Building the miles

Following Sundays event I took yesterday off as a recovery day.  My legs felt the effort especially from the run and my shoulders and back were tired so I listened to my body - rule number 1 to avoiding injury.  I also decided not to train early morning as this gave me another 12 hours of recovery.  So tonight I went out on the bike for some speed and hill training.  It wasn't a long session but it was full on and I felt great.  I will build on this increasing the miles so the long rides will be at the weekends.  I will also go a recce the bike course in Aberfeldy so that I know what to expect - planning is so important as I found out on Sunday by going in the wrong direction and blowing the race.
Tomorrow I will go running and will start to build some speed which disappears with the marathon training. It's good to be back and training properly.

Olympic downer

This morning my tri club organised an Olympic distance event which was for members only and effectively a training event.  An ominous start with "white horse" galloping down the loch so for safety reasons the swim distance was reduced from 1.5 k to 1k.  We were all grateful as the waves smashed into your face and made breathing difficult.  A number of things went wrong in transition but these offer opportunities to learn (that's a positive spin!).  Unfortunately I missed the turn on the bike which added more than a mile onto my 25 mile course and the wind was a real challenge.  A cycling team passed me and suggested I join on the back which would have made it very easy but as I was in a race I couldn't accept their offer.  However I paced myself on them and stayed ahead of them for the 2 miles we were together.  My bike time was good with an average speed of 17mph which I was happy with especially in those conditions.  The run was murder with an undulating 10k course and the wind was a factor as well.
This event reminded me that I haven't been training enough and with 4 weeks to go to a half ironman, that's twice the distance, I have a lot of work to do as my result wasn't satisfactory and athletes I would normally beat were faster than me.  Part of that is down to when you peak in the season and for me that was 10 weeks ago due to Lanza Ironman which was my "A Race" for the season.  So a bit of a downer but lessons learned and a good bike time so it wasn't all negative.

Close call

In preparation for my Olympic distance triathlon tomorrow I headed out in the good weather to get some mile in my legs on the bike.  I have almost had no cycling since ironman 2 months ago.  I was heading down a narrow "b" road, tucked in doing 33 mph.  I knew the road so the corner at the bottom came as no surprise.  However the water spilling off the field across the road 10 yards short of the corner did and this cause my tyres to start to slide as I took the corner.  The front wheel started to wobble and in an instant everything tightens!  But to survive you have to relax and when I did the bike straightened up. Phew.  This all happened within 2 seconds although it all went in slow motion.  I was pleased the way I had reacted and know this was as a result of my training in Lanza in February.
I doubled the distance of Tuesdays ride and also increased my average speed so I'm making progress which is required with half ironman coming up in 4 weeks.

Back on the hard stuff

It was nice to wake up this morning without an alarm going off and at a reasonable time - 6.15am.  On Sunday I have a trial Olympic distance triathlon (i.e. not an official race just a bunch of us getting together) so I decided to go out running in preparation.  What a difference running on tarmac instead of sand.  It's so much easier but to counter that I did have the usual hills to contend with!
I ran 6.3 miles in just under 8 min mile pace so was happy with that - again setting a benchmark based on my current fitness level.  In 4 weeks time I am completing a half ironman which involves a 1.9k open water swim, a 90km bike and 21 km run so I need to double my running distance and try and improve the pace, slightly.  I mustn't forget that it's a half marathon after the swim and bike! After that is out of the way I will go off road with a lot of my running training which will make a nice change and is more appropriate for MdS training.

Fighting jet lag

Travelling across time zones has a major drawback and that's jet lag.  Since returning from the Caribbean I have been "out of sorts" and tried to get back to UK time and life.  Yesterday I was too knackered to train but this morning when my alarm went off at 6.15am I jumped straight out of bed before I could think about staying under the covers.
I've got 4 weeks to go before my half ironman and I need to treat this seriously although it is not my "A race" for 2011 - that has passed.  The triathlon club ATHelite are sending up at least 12 competitors so we all want to do our best and that involves some hard training.
I needed a benchmark on my swimming so I went to the pool this morning and swam a straight 2k with no breaks.  It took me 38 minutes but felt longer and a bit of an effort.  That's natural considering I haven't been in the pool in a month and hardly done anything swimming in 2 months.  So now I know where I stand I will build a programme to make me faster using less effort.  I think I'll be tired tomorrow morning though, but a good tired not tired due to bloody jet lag!

Drenched

I didn't get into the office till 11am this morning due to the jet lag. I seemed a bit "fuzzy" today so when I got home decided as it was dry to head out on the bike as I need to get the mileage up for the half ironman in a months time. By the time I had got my gear together a light drizzle had started. When I got off my bike I was soaked right through. 2 days before that would have been with sweat but this was good old Scottish rain - where's our summer? It was good to be back on the bike and I could feel the benefit of my running training while on holiday. I did a 16 mile time trial I.e. Was flat out on the bike. The road conditions were a bit dodgy and braking wasn't easy. Add to this glasses that I couldn't see through and 30 mph on "B roads" can be dangerous especially when there is oncoming traffic! The hard work has started.

Footprints in the sand

Yesterday at 7am I went for my final run on the beach before heading home to Scotland - that is if it's not submerged under the water following the heavy rains in the last 2 weeks! It was the hottest morning I'd experienced and it took a focused mental effort not to give up and enjoy strolling along the beach like so many others. I realised that the footprints I'd be leaving behind would shortly be washed away and replaced by others. But the memories of a fantastic family holiday will remain. I've given the Marathon des Sables a lot of thought over the last two weeks while running on the beach. I've a lot to learn between now and April and more off road running and sand running will be required to strengthen my ankles and my core as it is very different to road running. The softer sand almost sucks your foot in and that without me carrying 10 kilos on my back! But the rest did me good and my short-term focus is to get ready for the Aberfeldy half ironman in a months time. It's good to be back although the change in temperature and time difference will take a few days to get used to!