Real men in Speedos!

The constant training is tiring and you have to listen to your body so without any guilt I had a "power nap" in the office for 20 mins in preparation for my swim tonight in Loch Lomond as my 12 km run this morning was telling.  I had arranged with a pal of mine to meet me there for a swim and he turned up with his swimming partner - they are part of a team that's swimming the channel.  He had said the water might be cold due to the rain however I wasn't expecting to see them wandering into the loch in Speedos!!!!!  You are not allowed to swim the Channel in a wetsuit.  I felt a complete wimp in my wetsuit and this wasn't helped by the fact they are good swimmers.  However they kindly nursed me round the choppy 900 m course and while I dried off they went back for more! Real men in speedos - I'll stick to my wetsuit.

Mount Kilimanjaro

Billy Connolly once said there was nothing wrong with our weather it was just we were wearing the wrong clothes!  Well this morning as the wind swept the rain horizontally towards me I was glad I had remembered that comment before going out for my 12km run - dressed more for winter running.  I also bumped into some friends at 6am who had rucksacks on their backs and were off training for their charity trip to Mount Kilimanjaro - well done boys and keep up the hard work.   You see it's not just me on a mission, loads of people are doing it in their own way.
Tonight, weather permitting, I will be "rubbered up" in my wetsuit dipping my toes in Loch Lomond as I need the open water practice.  However if there are white horses on the loch tonight I think I'll reconsider and let Billy Connolly know we may have the right clothes but you can still drown!

No rubber ring required!

As we draw closer (32 days) to Copenhagen Ironman my coach Steve focus's alters my training regime to reduce the endurance element as the hard work is "almost over" and increase the intensity of the sessions i.e. get the pain over quicker.  Todays swim involved 5 x 100m warm up, a 35 min continual swim (about 1,500m  if I counted right but can't be sure) and 8 x 50m warm down.  I was asked to leave out the pull buoy which keeps my bum higher in the water like a wetsuit would, and obviously this makes the swim harder.  So I did and yes it was harder but I tried to maintain my stroke throughout - apologies to the Athelite Triathlon Club swimmers who had to keep overtaking me!   The rest of the week will involve two bike rides, one run and an open water swim before my training camp in the heat the following week.

Rest day - on the golf course

I managed to combine business, rest and golf all on the one day.  My first 18 holes of golf this year and it was great fun.  However I forgot all my ironman training and didn't take water or nutrition on the course so I was slightly dehydrated and hungry when I came off - still won the money!  When the ironman event is over I will cram in three medal rounds to retain my handicap before the season ends but today was fantastic seeing the course in brilliant condition and enjoying the company of my friends.  A slight change from the loneliness of my current training regime but that's the only way I can be prepared for ironman!

Big Bike Ride

Today almost didn't happen as I didn't get to bed till 2.45am as my son missed his bus from T in the Park and I had to pick him up!  The my daughters alarm went off at 5am, she was away on a sleepover, so I had to get up for that.  So when I dragged myself out of bed at 11am I wasn't feeling refreshed or motivated to get on my bike but my coach had underlined how important this session was.  It was a milestone in my cycling - 6 hrs and 140km in very testing conditions, wind gusting up to 35 miles per hour almost made me turn back as I was nearly blown off the road on a few occasions.  It was dangerous but conditions improved and this would be my longest and last big ride before the event - character building!  I will continue cycling in the run up to the event but the mileage will be less.
Ironman is an an interesting concept in that the first time I will swim 2.4 miles will be on the day, same with the 112 miles on the bike and same with the marathon.  In addition I will never have put them together at that distance before - a real challenge.  That's why each training session is so important.
So tomorrow is a rest day and having had my steak, pasta, veg and milk I am dressed in my compression clothing to help my recovery while I watch the footie!

35 days and counting

The weather changed the programme today, I trained indoors with a 90 minute turbo bike session.  Sweated like a pig and had to take plenty of fluids, so good practice for the 30 degrees in Copenhagen. I also received my new training programme for he next two weeks and it involves a lot of work.  Next week is concentrating on cycling although I will get in another open water swim in Loch Lomond and also an easy run.  The following week I am going training in the heat and will be focusing on my running with regular swimming.
Today my middle son Ali decided to enter the kids triathlon in Copenhagen which will be his 1st.  He's a good middle distance runner so I'll be working with him in the pool and on the bike when I get a spare minute!  Putting the three disciplines together feels weird at first so we'll see how he gets on.  Now going for a "cat nap" as I prepare to pick my eldest son up from T in the Park at 1.15am and cycle fr 6 hours on Sunday!

Double Dip

Today was a double dip - 7am 2,100m at Tollcross followed 12 hours later by my first ever open water swim in Loch Lomond, 900m.  I swam with my pals from Athelite Triathlon Club in both sessions and it was particularly good to have them at the Loch.  Deep, dark, cold and choppy water to start with means you have to confront your fears and concentrate on the job in hand.  What a beautiful location and I think it will become a regular for us - you don't get scenery like that in a swimming pool!
All set for my busy cycling weekend and I will start my recovery while watching the world cup final on Sunday night.