The 23rd March is getting so close!
I attended the Monday morning swim at Mentone Grammar which was interesting. The outdoor pool was not working due to power failure so we had to resort to swimming indoors in a 31 degree pool which was just too hot for my liking. I was fatigued from doing so many tumble turns and from the temperature of the water (it was like a bath).
Tuesday I also ran at Mentone with coach Rupert. We did a Fartlek session at the athletics track in Mentone. I really enjoyed that session as it was a small group and we received feedback from the coach. Windtrainer on Tuesday night was a long set but it is good to spend as much time on the bike as I could.
Wednesday = recovery day. I needed the sleep in from the double session Tuesday and then we had the Ironman Melbourne athletes meeting on that evening. Talked about nutrition and race plans.
The weather in Melbourne just went crazy from Wednesday afternoon so the training session on Thursday evening was a 1km-ish swim in huge waves and then a 1.5hr windtrainer. Similar to previous years, I don't enjoy doing a windtrainer session outdoors (especially when it is cold and windy). I don't feel like I have had a workout when I am wearing long sleeves. I just felt poo-poo.
Swam my longest swim set with the squad on Friday. Once again, joined the MSAC (big kids) and tried to keep up with them as much as I could. It wasn't as long as the main squad who swam 5km, I only did 4.6km. I can keep up with them when I am swimming with paddles but just don't have enough catch and push when it is just pull buoy.
Saturday was a 170km + 6km (ride then run). I started my ride at 8:30am instead of my usual 4:30am due to a headache from Friday evening. Once I got out the door, I was on track to spend about 7hours on the bike (taking into account traffic lights and drink stops). I used the Xlab Torpedo and it worked very well! I remembered to drink every 10 min or so and it was so easy - untuck straw, drink, tuck straw. I may need to work out what I am going to do on race day with regards to filling up. I may need to just stop and refill as I am using the solid lid to stop spillage. I think I will be drinking a shotz mixture for the entire race rather than using concentrated solution in a bottle and sipping on water. I will carry with me a small flask of Shotz concentrate to squirt into my bottle during the race. My ride stopped after 130km as I had to change my back tube (again). This time, I found the piece of glass which tore through. The tyres I had from Foxy are pretty hopeless. I get a flat just from riding over a bump or a twig! Will be buying a new (training) set before the weekend and then buying another set of good tyres for the race (most like Schwalbe Ultremo ZX). 6km run off the bike felt good, albeit had about 5min of piss-farting around the house before I actually did the run.
Sunday was another long training day. We met at 6am at Sandringham (I also had to pick up a friend before heading there) to car pool down to Frankston. We did a swim (ranging from 1km through to 2km) before we head back to Sandringham on foot. The weather was more consistent this week compared to last and I felt good. I ran consistently around 6min/km with about 3 stops (excl drink stops) - throw gel packets in the bin, walk up the hill in Sandringham and generally just got a bit bored. Had 2 serves of coke from the 17km mark onwards. I think I may have taken a bit longer this week compared to last but I felt good. My stomach kinda got annoyed at the amount of gels I was consuming. Instead of taking a gel in at every 4km, I spaced it out to every 5 instead. I found it hard to swallow them during the middle of my run and fingers crossed that it doesn't happen on race day. After the run, I drove people back down to Frankston to pick up their cars before I bought some ice and did an ice bath at home.
I was exhausted when I got home and craved KFC so bad. I didn't end up buying any - mainly due to the lack of funds (need to pay for massage on Monday) and could not be bothered stepping outside the house. Geelong 70.3 was on TV so I watched that whilst I did the laundry, dishes and cleaned Foxy - she had coke and gels all over her.
Favourite session of the week: Really loved the Friday morning swim. Good to tick that box off (a strength and endurance swim set) and being amongst the faster people in the squad. Once again, the long run on Sunday was good to tick off. I think I may have one more long run left in me before my legs give up. Fingers crossed that it survives after this week.
I attended the Monday morning swim at Mentone Grammar which was interesting. The outdoor pool was not working due to power failure so we had to resort to swimming indoors in a 31 degree pool which was just too hot for my liking. I was fatigued from doing so many tumble turns and from the temperature of the water (it was like a bath).
Tuesday I also ran at Mentone with coach Rupert. We did a Fartlek session at the athletics track in Mentone. I really enjoyed that session as it was a small group and we received feedback from the coach. Windtrainer on Tuesday night was a long set but it is good to spend as much time on the bike as I could.
Wednesday = recovery day. I needed the sleep in from the double session Tuesday and then we had the Ironman Melbourne athletes meeting on that evening. Talked about nutrition and race plans.
The weather in Melbourne just went crazy from Wednesday afternoon so the training session on Thursday evening was a 1km-ish swim in huge waves and then a 1.5hr windtrainer. Similar to previous years, I don't enjoy doing a windtrainer session outdoors (especially when it is cold and windy). I don't feel like I have had a workout when I am wearing long sleeves. I just felt poo-poo.
Swam my longest swim set with the squad on Friday. Once again, joined the MSAC (big kids) and tried to keep up with them as much as I could. It wasn't as long as the main squad who swam 5km, I only did 4.6km. I can keep up with them when I am swimming with paddles but just don't have enough catch and push when it is just pull buoy.
Saturday was a 170km + 6km (ride then run). I started my ride at 8:30am instead of my usual 4:30am due to a headache from Friday evening. Once I got out the door, I was on track to spend about 7hours on the bike (taking into account traffic lights and drink stops). I used the Xlab Torpedo and it worked very well! I remembered to drink every 10 min or so and it was so easy - untuck straw, drink, tuck straw. I may need to work out what I am going to do on race day with regards to filling up. I may need to just stop and refill as I am using the solid lid to stop spillage. I think I will be drinking a shotz mixture for the entire race rather than using concentrated solution in a bottle and sipping on water. I will carry with me a small flask of Shotz concentrate to squirt into my bottle during the race. My ride stopped after 130km as I had to change my back tube (again). This time, I found the piece of glass which tore through. The tyres I had from Foxy are pretty hopeless. I get a flat just from riding over a bump or a twig! Will be buying a new (training) set before the weekend and then buying another set of good tyres for the race (most like Schwalbe Ultremo ZX). 6km run off the bike felt good, albeit had about 5min of piss-farting around the house before I actually did the run.
Sunday was another long training day. We met at 6am at Sandringham (I also had to pick up a friend before heading there) to car pool down to Frankston. We did a swim (ranging from 1km through to 2km) before we head back to Sandringham on foot. The weather was more consistent this week compared to last and I felt good. I ran consistently around 6min/km with about 3 stops (excl drink stops) - throw gel packets in the bin, walk up the hill in Sandringham and generally just got a bit bored. Had 2 serves of coke from the 17km mark onwards. I think I may have taken a bit longer this week compared to last but I felt good. My stomach kinda got annoyed at the amount of gels I was consuming. Instead of taking a gel in at every 4km, I spaced it out to every 5 instead. I found it hard to swallow them during the middle of my run and fingers crossed that it doesn't happen on race day. After the run, I drove people back down to Frankston to pick up their cars before I bought some ice and did an ice bath at home.
I was exhausted when I got home and craved KFC so bad. I didn't end up buying any - mainly due to the lack of funds (need to pay for massage on Monday) and could not be bothered stepping outside the house. Geelong 70.3 was on TV so I watched that whilst I did the laundry, dishes and cleaned Foxy - she had coke and gels all over her.
Favourite session of the week: Really loved the Friday morning swim. Good to tick that box off (a strength and endurance swim set) and being amongst the faster people in the squad. Once again, the long run on Sunday was good to tick off. I think I may have one more long run left in me before my legs give up. Fingers crossed that it survives after this week.
Least favourite session of the week: My long ride on Saturday I didn't really enjoy too much. I had to stop twice to fix something - once for my back tyre and the second time because one of my canisters fell off my xlab. Must remember to check equipment. Starting out so late in the day, I thought it would mimic my race day plan (as I would finish the swim and get on the bike around 8:30am) and to ride through the lunch break period of the day. It was exhausting and there was more motorist traffic on the roads which scared me at some areas. I am glad I got that ride out of the way and better prepared for race day.
Advice of the week: Nothing new on race day - I have about 3 more weeks to refine and practice my race day plan! I think I have my hydration sorted now. I have decided against race wheels due to the lack of funds and the fact that my speed doesn't get high enough that it will benefit my bike time.
Thing I’m looking forward to next week: This will be my biggest training week leading up to Ironman. My ride this weekend will be 180km + 8km run off the bike and my long run will be approx 34km. I am looking forward to ticking these boxes off.
27 more sleeps!
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