“There’s no way I’m putting up a run and advertising the fact that said I ran that slowly. Everyone will see it and think I’m really slow”
But if a session isn’t on Strava then it didn’t happen right? If I don’t post it then no one will know I actually dragged my arse out of bed at 5am to go to the pool and knock out that 4000m swim before work.
Allowing that you all probably don’t get here every week but might like an overview of how the year is shaping up so far I thought I’d summarise how things have been going. I’ll cover both how we feel things are going and what the numbers are. Read More
Due to athlete demand we have added a second Ironman / 70.3 Turbo/brick class on Saturday mornings. We now have a two hour Ironman specific option available as well as the four hour class.
If you’re training for Ironman or 70.3 this year this session is made for you with Ironman specific intervals and technique work.
Click through for all the details Read More
“You should start an Ironman specific turbo class on a Saturday morning in the new training room in the shop on a Saturday morning” Ais suggested.
“That sounds like a good idea” I answered “How long of a session have you in mind?”
“Four hours” Ais answered.
“Jaysus” I thought that’s a bit epic.
If you’re training for Ironman or 70.3 this year this session is made for you with Ironman specific intervals and technique work. We might even take a short coffee break at the two hour point to give your backside a break. Click through for all the details Read More
We are regularly asked in both the bike shop and through our coaching should I train using power? In my opinion the answer for most people is no (it’s important to remember that I’m also selling power meters, so there’s a potentially large sale at the end of a yes answer) despite this the answer more often than not is still no.
But why am I reading everywhere that training by power is the most effective and efficient method of training?
I’m not for one minute saying it isn’t efficient and effective. What I’m saying is that it’s not necessarily the right tool for most athletes.
So how do I know if I’m better off with or without a power meter?
One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned for Ironman is that your training should teach you how to race, not just make you fitter. To this end a lot of our training sessions are designed to not just improve fitness but also to teach you an aspect of Ironman racing. Be it pacing, nutrition, how to deal with fatigue, self control or some other part of racing.
The problem with either “racing” or just completing Ironman is that most of us only get to do it once a year and some don’t even get to do it that often. So how do you learn how to race a distance that is probably twice as long as you go in training and that maybe you only get to do a couple of times in your life?
In our own training and in our coaching we focus on the main areas that people struggle with in racing and try to design sessions to mimic what you will encounter on race day. Of course there are parts of Ironman that you will only experience on race day and will find impossible to replicate in training without frying yourself.
So what are the most important lessons to learn for Ironman racing?
You eventually reach a point, or at least I do, when you’ve had enough of the training and you feel ready to race. Maybe ready isn’t quite the right word, maybe I just feel like I’m at the limits of what I can do to get ready for this one.
I sometimes think I almost love the training and lifestyle more than the race itself but at the end of the day the race dangling out there in the distance is what motivates and drives me to keep on pushing when I might back off if I didn’t have the pressure of an event hanging out there. Read More
Aisling is giving me sessions a couple of days at a time depending on how I’m coping with the load. How I’m handling it is changing by the day and on Monday I’m not coping so well. I feel like I’m hanging by a thread.
I was down for a three hour run. It was a “just get it done” run. No structure, no intervals, efforts or pace targets. It was a “just get three hours on your feet” sort of day.
I lasted 2:50 and just couldn’t bring myself to add in a last 10 minute loop once I arrived back home. I was empty, both physically and mentally. I tried not to look at the rest of this weeks training stretching out ahead of me because I was so tired I might just cry at the thought of another 6 or 7 hour training day.
It’s funny how when the training builds to this level that the sheer difficulty of it can knock all of the enjoyment out of it. The exhaustion makes what would be the simplest of sessions on any other day seem insurmountable.
Maybe torturous is a better word.
I was so happy that tomorrow was a day off. Ais hadn’t given me the weeks work yet and I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t want to know. Read More
Monday was hanging out there in front of me with a combination of excitement and trepidation. Excitement because for the last few weeks my fitness has been on an upward trajectory and Ais had me down to do a very big day which I always love the challenge of.
Trepidation because the last couple of weeks have been hard and I was tired and it could end up being a 7-8 hour slog instead of an enjoyable long day of training.
It was to be a 4000m swim, 5+ hours on the bike and to run off it. Back in 2013 that became a fairly regular way to spend a Monday and I always think that those long days had probably the biggest impact on fitness of any session, of course first I needed to be fit enough to cope with 6, 7 and 8 hour training day or it would have the opposite effect and leave me flattened.
I’ve done a couple of them this year but at a much easier pace than Monday was to be at.
One of the funny things about these training days is just how long they take. My normal long days consist of a bike and run and I’d often have 6+ hours done by 1:30 on Sunday and then go into work for a few hours. Because I was including a swim it meant that I wouldn’t get onto the bike until after 10am. So I leave the house at about 6:50 am and usually dont finish at about 5pm.
The whole day is gone, just like that. There’s usually only time for a shower before dinner when I’m done, then we walk the dogs, have a coffee and then it’s time for bed. I’d forgotten that and I somehow am always surprised that it’s tea time when I’m done. Anyway lets get on with it… Read More
I was 3300 meters into the planned 4k swim when I saw Patrick gliding effortlessly through the water towards me. “Shite” I thought, and not for the usual reasons. I wasn’t worried that he’d be kicking lumps out of me. Patrick was on an easy week after swimming the channel last week. I was also almost out of time and needed to go to work so there would at least be a limit to my Patrick imposed suffering.
Rather I was thinking “shite” because Patrick is very old school and looks at us triathletes with all of our swim toys with derision. I knew if he saw me all banded, pull-buoyed and paddled up then I was in for some stick. So I was hoping to finish the last 400m of the 5 x 400 set with my paddles, pull buoy and band before he arrived. Unfortunately I’d timed it rather badly because there he was.
And now I was caught playing with my toys.
And with less than 50m to go too. Shite.
If he had arrived 2 minutes later I’d have had my guilty pleasure and he would have been none the wiser.
Damn, here he comes.
