Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Post 95 - My last week

This was the last full week of normal training before Ironman Wales. Below is what I do in a "normal" week, repeated week in and week out for most of the year, for the last few years...

Monday:

Get up at 6:22am. Eat porridge mixed with peanut butter, honey, flax seeds, chia seeds, dates, raisins, almonds, Brazil nuts, protein. Drink water. Go to work. Write blog on the train. Food and drink at work: morning: eat an apple and two oranges, drink 2 litres of water. Lunch: quinoa, raw broccoli/carrots/cauliflower, sardines, vitamin C tablet, water. Afternoon: eat a pear, a banana, an energy bar, drink 2 litres of water. Go home via shop, buy food. Write blog on train. Get home. Drink lemon water. Rest day, no training, cook dinner for the week: pasta, tomato sauce, raw vegetables: peppers, chillies, onions, garlic, carrots, broccoli, ginger, with chicken/turkey. Season with turmeric. Eat dinner. Eat an orange and an apple. Go to bed hopefully by 10pm, no later than 10:20pm.

Tuesday:

Up at 6:22am. Eat breakfast as per Monday. Go to work. Write blog on the train. Eat and drink at work as per Monday. Go home. Finish blog on the train. Eat rice cakes with peanut butter. Stretch for 20-30 minutes: hamstrings, glutes, groins, quads, calves, hip flexors. Get on turbo trainer. Do a short warm-up, a tough hour, and a short warm-down, eat energy bar/gels and drink while on bike. Do weights and core work for 30 minutes: Weights: bicep curls, tricep kick-backs, shoulder shrugs, upright rows, arm lifts, arms to side, arms to front, flys, shoulder presses, “lawnmowers”, squats. Core work: plank, sit ups, back stretching, back raises, leg/arm raises, crab walk, side-kicks, ankle strengthening, stair-hopping. Shower, eat dinner, upload blog, eat fruit, go to bed.

Wednesday:

Up at 6:22am. Eat breakfast as per Monday, go to work, eat and drink at work as per Monday. Go home, eat energy food snack. Stretch for 20-30 minutes as per Tuesday. 5 mile fartlek run (alternating fast and slow running at 1 minute intervals), then weights and core work for 30 minutes as per Tuesday. Shower, eat dinner, go to bed.

Thursday:

Up at 6:22am, eat breakfast, go to work, eat and drink at work, go home. Stretch for 20-30 minutes. Get on turbo trainer. Do 70-90 minutes of maximal interval work. Eat energy bars/gels and drink water while on bike. Do shorter core/weights session with whatever energy is left. Shower, eat dinner, go to bed.

Friday:

Up at 6:22am, eat breakfast, go to work, eat and drink at work, leave work at 1:50pm. Go to pool. Swim a maximal interval session of around 3km. Eat banana and protein bar, drink water. Go to shop, buy food. Go home. Put away food. Put on washing. Rest for one hour: do nothing. Eat energy snack. Short stretching session. Get on turbo trainer, do single-leg drills for just over an hour. Do shorter core session (no weights after swimming). Hang washing to dry, rest, drink lemon water, eat dinner, go to bed.

Saturday:

Sleep in! Up between 9:30am and 10:30am. Eat breakfast. Stretch for 20-30 minutes. Prepare electrolyte/energy drinks and energy gels/bars for long turbo trainer bike session. Get on turbo trainer for 3-5 hours. Eat and drink throughout. Watch videos on laptop throughout. Immediately go for a short 3-4 mile run. Finish, have protein drink, porridge, banana. Lie with legs elevated for recovery. Weights/core work for 30 minutes. Shower, do hot and cold blasts on legs for recovery. Eat late lunch. Put away washing, do ironing, put on next load of washing. Rest. Drink lemon water. Eat dinner, go to bed.

Sunday:

Up at 8:45am, eat breakfast, go to pool. Swim up to 4km, either a continuous long swim or drills with hand paddles. Eat banana and protein bar, go to shop, buy food. Get home, rest for one hour, do nothing. Eat energy snack. Stretch for 20-30 minutes. Long run (2 hours or more). Get home, have a protein drink, porridge, banana. Lie with legs elevated for recovery. Short core session. Shower, do hot and cold water blasts on legs for recovery. Eat late lunch, put away washing, do foam rolling. Rest. Drink lemon water. Eat dinner, go to bed, do it all again next week… 

Been doing this for, well, years… hopefully it’ll all be worth it at the finish line of Ironman Wales in a couple of weeks…

Training done this week (my last week of training before a two-week taper) was as follows:

Mon 24 Aug: Rest
Tue 25 Aug: 1:15 turbo (1 hour hard)
Wed 26 Aug: 30 min fartlek run
Thu 27 Aug: 1:10 turbo (2 min intervals hard/slow, hard/fast)
Fri 28 Aug: Swim 1.6km (1500m in 23:00), 1:05 turbo (7 x 3 mins right/left/both)
Sat 29 Aug: 3:10 turbo, 25 min run
Sun 30 Aug: Swim 4km, 50 min run (40 mins hard)

Totals: Swim 5.6km, Bike 145 miles, Run 17 miles.


The difference between before and after on Saturday:
Over 3 and a half hours exercising, probably 2 and a half litres of drink taken, and I
still lost 1.5kg. Imagine what you could lose in a 10-hour Ironman if you're not careful...





Nature put on a bit of a show this week, 
nature will provide nice weather in Wales too on 13th September

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