This week includes my BTW - Big Tri Weekend. But that's not until Wednesday.
Monday
This morning I did intervals - 3 x 1.6k z4. I taped my left foot up again, to keep any plantar fasciitis at bay. After this week, it is only 5 weeks to race day! Anyway, the run went OK, though my legs were fairly avg considering I had a rest day yesterday. Must be a bit sore still from the big race rehearsal ride on Sat. Got through 12k in 58 min overall. After work I hit the pool for a speed workout. Lots of hard sprints - eg 200's with the last 50 sprint, 150's with 50 sprint and a bunch of 100's etc. 3.5k all up in 1:01 hrs.
Tuesday
My usual easy/recovery day with a swim in the PM only planned. The arms felt a bit heavy but I got into the groove for some longer endurance sets, such as 6x400's and then struggled through 10x100 with 50 sprint/50 easy. All up I did 3.9k in 1:07hrs
Wednesday
This is the scheduled start to the Big Tri Week (5 days). The purpose of which is to inject some extra long kays into the program, as a one off hit, to boost endurance. The E.N. program I follow tries to keep regular weekly training time reasonable, so that the rest of your life is in relative balance. Anyway, I am taking tomorrow off as A/L and then it is the public holiday for CHOGM on Friday. So I have some extra training time available. I saw a real funny thing this morning. As I was riding through Wembley Downs on my way to City Beach (back streets) I passed a house where a guy on a bike was just rolling out of his driveway. I glanced at him but didn't think anymore about him until he came up behind me, as we climbed up the hill at the end of the Wembley Golf course. I could here him coming, so a I put a tad more effort in - as he didn't look especially good! Anyway, he caught me near the top of the hill and went by. But then we got to the roundabout and a car was coming, so he went real slow and next to the curb as he was going left. Then he all of sudden just fell over into the garden bed next to the road and muttered a few profanities. It was most uncool. But it was sooo funny! But I managed to keep a straight face and just kept riding...as my Mum said to me many times as a kid "pride come before a fall"!!!! (I was usually showing off on my bike when she said it.)
I didn't really get the kays planned in today, as Lisa leaves for work at 640am and I do the school run (plan was bike 90, run 8) but I did do 45k on the bike before work in 1.5hrs. I did intervals, 3 x (6 x 30/30's) and then just rode steady after that. I ran at lunchtime in very humid weather and clocked over an easy 8k. It didn't feel to easy though and I felt a bit off colour all arvo and that night. I think I am fightin off a cold or something.
Thursday
This was effectively Day 1 of the BTW. I had to help out on the home front and juggle kids activities before school etc so I hit the pool about 615am and did 2.5k. I felt slow and tired and it was hard work from start to finish. Avg pace per 100m was nearly 1:48, which is a few seconds slower than normal. It was a mental battle not to get out early. But I got through the set by doing descending distances after my w/up - 600, 500, 400, 300, 200 & 100. Then it was home for a feed and some home duties before a big ride.
I wasn't feeling too fresh or motivated (as Rat had changed his plan and wasn't going to ride with me now) and it had been raining heaps overnight, but I just got on the old bike and headed off. The plan was a 'century ride' in the old money or 160k. So I hit the road around 8am or so. It felt strange as there were so many cars around and people going to work/school etc. The weather was fine and not much wind to speak off, but it looked very threatening as I headed down the coast towards Freo. I thought I would get soaked later and probably get a flat too! I guess that was my negative mindset. Anyway, I got the old engine working after a while and was able to get a bit of a rhythm going. I didn't feel like I had much power on the hills though. I went RTR to the Raffs and then down to the bike path. The slow bit annoyed me more than previously as did the detour for roadworks. I hit the lap button at Roe Hwy (the start of the open road) and off I went. It was a pretty uneventful ride with hardly anyone out. The path was very wet around Thomas to Safety Bay Rd but it didn't actually rain on me at all. Then it started to dry up and the sun even came out a few times, briefly. I was stiffening up a bit in the shoulder/neck region but otherwise felt OK. I turned around about 6k past Safety Bay Rd right on 80k and about 2:30hrs which was a reasonable avg so far of 31.9k. The last 10-15k were a bit harder as a bit of a WSW'ly wind had started up.
I started my return trip with a slightly more upbeat mood. The sun had come out, I should have a bit of a tail wind and I was on the way home. That lasted about 2km as I found the wind more of a cross wind and my legs not that interested in going faster either! I swallowed a couple of No-Doze ate some more food and promised myself a pit stop at the Thomas Rd servo. I reckon I was hit by about 7-8 dragon flies on the way home. They seemed to be on a mission to take me down! I stopped at the servo and purchased a couple of Gatorade's and used the facilities. That 5min break seemed to pep me up a bit and I felt much better after that. I made pretty good time and had avg'd 34.5 back to Roe Hwy, which lifted my avg speed for the ride to 32.7 km/h. I dropped in to see Rat & PJ briefly at their work, which was good, as I was sick of my own company! I then had about 70min to home from there. RTR was into the Westerly and was hard work, especially the hills. Then I ran the gauntlet of all the semi-trailers around Freo port and got to the coast. The wind seemed to have a bit of south in it, which was a welcome relief as I headed north up the coast to home. I ended up with a 2min negative split, which was pretty good I thought. So overall 160km in 4:58hrs at 32.2. I was glad to get off the bike and kick back for a while, that's for sure.
Friday
Today the plan was a semi-long run and a long swim. But I tried to sleep in as long as I could 1st. Managed to doze until almost 7am before I gave up. Faffed around, had a bit of brekky and headed off with 2 bottles on my Fuelbelt. It wasn't long before I new my legs were fairly fatigued. But as tired as they felt, I still managed a steady clip. Hopefully that is a little bit of mental training for IM. I ran up the coast for 8k and back. There were heaps of people out on bikes, Rollerblades, skateboards, walking and running. Taking advantage of the lovely spring weather on the public holiday. I managed an almost even split run and finished the 16k in 1:17hrs. The foot felt OK but I was pretty tired. Eggs on toast went down a treat. With the the kids off with the grandparents seeing the Queen, I tried to have a kip around noon. But the phone rang just as I was dropping off and the moment had passed.
After lunch (my 3rd meal for the day!) I went to the pool. Goal was 4k made up of 7x400's + 8x100's. I warmed up with 4 x 100 1st and didn't feel too flash. Then hit for the 400's, which were to be done at RR pace less 2-3 seconds. So 1:44-1:45 per 100m. I manged to do that for the first 6, but the last one slipped to 1:46 pace. I did have to dig deep to do it, as the arms were pretty fatigued. Then, I resisted the urge to get out and did my 8x100's as 50 sprint / 50 easy. I can say that the sprints became less so as I progressed! So I got my 4k in 1:10hrs. I came home in time to pass Lisa as she went out the door to work. I had a few snacks & some fruit to top up my carbs, as tomorrow is a big day. Today feels like Sunday, but is only Friday! Woo hoo! I was in bed by 845pm and asleep about 5min later!
Saturday
This was supposed to be the 'Epic' day in the BTW. With a swim/bike/run. But Rat & I made it semi-Epic only by doing our swim yesterday. The plan was a 160/12 brick. So Rat rocked up at my joint at 0500hrs and we hit the road. It was very breezy with a 15-20 knot cool Easterly wind blowing. We both were a bit cold for a while and wondering why the hell we were doing this exactly! But after a bit we warmed up. The roads were deserted at this early hour but the breeze made things pretty ordinary. We went down the coast and RTR to Mt Henry Bridge and onto the bike path - the exact same route I had take less than 48 hrs ago! Progress was much slower than Thursday, due mostly to the horrid wind blowing in our faces.
Once we got past Roe Hwy we agreed it was down to business. Rat & I chose our own pace for the next hour and pushed on down to the turnaround. My neck/left shoulder felt pretty ordinary. The extra kays in the pool and on the bike seemed to have contributed to it being pretty sore. It was a cross wind most of the time, with a little head and a little tail thrown in for good measure. We hooked up again at the end point on the 80k mark. Then we did the same thing on the way back to our pit stop at the Thomas Rd servo. I got there 1st and went in and grabbed a couple of nice cold drinks, They tasted great too. We then rode more or less together for the rest of the ride. It was nice to get a tail wind for most of the route RTR and we put in a few efforts and chased a few other riders down, for something to do. We then got to the last leg - up the coast to home. It was a relief to have the end nigh.
We rolled into T2 - my garage - after 5:16hrs and 161km with an avg of 30.5. Not too bad considering the conditions and that it was my 2nd 'century' ride in couple days. A quick change and in the car for a drive to the beach and it was off on a 1hr brick run. We took it fairly easy but ran a pretty consistent pace, avg was 5:09 for 11.7km. Then the best part was the short swim and standing in the water at Scarborough Beach. That felt really good! So a good session was achieved and another box ticked. Tomorrow is the 'Swing Day' in the Big Tri W/end - which means you can decide on what you do based on how you feel. So it might be an easier day for me. I'll check with Rat later as we did plan on a Yanchep ride. But I'm off for a nanna nap now!
Sunday
The Swing Day proved to be just that. Rat & I agreed to do our own thing, which for both of us is probably just a run. I went to Surf Club with the kids after a sleep in and leisurely breakfast. Did the club swim with my new massive handicap of 3:55 min! (I have been ripped off!) and then helped out for a while, including a board paddle with Mikayla's group. I had an early lunch and then prepared for a run in the hottest part of the day. I want to be as acclimatised as I can (a bit hard this far out) for race day, as most of my running training is in the early morning cool. I'm glad I didn't ride this morning after all. Was a good call for the Swing Day. The 1230pm start time will be similar for my IM run leg. So I set off for my 18k loop course. Down to the coast, north along the path, then turn inland at North Beach and across to the Fwy path. This section is hot and treeless, just like IM will be. Then down the Fwy to Innaloo and back to Scarbs. It is mostly a solo course and pretty hot. I started OK, and thought the legs were good, considering what I have done the last few days. But after about 6k I started to feel it - very hard work from then on. The heat was a factor also. But I motored on and maintained a sub 5min pace. The left arch felt a bit sore, but I think it hung in there OK. I got home and stood under the outdoor shower for nearly 5min. That felt great. I was pretty hot. Ended up 1:27 for 18.2km which is 4:48 pace.
So, that is the end of my Big Tri Weekend. All up this week I completed 5 runs, 3 rides and 4.5 swims. It was a big week...
Summary
Swim - 14.2km
Ride - 365km
Run - 66km
Time - 21:16 hrs
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