Daz Does Tri

Easy 10k run was followed by beers and curry yesterday. Good news that calf held up. Today met Ed & Dan for an easy 50 on the bike. Rode to Hilton to meet everyone. 7 miles for everyone and a nice 20 mph avge for me to warm up :) Set off to Gravely & Offards before hitting Paxton hill. The guys wanted a hilly ride and we certainly succeded!! Over the A1 to Hail Weston was really slow going with the track more suited to a mountain bike! Hit some really good roads through Kimbolton and up to Old Weston. Stopped at 30 for a quick break as Dan was feeling the pinch. Dan split to go back direct via Alconbury and Ed and I headed north to Great Gidding and Gladon. We really poured on the pace and hit some massive climbs at 20+ - really good fun.

Yup, this is a happy blog! After resting with some kind of manflu Sunday and Monday, on Tuesday I did a good turbo session - 50 mins with 10 & 5 mins tempo on the biggest gear. Nice effort session and happy with that. Wednesday I did a swim session in the afternoon but there was definately something in my lungs as I couldn't breath properly. Ended up panicking a bit struggling to breath and session was stressful and completely shit. Did a 30 min turbo session in the evening which was OK but still idn't feel healthy.

Back to back rest days, have been feeling rough since Saturday but that's probably down to my appalling diet! It's just a fact of life that I get down when I can't run and that makes me eat. Constantly :) Good news is that bike and swim fitness does not seem to go after a half day off like running so that is all going nicely. Drove down to Maidstone today for a work meeting and back home early. I will do an hour session on the TT tonight, bit windy outside and I fancy some kind of intervals to wake myself up a bit. Something like 4 x 5 mins in a hard gear. Mancave still not completely done but it's getting there. New wall & paint will go up this week then it's just ifnishing the ceiling and putting down a new floor. But by Friday it'll be where it needs to be for comfortable TT sessions. And there will be many this winter !! So Mojo is a little lost. Have decided to take the pressure off a comeback and target races in December which gives me time

Wow, nothing since Tuesday! Well, Wednesday I took as a rest day. The calf was feeling better but Tuesday's swim was very tired and laboured. Thursday got out for a good 40 on the bike. Got a bit lost and it was VERY windy out there but had a good ride overall. Started feeling a little jaded but got into it nicely and settled into a good pace. Absolutely smashed a few miles along the A10 - between 22 and 24 mph which was nice! Stole my Caxton-Cambourne KOM back with a very good 6.12 for 21.7 mph net uphill - NICE !! 18.8 mph feeling pretty good for 2 hours is good right now.

Firstly the sweet - swimming. A game changer in the pool Monday night. A pure technique session with Josh and after working on a better body position (arse higher, head lower) stroke count reduced dramatically. In fact I was averaging between 20 and 22 strokes per length for the 50's I was doing. We spent a long time analysing and tweeking it to get the position right and my kick finally 'kicked' in (pardon the pun). Speed wasn't great, between 51 and 55 per 50 with long recovery but the focus was on a long stroke and I finally nailled it.

The Good Saturdays ride was a game changer!  There are 4 things that helped - I changed my stem on my bike from 100mm to 60mm to lessen the stretching on my arms - not so noticable over 20 or so but on the 90 my back ached. I have a 90 mile ride in my legs which I essentially rested all week between rides. I am working on lower cadence and higher gears to get more power down, have been leg spinning at 95-100 rpm with no gains so far. Most importantly (I think) I raised my saddle an inch or so.

Legs were seriously tired today, general fatigue and sore legs makes me feel right slap bang in the middle of marathon mode! Adaptions in training come from rest and it's picking the best time to rest that counts and means your body will adapt and become stronger.

Legs really sore today.  Bit of a niggle on the thigh and a bit of DOMS.  Overall fatigue as well but that's to be expected. Decided to do a swim set today just to get something in the books, up the swim mileage and help flush the legs out. Mentally I'm quite drained and about 100m into my warm up decided that I was just going to do 'some swimming' probably in a recovery style. Ended up with - 300m - 6.01 100m - 1.52 100m - 2.00 50m - 58 secs 350m - 7.18 50m - 1.06 50m - 1.10 350m - 7.25 For 1350m in around 27.40.  Felt OK swimming but mentally I was drained and a lot of fatigue in system so banking some pool time and flushing the legs was a good idea. Will use tonight to recover again and hope tomorrow legs are much better to do some kind of tempo.  The strength work I mentioned in my last blog I am not going to be silly and do on smashed legs - I'll always try and do the hard sessions on pretty fresh legs to get the most benefit.  Aim for this w

Took the hard option tonight of mile reps at the track.  Legs actually felt not too bad, obviously they didn't ask to get butched on the track but it's good to let them know it can't always be easy easy! Long day at work, interviewing 6 sales people in an apprentice style.  Was fun and all I can say is I am glad I havn't had a job interview for a LONG time! Home early enought to refuel & Ian T picked me up at 6.42 on the dot (only 12 mins late lad !!). Got to the track plenty early, most of the boys had done their warm up and we knocked out about a 6.30 mile - Jesus I wasn't planning on going much quicker in the reps! That woke me up a bit.

...on yesterdays ride. Slept and ate well yesterday (although no food immediately after). Plenty of water and drinking and a bit of stretching. Quads are properly mullered today, will swim at lunchtime to give them some extra recovery. Feel tired in myself but to be expected after 5+ hours in the saddle yesterday - it's all so new to me, even marathons are well over in 3 hours! So got to thinking today about training and my weaknesses. I think the quickest gains in my cycling are in the hills. I need to do some hard hill work to get my quads strengthened. I still need time in saddle and I like doing a quick flat blast but incorporating one very tough ride and one tough turbo session per week is going to be an essential.

And so it's done and dusted.  90 miles on the bike - 47 more than my previous furthest DONE. I didn't bonk, I didn't crash and I managed to keep moving as best as I could.  It wasn't great, it highlighted all the faults I know I have but I deliberatly picked a challenging course to show me exactly whats wrong. Pointless playing to my limited biking strengths at this stage. Set off at just gone 8 with Ed, Kye & Ian T.  From very early on (first mile) I got dropped on a climb.  Decided that I was going to warm up on the opening half hour or so and decided against sticking with the guys from the off.  Slowly reeled the group in and stuck with them for a few miles.

Rest day today, all set for the 90 tomorrow. Bike needs to be checked and loaded into the car and nutrition all sorted in preperation ! Looking forward to it in a strange way - just hope it's not a killer. It's a real test for me, possibly the biggest endurance test ever as my longest marathon was 4 hours. Today have re-read some bike info that's going to come in handy in winter - indoor sessions. A lot of top ironman guys do indoor training mainly to keep their biking strength up and I think that's going to suit me. Will set out a schedule from pretty much now to the end of the year of weekly sessions to improve my bike fitness. I think I need 65 1/2 hours a week between now and then to get strong and on the TT the focus will be much higher. Had a revelation looking at swim technique on-line - my lead hand starts the stroke far too quick before my catch up hand enters the water. Video here explains what it should be (9 strokes per length against my 28!!!) h

Big week this week - the Wiggle sportive that I have signed up to do a 90 mile ride in.  43 is my longest ride to date so it's more than double!  With Ian T, Kye & Ed on board there is NO backing out !! Last week had an easy run focus week at Butlins.  A good swim set and a nice 8 miler @ 6.30 pace made the week a good one and gave my body a chance to recover a bit. After not feeling so great on Mondays easy double, all Tuesday I was dreading running.  Had agreed to meet Monkey Dan for a 5 mile tempo from mine and was not looking forward to it.  Felt a bit rough and had to bosh a couple of neurofen.

Ironman is no easy feat, especially when you havn't done any kind of triathlon before!  I am not going into it blind or over confident - I know I couldn't finish a single distance at the moment let alone all 3 BUT I know what I can achieve.  I am a dreamer and in my mind when I'm running and biking I'm winning age groups and qualifying for Kona but I love the saying 'aim for the stars and hit the ceiling, aim for the ceiling and hit the floor'.  I know it's not realistic but it's what keeps my mind focused.

....at Butlins! Sunday 26th Sep I headed out for a 40 mile loop with Kye and Ian T.  My god, thought it was going to be a social but 2 or 3 serious climbs (5-10mph stuff) had me blitzed and I struggled to keep the forward momentum going.  Ian T drove the train at 20 mph but I just don't have it in me yet, especially on an early start.  Did manage 40.1 miles @ 19 mph though so best ride ever although it took a LOT out of me. Monday travelled to Butlins.  Off the back of 140 miles on the bike, 1750m swimming and 20 mile run week I had put some hours in. Tuesday attempted HR test along the prom but CBA'd and ended up with 5ish at 7.15 ish. Wednesday was my anniversary.  Wifey got me a Garmin 910 !!  Amazing bit of kit for a geek like me and loved it although I would have to wait to test it out! Thursday did an easy early run along the prom with 2/3 miles on the stony beach. 7ish miles just under an hour but not exactly condusive trying to run and sinking in stones!! Fr