I probably didn't allow myself enough recovery time after the Stirling duathlon. That had been a tough race, following just after a fast 10K race, both had taken a lot out of me. With hindsight, I would have spent longer recovering. I had one day off afterwards, then was straight back out. Onto the bike, over to Arthur's Seat, hammering out hill repeats.
I felt awful (unsurprisingly), with my times and power both down on where they'd usually be. There was just nothing in the legs. I couldn't get my heart rate much over 160bpm. Also, it was cold and I was cold. I didn't enjoy it but I grinded it out and had a long, hot shower when I got home.
The following evening myself and Kev headed up to the Pentlands for a run. I've been in Edinburgh 2 and a half years and it's terrible how little tie I've spent in the Pentland hills, overlooking the city to the south. A giant playground - trails, running, lochs, reservoirs, open water swimming, views. Ideal really, and I've only been up there literally two or three times.
I was a bit disappointed that this evening was misty, but it added to the atmosphere. It was silent, no-one else around. Kev said he wouldn't come up by himself in case he twisted an ankle and couldn't get phone signal to call for help. So I was really careful with my footing on the trails, concentrating on where I was putting my feet.
My legs were still tired and so I decided to forget about times and pace and all the rest of it. The last time I'd been at Thriepmuir reservoir last summer, and the level was really low. This time, it was like a different reservoir, with the water level really high. As we ran past two swimmers in wetsuits, I wondered what temperature the water was.
We ran through a valley where a small burn (stream) developed, and then led down the far side to another couple of reservoirs, then we took a left to double back, up a steep trail, to around 1100 feet, and back down to the car. A super run.
I did an easy turbo on Thursday - 2 and a half hours, around 160 watts at 110bpm, then battered out a 4000m swim on Friday, which felt good, averaging 1:43 per 100m, pushing hard for 2 lengths every 10. My heart rate was reasonably low at the end which was good. Then straight to bed. I needed to be up early on Saturday as I wanted to do a long bike, and then had to catch a train to go and support at the London marathon.
So I was on the turbo by 8am, got through 3 and a half hours (197 watts normalised, 177 average, 126bpm). Not bad for a first "long" ride, but they will have to get longer... 2 hours longer, and more... I was tired after this, but got some food down me, some liquid, and headed off for the train. I was more dehydrated than I thought as I didn't need the toilet for pretty much the entire 4 and half hour train ride (usually if I am properly hydrating I need to go every hour or so...)
Anyway I made it to London. That whole weekend has a blog post by itself, and so I won't go into detail here. I had a sacrifice the Sunday long run, but I managed 40 minutes on the Monday morning, which I will put down as part of this week's training. And that was the first week of Ironman training. Pretty moderate, no super-long or super-tough sessions. I haven't entered the Ironman yet, I want to see how the tougher, longer sessions will go.
Training done was as follows:
Monday 22nd April: Rest
Tuesday 23rd April: Bike 6 x Arthur's seat hill reps
Wednesday 24th April: 75 minute run
Thursday 25th April: 2:30 turbo
Friday 26th April: Swim 4km
Saturday 27th April: 3:30 turbo
Sunday 28th April: 40 minute run (done on the Monday but part of this week's training block)
Totals: Swim 4km, Bike 140 miles, Run 16 miles.
I felt awful (unsurprisingly), with my times and power both down on where they'd usually be. There was just nothing in the legs. I couldn't get my heart rate much over 160bpm. Also, it was cold and I was cold. I didn't enjoy it but I grinded it out and had a long, hot shower when I got home.
Not a happy (or pretty) cyclist, and this was taken after only 1km.
Not up for it at all, legs not ready after a tough 10K and tough duathlon in succession
The following evening myself and Kev headed up to the Pentlands for a run. I've been in Edinburgh 2 and a half years and it's terrible how little tie I've spent in the Pentland hills, overlooking the city to the south. A giant playground - trails, running, lochs, reservoirs, open water swimming, views. Ideal really, and I've only been up there literally two or three times.
I was a bit disappointed that this evening was misty, but it added to the atmosphere. It was silent, no-one else around. Kev said he wouldn't come up by himself in case he twisted an ankle and couldn't get phone signal to call for help. So I was really careful with my footing on the trails, concentrating on where I was putting my feet.
My legs were still tired and so I decided to forget about times and pace and all the rest of it. The last time I'd been at Thriepmuir reservoir last summer, and the level was really low. This time, it was like a different reservoir, with the water level really high. As we ran past two swimmers in wetsuits, I wondered what temperature the water was.
We ran through a valley where a small burn (stream) developed, and then led down the far side to another couple of reservoirs, then we took a left to double back, up a steep trail, to around 1100 feet, and back down to the car. A super run.
I did an easy turbo on Thursday - 2 and a half hours, around 160 watts at 110bpm, then battered out a 4000m swim on Friday, which felt good, averaging 1:43 per 100m, pushing hard for 2 lengths every 10. My heart rate was reasonably low at the end which was good. Then straight to bed. I needed to be up early on Saturday as I wanted to do a long bike, and then had to catch a train to go and support at the London marathon.
So I was on the turbo by 8am, got through 3 and a half hours (197 watts normalised, 177 average, 126bpm). Not bad for a first "long" ride, but they will have to get longer... 2 hours longer, and more... I was tired after this, but got some food down me, some liquid, and headed off for the train. I was more dehydrated than I thought as I didn't need the toilet for pretty much the entire 4 and half hour train ride (usually if I am properly hydrating I need to go every hour or so...)
Anyway I made it to London. That whole weekend has a blog post by itself, and so I won't go into detail here. I had a sacrifice the Sunday long run, but I managed 40 minutes on the Monday morning, which I will put down as part of this week's training. And that was the first week of Ironman training. Pretty moderate, no super-long or super-tough sessions. I haven't entered the Ironman yet, I want to see how the tougher, longer sessions will go.
Training done was as follows:
Monday 22nd April: Rest
Tuesday 23rd April: Bike 6 x Arthur's seat hill reps
Wednesday 24th April: 75 minute run
Thursday 25th April: 2:30 turbo
Friday 26th April: Swim 4km
Saturday 27th April: 3:30 turbo
Sunday 28th April: 40 minute run (done on the Monday but part of this week's training block)
Totals: Swim 4km, Bike 140 miles, Run 16 miles.
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