Monday 2 December 2013

Week 1 - job done. More about the plan

Base week 1 of my official training plan ended with a 2:30 off-road cycle with the boys from the Club. Chris and I cycled from Ashington to Southwater Country Park (a nice warm up) before meeting with Nick, Matt, Mark, Hilly and John for a route along the Downs Link and then over the South Downs towards Amberley.

From the start the pace was full-on, speeding along the Downs Link towards Partridge Green then Henfield and on to Bramber. My heart rate was pretty much in zone 4-5 but I just managed to keep up with the guys (some of the strongest riders in the Club). There was some respite as we had to stop to fix not one but two punctures on Chris' bike. At Bramber we headed towards the hills and climbed the South Downs to the top of Steyning Bostal. Both Chris and I were struggling to keep up with the leaders so opted to part ways and take an alternative route via Wiston and home. The boys continued at pace and on a mission to get a specific train from Amberley that would take them back to Billingshurst. Chris and I had intended to cycle to Amberley but would have cycled back to Ashington. Given the time we had lost from the puncture stop it would have been quite a long bike ride so we decided to cut our losses and choose a shorter route home.

Another reason for limiting my ride was that it put me nicely at 9 hours of training for the week, which was bang on target. Next week I intend to increase the volume to 9.5 hours and the following week 10 hours. During the festive period this will be reduced and then I will pick it up again in the New Year with a 3-week cycle - first fortnight increasing the volume and third week slightly easier. During the base period (Dec-Mar) the majority of the training will be easy (not to much Z4-5 - like today!) and it is unlikely I will do many weeks more than 11 hours early on but towards the end of the phase the volume will increase to 13-14 hours. The goal is to be consistent.

Thereafter I enter the build phase (Apr-May) where the volume and intensity picks up. More speed sets (intervals, turbo, fartlek etc.) and increased strength work will also be included. Swims will be increased to three sessions. Brick sessions will also be incorporated. Some of the long run and bike sets will be reduced but I will add in interval sets. Weekly total will be around 8 hours but there will be much greater focus on higher intensity.

At the end of Peak phase (Jun to mid-Aug) I will have built up to 14-15 hours per week and should be able to comfortably complete: a 1 hour sea swim, a 5-6 hour bike, a 3 hour run and some brick sessions. I will still take one rest day per week (normally Monday).

I also have a 3-week taper built into the programme. Week 1 as no more than 7 hours, week 2 around 5-6 hours and week 3 very little (and easy) with alternating rest days.

My Coach has picked up on the following focus areas:

- Some experience from Ironman Austria and naturally well organised
- Particular strengths on the bike
- Willing to try new swim techniques
- Wants to improve on pacing and running off the bike
- Some aversion to sugary gels and needs to review nutrition plan
- Some inconsistency with previous training
- Possibly does not go hard / easy enough - too much training in narrow middle-band

Goals:

- To finish and enjoy the experience (base goal)
- To improve on previous time of 12:23 and aim for a personal best (modest goal)
- To complete under 12 hours (challenging goal)

Key principles:

- Greater consistency and planned build up. No erratic or big jumps up or down
- Needs to be in balance with other areas in life, flexible and adaptable
- Greater understanding and focus on the purpose and benefits of every sesssion at each stage

I already have a diary divided up by the various training phases and started populating that with the specific times and sessions. The first part of the base phase (Dec-Jan) will be shared on my blog as a separate post.

I intend to keep a detailed record of my training and how I feel throughout (following Joe Friel recommended format - The Triathlete's Training Diary). My training data will also be held within Garmin Connect and made public via Strava.

Other areas I will explore is a more rigorous and focussed stretching programme, 1-2-1 swim lessons trying to improve my technique and possibly some nutrition advice.

There is a lot more to cover but hope this post provides some additional detail about the plan, which I hope will be of interest to anyone thinking of attempting their first ironman distance race.

Onwards and upwards!

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