The Training is over and it is now 2 weeks to Ironman Busselton.The hard yards are done and whilst everyone usually feels there is more that should and could be done it really isn't and if there is it is too late. The preparation this year has been hard in parts but overall in relation to volume I felt I had not put in the big volumes of training I have done in previous years. I have done a lot more specific workouts for speed and I think it has helped and is a start >I haven't been at my optimum weight or fitness as in 2011/12 but I also haven't out in the training I did in those seasons past. It is all about balance and being accepting about it. lots of triathletes fret about training and volume and data but when all is said and done unless it is the difference between a kona slot and not I don't think it matters. Despite a great programme I know my limitations and accept that first and foremost , I wanted a life and balance and fun.Secondly , the plan is to get to the start line injury free and I have done that . Lastly to finish and hopefully finish well. Always go in with a goal time and then plan for contingencies if and when it doesn't go to plan.
The week was great with Monday an easy ride for 1 hour along the river and then a run at lunch at easy pace .On Tuesday , I did another short run and had a break on Wednesday with a massage by Adele at Essential Sports Recovery .Hurts alot but it is good for me. Thursday was an easy 1.5hr ride but turned up for the regular Kings park ride and we did a loop and then some sprints which hurt but only for a short period. Friday I skipped swimming and just rested. On Saturday I rode to Floreat and back home a long the coast .It was a 2 hour ride and felt pretty good even if the average speed was slow. Continually amazes me that there are triathletes doing big mileage a week out from an Ironman.
The highlight of the week was the Mandurah Inter-Club Championships a.I last raced for Eceed in 2013 , skipping it last year . Irondog came along again and whilst it was an early start to the day ...driving down to mandurah for the race , I enjoyed the hit out before Bussso. A chance to test out the gear and transitions.
This year it was a beach start and I started slow and felt really comfortable in the water and finished the swim in under 15 minutes even though my Garmin said I had done 890 m. just 140m more than required. The transition was a little slow as I raced with a Trishort and had to wear my top after the swim . I did bungle the mount on the bike as I had my shoes clipped on and one of them came off.Anyway lost a few minutes. I had a good ride and was about 4 minutes faster than last year .With the run I ran conservatively and managed a 4.50 average and finished strongly with a sprint for 23.49 about 35 seconds slower and oddly about the same time as 2013. (1.19 hr ) Pleased with that and felt good if a little stiff and sore . The Club won the Rob Pickard Trophy for the club with the most points accumulated on the day.A first for Exceed but we were second in relation to best average points for the highest average score. Break Your Limits won it. Whilst not on the training plan it was a good training session.
The last push and no long rides now...Not that I had many and even the runs have not been longish for the past 5 weeks so it will be interesting to see how I go.
I have been tired and the workouts are hard .Like Cross fit they have been short but hard.
Monday .I had my ergo session and skipped the swim. It was a harder session than before.I had a 1 minute warm up then 17 x 1minute at 260plus Watts and 1 minute recovery followed by 10 minutes cool down. Found maintaining 260 for a minute pretty hard but did survive it .
Tuesday I was to tired to run in the morning so I ran at Lunch with a 50 minute run at about 6 mins per km pace .In the evening was a short cross fit session with :
A light warm up then
5 ring pulls
5 pull ups
10 wall balls
20 slamballs x 5 rounds and a short 1 km jog for a cool down.
Wednesday:
I swam at Beatty Park for 2km straight and in the evening did a session on the windtrainer with 1.20 minutes just keeping the wattage at 150 to 180 for 10 minutes before a 5 minute recovery at a slightly lower pace for the whole period.
Thursday
Legs were tired and managed the bike session at Kings Park.We rode round the outside of the Park for a warm up then did 5 climbs up Lovekin at full VO2 pace I didn't quite get there but was struggling with the air needed for the lungs and the HR was at 160 . The to the coffee shop for coffee.
In the evening did my run intervals with3km warm up and then 6 x 800m atconsistent not all out pace .Did struggle because I was coughing a bit from the cool air.I did manage to maintain a 4.47 minutes per km pace so that was pretty consistent all at about 3minutes 50 seconds for each 800 metres. I was pretty tired and by 9pm was asleep.The legs were a little sore as well.
Friday .
Just a swim which I did on my own.
On Saturday I rode round the river with Exceed Tri Club and managed to hang on a little longer before a bunch of us got dropped but still managed to take my turn on th front and felt good on the ride. No real point in any long rides 2-3 weeks out from Busselton and there was more chance of injury/ fatigue than any benefit. Followed by Cross fit in the afternoon.
On Sunday , I did a longish swim with 2.2 km at Cottesloe. Not fast but the swims are helping with me getting into some form of rhythm . This past week I also got another email from WTC
WTC had posted a generic statement about the legacy programme which was confusing so I got onto the Athlete's Liaison Officer and emailed her . I had received an email on 8 July 2015 and the email states as follows:
On Wed, Jul 8, 2015 at 1:26 AM, Ann Parks wrote:
Good Afternoon!
I’ve tried calling/leaving a voicemail for you, but in case you didn’t get it, please continue to read this exciting email:
I wanted to thank you for your dedication to
Ironman and to our sport. I continue to be inspired by the devotion,
determination and incredible spirit displayed by you and other Ironman
athletes. The Ironman Legacy Program was designed with
athletes like you in mind. In return for the commitment you’ve made to
Ironman, we will reward you with the opportunity to race at the Ironman
World Championship. Although you were not selected for the 2015 program,
I can guarantee your selection for the 2016
program if you simply maintain your eligibility by following the three
steps below:
1)You will need to complete an Ironman race in 2015
2)You will need to register for an Ironman race in 2016 3)You will need to re-apply to the Legacy program after it opens in October of 2015
If you have any questions about your status or the
process for securing eligibility in 2016, please let me know. Thank you
again for your loyalty.
She confirmed that the above remains correct in so far as I comply with the requirements .I have to finish Busselton and register for 2016 and complete the application . So it is just staying healthy and getting through IMWA in one piece and hopefully I get the invite next year.
.
I don't think Irondog can take any more Ironman training programs.
This week was a full on week but the long ride is now dropping off.
I have had a good week of training and other than the usual aches and pains I have come off without any injuries and major issues. The Mandurah 70.3 was on 8 November and whilst I have raced it in the past as a lead up race into Busso , this year and last I have skipped it.
My Monday has been the same and I did the ergo session with again 15 x 1minues at 230 plus wattage.Low for many but pretty hard for me . I swam at Beatty Park and did a 2km swim .
Tuesday , a run for 1 hour and kept at about a 6 minute per km pace and felt good. In the evening I got to cross fit late but had a session with
1min arap push press 40kg ,
1min arap squats , 1 min row ,
1min cleans ,
1 min row ,
1 min recovery repeated 3 times.
Short session but really got the HR up high.
Wednesday , I was supposed to ride and swim but took a rest day .
Thursday , The usual bike session at King's Park and Nedlands and then run session at Yokine with Katey . 3 Km warm up and then I ran 200, 400, 600 and 800 x 2 and then 200 and 400m x 2 before a cool down jog. Pace was the same as last week .
Friday , work meant I missed the swim session . Saturday last long ride of 4 hours . I rode from home and then met up with the Exceed group and rode round the River with them . the group broke up at Leighton's Beach . I did 15 minute efforts or as close as along the way . Stopped after Shelley to fill my bidons so I got dropped by the remaining group and made my way back then had a drink at the Cafe and rode for another hour to finish with 93kms. I ran off the bike for 30 minutes .It was a hot day with the temperature at 38-39 degrees .Others were doing far longer sessions and I was glad I only had a 4.5 hr session.
In the afternoon I went for cross fit and we did a short session with the heat .I did 1 push jerk, 1 clean , 1 squat and 1 crunch , then 2 increasing till I did 7 repeats and repeated that again. Long Day of training but the last longish ride .
On Sunday , I rode to Cottesloe with the legs still sore and then swam on my own for about 40 minutes before swimming with Les and Trevor for a short session between the groynes .Finished up with a 2km swim and then after coffee at Daisies rode home .
Smooth - Santana ...Summer is here Countdown to Busselton Ironman WA ...Looks like a hot one
Post Bike walk on Saturday
Week 11 was a good week because it was an easy week and other than the week in Singapore , is the only one in the program. It still had about 14 hours but I ended up doing 10 and skipping the swimming for the week .(Not a fan of swimming presently )
Monday a rest day so great just doing nothing for a change. Tuesday an easy run and ride just keeping it slow and easy . Wednesday I was due to just do an easy swim session but work and life just got in the way Thursday I rode alone around Kings park and Nedlands rather than in the group and in the evening had the usual interval session with 12 x 400m after the usual warm up . Hard paced and managed about 1.34 to 2.08 minutes per 400m varying in pace from easy to fast.
Cross Fit on my own
Friday another non swim day as I just did not make the swim session .Saturday I had an easy ride with the Exceed group round the river and ended up doing 90km and 4 hours . In the arvo was cross fit which I did on my own with 50 squats, 40 sit ups, 30 push ups , 20 triceps dip , 10 pull ups repeated 5 times . Sunday I had a rest day . Glad for the break and did unfortunately skip a number of sessions but found the rest and change of pace good. It hasn't been too hard a programme but balancing everything has been and I was glad to be able to just not get too stressed about having to keep every session.
Week12 was back to a full week of training .The week was similar with a swim session I did on my own at Beatty park swimming 2km straight and then in the evening an ergo session with 15 x 1 minutes at 230 plus watts or more.Which i managed but found pretty hard and I will just have to keep working on improving the wattage as I go along next year .
Tuesday , a run in the morning with 12km and managed to keep the pace about 5.50 minutes per km , which is about what I think I can manage on the run .Have been pretty slow in the mornings possibly as I am still recovering from the ergo session. In the evening cross fit with :
7 Cleans
7 thruster squats
7 jump bar push ups
5 rounds
Wednesday: I did another wind trainer session of 1.20 and missed the swim session. Thursday , rode with Hall Cycling at Kings park and we did roll throughs and some speed work at Kings Park . In the evening I ran on my own at Yokine and after the 15 minute warm up did a ladder set of 200, 400 , 600 ,800 and 1km and then back to 1km , 800. 600 , 400, and 200m in reverse at fast . Then a short cool down .
Friday swam in the evening and managed 2.7km with some sets in Flippers and the main set was 10 x 100m fast .
Saturday , rode to the Narrows bridge for the Exceed ride round the river and then I was going to go down the Freeway bikepath on my own.Unfortunately the group was too fast and so I got dropped at the University and ended up riding on my own round the river and then down the bike path .Unfortunately I got a bee sting again and a puncture .long day with 130kms .I ran off the bike with Molly so was a bit slow for about 17 minutes.In the afternoon Cross fit with a hard and fast session of:
30 Deadlifts 30kg
30 calories row
30 Overhead squat with 15kg bar
then 20 reps and then
30 reps again
Sorrento beach swim
Sunday , did a very slow Ocean swim at Sorrento .Wasn't choppy but still finding my rhythm in the ocean.
It is now 4 weeks to Busselton and 2 more weeks before Taper and one last long ride. There are lots of athletes doing lots more but I find this is about the level of training that suits me.
