Back to Square One

It has been 5 weeks since my last post and what a five weeks it has been.

I married the most wonderful person on earth and our wedding day couldn’t have gone better. Everything fell into place perfectly, including the weather, and it was the happiest day of my life by a long, long way.

We then had a wonderful 2-week honeymoon in Singapore and Thailand which consisted of some sightseeing but mainly relaxing by the pool and enjoying some reading material. Reading material for me was several triathlon magazines. Despite a few short trips to the gym, at our Phuket resort, it was my end of season break from training which has perfectly preceded the beginning of my build up to the Ironman 70.3 World Championships.

After returning on an overnight flight just 6 days ago, with very little sleep, I reluctantly returned to work the very next day. It has taken the entire last 6 days to recover from the jet lag and I have the added bonus of a stomach bug making me feel quite queasy at times. The bug seems to be working its way through my system, so, fingers crossed it has moved on in another few days so I can get stuck into some proper base training.

I have attempted a couple of light sessions in the past two days, a light 1 hour 20 minute indoor cycle, a casual 30 minute jog with a few drills followed by some chin-ups and push-ups and a 60 minute steady run. Felt ok on the bike but the running was a little tough. It showed that my joints can lose conditioning quite easily, particularly ankles and hips, and I need to ease back into things after not running for 3 weeks.

I can tell by how my body feels that I have taken an adequate amount of time off training to freshen up but not lose all of my fitness. I am confident that once I complete an initial 4 weeks of base training, I will be feeling primed to start getting into hard, specific sessions. However, I would say now that I don’t tend to like having one long (3 or more weeks) off training at one point of the year and I will look at having a couple of 1 – 2 week breaks a couple of times a year, in the future.

I feel like I’m back at square one for the reason that I am starting a fresh program. It is the beginning of 4 and ½ months of preparation for the biggest race of my life, to date. I must pay close attention to how hard I push myself in the initial stages. I will be focused on technique and general strength across all disciplines while preparing my body prior to the final 8 - 12 week push into the race.

My weekly plan for this first 4-week base phase will be as follows:-

Monday –

·         Swim 3km with mixed strokes and drills.

·         Easy run 30mins with drills.

·         30mins upper body weights.

Tuesday –

·         Ride 2 hours easy/steady to feel.

·         Swim 2km easy with extra kicking laps.

·         Leg weights and core.

Wednesday –

·         Ride 60mins easy.

·         Swim 3km with a few fast 25 metre efforts and strength work with paddles.

·         Run 60mins steady.

Thursday –

·         Ride 90mins with single-leg work and high cadence efforts.

·         Run 30mins with a series of run throughs building the pace.

Friday –

·         Swim 3km with a series of 100 metre freestyle efforts, 3 – 4 at race pace and good rest periods in between.

·         Ride 60mins easy.

·         Core exercises.

Saturday –

·         Ride 3 hours steady.

·         Run 30mins off the bike at steady pace.

Sunday –

·         Ride 30 – 60 mins easy.

·        Run 45mins off the bike with 8 x 1km efforts at Tempo with plenty of rest between each.

It is not essential for me to complete every session each week. It is a desired amount but completely flexible to how my body is feeling and how I manage my recovery. The rest periods between efforts in workouts is very important at this stage, to ensure I am not overdoing it but beginning to ingrain some good work into my nervous system.

It’s an exciting time!

For those fortunate enough to be training for the 70.3 World Champs, how are you going to prepare?