And breathe...

Another week of training done and, after my down-on-my-luck rant in my last post, the plan to throw myself into some training really paid off in the end. The scores on the doors for last week? 7.3km of swimming, 333km on the bike and 45.5k of running. There were a couple of hours of conditioning and flexibility in there too, but who’s counting (well, actually, I am…).

As I’ve said before, I know that the ride is the key to success at Ironman Wales and that’s the reason I really got behind that this week. It was a long weekend here in Dubai thanks to a public holiday on Thursday; while I was way too busy to stay away from the office all day, I did get the chance to tackle a long holiday ride with the Cycle safe group on Thursday morning. The ride was scheduled to be a 120k out to the Abu Dhabi border – I decided to park up 15k away (taking the ride to 150k). The final 30k or so were very hot and windy but, other than that, the ride went well – the longest distance I’ve ever ridden in one go and I felt generally quite strong..

On the road again...

The following morning, I rode out to meet the Roadsters. Given the previous day’s exertions, I decided to do the shorter 80k ride rather than the usual 120. I didn't realise that while the 120 was a long steady ride at around 34kph average, the 80k ride wasn't an easy, shorter spin but an all-out sprintathon! From the halfway point, we were averaging 44kph on the way back…inevitably, my legs gave out and I slowed down and rode in with another group who’d fallen off the back, before riding back to the car (making the ride a 90k-er in total). The pace was tough but I'm glad I tried that distance – once Ironman is over and we return to the regular triathlon season here, I’ll alternate between the longer steadier ride and the shorter faster one; long rides build endurance in the legs but, as the old saying goes, if you want to go fast, you’ve got to practise going fast… 

Wait for me...

On Saturday, it was a nice and easy 2 hour spin on the Bab Al Shams coffee ride – one hour out to the hotel in the desert, coffee and a Danish there, then an hour back. It’s amazing how having built up my endurance over the past few months, a 60k ride now feels like a walk in the park – even this time last year, 60k was still a good ride for me. Now it’s a warm-down!

Outside Bab Al Shams after a coffee stop.

There was some running thrown in over the weekend too (just 16k or so total), but the real success wasn't the mileage put down but the fact I loved every minute of it. The enthusiasm and joy I was lacking at the beginning of the week have come flooding back. I can’t wait to get to IM but, just as much, I can’t wait to get back from IM and for the regular triathlon season to begin. It may take me a while to get my speed back (IM is about long, steady aerobic performance; sprints and Oly distance races need speed and power that need to be trained for in a different way) but I know I’ll feel the difference from all these miles I’m clocking up. The 20k bike section of a sprint tri must feel pretty short and easy when you’ve spent months doing regular 120k+ rides…

Typically, with all this positive energy and motivation firmly entrenched in the noggin, this week is my easy recovery week. Recovery weeks can be frustrating. I’ll still be doing around 8hrs of training, but it’ll all be done at very low intensity, and it’s a far cry from the 20hrs I did last week. These weeks are important – heavy training breaks down muscles so that they repair bigger and stronger; without time to repair, you never see the benefits of all that training and put yourself at risk of injury. But these weeks are frustrating! I’m taking the opportunity to get on top of work, have a tiny bit of a social life and do some tri admin – cleaning my bike and chain, inventorising what I have and what I’ll need for Ironman…the week will soon be over.

And when it is over…phew, I looked at the next four weeks of my programme this morning and these are the make or breakers. They’re vicious and make the last few weeks look easy but I 110% trust and believe that if I follow the programme and don’t miss a session, the next four weeks will make sure I get around IM Wales in decent shape. Four weeks that will decide how my day goes on 11 September 2011. Bring ‘em on!