17 weeks to go

Plan
Swim: 3-4 sessions (2 squad, 2 open water)
Bike: 3 sessions (1 x ME ride 2hrs, 1 x hill ride 1.5hrs, 1 x long ride 4hrs
Run: 4-5sessions (4-5 x 30-45min runs all at Aet, include 1 run off the bike)

On the swim its time to start hitting the main sets hard. With Canberra on in 2 weeks IÂI'lll want to be able to get in a good solid swim start. I’ll do 2 open water swim to practice swimming in a wetsuit and sitting on some feet.
On the bike I’ll do three sessions this week. Session 1 will be repeats up Mt keira. Session 2 will be some ME work. This will include 5-3min efforts at 1-2 gears harder then race gear and 2-10min TT at HIM pace. Session 3 will be the Long ride. I’ll aim for 4hrs on this ride. Once again anytime I spend at the front of the pack I’ll aim to keep the intensity around IM to HIMpace, then in the last 30-45min of this ride I’ll TT as hard and as long as I can.
I’m hoping to run around 4-5 sessions this week. Last Sundays run was very disappointing once I reached the 45min mark. The pain in my leg came on very quickly and forced me back to a walk. So instead of trying to push the distance I’ll just run more 30-45min runs hoping that will at least give me some run strength.

Actual
A pretty good week of training. I swam 3 times. I did 1 squad session and 2 open water swims. My right shoulder is a bit sore so I will need to rest it up next week. I only got to ride twice this week due to bad weather conditions earlier on during the week. My first ride was 1.5 hrs of hills riding through the northern loop. Kept my effort around mod-hard on each hill I came too. Saturday’s long ride was all over the place. The winds were coming close to knocking a few of use off our bikes. We extended the ride around Jamberoo to include the new Kiama by-pass. A couple of extra climbs made the ride a little more harder and we were back in just under 4hrs.
I did three runs this week. The highlight for me was doing my first run over an1hr in about 4months. Unfortunately as soon as I reached the 1hr mark my leg started to hurt again. It seems to come on so quickly and three minutes later I was walking home. I still have no idea as to how I’m going to be able to run 21km’s off the bike next weekend, when I’m only just running 12km fresh. I just hope I can get through the race and well enough to qualify for Port and without doing too much damage to myself. I have resided to the fact that if my leg hurts too much I will just have to force myself to walk.

fluro

My first Brick session

I did my first brick session in 5 months. It was a test session to see how my calf would hold up. It held up well and as a result I registered for the Canberra 1/2 last night. It was touch and go there for a while, but at least I have bee able to start training again.
I did a 80/5 last night and was pleased with how I went. In the lead up to IMOZ this year (in Feb) I TT'd around the Jamberoo loop and I managed to av 33kph with and av hr of 145bpm. Last night I averaged 32.5kph with an av hr of 143bpm. It's a tough course with around 650m of climbing and plenty of traffic lights to deal with. So overall I'm pleased to be averaging close to 33kph again on this course. On the run a ran 23:51 for my 5km with an av hr of 154bpm. My hr was higher then what I was hoping for but I guess it had to be expected after having such a long layoff.
I now have 3 weeks to prepare for canberra and I hope I can get enough strength together in order to qualify for IM Port. Based on last years result I'll need to do at least a sub 5:15 in order to give myself a chance. My goal is to swim 30min ride a 2:40-2:50 and then run a 1:45-1:50.
Over the next 2 weeks I'll do another 3-4 brick sessions to get used to running off the bike again.

Swimming technique

I tought I would share this photo with you. I pulled this one from slowtwitch.com. I think it shows a very clear picture of how we should be postioning ourselves in relation to out ctach. Notice the high elbow. be careful though, to be able to achieve this position in the water requires excellent flexibility.
The position shown in the photo is the one thing I try to concentrate every time I swim. A high elbow will increase your catch and therefore give you greater time to propel you through the water with less effort. Once you start dropping your elbow you basically have to work harder in order to achieve the same result. If you are swimming with a high elbow as shown in the photo and are new to this experience just remember to ease off on the force you are applying through the water because in the right position you'll be naturally catching much more water. In laymens terms water becomes like mud with a good catch.

fluro

18 weeks to go

Plan
Swim: 4 sessions (2 squad, 2 open water)
Bike: 3 sessions (40km TT, 1.5 hr Aet, 4 hr long ride)
Run: 4 session (2-30min easy, 30min brick, 50min LSD)

The idea this week is to knock over another 2 squad sessions and 2 open water swims. I'll aim to bike 3 sessions which will include a 40km TT effort at zone 4-5a, an easy 1.5 hr aet ride and a 4hr long ride. On my long ride on Saturday I'll probably head up Mt Keira before meeting the group at 6am. Once I'm with the group I want to spend more time at the front of the pack riding around IMpace, until the 3-3.5 hr mark and then I'll shift up a gear and TT at MSS-mod hard. My long ride at this stage is my only BT session for the week. The focus being on building up as much strength as I can on the bike. I especially want to improve my ability to push a big gear on the flats in the TT position. Last week I averaged 136bpm for this ride, I want to be able to increase that to around the 140bpm mark over the next three weeks in the lead up to Canberra half.
On the run I'll aim for 4 runs, three of those will be 30mins each and the last run I'll increase up to 50min, keeping the pace as close as possible to Aet. (145bpm). One of the 30min runs will be off the bike and will probably happen after the 40km TT.
My calf has pulled up pretty well with me starting up training again this week. I would say I'm at about 60% at the moment. While it is not hurting while I train I am feeling some discomfort a day or two after a training session.
I have 3 sessions planned for core stability work and flexibility training. My flexibility has really improved lately, but I do need to focus more on improving my core stability and glut medials, as my injury is primarily biomechanical and needs to be addressed by my own actions.

Tip of the week.
Don't focus on IM training (April) just yet. There's no need to burn your self out. Spend time getting as fit as you possibly can and have fun doing it.

Actual
Swim: 2 sessions (1.45)
Bike: 4 sessions (7.55)
Run: 4 sessions (2.28)

Total: 12.08hrs
The whole week of training went very well except for my last session, my long run. I was hoping to run 1 hr at a very easy pace. Everything went really well until I reached the 45min mark. The pain running down the left side of my leg came on so fast and was so painful I had to stop running and walk home by the time I reached 55min. It didn't feel like nerve pain or soft tissue damage, but my fibula or tibia seemed to be killing me. I don't know why. I'm making a conscious effort to push off my big toe now and maybe that caused the issue.
Swam twice this week. I missed 2 sessions due to working my second job at the club. The bike sessions went very well. I TT'd around Jamberoo doing 40min at IMpace then 20min at HIMpace. I completed 80km(av sp 32.5kph, 650m of climbing, av hr 143bpm)) with a 6km run off the bike. I did another very easy 1 hr recovery ride and my usual saturday morning long ride(3hrs), which was cut short due to severe weather. Luckily Scott and I met at 5am and were able to get in around 1.5 hrs before the heavens opened up on us. We decided not to ride through Jamberoo as it would of been just too dangerous. Instead we rode around lake Illawarra at a good solid tempo. Once we hit Windang it was on for young and old and at one point I was sitting on 48kph with a hr of 174bpm. This lasted for around 20min before we reached the steelworks. My leg is holding up well on this ride and I starting to find my legs again on the bike. My new forward position has definitely given me a heap more power on the flats and I know I've lost some power on the climbs. I think this has been a good trade off and money well spent getting a Professional bike fit down. In a nutshell my seat was raised 2.5 cm, moved one 1cm further forward and my front end was dropped 3 spaces. It was a big change and I thought it would of taken some time to get used to, but it feels fantastic to ride in the aero position.
2 weeks to go to Canberra and I have no idea as to what I'm going to do about running 21km off the bike. At this stage I can't even run 1hr fresh. I hope things will improve for me soon. This is my last chance to try and qualify for Port.

fluro
P.S congratulations to everyone who competed over at IMWA. That looked like one very tough day.

Canberra 1/2 Ironman

At this stage I'm still racing Canberra. Looking at the course profile I would say that I'm going to have to hit the hills big time over the next four weeks. There appears to be over 900m of climbing. That will mean doing 3 repeats of Mt Keira.
The run looks quite flat and I think this may suitmy injury.
This Saturday I think I'll get up at 4.30am and ride 1 repeat of Mt Keira and then meet up with the group at 6am. The group will then ride through Jamberoo, which is a nice short climb, before heading back to town via Shellharbour. During this section I'll spend time riding BG at the front to really work on getting some strength in the legs.

fluro

19 weeks to IM Port

Photo
This is a photo of the unit Katrina and I bought at North Beach.






Plan
The plan for this week is to
• Swim 3 session (3hrs)
• Bike 3 sessions (7.5hrs)
• Run 3 session (2hrs)

I’ll swim 2 squad sessions and do 1 open water swim. The goal here is to hit both squad sessions hard.
On the bike I’ll aim for two 2 hr rides during the week and a 4hr long ride on the weekend
• Session 1: 40-50km (1.5-2hrs). 4-8min efforts at Zone 4/5a. recovery will be 5min
• Session 2: 60-70km (2hrs). 10min w/u. 3-20min efforts at Impace (ie zone 2). 10min recovery at zone 1.
• Session 3: 120km (4hrs). ride 1hr before the group. 8-5min BG (ie 53/12) 5min recovery). Meet group, ride hills mod-hard (zone 4). Last hour TT hard, taking 10-15min turns off the front.

Run 3 sessions. Keep running at around 30min for now. Legs are still trying to get used to POSE method. Once recovery is good, increase 1 run up to 40min next week and include another 30min run.
Each week I’ll aim to include as much of my training as possible in advance.
I’m in the process of gathering information from Gordo’s and Rich Strauss forums which I’ll hopefully edit and include here over the next few months.

Actual
swim: 4 sessions (3.5hrs)
Bike: 3 sessions (6:10)
Run: 3 sessions (1:42)

total: 11hrs

It feels good to be training again. My week has been good in terms of recovery. I swam 2 squad sessions and did 2 open water swims. On the bike I rode a 2hr ride of 20/10's which I recovered very well from. I did 1 very easy 1hr spin and then my long ride on Saturday. I thought I would of struggled much more riding for 3hrs, but I felt quite strong. Rode through Jamberoo with the lead pack and then for the last 30min I decided to ride 10m off the back off the pack with Scott W while they took turns off the front. We held a good pace sitting on around 42-43kph. I ran three times this week. I did two 30min runs and one 40min run. After each run my soleus muscles were feelig quite sore and stiff. I was told this would happen until I develop strength and durability in my calves.

Cheers
fluro

20wks to a an easy 5hr IM bike split

I could be dreaming here, and I probably am. But I'm going to really focus my efforts over the next 20wks on producing the easiest 5hr IM bike split. I'll see how close I can go.
I started off by posting a message top Rich Strauss over at Crucible fitness on how I should structure my Long ride. I initially called it my LSD ride and his repsonse was there should be nothing easy about doing your long ride. My immediate thoughts were this is going to be tough, but what the hell lets give it a go anyway.
Here is his suggestion for the long ride and some midweek rides

I would have you rethink several things:

Your bike split is pretty solid. What's your run split? You may want to consider working on your run first, rather than your bike. Having said that, you can do both, but just wanted you to consider that point.

I highly recommend you structure your week like this:

1 x LTHR/FT session, as 30-60' total minutes of z4-5a intervals, a 8-20' long. For example, 3 x 15' (2'), 2 x 20', etc. All at normal, TT cadence and preferably on your tri bike.
1 x Long ride
1 x Long-semi long ride

I don't like the term LSD pace. When I see your description of your long ride below, I think "not that big a deal." If you consider that easy is z1, IM pace is probably z2, then you're looking at primarily a z1-2 ride. With your bike strength you should be doing quite a bit more intensity in your long rides.

I like to weight intensity toward the back end and either tightly prescribe it, or keep it fartlek in nature, and at z3-4/5a effort. Think of these as moderate (8') to long (20') hard pulls in the second half of your ride.

For advanced athletes I like to prescribe low cadence intervals in the last 45-60' of their long ride.

Rich Strauss
Crucible Fitness Founder, Head Coach
Training Log: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/publicview.asp?p=RichStrauss
Swim Clinic E-Book: http://www.cruciblefitness.com/etips/swim1a.htm

Response number 2
Speed on the flat is what it's all about. I don't put much value in big gear work, which seems to be popular these days. In my opinion, it's all about watts to the rear wheel at race specific cadence and riding position. The low cadence work I describe above is to force recruitment of the last remaining fast twitch fibers that you haven't burned yet. You could also do the same just by increasing watts at the end but I think there is value in becoming comfortable at low cadences, and high.

So, in general, I crush myself in the last 2hrs of a long ride. My favorite training tool is to hook up with a roadie right near the end (about 30-45' out) and TT off the front.

Rich Strauss
Crucible Fitness Founder, Head Coach
Training Log: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/publicview.asp?p=RichStrauss
Swim Clinic E-Book: http://www.cruciblefitness.com/etips/swim1a.htm

I'm going to follow his suggestions for a while and see how things pan out. Previously I have trained according to Gordo's principles and they assisted well in riding a 5:11 at IMWA last year. I think if I want to ride around the 5hr mark I'll need to start inserting some intensity work.
Each week I'll try and post as much information as I can in regards to my bike training and would be interested in any feedback.

Hope everyones training is coming along well.

fluro

Yesterday's run

My first run
I ran yesterday for the first time in 15 weeks without pain. It was such a good feeling to just don the shoes on and head out the door and enjoy what I love doing so much; train. It has been such a long slow recovery this time around and I'm not yet fully convinced I'm over my injury. My stress fracture appears to have heeled but I'm still having issues with my peroneal nerve and some general numbness down the left side of my lower leg. Because things have stagnated in terms of getting better, I've decided to try and ease back into some training.
I've made a number of changes to the way I'm training now in an attempt to try and stay injury free. These include
o Flexibility work 3-4 times PW
o Core stability work 2-3 times PW
o Improved recovery between workouts. This includes taking BCAA's and L-glutamine supplements
o Improved bike position. Bike fit at Cheeky Monkeys bike shop
o Improve running economy. I'm adopting more of a POSE method to running to eliminate impact injuries
o Change of shoes. Asics Keyano's to Asics Nimbus

Overall the emphasis this time around will be to improve my recovery between workouts. I think the majority of my injuries have occurred as a result of training on a tired body. Training tired has resulted in me overloading muscle groups that don't have the ability to cope with poor biomechanics (eg my peroneal muscles have been working overtime to compensate for my inability to control my core stability).
So yesterday I went for an easy 35min run trying out the POSE method. I've been practising the drills as outlined in the book Triathlon training running by Ken Mierke. I've been progressing well with the drills and felt as though I was ready for a run. Well, my hr was through the roof running at 5min k's. I was told this would happen for a while. It felt strange to be running with a forward lean and I had to really concentrate on maintaining my form. At the end of the run my calves were quite sore. Once again I was told this would occur until I can build up the durability and strength in my calves. Overall I think the POSE method is the way to go. You feel very light on your feet and it does move the workload away from your quads and onto your calves. Once I learn to utilise the elastic recoil better I think I will start running much more efficiently. I'll give it a good 10-12 weeks before I consider doing anything else. For now I just want to run without pain.
Tomorrow I'll try another 30 minute run with emphasis on lowering my hr back down below 150bpm. Yesterday's run was 6.5km @ 5min K's with an average heart rate of 156bpm.

fluro