Last Big Week

7 big days of training to go. The body is definitely getting tired and ready for a rest. Next Monday and Tuesday will be complete rest days and I’m actually looking forward to them.

Over the weekend, I had a fantastic long ride and run. I did my long ride on Saturday, using the National 

Road Race Championship course at Buninyong for the majority of the 100kms. I intended to do 120kms but started a bit late and ran out of time. However, this was irrelevant as I pushed particular hard on the undulating terrain and tested myself significantly up the King of the Mountain climb on several occasions. I followed this with a 20 minute run off the bike.

On Sunday, I did my long run at Albert Park because it is a gravel track, so it’s slightly softer than an asphalt surface and that little bit easier on my joints. It also has drink fountains in several spots. I wanted to do a session at race pace for 20kms and I did it wearing exactly what I will be wearing on race day. However, I didn’t do 20kms straight as this would add that little extra stress to my body. For this reason, I broke it into 4 sets of 5kms and took 2 – 3 minutes rest between each set to ensure that I could do the exact same pace for each of the 4 sets while maintaining technique. I could also have a drink of water and take an energy gel during these breaks.

The run couldn’t have gone any better! I decided that my first set of 5kms would be the bench mark for the next 3 laps. Whatever pace I was able to hold during the first set, I would be aiming to match that 3 more times. My first 5kms was completed in 18:45 minutes, making it 3:45mins/km. Initially, I thought this was going to be very hard to match, particularly, during my third and fourth sets but I had to get through my second set first.

I was using my Garmin GPS watch to track my pace and exact distance to ensure, if my legs were willing, that I was as close to the desired pace as possible. Well, I couldn’t believe how good my legs felt during the second set as I stuck to the 3:45min/km pace. This was repeated in the third set with only one out of the 5km falling back to a 3:50min/km pace before I picked it back up. On my final 5km effort, my legs were definitely fatiguing but I was able to maintain an average of 3:50min/km pace by being highly focussed on my technique and breathing. Today, I am very sore but there will be no running today.

This brings me to the week ahead. I have 9 sessions to complete over the next 7 days and this is exactly what I will be doing:-

Ø  Monday (today) – Swim 4km

o   Warm up 1km with a mix of freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke.

o   Main set will be 7 x 400m freestyle using the leg buoy and hand paddles swimming just below race pace effort.

o   Cool down 200m with backstroke and breaststroke.

Ø  Tuesday – Brick session (indoors using bike trainer and treadmill)

o   Warm-up 10min spin, 5min jog.

o   3 x 30mins ride in a large gear above race pace effort/10min run just above race pace effort.

Ø  Wednesday – Swim 4km

o   Warm up 800m with mix of freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke.

o   30 x 100m freestyle at race pace with 10 – 20 seconds in between.

o   Cool down 200m with backstroke and breaststroke.

Ø  Wednesday – Core workout

o   Swiss ball crunches very slow and controlled.

o   Reverse Crunches very slow and controlled.

o   Plank with alternating 5 second arm and leg raises.

o   **Perform 3 or 4 sets to exhaustion on each.

Ø  Thursday – Treadmill Interval Run session

o   10 minute warm up jog.

o   10 minutes of drills and dynamic stretching.

o   5 x 2km @ 20km/h with 500m @ 12km/h in between.

o   Cool down 5 minute walk and stretches.

Ø  Thursday – Ride session on indoor trainer

o   Warm up 10 minutes.

o   30 minutes single-leg work – 1min left leg/1min right leg/1min both legs x 10.

o   60 minutes medium gear at 90 – 100 RPM.

o   Cool down 5 minutes easy spinning.

Ø  Friday – Swim 4km

o   Warm up 800m with mix of freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke.

o   30 x 100m – 50m fast off a deep water start/50m cruise back. 30 seconds rest in between.

o   Cool down 200m with backstroke and breaststroke.

Ø  Saturday – Long Ride 130kms

o   Perform the same ride I did the previous Saturday out to Gisborne. Return part way to bottom of the climb and back to Gisborne before coming all the way home. Aim to be done in 4 hours

o   Run 20 minutes off the bike as soon as I get home.

Ø  Sunday – Long Run 20kms

o   Exactly as I explained earlier with 4 sets of 5kms @ race pace.

After all of this, the rest days will be absolute gold!

The Journey So Far

It has been a huge learning curve for me over the past 5 months as I have trained for the race in Shepparton. It started after I returned from an amazing European holiday which began just 4 weeks after I completed the Melbourne Ironman. This meant I started my build off the back of a two month break. I was certainly a long way from the fitness I had a few months earlier but I think that was a blessing in a way. It has allowed me to do a proper preparation for a specific event and let me learn how to build a program for such a long period of time.

I wrote my program for the entire 6 months in advance. This contained the work that I wanted to achieve and what I thought would get me where I wanted to be at the end of it. However, I exercised flexibility within this as I knew things can easily change as I progress or I may have set backs. I made changes along the way as I discovered areas that were lacking and how I felt I should address them.

One of the most significant changes I made was in my swimming. After about 3 months of doing the same old things and thinking I just had to get stronger doing long efforts, it was obvious I wasn’t getting the improvement I needed. So, I got some advice and started scheduling sessions that didn’t exceed 3km in total. I was now devoting one session to strength using paddles for most of the work, one session to race pace using a series of 100 metre efforts and one session for higher speed training with a series of 50 metre efforts. This saw, almost, immediate results. I became stronger in my technique, I was sitting higher in the water, my arm turnover had become faster and my kick was now providing much greater effectiveness. I continued with these sessions until this week where I have now added an extra kilometre to each session by performing extra intervals during each workout. For example, during my Wednesday swim, I performed 30 x 100 metres instead of 20. I even did the first 10 with less rest than previous while maintaining my desired splits in the low 1:30s/100m.

Another major change I have made to my training has been my mental approach. I have developed my psychological strength during training but, also, away from training which has been reflected in my diet and my ability to make more use of my time in order to fit in my training.

The benefits I have seen with my added mental strength have been incredible. In the past, I have never pushed myself properly in the pool but things didn’t start improving until I really tested my body. The process of setting a target for any single session and sticking to it, making sure I kept at it when my arms were about to fall off, has all come from psychological improvements. I now have a better indication of how much further I can take it.

My mental ability to focus on the goals of any particular session and ensure correct form is used throughout has pleased me greatly. This has been put to great effect in bike sessions performed on my indoor trainer, where I have focussed on single-leg work, pedal stroke balance and tough sessions using a big gear. Also, my running has benefited by ensuring consistency in both long runs and hard interval workouts, particularly, on the treadmill while doing very high speed efforts. If I was to lose focus on the treadmill I would fall off.

My mind was tested a lot during the first 3 months as I was finding it difficult to gain fitness as quickly as expected and I was experiencing issues with my hips, knees and ankles mainly when running. It seemed, after being far less active for those two months and spending a lot of time sitting on a bus or plane in transit, my body needed extra time to sort itself out upon returning to training. This meant having many frustrating run sessions, initially, until I figured out what my body could manage while getting in adequate mileage. After 3 months, my knees, ankles and hips were feeling much better and accustomed to more strenuous work. 

Weight training to strengthen all of these areas played a big role in this process but if I didn’t maintain a firm focus on the overall picture and the end goal, I wouldn’t be in such a good position right now.

I got my body strong and settled after the first 3 months and then started to put in some bigger, more specific work across all disciplines. I swam more freestyle with real purpose instead of doing easier breaststroke and backstroke laps of the pool. I did some big gear and hard hill work on the bike and began honing a solid race pace and technique on the run. My volume increased across the board and I designated 3 specific sessions to each discipline that needed to be completed each week. Getting 3 specific sessions done on each discipline now provides me with enough mileage and race preparation work. I then through in one or two strength/weights/core sessions around them and some short, light bike or run sessions, if possible.

I have found the routine which works for me and it feels amazing. Knowing what I am doing each day and feeling appropriately fresh from having the right amount of time between key sessions is allowing me to get into the best condition of my life. 

Last Big Push

There’s just under two weeks of hard work remaining before I taper off into Shepparton. Just 4 weeks until race day and I can’t think of much else right now. It’s constantly on my mind but that’s one of my biggest strengths in order to get the hard work done. I am so determined which helps to ensure I do all that I can to make a statement in Shepparton. I mentioned my goals in my post on August 7 - http://ironmanlincoln.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/my-goals-and-program.html - and, although I can’t guarantee what races I will do after Shepparton, I can definitely say I will be greatly disappointed if I don’t go under 4 hours 30 minutes in this race and hit my desired splits too.

I feel better in all aspects of my ability than I ever have. I swim, ride and run faster and stronger than at any time since taking up the sport and I am the lightest I have been in 9 years. From 2004 – 2007, I put on 10kg of muscle by doing strength training in the gym 5 or 6 times per week for 3 years. When I took up triathlon, I didn’t think about losing weight to improve performance because I didn’t know it would help. At my heaviest, I was a solid 80kg after being about 70kg at the beginning of 2004. I am currently hovering in the 73-74kg range with the hope of being between 72 and 73kg come race day but, providing I don’t gain weight between now and then, it is not a priority in these final weeks.

I dream about becoming a professional athlete. It used to be a dream about playing hockey for Australia but things didn’t pan out that way. In the past couple of years I have grown a dream in my head about turning professional in my current sporting pursuit. Sometimes it seems a bit too far-fetched and other times it seems like I might just be good enough one day. This race in itself will be a big factor in seeing how close I really am to achieving that. Based on last year’s results, I am not even close. Ideally, I will finish this year closer to 4 hours flat, instead of 4 hours 30 minutes. That would indicate for sure that this dream is within reach but it is going to take something special to achieve that. If I have a flat tyre or my stomach plays up on race day it will mean trying to achieve a fast time in another race, later on. Fingers crossed for no mishaps.

Over the weekend, just passed, I saw some great signs of my increasing fitness. On Friday, I had a great swim which consisted of my 20 x 50m fast efforts. However, I altered this to perform 20 x 100m with the first 50m performed fast off a deep water start, then, cruise back the next 50m at just below race pace, concentrating on technique. This was to simulate making a fast start to the race before settling into a more sustainable pace. I felt strong, powerful and consistent.

On Saturday, I did my long ride in good conditions. I used my normal route from home to Gisborne, which is 50km. I filled my drink bottles, then, rode back 15km to the bottom of the climb that I had just been up on the way there. I turned around and went back up the climb and back to Gisborne. The climb is about 4km long with between 5 – 9% gradient which means, for some of it, I can stay on my aero bars and build strength in that position. I filled my bottles again at Gisborne and returned home with a good tail wind. I covered 130kms at a higher average pace than I ever have in a long training ride. At this time last year I wasn’t doing this distance in the weeks before the race and I definitely wasn’t putting out this kind of pace and power on those roads. I feel in the right kind of form to smash my bike PB at Shepparton. I followed my ride with a short run until I felt like I had found my running legs at race pace. It took about 2 – 3km to feel good and then I jogged back home making it about 20 minutes in total.

On Sunday, I did my long run in really tough conditions. It was pushing 30 degrees celsius and the warm, very dry northerly wind kept building its speed. I did a 3km warm-up, including drills and dynamic stretching, to a spot where I placed two 750ml bottles with a half strength electrolyte mix. I then did 4 x 4km race pace efforts with a 2 minute rest in between. The aim was to do 5 x 4km but I was a little short of time and with the tough conditions the work I completed was more than sufficient. I consumed two gels during throughout those efforts and went through 1 and a half bottles of my fluid. After the fourth effort, I walked 500m while taking in another gel and the remainder of my fluid before jogging the last 2.5km home. I was happy with my pace and enjoyed a long ice bath afterwards.

I will perform almost the exact sessions over the next two weekends before my taper and aiming for similar or better results. It is a great feeling to see these progressions and terrific for my confidence as race day nears.

Rest Week

One of the toughest parts of any big build towards a goal race is the rest periods. Why would resting be hard? It is a combination of mental and physical challenges but they are completely different to what you experience most of the time when you are training.

So I have just completed 2 and half weeks of hard training where I only had one day without any training. It would have been 3 weeks if not for the hospital visit. However, it was obvious at the end of those 2 and half weeks that I was in need of this scheduled break.

My break has started mid-week to accommodate the alterations I made to my program and to fit in with my work. As I have started a stretch of early work shifts, it is easier to use it as my rest time because I generally don’t sleep as well when working early and then don’t train as well because of it. This break will end in the middle next week and I will build up again for 2 and a half weeks before tapering off in the 2 weeks before the Shepparton race on November 17.

I began Tuesday with a day of complete rest. Wednesday was a regular training day with a morning swim and an afternoon brick session. Then, Thursday was another day of complete rest. This included many hours on the couch in front of the TV. I felt horrible! Totally lethargic and restless. Many athletes experience this type of feeling when they taper or have a rest period after a hard block of training as it is a shock to the body to not be doing much. It’s definitely one of the strangest mental battles I face as my instinct is to train in some form every day. Also, it is disconcerting to feel so run-down and lacking energy in the same way you do with a head cold. The rest days, despite feeling a bit crap, are necessary for proper recovery and adaptation to the hard work.

Today (Friday), I have ridden to work and will ride home. I’m not pushing myself, just getting from A to B comfortably. I will repeat that process tomorrow, then, on Sunday, I will do a 1 hour run at a leisurely pace with a couple of short efforts thrown in. Monday will be a swim where I will do my 20 x 100m at race pace. Tuesday is another complete rest day and finally, on Wednesday, I will do a light run with some drills and short efforts.

Thursday will begin the build up again with a 2 hour wind trainer session followed by a short weights session. The 2 and a half weeks that come after that will be almost exactly the same as what I have just completed. 3 main sessions in each discipline which includes a tough ride/run brick session. There will be one strength/weights session and a couple of core workouts as well as a short run off my long ride and a short ride before my long run.

I am looking forward to that last big push before the race and seeing how well I can prepare for this major season goal.

Training Alterations

Since my trip to hospital a couple of weeks ago and taking the time to analyse some of the sessions I had performed in the week either side of that, I have made a few alterations to what I had originally scheduled in my program.

I identified some things I wasn’t happy with including; speed across all 3 disciplines, maintaining swim technique during longer efforts and bike endurance. This prompted the following changes:-

I consulted my Chiropractor, David, from Holistique Health and Spa, in Ballarat –http://holistiquehealth.com.au/ OR find them on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/HolistiqueHealthSpa – who is a former elite swimmer, and we determined that I was doing too many long intervals that were not allowing me to develop any real speed and not giving me the opportunity to focus on technique at my desired race pace. I now focus on 3 sessions per week of 3kms, including warm-up and cool-down. My strength session involves 5 sets of 400m using paddles with about one minute rest between sets. A race pace specific session with 20 x 100m at race pace, with 15 – 20 seconds rest and a higher speed session involving 20 x 50m with 30 – 45 seconds rest. Any session might exceed 3kms if I’m feeling really good and have the time.

As I get fitter, I can reduce the rest periods, provided I maintain good technique throughout the main set. Also, I will include backstroke, breaststroke and sculling sets during warm-up and cool-down phases to assist strength. Ultimately, I am looking to dial in my race-pace with good technique. These sessions lead me away from my previous habits of doing everything at about the same pace but just altering the distance of efforts. I am pleased to say that I have already seen improvement, in just a couple of weeks, in both speed and maintaining technique under fatigue.

On a side note, I am a huge advocate for the Non-force Chiropractic techniques that David uses. I try to see him every 2 – 3 weeks to maintain my muscular and skeletal health and during these sessions he relieves my knotted muscles, re-activates any areas that aren’t functioning as well as they should – usually my hips – and leaves my body feeling refreshed, aligned and ready to face the weeks of strenuous training ahead.

It is a common misconception that Chiropractors only deal with the spine directly and just want to crack you all over but, with Non-force techniques, this is far from the truth. David manipulates and activates my muscles and nerves to allow my body to operate at its optimal level. This includes all parts of my body, not just my back or neck. I like to have a treatment 3 or 4 days before a race just to make sure everything is operating as well as possible.

I assessed my bike training closely and decided I didn’t need to change too much, instead, just make sure I do my 3 specific sessions each week. However, I did change the schedule to reflect the following; my strength/over gear session now on Tuesday, high cadence and single-leg session on Thursday and leave my long endurance ride on Saturday. In 2 weeks, the strength/over gear sessions will be changed to a brick session with 3 sets of 30 minutes with a 10-15 minute run off the bike.

The main issue had been getting my long ride done on Saturday. As mentioned in my last post, I hadn’t yet done a ride over 4 hours during this preparation. This is key to my cycling development over the remaining weeks before the race. I made the mistake last year of not doing many over-distance rides and my lack of endurance showed in the second half of the bike leg during last year’s race.

With my running, I have been pleased with my improvements and have increased my volume and frequency. I now aim to cover up to 25km during my long run on Sunday on an undulating course. On Wednesday, instead of doing short run throughs on the footy oval, I am doing up to 10 x 1km intervals on the treadmill at 20km/h with a 2 minute recovery at 12-15km/h, depending on how I’m feeling. On Friday, I like to do a leisurely run, for about 10km, outside with some faster efforts towards the end to stretch things out. Finally, after my bike sessions on Tuesday and Saturday I will do a 15 minute run off the bike, at race-pace, or longer if I am feeling good and have the time to.

As you might be able to tell, I exercise the notion of flexibility in my program quite a bit. It is influenced by factors such as, my progression, any problems or things I’m lacking in, time constraints, unexpected events like going to hospital, etc. I feel I have used flexibility well during the build-up and I am feeling confident that I am progressing well towards my goals. I hope it continues.