Week away kills off training
The week spent in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Warwick & Toowoomba severely affected my training for the week. Early starts, late nights, long drives, endless meetings etc had me heading out for a run only once. Came home on Saturday and proceeded to unpack and hit the sack nice & early. Slept through the Sunday alarm, before heading into work to catch up on stuff that had come in through the week.
In addition, I managed to put on the weight that I had taken off the previous week. I should be able to drop the extra 0.6kg for the next week to hit target at the start of Feb.
Australia Day is Wednesday, which will be an opportunity to get out again and get some more hours into the legs.
Swim - Nil
Bike Trainer - Nil
Run - 1:00 (1x1:00)
Weight - 82.1 kg
Still building
After the big sessions late last week, this week started a little slower. Work and family life got involved as well, so I came to the weekend with only 1 run and 1 bike session. Both these sessions were only 90 mins as I struggled a bit with the after-effects of the bric sessions late last week. Pool still closed due to the inability to source chemicals after Rocky & Brisbane floods.
Saturday was a larger bric session. 2 hours on the bike followed by a 2 hr run. Although slow, I pulled up the following day in much better condition than I did last week, where the run was an hour less. Must be finally getting some base fitness into me.
The coming week will be difficult as I'm out of town for most of the week and will not have access to a bike. Hoping to get some pool time in, but that may be restricted ridiculous numbers of laps in a very small pool. On the upside, as long as I have a pair of runners, I should be able to get a good number of k's into the legs. Fingers crossed.
Swim - Nil
Bike Trainer - 3:30 (1x1:30 & 1x 2:00 bric)
Run - 3:30 (1x1:30 & 1x 2:00 bric)
Weight - 81.2kg
Bric week
This week was supposed to focus on both bric sessions and swimming. Due to the floods, the local pool can't get the checmicals they need and have closed until further notice. Did manage to get in and do an hour swim. 200m, 1,300m and 500m. My final 500m time keeps falling, almost at 3 min pace and feeling stronger with each swim.
The bric sessions were more successful, with a 1 hr bike followed by 1 hr run on Friday. My run time was surprisingly the same as when I run fresh. Sunday saw another session with the bike being 2 hrs before the 1 hr run. Not only was the run at my normal speed, I ran a 6 month PB over the first 5 k.
Weekly totals:
Swim 1:00 - 1 session
Trainer 5:07 - 4 sessions (2 bric)
Run 2:13 - 3 sessions (all bric)
Weight 82.0kg
Getting Wet
It's taken a while, but I finally got back in the water on Tuesday afternoon. According to the pool attendant, it was 169 days since my last visit. Took things easy, starting with a 100m paddle. Then attempted a 500m swim, but had to settle for 300m. Did another 2 sets of 300 and a final 100m to finish. Then thought, stuff it. Came here to swim 500m, so headed out again and did the 500m. All of this was done at snail's pace, over 3 mins per 100m. Thursday fared better with a 1k swim after the 100m warm-up. Finished with the same 500m swim knocking 2mins 9sec off Tuesday's time.
Looking at my training schedule to Cairns, there are 6 blocks of 4 weeks set out, with this week being the second week of the first block. I've decided to put all 3 disciplines together and do 1/3 of the ironman distance in the last weekend of the current block. That's Sat 15th or Sun 16th. Need to get my swim up to 1.3km in the next 2 weeks, ready to combine the three.
Jumped off the diet wagon new year's eve and weighed in at 83.8kg. Had been under 83kg for part of the week, so will get back where I'm supposed to be fairly quick.
Overall, the week wasn't bad, but could have been better.
Swim 1:40 - 2 sessions
Trainer 3:20 - 2 sessions
Run 2:07 - 2 sessions
Starting right
After having the flu last week, I knew that I had to get some good times in. With Christmas it was going to be a little hard as time with family can limit time training.
However, I managed a good 5 hours on the fluid trainer. This is where most of my cycling will be done during the wet season as the rain tumbles down. 600mm (24 inches) for the month so far and more expected. Did some speed work. Ran 6 x 1km sprints with 90 seconds between them. I managed my target, with all runs being at better than 6min per k. That's painfully slow, but I'll work up to faster speeds as I get more k's in the legs and have a better endurance base. On Boxing Day, I managed a little further than last Sunday's 2 hour run, with 16.58km.
Tried to get to the pool, but got held up at work virtually every day. managed an early afternoon on Christmas Eve. Walked the short distance to the pool in the driving rain. (Hey, I was gonna get wet anyway!) just to find they closed early. Next week, will get in even if I have to head out during lunch break.
Although I did the usual overindulgence on Christmas Day, the 2 hrs on the fluid trainer Boxing Day and 2 hr Run the same night minimised the weight gain.
Currently 83.4kg, aiming for race weight of 76kg.
Swim - Nil
Bike - Nil
Trainer - 5 hours (2x2 & 1x1)
Run - 2:34 (1 x 2hr & 6 x 1k splits)
Flu ridden week
This week was a shocker. Monday was a decent run and then down with the flu for 3-4 days. Fever running hot & cold, sweating like I was on a run. Overall, this really put a dampener in my training. The only bright thing to come from it was it enabled me to get my weight down a bit. Dropped 1.5kg for the week.
Being totally unfit and not having run since Monday morning, I decided to head out Sunday night around 6pm for a 2 hour run. Distance and time were not hugely important. I wanted to cover the normal distance over the first hour and then see what the second hour was like. I figure this could be close to what I may do in Cairns after the swim & bike leg.
First hour was a normal run. Slow, walking after 3k and just under 9km covered. The second hour pushed this up to 15.75km. The key was to keep trotting along between walking sessions. I was still trotting along at the end of the 2 hours. If this can be maintained during the run in Ciarns, I'm looking at a run time somewhere around 6:30. It was a balmy 27.3C when I left and by the time I finished, it had dropped to 27.2C. Humidity started at 86% rising to 88%. I'm counting on Ciarns being a lot cooler and less humid, making the run leg easier. Training in the tropics does have some advantages.
Overall:
Swim: Nil
Bike: Nil
Trainer: Nil
Run: 1 x 1hr 8.9k : 1 x 2hr 15.7k (24.6k)
Weight 83.0kg
Engaging Week
This week was one of exciting and interesting events. Celebrated my partner's 50th birthday and used the occassion to propose. So just after Challenge Cairns, this slow tri-man is off the market. Well, it's really only making it official as we had planned a June wedding anyway.
Needless to say, arranging the birthday party, engagement and the constant rain caused a few hiccups in my training plans.
I managed my first decent road cycle since May. There was no distance or speed set, tha plan was just to spend time in the saddle. 1 hour riding north, then turn around and come back home. 40km in and I blew a tyre on the Bruce Highway about 20km north of town. It gave me some practice running off the bike as I trotted 2-3k before acccepting a lift back to town from a passing driver.
Overall, less than the hours I wanted, but at least I got some real bike time in.
