Following Mr. Fink to Copenhagen

thanks - i will be at the back with my tongue hanging out

Yes time mgt seems to be a big part of it, and Fink pays a lot of attention to it how to squeeze time out of the day, with pre-work and lunchtime training in particular.

I used to swim a lot before work in the morning but since taking up running found it harder to get up and go to the pool the morning after having been for a run. This may have had more to do with me coasting along on 4/5 or so training sessions a week without really pushing myself and also staying up late watching Law and Order SVU (only the most heinous crimes for me thanks) rather than actually being tired. So I think the plan will be to be more honest about my priorities (do I want to be able to say in a year that I saw a lot of TV last year , or do I want to have done an ironman ?), and whether I am really actually tired and if not just suck it up and act on what my priorities are.

Just read that again and gagged on how po-faced it sounds, but you get the drift I think :rolleyes:.

[/QUOTE]Get yourself a box set of law and order SVU and watch it from the trainer, otherwise you'ill die of boredem. Lord Of The Rings and The Sopranos are my viewing of choice from the trainer:)[/QUOTE]


Been reading your log too - good to have a few people in the same mess.

As for distraction on the trainer - I am doing mine in the back yard so it is all ipod based I am afraid ( pity since I got the full wire box set at christmas) - have become converted to podcasts though. And I see the BBC have a new series call 'history of civilization through 1000 objects' or something like that which sounds about right...maybe one of those objects is in fact a turbo trainer (a strange object invented by late 20th century man the purpose of which remains unclear to this day)

Iron Enthusiast wrote: »

I can't help but notice that you don't seem to have a complete rest day in your week?
Are you finiding there's a build up of fatigue or are there rest days planned later in a cycle?

I'm averaging between 7 - 9 hours weekly training at the moment and definitely find the rest day a must, if only so i'm able to get more out of my other sessionsn during the week.

Would be interested to hear your take on the above?

Thanks Irons Enthusiast - & good luck with it.

Also well spotted on the rest day angle - I kinda cheated for the first two weeks becuase it was logistically easier to do one session on multiple consecutive days that squeze two into one day & the durations werent that rough. But from this week I have been taking a rest day (Monday is the main plan, so as to recover after longer runs and bikes at the weekend, but I may have to more the day around). I suppose the reality is that there are going to be unplanned rest days as well arising from work and other commitments & I may end up needing even more rest as the number of hours picks up. & I need to get some more stretching and core, and probably sports massage in there as well if I am going to avoid energy.

Its exhausting just typing about this stuff ....:p

Week four of following mr fink - every fourth week is a step back with an hour less training than the week before. At this point the durations and intensity are still not that much. Main thing to manage is the frequency. I expect I will need the rest a whole lot more in week 8

week 4 (w/e 7/02)

Monday - rest & some core exercises and stretching

Tuesday - was supposed to run before work but took one look at the rain and said forget about it - did mean I had to run on a treadmill at lunchtime though - 45 minutes. Evening - masters swim set - 2300m - 300 wup, 12x25m off 30sec, 4x200 off 3:30, 100 easy, 8x50m sprints off 1:10, 50 easy, 10x25m off 45sec one breath per length, 100m cool down

Wednesday - mini brick - 30 mins turbo, 15 minutes run - I keep saying I am not going to do this because it seems so bloody pointless but I just know Mr. Fink would insist that i stik. vit. ze. plan.

Thursday - 45 min run lunchtime, swim pm with the tri club, 2800m - good bit of distance, 400 wup, 8x100 off 1:50, 3x200 off 3:40, 8x100 off 1:50 3x50 drills, 50mcool down

Friday - One hour turbo, high rpm

Saturday - Masters swimming in the morning, fast, 2100m, One hour run after the rugby in the evening

Sunday - Had some stuff on so could not head out on the bike with the club:(, managed to squeeze in one hour on the turbo, high rpm again

Totals (time) - Swim 3:00, Run 2:45, Bike 2:30

Thoughts Starting to feel a bit fitter but definitely need to get out more on the bike, although i think I am getting the hang of the high cadence thing. The running and turbo is still all at z1/z2 zones, which makes it all pretty manageable so far The sets really only start to get interesting after the bae 10 weeks. Getting a massage this pm which will try to build in every few weeks at least because I want to try to head off risk of injury

Ricepudding wrote: »

one questions: are you a week ahead of yourself for Aug 15th race day?

Funnily enough I am in fact - started out as an oversight , now rationalising it as a free week to cover a week when I know I will be away during the summer.

You must be following a similar countdown yourself ?

week five - half way through the base period.

week five (w/e 14/02)

Monday - rest - got a massage in which hurt like hell but general feedback was that legs were tired rather than injured, although I have a few niggles here and there and might talk to a physio about it over the next week or two.

Tuesday - went for a run before work in the morning - 45min. Bit of a breakthrough this. Well used to swimming in the morning, but never managed to get out for a run before. Found it a little hard to get warmed up. Lots of (non-metal) dogs around with owners, definite downside to dog ownership. Pm - masters swim -2300m all in, 300 wup, 10x25m off 30sec, 5x100 off 1:45, 6x75m off 1:20, 7x50 off 55sec, 8x25m off 30sec, 6x25 IM order 40 sec. 100 swim down

Wednesday - Usual Brick - 30mins bike, 15 minutes run. Ho hum. The bike on this set goes up next week to 45 mins.

Thursday - couldn't make swimming this pm so switched it for a run straight after work - One hr.

Friday - swim am - 2500m - 300 wup, 10x25 off 30sec, 5x150 off 2:20, 8x75 off 1:15, 10x50 off 50 sec, 100 cool down. Times a bit faster than I normally do so I was very pleased to be able to keep up. Especially on the 150s. Admittedly I was in the middle of the group so that makes it easier but i was pretty honest about leaving 5 seconds (and anyway there will be drafting in the ironman too ).
PM - One hour turbo, high cadence

Saturday - usual fast Saturday masters set, 2100m. The dilemma then was whether to go for planned one hour run before or after the rugby. I could have done with more rest after lunch but I knew that some stress relieving Heineken would probably be required during the game (how right I was) so went out beforehand. Noticeably higher average heart rate than for same run and same pace earlier in the week, presumably because I was a bit tired. although I felt ok.

Sunday - bike spin with club, pace mainly pretty manageable which suited me just fine. Our around batterstown, culmullin and then kilcock and home. Maybe 80+k all in.

Totals (time) Swim 2:50, Run 3:00, Bike 4:15

Thoughts - all going pretty much ok. I need to keep an eye on some leg niggles. Juggling the schedule is tricky enough. Taking advantage of the club spin on the Sunday is very handy but because it is the longest single set of the week and comes at the end of all of the other sessions (and after saturday night), it is hard to have much energy left at that point. Down the road I might switch the bike to Saturday and just do an easy run on the Sunday.

griffin100 wrote: »

I've pretty much binned doing this session. I know Fink has his reasons but I've run enough races to know what its like running off the bike. When the sessions lengthen out then I'll start doing them.

Yeah . Nobody i've spoken to has much time for this session, or at least not at this pace and duration. Can't say I am getting much out of it either.

week 6 (w/e 21/02)

Monday - rest day, core exercises and some stretching

Tuesday - am Run before work, One hour, Did not sleep very well so this was a bit of a slog, also a bit paranoid about frost on footpaths. PM - masters swim 2400m, - 300 wup, 10x50 off 1:00 wup, 4x200 off 3:20, 50 easy, 5x100 off 2:00, half sprint half recovery, 50 easy, 8x25 off 45 sec, 2 breaths max

Wed. - Brick - Bike turbo up to 45 mins this week followed by same 15 minute run. For a bit of diversion I cheekily upped the pace on the last 5 minutes of the bike and for all of the run (what thrills).

Thursday - Am - Run One hour before work, legs felt very heavy although heart rate fine- ran out along the Bull Wall. Tide was out and a bunch of guys were out digging away at the sand - presumably for whelks or cockles or something ? The stuff you see when you move out of your normal routine..
Pm- swim with club 2600 m total, 300 wup, 4x100 kick, 200 off 3:40, 400 off 7:20, 600 off 11:30, 400 off 7:20, 200 off 3:40, 100 easy. Happy with this, coming in on 3:00 for the 200s and 6:00 for the 400s.

Friday - One hour turbo, high revs.

Saturday - we had a friend visiting so did not get out for a swim in the am, One hour run in the pm.

Sunday - Did not like the look of the weather overnight so voted for staying in bed rather than heading out early on the bike. Went out in the afternoon instead and did two hours around the Park, including Khyber 6 times. It was still pretty bloody cold

Totals (time) Swim - 2:00, Run, 3:15, Bike, 3:45

Thoughts - Got less done this week than I would have liked but still as much as in
the Fink plan at this point. Also, went to a physio during the week just with a view to heading off problems that might be at the root cause of some niggles I have been having. No real cause for concern, but needless to say I came away with a whole bunch more exercises, mainly targeted at strengthening my hips (I will have to change the title of this thread to 'granny does ironman':o).

Week 8 - supposed to be a step back week in the plan, which was complicated slightly by the fact that our club had a training weekend on which involves two longish cycles

Week 8 (w/e 7/03)

Monday - rest day, stretches etc;

Tuesday - taking step back a bit too seriously, I failed to get out of bed to run this am. Just felt wrecked tired. Swim in the PM 2750m all in - 400 wup, 10x50 off 1:00, 2x(4x150 off 2:30 aerobic, 4x75 off 1:30 sprint), 50 easy.

Wed. Usual brick, 45 mins turbo, 15 mins run 123 and 141 hr respectively

Thursday - Run in the am before work - One hour, just under 12k ahr 144, Swim with the club in the pm 400 wup 2x(3x200m off 3:3), times were all over the place on the first three but kept it nice and steady 3 minutes on the second three. Then we practiced tumble turns, which i am really lazy and inept at. If it was the new year I would say it should be my new years resolution to actually tumble. But it isnt.

Friday - toyed with the idea of a quick run at lunchtime but decided it would be just junk miles (as in not very valuable, not running with junk food a la eddie izzard) and with the cyling to come over the weekend gave myself a break.

Sat. Phoenix Park to Courtown cycle, little over 100k, 4:30 hours. We went out through Enniskerry, Djouce, into Laragh and down through Arklow. Brilliant day to to be out on the bike. Wicklow was full of cyclists. I got in with a good group and we made good stready time. Short 5k run in the forest in the evening.

Sun. 750m time trial in am, wasnt really concentrating propely and ended up swimming 2 too many lenghts. But think I did about 11:40 for the 750, which is not too bad, but think I can go a bit faster. Then cycle back to Dublin, reverse of the Sat route, More traffic and some hairy descending after Djouce and then arrived back in the Park to find it packed with people brought out by the weather and the cross country champiosnhips. BBQs on the go, ice cream vans, people gettin narky about parking...It could almost have been summer. Brilliant

Totals: Swim 2:15, Run 1:40, Cycle : 9:45

Thoughts - totals pretty skewed by the cycling at the weekend but that is ok I think. Although I didnt brave any of the serious climbing options on the way down through wicklow I definitley felt more confident on the bike that I would have been this time last year so feel good about that.:)

WEEK 10 (w/ending 21/3)

End of the 10 week based period. 10 week build to follow.

Monday - Rest day, stretching etc;

Tuesday Run for one hour before work , Swim in the PM 2200m - 300 wup,
10x50 off 1:00 wup, 4x200 off 3:30, 100 easy, 6x50 sprints off 1:30, 8x25
off 45sec, alt b/w 2 breath and one breath. Really weird set.

Wed. Since I had the day off decided to skip the usual boring brick
session and cycled to Howth instead and did 4 laps of Sutton to Howth
Summit Shop from the school/graveyard side. Much more satisfying than the turbo, 58k, 2:25 min , pretty slow but that was mainly down to the wind and the hill.

Thursday, Run, One hour, Garmin on the blink so dont know what speed or hr.
PM - swim with tri club. 2400m 400 wp, 9x200 off 3:35 - idea here was to
try to hold a steady time, but I went at it way too conservatively,coming
in 3:10 ish and ended up being able to pick up the pace to under 3:05 for
the last three, should have pushed it from the start, 3x50 drill, 50 easy

Friday Turbo high rev, 1:15, really felt tired at about one hour in but kept revs high (100ish). Ahr only 117

Saturday - very busy day so was pleased to manage to fit in masters swim in the am (usual sprint set, 2100m) and a 1:30 run in the afternoon, time just right to catch the start of the rugby - needn'thave bothered. Covered 17.5k in the run but hr too high 153

Sunday - Bike, went out on my own for 3:30 out toward Trim, 90k all in. Blustery (or maybe it just always seems like that when you are on your own).


Totals - Swim - 3:00, Run 3:30, Bike 7:15

Totals for Base Period

Swim - 57,000m
Bike - 50 hours (1250k ish)
Run 28:45 hours (310k ish)

Thoughts

This was all supposed to have (a) acclimatised me to the type of training
that is coming (b) built an aerobic base and (c) developed technique. Has
it done this ? (a) and (b) yes. I am getting pretty used to the frequency
of the training and have improved aerobically I think. Also have lost some
weight without really restricting food intake (although I am generally
eating a bit less crap). Still plenty of fat to burn off yet though. I
think it is unlikely that i will reach the classic ironman 'skeletor' look.
Not so sure about (c) - only real technique area I have been trying to work
on has been spinning high revs on the bike and pedalling fully through each
rev. I think I have got better at this but I still find that I need to
concentrate at it to keep it consistent.

My main concerns are that I have not being doing enough even though I have basically done what is in the plan and even a bit more here and there. I keep chatting with people who seem surprised that there are no 5 or 6 hours bikes yet, although that is partly because copenhangen is so late compared to some of the big name events in June/july. And also that is is ALL SO SLOW. My very slow bike base is going to be a problem especially as it increasingly seems to me that the ironman is basically a bike race with a swim at the start to warm everyone up and a shuffle along marathon (out on the bike I fantasise about an inverted event with a short bike at the start followed by a nice long swim, oh well);). It is hard to see how i can get my bike times up hugely over the next 20 weeks, but I can only do my best I guess.

So, Mr. Fink, you better know what you are doing...

Other than that is is good to have reached this stage with no big injury niggles and i am looking forward to the next phase, the weather is also picking up as well and it is great to be out and about.:)