So here's the plan for week 3s training -
Sunday - Time and family permitting I'll do a longer ride (2-3hrs, 40-50miles). This may need to be early AM before kiddies rugby training :-(
Monday - Swim at lunch, 1m approx.
Tuesday - 10k run and union training
Wednesday - Swim at lunch
Thursday - Indoor spin and union training possibly ;-)
Friday - 5k run at lunch
Saturday - Match!
Going to try and float the idea of trying early morning swims on a Monday - a 2 hr session would actually allow myself to run a proper set incorporating rest and recovery rather than plow up and down. Yes its a long pre-pre season until IMW, but any work done now and over the Winter will play the foundation for an easier spring / summer.
Happy days!
Friday 30 September 2016
Training, training, training
So we're into the depths of Autumn and training is going... Well, its going.
Swim session on Monday, spin on Tuesday, Union training Tues Evening, Wed off and then 20m on the bike last night. TBH I was intending to ride for 1 1/2 hrs or 30m, but it was getting late, it was getting cold, and as much as I like riding at night I truly couldn't be arsed.
Pool or gym today depending on meeting times and if I can make it to the pool for the lunch time session.
Union match on Saturday, hopefully a longish ride on Sunday evening (or even Sunday morning before kiddies training).
Training is underway.
My foot hurts.
Huff.
Edit -
And lo, I did swim today. And it was a good swim. 34 laps of the 43.5m pool (yeah, work that into a decent / structured training plan!) and the pace was on point for where I want to be at the moment...
The biggest issue is stopping myself getting bored and a) miscounting lengths b)not being bothered to keep going and c) finding time to so a "long" swim.
Swim session on Monday, spin on Tuesday, Union training Tues Evening, Wed off and then 20m on the bike last night. TBH I was intending to ride for 1 1/2 hrs or 30m, but it was getting late, it was getting cold, and as much as I like riding at night I truly couldn't be arsed.
Pool or gym today depending on meeting times and if I can make it to the pool for the lunch time session.
Union match on Saturday, hopefully a longish ride on Sunday evening (or even Sunday morning before kiddies training).
Training is underway.
My foot hurts.
Huff.
Edit -
And lo, I did swim today. And it was a good swim. 34 laps of the 43.5m pool (yeah, work that into a decent / structured training plan!) and the pace was on point for where I want to be at the moment...
The biggest issue is stopping myself getting bored and a) miscounting lengths b)not being bothered to keep going and c) finding time to so a "long" swim.
Monday 26 September 2016
And so it begins
So just under a week on from the stupid decision to try and justify a mid life crisis (a sports car would have been cheaper...) and I'm starting to get my head around the gigantic training needs that the Ironman requires. The shortlist of aims in the short term seem to be:
1) Cut back on the coffee - Its no good aiming for a lovely and low RHR is I'm spiking it with caffeine every hour, likewise I like the buzz that gels give me, and I'd like them to have some effect come race time
2) Try to stay injury free during the union season - In the last 2 seasons I've broken 2 bones in my hands and further ruined my left knee. Whilst I'm still intending to play all season I think that strapping and pre-re hab are going to be my friends. I'm contemplating ice / cold baths following training but I think that's a little too pro.
3)Try to find time to get out on the bike. Easier said than done, although I have purchased some spangly new lights so I "could" go out in the dark.
4)Cut back the heavy weights sessions. In with body weight workouts and compound lifts (squat / dead / bench etc) to keep the core strong.
Another indoor cycle session this lunchtime ( a 45 min workout from you tube) and again I was sweating like a blind lesbian in a fishmongers. On the plus side it was good getting into the groove, and actually made me miss my bike sessions a little.
For every ying there's a yang - I ate like a ziggy piggy this weekend, so I'm most definitely back on the wagon this week.
1) Cut back on the coffee - Its no good aiming for a lovely and low RHR is I'm spiking it with caffeine every hour, likewise I like the buzz that gels give me, and I'd like them to have some effect come race time
2) Try to stay injury free during the union season - In the last 2 seasons I've broken 2 bones in my hands and further ruined my left knee. Whilst I'm still intending to play all season I think that strapping and pre-re hab are going to be my friends. I'm contemplating ice / cold baths following training but I think that's a little too pro.
3)Try to find time to get out on the bike. Easier said than done, although I have purchased some spangly new lights so I "could" go out in the dark.
4)Cut back the heavy weights sessions. In with body weight workouts and compound lifts (squat / dead / bench etc) to keep the core strong.
Another indoor cycle session this lunchtime ( a 45 min workout from you tube) and again I was sweating like a blind lesbian in a fishmongers. On the plus side it was good getting into the groove, and actually made me miss my bike sessions a little.
For every ying there's a yang - I ate like a ziggy piggy this weekend, so I'm most definitely back on the wagon this week.
Friday 23 September 2016
Reason for the Ironman experience - A journey through science
As a kid I was always chubby. Not obese, not skinny, just a little on the big side - I had boobs, a bit of a belly, bloody large thighs and normally epic hair. Fortunately as I hit Uni I discovered the gym and noticed the Mesomorph inside me was trying to get out.
Fast forward into my mid 30's and thankfully the mesomorph is still here - Shoulders? Thighs? Guns? all big despite my dropping T levels. Excellent for playing rugby, doing sprints in the pool, and generally impressing the girls as I drive my Harley past the school gates (bonus point for anyone who notices that reference). not so good for endurance sports - all this weight has got to be carried up (and down) hills, and all this mass needs more energy to fuel it.
So here is the rub - Can I drop weight (5-10kg), keep my strength (grrrrr!) improve my muscle tone (damn I'm pretty!) and still manage to complete?
What's my body going to look like after 12 months of training (ish...) whilst still trying to play union and live life normally.
Let the (un)scientific experiment commence.
September 23rd - 82kg and counting...
Fast forward into my mid 30's and thankfully the mesomorph is still here - Shoulders? Thighs? Guns? all big despite my dropping T levels. Excellent for playing rugby, doing sprints in the pool, and generally impressing the girls as I drive my Harley past the school gates (bonus point for anyone who notices that reference). not so good for endurance sports - all this weight has got to be carried up (and down) hills, and all this mass needs more energy to fuel it.
So here is the rub - Can I drop weight (5-10kg), keep my strength (grrrrr!) improve my muscle tone (damn I'm pretty!) and still manage to complete?
What's my body going to look like after 12 months of training (ish...) whilst still trying to play union and live life normally.
Let the (un)scientific experiment commence.
September 23rd - 82kg and counting...
Thursday 22 September 2016
WTF have I just done?
Ok, well here it is... Last night I had one of those moments where I stopped and quite literally said WTF have I just done.
Find the date for next year - Done
Research the route (again) - Done
Convince myself that I can swim that far in open water - Done
Convince myself that I can smash the bike leg - Done
Convince myself that my knees will hold together and finish a marathon - Kind of done.
Put details into registration form - Done
Put credit card details in (to pay the not insubstantial race fee) - Done
Click the link which will send me into a world of hurt, despair, pain, suffering, cost (both in financial and relationship with my wife and kids) - Done.
WTF have I just done.
Like clicking on a live Jasmin pop-up I am now in a world of hurt that is entirely my own making.
Then the email comes through - Congratulations you've been registered for Ironman Wales 2017
Bollocks. I need to get in shape.
Its ok, I've got a year.
Shit the bed, I've only got a year!!!
So this is the tale of the tape:
Age - 36, will be 37 come race time (I say race, for the dudes at the pointy end its a race, for me it'll be survival)
Weight - 82kg of fairly lean muscle when not broken from the rugby season
Height - 5ft 10 with no hair care products
Current pace from my (limited) pre, preseason training
Swim - About 28 mins a mile in the local 43.5m pool
Bike - 82 miles in just over 5 hrs (longest ride to date) so that's looking like an average of 16.4 miles per hour.
Run - 1/2 marathon in 1.51 with f-all training and having been at work all day
All gravy then, I'll be looking at a 1hr swim, 7hr bike and sub 4 hr marathon. - 12hrs and a bevy of blonde welsh virgins (yeah, yeah, good luck finding them down chip alley on a Saturday night) will be waiting for me across the finish line.
Holy fuck I'm going to die. There is no chance I can run anywhere close to that pace following a ride, and my body has an inbuilt swimming inhibitor that dislikes any water sports (Schting!) before midday.
Let the most excellent adventure commence.
Indoor cycle this lunchtime, 51 weeks to go,
Ironman Wales you will not kick my arse.
Find the date for next year - Done
Research the route (again) - Done
Convince myself that I can swim that far in open water - Done
Convince myself that I can smash the bike leg - Done
Convince myself that my knees will hold together and finish a marathon - Kind of done.
Put details into registration form - Done
Put credit card details in (to pay the not insubstantial race fee) - Done
Click the link which will send me into a world of hurt, despair, pain, suffering, cost (both in financial and relationship with my wife and kids) - Done.
WTF have I just done.
Like clicking on a live Jasmin pop-up I am now in a world of hurt that is entirely my own making.
Then the email comes through - Congratulations you've been registered for Ironman Wales 2017
Bollocks. I need to get in shape.
Its ok, I've got a year.
Shit the bed, I've only got a year!!!
So this is the tale of the tape:
Age - 36, will be 37 come race time (I say race, for the dudes at the pointy end its a race, for me it'll be survival)
Weight - 82kg of fairly lean muscle when not broken from the rugby season
Height - 5ft 10 with no hair care products
Current pace from my (limited) pre, preseason training
Swim - About 28 mins a mile in the local 43.5m pool
Bike - 82 miles in just over 5 hrs (longest ride to date) so that's looking like an average of 16.4 miles per hour.
Run - 1/2 marathon in 1.51 with f-all training and having been at work all day
All gravy then, I'll be looking at a 1hr swim, 7hr bike and sub 4 hr marathon. - 12hrs and a bevy of blonde welsh virgins (yeah, yeah, good luck finding them down chip alley on a Saturday night) will be waiting for me across the finish line.
Holy fuck I'm going to die. There is no chance I can run anywhere close to that pace following a ride, and my body has an inbuilt swimming inhibitor that dislikes any water sports (Schting!) before midday.
Let the most excellent adventure commence.
Indoor cycle this lunchtime, 51 weeks to go,
Ironman Wales you will not kick my arse.
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