This was the beginning of a planned 3-week training block for the Ironman world championships. It would have to include heat adaption training. Some might say thereby making tortuous training (possibly in particular tortuous turbo training) even worse…
I’m not sure how three full weeks with heat training will go. Usually my training is in blocks of two weeks. I’ll have to see how it goes, and maybe tone down the middle week. I seemed to recover well after the Lausanne racing, and at the end of the following week I did a swim followed by an attempted 30 minutes in the sauna. I was disappointed to only hack 20 minutes. 3 hours on the turbo on Saturday followed, with the heating on full blast. This wasn’t too bad, so for the middle hour I put the fan off to see how that would be. I sweated a huge amount, but the actual training and the outputs were reasonable. Sunday was a 90 minute run (my longest since Ironman UK), followed immediately by a 25-minute hot bath.
That was three heat adaption strategies – a long sauna (but currently not long enough) immediately after exercise, a long hot bath (but currently not long enough) immediately after exercise, and turbo training with the heat on full blast, and trying to endure it without a fan. The fourth strategy is running outdoors with a number of coats on, and a ski hat, gloves, thermal leggings and base layers etc.
For the three sessions outlined above, I was mindful that I was still recovering after Lausanne, so they weren’t particularly hard sessions. I’ll have to be careful to ensure I am taking enough salt, to replace that which is being sweated out. I’ll need to hydrate and rehydrate well, and I have bought a number of hydration products containing electrolytes to help with this. This heat training really is uncharted territory for me, so I will just have to listen to my body and be careful.
Hydration, nutrition and electrolytes
Monday was the usual rest day (with a massage), then it was into a more structured week. On Tuesday evening I did bike reps on the turbo, with no heat – the thinking is that during heat training, I won’t be able to achieve outputs as high as they would be if there was no heat. So in order to actually improve performance levels (which is the point of training), I need to do some non-heat sessions to maximise outputs and improve. Also, heat training every day will probably be too much of a stress on my body’s systems. So 10 sets of 3 minutes at up to 330 watts in a reasonable temperature were duly completed. I’d have been nowhere near 330 watts if the heat had been on. I followed this with stretching and core work.
I can remember doing FTP tests (functional threshold power) in London – the idea is that you pedal at your maximum output for 20 minutes. The 20 minutes seems like 20 hours. I do this test indoors on the turbo trainer. My top level was 330 watts (around 5.2 watts per kilo), achieved in fairly cool conditions. You’d hope to improve your level as the season progresses and as you continue to train. I repeated the test in the middle of summer when it was hot, and I had to abandon it after only about 10 minutes. I’d hope I was fitter but I couldn’t hold the numbers in the higher temperatures. So heat is tough! And Kona is hot, hot, hot!
Incidentally, this 5.2 watts per kilo I achieved puts me in the “excellent” level according to the tables below, at the top of Cat 1, and on the fringes of pro standard.
But it’s different horses for different courses. My FTP numbers would indicate I should be able to hold a higher power than I actually can for an Ironman, and this has probably ruined a few Ironmans (specifically Ironman marathons) for me in the past – riding to the number, when the number (for me) was too high. I changed that this year, rode to a slightly lower power at Ironman UK, and ended up having my best ever Ironman marathon (and qualifying for Kona). The science and the numbers are something of an art, and you need to know yourself, your strengths and limitations. You can only truly know this through experience. This is all another reason why I am better at shorter stuff: I can hold high power for a short time, but it drops off more than it should over the longer distances. Meaning I am not a long-course beast, I am a short-course beast. But I digress…
On Wednesday I went out for a tempo run, wearing a base layer, two coats, a ski hat, gloves, and thermal leggings. I did 10 miles in just over an hour, which was solid running. I sweated a bit, but felt good. I keep thinking I’m not too bad in the heat as I am very lean and light. Other athletes my height might weigh 10-15kg more, and they might find the heat tougher. I followed this with 25 minutes in a hot bath, and then weights and core work.
Thursday is usually an easier bike ride, so I did 3 hours on the turbo. It maybe wasn’t as easy as it could have been as the heat was on full blast, and I managed not to use the fan at all. I sweated a huge amount. The room slowly got hotter and more humid with my own sweat in the air, and more and more disgusting. I only realised how bad it was when I finished, went to the toilet and came back in. Horrendous. I opened the windows and left them open overnight.
On Friday I did some single leg turbo drills and then I hit the pool and churned out 4000m – my longest swim for 2 months since the Ironman. The first half was fine, and then the pace started to drop a little, partly because I told myself it didn’t need to be too high as it was simply an endurance swim. Then a guy in the lane beside me started swimming at my pace, and even slightly quicker.
We started tentatively racing, I had no doubt about that, and keeping pace with each other. Pushing each other on. The pace went much higher. But it was manageable. My shoulder started to feel a bit sore but I kept at it and we must have swum together for about 20 minutes. It was actually quite fun, and the swim turned into a much tougher (and more beneficial) session than it might have been. We fist-bumped at the end and had a chat in the sauna. A bit of chat in the sauna made the time pass a bit quicker and I endured 30 minutes. Of all the heat adaption stuff I do, the sauna is the toughest.
Saturday’s bike was 5 hours and 15 minutes on the turbo, with the heat on. 4 sets of 5 x 15 minutes, with each 15 getting progressively tougher, then dropping back after 5 sets to repeat it all again 4 times. Power output was from 130 watts (easy) up to almost 300 watts (horrendously tough after 4 hours in the heat).
The heat controller in my flat. 10:27am, about to start a
5 hour and 15 minute turbo session, temperature 30 degrees...
Of all the injuries you could suffer on a turbo trainer, a bloodied bridge of my nose wasn’t one I ever anticipated. The towels I was using to cover the bike and protect it from sweat, and to wipe myself down, rapidly got soaked in salty sweat and I had to replace them very frequently. I ended up using some old, fairly stiff, abrasive towels. My face was soaked in salty sweat for the entire time, and the abrasive towels effectively “sandpapered” my nose raw. Blood everywhere. It looked worse than it was but I’ll have to be careful not to abrade my nose in future heat training sessions…
I did what I had to do on the turbo. Got through it. Drank 4 litres. Then went for a short run. 5km in 21 minutes at 6:52/mile, which felt fine. Then a big rehydration job, stretching and core work. Doing the actual training in the heat seems to be fine. But I had started to notice a bit of a pain across my lower back, and not a usual muscular pain. I wondered if it was my kidneys starting to protest. I’d need to be careful. I’d re-think plans for next week.
I felt fine the next day and went out for a long run. 2 hours and 10 minutes, wearing a thermal base layer, 2 coats, a ski hat, gloves, and thermal leggings. And carrying a bottle of electrolyte drink. Deirdre was with me and she was carrying emergency gels and spare water. It was so strange. In my previous run this week, I was wearing exactly the same clothing and running much harder, and I didn’t sweat anywhere near as much. This time, running at a slower pace (just over 7 minute miling), I was sweating buckets. The pace felt good though, I felt fairly strong, did 4 long hills, got the emergency gels and water before the situation became an emergency, and managed 18.2 miles in 2 hours and 10 minutes. The pace was fairly comfortable, but I started to feel really thirsty and cold as soon as I stopped. I was soaking, and as soon as you stop, you stop generating heat.
So it was a case of weighing up what should be done first on return to the flat – food, drink, recovery, stretching, core work, get warm, or shower? In the end the compromise was that I took a recovery drink into the shower, then ate a pile of food, then did my stretching and core work.
Before I showered or drank anything I weighed myself. I’d lost over 3kg on the run, which is 5% of my bodyweight. I did some research:
“Losses of perspiration greater than 2% of body weight increases the risk of nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting and gastrointestinal problems.”
“4-5% can cause irritability, exhaustion, feeling feverish.”
“Losses of 5% or more of bodyweight during physical activities may decrease the capacity for work by roughly 30%.”
“Losses of 8-10% can cause convulsions.”
“Losses of 10% or more can be fatal.”
I lost 5% in just over 2 hours in a heat-simulated run (admittedly I wasn’t drinking as much as I will be in the Ironman, but the Ironman will be 5 times longer…) So clearly I will need to be careful and to make sure I hydrate well and take on electrolytes during the race.
The actual training side of things was fine. But the cumulative effects of the heat on the body were starting to take their toll, and I was realising by now that it wouldn’t be sensible to try to continue with this intense heat training for a second week in a row. So I will tone things down a little bit next week, and be fresh for a big final week before travelling out to Hawaii.
There’s still so much to sort out before I go: I want to get a new phone so I can take unlimited photos (I’ve had my current phone for 6 years and it’s pretty much on its last legs, very slow, and its capacity is full). I’d also like to get some sort of waterproof camera so I can take underwater photos of the corals and turtles and aquatic life and waves and beaches and stuff. I need to sort out travel, medical and hire car insurance. I need to make sure I have all the gear and gels and hydration I need. I need to sort out a bike box and get the bike serviced. I need to “decorate” my helmet. I need to buy a few other bits and pieces for my supporters travelling out to Hawaii. I need to read up on things to do and places to go in Hawaii. So much to do. And departure date is coming around quickly… I’m not complaining though!
Training done was as follows:
Swim 4km, Bike 200 miles, Run 33 miles
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