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One week before race day and I thought I'd be blogging about how well my taper is going and how great I feel, both physically and mentally. How things change. I've tried to ease back into training this week, but I have had to be aware that I've had a pretty serious infection, that I'm not long off the very strong antibiotics that I was prescribed, and I have to accept that the recovery from this is going to take time. Ideally more time than the week I have left before Ironman UK. My plan was to do some really easy training in the first part of this week, and then push myself at the weekend. If I'm hoping to compete at Ironman UK next week I needed to push myself in training to see how I would go.
Training done this week was as follows:
Monday 7th July 2014: 30 minute turbo, 20 minute run
Tuesday 8th July 2014: Rest
Wed 9th July 2014: Swim 2km
Thurs 10th July 2014: 30 minute turbo, 20 minute run
Friday 11th July 2014: 1 hour turbo (single leg drills: 6 x 3L, 3R, 3B)
Saturday 12th July 2014: 2:10 turbo (progressively tougher), 30 minute run
Sunday 13th July 2014: Swim 2.5km, 40 minute fartlek run
Totals: Swim 4.5km, Bike 84 miles, Run 15 miles
Earlier in the week, my training intensity was intentionally very, very low. I was probably not doing enough to stop my muscles gradually de-toning and wasting, but on the other hand, I was still probably doing more than I should have to optimise my recovery. It has been a very difficult thing to judge, balancing the recovery with the attempts to maintain fitness and muscle tone. My body feels really strange at the minute. I've developed lots of little niggles: a sore left groin. A sore right knee. A sore right hamstring. A sore left foot. A sore upper back/lower neck. Everything is a bit haywire at the minute. It really doesn't feel like a week before an Ironman.
I kept a close eye on my heart rate during the tougher sessions at the weekend. When training, it wasn't much elevated above what I would expect. However, I still have a sore head, and running seems to make it worse. It turns into a pounding headache when I run. My resting heart rate is usually 40-45bpm. Right now, I would expect it to be 40-45, but it is currently 64bpm. 20 above normal. This is a bit worrying, and a sure sign that I'm not yet recovered, particularly for high-level, top-end, prolonged endurance performance. I've still got another week, but the waiting game and the unknown factors are tough.
I had a 13-hour sleep on Friday night, and then didn't sleep well last night. Perhaps this was because I was only awake for 10 hours on Saturday, or perhaps my sleep is still disrupted because I'm not totally recovered.
Realistically, it's looking like qualifying at Bolton next week is slipping away. I need to be operating as close to 100% perfection with regards to my top-end performance to have a chance of qualifying. I'm not sure in my state that I can operate at the level needed, the level I was at a few weeks ago. That's not defeatist, that is circumstantial and a medical fact. An Ironman is a tough thing to do, especially at my intensity level. I'm very lean at the minute, not much fat, I was really fit, my legs and muscles feel good, but if my body needs time to recover after fighting a serious infection and after having had strong antibiotics, there's not much I can do. Sure, I could go to the race, cruise round, finish in 14 hours and pick up a medal. But I'm not interested in doing that.
Since the start of 2014, I have swam almost 150km, cycled almost 4000km and run nearly 700km. I've done endless stretching, weights, core work, foam rolling, I've eaten such a good diet. I've done everything I could. It's so frustrating to see it slipping away.
If Bolton doesn't happen, it looks like Ironman Wales in September might be a Plan B. However, this is where things get complicated. Ironman Wales in September 2014 is a qualifier for Hawaii in October 2015. I have the opportunity to go to South Korea with work, starting pretty soon, for up to 2 years. From a career and a financial point of view, Korea would be a good thing. Plus, Korea is not London.
However, things have changed in the last year and I have become a reasonably good Ironman triathlete. I have got high ambitions beyond Kona that will require another year of tough training to fulfil. Going to Korea would probably kill my triathlon ambitions, for a variety of reasons - long hours, strange diet, very limited access to physios/osteos etc. It has taken me 2 and a half years to get myself a good training set-up in London and to find a decent house to live in. I'd be giving up a lot to go to Korea. My Ironman triathlon career is a lot more finite than my actual work career.
So, big decisions to make, and I might not even have a result at Bolton to factor into the decision...
One week before race day and I thought I'd be blogging about how well my taper is going and how great I feel, both physically and mentally. How things change. I've tried to ease back into training this week, but I have had to be aware that I've had a pretty serious infection, that I'm not long off the very strong antibiotics that I was prescribed, and I have to accept that the recovery from this is going to take time. Ideally more time than the week I have left before Ironman UK. My plan was to do some really easy training in the first part of this week, and then push myself at the weekend. If I'm hoping to compete at Ironman UK next week I needed to push myself in training to see how I would go.
Training done this week was as follows:
Monday 7th July 2014: 30 minute turbo, 20 minute run
Tuesday 8th July 2014: Rest
Wed 9th July 2014: Swim 2km
Thurs 10th July 2014: 30 minute turbo, 20 minute run
Friday 11th July 2014: 1 hour turbo (single leg drills: 6 x 3L, 3R, 3B)
Saturday 12th July 2014: 2:10 turbo (progressively tougher), 30 minute run
Sunday 13th July 2014: Swim 2.5km, 40 minute fartlek run
Totals: Swim 4.5km, Bike 84 miles, Run 15 miles
Earlier in the week, my training intensity was intentionally very, very low. I was probably not doing enough to stop my muscles gradually de-toning and wasting, but on the other hand, I was still probably doing more than I should have to optimise my recovery. It has been a very difficult thing to judge, balancing the recovery with the attempts to maintain fitness and muscle tone. My body feels really strange at the minute. I've developed lots of little niggles: a sore left groin. A sore right knee. A sore right hamstring. A sore left foot. A sore upper back/lower neck. Everything is a bit haywire at the minute. It really doesn't feel like a week before an Ironman.
My legs are improving - no more pus...
I kept a close eye on my heart rate during the tougher sessions at the weekend. When training, it wasn't much elevated above what I would expect. However, I still have a sore head, and running seems to make it worse. It turns into a pounding headache when I run. My resting heart rate is usually 40-45bpm. Right now, I would expect it to be 40-45, but it is currently 64bpm. 20 above normal. This is a bit worrying, and a sure sign that I'm not yet recovered, particularly for high-level, top-end, prolonged endurance performance. I've still got another week, but the waiting game and the unknown factors are tough.
I had a 13-hour sleep on Friday night, and then didn't sleep well last night. Perhaps this was because I was only awake for 10 hours on Saturday, or perhaps my sleep is still disrupted because I'm not totally recovered.
Realistically, it's looking like qualifying at Bolton next week is slipping away. I need to be operating as close to 100% perfection with regards to my top-end performance to have a chance of qualifying. I'm not sure in my state that I can operate at the level needed, the level I was at a few weeks ago. That's not defeatist, that is circumstantial and a medical fact. An Ironman is a tough thing to do, especially at my intensity level. I'm very lean at the minute, not much fat, I was really fit, my legs and muscles feel good, but if my body needs time to recover after fighting a serious infection and after having had strong antibiotics, there's not much I can do. Sure, I could go to the race, cruise round, finish in 14 hours and pick up a medal. But I'm not interested in doing that.
Since the start of 2014, I have swam almost 150km, cycled almost 4000km and run nearly 700km. I've done endless stretching, weights, core work, foam rolling, I've eaten such a good diet. I've done everything I could. It's so frustrating to see it slipping away.
If Bolton doesn't happen, it looks like Ironman Wales in September might be a Plan B. However, this is where things get complicated. Ironman Wales in September 2014 is a qualifier for Hawaii in October 2015. I have the opportunity to go to South Korea with work, starting pretty soon, for up to 2 years. From a career and a financial point of view, Korea would be a good thing. Plus, Korea is not London.
However, things have changed in the last year and I have become a reasonably good Ironman triathlete. I have got high ambitions beyond Kona that will require another year of tough training to fulfil. Going to Korea would probably kill my triathlon ambitions, for a variety of reasons - long hours, strange diet, very limited access to physios/osteos etc. It has taken me 2 and a half years to get myself a good training set-up in London and to find a decent house to live in. I'd be giving up a lot to go to Korea. My Ironman triathlon career is a lot more finite than my actual work career.
So, big decisions to make, and I might not even have a result at Bolton to factor into the decision...
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