A successful end to the week

I am sitting in the warm and buzzy Pulborough RFC clubhouse writing this blog and re-watching England vs. Wales battle it out - great game, very physical.

Outside my son is playing rugby and training in very wet conditions and I feel a little guilty, not because I am nice and warm but just discovered his rugby boots are almost two sizes too small - what kind of Dad am I!

Anyway back to my own training. This morning's run was successful in that I simply got the job done - I set my alarm for 5:45am and was out the door by 6am. I completed a 3 hour run covering 33km of which at least 10km was off-road in very muddy conditions. Not exactly marathon race pace but I was pleased that I was able to keep going for 3 hours without too much fatigue. Although I expect to have a bit of leg pain tomorrow - must remember to use the foam roller tonight, which may help recovery.

Going back a bit - Thursday was one of those busy work days and despite my goal of getting some time in the 'Cave of Pain' it simply did not happen. Generally after 8pm I really haven't got the motivation to train even if I have the energy.

So following my rest day on Thursday I decided to push the speed a little on the bike commute into Brighton on Friday morning. It all started OK but I did struggle to maintain my speed above 30km per hour and after 20km my average had fallen back to 28-29km per hour. OK the conditions were pretty awful, wet and dark with quite a strong wind; however it always amazes me that my average speed on the bike in last year's Ironman was approx. 30km per hour but that was for 6 hours. A number of people have told me that you will never be fitter than when you line up for the start of an Ironman (as long as you have trained appropriately) - I think they may be right!

Anyway, after a faster than normal morning commute I did the return, taking a slightly more hilly route, much easier - decent zone 1-2 effort.

Saturday morning was interesting - Coach MT had us doing some time trials in the pool after a decent warm up of 450m steady plus 6x 50m fast. I was a little disappointed with my results but haven't really swum much over the last fortnight.

Results:

400m 7:02 (PB is nearer 6:45)
200m 3:28 (PB is nearer 3:20)

We were supposed to focus on going faster in the second half of each timed swim (i.e. negative split). I will have to analyse my data - to be downloaded to Training Peaks for confirmation.

What I do know is that I am not getting any faster and there are a number of newer members in the Club that are faster than me over that distance. As a result I am likely to go down a lane.

Coach MT always says that if you swim two times a week, which I do, you will probably be able to maintain your swim fitness but you will only improve if you can commit to 3-4 weekly sessions. The only time I was swimming that volume was prior to last year's Ironman and I was definitely improving. As we move towards race season I hope to get in at least another one swim session a week, whether in the pool or the lake (post April).

In summary, a relatively successful end to the week. Looking forward to a bit more intensity training over the coming 2-3 weeks in the run up to Brighton marathon, hopefully using my new Newton running shoes.

Now - to rescue my son!

Post blog update:

Unfortunately cannot work out 100m swim splits on my Garmin as didn't press Lap during the time trial, however best 100m on the 400m was 1:35 and on the 200m 1.37.

Run pace - splits for today:

1st hour: 5:35 mins per km
2nd hour: 5:48
3rd hour: 5:45