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Go long or die trying

9Crimes

First off, Thanks to everyone that responded to my plea for guidance on a long distance coach. After much research online and in the real world, I have decided to go coachless.
I will have the ear of the various coaches in my club (until they get sick of my stupid questions, at least!) and the more experienced athletes in the club are generally excellent at passing on advice etc. What answers I can't find I hope to find online (maybe from your good selves, maybe elsewhere).

My Background:
A misspent youth playing rugby and golf, followed by a decade of partying in my twenties left me with little or no athletic background before starting triathlon 2 years ago. I have slowly learnt to swim and build up my bike and run fitness peaking with a 5 and a quarter hr Dublin half iron this year.

My aims for the year (in order):
1: Enjoy the journey as much as possible - that's why we do it after all.
2: Finish Ironman Austria.
3: Finish Ironman Austria in 10:59:59 or better.

Current condition:
Ringer for the Michelin man (5ft 10 and 79kg)
After an illness in October/November which kept me out of training for nearly 4 weeks, I managed to get two weeks in late November early December before an accident in work has sidelined me again (bad ligament damage in my ankle). Physio has promised me I will be swimming and cycling before New Years Eve but refuses to commit to a date for running (which is a worry).
Needless to say I am seriously p*#%ed with preparation to date, but it can only get better.

My hopes for this training log:
1: that it motivates me,
2: that it becomes an avenue to vent,
3: that it becomes a permanent record of what happens over the next 6 months and that I can look back and realise how naive pre-ironman 9 crimes was,
4: that anyone that takes the time to read this finds it interesting and engaging.

So with that, let's go long or die trying!

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Comments

bt_ie

Well done 9 crimes been reading your training log for a while. Inspiring stuff. i am due for italy this year with similar background (2.5 yrs Tri with 1 year off injured) so great see you finish. Epic bike time! pity about the run but i will take your advice and bring more natural foods (trying to fit a hang sandwich mite be a push thou!).

9Crimes

Decided I am unhappy with my attempt at an ironman so I am back to right a few wrongs. Plan is IM Copenhagen August 2018 and as per my last attempt, to go sub 11.
For those that followed this log previously you will know I identified a number of factors I would change were I to go again and here (for better or worse) is how I plan to address them:
1. Problems on run with stomach – Plan is to eat more natural foods on the bike reducing the sugar intake until later in the day.
2. No prior marathon experience – I do now (even if I walked a fair bit of it!)
3. Lack of run volume, especially when tired – Plan is to run more while still protecting myself from injury, Prehab has started already (I’m doing 2*s&c classes per week and a yoga class)
4. Poor swim abilities – a hard one to fix as I only learned to swim 3 years ago, but this is already a WIP (swimming 3*times a week at lunch and a club session). Progress has been good to date.
5. No coach – Currently looking for a coach to commence jan ’18. This is a controversial one and always sparks debate but my mind is made up!

Summary July ’17 to date:
Mostly a mix of Beer, whiskey, gin & cake, sometimes all at once.
Managed a decent race in Tralee (although the run fell apart a little) along with a diabolical performance in youghal, and had a few days cycling in the alps to round out the summer.
Back doing a little bit the last 2-3 weeks, but just what I want when I want, no real structure and no real volume.
Plan between now and xmas is to drop a few kg’s (currently 78kg, raced Austria at 70kg), improve swim technique and continue the s&c twice a week, with yoga at least every other week. I will throw in some cycling and running as I see fit (want to be lighter before I do any serious running though).
With that, here is my attempt to go long or die trying V2.0

joey100

I'm going to ask, for no real reason other than to maybe start a bit of chat, but do you think sub 11hrs is too high a goal after a 12hr 18 last year? I've never done one, I've no idea really, it just sounds like a big jump to me. Just wondering about the having a high target like that if things don't go 100% on the day, would an A,B,C target work better so you can adjust to how the day goes or even how the managing the run injury goes in the lead in?

9Crimes

joey100 wrote: »

I'm going to ask, for no real reason other than to maybe start a bit of chat, but do you think sub 11hrs is too high a goal after a 12hr 18 last year? I've never done one, I've no idea really, it just sounds like a big jump to me. Just wondering about the having a high target like that if things don't go 100% on the day, would an A,B,C target work better so you can adjust to how the day goes or even how the managing the run injury goes in the lead in?

I take your point but deep down I know at this point (9months out) if I targeted 11hr 30 from here on and finished in 11hr 15 I wouldn't be happy.
As you mentioned injury etc, this is a moving target and will depend on how the training goes and what sort of state I line up on the start line in but right now I feel like this is a tough but attainable target.

Neady83

Great to see you formulating a plan for 2018 9Crimes. I can't offer you any advice re. the Ironman but +1 to the S&C and yoga classes.

Was listening to a podcast on Fitter Radio this morning and they talked about training for ultra running and doing big milage. They figured that two/three hours of running prior to doing S&C will build endurance and time on the feet without necessarily being as impactful on the body as running for three/four hours.

MojoMaker

Welcome back dude and +1 on the motivation for the new plan - good to see v2.0 up & running.

9Crimes

Neady83 wrote: »

Great to see you formulating a plan for 2018 9Crimes. I can't offer you any advice re. the Ironman but +1 to the S&C and yoga classes.

Was listening to a podcast on Fitter Radio this morning and they talked about training for ultra running and doing big milage. They figured that two/three hours of running prior to doing S&C will build endurance and time on the feet without necessarily being as impactful on the body as running for three/four hours.

That's an interesting one, thanks, I will dig it out and have a listen

9Crimes

Mon 6th: Cycle commute (2*12.5km) 1hr 10min in total.
Started a new job since the last log and am currently cycling 3-4 days a week. Generally keep it easy on the way in and fartlek it red light to red light on the way home, obviously while obeying the traffic laws and trying not to get myself killed while I’m at it!

Tue: Cycle commute (2*12.5km) 1hr 10min
AM: S&C: 30min, focus is on strength and strengthening my right side which is the side I tend to get injured.

Lunch: Swim: 30min 850m – 200m wu, 6*(25m kick, 25m swim), 3*100 off 1:45!!!! 50wd
Did the 100’s after joining a sea swim group in the lane next to me and nearly killed myself trying to hit this. I certainly didn’t leave 5sec between me and the swimmer in front pushing off!!! Happy to have been able to do this though, certainly puts me ahead of where I was this time last year.

PM: Club Turbo session: didn’t keep notes of this but it was steadily increasing intervals and resistance with corresponding rest periods keeping cadence at circa 80rpm.

Wed: S&C 1hr This class focused on core work with plenty of pilates moves.

Thur: Lunch: Swim: 30min 900m – 200wu 6*100 off 2:00, 50 fast, 50wd

PM: Run: 1hr – wu - drills, stretches and 800m.
Main set: 15 laps of 400m track, ran the straights hard, recovered on the bends
Wd – 400m easy, stretches

Fri: Cycle commute (2*12.5km) 1hr 10min
Swim: 1hr, club session and it was all technique

Sat: Turbo: 1hr 30min Watched the rugby on the turbo made the time pass all the quicker. Session was: 10min wu with 5*10sec sprint randomly included, 20min of 1 leg drills, 10*(10s sprint, 50s easy), 5*(1min hard, 3min easy), 5*(90s big gear, 150s easy), 5min wd.

Sun: Fasted Run 90min incl wu & wd. Main set was simply 1hr Z2.

Swim: 2hrs
Run: 2hrs 30min
S&C: 1hr 30min
Turbo: 2hr 30min
Commute: 3hr 30min
Total: 12hrs

Doesn’t feel like I did 12hrs, the commute really adds to the volume without cutting into the free time. It’s closer to junk miles than training though so I may start to exclude it from this log if I decide including it is taking the P!$$.

9Crimes

Mon 13th: S&C Class 1hr – this was focused on core and included a lot of pilates moves

Tue: Cycle commute (2*12.5km) 1hr 10min
Lunch: Swim: 30min, 200wu 7*(25m fist drill, 25m swim), 3*100 off 2:00, 50m wd

PM: Club turbo session: 1hr, 10min wu, 7mins @ (level 1,2,3,4,3,4) 5min wd

Wed: Rest

Thurs: Cycle commute (2*12.5km) 1hr 10min

AM: S&C class: 30min, strength based training

Lunch: Swim: 30 min 200wu, 8*100 off 2:00, 50wd
Was a little tired after the class this morning (and hanging with a cold) but am happy that I was able to complete 8 relatively comfortably (all came in under 1:50).

Fri: Sick (off work) The cold got the best of me, first time I have ever had sinus problems (Fri morning my face felt like it had been hit by a train). Loaded up on drugs and by Friday evening I was buzzing again.
PM: Yoga: 45min, nothing fancy just deep stretching.

Sat: cycle: 100km, 4hr 20min
Felt much better today so headed to Wicklow with a clubmate and met the old man there. Very much a winter social ride, plenty of stops and a long coffee stop in the middle, but it felt great to be out there.

Sun: Run: 1hr 40, fasted, 20min wu (roughly 2k jog and stretching), 67min run mostly z2 with a 1k pickup about 20mins from end, 10min wd stretching, roughly 14k including wu

Swim: 1hr
Run: 1hr 40
S&C: 2hr 15 (incl yoga)
Turbo: 1hr
Commute: 2hr 20min
Cycle: 4hr 20min
Total: 11hr 35min

Missed my Friday night swim which I’m not happy about, swimming has been going well and I want to maintain the momentum. Once again though, I am surprised with the volume considering a rest day (planned) and a sick day (not planned!).

9Crimes

Mon 20th: Cycle commute (2*12.5km) 1hr 10min
PM: S&C class: 1hr, all round work out, the quads were feeling the weekend’s exertions.

Tue: Lunch: Swim: 30min, 5*200m off 4:10
Not overly happy with this, all were in the 3:45-3:50 range, I was hoping to be closer to 3:40-3:45 range. I think the slowdown might be a few days out of the pool and a bit of stiffness/soreness from S&C last night.

PM: Club Turbo: 50mins, 5min wu, 5*(1min left leg only, 1 min right leg only), 2min easy, 5min effort 8/10, 4min easy, 10*(20s sprint, 10s easy),4min easy, 10min effort 8/10, 5min wd.

Wed: yoga: 40mins

Thur: S&C: 30mins

Fri: Nothing

Sat: AM: S&C class: 1hr

PM: Turbo: 35mins, 5min wu 27mins 1 leg drills, 3min wd

Sun: Run: 1hr 40mins, wu & wd circa 35mins incl 1k running, 73mins running all z2 circa 12.5km (fasted)

Run: 1hr 40min
Commute: 1hr 10min
Turbo: 1hr 25min
S&C: 3hr 10min
Swim: 30mins
Total: 7hr 55min

Another week with virtually no swimming after I had been going well. Am hoping for 4-5 sessions next week so hopefully I can get back up to speed quickly.

9Crimes

Mon27th : Lunch swim: 30min, 200m wu and drills

PM: Pilates class: 45mins

Tue: Lunch Swim: 30mins, 200 wu, 4*200 off 4:10
All of these came in 2s either side of 3:40 except the last which I really pushed and came in at 3:35.
PM: Swim: 1hr – 200wu (3:37), drills, drills and more drills, 2*50 off 60, 100m all out – 1:28 and embarrassingly that’s a PB.

Wed: Rest

Thur: S&C: 30min

Fri: Cycle commute (2*12.5km) 1hr 10min

PM: Swim: 1hr - 4*(3*50 desc 1-3), 4*(3*100 desc 1-3 off 2:05, 100 active recovery).
Was hoping to swim better than I did. The 100’s were coming in between 1:40-1:50 but there is no endurance there – I was taking longer and longer rests between sets.

Sat: Run: roughly 1hr 15min as 3k wu (had to go fast as I was running late for start of jingle bells 5k)
5K jingle bells run (21:01). This is a fair reflection of my current shape and fitness. It’s always an enjoyable run and today was no different.
4k wd, ran home very easy and stretched comprehensively as I planned to run on Sunday too.

Sun: Run: 2hr - 20min wu, including circa 1k jog and activation exercises, 1hr20min steady z2 with a little acceleration to z3 for 2mins near the end, 20mins wd.
Run was very slow and I was dropped from my running group (again) but it felt better than previous weeks and it felt amazing to have run twice in 2 days, that happens very rarely.

Run: 3hr 15min
Commute: 1hr 10min
S&C: 1hr 15min
Swim: 3hr
Total: 8hr 40min

9Crimes

Mon: Lunch Swim: 30min - 200wu, 8*100 of 2:05
These all felt comfortable which, when I compare to Fridays session clearly shows I lack endurance. I need to be getting more hr long swims in. The lunch swims are great but I should treat them as a bonus on top of my regular training.

PM: S&C class: 1hr – the usual
Yoga: 20min - felt a few bits tightening up after class so I did a bit of yoga to try keep loose.

Tue: Lunch swim: 30min – 7*100 breathing on weak side only, 50 bilateral breathing
It only dawned on me this morning that I spend a lot of time on S&C trying to even out weaknesses on one side of my body vs. the other and then I spend all my swimming time exacerbating the problem breathing to one side only. So I decided to swap for this session and being able to breath to the other side when needed for sighting etc is an important skill anyway. The first 100 came in at 2:04 but I got steadily faster and the last one was a 1:48. I tried bilateral breathing for 50 and felt very comfortable, this bilateral breathing thing could be the future. I wonder if anyone else has discovered bilateral breathing????

Wed: Cycle commute (2*12.5km) 1hr 10min

Thurs: AM: S&C class: 30min

Lunch: Swim: 45mins – 750m breath on weak side only/bilateral breathing, 8*100 off 2:00
I am going to continue to work on bilateral breathing for the next few weeks in an attempt to become someway proficient at it. At the moment however any “fast” swimming will continue to be breathing on one side only as I am running out of breath when I go hard breathing bilaterally.
All the 100’s came in between 1:43-1:47 and I was happy enough without being ecstatic about it.

Fri: Swim: 1hr – 2,450m - 550wu, 6*50 off 75 desc 1-3, 5*(3*100 off 2:00, 30 sec rest), 100 easy
Very few people at swimming tonight, so there was plenty of focus on technique and I took away a few work-ons, this turned out to be a very productive session.

Sat: Run: 2hr – wu &wd circa 35min stetching and loosening up etc. main run – 85min 15.1km, Z2 with a 6min pickup towards the end of the run into z3. Very comfortable run and I am happy with progress over the last 2-3 weeks.

Sun: Nothing - had a hangover that could kill an elephant, xmas party season has arrived.

Run: 2hr
Commute: 1hr 10min
S&C: 1hr 50min
Swim: 2hr 45min
Total: 7hr 45min

9Crimes

Monday: Nothing

Tuesday: Nothing

Wednesday: Nada – Work has been a little bonkers the last few days.

Thursday: S&C: 45mins - plenty of work on the core thrown in with the usual stuff.
Yoga: 45mins - followed the S&C with some yoga to keep loose.

Turbo: 55mins – 8min wu, 6*(20s hard, 40s easy), 6*(30s hard, 30s easy), 3min easy, 20*(20s hard, 10s easy), 4min easy, 20*(20s hard, 10s easy), 8min wd.
This was an epic session and I was light headed towards the end of both the 20 sets. Housemate had the heating on full blast too and I don’t have a fan which only added to the difficulty.

Friday: Lunch Swim: 30mins – 200wu, 11*50 off 60, 50 wd,
Surprised how well this went considering I hadn’t swam in a week. It was only a half hour but still, I’m in a positive mood writing this so I am happy.

Saturday: Turbo: 30mins – easy ride with a few 15s sprints thrown in.
Used this to sweat some of the beer out from last night in preparation for tonights assault on my liver.

Sunday: Nothing, Xmas has arrived, the goal of the next 2 weeks is to catch up with fam and friends, keep hangovers to a minimum and not put up too much weight. If I get to train a little, so be it.

S&C: 1hr 30min
Turbo: 1hr 25min
Swim: 30min
Total: 3hr 25min

9Crimes

Don't usually post partial weeks but I am bored in work so decided to write up the last few days -

Mon 19th: Lunch Swim: 30min – 200wu, 3*200, 100wd
Just needed to get in and swim. Didn’t do these on a time, just took circa 30s rest in between each and tried to focus on good technique.

PM: Pilates class: 45min – Lots of good core work with not much else!

Tue: Cycle commute (2*12.5km) 1hr 10min
Life has prevented me commuting much by bike the last few weeks but I will be back to it regularly in the new year.

Lunch Swim: 30min – 200wu, 7*100 off 2:00, 50wd
A nice dip, held the pace better on the 100’s than I have been doing, all were comfortably under 1:50

Wed: S&C: 45min, went to the gym to waste some time between finishing work and meeting a friend for dinner.

Thur: Lunch swim: 40min – 200wu, 10*100 off 2:00, 50wd
it’s xmas week so I snuck an extra 10mins at lunch and did a few extra 100’s. I was happy with this session – all were comfortably under 1:47, the few work-ons that my coach gave me 2 weeks ago seem to be helping things (at last).

S&C: 60min – went to the gym again, just gave everything a little workout but working on core mainly.

Treated myself to a new pair of sauconys on the way home from work in the run hub Ashtown, if only xmas shopping for everyone else was as easy!

9Crimes

Fri: nothing – breakup day in work so had a night out

Sat: Cycle: 2hr 11 – easy spin around johnnie foxes etc to clear the hangover from last night antics before I repeat the trick tonight.

Sun: nothing

9Crimes

Mon 25th: traditional xmas morning jog, circa 4.5km (22mins)

Tue: nothing

Wed: nothing

Thur: Run: 48min – easy fasted run before trying out a new spot for breakfast

PM: Turbo: 57min – 5min wu, 5*(7min hardish, 3min easy), 2min wd
Tough tempo session but felt good for it

Fri: Run: 52min - 10km, steady run with 3 efforts of circa 1-1.4km thrown in for the craic
Second time this month I have ran 2 days in a row and with no negative effects. I don’t know if it’s the light training load the last few months or if the s&c is paying off but I am happy with this trend.

Sat: nothing – had a few jars last night and a social engagement today
Sun: Cycle: 1hr 22min – warm up and then 5 repeats up a small slope (circa 2.5km) near my house, nothing too strenuous in truth but it was a nice spin

Run: 2hr 5min
Cycle: 2hr 20min
Total: 4hr 25min

Last week before I start some more structured training and right now I cannot wait to not drink or pig out again for the foreseeable future.
Happy New Year!

9Crimes

Mon 1st: Cycle: 1hr 38min – 40km, down in Kerry for a wedding so I did the Connor Pass this morning, pretty hungover from New years and with a wind warning in effect meant no records were set.

Tue: nothing – travel back from Kerry and post wedding hangover meant I was in no fit state to deal with the world never mind train.

Wed: Lunch Swim: 30min – 800m just swam and tried to get some feeling back after a long time out of the pool.

PM: Run: 40min, 7.4km – 10wu, 25min steady, 5min wd

Thur: gym: 1hr session after work to get the s&c back on track

Swim: 45min – 1700m 200wu, 300 with 30s rest, 200 with 20s rest, 100 with 10s rest, 100 with 10s rest, 100 with 10s rest, 200 with 20s rest, 300 with 30s rest, 200wd.
Endurance session and I enjoyed this, averaged roughly 1:52ish despite the lack of swimming lately.

Fri: rest

Sat: Run 90min – main set was 65mins z2, 11.6km, 5:37 per km. Easy enough run and kept close enough to Z2 for the duration. Need to lose some weight and the speed will increase considerably for no change in HR.

Sun: Club cycle: circa 82km circa 3hrs – was way late for meetup so used spin to meetup spot as warmup and then went hard to catch the guys up the road. Caught them after an hour and sat in for a good while as I was knackered! Enjoyable spin if a little chilly.

Yoga: 30min: Need to keep on top of this now that the training is becoming more structured and load is increasing from now on.

S&C: 1hr 30min
Cycle: 4hr 40min
Run: 2hr 10min
Swim: 1hr 15min
Total: 9hr 35min

First week of training plan from new coach, very easy load so far. I am buzzing to get going and it took a lot of effort to rein it in this week and stick to the plan.

9Crimes

Mon 8th: Swim: 1hr – 1900m, first club session of the year and I think the whole pool was struggling after the xmas indulging!
400wu, 16*50 off 60s, 24*25 off 45s desc 1-3, 100wd
The last 5/6 50’s were hell on earth, I was second out and the guy leading asked me to swap with about 4 to go but I just couldn’t. Fair play to him he got the 16 done and hit the times too. He cramped shortly into the 25’s so I took over then.

Tue: Lunch Swim: 30mins – 5*200 with circa 30s rest between each.
Happy enough with these after last night’s “issues”.

PM: Turbo: 56mins: 10min wu, 4*(8min high z3, 3min recovery), 2min wd
First 2 efforts were way too hard as I was mistakenly looking at average hr and couldn’t understand why it was so low despite me struggling! – a costly mistake which I will not make again.

Wed: Lunch Swim: 25mins: 200wu, 10*50 off 60, 100wd
Wanted to tackle the 50’s off 60 again, although I only had time to do 10.

PM: Run: 45min – 8.44km: 10min wu/build, 30min z3, 5min wd
I did the warmup and warmdown on a 400m track but hit the road for the main session. I am very slow at the moment and am hoping for a quick improvement coming from such a low base. It was a beautiful foggy night to be out.

Thurs: Swim: 45mins – 1800m: 300wu, 400m 6/10 20s recovery, 3*(100 7/10 with 30s recovery), 200m 6/10 20s recovery, 4*(50 7/10 with 20s recovery), 100m, 4*(25 7/10 with 10s recovery), 100wd.
I was tired at the end of this and my average slowed from 1:50 per 100m for the first half to 1:54 per 100m by the end – I have zero endurance at the moment!

PM: S&C Class: 60min - I am trying out a new class just to change things up a bit. It was a lot of conditioning tonight and not so much strength work. I would prefer it the other way around. I will give it another week or 2 but I may be returning to my old class if the emphasis on conditioning is an ongoing focus of this class.

Fri: S&C: 90mins: This was supposed to be a rest day but I had to hang around after work tonight to collect someone from the airport at 9pm so I went to the gym and did some strength work to make up for last night’s conditioning class. I then did a 45min yoga session. I am noticing that I am recovering quicker from runs which I am putting down to the emphasis I have put on s&c the last 2 months (xmas excluded!).

Sat: Cycle: 3hr: Battery on watch died so I don’t have the distance but I think it was circa 75k with 2 climbs and a few lumps. I have a rule on the bike – don’t fall off unless there is a big crowd of people to see you fall and embarrass yourself and today was no different – 200m from home I took a left, hit an oil slick and went over in front of circa 30-35 people. My hip and handlebars took the impact but the worst part was the severe embarrassment.

Sun: Run: 1hr 30 – wu and warm down circa 20mins, main was 73mins all zone 2 (12.7km). The hip was a little stiff from yesterday’s fall but I had a few beers last night that definitely impacted this run and I am not happy about it. I need to cop on.

S&C: 2hr 30min
Swim: 2hr 40min
Cycle: 3hr 56min
Run: 2hr 15min
Total: 11hr 21min

9Crimes

Mon 15th: Swim: 1hr – 2,350m, 20*25 off 45s desc 1-4, 16*100 off 2:00, 50 easy, 6*50 off 1:00
Led the 25s and half the 100’s before having to surrender lead out duties as I was in bits. Managed to hang on to the end once I started getting a draft. This was a good indicator of the work required to get swim fit but I am happy with the session.

Tue: Nothing, Plan has a turbo, work was mental and I ran out of hours in the day. I am using this as my rest day this week and will do the turbo fri instead.

Wed: Lunch Swim: 200wu, 10*100 off 2:00
Brought all the 100’s in under 1:50, and managed to get under 1:45 for the last. Dare I dream? Is it time to start swimming the shorter sets of 100’s off 1:55????

PM: Run: 40mins 7.5k – circa 8min wu, circa 27min z3, 5min wd
Same run as last week except I had to cut it short to get to the post office before it closed. It was a little faster for what felt like the same effort so I am calling that an improvement. I shortened my stride last year when training for my first ironman and I think I may have taken it to the extreme so I am going to focus on lengthening it slightly (but not too much) in the coming weeks.

Thur AM: Swim: 45mins 1800m – 400wu ( 200 easy, 100kick, 100 hard), 3* (200swim,20s rest, 200pull,20s rest, 50kick, 20s rest), 50 easy.
This was a set from my (new) coach and one I would never have done on my own. I haven’t used the paddles in ages and it was good to get a feel for them again.

PM: S&C: 1hr: My new class and again it was a little too heavy on conditioning and light on strength but it was an improvement on last week. It’s a bit of craic too training with clubmates which I do less and less of these days due to Ironman focus.

Fri: Lunch Swim: 20mins - 7* 100m, breath on weak side only, circa 20-30s rest between each.
Happy to see these come in under 1:55 as I feel very awkward when doing them.

PM: Turbo: 1hr – 15min wu, 4*(7min high z3/low z4, 3min wd), 5min wd.
This was a savage session, the heat in the front room was unreal.

Sat: Run: 1hr – Supposed to do 80mins easy but tweaked my calf. I’m disgusted, I was sure I was in a good place – managing the load and having done a lot of s&c, but it doesn’t appear to have helped a jot.

S&C: 1hr: 45mins of yoga with the calf in a calf guard and circa 15mins of core work.

Sun: Turbo: 1hr 45min: Combination of damaging my road bike last week and the weather this weekend had me on the turbo for a slow spin, wore a calf guard and had no adverse reaction.

Cycle: 2hr 45
Swim: 2hr 35
Run: 1hr 40
S&C: 2hr
Total: 9hr

I’m not sure where to go now with my calves, I’m off running for the week at least and after that I can only hope that continued massage, s&c, and workload managing will work. I’m also going to drop some weight this week and go back to my run shop and ask them to take another look at my gait to make sure I’m in the right shoes. I was hoping to get to about 2hrs on my long runs before starting to wear the calf guards but I might just accept defeat and wear them from now on.
Any other suggestions on how to overcome this persistent issue are more than welcome.

MojoMaker

Are you tracking the calf issues? If so, are you seeing any correlation between incidents and weeks when your bike mileage is raised (or consistent)?

What I was finding personally was calf issues linked directly to aggravations further up the body - glutes, pelvic area, adductors, and tightness in the lower back and the small of the back created some forces that manifested as problems lower down the legs - right calf in particular.

Additionally, and you may have this covered, I was using fairly flat shoes (NB 1500s) for all my running - love the shoe - but my body can't take training mileage in a shoe without more support I now know. Swapped out for something more sturdy and calf issues have noticeably retreated (was getting 5-6 per year, costing months and months of running time).

Haven't had a flare up since the shoe swap actually, but also dialled back bike mileage a bit too.

9Crimes

Haven't noticed a correlation but I will make note of conditions leading to this incident and keep for future reference, thanks.

9Crimes

Mon: 22nd: Cycle commute 2*12.5km circa 1hr 20min

PM: Swim: 1hr: 2,700m – 10*50 off 60 no’s 3,6&9 fast, 12*100 off 2:00, 5*200 off 4:00.
I’m pretty sure this is a record for distance from my Mon night coached swims and it felt it! I led out for the 50’s and 100’s and then swapped with someone else. I fatigued as the hour went on and by then end I wasn’t gasping for breath but my body was shattered.

Tue: Lunch Swim: 25min – 850m, 200wu, 12*50 off 75s desc 1-3, 50wd

PM: Turbo: 1hr: 20min wu with random sprints for 10s, 30min hard, 10min wd

Wed: Lunch Swim: 25min – 850m, 200wu, 6*100 off 2:10 desc 1-3, 50wd
Both the fast 100’s came in under 1:40 which I am happy about, but the effort needed to get from 1:45ish to 1:40ish is unreal. Think this was talked about in someone’s training log before (joey100 maybe?) and it underlines the importance of knowing what pace you can sustain in a race.

PM: Yoga: 15min: core
Turbo: 55min: 10min wu, 40min z2 aerobic, 5min wd
Instead of my weekly run – not ready to run on the calf yet.

Thur: AM: Swim: 45min – 1600, 200wu, 6*200 with 30s rest, 200wd
I’m definitely slower in the morning & endurance remains an issue.

Fri: S&C: 1hr – all core and upper body work as I am off to physio after work to have the calf looked at.

Sat: Cycle: 2hr 30min – Headed for Wicklow but it was a crap day. I was in dark gear and without lights and it got so misty I abandoned my plan and just did a few hill repeats from stocking lane up to the lookout where it was a bit brighter.

S&C: 20mins – just some core work and a little stretching

Sun: S&C: 1hr – 30min yoga, 30min core work.

Turbo: 1hr – 10min wu, 45mins easy with 9*20s flat out, 5min wd.
No major problems with the calf but physio suggested taking the week off to give it plenty of time to recover – no point in forcing it in January so I took her advice and swapped in a turbo instead of my scheduled long run.

S&C: 2hr 35
Swim: 2hr 40
Cycle: 6hr 45
Total: 12hr

joey100

Think that was in Kurt's log, where he said about the effort required to swim flat out and how the time compared to a more steady effort, small time difference compared to bigger difference in effort. Definitely worth doing the flat out ones, soon that will be your steady pace anyway so may as well get used to it!

peter kern

just based on a very short look training seems to be sub optimal
( and again thats also a very sub smart statement as i did onlly look at a few weeks)
but i see that the intenisties and your training distrbution are what i do not like to see.
i guess you see your S&C approach is not doing much good so i would suggest try to built more easy fitness and get going slowly
swim more bike more and break the runs into many short runs and much less faster stuff until you have more base.

the other thing there is so many buzz words you use s& C calf guards gait analyses but i guess you dont realy understand how it works. so maybe it would make sense to study that a bit more what you are doing.
you are obiously falling a lot for the marketng hype. ( and now i shut up its just my 2 cents iam sure i sound like and total d.ck but if that was the case i would not have wasted my time , but feel free to totally ignore it )

9Crimes

Thanks PK, I take your point on training and you may be right - S&C may not be working (I haven't had any ITB issues in a while, but that could be coincidence.)

Disagree strongly about falling for marketing hype though and the use of buzzwords.
S&C is an acronym nearly everyone uses (& understands) & covers a multitude & alot of people focus on it in winter, as I have. I could call it Pilates, Yoga, Circuit training, Core work, Stretching & Flexibility, but that's a mouthful.
Using Calf Guards last year reduced the regularity of calf problems for me, so despite not liking them I may just have to suck it up.
As regards Double checking my shoe suits my gait, is there any runner out there that doesn't buy a shoe to suit their gait?

Thanks for reaching out, but I don't buy into your theory on my use of buzzwords. I believe my current injury is scalable and while my training may not be best practice or bleeding edge, I will continue to leverage the knowledge of those around me to improve. Should injury hit again I will drill-down further to ascertain the root cause and take away learnings and not boil the ocean.
(That's using buzzwords!)

peter kern

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/choosing-the-right-running-shoes/

we could find the same aobut all the other buzz words you are using they is very little proof that this stuff works or makes a differnce.
so when people get everything of that stuff ther is a good chance that they focus to much on the fluff and not enough on the meat.
its very easy those days to get too distracted in the sport of triathlon.
every 5 min something new comes out that promoses x y z.
while there is a good chance that your underlining problem likely is is that you progresed from beginner to ironman too quickly and just thavent dont the base miles.

which probably is the biggest problem in the sport that people do to much too early and too fast.

cheers

btw any of those buzz words can work for somebody , I do not say that they dont but what i say the importance of those marketing words and products is totally overrated and one needs to have a good foundation to make use of it .

9Crimes

Let's agree to disagree on that

peter kern wrote: »

while there is a good chance that your underlining problem likely is is that you progresed from beginner to ironman too quickly and just thavent dont the base miles.

which probably is the biggest problem in the sport that people do to much too early and too fast.

This is the crux of my problem really, but the heart wants what the heart wants, I'm hear now so I have to do as best I can.

9Crimes

Mon PM: Swim: 1hr: 20*25m off 45s every 4th fast, 4*200 off 4:20, 2* (3*100 off 1:55 desc 1-3), 50 easy, 6*25 off 45s every 2nd fast.
A good session, a lot less volume than last week so I found it easier but I am happy with progress on swimming to date.

Tue: Lunch swim: 30mins – 200wu, 2* 400 with circa 60s rest between each, 50wd.
I feel like I’m in the midst of a mini breakthrough, 100’s off 1:55 last night followed by 2 steady 400’s under 7:20 (7:18 & 7:07) today. They are numbers I have not seen before, now I just need to shave another 60s off that and I will be sorted!!!

PM: Turbo: 1hr 4min: 15min wu, 4*(8min z3, 3min z1), 5min wd
Good session, I felt more comfortable doing the efforts than I have previously.
S&C: 20mins – some yoga targeting lower back.

Wed: Lunch Swim: 20mins: 200wu, 5*100 off 1:55, 50wd
This was rushed from start to finish due to a shortened lunch but I did what I could.

Wed PM: Turbo: 53min: 5min wu, 45min as 20s surge, 2:40 easy, 3min wd
Yoga: 10min core.

Thur AM: Swim: 50mins 1.9km – 300 wu building to 7/10, 100 with 40s rest, 200 with 30s rest, 300 with 20s rest, 400 with 10s rest, 500, 100wd
Good session and I kept the pace largely even throughout which I am happy about.

PM: S&C class: 1hr 15min: tri club class with circa 15min stretching at the end.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Cycle 2hr 50min: circa 80km – mainly flat spin, might have slightly underfuelled but got away with it.

S&C: 20min – stretching and core work

Sunday: Run: 30min – just a light jog to test the calf, no adverse reaction

S&C: 45min – yoga session

Swim: 2hr 40
Cycle: 4hr 47
Run: 30
S&C: 2hr 50
Total: 10hr 47

9Crimes

Mon 5th: Nothing. Something’s up with my wisdom tooth.

Tue: Massive toothache, trip to dentist and some awesome painkillers.

Turbo 1hr 4min: must have been groggy from the painkillers but I stupidly decided this was a good idea – 10m wu, 4*(10min medium, 3min easy) 5min wd

Wed: still in bits but the painkillers are deadly when they kick in. I’m afraid to go running as the impact through the body will be too much.

Turbo: 10min wu, 30min low cadence z3, 5min wd – its all I can manage

Thur: I’m coming around, weaning myself of the deadly painkillers slowly

AM: Swim: 50min – 2km, 300wu, 300 moderate, 30s rest 250m mod, 30s rest, 150 mod, 20s rest, 100 mod, 10s rest, 150m mod 20s rest, 250m mod 30s rest, 300 mod, 200wd
Very slow which I’m putting down to a week out of the pool and my current ailments.

PM: 45min – yoga

PM: S&C: 1hr: start off easy but build into it and feel fine. The last 4hrs have seen a dramatic improvement.

Fri: rest – VO2 testing tomorrow and I want to make sure I am fully rested and recovered for it.

Sat: AM - VO2 test

PM: Yoga: 45mins – spent most of the day hunched over in an attic installing insulation so I needed this to stretch out a bit.

Sun: Run: 2hrs incl wu and wd. Run was 75mins, averaged 5min/km which was too fast but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Plenty of stretching as I am in bits from the manual labour yesterday which is a rarity for me!!!!!!

Swim: 50min
Cycle: 2hr 20 (incl VO2 test)
Run: 1hr 15
S&C: 3hr 15
Total: 7hr 40

Feels like a little light but given the toothache and VO2 test it will have to do.

Neady83

Awh shoot, sorry to hear about your wisdom tooth troubles. I went through the horrors with them last year so I feel your pain. If you can learn anything from me, it's to not train when you're taking those painkillers. I messed up my back training while on them last August and it set me way back.