Saturday I planned a big ride, some 85 miles from home to my brother-in-laws in Walton On Thames, Surrey. I planned it on a website called www.ridewithgps.com an excellent resource if you have a GPS bike computer like the Gramin Edge 800.
So all was going well until mile 55 around Addlestone, Surrey when the rear mech hanger came off. Now these things are meant to break if you crash on the drive side, this hadnt broken, it just stripped its threads and the bolts holding it to the rear dropouts came away.
After some swearing, cursing and even a visit to a bike shop that was a mile from my breakdown I got it fixed at Sigma Sport in Kingston in the end so all's well that ends well.
Sunday I was out and riding around Surrey, up and over Box Hill.
In a way this was a blessing in disguise, what if this happend in the race itself? Game over.
What if it happened on holiday in Portugal? Likelehood of tracking down a spare? None to zero.
This week to make up for missing a few hours I'm taking Thursday afternoon off to put in some hilly miles that I missed Saturday.
The heatwave continues, training continues regardless, cycling in this heat I can deal with, running for 2 plus hours in 25-34 degree heat is becoming rather tiresome & boy is it tiring.
On the plus side, my stats since the start of the Fink programme are looking impressive, especially swimming, now well over 100 miles swum so far & still about 7 weeks to go so at least another 60km to swim before the day!
Tuesday 23 July 2013
Tuesday 16 July 2013
Half Ironman Sunday 14th July - Marlow
So the first big test arrives, a Half Ironman 70.3 race.
The week prior to the race I spent in the United States on business, luckily timings worked well as I was tapering to this race so no big volumes this week, I found a pool to swim in that wasnt full of fat Americans, the YMCA at Hackensack & it even opened at 0530 as well. $18 to swim in cool clean water in a 23 metre pool was great as the heat & humidity outside was debilitating. I arrived in NY around midnight Saturday, at 0600 Sunday morning I was out running 2 hours in 34 degrees & 130% humidity.
The heat was incredibly debilitating, thankfully Wednesdays Brick session was done in an air conditioned gym and Thursdays run was again done in 30+ degrees & 120+% humidity, hardcore!
Race day Sunday 14th July
A beautiful English summers day beckons, it's 7am I'm treading water in the Thames waiting for the off. The horn sounds and 1.9 km awaits. The washing machine is on full speed, arms crashing into other body parts, kicks in the face & head, thrashing the water to a foam, a few minutes go by & I settle into a rythm and try and draft another swimmer. The turn point comes around quickly, still a few swimmers around me at the turn, I spot swimmers ahead of me & I can see swimmers still swimming upstream 3-400 metres behind me so I'm not last. I can see the finish, I pick up the cadence & exit the water in 33 minutes. My best ever 1.9km by a long way, into transition.
On the bike and its a climb out of Marlow onto the Henley road for a 2.5 lap 56 mile bike course, only 2 hills, well 1 hill you ascend twice, its not steep just a long draggy climb for 3 miles. The roads are in shit state, potholed and rough as anything, I see lots of people punctured & a few walking bikes back to the start as they have destroyed their tubeless tyres.
Bike course uneventful for me and I complete in 2:51, into transition for the change to run.
The run course is 4 x 5 km laps, by now the temperature is into the 30s, 2 laps in and I see a lot of people suffering on the run course, also still a lot of people finishing the bike leg, even some people on TT bikes and pointy helmets, always nice to beat moneyed triathletes! Lap 4 done & into the finish chute, total time 5 hrs 10 minutes, my half marathon time was 1 hr 40 mins. Mentally I'd set a target of 6 hours, I smashed it.
The week prior to the race I spent in the United States on business, luckily timings worked well as I was tapering to this race so no big volumes this week, I found a pool to swim in that wasnt full of fat Americans, the YMCA at Hackensack & it even opened at 0530 as well. $18 to swim in cool clean water in a 23 metre pool was great as the heat & humidity outside was debilitating. I arrived in NY around midnight Saturday, at 0600 Sunday morning I was out running 2 hours in 34 degrees & 130% humidity.
The heat was incredibly debilitating, thankfully Wednesdays Brick session was done in an air conditioned gym and Thursdays run was again done in 30+ degrees & 120+% humidity, hardcore!
Race day Sunday 14th July
A beautiful English summers day beckons, it's 7am I'm treading water in the Thames waiting for the off. The horn sounds and 1.9 km awaits. The washing machine is on full speed, arms crashing into other body parts, kicks in the face & head, thrashing the water to a foam, a few minutes go by & I settle into a rythm and try and draft another swimmer. The turn point comes around quickly, still a few swimmers around me at the turn, I spot swimmers ahead of me & I can see swimmers still swimming upstream 3-400 metres behind me so I'm not last. I can see the finish, I pick up the cadence & exit the water in 33 minutes. My best ever 1.9km by a long way, into transition.
On the bike and its a climb out of Marlow onto the Henley road for a 2.5 lap 56 mile bike course, only 2 hills, well 1 hill you ascend twice, its not steep just a long draggy climb for 3 miles. The roads are in shit state, potholed and rough as anything, I see lots of people punctured & a few walking bikes back to the start as they have destroyed their tubeless tyres.
Bike course uneventful for me and I complete in 2:51, into transition for the change to run.
The run course is 4 x 5 km laps, by now the temperature is into the 30s, 2 laps in and I see a lot of people suffering on the run course, also still a lot of people finishing the bike leg, even some people on TT bikes and pointy helmets, always nice to beat moneyed triathletes! Lap 4 done & into the finish chute, total time 5 hrs 10 minutes, my half marathon time was 1 hr 40 mins. Mentally I'd set a target of 6 hours, I smashed it.
Friday 28 June 2013
Week 20 - Time for an update!
Well what can I say, sorry for the non blogging the last month or so, life just passed me by.
So here I am almost 20 weeks through the 30 week plan.
Here's a few headline statistics.
Swim - 152 kms
Cycle - 1493 miles
Run - 488 miles
In those 20 weeks I have missed 1 day of training through illness (food poisoning) so I've been really very lucky to avoid injury & illness overall throughout the 5 months or so. Next week begins the final run for home, 10 weeks of 'peak' phase training, volumes & intensity goes up again, swimming distances go up to 10.5 km a week from 9 & the volume of Zone 4 (anaerobic) work goes up to around 20% of the total.
There's also a half Ironman to look forward to in a few weeks time at Marlow with F3 Events.
On the subject of races, I raced the Toshiba Windsor Triathlon a few weeks ago, its an Olympic distance race so 1.5 km swim in the Thames, 42km cycle & a 10km run. Finished in a respectable 2hrs 34 mins placing 55th in my age group, not too shabby for an old git. In the grand scheme of things an Olympic distance race means nothing in terms of an Ironman distance race though! Just good practice at transition & a good open water swim practice.
Here's me on lap 1 of the run, looking and feeling fresh!
Tuesday 2 April 2013
Week 7 - Sunshine at last
The highlight of the week had to be the appearance of the sun for most of the week which meant cycling and running was all conducted outdoors. The fact that the cold East wind is still blowing hard meant temperatures remain unseasonably low, I mean really low, like January low.
The dry weather meant the Venge got used again for just the second time, a 40 mile ride on Saturday but sadly that ended with a minor niggly fault in that the front mech stopped working due to a loose or faulty connection somewhere so the bike has gone back to Specialized to be sorted, hopefully I will have it back tomorrow fixed and ready to go.
Swimming is improving in terms of the mere fact I feel so much stronger in the water, not quicker just stronger and much less tired after 2500 - 3000 metres of ploughing up and down the pool. Clearly my stamina is growing after coving some 35 kilometres in the past 7 weeks at an average of 5 km a week, that will move to around 9 km a week in weeks 11-20, something I never thought I could achieve 7 weeks ago.
Running is also noticeably improving just merely by the fact I have to work so much harder to get in and stay in HR zone 2 now, consequently distances covered in the 60 -75 minute run sessions are creeping up to over 8 miles in 75 minutes.
Week 8 will be great as I'm taking the week off work, I can train whenever I want but will be aiming to get it all done early and have the rest of the day with my family wherever I can.
The dry weather meant the Venge got used again for just the second time, a 40 mile ride on Saturday but sadly that ended with a minor niggly fault in that the front mech stopped working due to a loose or faulty connection somewhere so the bike has gone back to Specialized to be sorted, hopefully I will have it back tomorrow fixed and ready to go.
Swimming is improving in terms of the mere fact I feel so much stronger in the water, not quicker just stronger and much less tired after 2500 - 3000 metres of ploughing up and down the pool. Clearly my stamina is growing after coving some 35 kilometres in the past 7 weeks at an average of 5 km a week, that will move to around 9 km a week in weeks 11-20, something I never thought I could achieve 7 weeks ago.
Running is also noticeably improving just merely by the fact I have to work so much harder to get in and stay in HR zone 2 now, consequently distances covered in the 60 -75 minute run sessions are creeping up to over 8 miles in 75 minutes.
Week 8 will be great as I'm taking the week off work, I can train whenever I want but will be aiming to get it all done early and have the rest of the day with my family wherever I can.
Monday 25 March 2013
Another week done
Week 6 ended with the 2 coldest days for outdoor training weve had so far. The forscast for Saturday was rain in the morning & drying out in the afternoon, so the plan was to do the long ride Saturday afternoon, in the dry.
I awoke Saturday morning to the sound of silence, no sound of water trickling off roofs, no sound of rain lashing windows. Hmmm things are looking up maybe I can get a dry ride in this morning? I threw back the curtains to be met with the glare of bright white snow on the ground and thick snow falling heavily & constantly.
Hey ho, train hard, fight easy and all that. On with the thermals & out on the hybrid for 2 hours off & on road, even up and over Walbury Hill. The added weight of the hybrid & the extra width of the tyres made progress slower than normal, the biting wind & snow made the ride rather uncomfortable, but it was done & I had the rest of the day to do other stuff.
Sunday I was up early, it's my birthday but I'm out doing my long run at 8am, back home by 10 past 9 from the sub zero conditions in time for a family breakfast & presents including 2 Triathlon books & a Garmin cadence & speed sensor, how thoughtful of my family!
Lunch out with parents & sisters family, the rest of Sunday was spent vegetating in front of the TV with a movie, log burner on full & a few glasses of wine.
There has to be an end to this weather, sadly it doesn't look to be coming soon, the icy grip looks set to remain for at least another 10 days, spoiling yet another holiday weekend coming up.
I awoke Saturday morning to the sound of silence, no sound of water trickling off roofs, no sound of rain lashing windows. Hmmm things are looking up maybe I can get a dry ride in this morning? I threw back the curtains to be met with the glare of bright white snow on the ground and thick snow falling heavily & constantly.
Hey ho, train hard, fight easy and all that. On with the thermals & out on the hybrid for 2 hours off & on road, even up and over Walbury Hill. The added weight of the hybrid & the extra width of the tyres made progress slower than normal, the biting wind & snow made the ride rather uncomfortable, but it was done & I had the rest of the day to do other stuff.
Sunday I was up early, it's my birthday but I'm out doing my long run at 8am, back home by 10 past 9 from the sub zero conditions in time for a family breakfast & presents including 2 Triathlon books & a Garmin cadence & speed sensor, how thoughtful of my family!
Lunch out with parents & sisters family, the rest of Sunday was spent vegetating in front of the TV with a movie, log burner on full & a few glasses of wine.
There has to be an end to this weather, sadly it doesn't look to be coming soon, the icy grip looks set to remain for at least another 10 days, spoiling yet another holiday weekend coming up.
Wednesday 20 March 2013
Week 6
Monday was the usual rest day.
Tuesday started off well after dropping kids at school I headed to the pool for the swim session which just seemed to fly by, I also felt stronger in the water again, it's strange but I swear I could feel the water better today and was able to glide easier rather than fight the water, weird.
Tuesdays swim was as follows.
300m warm up
5 x 100m Drills
12 x 100 @ 20 secs
5 x 100m Drills
200m cool down
2500 metres total.
In the afternoon an hour run in HR zone 2 on Greenham Common.
Wednesday was spent in London and upon arriving home I got the turbo trainer out of the garage and sat in the kitchen in front of the best of Red Nose Day on BBC iPlayer for 45 minutes in HR Zone 2 followed by a quick change and out for 15 minutes running on Greenham Common, loving all this outdoor stuff and it was still daylight just.
Slight worry about the fact I have either started going down with a cold or maybe an allergy, will see what develops....................
Tuesday started off well after dropping kids at school I headed to the pool for the swim session which just seemed to fly by, I also felt stronger in the water again, it's strange but I swear I could feel the water better today and was able to glide easier rather than fight the water, weird.
Tuesdays swim was as follows.
300m warm up
5 x 100m Drills
12 x 100 @ 20 secs
5 x 100m Drills
200m cool down
2500 metres total.
In the afternoon an hour run in HR zone 2 on Greenham Common.
Wednesday was spent in London and upon arriving home I got the turbo trainer out of the garage and sat in the kitchen in front of the best of Red Nose Day on BBC iPlayer for 45 minutes in HR Zone 2 followed by a quick change and out for 15 minutes running on Greenham Common, loving all this outdoor stuff and it was still daylight just.
Slight worry about the fact I have either started going down with a cold or maybe an allergy, will see what develops....................
Sunday 17 March 2013
End of Week 5
So Friday was a straightforward enough day, 1 hour run in HR Zone 2, duly completed out on Greenham Common in the miserable drizzle that's arrived, cold as well. Soaked to the skin it was an uneventful afternoon with the relief of central heating to come back to.
Saturday was a busy family day, my son was playing Judo in a national judo competition in High Wycombe (he won a Bronze Medal to go with last years Silver), my daughter needed taking to a ballet lesson, so opted to do the latter & stuck the bike in the boot. The weather was dreadful to start with, torrential rain but no wind & I needed to put in 1 hour 45 minutes in HR Zone 2. A completely unknown route for me, I just picked my way across country & ended up in Streetly which is famous for it's hill, which today I avoided. By the time I headed for home, the wind was up & the sun was out & it had stopped raining, several places along the road near Pangbourne were completely flooded & I needed to unclip from pedal & freewheel through the giant puddles to try & keep my feet dry. The slog back along the A4 from Theale was all into a strong headwind which meant controlling heart rate was tough along with trying to maintain a decent forward speed.
5 minutes from home & I have a puncture, I timed myself, this was in the rear tyre & it took me 4 minutes to be up & riding again. Job done, 1hr 45 minutes ride time covering 28 miles through Berkshire.
Sunday, up early get the run out of the way, 1 hour in HR Zone 2, within moments of leaving home it's snowing, heavily & it keeps on snowing throughout the hour I'm running, in fact it only stopped snowing as I write this at around 4pm. Soaked to the skin & very cold it's good to be home again for a decent breakfast & the day is still ahead of me.
Week 5 done, so 1/2 way through the Base phase. Totals to date.
Swim - 25,840 metres so just over 25 km & over 10 hours in the pool
Cycle - 233 miles & 14 hours in the saddle
Run - 106 miles in 15 hours
Saturday was a busy family day, my son was playing Judo in a national judo competition in High Wycombe (he won a Bronze Medal to go with last years Silver), my daughter needed taking to a ballet lesson, so opted to do the latter & stuck the bike in the boot. The weather was dreadful to start with, torrential rain but no wind & I needed to put in 1 hour 45 minutes in HR Zone 2. A completely unknown route for me, I just picked my way across country & ended up in Streetly which is famous for it's hill, which today I avoided. By the time I headed for home, the wind was up & the sun was out & it had stopped raining, several places along the road near Pangbourne were completely flooded & I needed to unclip from pedal & freewheel through the giant puddles to try & keep my feet dry. The slog back along the A4 from Theale was all into a strong headwind which meant controlling heart rate was tough along with trying to maintain a decent forward speed.
5 minutes from home & I have a puncture, I timed myself, this was in the rear tyre & it took me 4 minutes to be up & riding again. Job done, 1hr 45 minutes ride time covering 28 miles through Berkshire.
Sunday, up early get the run out of the way, 1 hour in HR Zone 2, within moments of leaving home it's snowing, heavily & it keeps on snowing throughout the hour I'm running, in fact it only stopped snowing as I write this at around 4pm. Soaked to the skin & very cold it's good to be home again for a decent breakfast & the day is still ahead of me.
Week 5 done, so 1/2 way through the Base phase. Totals to date.
Swim - 25,840 metres so just over 25 km & over 10 hours in the pool
Cycle - 233 miles & 14 hours in the saddle
Run - 106 miles in 15 hours
Wednesday 13 March 2013
Day 30 & 31 Mash up
Tuesday was back to the pool, a quite enjoyable session to be fair, the main set was straightforward & I enjoyed the whole swim, pool temp is still on the high side for my liking but I guess you need to cater for families and young kids in a private health club, if you want cooler water, head for the municipal baths. Or to quote the Comic Strip Presents a Fistfull Of Travellers Cheques.............
Miguel: [complaining to hotel manager] How come there's no soft toilet paper?
Mr. Bastardos: This is the "Hotel Bastardos"! You want the soft toilet paper? You go to the Hotel Gayboy!
Todays swim session looks like this.
300m warm up
8 x 50m drills
1 x 300m @40secs
3 x 200m @30secs
1 x 300m @40secs
8 x 50m drills
200m cooldown
Job done.
A run in the afternoon on Greenham Common, yay outdoors again, beautiful day, to look at, bitterly cold East wind meant temperature barely above freezing with wind chill dragging it down to probably around -5c.
Wednesday, should have been a brick day cycle & run but I need to be in London Thursday so moved Thursdays session to Wednesday & Wednesday to Thursday, it can't hurt at this stage.
Swim was easy to remember, 2500 metres non stop at 75% max effort, job done in 53 minutes.
That leaves the little matter of a 45 minute session at 100+ rpm to be done this evening, maybe in the garage, maybe if I ask nicely my wife will let me do it in the kitchen in front of the iMac with a movie on!
Miguel: [complaining to hotel manager] How come there's no soft toilet paper?
Mr. Bastardos: This is the "Hotel Bastardos"! You want the soft toilet paper? You go to the Hotel Gayboy!
Todays swim session looks like this.
300m warm up
8 x 50m drills
1 x 300m @40secs
3 x 200m @30secs
1 x 300m @40secs
8 x 50m drills
200m cooldown
Job done.
A run in the afternoon on Greenham Common, yay outdoors again, beautiful day, to look at, bitterly cold East wind meant temperature barely above freezing with wind chill dragging it down to probably around -5c.
Wednesday, should have been a brick day cycle & run but I need to be in London Thursday so moved Thursdays session to Wednesday & Wednesday to Thursday, it can't hurt at this stage.
Swim was easy to remember, 2500 metres non stop at 75% max effort, job done in 53 minutes.
That leaves the little matter of a 45 minute session at 100+ rpm to be done this evening, maybe in the garage, maybe if I ask nicely my wife will let me do it in the kitchen in front of the iMac with a movie on!
Monday 11 March 2013
Day 26, 27, 28 & 29
Fridays run that I promised would be outdoors, wasn't, it was miserable all day so I opted for the comfort of the gym and the treadmill, 30 minutes, job done plus a bit of strength training with some free weights.
Saturdays ride was cold, very cold, last weeks glimpse of Spring has well and truly gone away, roads were horrible, wet, muddle and slippery so reverted to the old bike or winter bike as it will now forever be known.
Sunday up early and out running outdoors on Greenham Common, yay! Except it was Arctic out there, barely hovering above zero and with a wind chill of about -10c, lovely. Still 45 minutes in HR Zone 2, job done, home showered and off to Twickenham for the day for England v Italy. Way too many Guiness consumed!
Monday back to work but a rest day, what with going out early Sunday it feels like 2 days off which is great, gives my body lots of chance to recover, repair and grow stronger for the week ahead. Snow for tonight maybe even 6cm being forecast, luckily it's a swim and run session tomorrow so could do the run indoors if need be.
Saturdays ride was cold, very cold, last weeks glimpse of Spring has well and truly gone away, roads were horrible, wet, muddle and slippery so reverted to the old bike or winter bike as it will now forever be known.
Sunday up early and out running outdoors on Greenham Common, yay! Except it was Arctic out there, barely hovering above zero and with a wind chill of about -10c, lovely. Still 45 minutes in HR Zone 2, job done, home showered and off to Twickenham for the day for England v Italy. Way too many Guiness consumed!
Monday back to work but a rest day, what with going out early Sunday it feels like 2 days off which is great, gives my body lots of chance to recover, repair and grow stronger for the week ahead. Snow for tonight maybe even 6cm being forecast, luckily it's a swim and run session tomorrow so could do the run indoors if need be.
Thursday 7 March 2013
Day 24 & 25 Spinning, Running, Swimming & Spinning
Couple of busy days hence no updates.
Yesterday was a gym trip for a 30 minute cycle in HR Zone 2 followed by a 15 minute run on the treadmill in HR Zone 2. I'm looking forward to being able to do the outside on the road & in the light when the daylight comes back our way as we head into Spring, for the forseeable though, this session will be an indoor one. Not a lot to add really, cycling on your own amongst a row of spinning bikes isn't exactly fun, nor is the treadmill but it's all time in the zone that counts.
This morning was a trip to the pool after the school run for a session with drills & a main set of some 1200 metres and covering 2500 metres overall. My left shoulder started to get sore on Tuesday evening, so much so that it woke me in the early hours of Wednesday morning with a dull ache. All seemed OK this morning albeit a little stiff to start with, fingers crossed no long term damage.
Swim done back home to work, then at lunchtime a break and 30 minutes on the turbo trainer spinning at 100+ rpm in HR Zone 1.
Now 3 relatively easy days ahead, a run tomorrow, outside at least, whatever the weather, a ride Saturday for a few hours & running again Sunday before heading to Twickenham for England v Italy.
Some new kit arrived this morning as well, it's all good for morale.
More new toys hopefully arriving in the next few days.............................................
Yesterday was a gym trip for a 30 minute cycle in HR Zone 2 followed by a 15 minute run on the treadmill in HR Zone 2. I'm looking forward to being able to do the outside on the road & in the light when the daylight comes back our way as we head into Spring, for the forseeable though, this session will be an indoor one. Not a lot to add really, cycling on your own amongst a row of spinning bikes isn't exactly fun, nor is the treadmill but it's all time in the zone that counts.
This morning was a trip to the pool after the school run for a session with drills & a main set of some 1200 metres and covering 2500 metres overall. My left shoulder started to get sore on Tuesday evening, so much so that it woke me in the early hours of Wednesday morning with a dull ache. All seemed OK this morning albeit a little stiff to start with, fingers crossed no long term damage.
Swim done back home to work, then at lunchtime a break and 30 minutes on the turbo trainer spinning at 100+ rpm in HR Zone 1.
Now 3 relatively easy days ahead, a run tomorrow, outside at least, whatever the weather, a ride Saturday for a few hours & running again Sunday before heading to Twickenham for England v Italy.
Some new kit arrived this morning as well, it's all good for morale.
SRAM Quick View Mount for Garmin 800 GPS
More new toys hopefully arriving in the next few days.............................................
Tuesday 5 March 2013
Day 23 Swim & Run
Yesterday was a rest day & I took full advantage of it as I was feeling a bit jaded after the Half Marathon on Sunday.
Up early this morning & swimming by 0640 at Nuffield, todays session was the longest so far, 3000 metres in just over the hour. Felt really tired & lethargic to begin with but the last 20 minutes or so I fely much more powerful & my strokes really felt good through the water.
Back home & drop my daughter at school before going back home again to work.
Lunchtime & it's time for a 30 minute run in HR zone 2, it's such a beautiful day out on Greenham Common, no hat, no gloves, probably could & should have run in shorts & a T-Shirt. Another day done.
Up early this morning & swimming by 0640 at Nuffield, todays session was the longest so far, 3000 metres in just over the hour. Felt really tired & lethargic to begin with but the last 20 minutes or so I fely much more powerful & my strokes really felt good through the water.
Back home & drop my daughter at school before going back home again to work.
Lunchtime & it's time for a 30 minute run in HR zone 2, it's such a beautiful day out on Greenham Common, no hat, no gloves, probably could & should have run in shorts & a T-Shirt. Another day done.
Monday 4 March 2013
Day 21 Bath Half Marathon
Early start to get into Bath & parked up before the start of the race, actually turned out pretty easy going, parked up a mile from the race village in the end, the downside being the £8.50 parking charge.
Team Jackie members met up on the Royal Crescent at around 0845 for press interviews & photographs with local press, word was that the team had raised around £75,000 to date, incredible.
It was cold today, even Bath residents were commenting on the fact that Bath rarely has a frost & this morning there was a frost and a temperature of around -2 c.
Race start time was 11am so the main effort now was staying warm before the race started.
Bags dropped off, last minute potty visit & I'm on the start grid for my predicted time of 1:45.
The gun goes off and I'm over the start line withing 2 or 3 minutes & into my stride quickly, the first 3 miles flew by quickly, lots of spectators, lots of noise.
Mile 4.5 and a Lucozade drinks station, grab a bottle down half of it & crack on for the 10km time check 46:22, well ahead of schedule.
Into the second loop and I maintain a good pace passing many runners who are running out of steam at the 10 mile mark. Into the final mile & I can't get the elusive 1:30 but I still cross the line in 1:34:27.
Today Monday is a rest day, legs & hips are a little tight but overall feeling good.
Team Jackie members met up on the Royal Crescent at around 0845 for press interviews & photographs with local press, word was that the team had raised around £75,000 to date, incredible.
It was cold today, even Bath residents were commenting on the fact that Bath rarely has a frost & this morning there was a frost and a temperature of around -2 c.
Race start time was 11am so the main effort now was staying warm before the race started.
Bags dropped off, last minute potty visit & I'm on the start grid for my predicted time of 1:45.
The gun goes off and I'm over the start line withing 2 or 3 minutes & into my stride quickly, the first 3 miles flew by quickly, lots of spectators, lots of noise.
Mile 4.5 and a Lucozade drinks station, grab a bottle down half of it & crack on for the 10km time check 46:22, well ahead of schedule.
Into the second loop and I maintain a good pace passing many runners who are running out of steam at the 10 mile mark. Into the final mile & I can't get the elusive 1:30 but I still cross the line in 1:34:27.
Today Monday is a rest day, legs & hips are a little tight but overall feeling good.
Saturday 2 March 2013
Day 20 Cycle
Out on the Venge for the first time, really noticeable difference between the Venge & my Felt Z6, the Venge just wants to be smashed all day long, it climbs effortlessly on the big ring on hills I'm normally on the small ring for, average speed is up about 2 mph on similar routes, so far, love it, big thumbs up. Plus other cyclists do double takes, it really is a stunning looking machine.
Did a 2 hour ride, should have been 1:45 but hey ho, it was pleasant enough, dry & sunny at times, covered about 34 miles through the Berkshire countryside.
Bike washed & dried, kit bag packed & race kit sorted for Bath Half Marathon tomorrow. The only thing I'm worried about tomorrow is parking in or at this rate somewhere near to the City Of Bath. Bath is a pain in the ass on the best of days and tomorrow there are 12,000 runners + their families & assorted hangers on. Early start as well, up at 6, away and on the road by 0630.
Did a 2 hour ride, should have been 1:45 but hey ho, it was pleasant enough, dry & sunny at times, covered about 34 miles through the Berkshire countryside.
Bike washed & dried, kit bag packed & race kit sorted for Bath Half Marathon tomorrow. The only thing I'm worried about tomorrow is parking in or at this rate somewhere near to the City Of Bath. Bath is a pain in the ass on the best of days and tomorrow there are 12,000 runners + their families & assorted hangers on. Early start as well, up at 6, away and on the road by 0630.
Day 18 & 19 Swimming, Running, Spinning
As expected Thursday was a challenge to get a 1 hour swim & a 45 minute spin session in before having to drive to Kingston again. It didn't happen, I swam the 2500 metres with drills at the pool then had to dash home, pack & drive to Kingston for meetings all day & an overnighter as well.
Thursday evening we had a wine tasting with Graham Mitchell - The Wine Explorer
http://www.thewineexplorer.co.uk
15 of us sat around a table trying some fantastic wines and of course with a tasting you don't actually drink that much.
Friday morning up early & out running in Richmond Park, at 7am most of the traffic gates are still locked shut so the park is quiet apart from cyclists & runners, most of the cyclists seemed to be on nice TT bikes, saw a few Cervelo's whizz by & a few Felt DA's, most if not all of the runners were in their 70s, apart from me of course. As nice as it was at 7am, the weather had other ideas, a thick grey heavy sky let forth a cold penetrating rain that went straight through clothing and sat on your chest reminding you it's not Spring yet.
An hour later I'm back eating a hearty breakfast before more meetings & eventually managing to get away early to beat the traffic & the Kingston one way system.
Back home, I set up the turbo in the kitchen to do my 100+ rpm session for 45 minutes that I missed on Thursday.
Thursday evening we had a wine tasting with Graham Mitchell - The Wine Explorer
http://www.thewineexplorer.co.uk
15 of us sat around a table trying some fantastic wines and of course with a tasting you don't actually drink that much.
Friday morning up early & out running in Richmond Park, at 7am most of the traffic gates are still locked shut so the park is quiet apart from cyclists & runners, most of the cyclists seemed to be on nice TT bikes, saw a few Cervelo's whizz by & a few Felt DA's, most if not all of the runners were in their 70s, apart from me of course. As nice as it was at 7am, the weather had other ideas, a thick grey heavy sky let forth a cold penetrating rain that went straight through clothing and sat on your chest reminding you it's not Spring yet.
An hour later I'm back eating a hearty breakfast before more meetings & eventually managing to get away early to beat the traffic & the Kingston one way system.
Back home, I set up the turbo in the kitchen to do my 100+ rpm session for 45 minutes that I missed on Thursday.
Wednesday 27 February 2013
Day 17 Cycle & Run
Managed to arrange my day so that I could get to the gym reasonably early to do my 'brick' session today, cycle & run.
Into the spinning room, the gym I go to (Nuffield Health Newbury) has converted a squash court into a spinning room, empty, just me and my iPod for 30 minutes in HR Zone 2, job done, sweaty due to the lack of a breeze or any air con actually, into running shoes & upstairs straight onto a treadmill up & running in under 3 minutes.
15 minutes later all done, 45 minutes total for the day, so an easy day relatively speaking.
Breakfast number 2 & into the car for a drive to Kingston on Thames.
3 hours later I'm still on the M3, Highways Agency have closed the motorway for repairs following an earlier accident, no warnings though, no gantry signs, nothing, 3 lanes of traffic all trying to get off at Sunbury & get back on their journeys, carnage.
Some fettling of the bike this evening, need to find a way to secure a pump to the bike without disturbing the lines or the aero flow of the bike, easier said than done.
Into the spinning room, the gym I go to (Nuffield Health Newbury) has converted a squash court into a spinning room, empty, just me and my iPod for 30 minutes in HR Zone 2, job done, sweaty due to the lack of a breeze or any air con actually, into running shoes & upstairs straight onto a treadmill up & running in under 3 minutes.
15 minutes later all done, 45 minutes total for the day, so an easy day relatively speaking.
Breakfast number 2 & into the car for a drive to Kingston on Thames.
3 hours later I'm still on the M3, Highways Agency have closed the motorway for repairs following an earlier accident, no warnings though, no gantry signs, nothing, 3 lanes of traffic all trying to get off at Sunbury & get back on their journeys, carnage.
Some fettling of the bike this evening, need to find a way to secure a pump to the bike without disturbing the lines or the aero flow of the bike, easier said than done.
Tuesday 26 February 2013
Day 16 Swim & Run
After a lovely day off yesterday, up at 0430, in a car to LHR at 0500 & a day in The Hague it was back to normal today. Actually I was home by 1830 and in bed by 2200 so not all bad.
I dropped the kids at school & headed straight to the pool for a swim, todays session was just a straight 2500 metre swim, no drills or rests, just 125 lengths one after the other at about 75% of max. I took full advantage & used pretty much all of the hour, 58 minutes to be precise.
A quick change & back home for a second breakfast & into the days work.
After a couple of calls several emails out of the way it was out onto Greenham Common for a 45 minute run in HR Zone 2. Job done, another day nearer.
This week is a tricky one toward the back end of the week, I have an offsite all day meeting I'm hosting on Thursday and need to be onsite overnight on the Thursday night, need to manage my time carefully this week & watch what I'm eating when I'm away from home.
I dropped the kids at school & headed straight to the pool for a swim, todays session was just a straight 2500 metre swim, no drills or rests, just 125 lengths one after the other at about 75% of max. I took full advantage & used pretty much all of the hour, 58 minutes to be precise.
A quick change & back home for a second breakfast & into the days work.
After a couple of calls several emails out of the way it was out onto Greenham Common for a 45 minute run in HR Zone 2. Job done, another day nearer.
This week is a tricky one toward the back end of the week, I have an offsite all day meeting I'm hosting on Thursday and need to be onsite overnight on the Thursday night, need to manage my time carefully this week & watch what I'm eating when I'm away from home.
Sunday 24 February 2013
Day 14 Run
Still cold, very cold, so after lunch it was off to the warm gym to do a 45 minute run in HR zone 2. Except I carried on and ended up doing an hour because at this stage it cant do any harm & I have a 1/2 marathon next week in aid of Pancreatic Cancer.
You can donate & support me by following this link here Just Giving - team Jackie
Nest week is going to be challenging to juggle work, home life & training but tomorrow is a day off, well I say day off, I am up at 0430 for a car to the airport at 5am for a flight to Amsterdam, back again in the evening so I will try & relax & enjoy the day.
The new bike was finally ready yesterday so here it is.
You can donate & support me by following this link here Just Giving - team Jackie
Nest week is going to be challenging to juggle work, home life & training but tomorrow is a day off, well I say day off, I am up at 0430 for a car to the airport at 5am for a flight to Amsterdam, back again in the evening so I will try & relax & enjoy the day.
The new bike was finally ready yesterday so here it is.
Its a Specialized S-Works Venge with Ultegra Di2 electronic shifting, wheels are Soul CA5.0 carbon clinchers, stem is an S-Works SL 130mm, bars are S-Works carbon. Needs a few finishing touches before it's completely ready, I hope I can do it justice as the test bike was epic and that wasn't an S-Works frame set.
Saturday 23 February 2013
Day 13 Cycle
Oh my, it was cold this morning, a stiff wind from the East with the air temperature around 0 then with wind chill bringing it down to -5 or 6 centigrade before we think about what happens when you ride at 15.-20 miles per hour.
Luckily these days technical clothing combats even the severest of temperatures, in particular my Specialized Wiretap gloves work incredibly well, 90 minutes in these conditions and not the slightest sensation of cold fingers.
So 90 minutes done in icy temperatures, snow and ice in places, loved every minute of it.
Added bonus this afternoon I picked up my brand new Specialized S-Works Venge, more tomorrow.
Luckily these days technical clothing combats even the severest of temperatures, in particular my Specialized Wiretap gloves work incredibly well, 90 minutes in these conditions and not the slightest sensation of cold fingers.
So 90 minutes done in icy temperatures, snow and ice in places, loved every minute of it.
Added bonus this afternoon I picked up my brand new Specialized S-Works Venge, more tomorrow.
Friday 22 February 2013
Day 12 Run
Nice easy day today, a 45 minute run in HR zone 2, well I say easy, it was hard just to leave a centrally heated house to go outside, it was so cold out there.
Hovering just above 0c there were flurries of snow as I ran around Greenham Common as quickly as my heart rate would allow just to get out of the cold. Job done.
I popped to the LBS (local bike shop) new bike is almost ready, it was supposed to be ready yesterday, but it's still not ready today, it will definitely be ready tomorrow but they said that yesterday about today and it wasn't. I won't hold my breath. It looks damn good though.
Hovering just above 0c there were flurries of snow as I ran around Greenham Common as quickly as my heart rate would allow just to get out of the cold. Job done.
I popped to the LBS (local bike shop) new bike is almost ready, it was supposed to be ready yesterday, but it's still not ready today, it will definitely be ready tomorrow but they said that yesterday about today and it wasn't. I won't hold my breath. It looks damn good though.
Thursday 21 February 2013
Day 11 swim & spin
For some reason I slept really badly last night, wide awake at 4 am for what felt like an hour or so before the alarm jolted me awake at 6. Quick breakfast and straight to the pool for today s swim which totalled 2600 metres. I really enjoyed it today, I felt stronger even after just 10 days, the drills and main set seemed to fly by and I was overtaking other early morning swimmers into the bargain.
Back home and refuel with porridge, bagel and coffee.
As soon as work was finished a session on the turbo, high cadence 100 rpm for 30 minutes in HR zone 1. Job done another day down.
Back home and refuel with porridge, bagel and coffee.
As soon as work was finished a session on the turbo, high cadence 100 rpm for 30 minutes in HR zone 1. Job done another day down.
Wednesday 20 February 2013
Day 10 Jelly legs
A relatively easy day today, 45 minute cycle in HR zone 2 with a quick change or transition to run for 15 minutes in HR zone 2.
Went to the gym for both activities, it's warmer than my garage on the Turbo plus there are other people to interact with or cop a cheeky glance at if they look good in tight Lycra.
Straightforward enough settled quickly into HR zones with little fuss.
Im not getting jelly legs at the moment, I'm not falling into the trap of it doesn't affect me, I just think maybe if I went harder for longer in the cycle I might feel it more, of course I shouldn't try that as I'm supposed to be staying 'in the zone'
Went to the gym for both activities, it's warmer than my garage on the Turbo plus there are other people to interact with or cop a cheeky glance at if they look good in tight Lycra.
Straightforward enough settled quickly into HR zones with little fuss.
Im not getting jelly legs at the moment, I'm not falling into the trap of it doesn't affect me, I just think maybe if I went harder for longer in the cycle I might feel it more, of course I shouldn't try that as I'm supposed to be staying 'in the zone'
Tuesday 19 February 2013
Day 8 & 9
Day 8 was a rest day spent working from home after an aborted attempt to get into London to the office on Farce Great Western. Nothing much to say really apart from rest days are important, make the most of them.
Day 9 Tuesday 19th Feb, todays session is swim & run. I got the run out of the way around 11am as a break in calls and meetings allowed me to get out in the glorious sunshine on Greenham Common, ran for 45 minutes which is a little over the plan but it was so lovely out there today. Back to work again, grabbed a protein bar & made a sandwich to eat at my desk.
Finished up with work and headed for the pool for tonights session which looks like this.
Day 9 Tuesday 19th Feb, todays session is swim & run. I got the run out of the way around 11am as a break in calls and meetings allowed me to get out in the glorious sunshine on Greenham Common, ran for 45 minutes which is a little over the plan but it was so lovely out there today. Back to work again, grabbed a protein bar & made a sandwich to eat at my desk.
Finished up with work and headed for the pool for tonights session which looks like this.
300 metre warm up
4 x100 metre drills
400m @ 60 secs
400m @ 60 secs
400m @60 secs
4 x 100 metre drills
200 metre cool down
2520 metres in all in 58 minutes.
Even after just a week I felt much better about swimming tonight, felt good at the end nowhere near as tired as last week.
During the day the postman brought gifts, 2 tubs of Gatorade Lemon Pro Perform, it's the drink of the course on Ironman Wales, may as well get used to the stuff just in case it doesn't do it for me, also need to start trying Power Bar Gels as these again are the on course nutrition on Ironman Wales. I've tried them before, not my favourite, I much prefer GU, especially the Peanut Butter flavour which is only sold in the US, boo! Proper planning & preparation prevents piss poor performance.
Sunday 17 February 2013
Day 7 Run with a spring in the step
I resisted the urge to get the 45 minute run out of the way early this fine Sunday, but as the mist cleared away at around 11:30 I headed out onto Greenham Common for a loop of the common which is around 6 miles. It was almost Spring-like, the sun was shining, the sky was blue but the wind out of the East still had a winters chill in it.
Run done, lunch with the family & off out again for a leisurely bike ride with my son in tow on his Specialized Hardrock MTB over the Common again then down onto the Kennett & Avon Canal towpath for a pleasant amble along the water back into Newbury. No times, no heart rates to worry about just leisure but with a purpose still, bike handling skills at low speed in mud & mixed surfaces, tight turns onto bridges all good training still especially for a 12 year old.
Day of rest tomorrow, looking forward to that.
Run done, lunch with the family & off out again for a leisurely bike ride with my son in tow on his Specialized Hardrock MTB over the Common again then down onto the Kennett & Avon Canal towpath for a pleasant amble along the water back into Newbury. No times, no heart rates to worry about just leisure but with a purpose still, bike handling skills at low speed in mud & mixed surfaces, tight turns onto bridges all good training still especially for a 12 year old.
Day of rest tomorrow, looking forward to that.
Saturday 16 February 2013
Day 6 Cycle
Well I didn't manage to get out for the longer ride in the sunshine in the end, just an hour on the Turbo in the garage, oh well, tomorrow looks set fair again so maybe a leisurely 30 miler in the early spring sunshine after all.
I did have a technology issue today, my heart rate monitor chest strap was playing up, heart rate all over the place when pedalling along at 25 mph steady, heart rate went from Z4 to Z1 in moments & then all over the place throughout the ride.
Invested in a Garmin chest strap, all paired up with Global Trainer & Garmin 800 in a few moments.
I did have a technology issue today, my heart rate monitor chest strap was playing up, heart rate all over the place when pedalling along at 25 mph steady, heart rate went from Z4 to Z1 in moments & then all over the place throughout the ride.
Invested in a Garmin chest strap, all paired up with Global Trainer & Garmin 800 in a few moments.
This is the Timex Global Trainer GPS watch
And this is the Garmin heart rate strap that connect wirelessly to the watch to transmit my heart rate to the watch.
Another relatively easy day tomorrow, a short run, will definitely be outdoors tomorrow, can't be doing with another treadmill session.
Friday 15 February 2013
Day 5 Run
Nice easy day today, 30 minutes running in HR Zone 2. Took a few minutes to settle the HR down but after that a steady 12 kmh for 30 minutes on the treadmill.
Luckily no swimming today as the pool was shut due to an 'accident' I can only assume that as it's half term the 'accident' involved the proverbial turd in a swimming pool.
Weather looks set fair for the weekend, cycle tomorrow & I will be out for longer than the scheduled hour if the sun shines!
Luckily no swimming today as the pool was shut due to an 'accident' I can only assume that as it's half term the 'accident' involved the proverbial turd in a swimming pool.
Weather looks set fair for the weekend, cycle tomorrow & I will be out for longer than the scheduled hour if the sun shines!
Thursday 14 February 2013
Day 4 Swim & Spin
Todays swim looked like this.
300m warm up
4 x 100m drills
4 x 120m @ 20 secs
4 x 200m @ 30 secs
4 x 120m @ 20 secs
4 x 100m drills
200m cool
3060 metres, that I can honestly say is the farthest I have ever swum in a swimming pool ever. Felt tired at the end but picked up quickly after a peanut butter energy protein bar & energy drink. Over 5 km swum already this week.
Next onto the turbo trainer for the cycle workout.
30 minutes at 100+ rpm in HR Zone 1. Settled in quickly to this one then HR climbed a bit out of Zone 1 around the middle as I stopped concentrating on breathing effectively, ended up covering around 9 miles in the garage! Gotta love a Garmin 800 + cadence sensor & a wheel magnet!
300m warm up
4 x 100m drills
4 x 120m @ 20 secs
4 x 200m @ 30 secs
4 x 120m @ 20 secs
4 x 100m drills
200m cool
3060 metres, that I can honestly say is the farthest I have ever swum in a swimming pool ever. Felt tired at the end but picked up quickly after a peanut butter energy protein bar & energy drink. Over 5 km swum already this week.
Next onto the turbo trainer for the cycle workout.
30 minutes at 100+ rpm in HR Zone 1. Settled in quickly to this one then HR climbed a bit out of Zone 1 around the middle as I stopped concentrating on breathing effectively, ended up covering around 9 miles in the garage! Gotta love a Garmin 800 + cadence sensor & a wheel magnet!
Wednesday 13 February 2013
Day 3 Cycle & Run
Today was a brick day, in other words today I put 2 parts of the 3 together, cycling & running.
Started off on a spin bike at the gym, 30 minutes at a relatively high cadence (leg speed) in HR zone 2. HR zones are different on a bike because the body and heart are stressed in different ways cycling compared to running. Max heart rate on a bike is calculated at 95% of actual max, therefore Zone 2 heart rates when cycling are different to heart rate Zone 2 when running.
HR Zone 2 running 134-151 bpm
HR Zone 2 cycling 130-147 bpm
A quick change is important and in my case today I slipped quickly into trainers and hit the treadmill 90 seconds after stopping cycling. I need to train my body to get used to the change from cycling to running and to get used to running with 'jelly legs'.
Now I needed to up my heart rate quickly, so speed increased to 14kph for a few minutes then settled down to 12 kph for the remainder of the session, only 15 minutes on the treadmill and 45 minutes overall.
Tomorrow is a swim and bike day, it's going to be hard to get both sessions in, they don't have to be back to back which is good.
Started off on a spin bike at the gym, 30 minutes at a relatively high cadence (leg speed) in HR zone 2. HR zones are different on a bike because the body and heart are stressed in different ways cycling compared to running. Max heart rate on a bike is calculated at 95% of actual max, therefore Zone 2 heart rates when cycling are different to heart rate Zone 2 when running.
HR Zone 2 running 134-151 bpm
HR Zone 2 cycling 130-147 bpm
A quick change is important and in my case today I slipped quickly into trainers and hit the treadmill 90 seconds after stopping cycling. I need to train my body to get used to the change from cycling to running and to get used to running with 'jelly legs'.
Now I needed to up my heart rate quickly, so speed increased to 14kph for a few minutes then settled down to 12 kph for the remainder of the session, only 15 minutes on the treadmill and 45 minutes overall.
Tomorrow is a swim and bike day, it's going to be hard to get both sessions in, they don't have to be back to back which is good.
Tuesday 12 February 2013
Day 2 - Swim & Run
 |
| Too much kit? This is what I ended up lugging to the gym/health club today to do my first 2 sessions of the Fink programme. |
First session of the 2 today was a swim session that looks like this............
300m warm up
8x50m drills
12 x 100m @ 20 sec
8x50m drills
200m cool down
Simples eh? So for the uninitiated what does this mean? Well first off there's a 300 metre warm up swim, so in my 20 metre pool thats 15 laps front crawl. Then here's the problem, doing a 50 metre drill in a 20 metre pool is kind of hard so I changed this to 10 x 40 metre drills. A drill being where you focus on technique or isolate a part of your body with a float or a pull buoy or hand paddles. Next the main set, 12 x 100m @20 sec is swim 100 metres (5 lengths) at race pace front crawl when complete rest for 20 seconds then repeat 11 more times. Great you even get a rest in the workout. Back to drills again, I adapted this again and did 4 x 100 metres sets, arms only with a pull buoy, some paddle work & some stroke work to increase stroke length. Finish off with 200 metres of easy swimming. Total distance an easy 2500 metres in just under an hour all front crawl.
You'll see I have 2 watches in the picture above, one is a Timex Global Trainer, a GPS based HRM & multi sport timer, the other is a PoolMate Pro which rather cleverly without the aid of GPS just accelerometers calculates lengths swum, distances, stroke count & efficiency. So no more lap counting, just press start at the beginning of a set & pause at the end & it does the rest. The Timex watch I use for running & gym work to monitor heart rate via an ANT+ HRM strap.
Quick shower & into running kit & hit the treadmill. This session is 30 minutes in HR Zone 2 for me that's 134 - 151 bpm. After setting off at around 12 kph pace I settled back after 3 or 4 minutes to around 11 kph & ran in HR zone 2 for 30 minutes, covering just over 6 km, not that I'm interested in distances.
I ate an energy gel poolside after about 45 minutes & then ate a protein bar after finishing the run.
Tomorrow is a bike & run day, focussing on the transition from cycle to run & training the body to cope with these changes & getting used to running with 'jelly legs'.
Monday 11 February 2013
Day 1 - 30 weeks to go
Monday 11th February, a date that has crept up on me all of a sudden.
Today is the first day of the Fink 30 week Iron Fit, competitive plan I will be following. Now most exercise plans start off with a gentle introduction, get the body used to exercise & prepare you mentally for the road ahead, some start matbe with an all out assault & maybe you're thinking that an Ironman distance race would require the latter?
Well no, the Fink 30 week competitive iron fit plan starts with of all things a rest day. No exercise. Nada.
So today is for quiet contemplation about what lies ahead, stocking up on carbs, checking the plan so as I am sure I understand it, checking HRMs and making sure my max heart rate is correctly entered so that I am able to train in the correct zones. In the first 10 weeks of the program c93% of all activity will be in my HR Zone 2, nothing in Zone 3 & a few short bursts into Z4 or anaerobic.
As I've said before this plan is not about getting miles in, it's about sustained effort in a target HR zone, miles I'm not really that interested in but I'll keep an eye on them for morbid curiosity, incidentally in weeks 1 thru 10 I'll be swimming over 50km or around 30 miles. Swimming is the only activity where HR is irrelevant, swimming is all about technique & distances to build stamina. Swim sessions in weeks 1-10 average 2500 metres per session & I do 2 sessions a week.
Today is the first day of the Fink 30 week Iron Fit, competitive plan I will be following. Now most exercise plans start off with a gentle introduction, get the body used to exercise & prepare you mentally for the road ahead, some start matbe with an all out assault & maybe you're thinking that an Ironman distance race would require the latter?
Well no, the Fink 30 week competitive iron fit plan starts with of all things a rest day. No exercise. Nada.
So today is for quiet contemplation about what lies ahead, stocking up on carbs, checking the plan so as I am sure I understand it, checking HRMs and making sure my max heart rate is correctly entered so that I am able to train in the correct zones. In the first 10 weeks of the program c93% of all activity will be in my HR Zone 2, nothing in Zone 3 & a few short bursts into Z4 or anaerobic.
As I've said before this plan is not about getting miles in, it's about sustained effort in a target HR zone, miles I'm not really that interested in but I'll keep an eye on them for morbid curiosity, incidentally in weeks 1 thru 10 I'll be swimming over 50km or around 30 miles. Swimming is the only activity where HR is irrelevant, swimming is all about technique & distances to build stamina. Swim sessions in weeks 1-10 average 2500 metres per session & I do 2 sessions a week.
Thursday 7 February 2013
Fink for Ironman Wales 2013
Monday 11th February sees the start of my 30 week plan to get me to Ironman Wales on 8 September.
I will be following the Don Fink Competitive Plan, having read the book, done the research & chatted to a few Ironman finishers I opted for the competitive plan. The way I see it, if I need to wind back the intensity or the time I can drop back to an intermediate plan at say week 10 without losing anything, if I started at a 'Just Finish' programme there's nowhere to go if it all gets too much.
Weeks 1-10 are a base phase, it assumes you've done some physical exercise in the previous 6 weeks so no problem there. The first few weeks are pretty straightfoward & I'm looking forward to getting into the programme.
More on Monday as I start the journey to Ironman Wales.
I will be following the Don Fink Competitive Plan, having read the book, done the research & chatted to a few Ironman finishers I opted for the competitive plan. The way I see it, if I need to wind back the intensity or the time I can drop back to an intermediate plan at say week 10 without losing anything, if I started at a 'Just Finish' programme there's nowhere to go if it all gets too much.
Weeks 1-10 are a base phase, it assumes you've done some physical exercise in the previous 6 weeks so no problem there. The first few weeks are pretty straightfoward & I'm looking forward to getting into the programme.
More on Monday as I start the journey to Ironman Wales.
Friday 4 January 2013
Scores on the doors
So as 2012 finished I thought it would be good to share a few statistics from the year.
The light-hearted stuff first.
Started the year with a 38" waist, now a 34" waist, this gets expensive when none of your trousers, jeans or suits fit anymore, the local charity shops did well out of me this year.
The serious stuff, since 1 March 2012.
Swam - 91.2 miles
Cycled - 1632.42 miles
Ran - 638.5 miles
The training plan I will follow for Ironman Wales lasts 30 weeks, the only part that talks about distances is swimming, cycling & running are all about time in a heart rate zone rather than miles under the belt.
I'll record distances anyway just for curiosities sake.
The light-hearted stuff first.
Started the year with a 38" waist, now a 34" waist, this gets expensive when none of your trousers, jeans or suits fit anymore, the local charity shops did well out of me this year.
The serious stuff, since 1 March 2012.
Swam - 91.2 miles
Cycled - 1632.42 miles
Ran - 638.5 miles
The training plan I will follow for Ironman Wales lasts 30 weeks, the only part that talks about distances is swimming, cycling & running are all about time in a heart rate zone rather than miles under the belt.
I'll record distances anyway just for curiosities sake.
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