HOLY CRAP-BALLS! 20 more sleeps!!!!!!
I had one of my biggest training weeks so far. I have been finding it hard to do a swim on the Monday morning as I don't feel that I am properly recovered from the weekend's training. Due to the amount of caffeine I consume on the run (up to 7 gels - all with caffeine), I can't have a nap post run and end up with broken sleep on Sunday night. Also the though of doing so many tumble turns in a 25m pool coupled with Coach Anna's regular kick sets she has made me hesitant when the alarm goes off at 5am.
Tuesday was another double session day and I am finding that due to the proximity of the run session in the morning, I am more likely to do them. Another great run session with Rupert - he is very good at what he does and encourages you to push further without being "pushy". I then had windtrainer on Tuesday night but something happened to my cables during the session - they completely split and I couldn't change my gears! The 1.5 hour set was down to 50min and I didn't do the last 40min.
I couldn't do the Wed morning swim session as I had to get to Box Hill for a work meeting and planned on swimming in the evening. This never eventuated as I had more work to do and didn't leave work until 7pm on the Wed night. I coached on the Thursday night and didn't end up doing much training.
For the life of me, couldn't sleep on the Friday night and decided to ride out at 6:30am with only 2 hours sleep instead of 4:30am with no sleep. Saturday was my longest ride since IM 2013. I rode 181km. I felt good throughout the session and didn't feel too fatigued. I consumed caffeine in between my non-caffeine gels and that got me through. I also changed the tyres over so I didn't have to stop to change a tube for the first time in about 4 weeks! I noticed that my canisters were loose during one of my drink stops so I need to get some plumbers tape to lock them down tight in the near future (especially on race day). I had a fox attack on the way down to Frankston which kinda scared me a bit but not as serious as the one I had last year.
The long run on Sunday was a good one to tick off the bag. It was this time last year that I had shin splints and was off running completely for 3 weeks leading up to Ironman. Good news is that I am ok and the body doesn't seem to show signs of (muscle) collapse. The 1km swim at Frankston was great as the water is calm. I once again started the run off earlier than everyone as I am a slowie. I did touch coke until Mordialloc (about 15km or so). The pros of coke is that it gives you the caffeine and sugar hit whilst the con is that it makes my stomach gassy and I don't feel like consuming gels. I pushed the distance from every 4km to 5km when I wasn't feeling up to it. At some point, I think around the 25km mark, some of the girls in the squad caught up with me and we ran together at a steady (around 5:45min/km) pace which was awesome. I had never felt this "good" at running ever. I have always been the girl trying to catch up at the end but this run felt good. Unfortunately, I couldn't hold that pace after we stopped at Sandringham for our last water break before Brighton.
Favourite session of the week: The long run I did on Sunday was my best long run ever! It was about 32km (Frankston to Brighton along the footpath, not using the IM route completely). I am grateful that I am not injured and will carry on training.
I had one of my biggest training weeks so far. I have been finding it hard to do a swim on the Monday morning as I don't feel that I am properly recovered from the weekend's training. Due to the amount of caffeine I consume on the run (up to 7 gels - all with caffeine), I can't have a nap post run and end up with broken sleep on Sunday night. Also the though of doing so many tumble turns in a 25m pool coupled with Coach Anna's regular kick sets she has made me hesitant when the alarm goes off at 5am.
Tuesday was another double session day and I am finding that due to the proximity of the run session in the morning, I am more likely to do them. Another great run session with Rupert - he is very good at what he does and encourages you to push further without being "pushy". I then had windtrainer on Tuesday night but something happened to my cables during the session - they completely split and I couldn't change my gears! The 1.5 hour set was down to 50min and I didn't do the last 40min.
I couldn't do the Wed morning swim session as I had to get to Box Hill for a work meeting and planned on swimming in the evening. This never eventuated as I had more work to do and didn't leave work until 7pm on the Wed night. I coached on the Thursday night and didn't end up doing much training.
For the life of me, couldn't sleep on the Friday night and decided to ride out at 6:30am with only 2 hours sleep instead of 4:30am with no sleep. Saturday was my longest ride since IM 2013. I rode 181km. I felt good throughout the session and didn't feel too fatigued. I consumed caffeine in between my non-caffeine gels and that got me through. I also changed the tyres over so I didn't have to stop to change a tube for the first time in about 4 weeks! I noticed that my canisters were loose during one of my drink stops so I need to get some plumbers tape to lock them down tight in the near future (especially on race day). I had a fox attack on the way down to Frankston which kinda scared me a bit but not as serious as the one I had last year.
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| My longest (and quickest) 180km even with all the traffic and drink stops! |
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| An insight to what I take on a 180km bike ride - Torq gels in (two) flasks, Gu gels for consistency change and caffeine, 300ml of coke (sugar and caffeine pick-me-up) and Shotz electrolytes |
The long run on Sunday was a good one to tick off the bag. It was this time last year that I had shin splints and was off running completely for 3 weeks leading up to Ironman. Good news is that I am ok and the body doesn't seem to show signs of (muscle) collapse. The 1km swim at Frankston was great as the water is calm. I once again started the run off earlier than everyone as I am a slowie. I did touch coke until Mordialloc (about 15km or so). The pros of coke is that it gives you the caffeine and sugar hit whilst the con is that it makes my stomach gassy and I don't feel like consuming gels. I pushed the distance from every 4km to 5km when I wasn't feeling up to it. At some point, I think around the 25km mark, some of the girls in the squad caught up with me and we ran together at a steady (around 5:45min/km) pace which was awesome. I had never felt this "good" at running ever. I have always been the girl trying to catch up at the end but this run felt good. Unfortunately, I couldn't hold that pace after we stopped at Sandringham for our last water break before Brighton.
Favourite session of the week: The long run I did on Sunday was my best long run ever! It was about 32km (Frankston to Brighton along the footpath, not using the IM route completely). I am grateful that I am not injured and will carry on training.
Least favourite session of the week: Friday's long swim was one which I didn't feel I put in my best. I firstly arrived late and just couldn't get into the correct mindspace. I also had to leave early to work which meant that I couldn't do my cool down. I only did about 3km instead of the 4km program. I hate the feeling of being time-poor and cutting things short but I guess it is about QUALITY and not QUANTITY. At least I got the main set out and concentrated on my stroke most of the time.
Advice of the week: Get niggles sorted! I have been getting my massages on a regular basis and seeing the physio whenever I have niggles. Massages are now booked until the day before the big race and I am seeing physio about my shoulder pains.
Thing I’m looking forward to next week: I spoke to the coaches during the week and I am going to do a shorter ride and run this weekend. The plan is about 150km instead of 180km but I will have a long run off the bike instead. On Sunday, I am planning on doing a long swim (4km if I can) and then drive up to Elwood and do a 25km (give or take) from there. Putting in some quality sessions (rather than doing the quantity numbers).
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