Stepping It Up!

It is only within this week that the long course training program has differentiated itself from the Short Course training. The last few weeks, most sessions were the same as it was about getting back into winter training and working on technique.

Swim

For the swim sessions as an example, I completed a 3.2km set on Wednesday morning (albeit nice and slow) - a step up from the 2km I was swimming in the first few weeks of May. I have also tried as hard as I could to keep up with the guys in front of me in the swimming lane, at the same time, making sure that I don't lose my technique when my arms and shoulders get tired. 

Bike

The core coaches have also started to split the windtrainer sessions into different groups - beginners/sprint, olympic, half ironman and ironman to cater for the different technique work (as required) and to cater for a longer time in the saddle for the long course athletes. 

Long rides have been split into five groups - advanced long course(long time half and full ironman athletes who can complete these races in a reasonable time), advanced short course (for athletes who are in the Olympic and Sprint distance races but are fast and generally place top 10), intermediate long course (for athletes like me who are doing longer distances for the first time or are slower on the course), intermediate short course (newer short course athletes racing olympic and sprint distances) and the beginners group who are new to triathlons and joining sessions for general fitness rather than in preparations for triathlon racing season.

Run

I have also stepped up in the run sessions (on Thursday nights) doing more longer interval sets. Like last night for an example - we did a 3km + drills as warm up, main set consisted of 4 x 1km @ T3, 2 x 500m @ T3-4 and 3km or so cool down. The short course athletes worked on their technique and did several short runs as part of their set.

Strength/Core

I have really noticed a change in the training load compared to the previous two years of training with Tri Alliance. For one, strength and core sessions are now included in my training and it is up to me to keep it as part of my weekly routine without relying on the coaches. So far this week, I have done two strength/core sessions with bands, weights and a swiss ball. Planking has become less painful on my lower back and I have also done some research into other exercises to do which strengthens the core other than planking.

Injury Maintenance & Prevention

I am also keeping a close eye on my legs and have been icing my legs after run sessions to prevent inflammation. I am on the rollers almost on a daily basis for my ITB, hamstrings, glutes, back, shoulders, quads and calves.

There is 177 days left until my first half ironman.