Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Everthing is weird right now!!

But, all in a good way :-)

Training is going well, the k's are increasing, the legs are getting more and more fatigued, however one thing is weird. My times are improving.

I know this is probably the that is should go, however, I would have thought it would be once the k's decrease, not increase. Backing up my 120km run week the week previous with a 125k run week last week, the legs, mind and body are going strong.

My swimming is still going well, and swimming a 57.30min 3.8k in a 50m pool solo gives me good confidence that my swimming is progressing to where I want it to be. The main thing that I have noticed about my swimming is the lack of cramps that I am currently getting. I put this down to using Hammer Endurolyte tablets, since I have been taking the Endurolytes, I just simply don't cramp anymore. Knowing this gives me confidence during a long endurance swim set knowing that I will complete the set without the dreaded cramps.

During the recent 3.8k swim, I even managed to negative split all 3 k's, going from 15.36, to 15.20 then down to a 14.50min effort and then finishing off the 800m well under the 12min mark. I am still a little bit off my goal time for Kona, but the main thing is that I am heading towards it, even deep in training. The biking is slowly coming, albeit ugly at the moment due to lack of bike k's in the legs, but I still have over 3 months to get them back to where I want.

I do have interesting times ahead, with training now being at a consistent 20 hours per week with not much biking, so no doubt once the next program gets finalised, these hours will increase once again. Something that is intimidating and exciting at the same time.

My race plan did recently change, with me not competing in an of the running races that I intended to. This was a decision by Andrew and myself, as we both agreed that I would get more benefit out of consistent training week in week out. I was content with this as my legs have been tired and heavy and the thought of a 15k smash fest did not really excite me (but a 2hr 20min run in the hills did!!).

I don't have much else to report about my prep, just one week is rolling into the next at the moment. I am looking forward to the upcoming weekend's Ironman in Korea to follow some mates compete there and hopefully book their ticket to Kona.

For now...

X-Man

Friday, June 10, 2011

And so it finally begins!!

I write this blog with some excitement, although I know it is going to be a whole lot of hard work combining it all.

I am finally getting back on the bike to re-introduce it into my training. It is a strange feeling when you look back at your training and see that you have consistently been running more than biking. What does this mean?? One of three things:

1) I have been running a lot,
2) I haven't been biking, or
3) A combination of both.

Option 3 is where it is at and with this week going to be another around the 110k's running, I can finally say that my biking will top this for the first time is many a week. What else does this mean?? That tomorrow's 3hr ride in the hills is going to be very ugly and painful.

I am excited all the same though, as I love biking and enjoy getting out chewing the fat with my mates. Tomorrow we welcome a couple of fresh faces that are on the Ironman wagon and I look forward to many an hour in the saddle along side both Laz & Tim. This adds to the "usual suspects" that I train with and once everyone gets back into full training for their relative Ironman races, it will be an exciting group to train with.

The winter weather has been interesting, however my new found love for treadmill running and my mag trainer again has overcome the conditions that have been facing all who train at this time of year, unless ofcourse you live in far north Qld. (oh, if only!!)

The Kona count is still in triple digits, so it is still a long way from being here, however I know that once it lowers into double digits, it is just around the corner. I am really looking forward to Yeppoon 70.3 this year as I will be in the best shape of my life at that time of year and am hanging to see the result that I can produce.

As stated previously I have changed my whole swimming program and to my surprise, I am still lowering my pb. Today with Greg Johnny Memphis Jnr, we did 2 x 1k TT with my times coming in on the 13.27 for the first one and 13.55 for the second, a little bit slower however the 13.27 was a pb by 18secs, which I cannot complain about. My goal coming closer to the race is to get a pb of lower than 13min and also punch out 4 x 1k TT efforts coming in on 13.45 leaving on the min cycle. Tough ask, but so is Kona and I am going to complete Kona, so no reason that I can't complete this task!

So, at the moment all is going well (might be a different statement after the mornings ride) and no complaints at the moment. I also have been accredited with my level 1 coaches certificate and I look forward to learning from the athletes that I will be coaching along with passing on the experience and knowledge that I ahve gained over my journey.

For now...

X-Man

Time to find ALL my winter cycling gear.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Knee deep in it!!

Where to start??

Just coming off my first 100k+ run week, I never thought that I would be looking forward to seeing how much my body can handle. Of course the body was sore, however the mind is strong and the motivation is unquestionable.

When I look at my blog and see the count down timer gradually decrease, the excitement grows and so do the nerves. It must be getting closer as even my boss asked me to fill in holiday forms for the time that I will be away.

I was chatting to a few at run squad last night and we were talking about upcoming races etc and for a few of us, our main race is not far away, albeit later in the year. When you look at your race schedule, you certainly do realise that the days, weeks & months certainly count down faster than you somewhat want at times.

Throw in relocating, doing my level 1 accreditation and work, the days are disappearing faster than I think. I am certainly making the most of every minute throughout the day and utilizing what I can where I can to ensure that everything is accounted for and am justifying my existence.

So back onto the training, the running is going well, the swimming is holding its own and the riding will slowly start to increase to match the other two moving forward.

My weight is down to 88kgs, never thought I would be this light so early in a preparation, however does give me confidence that I will be able to drop it lower as it gets closer. A few dodgy sushi rolls over the last weekend did help me drop it, however was not in the plan and I ensured that the weight was put back on so that I could maintain my training.

I have a few running races upcoming including a 10k road race this weekend, a 15k road race two weeks later, then the Gold Coast Half Marathon at the beginning of July. Then before I know it Yeppoon 1/2 Ironman will have come and gone and I will be sweating it out on the roads of Kona. I just have to keep crossing the t's and dotting the i's and I am confident that the rest will take care of itself!!

For now...

X-Man