Week 19 - Getting the wetsuit out

Week 19 Totals:

Swim: 7.2k

Bike: 183.44k

Run: 62.8k

Commute: 23k

Totals So Far:

Swim: 111.4k

Bike: 241.95k

Run: 610.7k

Commute: 605k

Well, for a rest week it was fairly intense! I clocked up nearly a 17 hour training week! The start of the week seems like an age away, and it wasn't the best start to the week as it has been deadline week at uni, which means that I have been having 3-4 hours sleep a night during the week and catching up where I can! Trying to do this whilst training full time is suicide and my training really took a hit on some days, and was especially apparent over the weekend. However, all in all, it is nice to be back training properly, even if it has just rained most of the week!

After 5 months, I finally managed to try out my wetsuit and get some Open Water practice in. It was weird, and very, very cold! The wetsuit puts your body in the ideal swimming position, so you just glide through the water, and gives you a ton of buoyancy to make it easier to swim. But it can be very restrictive around the chest and shoulders, despite all the innovations they put in it. It will take some getting used to, so I will be down at Boundary Park every week practising, and trying to sort my head position out and stop crossing my arms! I am going to alter my training plan slightly so that I have 2 sessions a week in the pool doing my usual swim sets, and 1 session a week doing a long OW swim, gradually increasing the distance.

My cycling is getting better as I continue to put the mileage in, and I can tell I am becoming more fluid on the bike. My long ride on saturday was a tough one, with winds stronger than I have ever seen before and some crazy climbing! I did a lot in the Peak National Park, including the cat and fiddle, and coupled with the lack of sleep throughout the week, a run the day before that I probably pushed myself too hard on, and the fact that I didn't start eating early enough on the bike (lesson learnt!) I bonked about 80k into the ride. It is a horrible feeling just trying as hard as you can and seeing speeds that I could almost walk at. But it is supposed to be good for you in training, and I have learnt my lesson. Funnily enough, after eating lots, my run after was surprisingly good and the speed was quite high!

Overall, I am really beginning to see the benefits of my training the most in my running, as the speed work has pushed my average speed up and I get used to running for a long time. The only exception was my long run on sunday, where I was knackered from my long bike ride and then stupidly decided not to take any fluids/fuel out with me for a 90 minute run. I really felt it in the last third, so that is another lesson learnt! On the plus side, I was absolutely dead, and I still managed to clock up 17.4k, which is just short of the speed I am planning for, for my IM run so with fresh (well as fresh as they can be after 180k on the bike) legs, fluids and fuel and 11 more weeks of training, I should be fine!

This week is the final week of my build phase, before I start my 10 week peak to my Ironman. This phase includes a week peak, then a week to taper for my half IM on the 7th June, before I have a week of building/recovery then 4 solid, heavy weeks to peak then a 3 week taper to my Ironman. It will be tough. This week the hours increase (as ever!) and I bring my speed work back in to get some high intensity work back in and pick my speed up. My pool swims also increase to 3.5k, which is as long as they go, to help me get used to doing the entire 3.8k 'comfortably'. I shall continue to increase the distance I do in my wetsuit, so hopefully by the time I have done my Ironman I will be doing 4k straight swims. My cycling and running, will continue to consume my life...I should probably stock up on the food then!

Happy training

Tim