All the fours - Droopy Drawers

Made it to 44 and took a day off work and training to spend some time with the family.

Received a great birthday present - Garmin FR60 HRM watch and foot pod. I already have a Forerunner 305 but it is a bit bulky and does take a while to pick up the satellites for the GPS to function. This new watch is less sophisticated but can be used in the pool and in my Ironman race. I can get speed and distance from the foot pod and the bike mount. Data is also transferred much easily via ANT+.

I ended last week with a 2 hour off-road run so my legs are still a little sore. For that reason I am going to skip the track running session tomorrow evening and opt for some time on the bike. To try and get the mileage in I have dusted down the carbon stallion and intend to cycle via Ditchling and up the Beacon tomorrow morning. This will take close on 2 hours but the hills are good training. My commute home will be along the easier and shorter coast road (another 1 hour).

Wednesday will probably consist of an easy morning run and the normal weekly Club swimming session. Thursday has to be a complete rest day as my testing is scheduled for Friday.

Book recommendation - easy read

Just finished a nice easy read and a book I would recommend:

Can't Swim, Can't Ride, Can't Run: My Triathlon Journey from Common Man to Ironman

A similar journey to my own. Impressed with how the author and main character of the book (Andy Holgate) really changed his life and stepped up to the challenge - certainly something to aspire to - I have a long way to go!

The other book which I am reading but in shorter doses (a bit more technical) is Joe Friel's Triathlete's Training Bible

Links - relevant Amazon pages to view books and reviews

Progress for the week - so far

A quick update - so far so good this week.

The return bike commute on Tuesday was no problem. Wednesday started with an early morning hour run along Brighton seafront - mostly easy pace, however I picked it up for about 2km - 11km in total. The 1.5 hour Club swim that evening was certainly better than last week - hand entry is improving.

Finally introduced a brick session back into the training (missed a few sessions over previous weeks). I started on the turbo, which after the warm up included some high cadence, increasing power sets together with some drills (one leg spins) in between. Then straight off the bike and on with my trainers for 2 laps (15 mins) of the village.

Today I was in the local pool in Brighton for an hour swim broken down as follows:

Warm up (300m): easy FC
Build (700m):
50m C/UP; 50m FC
50m C/UP; 100m FC
50m C/UP; 150m FC
50m C/UP; 200m FC
Main (600m):
6x 100m (increasing speed per 25m) Easy - Steady - Race Pace - Fast FC
4x 25m sprint FC
Cool down (400m): easy FC / BST

[FC - front crawl; C/UP - catch up; BST - breast stroke]

The swim session came out of the Coach's new swimming manual, although was slightly adapted for the time I had available. Details of the book can be found via the following link:

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2536362

I went for the iPad version - good value!


Tomorrow morning it's back on the turbo for an hour session before going off to rugby with my son at the Harlequins ' ground. Sunday it is a longer run (possibly off-road) - need to get in at least 2 hours.

Next week may be a little different because I need to incorporate my Vo2 / lactate test, which should help to determine my zones and ultimately a revised plan going forward - all exciting stuff - more on that later!

Good hill work - on the singlespeed!

A slightly wet but enjoyable commute into work this morning.

To mix things up a little I decided to take a longer more hilly route into Brighton. My journey took me past Steyning to Bramber and then over the rollercoaster terrain of Edburton, Fulking and Poynings before hitting the bigger hills that took me over the top of Devils Dyke into Brighton.

The route is not new for me, however this was the first time I was to attempt it on my singlespeed bike (no gears, simply leg power required).

My strategy was simple, easy on the straights (zone 1), coast or easy spin down the hills, saving all my energy for the uphills.

All went to plan, although it got pretty tough at Devils Dyke - feel the burn! I focussed on not trying not to engage the back in anyway and making the legs doing all the work. For most of the bigger hills I was out of the saddle but I enjoyed the mix of low cadence uphill work and faster spinning downhill - a good training session!

The last 15 mins was quite relaxing - mostly all down hill from Devils Dyke via Dyke road to the office in Brighton. Just timed it right as the sun was rising and trying to brighten up the day.

Shower, breakfast and quickly type up the blog - all before 8:45am - what a way to start the day.

Probably back home tonight via the normal (less hilly) coast roads.

8th week of base: 23 weeks to IM Austria

Finally my testing and planning session with the Coach is in the diary (early Feb) so I can review my training zones and discuss a more bespoke plan to meet my needs.

Meanwhile, I will continue on the Don Fink Plan, as follows:

Mon - Rest day and review / possibly some strength work (weights)
Tue - Cycle: 2 hr commute with hill work
Wed - Run: 1 hr Z2 + Club swim - coached (1.5 hr) - total 2.5 hr
Thu - Swim: 1 hr (focus on technique) + Brick session: 45 mins on turbo Z2 / 15 mins run Z2 (2 hr in total)
Fri - Cycle: 1 hr turbo: 100+ RPM Z1
Sat - No training / more strength work
Sun - Run: 2 hr Z2

Total for week: 2.5 hr swim; 3 hr 45mins bike; 3 hr 15 mins run - total of 9.5 hours

Scores on the door for the week

Not a bad week but a bit shy on the total hours required - it was the running that suffered once again.

2.5 hours swimming, 4 hours 15 mins on the bike and just over 3 hours running.

After Tuesday's faster tempo session on the track the running thereafter was a bit of an effort. As was the swimming (focus on improving the hand entry and overall technique). I missed the brick session (again!) - beginning to get a bit of a habit.

It is amazing that it is the last block of 3 weeks of base left. Then (according to Don Fink) we move up to 10 weeks of Build and the fun really starts. Before then I expect to have some testing with Coach4Tri with a view to building a more bespoke plan.

One point I am beginning to question is the logic of increasing the frequency over 3 weeks and then having a slightly easier week on the 4th. Some coaches believe 2 hard weeks and one easier (i.e. a 3 weeks cycle rather than 4) is better for athletes over 40 - I am beginning to think this may be the best approach.

Tomorrow I will review the weekly plan - another 9 hours required.

An extract from a Pro's blog - another level!

I was directed to Jonny Brownlee's blog and details of his training - a slightly different level to mine!

Take a look at a normal day in the office for him:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/london-2012-olympics-blog/2012/jan/19/jonny-brownlee-cold-weather-training

I wish him and his brother Alistair all the best wishes for the Olympics - I am hoping for Gold and Silver - no pressure boys!