Post 28 - Easy training and massage

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Training this week was as follows:

Monday 23^rd June 2014: Rest
Tuesday 24^th June 2014: Rest
Wed 25^th June 2014: 1 hour turbo, 20 minute run
Thurs 26^th June 2014: 30 minute turbo
Friday 27^th June 2014 Swim 3.3km (with 13 x 50m hard), 1 hour turbo (single leg drills, 9 x 2mins left, right, both)
Saturday 28^th June 2014: 2 hour turbo (30 minutes harder), 30 minute run
Sunday 29^th June 2014: Swim 3km, 30 minute run

Totals: Swim 6.3km, Bike 88 miles, Run 11 miles

This was intended to be an easy recovery week, following two tough weeks that finished off with a “metric Ironman” training session last Sunday. This metric Ironman was a session that took quite a lot out of me, and it left me feeling pretty drained and tired for the first part of this week. During the metric Ironman, I taped up one of the toes on my left foot, as the toenail had been sore. Taping up this toenail and then running for 17 miles induced a bit of a blister on the big toe of my left foot, which was painful in the first part of this week. My leg muscles were very tight as well, in particular my left iliotibial (IT) band.

So, I didn’t do much in the first half of this week. I paid my usual visit to my osteopath, Paul. He seemed pretty happy with how my treatment is going. My mobility is improving, my back is freer and it’s not as tight as before. My hips are moving better too. It will be interesting to have another scan of my back done in the next week or two, and compare it with my initial scan that was done a few months back, at the start of my treatment with Paul (see post 19).

In the second half of the week, the little niggles thankfully improved and I did some easy training, nothing overly long or overly intense. Two of my toes still have a bit of healing to do, but I hope that in the next week or two these niggles will completely clear up. Next week I will do my final tough week of training, followed by a 2-week taper before the race. It looks like I will go into next week fairly fresh and hopefully I’ll get through the last tough week OK. Then, that will be it. All the training will have been banked, and it will be a case of getting through the final two easy weeks, getting to the start line, and getting through the race itself.

I bought a couple of books during this week – one called “A Life Without Limits” by Chrissie Wellington, who is a multiple Ironman world champion and arguably the greatest female athlete ever. Paula Radcliffe would also be a strong contender for this title. Both would be right up there on a list of greatest athletes ever, male or female. Chrissie and Paula both pushed their respective sports of triathlon and running to levels that would have been unthinkable in years gone by. I also bought a book called “I’m here to win” by Chris McCormack, who’s a double Ironman world champion.

I thought I’d read these books to see if there’s anything in there that I can learn about Ironman training and racing: race strategy, nutrition tips, training routines, stretching, mental preparation, whatever. Chris McCormack’s book in particular seems to give advice on how to race at Kona… Hopefully before Ironman UK race day I will have read both of these books, and maybe there will be some lessons to learn from the best in the business.

I’ve recently started up a Twitter account. I took a photo of both of these books and mentioned the authors by name in a tweet. Chris McCormack “favourited” the comment – good man Chris!

 

I had been thinking that with three weeks to go until race day, I need to get a couple of good sports massages. Nothing too deep or painful, as I don’t want to jeopardise anything at this stage, but equally I need something more than just a cursory rub-down.

I’ve always been a bit sceptical about physios and osteopaths, particularly those who I don’t know and those who don’t really have an endurance sports background. I’ve come to trust Paul, who is doing a good job with my back. Paul is a cyclist as well, we were in Flanders together, and he is a friend of my housemate Steve. I’d been on the look-out for a good physio/massage therapist, with a background in endurance sport. Steve suggested I could get in touch with a guy he knows named Des, who’s also from Northern Ireland. Des has an impressive record of working with high-level cyclists and sportspeople, and seems to have already made a decent name for himself. He’s a cyclist as well and so can relate exactly to things that I say.

I agreed to meet Des on Saturday after training. I had an initial assessment, where the diagnosis was that my muscles were extremely tight and also that my back is in a bit of a mess. Nothing I didn’t already know! However, he did stress that everything was treatable and could be improved a great deal, with regular sessions. There’s no quick fix. His analogy was that a good muscle should feel like a defrosted chicken breast. My muscles felt like frozen chicken breasts… Des then spent a very thorough 4 hours working on my back, answering questions, explaining things and giving me confidence that there are a lot of improvements and gains that can be found by getting my muscles loosened out and getting everything in better balance, both in the next 3 weeks and in the longer term.

I was very impressed with Des and his holistic, patient approach. We intended to get my entire body ironed out on Saturday, but after 4 hours spent working on my back and shoulders it was getting late, so he suggested coming back the next day to work on my legs. So I headed home, and the next day went for a swim. My arms felt fatigued after the treatment, but Des had said this would be normal, particularly given that I am not used to sports massage. I can only envy the pros who have unlimited access to specialists every day, this must make a huge difference. After my swim, I then went for a short run, and headed back to see Des. He took a couple of pictures of my back, and I was pretty shocked to see just how misaligned it actually is. But again he stressed that it is treatable.

He then spent the best part of 5 hours working on my legs, warming them up, massaging them, stretching them, and generally ironing them out. A lot of it was torturous. He’s been called a few choice names by his patients during treatments. I managed to bite my tongue, but some of it was pretty sore. At this stage, so close to race day, I am not looking for really deep, tough massage. I am not looking to be fatigued and sore for days afterwards. Des understood this perfectly. On the pain scale, he told me that it wasn’t to go beyond a 7 out of 10, and if it did, I was to let him know. I let him know a lot of times…

Des has the same approach as my osteopath, that achieving good results, loose muscles, and better mobility requires an ongoing commitment. I’ll see Des another two or three times before race day and he is confident he can make some big improvements. At my level, every little improvement makes a difference, so I’m really pleased that I’m working with Des now in the run-up to race day. His time, expertise and work have already been invaluable. I will also be continuing to see Paul, my osteopath in the coming weeks.

As of now, I’ve just finished the leg treatment and I’m writing this blog while on the train home. We’ll see next week how the legs will feel. For now, I’ll get home, get this uploaded, and get to bed. It’s already well past my bedtime and I am tired as usual…

As a final thought, here’s a quote from an Ironman highlights show I watched when I was on the turbo trainer earlier this week: “Realising that if it is really going to matter, it may be something no-one understands except you.” I quite like this.

 

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