Well, a switch in format for the weekly blog is in order. Because it is far simpler and reduces duplication if I list what I did on each day (besides, it is more intuitive). I am hoping that these blogs will become shorter and shorter as each week becomes simply a repeat of the week prior. That is, the program stays the same and I stay with the program.
After 4 weeks of settling in to the training I think a nice balance has been reached. Admittedly, the time constraints have been relaxed due to holidays. In the same vein as Prince Donges, if someone would like to sponsor me as a hack triathlete attempting an Ironman for the first time, feel free to have your people contact my people. I can guarantee you won't get any media coverage or podium appearances for your money, but we could think of it in a more philanthropic light.
On with it...
Monday:
Ride in the AM - very very heavy rain, torrential at times. Headed up to Woodford and back, getting thoroughly soaked before even getting out of the car port! I think it is about 30km, if that.
Later that morning, the family and I headed up to a brief holiday with lots of friends up at Forrester's Beach, Central Coast.
Tuesday:
Sleep in - thats what you do on Holidays isn't it?
Midday ride around Bateau Bay and Terrigal, perhaps 25km.
Evening Run with Welshy up the biggest hills we could find. 45mins. Decent views.
Wednesday:
Ride in the morning with Welshy and Australia's most recent Tour De France hopeful (unannounced at this stage). Very pleasant, if a little quicker than I am used to, little hit out around some of the National Parks around Terrigal. One or Two decent hills.
Headed back home later that morning - Rach had to be back for a funeral.
Evening swim at Springwood - 4km: 500m warm-up, 30x100m (10 paddle+pull buoy, 10 normal, 10 paddle+pull buoy) on the 1:40, finished the last 6 on the 1:30, swimming at approx 1:25. 500m warm down.
Thursday:
Morning run with the BMMC boys, out to Faulconbridge Pt from the High School and back, under 20km for the round trip.
Late morning swim with The Animal. Decent set (after previous night's swim) consisting of 5x300m on the 6:20. First 2 were fine, last 3 were tough. Enough rest between sets. A few drills and 10x25m sprints to finish up. All up just over 3.5km.
Easy ride that afternoon with The Animal: Faulco - Winmalee - Blaxland - Springwood. 40km, 1.5hr.
Friday:
Broke the routine this week, headed out for easy long ride. The loop has a name, I can't remember it however, ask The Animal. About 94km taking in Northern Rd, Bringelly Rd, M7 Bike Path and M4. Struggled maintaining The Animals pace, many conversations about what 'slow' means were necessary. Cervelo's aren't designed to be ridden at 20km/h, unlike Giants.
Got a run in that afternoon. Heading out for a repeat of Christmas Days run, with the alteration of heading back home once at the top of Sun Valley hill. Yet to explore the goats track that heads out of Sun Valley up to Valley Heights, but expect it to be entertaining. This run took me 99mins, haven't mapped it yet to work out the kms. I suspect between 15 - 18km.
Saturday:
Morning bunch ride with Mr Green et al. This ride would have to be the toughest one for quite a while. Starting with a figure 8 route taking in Old Bathurst Hill (up), Mitchells Pass (down) x3 and Lappo Hill (up), a point system was set up after the first climb. Next stop Nth Richmond, Bowen Mt and Bell Bird Hill. From here it was back to Hawkesbury Hill and home. A quick photo with the boys before the second Torrential Downpour I have had the pleasure of riding in in the last week. It appears the points were unnecessary as The Animal had a clean sweep of all 5 hills. I was somewhat proud of my own performance, managing a podium finish for 4 out of 5 hills. This was a great social ride, the last one with Jason before he heads off to the Sunshine Coast.
Off the bike, The Animal chased me down on the run (I had a much quicker transition) and proceeded to put about 1km into me. Just shy of 10km for this one. Felt slower than the previous week (ride was about 2 hours longer and considerably harder), however roughly maintained my target marathon pace for Ironman (5min/km).
Sunday:
Difficult to get up this morning. Still running late, despite the 1 hour sleep-in granted by The Animal the night before. Headed out on the bike with tired legs and a sore back, for a slow loop around Bells Line of Rd. This would be the second attack on Bell Bird in as many days. I would say she attacked back this time, as I struggled before the hill even began. Managed to roll through and get around in just over 6 hours (I think). Aside from physical fatigue, my 'mental endurance' (as it was so eloquently put mid-ride) was waivering, making this one that much tougher.
Capped off the day with a social swim (ie. more talking than swimming) and spa before cooking up a storm of pasta and rissotto with the wife. My life is all about carbs at the moment.
Despite the disturbances to the routine earlier in the week, it finished strongly.
Some interesting developments this week:
I have managed to lose some decent weight over the last 4 weeks (without any real modification of diet), bringing me down to between 71-72 kg. Target for Port is anything below 70. And I think this will happen with just a little modification of the diet.
Related to the first development, it appears I have sprouted some abdominal muscles. Until now, I had at the back of my mind always thought that I was born without any. They are only small, but they are there!
I'm feeling in a good position re: training at the moment. Things are going to step up in a few more weeks, giving me a little time to adjust to the increased load before it increases again. The body seems to have shaken the viral thing from a few weeks back. My only health issue at the moment seems to be excessive sun exposure. A change in sunscreen may yield some better results, but not making the classic "it's wet and cold I don't need sunscreen" mistake should make a difference.
Tomorrow will be a light day - perhaps some golf, some shopping, cleaning the bike(s), work, etc. Ending with a hard swim session in the evening.
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