Welcome

I started this blog in 2010 when there were 11 weeks to go before my next Ironman triathlon. People have found it interesting (mainly my Mum!) so I continue to write.
The Ironman is a long distance triathlon; Swim 2.4miles, Cycle 112miles, Run 26.2 miles (marathon). I have competed in one every year since 2004. I hope this blog can help others see what is involved. I find the process of writing it makes me more accountable and motivates me to do the harder sessions when i'm not feeling like it!

Saturday 14 April 2012

Turbo

Warm up 10mins
4 x 20min x 250W on 10min recovery
10min x 250W 5min recovery
2.5min x 250W 2.5min recovery
2.5min x 250W

The plan today was to add an extra set onto the 20min intervals at 250W to make 5. I got to 10min into the last and fatigue came from nowhere. I then planned to break the remaining time into smaller chunks and stopped when I thought there was no point taking anymore medicine. I must admit though looking down at the timer with it saying 2hr30 made me think that's enough time on the turbo.

The heart rate data was higher than last time
Today's was blue (red was on the 1st april) probably due to treadmill on Thursday and core yesterday. Time for a rest/easy day. 

The interesting thing was getting leg fatigue with the heart rate still at reasonable levels - this feels like very specific training for endurance events.

Friday 13 April 2012

GB team!

Core
Usual routine - getting easier!
Here is a link to the exercises

Swim
Just 30mins easy drills. 1 arm, catch up, 5 strokes per breath.

I was looking after George and Will all day so took it easy.

Otherwise, some good news today,

Just been accepted to represent GB in the ITU world championships in Spain this summer. It's the week after the Ironman so a lot to think about. I think that will mean wearing a tri-suit with my surname MOON written across my backside which will be interesting!


"Hi James,

Just a quick note to say Q2 is now posted, I can tell you that you were successful. Congratulations and I'll look forward to seeing you in Spain.

Cheers Tim Whitmarsh
GB Age Group Team Manager
ITU World Championships"

Thursday 12 April 2012

Run

Treadmill
5min warm up
5 x 2min x 15% x 10km/hr
5 x 2min x 18km/hr x 1% on 2min recovery
5min cool down

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Watt's per Kg table

Turbo

Warm up 10mins
345W x 2min x 90rpm x 2 on 3min recovery

I've had a couple of big days (swim and run) so decided to do a short sharp bike. I was wondering where I am cycling wise - there are some tables that look at the amount of watts you can produce per Kg body weight.



So 5W/kg would be 345W for me - I thought i'd give it a go and see how long I could keep that going; 2mins was plenty. I'll revisit it soon. A lot of the challenge is mental, it's hard to do well when you're thinking this is going to be hard right from the start. 

An all rounder cyclist would have all their Watts/Kg along a straight line. My 5min and 1 hour(FT) are but my 1min and 5sec are well below. This would make sense considering i've trained for endurance. I "should" be able to do 8x69=550W for 1 min and 15.88x69=1095W for 5 seconds. Maybe working on this shorter end would help to bring the longer ones up. 

Bottom line is i'd love to be able to do cat 1 - but that is doing for an hour what I can only do for 2mins right now! It's unbelievable. Maybe the turbo's not reading correctly (joke)

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Swim

40min + 60min

Half term, so some crazy time tabling at the pool. 40min swim then had to get out and wait 15min (whilst no swimming was allowed) then back in again. I was up for 6km but did somewhere between 4.5 and 5km. No shoulder issues which is surprising - it's usually worst the morning after though.

I must keep reminding myself that the first half hour of these long swims is the worst - after 30mins time zips by whereas at the beginning i'm thinking "i'm going to do this for how long?!!"

Monday 9 April 2012

Weigh in 70.2Kg 9.9% fat


Run

20km - set out with no clear objectives - ended up doing 20km with average pace of 5min 20sec. Happy with that and good way to spend some time in the rubbish weather.



Spin scan
- A quick 30mins of this in the morning. Trying to improve my cycling form.

Lost some discipline eating lots of easter chocolate this week. I'd like to see the weight somewhere around 69kg but you can't have everything.

Sunday 8 April 2012

Turbo

Tripple 3's
Warm up 10mins
all at 250W - 3min 90rpm, 3min 65rpm, 3min out of saddle (55rpm)
then 50W 3min easy spinning recovery
x 5

Great to finish the decorating and get rid of the lethargy that seems to come with it. This session is a favourite of Gordo Bryn the one who writes "going long" - i've been wanting to try it out for a while.

It's easy to see getting out of the saddle is costly - a jump in heart rate for the same work. 

Still feeling like I should be doing a long run. Maybe tomorrow? The plan was to use the marathon as a long run. Getting a 18-20mile run in once every 4 weeks would then keep that side of things ticking along.