Normal life returns - for a day

After two hard sessions, Sat & Sun, I get a day of rest.  Today was so beautiful I was tempted to have an open water swim in the birds toilet (see earlier blog) but as the day went on my legs felt weary so I skipped the swim and organised a BBQ instead.  Is this what normal life is like?  Mind you there was no ice cold beer while cooking which is what I am used to do while burning food. So Steve the coach understands how my body works and recovery time is very important.  Tomorrow I will be back in the pool trying to perfect my technique to make my 2.4 mile open water swim easier in 54 days and 9 hours time - not that I'm counting!

Mad dogs and Englishmen

Today was a brick session - bike immediately followed by run.  I deliberately chose to go out in the heat of the day in order to prepare for the climate in Copenhagen in August.  A steady 1hr 15 mins on the bike taking in a couple of reasonable hill climbs went well with my heart rate lower than yesterday when I was chasing the mountain goats!  Immediately off the bike, running shoes on and away for an hours run.  I'm glad I ran with a drink (non-alcoholic!) because you wouldn't survive without it.  Despite that and a sore toe I ran at a good pace which is encouraging however I will have to visit the physio and the podiatrist again as I wouldn't like to run a marathon with the discomfort in my toe.
My new training schedule came in from my coach today and as expected it involves a few 6 hour bike rides and a brick session with a 2 hour run.  This is the build up phase before we ease off in the few weeks leading up to the event - I suppose you can't swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and then run a marathon (26.2 miles) without putting in the ground work.

Riding with mountain goats

Today was my first day back at real training after my recovery week from the Bala middle distance triathlon.  Having had an easy week I did have to force myself out the door as the lure of a BBQ in the sunshine was tempting.  As you know most of my ironman training is done on my own because that is how it will be on August 15th in Copenhagen.  But today I went out with Stewart (ironman) and Jacques (mental cyclist) who are both in training for the Mont Ventoux in September - the equivalent of climbing Everest and something most sane people wouldn't attempt in a car.
So I spent 3 hrs 10 mins chasing them over 75 km.  When we reached the slightest incline, never mind hill, they pulled away and I then tried to catch them up on the downhill while they rested.  They could have left me for dead but encouraged me to "keep up".  Looking at the positive side it was a good exercise in mental strength which is so important when I will be competing for up to 15 hours - ride your own race and ignore the others.  I think I will be doing more cycling on my own as our goals and abilities are different although the banter is fun.

Emergency action!

This morning I was meant to be swimming in Loch Lomond but my swimming partner couldn't make it - things happen for a reason in life.  The great thing about triathlon is that it involves 3 disciplines so I decided to go running to loosen off the legs from the weekend.  It started well but as I was leaving town I felt a twinge in my stomach - uh oh, memories of my Holland trip came flooding back so using my experience I quickly gathered some docken leaves as a tsunami was approaching fast!
As I exited the town boundary I lept over the first hedge I could find into a farmers field and found myself up to my knees in muddy water.  No time to stop, tsunami over and two joggers go past giving me a strange look.  Obviously I didn't want to be seen by anyone due to my unsightly appearance (and fragrance) but had to cross town to get home before the commuters get up so the last 5km was done at a reasonable pace - the show must go on as they say.  As I said earlier, things happen for a reason, can you imagine if this had happened when I was in the middle of Loch Lomond in my wetsuit!  Legs felt great so back to some real training tomorrow.

Family 1st

Still in my recovery week and I was meant to be having a 1.5 hour cycle this evening but a domestic emergency meant I had to visit Sainsburys and cook the dinner for the kids.  Based on my coaches plan a rest this week will do me a lot of good as avoiding injury through training is the no 1 priority.
Tomorrow morning I will be swimming in Loch Lomond at 7.30 am - what a privilege, I can't wait.
While in Sainsburys I bumped into a friend whose boyfriend is taking part in the West Highland Way run at the weekend - that's 95 miles from Glasgow to Fort William.  I walked it once with my wife in 5 days and was knackered but they will run it in less than 24 hours - and you thought I was mad!  Good luck to all the runners - you are all bonkers but respect for the effort!

Dogging work!

Spoke to my coach last night and was pleasantly surprised that I don't have a hard week of training.  It a recovery week so today I had a long lie, 6.30am, and worked from home.  At 12.30 I dogged off work (don't tell anyone!) for an hour and went for a spin on the bike - 20km.  Legs felt great and heart rate was low so it looks like the recovery plan is working.
My Maggie's campaign (www.justgiving.com/derekmissionironman) received a lot of money yesterday and we are now up to £4,202 (including gift aid) but we need to get closer to the £10,000  so please spread the word.
The next 59 days will involve some long open water swims as I need to be able to complete 4km without being exhausted, probably Loch Lomond, and some 5 / 6 hour bike rides so I am going to enjoy the rest this week.

No rest for the wicked

Monday was my day off after completing the Bala middle distance event – the last major race before Ironman Copenhagen in 60 days and 21 hours time. So I went back into the pool today more as a recovery session than a training session. Still did 1,000 metres but nice and easy and also used fins to work on my kicking which isn’t very good. I haven’t spoken to my coach yet but swimming is going to be a major part of my training as I will be doubling the distance to 4km and need to make sure I don’t experience difficulties as I did in Bala.
With Copenhagen being almost flat the ride should have a much quicker average speed but I have to step up from 81km in Bala to 180km then double the run distance when I come off the bike. That should keep my training focused and the thought of your support and raising money for Maggie’s will keep me going. 
This afternoon I spotted a very elderly couple.  The man was helping his wife (I presume) to walk and in the 10 seconds I watched she was lucky if she took 2 steps which seemed to take a lot of effort, but she was determined.  It reminded me our goals are all relative and that brave lady was working on her own ironman.  We all need goals to keep us moving.