I can do this!

Saturdays are a mega training day for me. The plan is to do swimming, cycling and running. Really push the body in these last few weeks before I can start to taper (only 11 weeks to race day!)

I have had doubts in my head in my ability to do my Half Ironman in Antwerp on 2nd August. Yesterday, I had a realisation. I can do this!

This is what happened...

I left the house at 7.30 and cycled 6.5 miles to swim training. Swam for an hour, about 2500m. Had some luck warm porridge then jumped on my bike. I haven't been cycling with this group before, but it didn't matter, they weren't cycling in their normal groups either! 40 miles later we arrived back at the swimming pool were I grabbed my swim kit and cycled the 6.5 miles home. When I got home, I stripped off some layers, put on my trainers and went for a run. The legs and body will always feel sluggish off of a long run so I just grinned, with my head held high and put one foot in front of the other. I was going to do 3 miles but after 2 I decided that I could, and should, do more. So I continued on my 5 mile route. At mile 3 I put in ten 10 second 'sprints' followed by 20 seconds of recovery jogging. The sprints got slower and slower and so did the recovery jogs but I kept it up. I then jogged the last mile, down hill, to home.

I did the maths.

I swam over race distance. I cycled 4 miles short of race distance. I ran over a third of race distance but also included 10 sprints.

I started the day at 7.30am and finished at 1.45pm. 6 hours 15 minutes. Including 30min faff before and after swim, including faff of taking my bike up to my flat and slowly changing my footwear.

I can do this race! Yippee!

ET training

On Saturday I joined Edinburgh Triathletes for a bonza training session.

It all started with a gentle ride to their swimming pool in Dalkeith, 6.5 miles away. It is a gentle ride, just up hill most of the way!

The swim session went well. There were quite a lot of us in the lane so we did lots of 50m sets. It would have been a mess if we did anything different, we would have been annoying the hell out of each other trying to overtake.

After the swim we went straight out on to the bike. My training now involves my cycling as hard as I can and when I think I can't go any faster, to spin really quickly for 30 secs. I did this for 30km and my legs felt like mush from the start. Never fear, the bike was followed by a...

You guessed it, a run. 4 of us donned our trainer and went to a run. For my runs, I am supposed to run at race pace, for that distance, and when I get to 3/4 of the way round, I'm to put in 10 hill sprints. We had no hills where we were so I had to make do with flat sprints, but that didn't really work either. My legs felt like mush.

I was pretty pooped by the time I got back to my bike but I simple changed my shoes and headed home. The journey home is mostly down hill, apart from the hill out of Dalkeith. That nearly finished my legs off! Half way home the heavens opened. I mean properly opened. Oh well, I'm sure it would have done my legs good AND I was going home.

Great day!

Last week's training and this week

A good week last week...

Swim - 5,200m - 2hrs
Bike - 68 miles - 4hrs50
Run - 20 miles - 3hrs52
Gym/Core - 2hrs45
Total - 13hrs27

My swimming is stable to quick. I need to speed up my bike ride and improve my endurance. The run is coming along steadily. I really enjoy the morning core work and gym sessions. The core work sets me up nicely for the day. I can feel the improvements in the gym and I can feel the benefits in the other disciplines.

This week may be a little less successful as real life is happening but the plan is...

Swim - 4,500m - 2hrs
Bike - 37 miles - 2hrs45
Run - 24 miles - 4hrs20 ( Including Heaven and Hell Half Marathon!)
Gym/Core - 4hrs25
Total - 13hrs30

Let's see what happens!

Discipline

Up until recently, I was really enjoying my new found discipline and routine.

I was getting up at 6am, doing my morning exercises of stretches or yoga then stretches and then heading out for a run, swim or bike ride.

I was eating a banana each morning before heading out, followed by a small vat of porridge when I got to work. Pasta for lunch, yogurt for afternoon snack and vegetables and meat or fish for tea.

I was packing the next days kit before I went to bed for 10pm.

I was working for me. I was feeling great both from the diet, sleep and from the exercise.

I think I'm currently having a wee 'break' from my new routine. Chocolate is back on the menu, carbs are back in the evening meal (although this was needed anyway) and late nights are creeping in.

I think I'll start my routine again when I come back from my holiday at the end of February. I'm in London until tonight then I go on holiday to Glencoe on Friday, not back in to 'normality' until the following Monday so no point resurrecting the routine until then.

Oh well. At least I can try to be good!