Nice And Easy Does It...

Last weeks recovery week went as planned and I feel recovered!

I even managed to get outside on the bike at one point for a 90 min leisurely spin. I did a few brick sessions too, but nothing too long or too strenuous. At the beginning of the week I felt as though I didn’t really need a lot of recovery and was contemplating just taking 2 or 3 days of rest and easy stuff. But I stuck to the plan and I’m glad I did. I actually felt great by the end of the week…more awake, energized, no aches or pains and full of enthusiasm for some harder training! I think it’s sometimes difficult to realize how tired you actually are, until you compare it to how you feel after some proper rest and recovery…it’s usually a matter of refusing to believe you’re tired because you want to squeeze just a few more hard sessions in! Or is that just me!!?

I marked the return to ‘proper’ training this morning with an early dip in the pool…main set was 8 x 200m on 20 secs rest, average time of 3 min 15, with a fastest of 3 min 10. I always tend to go ‘all out’ on the last rep, whether it is in the pool, on the turbo or on the track/treadmill.

Now it’s 3 more weeks of ‘building’ before a bit of race prep…

Train smart y’all!

Time For Recovery...

I think I've definitely earned my recovery week! I trained hard last week, culminating in my own little middle distance tri.

I rested on Monday, and kicked off Tuesday morning with a pre-brekky swim of 8 x 200m on 20 sec rest, averaging 3 min 15 secs. In the evening I did a 55 min bike power workout which was flipping hard! After blasting out the last 20 sec max effort interval, I could hardly catch my breath and it wasn't enough to just be slumped across the bars, I had to get off the bike and lie on the floor! Now that's max effort! I soon recovered enough to slip my run shoes on and do a wee 10 min steady run.

The next morning the weather was pants again so more turbo time. I did a steady 2 and a half hours with some single legs, spin ups and 'hills' thrown in to relieve the boredom. The evening sesh was 6 x 1km (3 min 25 sec) with 90 secs rest, on the treadmill. I pushed the pace a little and found them ok at 5 min 26 per mile pace. I finished them with a bit (a small bit!) left in the tank and was pleased with myself for sticking to my plan of not pushing myself to destruction!

My early swim on Thursday was supposed to be a long one, but I got booted out of the pool to make way for an impromptu organized PT session! I managed to get 25 min done, most of which was drill work.
After breakfast I went out for the day with a few mates to the buzzing metropolis of Stanley. It was good to get off camp, do a bit of tourist stuff (see the 'totem pole') and have a 'proper' cup of coffee and a cracking slice of toffee cake!

When we got back to camp I hit the turbo again...5 x 8 min hard with 2 min rest. Those 2 min rest periods seem to pass in the blink of an eye!

I did a 2.5 km swim on Friday morning, nice and steady.

Saturday was 'long day'! I swam 2km in just under 41 minutes and then changed into my cycling kit and hopped on to the turbo for 2 and a half hours at a moderate effort. Then it was on to the treadmill for 90 mins, covering a whisker over 13 miles. It was a good endurance 'test' but more importantly I tried out a different approach to my race nutrition...no solids! In the long races I did last year, I suffered stomach 'issues' which I put down to eating too much. So I thought I'd try just gels and water with occasional sips of energy drink. It worked a treat! No issues, no stitches, no cramps...sorted! Although my quads felt tender for the rest of the day, my compression tights seemed to do their job well, and by the next morning I felt fine.

Time for a well earned recovery week! Sunday was a rest and stretch day and Monday was a very easy swim, which included a few drills.
Did a very easy 30 min turbo this morning followed by a bit of core work and loads of stretching.

The rest of this week will be focused on more recovery and trying not to eat too much!

Train smart.

The Reassuring Pain of Intensity!

Another good week in the bag! I'm pleased that I've been able to increase the intensity last week with no real problems...although my quads and calfs were left feeling a bit 'bruised' by the end of the week...no pain, no gain right?!

Last Wednesday started with an indoor bike/run brick session of 6 x (5 min hard bike/3 min hard run/2 min easy spin). I still had to contend with the frustration of waiting for the treadmill to get up to speed after jumping off the bike. I tried leaving it 'running' but it senses that there is nobody on it and turns itself off...annoying.
I went down to the pool in the evening but was greeted by a notice on the pool door saying that it was closed for 'short notice maintenance'...doh! So I had to console myself by having cake!

Thursday morning was another turbo sesh...after a warm up, I did 15 mins big gear (50-55 rpm), 5 min hard, 5 min EZ spin, 15 min 'bigger' gear, 5 min 'harder', 5 min EZ spin, then 3 mins at an even bigger gear, and finished with 3 min max effort, before a 10 min cool down...flipping hard work!!
Thankfully the pool was open that evening and I did pyramid intervals of 2,4,6,8,10, 10,8,6,4,2 lengths. I was feeling pretty good, right up until the last 2L interval when I got cramp in my quads and my lower abs! That was definitely a first for me, I've never had cramp in my abs before?! I don't think I had enough rest between workouts that day...I was trying to squeeze 2 sessions in before my night shift.

Friday was a 90 min run which included 45 mins of hill reps. The hill I use is quite steep and takes around 1 min 50sec to get up, depending on the ever present wind!
An easy swim in the evening finished off that day nicely!

Saturday morning I was back in the pool for bit of intensity. The main set was 10 x 2L hard on 20 sec rest, 4L EZ, 10 x (1L hard, 1L EZ). I finished off with 500m nice and easy.
The afternoon weather was sunny and calm enough to get outside on the bike, although still pretty chilly. I was out for just under 2 hours of steady riding, sprinting up the hills (I say hills...more like lumps really!)

Sunday was a treadmill run in the evening after work. 1 hour of fartlek which included a 20 min run at 6 min mile pace and various other shorter and faster intervals, as and when I felt like stepping up the pace a bit!

I rested yesterday (Monday). I felt pretty tired and my legs were quite sore but a fair bit of massaging and stretching helped a lot and they felt much better when I got up this morning for my pre-breakfast swim. I did a main set of 8 x 200m on 20 sec rest. I averaged 3 min 15 sec, with my last rep being my fastest at 3 min 10.

I'm on R+R this week so it's going to be more hard work before I treat my self to a recovery week! There's less than 6 weeks to my first race...is it time to panic yet??!!!

Train smart

First Competative Blast!

Competed in an 8km X-country last Wednesday and although it was just a 'military' race, there was still a good turnout with 130 odd runners, mainly consisting of Army but with a fair sprinkling of RAF and Navy. The weather was proper x-country weather...horizontal rain, high winds and flipping freezing! Ah, good old South Atlantic sunshine! I managed to grab second place in a time of 30 mins 30 secs, which is a time I'm pretty happy with. It was a tough race and I did push myself quite hard coz I wanted to test myself. And test myself I did! I lost out to another RAF bloke so it was good to see the 'fly boys' taking the top 2 spots and show the Army a clean (ish) pair of heels!
At the end of the race my legs felt heavy but aerobically I felt great! Which suggest to me that my endurance base is pretty good but I'm probably lacking a bit of power?? I've got 6 weeks to address that before my first triathlon of the year...so that will be me introducing more intensity in to my running then!

As for the rest of last week, it was mainly moderate effort intervals of swimming, biking and running until last weekend where I went long...

Saturday morning I knocked out 3.5km in the pool in 1 hr 03 mins. In the afternoon, after lunch and a kip, I did a 3 hour turbo ride where I threw in a '10 min hill' every 30 mins. I used my ipod on my bike which is something I've never done before, thinking that the ear plugs and the bucket loads of sweat I produce in the gym wouldn't mix too well! It was actually a great help having The Prodigy egging me on!
Sunday morning I braved some of the worst weather I've ever ran in! I had planned to run outside, up and over the Peak, and nothing was going to prevent me from finishing my 'long distance weekend' the way I had planned! So this meant getting up at 7am to do battle with winds gusting 50mph mixed with rain and hail which felt like needles on my skin! At some points I was running backwards to lessen the pain of the hail stones on my face! The pain of hail was temporary but it was my hands that suffered for most of the run. Once my gloves were wet (I only brought a pair of woollen running gloves with me...schoolboy error!) the chill of the wind froze my hands and I just couldn't get them warm again until I was thawing out in a hot shower back in my accommodation. It was a tough run but I got a great buzz from having still completed what I had set out to do...2 hours of tough hilly running!

The following day was an easy swim in the morning before work, and after work was an easy bike with a bit of core work.

This week will be a bit more 'intense'.

Train smart y'all.