A good week...

450k bike;
100k run;
14k swim;
3 afternoon naps.

..."nuff" said!

School's Out!

You ain't wrong Alice - the day job is now on hold for 6 weeks and I can get some really solid training in. I'm hoping to top 25 hours during my peak week and make sure I'm fully prepared for IMUK.
I've recovered from Cow Man well and I've now reached the point where taking of my socks doesn't mean loesing half my foot. Haven't been that apprehensive about taking of an item of clothing since a girl first saw me naked! Needless to say I have been training with socks for the last week.

Cowman report

My first middle distance race (although not an official M dot event) was always something I was apprehensive about. I'd labeled myself as a long distance athlete but had nothing to back this up with, so yesterday was pretty important for me as a triathlete.

The weather was rubbish (strong winds and rain/hail) the field was strong, really, really strong, (you only need to look at the times in the top 10 compared to last year to see that. If I'd been in the 2007 race (which I think was the same course?) I would have been 3rd and the winning time was 13 minutes faster!) and I felt I acquitted myself rather well. I went in with a sub 4.30 and top ten result being my idea of a perfect day with top 20 and sub 4.40 being OK. Given the conditions, to have achieved half of my first goal is great and to be only 3 minutes off my time target is also promising, especially after a wrong turn on the bike course costing me about 2 of those 3 minutes!

The swim was uneventful, I followed the advice of many a club mate and took it easy. Out of the water in 31 minutes was one minutes slower than my target time but not a huge issue in the grand scheme of my race.

The bike was good, I clocked the 10th fastest individual bike split of the day (despite the wrong turn) and felt really solid. I never over exerted myself, drank and ate well and, to be honest, felt comfortable. Apart from the wrong turn I was able to keep my HR relatively constant, stay in the saddle and just keep the RPM high. I certainly felt like a finished with more to give.

The run was always a bit of an unknown having never raced the distance before. It was also a surprise to find my recced course was about 1k shorter than the actual course, I had been wondering how my run splits at the recce had shown a 1.12 half marathon time! I started well gaining 1 place over Laurence Pidock at the end of lap one and feeling strong. Lap two was just as good finished in 20 mins putting me on for a 4.30 finish and a 1.20 run spit. Alas laps 3 and 4 were not so hot. My stomach was bloated and I couldn't take on water or gel and it started to take a toll. I lost 3 minutes over the final two laps and, more irritatingly, 3 places moving from 7th to 10th. When I finished I found that I'd left half my feet in shoes - saving 30 seconds in T2 was not worth it - and felt knackered, truly knackered. The sort of exhaustion that only comes from knowing I gave everything (and probably should have taken on a gel and some water on lap 1).

On reflection this race was about learning. The result is promising. A casual Googling of those who beat me shows that as many as 5 of them are elite/pro triathletes training full time so to hit the top 10 at my first go at the distance in my first full season is great. I really feel as though I know where I need to work for the next 10 weeks before IMUK; long rides into long runs with a nutrition focus on the run. School ends in 10 days at which point the real training begins...bring on the summer!

Cow Man Taper

SPOILER WARNING: This blog contains the inner musings of a man with far too much time on his hands.

Taper week....

As many a triathlete knows this is a time of paradox; granted the gift of time but with no idea how to use it. As someone who, when not at work, spends 90% of his time training and sleeping (the other 10% is spent trying to mollify and understandably irritated other half) this gift of time is a strange thing. As anyone who knows my training habits will tell you I have a knack for doing a little too much and reflecting on my previous tapers with club mate Clark Schofield, it seems I had always done too much.

I have had 2 races this year which were "A/B" priority and thus warranted a taper. Before Nat Champs I foolishly decided to ride half the course at race pace the day before and then run 5k at race pace 45 minutes after.

MISTAKE!

The week before Shropshire I did 4 lots of running speed work in Spanish heat, a shocking plan which lead to my legs feeling dead on the Saturday evening.

MISTAKE!

This week has been the total opposite. Following a tough Sunday at the Hillingdon race and a 2.5 hour "recovery" ride (I got lost!) the week went as follows:

Monday: 2k recovery swim + insults about being beaten and being rubbish at sprints;

Tuesday: 3k open water with 30 mins at race pace;

Wednesday 90min ride with 25 mins at race pace + 10 minute run at race pace;

Thursday: 2k open water with starts;

Friday: rest;

Saturday: TBC open water swim or 45min bike with bursts.

Will it work? I'll let you know on Sunday evening. My worry is it's too little, maybe I'll feel dull on Sunday and won't be ready to work hard. I've never done the distance before and I have been advised that too much taper is always better than too little, especially for anything over sprint.....???

Well, another 15 minutes killed before new episode of Scrubs starts and I can eat again. I did warn you I had too much time on my hands.