WEEK 2

The training has started .

Monday after the long run on Sunday was a rest day . Tuesday I ran at lunch time doing an interval session on the tread mill with 11 x 200m and a distance of 7km and in the evening a cross fit session comprising:

Tuesday's session

I rode to the session and then home so the legs had a good work out although riding home in the dark even with lights is a tricky proposition on Perth Roads.

Wednesday , my first pool session in quite a few months. I chose the right day. As I rode to the pool at 5.20am , it started to rain. I was wet and then had a 1 hour swim session. I managed to keep up but found I had lost a lot of swim fitness. Total swum 2.2km. At lunch time another 6km session on the tread mill and in the evening it was a Bike watt session with Peter Turnbull from CRT. 
A 45 minute session with a 16 minute warm up and then 5 x 15 sec @ 120 cadence and near maximum threshold then 1.45 minutes at 80-90 RPM between . Followed by 6 minute recovery and then 5 x 10secs @ maximum threshold and then 1.50 minutes at 80-90 RPM and then 3 minutes recovery.

Thursday , it was wet in the morning and gave riding a miss and only had my cross fit session and a chiropractic session trying to get the neck and left shoulder sorted out .

Friday , I ran after work .It was 11km and just 2-3 runners along the foreshore to UWA with a light drizzle .Then visited a friend at hospital and home. All the runs have been slow but steady .managed to do the 11km in about 1.06 hr.On Saturday with the wet weather I has a 2 hour wind trainer session watching the Ironman Championship and a hills climbing DVD so it was a hard session on the bike. In the afternoon it was cross fit with 50 minutes of weights and managed a PB for the snatch at 40kgs.

Sunday , I ran from home and did a slow 22.5km run to the city and back and in the evening ran with Molly for a further 5.5kms in the rain again.

Felt pretty tired from the run as the legs were heavy from Saturdays cross fit and ride but they felt OK the next day.Its only week 2 in a very long and slow build so I am happy to not push too hard at present. There is a lot to be said about building that discipline of getting into the routine . ( see Craig Alexander's Q & A at his recent camp in March )

Weight is now 77.5kgs
swim : 1 hr or 2.2 km
bike: 4.5hrs or 135km
run :  5.5 hrs or 52km
cross fit : 3 hrs

Week 1

Saturday's MTB ride on the Railway Heritage Trail to Mundaring

Here begins the preparation for base training and generally just getting fit before the real training begins for Ironman WA.

Lots of running and riding and a little of swimming just to get back to feeling comfortable in the water .

The week began with a run at lunch time 6.5km on the treadmill with 12 x 200m @12kph and the rest easy at 10kph. In the evening  I had an easy run of 4 km and  I had my watt bike session at North Perth alone in a garage doing 1 minute @300plus watts and then 3 minute recovery x 6 with  a warm up and cool down . The sessions whilst short are pretty hard.

Tuesday I just ran again at Lunchtime and in the evening a total of 10km . On Wednesday , a run in the evening and lunchtime for a total of 11km .On Thursday , I had a chiropractic session and then cross fit . With everyone away at Northface , there were just four of us and lots of upper body work .The shoulders were really sore for 3 days after that session.

Friday was a rest day . On Saturday , took my new mountain bike out in the afternoon for a ride along the Railway heritage trail to Mundaring but got a little lost and had to come back the same way .rode 50km .

The tracks were wet from the rain and there was a quiet stillness about at the start

On Sunday , started late morning but managed to get to Helena Valley primary school and the start of the King of the Mountain course. I somehow took a wrong turn and ended up in Piece Brook valley not far from Mundaring Weir Road. I ran back after an 1.10 and did I presume about 22km in 2.20 hr. lots of hills and a few were just took slippery to run up . I got wet on the way back and ran into some 4wheel drivers trying to descend a steep of the rack I was on. The great line was one of the guys asked me where my car was ? I ran pretty slow and I was tired but the legs held up well. No issues the next day so the pace was about right .  I read a good article about Train By Feel by By Matt Fitzgerald .

The week was a good start. I weigh 79.2kgs.Over 9kgs more than my race weight . So it is going to be a long winter of getting the weight down .

Total training;
No swimming
Running : 52 km / 5.5hrs
cycling: watt bike 22.5 km / 45mins
               MTB 50km/3hrs
crossfit : 1 hr
total: 11 hrs

What Next

What NEXT ?

After Ironman Melbourne , I had a very casual recovery and preparation for the Busselton Half. Work and just a lack of focus added to the lack of preparation and more importantly desire.

Like everything in life , preparation and desire are critical ingredients to "winning". What that is may be achieving a Personal best or a goal in the race. That has waxed and waned over the years and going into Busselton I was out to just finish and enjoy myself. My cross fit sessions helped me survive but having just one ride in the hills and a few short rides, one run and one swim just was not a recipe for a fast let alone a decent race. I also rode my new Road bike a Cannondale frame  . It is a lot lighter but I did not have a TT setup .

The year so far has been a realization of where effort vs outcome are very closely a linear line on a graph with a rapid decreasing return with effort and time.

Busselton 70.3 2013

Ultimately , this year that balance meant less training and the results show.With the lack of training and preparation , weight has slowly crept up and I am now 9 kgs from my ideal race weight. Unfortunately , training will start soon even with more than 6 months to Ironman WA 2014.

Hopefully , the plan all comes together with more concerted planning and a more organised training timetable , not necessarily more hours of training. No PBs yet and the slow return after 2011 season is just starting .I feel I will get there , but it will be a slow meandering journey of self discovery , lots of mistakes and most of all fun . The lesson learnt after losing my way , is that the desire and love of the sport is critical , lose it and burn out and no amount of training will make up for it.

There are times when life and priorities will interrupt the process. Bouncing back and starting over is what makes for the mental character needed in endurance sport.

But sometimes stopping to smell the roses is just refreshing .( as my dog , Molly , constantly reminds me )