Last Big Training Week - Review

In a word, successful.

My final big training week before my two week taper into the Shepparton 70.3 Ironman was a good one. However, I didn’t complete each session exactly as specified due to fatigue. I put the fatigue down to working early shifts and this affecting the amount of sleep I was getting which, in turn, affected my recovery from hard training. Yet, I was still happy with the work I did do.

During my swims on Monday and Wednesday, my pace was a little slower than I anticipated and Friday’s swim I cut short by 1km. During my brick session on Tuesday I did just 2 hard sets instead of 3 and my long ride on Saturday I opted for an extra hour sleep and just did 90kms at full race pace instead of 130kms.

My long ride on Saturday with a short run off the bike was my best session of the week. It was my first ride after putting my race wheels on and the difference in speed was outstanding. The fastest average speed I have ever done outside of a race. I didn’t feel that I was missing out on anything by not doing the 130kms as I felt fresh on the bike and ran well afterwards. I then completed another excellent long run on Sunday.

Initially, I had concerns about my body when I was feeling slower in the pool but after increasing my swim workload by 1km per session the previous week I knew that I had a lot of hard work to recover from. I anticipate having my speed back up during race week after a good rest period. The same goes for my cycling and running too. Although, my times during the last week were still where I wanted them, I felt like I was fatiguing a little sooner and finding it harder to get my muscles working at the start of a workout.

I am now on my second consecutive complete rest day and it is not fun. I am being quite cautious with my diet as it would be easy to overeat but, as I’m not burning anywhere near the amount of calories that I have been, I am focussing on fruit, vegetables and salads with adequate protein and some muesli in the mornings. This is essentially the same to most training days but I will reduce the portion sizes slightly and try to avoid further carbs, like rice, which will be incorporated as my carbo-loading period comes in next week.

Tomorrow, I will return to training with an easy 3km swim and some light cycling. I will then train every day up until the race. The longest session, by far, will be on Sunday when I will do an 80km ride followed by a 6 – 8km run. The ride will be below race pace for most of it with a few short time trial efforts thrown in to keep the muscles firing. Most sessions will be with that same mentality, not pushing too hard or for too long and just doing a few bursts to remind the muscles of what they are required to do on race day. The two days before the race will have short sessions so not to produce any real fatigue but provide necessary blood flow to working muscles and keep them feeling fresh.

You can’t help wondering if you’re fit enough during a taper. I know my mate, Dallas, is wondering this at the moment, as he prepares for his first Half Ironman in Mandurah, this Sunday. When you back off the training in a big way after doing so much beforehand you don’t feel quite the same and it can seem like a lack of fitness. However, if you’ve done the training, you have to trust that because if you think you’re going to get any fitter in the last two weeks before a long distance race, you would be wrong. Just doing a small portion of the training you had been doing in the lead up should be enough to freshen up the muscles without sending you completely insane.

Don’t worry Dallas, I know how you feel. Just enjoy it!