wind was up and I think that combined with my fatigue meant a pretty slow ride covering perhaps only 15 miles. However, all things considered I am happy.

Back to Tokyo

Our final day in Japan and this evening an early evening run once again out and back over one hour. This evening was warm and pleasant running, In Japan I have had to be careful of crossing the roads when the pedestrian signal is showing red. Apparently the police take it very seriously and so it has been frustrating to have to stand on the many junctions waiting for the signal to allow you to cross. Quite a few times I have just run across the road when it has been clear, and have noticed the surprised looks from the locals

This week has been great and a welcome break from the bike and pool but I am keen to get back into the training schedule.

Another late one

Out at 10pm again for another out and back run in Kyoto, one hour in total. It is interesting leaving the more commercial parts of cities and radiating outwards towards the suburbs and all of the weird and wonderful sights that entails. The run was fine with no major issues. I have noticed that when setting off my heart rate shoots up to 162-4 for the first 5-7 minutes or so and then settling down to between 133 and 138. I really need to investigate this further, I believe it may have something to do with initially working from the anaerobic fuel system before my body switches to aerobic

A dutiful run...maybe "hai" fever

After a great day in the sunshine I was feeling better. The skye was blue and following a morning in the mountains (with a view of Fuji in the distance) we headed for Kyoto. After settling in and some food I headed out at 10 for a run, really dull. Out for half an hour along a very boring road then back along the same road to make up the hour. Although it felt like a duty not a run I was pleased that my moderate wheeze was not impeding my running, perhaps it is just Japanese "hai" fever!!

Wet through with a wheezy chest. No run today

Today we have travelled to Hakone which is a National Park outside of Tokyo. We spent the morning traveling and when arrived we had a 3 hour wait before we could get into the traditional inn that was our accommodation for the night.  It rained very hard and we were soaked through. A wheezy cough that felt like it was getting worse convinced me that I shouldn't run. I have never heard rain like it, throughout the night it was unrelenting and I was very pleased that I hadn't risked it.  

River run

It was great to get out and run today, we had a great day in Tokyo looking at sights. Our hotel isn't too far from the river and so this evening I took an hour out to run. A moderate pace keeping my heart rate in check. It was interesting to see the evening routines of the various cities that I have visited. The homeless creating their shelters, couples out walking and in Tokyo large groups of people having full monty picnics on any piece of grass they can find.

Recovery day in the land of the rising sun

I am on a weeks holiday this week with Ollie (my son) and we have arrived in Tokyo. It is quite a good opportunity to take my foot off the gas and have a real recovery week. Maybe some running and stretching but no swim and no bike. At the back of ,my mind I have a nagging concern about missing almost a weeks training but I am sure it wont be the end of the world. Up until now I have completed all of the sessions that were in the program.

Tidy

Up early for a swift 30 mins high cadence spin on the bike followed by a 75 minute run. Damp but not unpleasant this morning, the usual suspects out running and I was very disciplined with my heart rate keeping to less that 138 with the exception of a 5 minute interval at 152. Nice to get the session completed early. Plenty of recovery time before the weeks schedule starts again.

I bonked

Out on the bike fopr a 3hr bike ride followed by a 30 minute run today. As a way of calibrating my performance I cycled to the Windsor Triathlon course and timed myself. The course is 25 miles and I managed it in around 1hr 28 minutes, it is a great course with pleanty of long stretches where I can get into the aero position. The stretch through Windsor Great Park is spectacular. Unfortunately however I think I either: didnt fuel properly and or I was at too a higher heart rate. I made it all the way home completeing 48 miles then set off on a 30 minute run. The second fifteen minutes was hell and at 25 minutes I had nothing left in the tank. I think this is called bonking. I had to walk a few yards then run for the final 5 minutes, I felt awful. Big lesson for me today. Fueling strategy and check my heart rate, leave my ego for race days.  

Is this wise?

It is Good Friday and the family have a great deal planned so in order to complete my sessions I have to be in the pool again first thing. Less than 7 hours since my last swim yesterday. I am begining to permenantly smell of chlorine. A solid enough session but definately weary from last night. A pretty crowded pool also meant that things were slower and in the time I only managed 100 lengths. After a spot of breakfast and some time (not enough) for digestion I was off for an hours run. Nothing to report just a solid session apart for the criticism from my breakfast..  On reflection craming the 4 x one hour training sessions into less than 24 hours is perhaps overdoing it.

Both sessions against the odds

An early meeting with a client prevented an early swim and so it was tricky to get both sessions in today. A crafty lunchtime hour on the bike however, enabled me to then swim late this evening. 10 pm in a very quiet pool with a solid 60 minutes before the pool was closed.  I find the late sessions more difficult that the early ones, setting out when most sane people are thinking of heading off to bed is a challenge At the back of my mind also was the question of recovery before the next session first thing on Friday.