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The Ironman Commeth.....slowly
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15-01-2010 12:46pm#1
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griffin100 wrote: »Oh dear, it would appear that I have entered an Ironman Triathlon - Iron Man UK to be exact. Not the most glamorous of the IM races but it suited me. Might as well keep a training log so that the more experienced ironmen (and women) on this site can tell me that I'm not doing enough training. I never realised how daunting keeping a log was, especially when you look at some of the other logs currently being kept (anyone looked at interested's swim log:eek:)
Some history......
May 2008; fat, unhealthy and heading towards a heart attack. Decided to get fit and for some ungodly reason I choose triathlons. Nearly two years later I've done quite a few sprints, a few olympics and one swimless 'half ironman.' Have also ran a few road races up to half marathon. My times are not spectacular but I'm a solid middle of the pack finisher.
I'm working off Don Finks 30 week competitive plan with a few tweaks here and there as necessary to fit in with time constraints and I'm also trying to get some extra swims in durin the base phase of the training.
Lets review the current situation:
Swim
My swimming verges on the mediorce. I can swim longish distances without much difficulty and have no fear of the IM swim distance. However I'm painfully slow. My fastest OD swim in a currentless OW is 36 mins; for SD its 18 minutes. That's absolute pants. I need to put some serious work in trying to get my speed up. I would be happy with anything under 1.30hrs in the IM race. I've started to put in some more time in the pool and now that my fins have arrived at last from Wiggle I will start drilling - all my attempted drills thus far have resulted in near drownings so the fins are a must. I'm also trying to locate a coach for a few 1-1 sessions (I can't commit to classes due to work) and am considering a 'tritoswim' weekend training course.
Bike
Not too bad on the bike. Last summer was riding 120kms most Sundays so have some experience of longish rides. My best 40km in an OD is 70 minutes. New tri bike for this year so lets hope that also helps. If I hit a steady 30kph on the IM I'll be very happy.
Run
Again not too bad on the run. 10km PB 45.45 / 5km 21.21 / Half Marathon 1.47.47 (although I reckon I'm quicker than that now, perhaps 1.40). Have never run a marathon.
So there you have it.....
Whats my say out loud target race time:
1.30 swim / 15 mins T1 / 6.30 hrs bike / 15 mins T2 / 4.30hrs marathon = sub 13hrs (to be reviewed on an ongoing basis)
Here goes..............
Good luck chief - enjoy
The only marathons Ive run are during IM so unless you really have the time to do an early season marathon and the time to recover Id worry about that after the long swim and bike on the day itself.
you're probably already well on your way training to a plan but if I could offer the advice that if you're body is feeling very tired or real life is getting in the way - sometimes it can be more productive to deviate slightly from the plan to ensure you're getting enough rest. The plans are generic and give you good advice but listen to the signs of how you're coping with the increased loads in training
Fair play to you posting ideal times - the 30 minutes in transition should give you time to have a bit of a lie down and a hot meal
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Week 1 (Base Phase)
Week 1 started on January 4th, exactly 30 weeks out from IMUK so fits into Mr. Finks plan nicely. All training in first ten weeks to be aerobic.
Monday
Swim 1,700m (300wu / 12 x 100m (30 secs) / 200 cd)
Tuesday
Bike 90 minutes turbo
Wednesday
Swim 1,580m (300 wu / 3 x 120m (30 secs) / 2 x 180m (30 secs) / 3 x 120m / 200 cd)
Thursday
Bike 60 mins turbo.
Friday
Swim 1,700m (300 wu / 20 x 20m (10 secs) / 400m (60 secs) / 20 x 20 m (10 secs) / 200 cd
Bike 30 minutes turbo
Saturday
Bike 90 minutes turbo
Sunday
Off
Week 1 Totals
Swim 4,980m
Bike 4.45hrs (all turbo)
Run 0 - No running due to snow and ice and queue of new members in gym waiting for treadmill (it is January after all:P)
Week 2
Monday
Swim 1,700m (300 wu / 300m (40 secs) / 3 x 200m (30 secs) / 300m / 200 cd
Bike 90 mins turbo
Tuesday
Bike 30 mins turbo - 100+rpm
Wednesday
Swim 2,000m straight swim - 56.22
- good news is thats 5 minutes faster than my previous best 2,000m swim and I was taking it really easy. I was feeling relatively happy until two teenage girls got in beside me and proceeded to trash me. I've never felt slow slow or old!
Thursday
Run - slow 5.5kms / 30 minutes (Fink gives his run and bike sessions in time not distance so I'll try and give both)0 -
Good to have another Ironman log on, after losing Carbs we now have Interested and yourselves coming on stream. Best of luck with it, when is it on??
Sorry, should have said:rolleyes: August 1st.
tbh the training plan is going to me more of a guide to what I should be doing. Already I can see the shortcomings of generic plans such as this as if I followed it exactly in the first few weeks I'd be training less than I was during December. Family and rest time will take precedence over training. I ended up only doing 30 mins on the turbo on Tueday because my 4yo son wanted to make paper airplanes but I had planned a 90 session..no contest really...you're probably already well on your way training to a plan but if I could offer the advice that if you're body is feeling very tired or real life is getting in the way - sometimes it can be more productive to deviate slightly from the plan to ensure you're getting enough rest. The plans are generic and give you good advice but listen to the signs of how you're coping with the increased loads in training
That's the plan, a few hang sangers in T1 before the bike is a must:DFair play to you posting ideal times - the 30 minutes in transition should give you time to have a bit of a lie down and a hot meal
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Friday
Was planing to do a pool session but felt crap when I got home after work so binned it. Felt guilty so got out the trusty turbo and did 30 mins before I gave up. I was feeling really tired and when I got a puncture
I stopped.
Saturday
Good nights sleep and felt much better so up nice and early for a swim before the pool was invaded by kids. Nice 2,500m session. Had my new fins with me so for the first time ever I did drills as part of a swim session.
Swim 2,500m (300wu / 40m x 10 drill / 12 x 100m (30 secs) / 40m x 10 drill / 200 cd). My 400m drill set was 10 x 40m of front kick / one arm / catch up / fists - done twice. All except fists done wearing fins.
During my main set I was 15secs per 100m faster than the last time I did the same session last week. I spent a good half hour on Friday watching the tritoswim dvd that came with 220 magazine last month and it really helped. As far as I can see my big faults lie with head position, overreaching on the recovery phase and lifting my head to breath when I get tired. Concentrated on all of these during the swim and it obviosuly helped. Doing the drills also seemed to help, especially with my kicking. I would be delighted to get my 100m times down to a consistent 2.15 in the pool (they were 2.30 today).
Afternoon I ran just over 5 miles (45mins) whilst trying to keep my heart rate aerobic - not easy when you consider that there are one or two serious hills on my run route. I am pleased about the fact that when running aerobically on the flat or on slight inclines my pace is around 8.20-8.30 mile. 26 of those in IM and I'll be happy!!
Sunday
Had this down as a rest day but ended up doing a 25km TT. Enjoyed it although the legs were tired. Nice to get my heart rate up into the high 80%'s on the bike.
Week 2 Totals
Swim 6,200m
Bike 3.20hrs (2.30 turbo / 50 mins bike)
Run 1.15
I'm doing more swimming that Fink requires at this stage (3 sessions per week as opposed to 2) but I need to given my weakness here. Bike wise I'm doing slightly more hours than the plan suggests but I'm down on my running so its evening out a bit. Now that the weather has gotten a bit better at least I can now run so plan on putting in the suggested 3 hours on the feet this week.0 -
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You planning a long one then
Not quite the full film....I did 90 minutes. Any more than 60 mins on the turbo and the ipod doesn't cut it so I bring the turbo in from the garage and put it in front of the tv. Long term I think I'd rather cycle in a monsoon than spend more than 2hrs on the turbo.Congrats but you didnt think you could do those 100's during your 1000 straight swim either ? Theres alot of swimming between now and your IM event no doubt.Well done on not throwing in the towel on that session and getting something out of it to make you feel good about it. Have a think about the main thing that brought the 2:15 pace on and apply it to the main sets(1 thing at a time of course).
Thanks for the encouragment guys. Looking at your swim logs I feel like my pace is almost backward but I'm happy with the progress to date. I still have a lot more pre IM swimming to do - around 240km if I stick to my modified Fink plan, plenty of time to get better. Yesterdays swim session ended up being a good lesson in swim pace and how it affects body position and swim efficiency. Looking forward to my next session. I didn't get time to get a swim in today and may not until Friday.
Tuesday (Part 2)
Cycle 90 minutes turbo
Run 30 mins / 3.5 miles
Did this as a brick session - I'd forgotten how much I like the feeling in my legs when I run off the bike. Nice steady 8.30 miles whilst staying aerobic.
Wednesday
Cycle 60 mins / 30kms - I had a run schedueled today but the weather was good enough for a cycle so did that instead. I had to load the bike into the car and drive for 5kms to get past the potholes and collapsed roads on my normal route before I could start the ride.0 -
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OK, now you've got me interested!
Does this feeling you like come with practice or have you always been able to do it? My legs feel like jelly and then lead when I run off the bike.
Best of luck with the training and the log btw. You're really getting the swimming going well.
Cheers RedB. I've always enjoyed the feeling in my legs when I get off the bike. It hurts but I like it. Perhaps I need to go harder on the bike!!!congrats on the progression - two really good things to come out of that
'without killing myself' and 'gutted I had to get out of the pool'
You re going faster and enjoying it !! a result no matter who you are.
Thanks Interested. I no longer dread the swim sessions the way I did this time last year. My big concern now is getting to the pool in the evening to claim a space (no lane ropes in my gym pool) before it gets packed with people who have no concept of swim pool ettiquite e.g. the GAA / Rugby / bodybuilding crowd from the gym who think that its great crack to show off to the ladies in the pool by racing me for a single length and then taking a 10 minute rest in the middle of my swim line and the aul ones who breaststroke 3-4 abreast whilst having a chat and taking up half the pool width.0 -
griffin100 wrote: »Thanks Interested. I no longer dread the swim sessions the way I did this time last year. My big concern now is getting to the pool in the evening to claim a space (no lane ropes in my gym pool) before it gets packed with people who have no concept of swim pool ettiquite e.g. the GAA / Rugby / bodybuilding crowd from the gym who think that its great crack to show off to the ladies in the pool by racing me for a single length and then taking a 10 minute rest in the middle of my swim line and the aul ones who breaststroke 3-4 abreast whilst having a chat and taking up half the pool width.
That's a major problem for you to be honest. If the pool isnt laned then imho its almost dangerous to swim in. Mind you - if its really busy it might help you acclimatise to the contact you can experience in mass open water swim starts.
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griffin100 wrote: »My big concern now is getting to the pool in the evening to claim a space (no lane ropes in my gym pool) before it gets packed with people who have no concept of swim pool ettiquite e.g. the GAA / Rugby / bodybuilding crowd from the gym who think that its great crack to show off to the ladies in the pool by racing me for a single length and then taking a 10 minute rest in the middle of my swim line and the aul ones who breaststroke 3-4 abreast whilst having a chat and taking up half the pool width.
OMG, are we in the same gym
I love the guys that race me for one 20m length when I'm 300m through a 400m set. 0 -
Monday - Part 2
Swim 2,420m - 320wu / 400 drills / 3 x 120m (20 secs) / 2 x 200m (20 secs) / 3 x 120 (20 secs) / 400 drills / 200 cd
Nice session averaging 2.25-2.30 per 100m.No roped lanes ? Yikes ! Dangerous and very tedious. Paddles are probably out then.
Pretty short sighted of the gym if they want to be attracting clients.
Yeah it can be a bit of a pain sometimes. In fairness it will ease off in a couple of weeks when the new January members give up. That said it was packed last night. Really p*sses me ff when a slow breastroker gets into the pool half way down the side and proceeds to swim in front of you:mad:.0 -
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griffin100 wrote: »Really p*sses me ff when a slow breastroker gets into the pool half way down the side and proceeds to swim in front of you:mad:.
You'd be amazed how quickly you can get their attention by clipping someone unintentionally with a paddle Im obviously joking ... Id never unintentionally do this.
If there are a number of people swimming in this pool regularly then approach the facility 'management' and ask them about roping off a lane and placing a 'lane swimming' sign above it. Check the centre's documentation - if they say the offer lane swimming then it might be worth asking them what hours the lane swimming is available at.0 -
You'd be amazed how quickly you can get their attention by clipping someone unintentionally with a paddle Im obviously joking ... Id never unintentionally do this.
If there are a number of people swimming in this pool regularly then approach the facility 'management' and ask them about roping off a lane and placing a 'lane swimming' sign above it. Check the centre's documentation - if they say the offer lane swimming then it might be worth asking them what hours the lane swimming is available at.
No mention of lane swimming anywhere. I've asked about lanes as they have a lane rope but got a blank response. I dont think there are enough 'serious' swimming members for them to care (they're very much geared towards keeping the GAA crowd happy, typical in a rural area)...although I have heard that the owner of the hotel in which the gym is based has just started tri.....must have a word with him as I sometimes see him on the roads when I'm out training.0 -
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Hey Griffin,
Great to see another IM log!
All the best for IM UK...I'm pretty much following your pattern with IM CH the week before.
Watching with interest
Good to see you back - I thought that your log had died. Thats 5 or so IM logs now I think?
Seems to be a few of us following Fink, hope he knows what he's talking about:D When I say I'm following Fink I'm not a slave to his programme. I am using his competive programme as a guide to what I should be doing re. number of sessions / duration / intensity of same during my 10 week base period. For example I'm currently getting 3 swims a week in as oppossed to his two as I need the practise but I am using his swim plans. During the base phase he has a weekly brick session with a 15 minute run built in - I'm not really sure how useful these are (I have only done one brick session in 4 weeks of 90 minute turbo - 30 minute run). Similarly he has a lot of 30 minute bike sessions, again these seem a bit short (but when I'm tired I'll still use them as an excuse to do a short turbo). When we get to the quality / speed work I'll stick much closer to his plans as they are quite specific on the higher heart rate work.
Speaking of heart rate I'm have been using the basic 220-age to give my maximum heart rate (all of the standard formulaes give me the same result +/- 1-2 heart beats). I'm hoping to get a more formal assessment done soon as I'm booked in to get a VO2 max assessment done. Thought it would be interesting to get a early stage training VO2 max and a pre race VO2 max done. Although if my pre race level is the same as my current one I'll panic. I dont feel like much of a triathlete when 10 minutes playing football with my son leaves me breathless and with a racing heart:pac:.
Wednesday
Swim 2,520m (320 wu / 400m drills / 20 x 20m (5 secs) / 400m (60 secs) / 20 x 20 secs (5 secs) / 400m drills / 200m cd)
Was averaging around 2.05-10 for 100m - getting closer to the magic (for me) 2.00 per 100m. I need to do some work on my body rotation. As I breath to one side all of the time my rotation to that side is good, but its very poor when I try and roll to the other side. Perhaps I need to work on my bilateral breathing a bit more (I have been doing this in my drills, especially my one arm ones).
Thursday
Run 5 miles / 45 mins. I actually was out running at 6am this morning so thats an improvement. As I lay in bed listenting to the alarm going off I was trying to work out if I could compensate for missing another morning session this week by training extra hard over the weekend :rolleyes: when the wife kicked me out of the bed. Once I got out I really enjoyed it. Running that early in the day on traffic free country roads is a joy.0 -
griffin100 wrote: »I actually was out running at 6am this morning so thats an improvement. As I lay in bed listenting to the alarm going off I was trying to work out if I could compensate for missing another morning session this week by training extra hard over the weekend :rolleyes: when the wife kicked me out of the bed. Once I got out I really enjoyed it. Running that early in the day on traffic free country roads is a joy.
Well done - 6:35 am in my part of the world looked pretty grim but going to have to face up to it sooner or later. And the home support helps too! 0 -
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griffin100 wrote: »Thursday - Part 2
Bike 1hr turbo - watched the end of the Lord Of The Rings - I'm pretty sure now that Frodo and Sam are more than just 'friends' and that when the camera wasn't around.........
.....your mind certainly does start to wander when you're cycling on the spot
LOL I plan to watch it on Sunday... but plonked on the Counch with munchies instead of pedalling 0 -
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Week 5
Monday
Swim 2,300m (300m wu / 400m drills / 100m x 3 (30 secs) / 200m x 3 (30 secs) / 100m x 3 (30 secs) / 200m drills / 200m cd).
Back to swimming 2.15-25 per 100m after last Friday's disaster but still on the slow side. Legs are beginning to feel the extra run and bike training and my kick is suffering so that might be an issue. I had to take a slightly longer break between sets.
Last night was mental in the pool - there were about 10 people swimming lenghts (2 looked like they were swimming off 1.45 per 100m) with 4 teenagers engaging in that traditional courting ritual of splashing about in the middle of the pool trying to impress their (intended?) girlfriends - all this with no lane ropes. Needless to say the there were 1 or 2 collissions - accidental and otherwise. I ended up cutting my second drill set down from an intended 400m to 200m, I was worried about clipping other swimmers with my fins in the tight space. Needless to say I had words with the 'lifeguard' after the swim.
I'm thinking I might leave the watch at home for the next few swims. I tend to get fixated on my swim times (in case you hadn't noticed:D) and by not having a watch with me I cant do this. I need to remember, my target time is arond 1.30hrs for the IM swim; if I work hard I might get it down to 1.25hrs which was the middle competitors time for IMUK last year; and if I work really hard I could get a few minutes lower. However I would get better returns on investing that extra training effort and time into my bike or run where the gains are likely to be greater than 5 minutes. Also, I could train like a maniac in the pool, get down to 1.20hrs, and get a puncture on the bike - in fact I should probably spend some time practicing puncture repair:).
Tuesday
Run 5 miles / 45 mins
Up at the crack of dawn to run. Nice and dry - decided to wear my brand new runners and a new type of sock I hadn't tried before. I usually wear Sole socks (€10 a pair:eek:) but on Saturday I found some Nike run socks that felt the same so bought some (€9 for 3 pairs). Ten minutes into the run the heavens opened. Ended up runnng in torrential rain but it felt great. When I got home my new runners looked like I'd run cross country in them and my socks were soaking but the good news was not even a hint of a blister. I'll wear these socks on a longer run and if still no blisters then I'm buying a truck load of them at €3 a pair. 0 -
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Based on my age and 10km PB I have a 'predicted' VO2 max of 44.3 (http://www.runningforfitness.org/faq/vo2.php) which puts me borderline 'excellent'. I think thats a bit generous, so we'ill wait and see.
So much for internet predictions :rolleyes: my VO2 max came in around 60 ml/kg/min - 'superior' according to the above website. Of course it's all meaningless until the final report comes back with details of blood lactate and max heart rate but from what I can see so far I'm happy with that - it's a hell of a lot better than it was when I started training two years ago. The tester told us that some of the 18 year olds she teaches come in at 25 :eek:, not necessarily a reflection of obesity but of little or no exercise.
Test was tough enough - run three minutes on threadmill at 10kph, monitor heart rate, after 3 minutes take blood sample and increase speed to 11kph; and so on. I got to 16kph and almost finished the three minutes but dropped with 20 secs to go. I was fecked. Still feeling it this morning so gave my schedueled one hour turbo a miss. Was nice to do some hard running after 5 weeks of trying to run aerobically.0 -
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Week 6
Monday - day off - ate like a horse all day
Tuesday - woke up early, turned over and went back asleep. My excuse was that I was hoping to get a swim lesson in that evening and I wanted to 'save' me legs for that
Went to the public pool near home last night for an adult swim lesson session from 10-11. Pool had about 40 people lined up along the side ranging from those who can barely put their face in the water without a panic attack right up to swimmers looking to improve technique. No length swimming, all widths. Met the coach for the more experienced swimmers and explained that I could swim (to a fashion), was training for an IM (I got a look of pity) and wanted some technique help and would a 1:1 lesson be better. He told me to get in the pool and he'd have a look...which he did.
The bad news:- I'm taking far too many strokes for the distance covered
- I'm not reaching far enough
- I'm not rotating by body nearly enough
- I'm muscling the recovery with a tendancy to recover with my arms stiff and too wide from my body
- My pull can be too straight at times
Monday
Run 8 miles / 70 minutes - lovely run, -2 degrees and dry - lovely.0 -
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griffin100 wrote: »My excuse was that I was hoping to get a swim lesson in that evening and I wanted to 'save' me legs for that
I misread this initially and thought it said ''shave me legs" and I thought 'Wow - he's really getting into it!'.
I heard secondhand about a swim coach who says that women listen and follow the technique instruction much better then men as the men just start racing as fast as they can with quick strokes which ties in with your comments.
I'll check my strokes next time also but its a 25m pool. It'd be interesting to see what numbers people come up with.
Interesting log - keep up the good work.0 -
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I misread this initially and thought it said ''shave me legs" and I thought 'Wow - he's really getting into it!'
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Maybe later in the year when I can get a quick tan on them:D
At the moment I take about 22-23 strokes to do a 20m pool length which is pretty poor (compare that to Interested - damn it - I better catch him on the bike in Valentia to make myself feel better:p).
Looking at Interested's link my 23 strokes per 20m on 2.15 pace means I have a high stroke rate and need to decrease my stroke rate by about 7-8 times per minute which is around 4 strokes per 20m length. That is definitely something that I can work at doing.I heard secondhand about a swim coach who says that women listen and follow the technique instruction much better then men as the men just start racing as fast as they can with quick strokes which ties in with your comments.
I'm a man; in work I'm the boss; of course I know what I'm doing; I dont need any advice or coaching coz I know more than the coach 0 -
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griffin100 wrote: »
Now normally I'll watch a DVD when on the turbo but last night I stuck on MTV and cycled away.Maybe I could get into this dance thing that the youngsters seem to like. Next I'll start wearing a high vis vest and blowing a whistle when on the turbo:D:D I like the MTV dance also on the turbo... probably due to the trance like nature of the videos and the rhythm of the bass beat suiting turbo training...
Get yourself some glow syick to wave about too and do the session with the lights off (or strobes on if you have em..) 0 -
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