Probably a Hugely Inefficient Use of my Time

zico10

I’m beginning this log 4 months out from Ironman 70.3 in Phuket. Although I’ve completed some races since departing Irish shores nearly two years ago, my training in the intervening time has been far from consistent. My intentions for this race are good and I’m hoping logging my training here will serve as some extra incentive to stay focussed.

Two weeks into things I’ve so far managed to stay on track, getting in two sessions most days. Training seriously will curtail my explorations of the world. Before I left Ireland though, I enjoyed training and triathlon and if sacrificing opportunities to travel produces a good result in Phuket, then I’ll happily settle for that.

What will be a good result for me in Phuket, I cannot truthfully answer that just yet. I’ll wait and see how the training goes over the four months and make a prediction closer to the date.

Just briefly to comment on the conditions for training over here; there are two swimming pools in the town in which I’m based, but with no lanes and a lorry load of kids in the pools during regular opening hours a swim training session during these times is not possible. I’m not far from the sea though, but the water is dirty with about 15cm visibility at the best of times. There are only so many plastic bags and fishing nets you can swim into before giving up, so most of my open water swims have been relatively short. I’ll try talk nicely to the pool owners though and see is it possible to get in a swim when no kids will be about.

The bike that I have is a regular road bike, with stock issue wheels. I intend to purchase some aero bars, but at the time this log starts off I don’t have any. I bought 28mm tyres for a month’s cycle tour around Thailand. To save my 23mm tyres for racing, and because I fncking hate punctures, I’ll be doing all my training on the wider tyres. I don’t have the mathematical formula to hand, but I’m hoping the 23mm tyres will give me a slight speed increase on raceday.

I can run on the road during the day, but with the sun shining it can get pretty hot, so I generally wait to run after sun set. Then when it’s dark it’s not safe to run on the roads, so 90% of my runs are done on a 1.04km loop (according to mapmyrun). It might sound pretty tedious running this twenty times, but it’s fairly easy work out your pace here, so you have to take the rough with the smooth.

I’m a bit short of gadgets over here and will only be using a stopwatch and a basic Cateye cycle computer to train with. Looking at my training might not give you folks too much to comment on, but I’ll just get on with things as best I can and will appreciate any advice anybody sees fit to give.
Anyway that’s about enough rabbiting; I’ll begin the log proper with the first week’s training below.

Monday 30th July
a.m.
45 minutes weights & core work

Lunch break;
I had hoped to do a pool based swim session during this lunch break. The pool is in a hotel near my apartment and they’ve been kind enough on previous occasions to let me swim here before it’s open to the general public when it’s not possible to swim 5 metres, let alone 25, without swimming into one of the 40 or so kids that are let into the pool.
However I’ve been told it’s going to be closed for one month so as it can be cleaned, it seems like an awful long time, but you get used to the fact that that’s the way things are done in Thailand, and make alternative arrangements. This alternative was 50 minutes on the turbo, which went like this;
5 minute warm up, 1 minute hard & 1 minute easy, 2 hard & 2 easy, 4 hard & 4 easy, 6 hard & 6 easy, 4 hard & 4 easy, 2 hard & 2 easy, 1 hard & 1 easy, 5 minutes cool down

p.m.
1 km OW swim
Tempo run, 2.08km warm, 3.12km @ race pace, 1.04km easy, 5.20km @ race pace, 2.08km easy, 3.12km @ race pace, 2.08km cool down

Tuesday 31st July

a.m.
1.4km OW swim

Lunch Break;
40 minutes on turbo, 5 minutes warm up, 30 minutes medium gear @ 90 rpm, 5 cool down,

p.m.
Brick Session; {25 minutes on turbo (medium gear @ 90 rpm) & 3.12km run @ race pace off 40 minutes} x 3

Wednesday 1st August

a.m.
Run; 10 minute warm up, 1 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 2 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 6 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 6 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 2 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery,1 minute @ interval pace, 5.30 minutes cool down

p.m.
1.8km OW swim

Thursday 2nd August

a.m.
45 minutes weights & core work

p.m.
Cycle; 30 minutes warm up, {200m hard, 100m rolling, 500m hard, 300m rolling/easy, 1.5km hard, 800m easy} x 6, 40 minutes cool down

Friday 3rd August
a.m.
30 minutes warm up, 30 minutes HIM race effort (avg. pace of 34.3km/hr), noticed I had a slow puncture after 1 hour 20 minutes of cycling, would like to think it happened somewhere in the middle of my HIM race effort and my average speed would have been a few kilometres per hour quicker only for it. Slightly wishful thinking, but anyway I’d only a hand pump, I reckoned (correctly as it turned out) I’d make it home without having to replace the tube, so turned around at this point and began a careful cycle back home, returning after just over 3 hours out on my bike. I had intended to be out for longer and get more 30 minute HIM efforts in, but the puncture and fading light by the time I’d have been back out with a fully inflated tube put paid to that, so I had to reschedule the rest of the workout for another day.

p.m.
With a shorter and easier than planned cycle I’d undertaken earlier in the day, I felt my legs would be okay to tackle a longish run this evening. I ran 19.76km in 1 hour 19.33 minutes. On December 2nd the 21km run won’t be after the sun goes down, and will come after a 90km cycle, but I hope to be able to sustain something not too far off this kind of pace come race day in. I believe running long training runs at desired race pace has worked for me before, so I’m going to stick with this approach for the next 4 months.

Saturday 4th August
a.m.
1km OW swim

p.m.
3 hour turbo, 25 minutes warm up, 30 minutes HIM race effort, 20 minutes recovery, 30 minutes HIM race effort, 20 minutes recovery, 30 minutes HIM race effort, 25 minutes cool down
Turbo session was to compensate for the cycle I had yesterday. I wanted to get back out on the road, but there wasn’t going to be enough hours of daylight left when I eventually got around to starting. And with the Olympics on TV the 3 hours spent indoors were not as boring as they might otherwise have been.

Sunday 5th August
p.m.
Cycle; 2 hours 30 minutes easy, just spinning out the legs. 68.29km in total.

pgibbo

Best of luck with it zico.

It must be damn hot doing turbo sessions there :eek:

Dory Dory

Best to you! I do most of my runs in a field that is approximately 2/3 of a mile around, so I know all about running in circles too!

Izoard

Will the 4 months training be done with 1 t-shirt and a single pair of jocks?:)

Good luck with it!

zico10

pgibbo wrote: »

It must be damn hot doing turbo sessions there :eek:

It probably is, but just stick a fan on at full blast and you learn to get used to it.

Dory Dory wrote: »

Best to you! I do most of my runs in a field that is approximately 2/3 of a mile around, so I know all about running in circles too!

I've sort of learned to enjoy my little loop though. When I do eventually get back to the wide open spaces of The Phoenix Park I'll probably wonder what I was thinking, but right now I'm happy enough with where I have to run.

Izoard wrote: »

Will the 4 months training be done with 1 t-shirt and a single pair of jocks?:)

No, fortunately I don't have to live out of a 15 litre bag for the next 4 months, so I can afford to keep more clothes in my apartment.:)

zico10

Monday 6th August

a.m.

nothing

lunchbreak

45 minutes weight & core

p.m.

1,000m O/W

Run; hill reps 350m x 10
Haven’t done a proper session with hills in a while, felt very slow. I don’t know how to describe the climb other than it was a b@stard. This is what mapmyrun has to say about it; This is a 0.35 km Run in Lang Suan, Thailand. The Run has a total ascent of 75.0 m and has a maximum elevation of 95.0 m. This map was created byalan2811alan on 08/06/2012. a maximum elevation of 95.0 m. This map was created by alan2811alan on 08/06/2012.
Average of 2.16 per rep

Tuesday 7th August

a.m.

1,000m O/W swim

lunchbreak

40 minutes turbo, easy spinning

p.m.

1 hour 30 minutes turbo, Session taken from turbotraining.co.uk
10 minute warm up, 10 x 4 minute periods, going from 72% of HR max to 90%, trying to maintain a cadence of 90 – 100rpm throughout. I don’t have a HRM, so I just went off feel. Cadence fell slightly below 90rpm for the final two 4 minute periods, 10 minute cool down.
Exactly half the numbers above for the final 30 minutes.

Wednesday 8th August

a.m.

Run; 10 minute warm up, 1 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 2 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 6 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 6 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 2 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery,1 minute @ interval pace, 5.40 minutes cool down

p.m.

Cycle Intervals; Warm up, main set was 7 x 5km intervals on a straight stretch of road, ( I didn’t keep a record, but the following stats are what I remember seeing on my cycle computer after each interval, 4 of them out @ approximate average speed of 41km/hr, 3 back @ approximate average speed of 37km/hr, Cool down

Thursday 9th August

a.m.

131.86km cycle in 5 hours 8 minutes. I did four 30 minute HIM efforts during the cycle. I held 34.8km/hr, 35km/hr, 35.7km/hr and 35km/hr for the four efforts.
It would be nice if these HIM efforts were a small bit quicker, but I intend to do all of my long cycles following a similar structure, with 50% of them on the same road, so it should be easy to see if I’m improving or not.

p.m.

I went to a swimming pool for this swim. 400m warm up; then I did a 750m TT effort just to see where I’m at swimming wise. I completed it in 15.18, I wasn’t expecting much better. My legs were seizing up towards the end, the pool was about to close, so I just got out of the water and didn’t bother with a swim down.

Friday 10th August

a.m.

weights & core

p.m.

Brick; {20 minutes on turbo (medium gear 90/95 rpm) and 2.08km @ race pace, off 30 minutes} x 4
I’ve no accurate way of measuring cycling speed, but was running at less than 4 minutes per kilometre and getting around 1.30 rests between efforts.

Saturday 11th August

a.m.

I had planned on swimming, but it was going to be easy to get this done in the afternoon, so I chose to stay in bed for an extra hour.

p.m.

1,000m O/W swim

Run, 19.76km in 1.19.45
Exact same run as I did last week, only it took me 12 more seconds. Less than a second slower per kilometre, which isn’t a lot, but still I’d have preferred if it had been a 12 seconds difference the other way.

Sunday 12th August

2 hours on turbo, easy spinning, watching men’s marathon in Olympics

zico10

Monday 13th August

a.m.

I didn’t have to go to work today, so I was able to get out on my bike early in the day and got a hill session in.
12 x 550m hills as fast as possible, (average of 1 minute 43 seconds), recovery rolling back downhill.
Starting out at 1.33, the reps got progressively slower finally averaging out at 1.43. Had planned on doing 14, but I was only getting slower, the day was getting, I was running out of water and I didn’t see the point in doing the 14 just to say I had completed them.

p.m.

Went to a pool for this evening’s swim,
400m warm up
5 x 200m off 4.10 (I could manage to hit these times)
5 x 100m off 2.00 (I managed the first three, but was pushing off on 8.01 for the 4th 100, came in on 10.04)
200m cool down

I’m a long way off where I was two years ago, which is no great surprise. I’m hoping improvements will be easy-ish enough to come by though and I’ll be comfortably swimming under 2.00 per hundred in a few months.

Tuesday 14th August

a.m.

I’m still waiting for the swimming pool where I plan to do my lunch time swims to open, so I had a free session during the day to fit in something else. I decided to move one of my weekly weight’s sessions to this slot and that left me with an a.m. session to fill in. I wasn’t particularly happy with yesterday’s hill session on the bike, so decided to try replicating something like this on the turbo.
Session went like this; 10 minute warm up, {1.30 minutes in the hardest gear at the highest level of resistance @ 60 rpm & 1.30 minutes recovery} x 12, 5 minutes cool down

Lunch break

45 minutes weight & core work

p.m.

Tempo Run; 10 minutes warm up, 12 minutes hard, 6 minutes easy, 24 minutes hard, 12 minutes easy, 12 minutes hard, 10 minute cool down
I didn’t get an exact distance for the hard parts, but glancing at my stop watch told me I was running at around 4.00/km. I wasn’t going hell for leather and was holding the pace fairly comfortably.

Wednesday 15th August

a.m.

Run; 10 minute warm up, 1 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 2 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 6 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 6 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 2 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery,1 minute @ interval pace, 5.40 minutes cool down

I needed to take an emergency toilet break in the middle of the second six minute interval. Luckily enough there are public toilets where I run, so I avoided any embarrassment.

p.m.

44 minutes on the turbo;
The session was taken from turbotraining.co.uk; 10 minute warm up, (30 seconds sprint & 1 minute recovery) x 5, (1 minute sprint & 1 minute recovery) x 5, (30 seconds sprint & 1 minute recovery) x 5, 9 minute cool down

Thursday 16th August

a.m.

4 hours 30 minute cycle, total distance 142.51km
I did four 30 minute HIM race efforts during the session, and I averaged the following speeds for each of the efforts; 1) 37km/hr, 2) 38.3km/hr, 3) 36.9km/hr 4) 35.8km/hr
These speeds are an improvement on last week, probably in part due to the fact that I removed one of the spacers from under my handlebars and that unlike last week I inflated my tyres before heading out. The last effort became a struggle and after 15 minutes my speed was tailing off. My neck and lower back were hurting and I was very glad to finish when I did.

p.m.

1,000m O/W swim

Friday 17th August

a.m.

45 minutes weights + core work

p.m.

I have a race coming up on Sunday, which will be my first triathlon race in nearly 9 months. It’s not a target race though and I didn’t want to alter my training to much in advance of it. I did however try to incorporate a bit of speed work into Wednesday’s turbo session and this was also the idea with the run intervals this evening.

Run Intervals; 1.54km warm up, {380m @ rep pace, 380 metres recovery} x 12, 0.76km cool down. I messed up the timing after the second interval and had to reset my stopwatch. I averaged 1 minute 16 seconds for the final ten efforts. I was making a big effort not to drop off the pace and the intervals started to get faster once I had the first 6 out of the way. This almost never happens with me and I guess it just goes to show on should be concentrating on holding form more regularly.

I’ll be travelling to the race tomorrow, but I plan to get a short stint in on the turbo before I go and then hope to get in the water once I arrive at the venue tomorrow.

subscriber

Seems like a mental volume of training for a HIM. I have Galway HIM in two weeks and haven't done half that. Making me worry now, ur some animal if you can keep that weekly volume up for 4 months consistently, best of luck with it.

BTH

subscriber wrote: »

Seems like a mental volume of training for a HIM. I have Galway HIM in two weeks and haven't done half that. Making me worry now, ur some animal if you can keep that weekly volume up for 4 months consistently, best of luck with it.

Thats nothing. You should see what he did for the full IM. The guys a machine when he gets going.

Trig1

some very fast cycle splits for a road bike- did you get the aero bars yet??, is it a good road bike?? what are the roads like over there-better or worse than these stupid Irish roads??... some very good training been done on bike and on foot, keep it up, how long is it since you did any racing?

Dory Dory

Best of luck to you on Sunday!

pgibbo

Best of luck this weekend.

Impressive training :cool:

zico10

subscriber wrote: »

Seems like a mental volume of training for a HIM. I have Galway HIM in two weeks and haven't done half that. Making me worry now, ur some animal if you can keep that weekly volume up for 4 months consistently, best of luck with it.

It might be more than average, but I think it's far from mental. I don't think the fact it's a HIM has anything to do with it either. There's still only seven days in a week whether you're training for a full or a half. How much time someone wishes to give to training is up to them. Granted it's far easier for single/childless people like myself to find time, but if it were an Olympic distance race, or even a sprint, that I cared as much about I think I'd be doing a similar volume of training.
There could be others training for Galway who've done twice as much as me, but what van you do about it? I think as long as your training has been consistent, you'll be fine in whatever race you choose to do. Everybody has different targets and different demands on their time, I think there's little point worrying about what somebody else is doing.

Trig1 wrote: »

some very fast cycle splits for a road bike- did you get the aero bars yet??, is it a good road bike?? what are the roads like over there-better or worse than these stupid Irish roads??... some very good training been done on bike and on foot, keep it up, how long is it since you did any racing?

It's a Trek 2.1, whether it's good or not I don't know what to say. I'd prefer to have my TT bike, which is back Ireland, but the Trek is fine. As the man says; it gets me from A to B.
I got tri bars alright. The first day with them was 8th August. If I had updated daily I would have remembered to mention it, but when it came to my Sunday evening weekly update I just wanted to post my week's training as quickly as possible.
Roads are hit and miss. The roads I cycled in the north of the country were generally much better than here in the south. The roads I use to train on are okay, some dodgy spots, similar enough to country roads in Ireland I guess.
My last triathlon was November 2011. I ran a marathon back in February and a 14km road race about a month ago. There's not really much of a tri scene over here and it's not as easy get to races when you're not in a small country like Ireland, and you don't have a car.

Dory Dory wrote: »

Best of luck to you on Sunday!

Thanks very much. I believe you're racing yourself this weekend. I don't know the time difference between Virginia and Thailand, but if you see this message before your race, best of luck to you. And if you don't, I hope it went well.

Dory Dory

Mine went well - I hope yours did too!

zico10

Saturday 18th August

a.m.

20 minutes turbo; 5 minutes warm up (1 minute sprint + 1 minute recovery) x 5, 5 minute cool down

p.m.

I was a bit later getting to the venue than I had hoped I would. I had planned on swimming the full course, so as I would have had a chance to practise sighting and what not. But the light was fading by the time I eventually did get into the water, so I was just swam out to the first marker we’d have to turn at tomorrow, then turned around and headed back to shore.
I saw three jelly fish on the way back in. They were the size basketballs and the first one was directly under me before I noticed. This was good practise for keeping high elbows, but it really freaked me. Thankfully I made it back to land unscathed and hoping if jellyfish do make an appearance tomorrow there’ll be enough swimmers around me to shield me from them.

Approximately 900m

zico10

Dory Dory wrote: »

Mine went well - I hope yours did too!

Fair play and well done on the AG win. Nothing like that for me. Crap swim, okay bike and okay run. I only had a stop watch to go on, but I was happy enough with my splitss when I finished the race. Then I was emailed the results yesterday and I wasn't so happy after I studied them.

I'll post a race report in a day or two and you can find out why.

Bambaata

Fair play to you Zico! If ever i feel i have horrible conditions to train in ill just need to think of you! Looking forward to the report.

Kurt Godel

Hey zico, I enjoyed reading your Sub 10 IM training thread last year. Comparing the sort of sessions you were discussing on it, to now, how far off that sort of form are you now? Is the goal to get back there?

zico10

Sunday 19th August

Swim 1.380km; 00:30:35

We were told at the briefing than the swim would be reduced to 1,380m in honour of the Thai Queen’s 80th birthday. Why not 1,480, which would have been closer to an Olympic distance swim, I do not know. It felt like more, but 1,380m is what we were told we’d be swimming.

It was a running start, and knowing my place as a not-so-great swimmer I assumed a position some way behind those in the front. As with a lot of races I’ve done though, be they triathlon or running, not everybody at the front of the starting pack seemed to care so much about their ability to stay at the front once the gun went.

The starting line wasn’t far back from the water’s edge and as soon as it was deep enough to swim, that’s what I did. Not everyone was so eager to actually swim and after 30 metres I was still swimming into the backs of people wading in waist deep water. Considering it was supposed to be a swim, I found this annoying. Shortly after though the water became too deep to walk in and everybody had to swim, whether they wanted to or not. Now it was people doing the breast stroke that annoyed me, which is fine, but why anybody would start at the front of an open water swim, when they know they’ll be breaking into the breast stroke after 100m is another thing that irks me.

After around 300m, I felt I was amongst swimmers of similar ability as myself. There were yellow buoys leading all the way up to the first turnaround point in the swim. They were spaced very close together and sighting was easy. I was swimming right beside a rope trying to get a draft off swimmers in front. This occasionally meant getting my right hand caught in the rope connecting the line of yellow buoys, but I figured I was taking the straightest possible line to the turnaround and didn’t think it worthwhile to drift too far left.

I reached the first turnaround feeling I’d made good time. The next marker we’d to swim to was visible, but I’d lost the feet I had been trailing, and I ended up swimming the remainder of the distance on my own.

I got to the next turnaround which came about two-thirds of the way through the swim. I was expecting a line of yellow buoys to lead me all the way back to shore and started swimming in a line that I thought would bring me alongside these elusive yellow buoys. I hadn’t sighted in the expectation that I would catch sight of the yellow buoys to my right when taking a breath. I took about 20 strokes before realising that those yellow buoys just weren’t there. I decided that the best thing to do at this point was to stop and find me bearings. I saw the yellow buoys around 200m ahead, but if I kept going in the direction I had been I would have ended up on the wrong side of them. All of the swimmers were to my left and I had no choice but to change direction and try join up with them.

The shortest line to join this pack was not the shortest way back to land, so there was no point in trying to join them straight away. Instead I eyed up the yellow buoys and concentrated and getting on the right side of them. I managed this, but never did get back amongst the pack of swimmers.

I came out of the water about 20 metres to the right of most of the other swimmers, which only confirmed I’d picked a poor line. Anyway it was over with, and a check of my watch told me I’d finished in 28 minutes something. That was about what I was expecting, but the official results gave me a 30.35 swim. I still had a bit of a run between checking my watch and crossing the timing mat, but I’m certain that time was not correct. It didn’t affect my overall position though, and there’s probably a similar discrepancy with everyone’s time.

T.1; 00:00:58

I’d no wetsuit to take off, so the transition from swim to bike was a fairly straightforward affair. I shoved a few gels in the pockets on my tri top, which probably took 1 or 2 seconds, but there were only 9 transitions under 55 seconds, so I don’t really see where else I could have saved time.

Cycle 41km; 01:06:08

Apart from going over two bridges, the entire cycle was practically pancake flat. There were some hazards we had to slow down for, and 5 or 6 sharp turns we had to take, but I wouldn’t describe it as a technical course. I was holding back a little bit, but I could spend the majority of the time on my tri bars and was happy enough with the speed I was managing to hold.

I took a wrong turn at a roundabout, which probably added about 100m to my overall distance. 100m isn’t much, but it took a minute or so to build back up momentum after coming to a complete stop. It allowed someone I had already overtaken get back in front of me, but I caught him again and apart from this no other cyclist passed me.

Despite the one mistake, when I arrived back in T2 I felt I’d had a good bike leg. Now though I do think I could have pushed harder, and I think had I exited the water in a quicker time, I would have had stronger cyclists to pace myself off.

T2; 00:00:55

The quickest bike to run transition was done in 27 seconds. This would imply that I could have gone faster, but I was half a second faster than the winner, a guy who raced in the Beijing Olympics. I don’t think I’ll ever be half a second quicker than an Olympian, at anything, ever again, so I can take a small bit of pride in my time.

Run 12km; 00:50:46

It was an out and back run and was pretty uneventful. I started off the run feeling okay, but after 1 km I could feel the slight start of stitch setting in. It’s been a long time since I had been trying to run 12km at <4.00/km and I was fearful I hadn’t hydrated properly on the bike. I just concentrated on holding form and thankfully the feeling went away.

I passed a 4km sign when I saw the race leader coming in the opposite direction. In another few minutes the guy in second place appeared. Five minutes went by and the runners passing on the opposite side of the road appeared more frequently. I counted 10 runners, before stopping and concentrating on my own race.

I reached the turn around and decided against taking one of the gels I was carrying. I grabbed a cup of water though and gulped down the only water I had over the run. I was slower than I thought I’d be getting to this point, so I pushed on and told myself to pick up the pace for the second half. This didn’t really work though, and though I don’t have splits to hand, I’d be pretty sure the second half of my run was only marginally faster than the first.

I’d passed about 20 or 30 people on the run and when the finishing arch came into view I saw one other guy ahead of me I thought I could catch. I pushed hard and he turned around to see me approaching quickly. Instead of putting up a fight for the place though, he just dropped to the side and let me pass him. It probably saved us both from making a spectacle of ourselves at the finish, but I would have liked to have been forced to dig a bit deeper for the place.

I was hoping for a sub 48 minute run, but only one guy managed this and it wasn’t the Olympian, so I’m not sure how realistic I was being. Still I never once felt like I was running quickly, and despite wanting to I wasn’t able to go any faster on the day. I did have the 3rd fastest run split, the fastest was a Thai who has already raced in both Las Vegas and Kona, and the second was the Austrian Olympian. But I wasn’t particularly close to matching either of their times and knowing nothing about the other people I was competing with, being the third fastest runner on the day doesn’t tell me much.

All in all I’m not overly happy about the race. I do feel I could have done better. It did come at the end of a hard three weeks’ training though and it was never a target race for me. It was nice to compete in my first triathlon in almost 9 months, and while as I said already I’m not overly happy, I’m not too disappointed either.

zico10

Bambaata wrote: »

Fair play to you Zico! If ever i feel i have horrible conditions to train in ill just need to think of you! Looking forward to the report.

Thanks Bambaata, it's good to know someone of your calibre is taking an interest in this log.

I'm sure people train in far more horrible conditions than me.

Swimming's certainly not ideal, but with non wetsuit swims, and no group sessions over here I was never expecting my swim to be awesome. I don't want to be giving up too much time, but thankfully the swim is less important in a HIM.

@ Kurt Godel

I'm sorry to do this, but it's well past my bedtime here and I'll wait until tomorrow to answer you. It's not as simple a question for me as you might think.

Dory Dory

Well done, zico. I think you did a fabulous job!!!

zico10

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Hey zico, I enjoyed reading your Sub 10 IM training thread last year. Comparing the sort of sessions you were discussing on it, to now, how far off that sort of form are you now? Is the goal to get back there?

I'm still a bit off sub 10 shape I'd say. I think I'd be close enough to my race day bike split if I were to have a bash at 180km tomorrow. But I'd still need another few months to get back to where I was with my run. And a few months might not even do it. Coming up to my ironman race, I'd nearly 4 years of consistent running done. In addition to triathlons, I'd trained for 4 marathons in the three years prior to Challenge Copenhagen. I had a lot of running miles built up and this stood to me for the IM marathon.
As a comparison to now, it's been two years since Challenge Copenhagen, and I'd say my combined mileage in this 2 year period would be similar enough to what I ran in any one of the three years from August 2007 to August 2010.

I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to have a slow swim in Phuket. I'm hoping a fast bike and run will compensate. There's nobody here to train with and I really feel that my swimming is the one thing that will only improve in a group session. I was never a super fast swimmer anyway, and even if wetsuits were allowed, I would not see myself being capable of holding the same pace for 1.9km as I was for 3.8km in August 2010.

I plan to train just as hard and just as often as I did for my ironman race, but I'm coming from a lower base. It'll be the first HIM race that has gotten 100% of my focus, and I want to be as well prepared as I possibly can be on race day. If it were a full iron distance and not a half, I'd be worried that I just wouldn't be able to build up my endurance to the required level in time. But because it's a 70.3, I'm not too concerned about this. I don't find the distances one bit daunting. It certainly won't be easy, but the way I see it is that it's just a case of getting each section over and done with as fast as I possibly can.

Ultimately I do see myself racing ironman distance again. If I was based in Ireland it's certainly what I'd be doing. And when that day comes, I'd definitely be looking to go faster than 9.47. I'm not sure if this answers your question, and who's to say if a HIM alone can tell much, but yes my goal is to get back to that sort of form.

Dory Dory

Question - why do you think your swim will only improve with a group session? (sincere question, no commentary behind it, just curiosity)

zico10

Dory Dory wrote: »

Question - why do you think your swim will only improve with a group session? (sincere question, no commentary behind it, just curiosity)

I just think having others in the lane keeps me focused. It could be just a mental thing, but when I was on my own I could never replicate what I'd be doing in group swims. Someone in my lane starting to tip my toes after only 50m would have the same affect as a kick up the backside. That never happens when you're swimming alone.

Dory Dory

Yeah, chasing or being chased are great motivators....so I get it. I train alone so sometimes I forget the benefits (other than boredom) of training with others.

shotgunmcos

Well done on the Tri Zico. Sounds like you had good company to chase. Thanks for the report too, good read.

@Dory, I find group swims better/easier too. Used to be the same for rowing. In a crew boat you would simply never stop, never quit

zico10

This is a recovery week, so any hard sessions I usually do will be typically reduced by 40%

Monday 20th August

Lunchbreak

Run; 5 minute warm up, 1 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 2 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 2 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery,1 minute @ interval pace, 5.40 minutes cool down

p.m.

Swim; Approximately 2,000m in the pool
I forget exactly what I did, but it was a mixture of drills and 100m off 2.10. I was interrupted in the middle of it by one of the staff telling me she was supposed to close the pool at 5. She was speaking Thai to me, this much and the fact she wanted to go home were all I understood. I tried explaining to her that I’d been told on a previous occasion that the pool would be open every day until 6 and that I’d arrived there at 5 and had already paid money expecting to get an hours’ swim done. I wasn’t getting through to her though and had to ring a Thai friend to explain all this to her.

Tuesday 21st August

Cycle; 30 minutes warm up, 8 minutes @ 37.7km/hr, 4 minutes recovery, 6 minutes @ 40.2km/hr, 3 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ 37.8km.hr, 2 minutes recovery, 2 minutes @ 40.3km/hr, 10 minutes recovery, 8 minutes @ 38.3km/hr, 4 minutes recovery, 6 minutes @ 39.9km/hr, 3 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ 39.4km/hr, 2 minutes recovery, 2 minutes @ 37.7km/hr, 30 minutes cool down
All the hard parts were done at a PE of 9. The average speed was influenced much more by road condition, etc. rather than the effort I was putting in.

After the race on Sunday, I think I need to get more used to running fast off the bike. From now on I plan to run 5km at race pace after every bike session I do. This being a recovery week I decided beginning today to just ease into it with 3km runs instead.
Run; 3.12km in 11.50

Wednesday 22nd August

Run; 16 minutes easy, 16 minutes @ .50/km, 16 minutes easy
The idea starting off was just to do an easy 48 minute run, which is 60% of the time of 80 minutes I gave to my longish runs during the first three weeks of the training. After about 5 minutes of running I decided this was going to be a boring way of spending 48 minutes, and felt there wouldn’t be any great harm in doing the middle third at pace. So this is what I did. I started earlier than I usually do and there were still a lot of walkers out. It required pushing things a small bit to get each of the four 1.04km laps done in less than 4 minutes.

Thursday 23rd August

3 hours 6 minutes cycle; 95.05km
18 being 60% of 30 was the logic I used in determining how long my HIM race paced efforts would be during my recovery week, so I did four 18 minutes efforts at race pace. Average pace; 1) 38.2km/hr 2) 37.8km/hr 3) 38.1km 4) 37.5km/hr

I did a run at race pace after the cycle. There was about a 20 minute gap between finishing my cycle and starting the run. I had similar feelings, like the onset of a stitch, which I had at the race on Sunday. It only lasted between 500m and 1km and then went away, so maybe all I need is more practise in running fast off a long bike. I’ll be better prepared the next time I do similar and plan to be out running in less than 10 minutes of getting off the bike.
Run; 3.12km in 11.39

Friday 24th August

1,000m O/W swim

40 minutes on turbo, easy gear @ 85/90rpm

Saturday 25th August

Run Intervals; 10 minute warm up (2.08km) & 15 minute drills
2.08km Interval x 3 @ interval pace (average pace 3.34/km)
0.76km cool down

Sunday 26th August

Cycle; 30 minutes warm up, 7 minutes hard (37.8km/hr), 4 minutes easy, 13 minutes hard (36.9km/hr), 7 minutes easy, 13 minutes hard (39.4km/hr), 7 minutes easy, 7 minutes hard (37.4km/hr), 30 minutes cool down
Run; within 10 minutes of finishing cycle, 3.12km @ race pace in 11.47

zico10

Monday 27th August

a.m.

45 minutes weights & core work

Lunch break

Run; 9 minutes warm up, 3 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 5 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 5 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 5 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 3 minutes @ interval pace, 5.36 cool down
13.20km

p.m.

Swim; 400m warm up, 6 x 75m kick, 50m easy, 500m drills, 100m easy,
10 x 100m off 2.05, I came in ahead of time each time, but rest was getting shorter as I went along, started cramping during the last rep and came in on 20.46
250m swim down

Tuesday 28th August

a.m.

Tempo Run; 10 minutes warm up, 20 minutes @ < 3.50/km, 10 minutes easy, 20 minutes @ .50/km, 5.48 minute cool down
I ran my usual loop, just slightly over 5 laps each time. During the first 20 minute stretch the first lap was significantly faster than the other 4, I eased up a bit and took a few seconds longer to complete each lap. During the second 20 minute stretch, the first three laps were all ran within 1 second of each other. I sped up a little bit for the last two, without having to expend any huge amount of extra energy.

Lunch break;

30 minute stretching and 30 minutes sleeping

p.m.

Turbo; 10 minutes warm up, (90 seconds highest gear, hardest level of resistance @ 60rpm & 90 seconds easy) x 12, 10 minutes cool down

Wednesday 29th August

a.m.

55 minutes turbo; 10 minutes warm up, (4.00 steady, 2.00 hard, 3.30 easy, 0.30 sprint) x 4, 5 minutes cool down

5.20km run in 19.29 within 5 minutes of finishing turbo

p.m.

Swim; 8 x 400m with 30 seconds rest, easy pace, 72 minutes

Thursday 30th August

Cycle; 125km in 4 hours 30 minutes

I took a different route to the road I’ve cycled for the last three weeks. This one involves quite a bit of climbing, and will be a lot more like what I’ll have to face in Phuket, as opposed to the practically totally flat road I do most of my cycles on.

Four 33 minute HIM race efforts. My computer was only intermittently picking up speeds over 46km/hr, which was really bugging me, but it wasn’t until after finishing the third effort that I sought to correct the problem. I’d switched the magnet onto a different wheel I used in the race last Sunday week and didn’t put it back on my training wheel correctly. This is the first time since I’ve hit such speeds though and it hadn’t been a problem before. The average speeds for the first three 33 minute splits are not accurate, but the fourth and final one is okay. Because of this there might not be much point posting them here, but at any rate this is what my computer read; 1) 31.7km/hr, 2) 28.9km/hr, 3) 30.8km/hr, 4) 33.8km/hr
It’ll mean cycling this road again next week, (which was my intention anyway) and see how much faster I can go.

5.20km run in 19.33 within 15 minutes of finishing cycle.
After over 4 hours on the bike, I was finding it hard to work up the determination to get back out and just get this run done, hence the 15 minute break in between. 4 seconds slower than yesterday, but it felt like more. Right now it would have been very hard to imagine keeping this pace up for another 5km, let alone 16. Anyway the first lap was the quickest. I was expecting to take one lap before I found my legs, so this was a bit of a surprise for me.
The run was done at around 2 o’clock in the afternoon. I normally would be out running at this time, and for the sake of 20 minutes to save on sunblock I wore a T-shirt instead of a vest. The temperature was already high, and wearing a T-shirt made it seem even hotter still. That will be my excuse for finding the 5 laps tougher than yesterday.

Friday 31st August

Run; 20.80km in 1.23.16 (average pace <4.01km)
I ate too much fruit about 2 hours before the run, and had to take a toilet break after 18km. It was a slight increase in pace from my previous longish runs, but the fact it wasn’t continuous annoys me.

Saturday 1st September

Brick; 28 minutes on turbo & 3.62km run off 47 minutes
I did the turbo bit in my apartment whilst half watching Liverpool and Arsenal on the telly. ‘Transition’ involved running down two flights of stairs before I was out on the road and was taking around two minutes. I’ve no accurate measure of how long it took me to do each run, but I was getting around 2 minutes rest after finishing one cycle and run.

Sunday 2nd September

850m O/W swim

Turbo; 15 minutes warm up, (5.00 hard, 2.30 recover) x 2, (10.00 hard, 5.00 recovery) x 2, (20.00 hard, 10.00 recovery) x 1, (10.00 hard, 5.00 recovery) x 2, (5.00 hard, 2.30 recover) x 2, 5 cool down

5.20km run within 5 minutes of finishing turbo, Completed in 19.33, which was the exact same time as Friday, but this was much later in the day and I felt much better throughout. I don’t know how important the splits for each 1.04km lap are, but I made an effort to remember them and for what it’s worth here they are; 1) 3.57, 2) 3.53, 3) 3.52, 4) 3.58, 5) 3.53

Bambaata

Seems like you're going well! What kind of effort was that 20.8k run??

zico10

Bambaata wrote: »

Seems like you're going well! What kind of effort was that 20.8k run??

Thanks, it would be nice if I could find a few more races to do, just to gauge things, but I'm happy so far with how the training has gone.

The run wasn't an all out effort, but I wasn't taking it easy either. I've no HRM so can't give you any stats from that, but it's an effort I want to be able sustain for the half marathon on race day. I wasn't obsessing about time or pace, but I would like to run 2 seconds per km quicker in Phuket. I'll keep the effort the same for all these longish runs and I'm expecting/hoping/wishing (take your pick) that my speed steadily increases with no extra effort over the next few months.

zico10

Monday 3rd September

a.m.

45 minutes weight & core work

Lunch break

Run; 9 minutes warm up, 3 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 5 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 6 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 5 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 3 minutes @ interval pace, 2.06 cool down

p.m.

Swim; 2,800m
400m warm up,
3 x 75m kick no board, 3 x 75m kick with board,
50 m full stroke,
100m left arm only, 100m right arm only, 100m catch up
100m full stroke,
100m, 200m, 400m, 200m, 100m off 2.00per 100 (I wouldn’t describe it as comfortable, but I managed to come in ahead of time for each of the splits)
100m easy
{50m sprint & 50 easy} x 2 {25m sprint & 25m easy} x 2
100m swim down

Tuesday 4th September

a.m.

Tempo Run; 8.00 warm up, 12.00 @ tempo pace, 6.00 easy, 20.00 @ tempo pace, 10.00 easy, 12.00 @ tempo pace, 6.29 cool down
Time; 1.14.29, Distance 17.68

p.m.

Cycle Intervals; Approximately 30 minutes warm up, 10 x 2km @ 20k TT pace out and back along same stretch of flat road, biggest gear both ways, splits; 1) 41.7km/hr, 2) 40.3km/hr, 3) 42.3km/hr, 4) 40.9km/hr, 5) 41.9km/hr, 6) 40.8km/hr, 7) 40.8km/hr, 8) 40.3km/hr, 9) 41.3km/hr, 10) 40.3km/hr
It’d be an entirely different matter holding this pace for 20km minus the rests, but happy I managed to keep them all over the magic number of 40km/hr. For the seventh rep I decided not to look at my computer, just to see if by concentrating on keeping my upper body perfectly still I’d still be able to maintain my speed with a very, very slight drop off in effort. Answer would seem to be ‘no’, but it felt like the wind decided to change direction for this one and only rep as well, so you never know!

Wednesday 5th September

a.m.

Turbo; The session was taken from turbotraining.co.uk, and I had the timer from this running on my laptop. I accidently closed the browser window in the middle of the session and I took closer to a 7 minute recovery than 5 in the middle of the set as I went searching for the session again.
10.00 warm up, 2.00 hard, 5.00 rest, 0.40 hard, 5.00 rest, 2.00 hard, 5.00 rest, 0.40 hard, 5.40 rest, 9.30 race pace, 0.30 sprint, 2.00 warm down
The warm down was meant to be 10 minutes, but I was going out running straight after finishing on the bike and didn’t see any point in spending so long cooling down.

Run 7 minutes after finishing turbo; 5.20km in 19.45
It took a bit longer than my last 5.20km run off the bike, but think it’s mainly because it was early in the morning and even after the turbo I didn’t feel fully awake.

p.m.

Swim; 400m warm up, then I tried for 7 x 400m off 8.00.
I started off okay, but things got fairly messed up towards the end. I came in on 39.50 or so, after the fifth effort, I’d completely lost concentration at this stage though and I thought I was after finishing the sixth 400m. I wasn’t able to see clearly through my goggles and thought my watch showed a time of 49.52. I was annoyed to have been so far away from 48.00 for 2,400m, and pushed off on what I thought was 50 minutes. After swimming 25m though I thought there was no possible way I could have been that far out and I then reckoned my watch must have been showing 39.52 and not 49.52. I finished off the 400m and realised this was indeed the case. I came in on 48.03, but I was spent and being already behind time I decided to take an adequate rest before pushing off again. This I did on 48.20, but the extra rest didn’t do much good for my next 400m and I came finished on 56.41.
I was banjaxed after finishing and stood up to see a woman at the poolside holding off a 6 inch cobra with a long pole. One of the pool staff was sent for and when he came in he was carrying a shorter stick. I imagined he was an experienced snake handler, who was going to capture the cobra and kindly set it free away from the pool, but instead he just smashed its skull in with the stick. It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen in a swimming pool, my head was still messed up from pushing hard in the swim, and I wasn’t 100% certain I wasn’t hallucinating. I decided to call time on things after this and didn’t bother with a swim down.

Thursday 5th September

Cycle; 121.26km with four 33 minute HIM race efforts
I cycled on the same hilly road as last week. I had no problems with my computer this week. Average pace for each of the HIM efforts, 1) 33.3km/hr, 2) 29.6km/hr, 3) 34.7km/hr, 4) 35.2km/hr
The wind was a factor today, and my two 33 minute HIM stints on the way back home were not done on the exact same stretch of road as going out, so it’s hard to make anything of the splits.

Run within 20 minutes of finishing cycling; 5.20kmin 19.10 (avg speed .42/km), the fastest time yet I’ve done this 5.20km in off the bike. I won’t get too excited though as there had been a 20 minute gap, and think I need a few more similar times in similar scenarios so as to be sure it’s a pace I can hold consistently.

Friday 7th September

a.m.

45 minutes weights & core work

p.m.

Run; 20.80km @ race pace, completed in 1.21.46 (avg pace .56/km)


My average pace was 5 seconds per kilometre quicker than last week, I have it under 4.00/km as well, which ideally is where I want it come race day. Along with the run off the long bike yesterday things seem to heading in the right direction. Hopefully there’ll be no slipping backwards when I attempt the same runs next week.

Saturday 8th September

Brick;{23 minutes on turbo & 1.04km run off 30 minutes} x 5
I’ve no accurate measure of either. Was spinning a medium/high gear at about 85rpm and from what I can remember by glancing at my stopwatch before and after each lap I was running at about 3.50/km.

Sunday 9th September

O/W swim; approximately 2,000m

zico10

Monday 10th September

a.m.

Run; 9 minutes warm up, 3 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 5 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 6 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 5 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 3 minutes @ interval pace, 1.45 cool down

p.m.

Swim; 3,400m total
400m warm up,
4 x 100m kick (50m without board, 50 with)
150m drills
150m easy
5 x 200m off 4.00
100m easy
5 x 100m off 2.00
100m easy
5 x 50m off 1.00
50m easy
5x 25m off 0.30
175m cool down

I was just about making the times for the hard parts. There were definitely not easy.

Tuesday 11th September

a.m.

42 minutes turbo; 5.00 warm up, 5.00 full effort, 2.00 comfort zone, 3.00 full effort, 0:30 sprint, 2:30 comfort zone, 2.00 full effort, 0:30 sprint, 2:30 comfort zone, 2.00 full effort, 0:30 sprint all big gear & stand for 10 seconds, 2:30 comfort zone change to 39 in front, 2.00 full effort, 0:30 sprint stand for 10 in big gear, 2:30 comfort zone, 0:30 right leg only, 0:30 left leg only, 0:30 right leg only, 0:30 left leg only, 2:30 full effort, 0:30 sprint, 0:30 ease off, 0:30 sprint, 0:30 ease off, 0:30 sprint last one, 2.00 warm down

5.20km run after turbo, completed in 19.50 (avg. pace .49/km)

p.m.

Cycle; Max velocity sets – {8x 200m, with 200m recovery in between} x 7

These were done on the same stretch of road and all in the one direction. Recovery between sets was a gentle cycle back to the start of the stretch. There were all done in the biggest gear I had. There was a gentle wind against My usual method of saving my average speed on my phone after any hard effort I do, was not going to be practical with these reps and I didn’t bother keeping any record. From what I remember I was hitting 41km/hr or 42km/hr on average, just before finishing the 200m. Not so much evidence of any explosive power from this session then.
I wanted to get 8 sets done, but it was starting to get dark. Thailand would not be the safest country in the world to be cycling in the dark, at max velocity and without lights, so that that was the end of my day’s training.


Wednesday 12th September

a.m.

Tempo Run, 8.00 warm up, 14.00 hard, 7.00 easy, 20.00 hard, 10.00 easy, 14.00 hard, 14.50 cool down
19.98km

I went away from my usual loop at the local park today and did this run out on the road. I started shortly after 10 a.m., which meant it was hotter than when I normally run, but it will be around this time of the day I’m running for real on race day, so I reckon there’ll be no harm in doing a few more runs like this.

p.m.

Swim; 7 x 400m off 8.30, took things easy concentrating on a different aspect of my stroke every 100m, was getting 15 – 20 seconds rest each time
150m swim down
I started late, and by the time I was finished the only light was from the exit signs in the pool. Not much else to say about things.

Thursday 13th September

Cycle; 143km in 4 and a half hours

Went back to the flat road for this week’s long cycle
Four 33 minute HIM race pace efforts; 1) 36km/hr, 2) 37.8km/hr, 3) 38.2km/hr, 4) 36.5km/hr

I replaced my chain and cassette for the first time since getting the bike nearly 12 months ago. This no doubt goes some way to explain my highest average speeds for HIM efforts yet, but it felt like harder work than it should have done clocking these. I didn’t feel incredibly strong when turning the pedals and I hope to be able to go faster the next time I’m doing this.

Run; 4.50km+ in 17.11

It wasn’t possible to run on my usual loop tonight, so I plotted out an alternative. I measured it out on my scooter, which of course is not the most accurate way of measuring things but it told me this newly potted loop was 900m+.
My bike was in the local bike shop until 1 a.m. today and this meant I started my cycle later than usual. I’d only eaten breakfast at this stage and didn’t think it would be a good idea beginning a 4.5 hour cycle on just this.
I had lunch less than two hours before starting my cycle and a toilet break was forced upon me when I had 5 of 6 planned laps of my run completed. There’s not a whole lot of difference between 5 and 6, I reckoned in running fast off the bike I’d done what I’d wanted to do and after the rest saw no point in picking it back up for one more lap.

Friday 12th September


45 minutes weights

Brick; {20 minutes on turbo (medium/high gear 85rpm) & 2.08km run off 31 minutes} x 5 (less than 4.00 per lap)

Saturday 15th September

O/W swim; 1,200m

Run; 20.80km in 1.22.27 (avg. pace .58/km)

A few kids on BMXs decided to join me after my third lap. They were cutting in front of me taking corners and generally just annoying the f*ck out of me. I told them to ‘p!ss off’, they sort of half got the message, but still thought it was funny to be cycling around with me. They kept their distance, but having seeing them just in front of or just behind me was very irritating. Anger is energy and this was making me run faster than I probably should have been. I completed the first 10km in less than 39 minutes, which was probably a bit too pacey. Sort of fell off the pace from here and came in 41 seconds down on last week.

Sunday 16th September

Turbo; 10 minutes warm up, 10 minutes hard, 5 minutes easy, 20 minutes hard, 10 minutes easy, 20 minutes hard, 10 minutes easy, 10 minutes hard, 5minutes easy

Run; 5.20km 15 minutes after finishing turbo in 19.00 (avg. speed < 3.40/km)

10 seconds faster than my previous best! More of the same please. It’s not how I felt after yesterday’s 20km run, but things seem to be going in the right direction.

zico10

This would have been a recovery week it wasn’t for the fact that the hurling final has gone to a replay. I don’t have to report for work next Monday so I’ll be able to get to an Irish bar somewhere and watch the game next Sunday. The following Monday might be a write off, but at least I’ll be able to travel up for the weekend without it impacting too much on my serious training.

Monday 17th September

a.m.

Run; 8 minutes warm up, 2 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 6 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 6 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 6 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 4 minutes @ interval pace, 2 minutes recovery, 2 minutes @ interval pace, 1.45 cool down

12.48km

Lunch break;

45 minutes weights

p.m.

Swim; 3,500m

400m warm up
5 x 100m off 2.10
5 x 100m off 2.25
5 x 100m off 2.35
5 x 100m off 2.45
6 x 50m off 1.10
4 x 100m off 2.45
400m swim down

It was very easy make all of the times. I got them from an Excel sheet and need to go back and re-evaluate the P.B.s I have entered.
I was coming in on around 1.50 for nearly all the 100s, it’s nice to be swimming comfortably, but I guess I need to be working harder in the water if I hope to see bigger gains.

Tuesday 18th September

a.m.

55 minutes turbo;
10.00 warm up, 6.00 @ 85rpm, 2.00 easy, 6.00 @ 90rpm, 2.00 easy, 6.00 @ 95rpm, 2.00 easy, 6.00 @ 100rpm, 3.00 easy, 1.00 max cadence, 3.00 easy, 1.00 max cadence, 7.00 cool down

p.m.

Run; Intervals 5 x 2.08km
I forgot to bring a stopwatch and only realised when I got to where I run. I didn’t think it was worth the trouble it would have taken to go back and get it, so just did the intervals without one.

Wednesday 19th September

a.m.

Turbo; 10 minutes warm up, 10.00 20km TT effort, 8.00 easy, 8.00 20km TT effort, 6.00 easy, 6.00 20km TT effort, 4.00 easy, 4.00 20km TT effort, 2.00 easy, 2.00 20km TT effort, 10 minutes cool down

This was very much an a.m. session. I got up at 01.45 to watch Real Madrid v Manchester City and figured I may as well get some exercise in while I was up.

p.m.

Swim;

400m warm up,
12 x 50m off 1.00
60 seconds rest
{50m kick with board, 50m pull, 50m catch-up, 50m full stroke} x 4, 20 seconds rest between each 50m
60 seconds rest
5 x 200m off 2.40
60 seconds rest
400m swim down

Thursday 20th September

Cycle; 4.45 hours approx. – 142.69km
30 minute warm up, {33.00 HIM effort, 27 minutes easy} X 4
HIM efforts; 1) 37.4km/hr, 2) 37.0km/hr, 3) 36.5km/hr, 4) 34.4km/hr

I was very happy with myself after finishing my first effort. The average speed for this was up on previous weeks and I saw no reason why the same wouldn’t be the case with the other three. I started to suffer during the second effort and was unable to better the average speed I maintained for the first one. This never happened before along this stretch of road and I knew the third and fourth goes would see further decreases in speed. Sure enough this is what happened, with an almost pathetic drop off when it came to the fourth effort.
I’ve been trying to think what the reasons could be for this, at the time I thought it was windier than what it has been, but then maybe I just wasn’t as strong as other weeks and that’s the only reason I noticed it. Or else maybe I just needed a recovery week and I’m not able for four weeks on the trot. I’d be happy if that was the only reason, as I’m pretty sure I won’t have to do a run of weeks like this again.

Run; 5.20km in 18.55 (avg. speed .39/km)
20 minutes after finishing cycle

I was thinking after what happened with my HIM efforts on the bike that maybe I’d be some way off the pace on the run as well. I wanted to get off to a good start to avoid this and pushed hard on the first 1.04km lap, I was happy but surprised to see a time of 3.43 on my watch when I completed the first lap. I eased up slightly then and after completing two laps in 7.30, I figured I was well on course for it may as well get the run done in under 19 minutes. I probably pushed slightly harder than I might otherwise have done, but it’s a nice round number and after the cycle earlier in the day felt it’d be good for my confidence if nothing else to just hit this time.


Friday 21st September

a.m.

45 minutes weights and core work

p.m.

21.84km in 1.26.08 (avg. speed .57/km)
I was feeling strong throughout and decided to push it out for the last kilometre. I might have to do this on race day if there are a few places at stake, and I was happy enough to run it in under 3.35.

Saturday 22nd September

Brick; {30 minutes on turbo; medium/high gear medium resistance 90 rpm & 2.08km run @ .42/km off on 41 minutes} x 4

Sunday 23rd September

a.m.

Swim; 3,500m (Session courtesy of our friendly mod, just hope I did it correctly)

1,000m warm up & drills
100m hard, 300m easy (100 in 1.41)
200m hard, 200m easy (200 in 3.forget)
300m hard, 100m easy (300 in 5.30)
400m hard (400 in 7.30)
100m recovery
` 8 x 50m, sprint first 25m,
400m swim down

p.m.

Turbo; 10.00 up, 5.00 hard, 2.30 recovery, 10.00 hard, 5.00 recovery, 20.00 hard, 10.00 recovery, 10.00 hard, 5.00 recovery, 5.00 hard, 12.30 cool down

Run; 5.20km in 19.56, 20 minutes after finishing turbo (avg. speed 3.50/km)

It was a significantly slower time than what I ran off the bike on the last two occasions, but I was at the end of my fourth consecutive hard week. It was almost 10p.m. when I started running, and I had mentally switched off even before beginning the run. For these reasons I’m just going to forget about the time and not worry about it.

Overall I’m quite happy with how my training is going. I was annoyed with how my long bike went this week, but that’s balanced out by the progress I’m seeing with my running. I’m not obsessing about my weight, but I am trying to slim down a bit just simply by eating less. I’ve shed a few kilos since beginning this log and my runs are more comfortable because of that.
I know it’s still early days with my swim, since deciding to put more of an effort into it, but I’m optimistic of getting back to where I was 2 years ago.

interested

zico10 wrote: »

It was very easy make all of the times. I got them from an Excel sheet and need to go back and re-evaluate the P.B.s I have entered.
I was coming in on around 1.50 for nearly all the 100s, it’s nice to be swimming comfortably, but I guess I need to be working harder in the water if I hope to see bigger gains.

Yeah, Id take another look ... unless theres a comment in there about hitting your 100 pb + 3 with loads of rest - which I very much doubt, theres something not quite right.

It'd be more like ... X sets of 100's off 1.45/1.50 with an extra 60 seconds rest between each 5.

zico10

interested wrote: »

Yeah, Id take another look ... unless theres a comment in there about hitting your 100 pb + 3 with loads of rest - which I very much doubt, theres something not quite right.

It'd be more like ... X sets of 100's off 1.45/1.50 with an extra 60 seconds rest between each 5.

I timed myself for 100m and 50m today, and sure enough the Excel sheet does give me some sets off 1.45 some days. I was managing to come in under that time today, but this was swimming off 1.55. I know I'm just not ready for a set of 4 x 100 off 1.45 just yet, let alone five of them. I'd just be knackered every time I finished. Should I just use my own judgement and add on whatever time I think is necessary? Or plough on ignoring the fact that my technique has gone to crap?

interested

zico10 wrote: »

I timed myself for 100m and 50m today, and sure enough the Excel sheet does give me some sets off 1.45 some days. I was managing to come in under that time today, but this was swimming off 1.55. I know I'm just not ready for a set of 4 x 100 off 1.45 just yet, let alone five of them. I'd just be knackered every time I finished. Should I just use my own judgement and add on whatever time I think is necessary? Or plough on ignoring the fact that my technique has gone to crap?

The difference between your p.b for 50/100 and the recommended times for 100 sets etc is the gap you want to close over the x number of weeks you have for prep for the HIM. Swimming on your own is difficult - from memory Id put money on you making 4*100's off 1.45 in a group since you'd an excellent nose for a pair of faster feet.
If you feel like the stroke is going to pot on a set of 4*100's off 1.45 ... try altering the set to
2*100s off 1.45 (do your best to make it) take 30' rest and then do 4*50's off 50

Actually 3 sets of (2*100's off 1.45 and 4*50 off 50') is a nice aerobic set I use in one shape or another myself ... when everything goes / feels like its going wrong its because you don't have the fitness to hold form - back down to the 50's ... still off a challenging time and try to make those whilst keeping form for a 50 at a time.

And this is the reason why someone on the deck above you reading the sets can alter them to help you get the most for your hour / swim session.
Adapt ... imho don't ease back ... or you won't be getting the fitness benefits.


imho, it might be similar principles in running - when form goes on longer runs - it feels alot harder. Take the step back, focus on the good things, the elements of running/swimming/biking that you do initially before fatigue becomes a factor.

Anyhow ... hope this makes sense.

zico10

interested wrote: »

Anyhow ... hope this makes sense.

It'll complicate swim sessions, but it makes sense alright.

Thanks

zico10

Monday 24th September

a.m.

Run; 8 minutes warm up, 1.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 easy, 2.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 easy, 4.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 easy, 4.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 easy, 4.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 easy, 2.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 easy, 1.00 @ interval pace, 1.56 cool down

p.m.

Swim; 3,600m

400m warm up
4 x 100m off 1.55
200m recovery
4 x 100m off 2.05
200m recovery
4 x 100m (25 full stroke, 50m catch up, 25m full stroke) off 2.25
400m swim down

Tuesday 25th September

a.m.

Turbo; 10 minutes warm up, {0.45 hard (big ring x 14) & 0.30 recovery}x 3, {0.45 hard (big ring x 15) & 0.30 recovery}x 3, {0.45 hard (big ring x 17) & 0.30 recovery}x 3, {0.45 hard (big ring x 19) & 0.30 recovery}x 2, {0.45 hard (big ring x 17) & 0.30 recovery}x 2, 4.00 cool down

Run; 10 minutes after turbo, 3.12km in 11.26 (avg. pace .52/km)

p.m.

Swim; 3,200m

400m warm up
6 x 400m off 9.40 (very easy pace, plenty of rest)
400m swim down

Wednesday 26th September

a.m.

Run; Warm up, {380m @ rep pace (avg. .02/km)& 380m recovery} x 8
I was short on time and didn't bother with a cool down. My warm up was pretty short as well and I didn't have time for any drills either.

p.m.

Swim; 2,700m

400m warm up
100m sprint; 1.36
100m easy
50m sprint; 0.45
50m recovery
4 x 100m off 1.55
200m recovery
4 x 100m off 2.05
200m recovery
4 x 100m(25m f/s, 50m catch up, 25m f/s) off 2.40
400m swim down

Thursday 27th September

Swim; 3,500m

200m warm up
1000m steady
800m steady
600m steady
400m steady
200m steady
100m sprint (1.45)
200m cool down

Run; 10.92km
17 minutes easy, 17 minutes @ planned race pace (avg. pace .55/km), 17 minutes easy

Friday 28th September

Cycle; 90.32km
25 minutes warm up, {19.00 HIM effort, 19.00 easy} x 4, cool down
Pace for HIM efforts; 1) 37.3km/hr, 2) 36.1km/hr, 3) 37.6km/hr, 4) 37.3km/hr

Run off the bike; 3.12km in 11.09 (avg. pace .35/km)

Saturday 29th September

Brick(ish);
Turbo; 20 minutes on turbo (very easy) & 2.4km run (also very easy, didn’t bother with times or pace) x 3

Sunday 30th September

Nada

zico10

Monday 1st October

I was still up in Bangkok today and hadn’t expected to get any training done. My train out of there was leaving at 22.50 and I had hoped to go to a cinema in Bangkok before going to the train station. The times of the screenings didn’t suit though and this left me with a few hours to kill. Apart from some hotels I didn’t know the location of any pools though and had to do a Google search to find one. I found out there was a 50m pool in the National Stadium, I knew exactly where this was, so I wasn’t going to have to waste any time walking around asking strangers on the street for directions.
When I got there I was informed the pool would be closing at 8.00p.m. It was around five to seven when I got into the water and to be sure of getting the work in the main sets done I cut the warm up down to 200m from 400m. Same thing happened for my cool down as well.

Swim; 2,800m

200m warm up
4 x 100m (25m full stroke, 50m catch up, 25m full stroke) off 2.20
8 x 50m kick with 20 seconds rest
400m pull

I was hoping this would be a nice comfortable effort after the kick set, but the pull buoy I was using wasn’t very big and my legs were dragging in the water. Stuck a float between my knees after 100m, but it wasn’t comfortable and the next 300m were not enjoyable. I was supposed to be finished and beginning the next set on 10.45, but this did not happen. Finished in 11.something and took a decent rest before beginning the next set of 100s.

8 x 100m off 1.55

I was just about hanging in there for these reps. After 5 I took a minute break before completing the final three reps. Came in ahead of time for numbers 6 and 7, but was a few seconds over time for number 8.

4 x 100m (first 50m hard, second 50m easy) off 2.15

200m swim down

I was a bit disappointed with how the session went. I was annoyed with the fact I had to take the rest during the set of 100s. I had been on my feet most of the day and my legs and feet were cramping up during the session.

Tuesday 2nd October

a.m.

Bike; 31.02km
30 minutes warm up approx., 6 x 650m hill max effort (avg. 1.24), full recovery, 30 minute cycle back

Run; 15 minutes after getting off bike – 6.24km in 23.26 (avg. pace .47km)

p.m.

Swim; 3,250m

400m warm up
1,000m steady
800m steady
600m steady
400m steady
200m steady
50m steady

- I was aiming for 100m, but legs started seizing up and I quit. The pool I’m swimming in is too cold, and apart from riding a scooter at night time it is the end of a swim session is one of the few occasions I shiver in Thailand. I blame this for all the cramps and seizing muscles I get, because it never happens when I’m running and it’s been a long time since it last happened on the bike.
Because of my legs the way they were and the fact I hadn’t been working too hard I decided to skip the cool down.

30 minutes weights (upper & lower body only)

Wednesday 3rd October

a.m.

Turbo; 76 minutes

10.00 warm up - (52 x 24 @ 90rpm)
6.00 hard & fast – (52 x 14 @ 80rpm)
4.00 easy – (52 x 21 @ 80rpm)
6.00 hard & fast – (52 x 14 @ 80rpm)
4.00 easy - (52 x 21 @ 80rpm)
6.00 hard & fast – (52 x 14 @ 80rpm)
4.00 easy - (52 x 21 @ 80rpm)
6.00 hard & fast – (52 x 14 @ 80rpm)
4.00 easy - (52 x 21 @ 80rpm)
6.00 hard & fast – (52 x 14 @ 80rpm)
4.00 easy - (52 x 21 @ 80rpm)
6.00 hard & fast – (52 x 14 @ 80rpm)
10.00 cool down

p.m.

O/W swim; 1,000m

Run; Intervals

8.00 warm up, 15 minutes drills, 10 x 1.04km @ interval pace in 34.26 (avg. pace .19/km) with recovery in between, Cool down 1.04km walking


Thursday 4th October

a.m.

Turbo; 43 minutes
10.00 warm up @ 80rpm
5.00 @ 100rpm
2.00 recovery @ 80rpm
4.00 @ 110rpm
3.00 recovery @ 80rpm
3.00 @ 120rpm
2.00 recovery @ 80rpm
2.00 @ 125rpm
2.00 recovery @ 80rpm
1.00 @ 130+rpm
10.00 cool down

p.m.

Swim; 3,200m
400m warm up
8 x 100 pull of 2.20
10 x 50m kick with 20 seconds rest
6 x 100m off 2.10
4 x 50m off 0.55
I was struggling badly to make it back on 55 seconds, so took a minute rest and gave myself 1 full minute for the final 6 one hundreds in the set.
6 x 50m off 1.00
400m cool down


Tempo Run; 19.12km in 1.24.11

8.00 easy, 16.00 @ tempo pace, 6.00 easy, 20.00 @ tempo pace, 10.00 easy, 16.00 @ tempo pace, 8.11 easy

I had kept a mental note of the number of laps I covered during the hard parts, but I forgot to write them down and now I forget altogether.

Friday 5th October

a.m.

Cycle; 38.55km

Approximately 15 minutes warm up, I spent the next half hour riding on a hilly road getting out of the saddle and working hard to get up any incline that came my way. I did a U-turn after 30 minutes and did the same thing with out of the saddle efforts whilst climbing and recovering on the way down. 15 minutes cool down.

p.m.

Run; 21.84km in 1.28.12 (avg. pace <4.03/km)

Slightly slower than the last time I ran this distance, but it’s not too far off sub 4 minutes per kilometre. And with it being my third consecutive day with a hard run session, the drop off in speed is not something that concerns me greatly. Similar to last time I tried to push it for the last 1km, but just didn’t have the same speed this time and only managed to run it in 3.50.

Saturday 6th October

a.m.

45 minutes weights & core work

2,000m O/W swim

p.m.

Brick; {22 minutes turbo & 0.76km run @ interval pace off 27.00} x 4, {12 minutes turbo @ 0.76km run@ interval pace off 17.00} x 3

I was planning on doing 6 of the first block described above, but my mind went to pot, and instead of finishing the fourth turbo stint on 1.15 I finished on 1.05. I’d forgotten my swatch and was using the stopwatch on my phone and only realised my mistake when I got back on the bike for the fifth time and did the sums. I wasn’t too enthused about adding another 10 minutes onto the fifth turbo and decided to shorten the remaining times on the turbo and do an extra one.

Sunday 7th October

a.m.

Swim; 3,550m
400m warm up
750m TT effort (14.27)
100m easy
400m TT effort (7.36)
100m easy
200m TT effort (3.42)
100m easy
600m steady
400m steady
200m steady
100m steady
200m swim down

It’s been a while since I last timed myself over 750m. It was before I decided to take my swim training a little bit more seriously back on the 9th August. I did it in 15.18 that day, so it was an improvement of 51 seconds. I know I’m capable of better though and still hope to improve further. I swam the 400m and 200m at pace, as I wanted to update my best times in an Excel sheet I’m taking two of my weekly sessions from. I didn’t manage to swim the 200m any quicker than my previous best though, so just left the table as it was for that distance.

p.m.

Turbo; 4 hours 20 minutes

20 minutes warm up, 36 minutes HIM effort, 24 minutes easy, 36 minutes HIM effort, 24 minutes easy, 36 minutes HIM effort, 24 minutes easy, 36 minutes HIM effort, 24 cool down

HIM efforts were done in 52 x 21(I think) @ 85rpm on a resistance level 4 of 7 on the turbo. I’ve no more accurate way of measuring things than this, just did my best to keep the efforts consistent for each of the 4 efforts.
It’s the longest I’ve ever spent on a turbo by quite a bit. I’d much sooner have been out on the road, but because of a 4p.m. start and my reluctance to cycle in the dark over here the turbo was the best option available.

Run (10 minutes after finishing turbo); 6.24km in 23.19 (avg. pace .45/km)

After nearly 4½ hours on the turbo it was good to be out running. I wasn’t going full throttle. I’ll up the distance to for my runs off the bike to 7.28km after my next recovery week, but my runs is where I want it to be. I’ll keep giving it the same time in training as I have been, and hopefully after tapering I’ll be able to run twenty-one sub 4 minute kilometres in Phuket.

interested

seems to be all going nicely champ

" I was annoyed with the fact I had to take the rest during the set of 100s. I had been on my feet most of the day and my legs and feet were cramping up during the session. "

it was a 50m pool and as you say yourself you'd been on the feet all day and were cramping.
Also, if trying 400 and 200 efforts to update the sheet, then the idea is that these are done separately - as in during separate swim sessions. The thinking being that if you do a 400 all out, you'll be in no shape to do a 200 all out minutes later. I'd tend to agree with you though - definitely more in the tank.

Let me guess, these pools are out door ? since it's getting colder here now, talk of warm weather and out door pools are getting more important to remind us that there is some sunshine somewhere

zico10

interested wrote: »

Also, if trying 400 and 200 efforts to update the sheet, then the idea is that these are done separately - as in during separate swim sessions. The thinking being that if you do a 400 all out, you'll be in no shape to do a 200 all out minutes later. I'd tend to agree with you though - definitely more in the tank.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, I'm just hoping I haven't left it too late.
I'll test myself over 200 another day so and see how I go.

interested wrote: »

Let me guess, these pools are out door ? since it's getting colder here now, talk of warm weather and out door pools are getting more important to remind us that there is some sunshine somewhere

They're outdoor alright, thankfully one of the pools I used is covered. Otherwise I need to use sunscreen just to swim. My shoulders don't stand up to well to the Thai sun during a 3,000m session. There are pros and cons to wherever you might live in the world.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

You seem to have very good running pace Z. Where would 4min & 3:30min km pace sit in your range as on paper withouth knowing your easy/steady/hard zones it looks like you are hitting every session hard with very little on recovery or easy sessions.

zico10

Conor Yummy Tailpipe wrote: »

You seem to have very good running pace Z. Where would 4min & 3:30min km pace sit in your range as on paper withouth knowing your easy/steady/hard zones it looks like you are hitting every session hard with very little on recovery or easy sessions.

As you know my training is not all that scientific, so I can't tell you my HR% for what 4.00 or 3.30 pace would be, but just to answer it simply. 3.30 pace for me would be hard, anything below that such as the interval session you can see on Wednesday of last week would be very hard. I never trained specifically for shorter distance events, (5km, 10km maybe not short, but shorter for me personally), so I'm not exactly sure how long I could sustain this pace for.

At 4.00 pace I know I'm working, but I would still call it a comfortable-ish pace. After over a year of warm weather training in Thailand, I'd be very confident of being able to hold this pace for a straight out half marathon in most climates. Climbing off the bike and facing into the distance in Phuket might be a bit trickier, but I'll keep training with this pace in mind.

I'll give you stats from a marathon and half marathon just to give you a better idea. They are three years old now, but I feel after 6 months of consistent training I'm not too far off this level at the minute.
For the half I managed to run it at an average pace of .48/km.
The marathon almost 4 weeks later was ran at an average pace of <4.03.

You're right with your final point, yes most, if not all of my run sessions are hard. If I was training for a marathon I would certainly include some easy recovery runs, but with bike and swim training to juggle as well I don't think I have the time for them.
It's only three full on run sessions a week and it's still comparatively small mileage compared to someone training for a marathon or even an IM. I'd back off if I felt a serious and in-explainable drop off in performance, but so far I don't feel the need for recovery runs. This approach delivered for me in Challenge Copenhagen two years ago, and I see no reason why it won't work again.
If I want a recovery session I'll just do a swim, think the benefits to this are two fold, in that I get in a recovery session and some practice at what is by far my weakest discipline.

zico10

Monday 8th October

a.m.

Turbo; 84 minutes

10.00 warm up
3.00 – 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
1.30 – recovery
1.30 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
0.45 - recovery
1.30 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
0.45 - recovery
0.45 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
0.25 - recovery
0.45 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
5.05 easy
3.00 – 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
1.30 – recovery
1.30 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
0.45 - recovery
1.30 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
0.45 - recovery
0.45 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
0.25 - recovery
0.45 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
10.05 easy
3.00 – 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
1.30 – recovery
1.30 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
0.45 - recovery
1.30 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
0.45 - recovery
0.45 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
0.25 - recovery
0.45 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
5.05 easy
3.00 – 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
1.30 – recovery
1.30 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
0.45 - recovery
1.30 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
0.45 - recovery
0.45 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
0.25 - recovery
0.45 - 80rpm, 52 x 15, resistance 6/7 on turbo
10.05 cool down

p.m.

Tempo Run; 15.60km in 1.06.24

10.00 warm up, 1.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 recovery, 2.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 recovery, 3.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 recovery, 4.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 5.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 6.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 5.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 4.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 3.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 recovery, 2.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 recovery, 1.00 @ interval pace, 5.24 cool down,

Tuesday 9th October

a.m.

Turbo; 2 hours 18 minutes

10.00 warm up
(6.00-52x17 @ 82 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 2.00 easy) x 2
(12.00-52x17 @ 82 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 4.00 easy) x 2
(20.00-52x17 @ 82 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 7.00 easy) x 1
(12.00-52x17 @ 82 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 4.00 easy) x 2
(6.00-52x17 @ 82 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 2.00 easy) x 2
5.00 cool down

Run off the bike(ish); 6.24km in 23.54 (avg. pace .50/km)

The battery in my scooter was dead and because I’ve to ride to the place I run, it caused an unexpected delay between finishing the turbo session and beginning the run. Over 30 minutes had elapsed before I was out running. I started the run at 12.10 and the heat from the midday sun was pretty intense. It was a 6 lap affair and while the times for laps 1 and 2 were within one second of each other, laps 3 and 4 were both over six seconds slower than the first two efforts. I didn’t have a huge lot in reserve, but I found enough to pick up the pace for the final two laps and keep the average per lap below 4 minutes.

p.m.

Swim; 3,300m

400m warm up
4 x 100m (25 f/s, 25 kick, 25 catch up, 25 f/s) off 2.25
2 x 400m off 9.05
6 x 200m off 4.20
6 x 50m off 1.05
200m swim down

30 minutes weights; Upper and lower body

Wednesday 10th October

a.m.

2,000m O/W swim

p.m.

Run; Approx 20km in 1.22.07

I ventured away from my usual 1.04km loop for this week’s longish run. The road I was running on was quiet hilly, so my average speed was a bit down. The run in Phuket is flat, but figure there’s no harm in tackling undulating terrain every now and again.
I’ve grown accustomed to the more than an hour long lap after lap nature of my usual weekly run and it was great to be out on the road just running and appreciating the changing scenery with each step.

Turbo; 30 minutes
Very easy gear, just gently turning the pedals.

Thursday 11th October

a.m.

O/W swim; 1,800m

p.m.

Turbo; 1 hour 30 minutes

4.00 – 90rpm, small ring, resistance 1/7
3.00 - 95rpm, small ring, resistance 1/7
2.00 – 100rpm, small ring, resistance 2/7
6.00 - 90rpm, small ringx21, resistance 4/7
4.00 - 90rpm, small ringx20, resistance 5/7
2.00 - 90rpm, small ringx21, resistance 6/7
5.00 - 90rpm, small ringx21, resistance 3/7
4.00 - 90rpm, small ringx20, resistance 4/7
2.00 - 70rpm, big ringx15, resistance 5/7
6.00 - 90rpm, small ringx21, resistance 6/7
4.00 - 90rpm, small ringx20, resistance 3/7
2.00 - 70rpm, big ringx15, resistance 5/7
6.00 - 90rpm, small ringx21, resistance 7/7
4.00 - 90rpm, small ringx20, resistance 3/7
2.00 - 70rpm, big ringx15, resistance 4/7
6.00 - 90rpm, small ringx21, resistance 5/7
4.00 - 90rpm, small ringx20, resistance 6/7
2.00 - 70rpm, big ringx15, resistance 3/7
6.00 - 90rpm, small ringx21, resistance 5/7
4.00 - 90rpm, small ringx20, resistance 7/7
2.00 - 70rpm, big ringx15, resistance 1/7
5.00 - 90rpm, small ring, resistance 3/7
5.00 – 90 rpm, small ring, resistance 2/7

Run (10 minutes after turbo); 6.24km in 23.39 (avg. pace .48/km)

Friday 12th October

a.m. into p.m.

Turbo; 4 hours 20 minutes
20 minutes warm up, 36 minutes HIM effort, 24 minutes easy, 36 minutes HIM effort, 24 minutes easy, 36 minutes HIM effort, 24 minutes easy, 36 minutes HIM effort, 24 cool down

HIM efforts were done in 52 x 19 @ 80rpm on a resistance level 4 of 7

Run 20 minutes after finishing turbo; 6.24km in 22.52 (avg. pace .40/km)

It as 2p.m. when I started the run and it was bloody. There weren’t any clouds in the sky and the heat from the sun was pretty intense. I felt good at the start though and after finishing my first 1.04km lap in 3.51 I knew that today getting the time under 23 minutes was on. I was pushing hard and was nearly at my limits. There were times I felt like collapsing on the final two laps and was sort of wishing for this as it would have given me a legitimate excuse to stop. I finished the run in 2.52, but at that point I was too exhausted to care about bringing the run home in less than 23 minutes. Straight after finishing I sought out the shade of the nearest tree and sat here for 20 minutes before I felt okay enough to ride my scooter home.

I weighed myself after the run and it showed me to be 68kg. I’m in or around 72kg these days and I can’t honestly remember the last time I saw that my weight was so low, possibly back in secondary school. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I feel strong most of the time, so I’ll just continue doing what I’m doing.

p.m.

30 minutes weights, Upper & Lower body

Saturday 13th October

a.m.

O/W swim 1,900m

p.m.

Run; Intervals 24.58 – 13.88km
Warm up - 1.52km jog & 15 minutes drills, 10 x 760m @ interval pace (avg. pace .18/km) with recovery in between, cool down - 0.76km jog & 0.76km walking
This is only 1 second per kilometre quicker than the pace I ran ten 1.04km loops in last week. I wasn’t aware of this at the time, but I would have expected before the session that I would have been able to run them a few more seconds quicker per kilometre than this.


Sunday 14th October

a.m.

Swim; 3,100m

400m warm up
5 x 100m off 1.55
100m recovery
5 x 100m off 2.05
100m recovery
5 x 100m off 1.55
100m recovery
5 x 100m off 2.15
400m swim down

I was a bit worried I’d struggle with the second set of 100s off 1.55, but happily I hit all the times throughout the session.

p.m.

Turbo; 63 minutes

10.00 warm up, {1.40 – (52x13, resistance 7/7, 66rpm) & 2.20 – (52x24, resistance 3/7, rpm 80rpm)} x 12, 5 cool down
The session was intended to replicate a set of hill intervals.

Run 10 minutes after turbo; 6.24km in 23.47 (avg. pace .50/km)

It’s usually late on a Sunday evening when I get out for this run and I wouldn’t be as gung-ho as other days. I was holding back a little bit, it’s hard to work out the exact pace as a minutes per kilometre ratio in the middle of this run, but I knew from the time it was taking me to complete each 1.04km lap that I was well under 4 minutes per km. I was happy enough with this pace and didn’t feel the need to push things any more than necessary.

zico10

I was unsure starting off the week whether to use this as a recovery week and get in a four day scuba diving trip or leave it till next week. Booking this scuba diving trip was not as easy as I thought it was going to be, but anyway I decided to drop the weights and put the focus on speed during the first few days. If it did turn out to be a recovery week, which it didn’t, at least the volume would have been cut down with this approach.

Monday 15th October

a.m.

O/W swim; 2,000m

p.m.

Brick;

(10 minutes on turbo & 0.76km run off 15.00) x 8

Didn’t make a note of the gearing or rpm, but with speed in my mind I went for high revs in a high gear on the bike. It was a shorter loop than I usually run and attacked this flat out.

Tuesday 15th October

Swim; 2,800m

400m warm up
200m kick & 200m pull
100m hard & 300m easy
200m hard & 200m easy
300m hard & 100m easy
400m hard (7.38)
400m swim down

Run; 14.56km

8.00 warm up, (3.00 @ interval pace & 1.00 recovery) x 3, (6.00 @ interval pace & 2.00 recovery) x 3, (3.00 @ interval pace & 1.00 recovery) x 3, 4.28 cool down

I’m just estimating this off my stopwatch and making a mental note of how long it took me to complete each lap, the sections at interval pace were being done at .40/km.

Wednesday 17th October

a.m.

Turbo; 1 hour 50 minutes

10.00 warm up
4.00 hard – (52 x 13 @ 63rpm, resistance 5/7)
1.30 recovery
4.00 hard – (52 x 14 @ 66rpm, resistance 5/7)
1.30 recovery
8.00 hard – (52 x 15 @ 70rpm, resistance 5/7)
3.00 recovery
8.00 hard & fast – (52 x 17 @ 78rpm, resistance 5/7)
3.00 recovery
16.00 hard & fast – (52 x 19 @ 84rpm, resistance 5/7)
6.00 recovery
8.00 hard & fast – (52 x 17 @ 77rpm, resistance 5/7)
3.00 recovery
8.00 hard – (52 x 15 @ 71rpm, resistance 5/7)
3.00 recovery
4.00 hard – (52 x 14 @ 67rpm, resistance 5/7)
1.30 recovery
4.00 hard – (52 x 13 @ 63rpm, resistance 5/7)
13.30 cool down

p.m.

Swim;

800m O/W

Run;

5km TT

2km warm up, 15 minutes drills & stretching, 5.20km in 18.07 (avg. speed .30/km), cool down - 1km walking & 1km jogging

There was a soccer match in the park I use for my runs and a lot of traffic on the route I usually use. The distance was not measured with a Jones’s counter, so no doubt there is some margin of error, but 5.2km is the best estimate I can make, so I’ll log it as this. Considering where it fell in my training I’m happy with the speed I maintained, but won’t get too carried away as it’s not an accurately measured course.
I’ll do the same distance over the same loop again during my taper and see if any further progress has been made.

Thursday 18th October

Run;

21.84km in 1.27.13 (<4.00/km)

I pushed it out for the final two laps this week which were ran at .49/km and .44/km. I found it harder to hit a comfortable pace today, and if it weren’t for the final two laps the average pace would have been the wrong side of 4 minutes per kilometre.

Friday 19th October

I don’t know how important this information is, but my back 28mm tyre was ripped while out in the bike last week. I have 23mm tyres which I want to save for race day. I’ve ordered a replacement and while I’m waiting I’ve been doing all my biking on my turbo. It was going to be very difficult to gauge today’s efforts on the turbo though and the turbo can be boring as f*ck. So I took to the road for today’s cycle. As regards tyres I was using, I had a 28mm front and 23mm rear.

Cycle; Intervals

{3x200m out of saddle max effort , 2x500m out of saddle 95% effort, 1.5km @ 10km TT effort} x 2

I took 200m recovery after the 200m efforts, and 500m after the 500s. After the first 1.5km effort, I turned around and cycled back, at an easy pace, to the same spot where I began the first set of intervals to start the second set.
Because I was out of the saddle and on the drops for the 200m and 500m efforts, my shadow was obscuring the cycle computer and I wasn’t able to accurately read the average speed for these stints. I was on my tri-bars for the 1.5km stretches though and once hit speed I was cruising at 46km/hr. I’d usually be very happy with such figures, but I had a tailwind both times and don’t want to get too carried away.

Tempo Run;

16.64km in 1.14.42

8.00 warm up, 7.00 hard, 3.00 easy, 7.00 hard, 3.00 easy, 9.00 hard, 5.00 easy, 9.00 hard, 5.00 easy, 7.00 hard, 3.00 easy, 9.00 hard, 1.42 cool down

Saturday 20th October

a.m. into p.m.

Turbo;

4 hours 20 minutes

20 minutes warm up, 40 minutes HIM effort, 20 minutes easy, 40 minutes HIM effort, 20 minutes easy, 40 minutes HIM effort, 20 minutes easy, 40 minutes HIM effort, 20 cool down

HIM efforts were done in 52 x 19 @ 82rpm on a resistance level 4 of 7
Run 20 minutes after finishing turbo; 7.28km in 28.24 (avg. pace .55/km)
It was significantly slower than the pace I ran last week off my long bike, but I’d added an extra 1.04km lap to the run and my HIM efforts on the bike were all lengthened by 4 minutes. For these two reasons and remembering how I felt after finishing last week’s run I wasn’t pushing as hard. Pace was still under 4.00/km and I’m not going to be disappointed when I can hold this.

Sunday 21st October

a.m.

Swim; 4,000m

400m warm up
10 x 200m pull off 5.00
6 x 100m off 2.00

I was aiming for 1.55, but it just wasn’t happening today. Even 2.00 was a struggle.

12 x 50m (alternating kick & f/s, took 10 seconds after each 50)
400m swim down

p.m.

Run;

hill reps 375m (elevation gain of 75m) x 10 (Average of 2.19 per rep)

I did a similar session two weeks into my log, it was tough then and it was still tough today. I used the same road as the last time. I used a lamp post as my finishing point the last time and this time I ran to the next lamp post up the hill, which added about 15m to the interval. Margins of difference are tiny between average speed of session 11 weeks ago and session today.

zico10

I thought I’d saved this week’s training in a Word Document, but couldn’t find it when I went to look for it a week ago. The details are a bit sketchy, but it was a recovery week and I didn’t keep a detailed record of the session anyway. As best as I can remember the week went something like this.


Monday 22nd October

Swim; 3,500m approx.

Run; 40 minutes


Tuesday 23rd October

Swimming; 3,000m approximately

1 hour on turbo; easy pedalling


Wednesday 24th October

It was raining all day. I even like running in the rain in Ireland, but here in Thailand where it’s nearly always warm and humid I love it, so I took advantage of the weather and went for two runs approximately 50 minutes and 1 hour long.


Thursday 25th October

Swimming; 3,500m approximately


Friday 26th October

I spent the day travelling and scuba diving and did no training.


Saturday 27th October

I had a day off from scuba diving holidays and went for a swim in the sea. Where I was is one of the most popular spots for scuba diving and snorkelling in Thailand and visibility was excellent. I swam for 20 minutes out from shore and 20 minutes back at a very easy pace. It was great to be able to see coral and tropical fish swimming below me, it made such a huge change to the rank open water swimming I usually have to endure.


Sunday 28th October

I spent the day out at sea scuba diving and returned to my home town on an overnight boat. Because of these nary a bit of training was done.

zico10

Monday 29th October

Swim; 3,500m

400m warm up
5 x 100m off 1.55
5 x 100m off 2.05
5 x 100m off 2.15
5 x 100m off 2.25
6 x 50m recovery
4 x 100m off 2.25
400m cool down

Run; Intervals

1 x 2.08km @ interval pace (7.28, avg. pace .36/km), 2 x 1.04km @ interval pace (3.33 & 3.35, avg. pace .24/km & .27/km), 1 x2.08km @ interval pace (7.18, avg. pace .31/km), 2 x 1.04km @ interval pace (3.35 & 3.32, avg. pace .27/km & .24/km), 1 x 2.08km @ interval pace (7.14, avg. pace .29/km)

Tuesday 30th October

a.m.

45 minutes weights & core

p.m.

Turbo; 4 hours 30 minutes

20 minutes warm up, 48 minutes HIM effort, 12 minutes easy, 48 minutes HIM effort, 12 minutes easy, 48 minutes HIM effort, 12 minutes easy, 48 minutes HIM effort, 22 cool down

I started off the HIM efforts in 52 x 19 on a resistance level 4 of 7. I held 84rpm for first effort, then 81rpm for 2nd effort. My rpm dropped to 76rpm for the third effort. My calves were cramping and I changed to 52 x 21. My rpm rose to 80, but claves were still sporadically seizing up. I got off the turbo regularly to stretch them out. The fourth effort was also completed in a gear of 52 x 21, and I managed to hold 80 rpm. Calves were still causing me trouble and the session was interrupted several times to stretch them out.
I had planned on doing a run off the bike once I finished the turbo, but because of the trouble me calves were causing me I thought it would be wiser not to.


Wednesday 31st October

Swim; 3,300m

400m warm-up
6 x 50m kick, 15 seconds rest
3 x 100m pull, 20 seconds rest
400m (100 hard, 300 easy)
400m (200 hard, 200 easy)
400m (300 hard, 100 easy)
400m hard
100m recovery
4 x 50m (25m sprint, 25m easy) off 1.10
400m swim down

Run; 15.60km in 1.06.09

8.00 warm up, 2.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 recovery, 2.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 recovery, 3.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 recovery, 5.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 5.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 6.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 5.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 5.00 @ interval pace, 2.00 recovery, 3.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 recovery, 2.00 @ interval pace, 1.00 recovery, 2.00 @ interval pace, 3.09 cool down

Thursday 1st November

Turbo; 2 hours 30 minutes

10.00 warm up
6.00-52x17 @ 83 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 2.00 easy
8.00-52x17 @ 82 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 3.00 easy
12.00-52x17 @ 81 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 4.00 easy
14.00-52x17 @ 80 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 5.00 easy
20.00-52x17 @ 78 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 7.00 easy
14.00-52x17 @ 78 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 5.00 easy
12.00-52x17 @ 76 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 4.00 easy
8.00-52x17 @ 76 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 3.00 easy
6.00-52x17 @ 78 rpm, resistance 5/7 on turbo & 2.00 easy
5.00 cool down

As can be seen from my ever decreasing rpm I didn’t have so much in me today. I was sort of worried about things as after a week off I would have expected to be feeling stronger doing the sessions, but the opposite is the case.

Run off the bike;

7.28km in 29.15 (avg. pace <4.02/km)

Similar to the turbo before it this run was not a boost for my confidence. My legs felt heavy on the first lap of this seven lap run and I completed it in just over 4 minutes. I thought my legs would have loosened out after this and that the remaining laps would be easier. I just couldn’t push hard today though and unfortunately this was not the case. I finished up feeling rather dejected with my average pace over 4.00/km.

45 minutes weights & core work


Friday 2nd November

Swim; 3,600m

400m warm up
4 x 400m off 9.35
4 x 200m off 4.35
4 x 100m off 2.05
400m swim down

Run;

21.84km in 1.26.23 (avg. pace .58/km)

I was worried beginning this run about how it was going to go. My legs were stiff and arms were heavy starting off. It could have been all in my head, as I was happy with the times I completed the first 7 or 8 laps in, and it became less of a problem. I finished with an average pace of less than 4 minutes per kilometre.


Saturday 3rd November

Swim; 4,200m

400m warm up
50m easy
750m TT in 14.29

This was slower than I was expecting, I would love to think I swam an extra 50m, but that would have been a lot faster than I was expecting, so I’ll have to log it as 14.29 until the next time.

4 x 400m untimed
4 x 200m untimed
4 x 100m untimed
200m breast stroke

Turbo; 56 minutes

8.00 warm up
{2.00 @ 90rpm & 2.00 @ 100rpm}x 5
{2.00 @ 92rpm & 2.00 @ 105rpm}x 7

I didn’t worry about the gearing and just went into whatever gear allowed me spin at the revs above.

Run off bike;

7.28km in 26.25 (avg. pace .38/km)

I felt had a point to prove after the debacle that was my run off the bike on Thursday. I felt good starting off and I held a consistent pace throughout. I was very happy with the time I clocked. It helped that the turbo session before the run wasn’t as taxing on the legs as a session I usually do, but it has restored my confidence in my running after suffering through the same distance on Thursday.


Sunday 4th November

Brick;

{24 minutes turbo & 2.16km run off 37.00} x 5

I had someone visit about half way through the third set and took about an hour’s break before I was back on the turbo and able to finish off the set.

Swim;

1,000m O/W

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Things look a little off between Mon & Fri, did you come down with anything? Cramps on the long turbo may have been down to a bug in your system or dehydration I know if i am on the turbo for more than 3 hrs i need to ensure i am getting enough fluids in.

zico10

Conor Yummy Tailpipe wrote: »

Things look a little off between Mon & Fri,

Is this the swim numbers you have in mind when you ask me this?
9.35 gives me a lot of rest alright. I'm taking the sessions from an Excel Sheet and I've no doubt my 400m PB could be improved, but I've just never found the time in any of the sessions over the last few weeks to time myself over the distance.
I'm probably being too blasé about things, but I'm just copying the sessions from the Excel sheet and I'm glad of the easier ones when they arise.

Conor Yummy Tailpipe wrote: »

did you come down with anything? Cramps on the long turbo may have been down to a bug in your system or dehydration I know if i am on the turbo for more than 3 hrs i need to ensure i am getting enough fluids in.

No, I didn't come down with anything. I feel like I haven't been getting enough sleep, you could be right about my fluid intake as well. It's something I'll keep in mind.

catweazle

Where did you go for the scuba diving? I got my Open water license just outside Pattaya

It thought it was grand at the time but I went diving in the Red sea a year or two later and I couldn't believe the difference in visibility sealife and coral

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

zico10 wrote: »

Is this the swim numbers you have in mind when you ask me this?

More to do with your comments on some of the runs and turbo being a struggle, in particular look back at your comments on Thurs/Fri sessions, just another set of eyes looking in:)