Second week of training stats and I topped the numbers from week one. Whether big numbers along are a good thing is another matter altogether. Still it was a solid week with some progress made, particularly towards race weight. I’m pretty happy with how things are going with the odd caveat of course, but mainly I’m glad to feel like I’m heading back to peak condition.
I suppose I should also use this post to mention it’s my birthday today. Thirty-four years old, unshaven, a mohican and not had a proper job in two years! To celebrate I’ll be off to the lake for a swim, followed by a testing threshold session on the A4 and finally a decent run in the afternoon. I’m even going to allow myself a little bit of carbs today! Nothing crazy mind you there’s a goal weight to aim for after all.
Apart from becoming an old(er) man the other excitement this week is an unexpected trip to Lanzarote. My friend Roger Canham e-mailed me offering a free bed at La Santa for the week. How could I resist? Any debate on whether to go or not was short lived and I’d soon booked some flights and started making plans. Should make for interesting stats next week.
The numbers
| Time (hours) | Distance (km) | Distance (miles) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swim | 5.5 | 16.3 | 10.2 |
| Bike | 22 | 595 | 371 |
| Run | 7.5 | 91 | 57 |
| Gym | 2 | ||
| Totals | 37 | 702.3 | 438.2 |
The good
All three sports saw an increase in volume last week admittedly only slight in the case of swimming. The important one is the 20km extra running this week. I’ll admit it proved tough to hit that volume with everything else going on, but I made it and my legs still work. There were one or two stand out sessions in the week too. The benefits of being lighter seem to be kicking in as I ran a harder aerobic session at my fastest pace in months.
Similarly in the water I’m starting to feel good again and I’m back up to my previous pace. Great because it gives me something to work from. Having rejoined my local Masters squad it was fun to do some hard sprint efforts with loads of rest for a change. Something I may incorporate a bit more of into my own training.
The bad
Bike volume is there and I can ride all day (on little to no food too), but at the moment it’s all very easy. There’s a notable reduction in effort over my training period in Lanzarote. It’s not that I’m unable to ride that hard, but rather I don’t consistently do so during a session.
Mostly I’m fine with that at this point in time. I’m choosing to keep ride feeding as low as possible and to keep riding relatively easy. The benefit has been I’m better able to do the hard work I need on the run right now. It would be nice to mix in a session or two that’s a bit tougher on the bike. Hopefully the impending first of many weekly threshold sessions will help there.
There’s also a little bit of tightness in my legs that worries me. It’s nothing too significant and I’ve felt this before, but the location coincides with the one time I’ve had shin splints. Any discomfort there always puts me a little more on edge than it should. Definitely getting time for another massage with The Tri Touch.
Thoughts
Overall happy with the week. A lot of long and relatively easy training, but that’s where I want to be. I’m getting stronger running which was the focus of the next few months after all. I’d like to work towards having a few more quality bike sessions in there with the running. Hopefully a trip to Lanza will help with that, there’s no easy riding over there.
The trip should also help me hit the next weeks running goal. Warm weather (which we’ve been enjoying here too) and some superb trails right out the door from La Santa should get me out on the road. Looking forward to the 10K loop up into the hills once again.
Finally a link to a great piece over on Endurance Corner. Gordo sums up the points he picked up from the top athletes at their recent camp. Lots of interesting thoughts and ideas to take on board. I often think of a comment made by Gordo about aiming for 5 hours of aerobic exercise per day as a pro. I’ve managed to average that, but haven’t hit it every day in a week. Another mini-goal!
Ironman Training Library
From nutrition to pacing - a collection of CoachCox blog posts focused specifically on Ironman training and racing.
