PJ Week 2

Week 2 Summary
5 weeks to go with FTP run focus. 5 runs this week, 3 rides and 2 swims. A little sore and tight from last week but understandable going from next to no training to 9 ½ hours with some intense hard sessions. My arse certainly feels like it’s been to gaol after 5 ½ hours on the bike. After placing the sessions on how they best suited my life this week (and my recovery between) I was ready to rock and roll.
Monday
An evening 45 minute form run from home to Corpus Christi School and back. Z1 and Z2 only. I’m finding it hard to run this slow and hard to keep my heart rate down but I feel like my Aet run pace is already getting quicker.
Tuesday
“World champs” again in the morning with a 5:30am start from the Left Bank. I got down there 15 minutes earlier this week and had a warm up on the bike. I didn’t want to get dropped this week. Plan was to sit in near the back of the group and get used to the high intensity efforts. I hung in there just fine and felt good enough to sit in at third wheel for the Mounts Bay effort. I struggled a little on the climbs through Nedlands, Dalkeith, Cott but generally felt a lot better this week. I managed to be in the top few after the Leighton sprint. I decided to have a coffee with the guys today. First coffee at our mid week spot The Vanilla Bean near the Freo hospital. It’s been 5 weeks or so since I have had a coffee there. Didn’t find anywhere in Europe that could match it.
Evening run was another form run 30 minutes with 4 strides. I didn’t get out till 5:30 pm as Jenn and I do our weekly food shop on a Tuesday night. Nice evening though. Relatively warm.
Wednesday
Magic morning for a run. It was very cool but no rain and no wind. The run was tempo with 3 x 10 min efforts @ 10k pace. I decided to use a flat course, from work near Canning Bridge around the river path out to Melville Beach. I had set up the session on my computer and downloaded it to my Garmin because I didn’t want to be trying to read it in the dark. Managed to bugger it up though and had the efforts written in as 5 minute. Doh !!!! I worked out between the false workout times and where I was on the course where to make the changes near enough though. Mental note….check the session and double check before downloading !!! I was nearly finished my second effort and I felt the presence of a rider slowing next to me……it was Ratus finishing his RTR ride. He uttered a few words of encouragement like “ yeah that session really hurt when I did it yesterday….” and “fook’n put some effort in…..” and then he was off. The last effort did hurt.
I decided to get back in the pool this evening. I took some serious convincing but as it didn’t happen in the weekend I feel I need to. I bought a 20 pass card which makes it a bit cheaper. Up to $5:20 for a casual entry now…..bloody Melville City Council. Need to pay for their new extensions and renovations I guess. As this was going to be a “get the feel back “ session I did 400m warm up, 600m free, 500m pull and out. It actually felt great getting back in the water. Mentally I think it was a good thing. Hopefully I can swim again Saturday arvo and then I might be up for some of Fluro’s killer swim sets next week.
Thursday
Usual bike interval session in the morning. Another magic morning to be out. Cool but clear and no wind. I warmed up by riding from work down to the usual meeting spot. Early, no one there so did some more warm up squirts down Bourke Drive. Fluro, Tom and Duncan were doing an easy spin around the river as they are doing the TT on Sunday. They are looking to raise the bar and crack the magic 42k/hr av mark !! The plan for me was 6 x 4 min TT’s at FT with 2 min recover between off the front of the group. Rosco and Rob Mac were up for the same and Rosco was happy to lead the way and do the timing. That guy is a serious work horse. He made it easy for Rob and I. The pace he set was spot on. We must be nigh on same same. Our efforts were done by Christchurch so it was easy spin back to Freo. Nah….not likely Leighton is always too tempting. Tom was the first off the front, Rosco followed so I jumped on his wheel. Smash back to Freo. Finished the session with coffee in East Freo. Should have gone straight to work but fook it !! very pleasant conditions for riding and coffee drinking with your training buddies. Cool but clear and no wind. Didn’t start work till 7:50am but it was longer than our usual Thursday bike interval sessions.
Evening was a hard set on paper and it proved to be in practice. 10x200m @ 3k pace with 200m recover between then 2x1000m @ 5k pace with 1k RI interval between. Once again I wrote this up on my SportTracks software and downloaded it to my Garmin because there were so many changes in the set. This worked out great. The last 1k effort really hurt. Felt good to finish it.
Friday
Rest day. Love it. Physical rest, mental rest as well. Don’t have to pack a training bag, think about a training session, can have a lay in if I want. My right knee a little sore today again but not nearly as servere as last week.
Saturday
I elected not to ride to the hills with the fellow Amigo’s, Stenchie and Bernie today as much as it would have been great commardarie, I am still not there with my fitness, I knew I wasn’t fully recovered from Thursday night intervals and I didn’t want to be completely trashed as I still had to run long on Sunday morning. Next time boys. The goal this morning was to spend as much time as possible at FT effort and raise power. This was not going to be difficult as due to absentees Freo group 1 and 2 combined pulled out from Troppo’s. Along Riverside Road we caught on to Old Pappa’s group and on to Preston Point Road the group was about 70 riders strong until we pulled off on to Point Walter Road. The pace was really on with the group 1 guys pushing it from the front. The weaker group 2 guys were dropping like flies off the back and by the time we got to Claremont we were down to about 15 riders. I didn’t have enough left in the tank to contest the sprint at Leighton although I was in the mix. I was really feeling the Thursday night Interval fatigue in my legs by then. It was good to catch up with an old training buddy Richard Stacey at Christchurch. He was out riding solo, looking pretty fit. Haven’t seen him for ages. He is also training for Busso IM. He asked me how my swimming was going. His advice “stay away from squad PJ…..just do the kay’s ”
At 12:30 Sam and Jenn were off Op Shop clothes shopping so I shot down to Melville pool. I bashed out an easy 2k swim just focusing on form and pretending I was in a wind tunnel trying to stay aero as possible! Ahhh the things that come to your mind during a long swim set !! That pretty much finished me off. I was done.
Sunday
I stepped out early for the long run left home at 6:15am. It was wet and windy but not cold. A front had come through last night and into this morning. I have taken to wearing my old tri suit on long runs. Looks a bit dawky but it means no nipple rub or chaffing when wet and also I get some wear out of a kit I probably won’t race in ever again. I can recommend it Amigo’s. Some good squalls came through with horizontal rain. Run out was easy. Home to the River, along Melville Beach, up Majestic Hill then turn for home around the Point on the boardwalk and bang….straight in to a headwind. Bloody hell it was a hard back. Heart rate climbed with the effort into the wind and fatigue in the legs. Turned to side wind for the last 4k home so not too bad. With that out of the way Jenn, Sam and I went in to the Art Gallery to take in the Indigenous Art Award Exhibition. Legs were heavy and tight again. Hurt going up the stairs at the Art Gallery !!! Finished the day with a PJ lamb roast in the weber. Cooked an apple strudel in it as well this time which worked well. Got the thumbs up from the Jacko crew anyway.
Some 12 hrs all up. Swim 3.5k, Bike 193.33k, Run 40.85k
Looks like the Fluro run crew are keen to get the Thursday night run interval sessions happening again at Point Walter. I’m up for that. It’s always good to do run intervals with a group even though these guys are so much quicker than me.