Apologies for the lack of
blogging recently but that does usually mean I have been up to plenty, training
has to take priority and keeping focussed is key, as I was reminded by a few
friends recently. If man calls you a horse call him a fool, but if two do buy
yourself a saddle..or at least get sat on the bike one. :)
We have had the Big Day blog, so here is the big week, a training camp of sorts but no travelling
involved. The Lake District provides all I need for the races that inspire me
so as always I do my best to use it, sometimes even the weather plays ball! If
not no worries, at least come race day I can welcome whatever conditions are
thrown at me, knowing I have trained in worse.
Bit of
background, I had a tough couple of weeks, lots on as well as training and
work, a few disappointing sessions, then I got a cold the day before a race I
had entered. I took a few days rest and then booked 5 days off from work. The
goal was to get back on track, mainly swimming. Blair Davies scheduled 5 swims for me (love checking training peaks for these!), I planned
a recce of an English Champs fell race (Duddon) ) and wanted to get plenty of
time on the bike in too. I had a trip to Dublin for a christening at the end of
the week so I would get a rest during this time.
So I
might schedule 2/3 weeks like this in my build up to racing Celtman and
Norseman, both really ultra distance triathlons and with only 5 weeks to
recover between. A week like this is pretty hard on the body, so recovery and
nutrition are super important. I find CurraNZ such a help to get through
sessions/weeks like this and honestly see it as key to the gains I have made
this winter so far. 2 caps a couple of hours before my main session for the day
seems to work wonders, for recovery and during the training itself,
particularly in my experience for threshold work. I have also added some Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA), Glutamine and Beta Alanine to my diet, before and after training. This has also been great for recovery as I have stepped up the training this year, thanks TrecNutrition!
First up
was a 5hr day in the fells, 1800m of ascent and about 30km. Off trail on pretty
rough ground, a tough start to the week but maybe best to get it out of the way
:). It had everything that I love about training in the mountains, almost
perfect weather and great company. The sort of session I would normally expect
a bit of Doms from...
I also
did a steady 50min turbo, zone2 and a short bike to spin the legs out from
yesterdays efforts. Guess what, no sign of the dreaded Doms, a little heavy to
start but warmed up fine.
Day 3,
1hr30 in the pool, more Max 100's but also an aerobic set to finish. The long
warm up with drills etc made up for a tough set and I felt a little tired from
yesterday.
Today was
also long bike day. I don't really like to just go out and plod, so had one
sub-threshold 20min interval on flat/rolling planned the a challenging section
with lots of hills for more of the same. It was an awesome day for riding, 5hrs
in the saddle, with plenty of quality. My biking is a lot stronger than last
year, good to confirm this out on the long rides. This is a classic lake
district training loop, well worth a look if your after a beautiful,
challenging ride without a super steep pass.
Day 4,
1hr pool, aerobic/endurance focus, 10x200, even splits, every second with pull
buoy. Starting to get back into the swimming now.
The
afternoon was 2.5hrs on the fells, with the focus being about 1hr, uphill at
just below threshold. A weather front hit just as I reached the top, epic! It
was hard to run down hill, straight into it. Lucky I had packed the extra kit,
finished of with 30mins low level trail running then had a massive cup of tea
and warmed back up!
Day 5,
today I feel like a swimmer, 4 days on, sessions challenging but manageable and
recovery great. First goal of the week complete, swimming feels back on track!
Bike
today was short but steady, on the TT bike. Another route I used a lot last
year, 1 short steady climb with a 10mile flat section. I will be back here for
some intervals through April and May, great for tuning into flat\rolling race
specific paces. Steady effort level.
One more
swim to go before a rest day, but have to admit I am enjoying it now! It would
be a Blair Davies special with the words hard before it though! Bring it on!
20x50 Max
effort with 40secs rest, plus an aerobic set to finish. I ended up doing 25 due
to a busy pool and miscount, have to admit the rest day was such an appealing
thought after the session! Sorry arms!
A rest
day the onto swim number seven. I had just under an hour in a 50m pool (love
them!) So did 4x100 hard, 2x200 pull,
4x100 hard, 2x200 pull with a warm up and cool down. Swim was confirmed back on
track!
In the
evening I did 30mins tempo on the road, not far off managing a 10km pb in the
45min 12km session, must have been the CurraNZ and good Dublin air ;).
I won't
bore you with a full run down of the stats but it was about 25hrs in 7 days,
with plenty of swimming, quality and hills. A good solid week in the bank, best
thing is I carried on into the current week feeling great, no recovery issues
or niggles. A good test of the winters hard work. Thanks Curranz and TrecNutrition :) Looking forward to an easier week next week
though, race season is getting closer and I cannot wait to get started!
First up will be the awesome HighTerrain Events Winlatter Extreme Duathlon, hoping the weather allows the full 1st run course this year! Maybe see you there. :)
First up will be the awesome HighTerrain Events Winlatter Extreme Duathlon, hoping the weather allows the full 1st run course this year! Maybe see you there. :)
