I Am the Master of My Fate

Before posting any of my training, I'll just outline my approach to it. I firmly believe more is more, and I think doing big volumes is the best way for me to get ready for races. After IM Mallorca last year, I went to a bar with Fazz and Trinewbie. Predictably enough conversation turned to triathlon and out of the three of us, I discovered that I had put in the longest training hours that year. Later that night, we were joined by a German who finished second in our age group. We also asked him how many hours a week would he usually train for. He was the first person I had met who spent longer training than I did and it immediately became clear to me what I needed to do for my next Ironman. So here I am and my plan is to train even more than I did last year.

This is not something I have rushed into though. A good few years ago I read a race report by Brian Jenkins after he had finished second in Joey Hannon. In his report he commented on how he had increased his training to 30 hours a week. At the time, I wasn't doing much more than 10 and I thought 30 hours was a number I'd never be capable of. But year upon year, without having it as a target, I built up to it and during my peak training last year managed to put in two consecutive weeks of over 30 hours.

This time around I want to have put in a lot more 30 hour weeks by the time September rolls around, than I did last year. I'll try to hit the 30 hour mark often during my base build as well, which is all I'll be doing for the next while. I've entered HOTW and I'd like to give a decent account of myself there. I'll tailor my training for that closer to the race, but for the next few months my plan is to get my body used once more to long swims, runs and bike rides.

When posting my training, I'll stick with the weekly blocks I've posted before. I like to have all the training in just one place. It's much easier for me to look back on and review when I keep it like this. From now until September and hopefully longer is a long time to commit to this, but hopefully I'll keep the blog updated on a weekly basis. Not sure how detailed each update will be, but I'll try post the salient points of each session at the very least.

RJM85 wrote: »

Looking forward to keeping an eye on this. 30 hours a week is incomprehensible to me, but its hard to argue against the fact that you get out what you put in, so long as your body is able to absorb the training.

It used to be to me too. Of course it depends on other factors, but the more hours you train and the closer you get to it, the more manageable it seems.

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I have a feeling this log is going to make the rest of us feel like total wussy, excuse making feckers....

Was on path round the playing fields yesterday, do not know how you ran in that!

Bar ice, I'm prepared to run in most conditions. I'm a fair weather cyclist though.

Dory Dory wrote: »

I assume no specific IM coach this time again? As a teacher, I assume you have the summer off, so getting in 30 hours/week should not be too much of an issue, really. If I am correct in my thinking, then brilliant for you! I'd love to be able to turn my full attention to training to test the potential.

I've July and August off. I won't deny it's great for training, but I don't think it gives an extra motivation to go out for a 6 hour bike ride. The biggest benefit by far is the rest I can get. Going back in September interrupts my sleeping more than my training. All hypothetical, but I'm pretty sure I'd train just as much in most other jobs.

peter kern wrote: »

good stuff
and i see the hated metronome , is being used now and deemed useful .

See I do listen.:)

Tunney, it was non wetsuit and I swam 1.03, but you need to bear in my mind Tim Don swam 45 minutes when considering my time.

tunney wrote: »

Investing 8 hours a week in swimming where do you see it going down to from 63?

Firstly I think you could add 2-3 minutes to that to get a more accurate 3,800m swim time.
September is a long way away, so right now it's hard to make a prediction on my swim time. Pulling numbers from thin air, if it's the same 'favourable' conditions as last year, I'd hope to go under an hour. 8 hours a week might seem like a huge investment for three minutes, but swimming is by far my weakest discipline and right now in the middle of winter is the time I'm going to make the biggest gains in the water. I'll more than likely reduce my time in the water after April, by then I reckon it will be just about maintaining whatever level I have reached.
I know I've improved since last September and I can't tell you by exactly how much more I will improve, but whatever it is, I am certain further improvement will come.

I'll do some 10k races in a few months to see if I'm losing much run speed, and depending on how they go, I'll reassess the time I'm spending swim training.

Monday 12th January
a.m.
Cycle
1 hour turbo, easy spinning
Totals; 1.0hrs – 25km

p.m.
S. & C.
45 minutes lower body

Run
30 minutes on treadmill @ 12km/hr
Totals; 0.5hrs – 6km

Swim
Coached session, 25m pool
400m warm up
5*400m off 7.15 (Coming in on 6.45 approximately)
100 easy
4*100m off 1.45 (1.35 approximately)
I was wrecked by the end of this session. The set of five 400s had me fncked from the start. I went out second for the first set, but was dropped by the lead swimmer straight away and there was no drafting benefit whatsoever after 25m. After this I let the guy who was 3rd jump in front of me and I failed to hold his feet as well. I was demoted again on the third 400, I’m usually faster than the girl who was now ahead of me and I was losing her feet tonight. I had to work much harder than I would have expected to come in on the times I did and I was a bit disappointed with this immediately after the session. A positive to take from it though is that this time 12 months ago I barely would have managed a 400m TT in under 7 minutes, tonight I swam five 400s in a row all well under 7 minutes. Important to remember, it doesn’t get easier, you just go faster.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 2,900m


Tuesday 13th January
a.m.
Swim
NAC , 50m pool
800 warm up, last 100 @ 80% (did the 600 with a pull buoy)
4*100 off 1.55 (getting 5-10 seconds rest)
100 easy pull
4*100 off 1.50 (getting 5-10 seconds rest)
100 easy pull
3*100 off 1.45 (1.38, 1.40, 1.42)
100 easy pull
3*100 off 1.45 (1.38, 1.43, 1,40)
200 easy pull
400 paddles & pull buoy
10*50 off 65 seconds (coming in on 55 seconds)
200 cool down
I did this very same session in a 25m pool before and the times I swam off were 10 seconds faster then. That time I failed to make the last 100 in the first set of 3*100s and two out of the three in the second set. I guess 1.45 in a LC pool is a lot more generous than 1.35 in a SC. All the same, making all the times did surprise me, especially as I didn't feel like I was in the zone today. I felt tired getting into the water and halfway through the 4*100s off 1.55, I thought 'how the fnck?' was I going to manage swimming 100s off 1.45. The NAC has three lap clocks all in sync on the side wall. They’re not always working, but today they were. Breathing bilaterally, I was always able to see one of the clocks on every second breath, and I was always aware if I was behind or ahead of time. This undoubtedly helped to keep me focussed and I worked hard to make the times (especially so on the very last 100, flailing my arms wildly and almost uncontrollably the closer I got to the end. I was banjaxed after each set though, and clock or no clock, I don't think I would have managed a fourth 100 at the pace I was swimming.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 3,900m

p.m.
Run
Long Run; 35.40km in 3.02.07
I ran this along The Royal Canal Way from Clonsilla to a few kilometres beyond Maynooth and back. Starting off, I had between 2-2½ hours in my head as the approximate time I’d run for. I felt fine after one hour running and continued on the path. I meet very few people when I run this route, and the dark combined with the inclement weather, meant there were even fewer people on it tonight. I was enjoying the solitude and kept going until I had almost an hour and a half ran. I had been running against the wind and had held an average pace of 5.01/km up until that. I thought coming back with the wind at my back I’d be quicker without even trying on the home leg. This was the case for about 4km, but things fell apart after that. It became a slog after 2 hours and I was regretting having not turned for home earlier. Kept going and when I eventually finished up I had taken 5 minutes longer to run the return leg, than I had on the way out. My watch showed my average pace on the leg home was 5.14, 13 seconds slower than I had held on the way out. Nearly better off not having a Garmin in situations like this.
Totals; 3.0 hrs – 35.40km


Wednesday 14th January
a.m.
Swim
NAC, 50m pool
400m with fins and snorkel
7*400m pull (alternating w./w.out paddles)
400m as 50 fast & 50 easy (probably not all that fast if truth be told)
200m as 50 backstroke/50 front crawl (w.fins)
I didn’t wear a watch and paid no attention to the clock throughout the session. I’d taken a decision after last night’s run not to do any hard work in the pool this morning and use it as the session as recovery instead. I’d a hard turbo planned for the evening, so I wanted a session minimal kicking. I’d planned pull sets of 400, but started to feel cold as I got towards the end of the 90 minutes, so that’s why I threw in some full stroke at the end.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 3,800m

p.m.
Cycle
Turbo;
10.00 warm up,
20.00 hard (78 rpm) & 10.00 recovery, (dropped a gear) 12.00 hard (74 rpm) & 6.00 recovery, (dropped another gear) 5.00 hard (71 rpm) & 3.00 recovery, 5.00 hard (72 rpm), 9.00 cool down
I lifted this session from Peter’s blog. He hadn’t detailed recovery, so I had to decide on the recoveries myself. They were a bit longer than I strictly needed, but it’s still winter and I didn’t want to be killing myself.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 45km


Thursday 15th January
a.m.
Swim
Coached Session, 25m pool
WU 200;
200m warm up
200m (as 25 kick, 25 easy);
200m (as 12.5 kick, 12.5 sprint, 25 easy);
150m full stroke underwater
200m (as 12.5m kick, 12.5m sprint, 25m easy);
5 x 100m fast (1.40 approximately) with 20 seconds rest, 100m easy,
4 x 100m fast (1.36 approximately) with 20 seconds rest, 100m easy,
3 x 100m fast (1.36 approximately) with 20 seconds rest,
400m easy
5 x 50m fast; (45 seconds approximately)
4 x 25m fast; (20 seconds approximately)
50m backstroke
I was working hard for the fast 100s, but I was happy with the times I managed to hold. I was told by the coach that I’m too tense in the water and I’m not relaxing my arms on my recovery.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 3,200m

p.m.
S & C
30 minutes weights; upper body

Run
Treadmill;
Warm up 10 minutes at 2% gradient
3 Minutes at 14.0km/hr & 4% gradient
Recovery 2 minutes at 0%
5 minutes at 14.0km/hr & 4% gradient
Recovery 2 minutes at 0% gradient
3 minutes at 14.2km/hr & 2% gradient
5 minutes at 14.2km/hr & 3% gradient
5 minutes at 14.2km/hr & 4% gradient
5 minutes at 14.3km/hr & 5% gradient
Recovery 2 minutes at 0% gradient
3 minutes at 14.0km/hr & 2% gradient
2 minutes at 14.0km/hr & 6% gradient
2 minutes at 13.8km/hr & 7% gradient
1 minutes at 13.8km/hr & 8% gradient
COOL DOWN 10 minutes at 0%
I haven’t done this session for years, but as running outdoors wasn’t all that appealing today, I resurrected it today. I forget what speed I used back when I used to do. I had the session recorded with suggested heart rate zones for each interval. I don’t train by heart rate, so I did the intervals off perceived effort. I forget what paces I ran at, but I always remember it being a tough session. I approached it the same way today. It was a tough session once more, made more difficult as it was hard keep my core temperature down with the poxy little fan on the treadmill. I feel the pain is more pronounced when running on treadmill and my arms were tensing up at certain moments, which brought to mind what Peter had said to in the pool earlier about being too tense in the water as well.
Totals; 1.0hr – 12.85km


Friday 16th January
a.m.
Cycle
Turbo, 1 hour easy spinning
Totals; 1.0hrs – 25km

p.m.
Swim
Coached Session – 25m
14*50m off 60 seconds
4 sets of 3*200m off 3.35 (coming in on 3.20-3.25)
25m backstroke (I just did this to get to the shallow end to make it easier to get out of the pool)
This was another tough swim session. I was in a lane with swimmers whose feet I just couldn’t hold. I made the times the coach set us, though I wasn’t getting as much rest as the others in the lane. On an easy day this was much harder than it should have been. It’s made me consider cutting back the hours next week, something I was originally going to do the following week. I’ll see how I get through the weekend before making a call on it.
Totals; 1.0hrs – 3,100m


Saturday 17th January
Cycle
3 hour turbo, moderate effort
I’d normally do a swim on a Saturday morning, but I hadn’t an alarm set, woke up late, and missed the usual 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. window when the NAC is 50m. I postponed it until tomorrow and as it was icy outside hopped on my turbo for a cycle.
Totals; 3.0hrs – 82.5km

Run
17.89km in 1.29.06, 4.58/km
I did this soon after getting off the turbo. I wasn’t trying to mimic a race, it’s just I had arranged to meet a friend at 5 p.m. and consequently running later in the evening wasn’t an option. I ran along by the Royal Canal from Ashtown to a few kilometres beyond Clonsilla. It was an easy effort and I only took my Garmin with me as I wanted to track the distance from my home to the level crossing in Clonsilla for future reference. I’ve ran it many times before, but never made a note of the distance until now.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 17.89km


Sunday 18th January
I went to the NAC to make up for yesterday’s missed swim, but there was a gala taking place when I got there. Members were confined to three lanes of a 25m pool. Three lanes only is ridiculous, but it’s often the case in the NAC. I think the NAC is a fantastic facility, but members get treated poorly in this regard and management don’t seem to care. Anyway I took one look at the pool and saw it was chock-a-block. Going for a swim would have frustrated the hell out of me, so I turned round and walked back out the door.

Cycle
Big gear work on turbo as;
20.00 warm up, {4.00 hardest gear & 4.00 recovery} x 12, 4.00 cool down
After another morning of no swimming, I was back on the turbo. I haven’t been doing much power stuff on the bike recently and figured it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world to start it now. My housemate had done this earlier in the day, so I copied the session. My rpm fell in the later reps, nothing alarming though.
Totals; 2.0hrs – 60km

Run
90 minute run with 8*100m strides
I wanted this to be easy and didn’t want to be distracted by a watch. I ran at an easy pace for about an hour and a half, and did the strides towards the end of the run. I mapped the route on mapmyrun afterwards and got the distance from this.
Totals; 1.5hrs – 16.5km


Weekly Totals;
Swim; 6.5hrs – 16,900m
Bike; 8.5hrs – 237.5km
Run; 7.5hrs – 88.64km
S & C; 1.5hrs


Volumes are slightly down on last week, which is no big deal. It only happened because of one less swim session and not doing a Sunday morning group spin because of icy roads. So what would have been a 3-4 hour spin became a 2 hour session on the turbo. And in truth it was probably no harm to miss the swim after the slight niggle I felt on Thursday morning and how fatigued I felt Friday evening. It was an easy weekend and I feel better for it. I should be able for similar hours next week.

I figured you were there Kurt. A packed pool is what I get for procrastinating, a bad habit I need to work on.