Its about time - IMAT12

Last week I again tried following Finks off season maintenance programme but AGAIN didn't hit it fully . The plan was 2 swims, 2 cycles, 2 runs and 2 x weights. The reality was 2 swims, 1 cycle, 2 runs and 2 x weights. This log is my attempt to keep myself honest to a training plan and I need to toe the line better as time management is key to my IM goal at this stage. I'm a bit sloppy regarding scheduling of training sessions and I need to get my act together in that regard. If I can't manage it for a maintenance programme then I'm screwed when the main programme starts .

I missed a 45min cycle on a day when I had to travel with work but I'm annoyed with myself that I didn't factor that travel into the plan better and work around it. I could have resheduled the plan for the week and made it a rest day or knocked it out very early that morning but I had told myself that I'd do it when I got home that evening. The reality for me is that I can't put in a long day at work and then disappear from family life for a session that evening. Evening sessions will be scarce on the ground so it'll be mainly mornings from now on to ensure I make the session. The flip side of that is that I'm going to have to improve my evening family routine so that I literally 'get my house in order', sort out the domestic stuff, spend time with the family and get to bed at a proper time. Adequate sleep and recovery time will be very important so I'll have to try to work on the time management of that side of things also. I need to get better at 'lining up my ducks' :rolleyes: so that they can be knocked down more efficiently . Now I just need to throw in a bit about 'moving forward' and I can get Business Jargon Bingo Card finished . The good news was I learned my lesson and was able to do my Friday session before travelling with Work

w/c 17th October|Plan|Actual|Metrics|Comment
Mon|Rest|Rest||
Tues|0:45 Run|0:45 Run|8.48km, 45:01, 5:18/km, 150bpm|AM run, minor hills
Wed|0:30 Swim + 0:30 Weights|0:25 Swim + 0:25 Weights |1000m straight, 2 x 12 sets|Mainly leg weight pre swim
Thurs|0:45 Cycle 100+RPM|Rest - Travel to Dublin|:(|
Fri|0:30 Swim + 0:30 Weights|0:30 Swim + 0:25 Weights|2 sets of 12 reps|1000m split due to lane traffic
Sat|2:00 Cycle|1:00 Run|12km, 1:00:27, 5:02/km, 149bpm|Ran at 150bpm limit
Sun|1:00 Run|2:30 Cycle|Turbo x 2|50min Russ Pryamids x 2sets Max HR 151, 1:40 at 201Watts avg, 29.9kph, 115-132bpm


Apart from the missed session it was a good week. The week again started out ok but I had to juggle the plan around a bit at the weekend. Swims were poor but improving. I'm getting up to speed doing light weights in the gym but I avoided any arm work as my right elbow is still painful. The local cycle lads cancelled our Sat spin due to the heavy rain so I did my run Sat pm instead and did the Turbo on Sun am. I was very satisfied with the weekend sessions as I feel I had definite goals for the sessions and I hit them. I wanted to run at upper Z2 pace which I estimated at 150bpm and I bounced roughly around that in a controlled way coming in on 149bpm at an ok pace for me of 5:02/km. We had another birthday party Sat so it was a busy day and it was actually a bit awkward even getting out for the hour but I had my slot booked . I got up early Sun morning and did one of Catweazles recommeded 50min Russian Pryamids on the Turbo which I enjoyed the challange of. Due to the hairdryer-like noise associated with that I was hiding in the Conservatory so as not to wake the house but I moved into the Kitchen then to watch the Rugby World Cup final and did another 100mins holding a target of 200watts. It was handy for the first half hour but then I had to concentrate a bit more for the next half hour as the quads started to feel it. For the last 40 mins the HR was rising slowly and I had to really concentrate on the display every half minute or I'd find myself drifting off the pace easily and have to spurt back. Came out at as 201 Watts average which is pretty poor I know but its a baseline to work from .
While reasonably satisfied with myself I did notice that I was tired and cranky the rest of the day so I need to work a bit more on proper rest and nuitrition to try and sort that out . I had a good sleep last night and feel better today but I'm really concious of bad habits in that regard that need sorting.

Overall I'm happy with my second week of 'basic' training but need to work a bit more on my time management.

The plan and the reality was 2 swims, 2 cycles, 2 runs and 2 x weights so I'm reasonably happy that I generally stuck to the schedule and got all my sessions in.

w/c 24th October|Plan|Actual|Metrics|Comment
Mon|Rest|0:45 Run|0:45 Run 8.5km?, 45:35, 149bpm|Kept it at top end of Z2
Tues|0:45 Run|Rest||Travel to Dublin with work
Wed|0:30 Swim + 0:30 Weights|0:27:15 Swim + 0:25 Weights |1100m straight, 2 x 12 sets|Mainly leg weight pre swim
Thurs|0:45 Cycle 100+RPM|0:50 Russian Pyramid Turbo Avg 128bpm, Max 156||
Fri|0:30 Swim + 0:30 Weights|0:30 Swim + 0:25 Weights|6 x 200m on 5mins. in on 4:25-4:45|Tough going
Sat|2:00 Cycle|1:00 Run|11.86km, 1:00:43, 5:07/km, 146bpm|Ran at 150bpm target. Heavy legs.
Sun|1:00 Run|2:00 Cycle|210Watts avg, 31kph|62km Turbo|


The week started out by juggling my rest day to facilitate a work travel day but generally kept to plan apart from the weekend where I again altered the run/cycle days. Swims were still poor but definitely improving. I'm up to speed doing light weights in the gym but I avoided any arm work as my right elbow is still painful. I woke early Sat morning and just did my run before anyone awoke and then did the Turbo on Sun am. I was again very satisfied with the weekend sessions as I feel I had definite goals for the sessions and I hit them. I again wanted to run at upper Z2 pace but it felt tougher this week with heavy and tight legs. I targeted an average of 210watts for my 2 hour turbo and hit that solidly. No major problems and was cruising nicely throughout. No TV or music so did some visualisation and pictured myself in Austria for 2 hours .

Overall I'm happy with my third week of 'basic' training but need to start upping the weekly hours now.

I started off last weeks training with great intentions but they rapidly backfired on me slightly . I had to drive to Dublin Tuesday morning so I decided to HTFU and get my 45min run in beforehand a la good examples set by JB, MCOS, etc. The problem was that I has a horrendous nights sleep the night before wakening every hour because I was anxious to ensure I didn't sleep in . I was all set for the run when it came to get up at 5:30am but I was knackered later in the day with the lack of proper sleep and had a splitting headache driving back from Dublin that evening. I was zonked on Wednesday also and cut short my swim session when I had half an excuse (got busted by MrsB on way into pool when she was dropping No 1 to Athletics training. Volunteered to bring No 1 home when she was ready so only had time for Weights and a bit of a swim. My heart wasn't in it). Looking back now it seems like only a wobble but I was disheartened from Tues am until Thurs pm when I got back on track with a decent brick session and the rest of the week was grand.

My elbow is still injured so I'm avoiding any arm weights. It feels like tendon damage but is recovering slowly from a bike fall over 7 weeks ago. I'm slightly concerned it'll affect my swimming but it hasn't bothered me yet in the pool.

The brother was in the US for 2 weeks so I arranged to ship some stuff from Amazon to him and avail of cheap prices and delivery . I picked up a Swimsense watch, a set of paddles for my Tri Club sessions, a Garmin bike mount, a copy of Going Long and an Ipod Shuffle which is now dedicated to the IMTalk podcast for those work travel hours .

w/c 31st October|Plan|Actual|Metrics|Comment
Mon|Rest|Rest||
Tues|0:45 Run|0:45 Run|9.09km, 47:10, 5:11/km 147bpm|6am run pre-travel to Dublin with work
Wed|0:30 Swim + 0:30 Weights|0:15 Swim + 0:25 Weights |4 x 100m straight, 2 x 12 sets|Didn't want to know about the swim
Thurs|0:45 Cycle 100+RPM|Brick 0:50 Russian Pyramid Turbo plus 2M run|Bike Avg 136bpm, Max 161, Run 3.27km, 16:15, 4:58/km, 146bpm| Daddy's home!
Fri|0:30 Swim + 0:30 Weights|0:40 Swim + 0:25 Weights|400m WU 9:32, 27 Strokes per 50m Lenght, 6x100m on 2:30. in on 2:09-2:19, 2x200m on 5:00, in on 4:50-4:52, 100m WD 2:32|Tough going for the second half
Sat|2:00 Cycle|2:00 Cycle|58km?, 2:10?, 26.75kph?|Garmin battery died. Broadford with neighbours. Nice spin but cool
Sun|1:00 Run|1:00 Run|11.45km, 1:00:02, 5:14/km, 144bpm|V. Cold night run. Tired for last 25mins.|

Did a good bit of housey stuff over the weekend and was sneezing like a mad thing yesterday due to a dust allergy . Tried running it off last night but the head is still bunged up this am and the noise is running like a tap. Just in time for my Tri Club swim sessions which are starting this evening and I'm slightly dreading! I feel 'out of my depth' in terms of pace and distances involved but its time to get stuck in . Babysitter arranged for the next 7 weeks as MrsB is doing a course so no backing out. BTW MrsB has been doing a few of the UL Boat Club Winter Series Runs on Thurs evenings. She's feeling the better of it and is aiming to do the Great Limerick Run Half Marathon in May. Positive vibes in the house on the exercise front at the moment as the kids are all go too with their own stuff . I'll probably target that HM myself as well as the North Tipp Sprint and Tri an Mhi HIM as I probably need a few intermediate goals along the way. I'm also thinking about the Ballycotton 10M again but only if I can give it a decent lash and target sub 70. That's a fair jump from my 2009 PB of 78:00 (?) but I'm also dreaming about a sub 40 10km which is also a far cry from my 2009 PB of 43:50(?) (Must recheck those times). I figure I'm going to be doing the bulk of the base training anyway so hopefully it'll be no harm to try to stretch those PBs also.

Overall I'm happy with my fourth week of 'basic' training despite the sleep wobble and I feel ready to progress. I'm going to start my 'proper' base training this week as I want to give myself a few weeks 'float' so its about to get a bit more interesting

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Hey Red, good work. Is that the Flow you are using? If so, set the brake to +1. I did all of my turbo on zero last winter and looking back it was all a bit easy. +1 simulates the road better. You heading out to the dinner on the 19th?

Won't make the 19th as I'll be on the tear the week before and the week after and I couldn't hack 3 weeks in a row . Thanks for the +1 Turbo tip on the Flow. That definitely helped extend the sweat lake! The calibration needs looking at also as I usually just jump straight into a workout. Time to RTFM

Got most stuff done but again it just wasn't when or what I had originally planned.

w/c 14th November|Plan|Actual|Metrics|Comment
Mon|Rest|7km run + 1:00 Tri Swim Session|Run 7.15km 36:51, 5:09/km, 150bpm. Swim 300m WU, 300m? Drills, 6 x 100M off 2:30? |Lunchtime run. Dodgy swim stats.
Tues|1:00 Swim 0:30 Run|13km run|1:09, 5:19/km, 139bpm|Overnight travel to Dublin with work. Ran with work buddy aft work.
Wed|0:45 Brick|Rest||Travel back from Dublin and to Ennis rtn
Thurs|1:00 Swim 0:30 Cycle 100+RPM|0:40 Swim|1500m straight 37:55, 2:31/100m, 28strokes/L| Elbow not getting better
Fri|0:30 Run|0:45 Brick|30min holding 175W, 15min run at 5:00/km|10pm. Struggle on 2nd half of run
Sat|1:30 Cycle|1:00 Run|11.67km, 5:09/km|Bit sluggish after Brick
Sun|1:00 Run|2:18 Cycle|69.1km, 30kph, Max 53.2kph|Croom Bruff Tri club cycle|

Plan 7 hours. Actual 7:30

First time out with the Tri Club cycle and I enjoyed the experience. It was easier to ride in the chain and accouted for the higher than normal average speed. I managed to stay with them for a bit when the pace picked up near the end but when the hammer went down passing Ballyneety I went flying out the back . Put a smile on my face when the speed hit 37kph but when it hit 47kph I pressed the Eject button and limped the last 5km home with my tail between my legs . We'd dropped a few others before that so I didn't feel too bad.
Swimming is still a struggle and the elbow may need physio as the tendon/ligiment type stuff is painful during and after sessions. Ground out 1500m but got a shocking migrane like headache near the end. May be too tight goggles or hat so will sort that out.
I'm going to have to update here more frequently as I can barely remember last Monday's swim session and am vague on what we did as a result :rolleyes:. My schedule means I don't get to do the sessions when planned but I'm still trying to squeeze them in when I get a chance.

Mid Week update:

Mon - Tri Club pm Swim and Dublin work trip - see above
Tues - am run - 9.47km, 48:39, 5:08/km
Wed - am turbo - 30min at 175W Avg + 15min run (3.2km, 15:12, 4:45/km )

My swim session was poor as I was anxious about holding up the lane and never got into a comfortable rhythm as a result plus I was hitting traffic. Quite disappointed with them so far as I don't think they're helping. I'm only feeling pressure and not enjoying it or seeing any benefit. I'm going to have to increase the frequency of swims to 3 per week if I'm to see any improvements.
My run was comfortable but I'd like to work on form more. I think my posture is ok as I try to run 'tall' but my cadence and foot strike probably need improvement. I'll have to check out drills or other sources on those issues.
Bike cadance and technique also needs work as the Group cycle last Sun highlighted how much better it could be. The better guys seemed to be spinning faster than I was at the same speed so I'll have to work on that also. I missed a few high rpm turbos in the last few weeks and I didn't get bothered as they were 'just' short 'easy' spins. Now I see the necessity of the high rpm side of things especially on the bricks where it carry forwards into the run. Having said that this mornings session wasn't one of those as I started easy and then had to go at 190-200W to get the average up to 175W :rolleyes:. Won't be so slow off the starting blocks next time!

And we're back....:D

Mon 28/11 0:30 Run at lunchtime around NCR, 5:88km, 5:06/km. Nice.

Tri club session this evening so I'll update again later with that.

I didn't make the weekly target of 8hours last week as I only got to 6.5hrs . I needed to get another 1:00hr run and another swim in but it just wasn't there with the week that was in it. Big picture priorities were called upon. I hope to squeeze a bit more out of this week even though its meant to be a recovery week but I don't feel I need it given last weeks low volume. I'm reading 'Going Long' and there's some good running drills that I hope to incorporate into the schedule at some stage too.
My mindset varies these days as to how I view the IM event. Some days I'm very positive, break it down into manageable chunks and visualise myself 'warming up' in the swim, holding back on the bike and starting the race on the run. Other days I'm overwhelmed by the enormity of it all, the amount of training required, where I'm at now, what's ahead of me, etc. Most days though I just think of chipping away at a giant block of granite. Consistancy over an extended period should allow me to make the necessary inroads so I'll continue to chip away even though some days / weeks they're very small chips .

Tuesday 29/11 rest

Wednesday 30/11 Brick. 30min bike at 175w + 15min run at 4:51/km