Young Mind - Old Body

Week 9 PJ ‘s Training Summary 26-9-11 to 2-10-11
Week 3 of IM specific training this week. The key session this week is a “Big Day Training” with a swim, bike,run all on the same day. The goal is to start dialing into goal IM paces and my ability to hold them over longer and longer periods. I am still carrying the quads, itb, glutes, and lower back soreness over from last week. I booked an appointment with Tony Bence on Wednesday.
Monday
Evening swim was a strength set. Fairly straight forward and non eventful. Jenn was at the pool again. I hadn’t packed a towel in my trannie bag so had to use my work shirt to dry off. Mental note to oneself, pack a bag of spare’s eg. towel, cj’s, running shoes and shorts, jocks etc to just keep in the car. 3.2k total tonight.
Tuesday
There was a front coming through this morning. They were even forecasting possible hail ! I drove down to the Left Bank for “World Champs” wondering how many were going to brave it. The plan was to start in front again and do 3x20 min efforts @ Z3 with 5 min RI between and 1x10min @FTP. I had a tail wind heading out and it was strong. I wasn’t looking forward to riding into it at the end. I got through to Christchurch and the group hadn’t caught me. Down the “Princess Hwy” to the Cott shops and the train gates were down. They had just lifted when the group came charging up Curtain Ave in front of me. Too quick to catch on so I just plugged away. Down to Leighton and the cross wind was just plain dangerous. The gusts were pushing the whole bike to the shoulder of the road so I slowed up to stay upright. Just glad to get the session finished in the end. No coffee today, too cold.
Evening was an easy form/recovery run of 30 min. My legs felt heavy though and I wasn’t in to the session very long and my left glute felt really sore. Weather was still crap so I was glad to get home.
Wednesday
I woke up so sore this morning I could hardly walk. It felt like I had a pinched nerve in the left glute. I thought “Crap..that’s me done for the week ! ” gave the glutes a good stretch. I took some Voltaren 25’s and started to come good. I had an 8k run test to do this morning so I thought I would start out and see how I went. I ran from work down to Mt Henry Bridge and felt better as the run progressed. I got through ok but felt like a train wreck. I was stressing because I didn’t know how I was going to get through the rest of the week let alone attempt BDT in the weekend. A quick email to coach Fluro to give him a PJ state of the nation report and a prompt reply came back “ take 2 days completely off….let the body heel and resume with the Big Day Training so you can hit it with quality……Rest = Growth ”. Just what I needed to hear I guess. I need to listen to my body a bit better…..beginner stuff.
A great massage from Tony. The man is a legend. He really sorted the glute/itb/lower back issues. I will probably go again in 2 weeks. I felt pretty washed out and kind of like I had been run over by a bus afterwards though.
Thursday
Weird not having to train today. But good mentally to take a break as well. I popped more Voltaren today.
Friday
A rest again this morning but this afternoon marks the beginning of “Big Day Training”. This session should have been done on the same day but it wasn’t very practical as the pool didn’t open till 7am Saturday so I wouldn’t be finished till 4pm. Fluro said it was fine to split over Friday arvo/ Saturday. I felt heaps better today and was ready to resume. I worked through lunch and hit the pool at 2:30pm for the longest pool set I have ever done….4.4k and 1hr 58min !!
Saturday
Part 2 of “Big Day Training” today. I packed the bike with nutrition and drove to work. I rode in to the Runners World shop to meet the Amigos and the rest of the crew. The plan was to ride round the river with the RW group and then head down the Freeway Path south with the Amigos to make the ride up to 4 hr 30 min. The ride went well, nutrition was spot on. Still lovin the Marmite sanga’s !! the boys are looking strong too. I left the boys at the Narrows and rode back to work for the run off the bike. I checked my watch and we seemed to have lost half an hour somewhere….so I reduced my planned 1 ½ hr run to an hour. I headed out from work towards Melville Beach. It was hot about 25 degrees. A good reminder that I must run in warmer weather more often because that’s what it will be like on race day. The fatigue in my legs was immense. I was seriously dialling into it now. Mentally I was questioning my ability to do this crap. I got through OK. Wow BDT was a good lesson for me. A long way to go yet. I finished the day with some beer and World Cup Rugby……magic.
Totals: bike 4 hours 30 min and 140k run 1 hour 2 min and 12k. 3753 cals burned.
Sunday
Rest day today and recovery from BDT. Time to pack and get sorted out for our trip to Port Douglas this evening. I’m really looking forward to some R & R. On the plane to Cairns at 10pm. Sunny Queensland here we come !!!
Totals:- Swim 7.6k, Bike 186k, Run 25k 11 hours 43 min