WEEK 15

Molly Chasing Seagulls after her run.View from Applecross towards City

The weather has certainly improved although I have continued to avoid the rain and have rested when I have felt lethargic. Still a tinge of guilt when I miss sessions but the realization is that Ironman training is an endurance sport and one session doesn't make the athlete.many small steps do. What I cannot make up for is the lack of rest and the sedentary nature of work and hours or sitting . The ideal training regime is really a part time work load and spare hours to rest , have multiple massages and specific coaching sessions.

the next best thing is to work round these obstacles and train smart . sometimes it is harder with motivation and the lack of similar level athletes to work with. but it is a journey of discovery and mixing up the sessions get the right mix.

The week started :

Monday

I had the option of swim/run but took a rest day .

Tuesday

Ran in the afternoon , easy  8km and in the evening rode on my own after work instead of going to  Cross Fit. It was suppose to be a morning session but with rain I opted to avoid any chance of getting wet. The evening ride was a 40plus minute on high cadence and riding around Nedlands then on to Kings Park and doing 5 rides up and down Lovekin Drive trying desperately to keep at the 70rpm on the big ring. As I progressed down a cog each minute. The legs were screaming and I was struggling by climb 5. A good 39km session.

Wednesday

A rare swim in the morning . The water was nice and warm and I had a 200m free start in PB , 400m in fins and then 200m drills swimming with one arm breathing in the  opposite side , 100 m kicking and then 100 free followed by the main set of 600m with 100 at the start and final 100 at threshold and the rest medium and 2 x 400 m at sub threshold and 200m threshold and 100 recovery .a total 2.7km.

In the afternoon I ran with 5 x 1km efforts at about 4.45 pace and kept it consistent with the rest @6 minute plus pace. Total run 8 km. In the evening a slow 5km.

Thursday

With the rain I stayed away and was planning my cycle in the evening but the rain continued and I was toying with the idea of doing it as a wind trainer session but spent far too long setting up the bike and gave up for another no work out day.

Friday.

Ran in the afternoon with an easy 8km and had a massage at Lunch time . In the evening I swam alone doing 2.4km.A similar set with 200m free , 2 x 400m free and then 800m  and 500m before a 100m recovery for a total of 2.4km .

Saturday

Fight Gone Wrong

A late start for the bike cycling alone and did the river and Shelley loop before riding home. it was hard trying to cycle consistently as the legs were probably a little sore from the massage . (it always hurts) Completed 90km and sat on the back of the South Perth Garland cycle group along Curtin University for a few kilometres of respite in an otherwise  lonely ride.I ran with Molly off the bike for about 4km very easy .

In the afternoon with did Fight Gone Bad (we called it Wrong) . Just 15 minutes but the hardest 15 minutes ever. I improved my score using the same weight of 25kg for the Push Press and the 7kg ball for the wall-balls. (despite the bike ride)

Something is working I hope. I did have an early night as I was dead tired.

Sunday

thankfully was not an early start although I had breakfast with Tim and Trevor and Les at East Perth before starting my bike /run brick session. Not the usual plan but decided to do Thursday's session  to at least try and pick up some speed work. There were a few cyclist about and managed 2.5 loops around Birwood beside the warm up and cool down  from Kings Park to Nedlands. Total 40km and then ran a short 4km easy run . In the afternoon I did a further 5km easy with Molly and decided against a longer run. The legs were feeling reasonably good.

Total:
Swim: 5.1km or 2 hrs
Run: 42km or 4.20hrs
Bike: 6.5hrs or 170kms
Crossfit : 0.5 hrs
Total: 13.2hrs