This is my last week of long and hard work for the 2011 IM campaign. After this week, there is no session over 3hrs. The body feels like it needs to wind it back too.
Monday
This morning was an interval run. The schedule called for 2-3 x 1.6k z4 efforts. I opted for 2. I have done over 700km in my current Kayano's and am waiting for Wiggle to deliver my new ones. It feels like I need the new ones big time. I felt OK, with some residual fatigue in my legs from the 7+ hrs of cycling on the w/end. Avg pace was 4:01 and then 4:07.
I was supposed to go to the pool tonight, but got stuck at work until 730pm. So the swim was off. I felt pretty ordinary and my cough was back with a vengeance and I was barking like a dog. So I was pretty dirty at the world all round. 1st missed swim in months.
Tuesday
Missing last night, meant I was good to go for the early swim this morning. So went on the way to work and took all my gear & breakfast to the office. I banged out a main set of 6x600m and 3.8k in 1:06hrs. During the day today, my new Kayano's arrived! Yeah!
Wednesday
The usual bike intervals session this morning. z4 efforts of 20', 15' and 10'. I did some circuits around City Beach, Perry Lakes and along Brockway Rd & back. My legs did not feel too flash and I was coughing so hard I nearly fell off my bike at times. Pretty ordinary session
At lunchtime I tested out the new shoes. After moving the Polar foot pod onto the new shoes I had to check calibration and so ran with my iPhone and used MapMyRun software to check. Over the 6km I checked it on, it was only a fraction out and was reading 'long' so I left it as was. The new shoes felt good, although I did get a bit of 'hot foot' on my dodgy left foot. Again, I coughed my guts up. So on the way home tonight I stopped at the Chemist and asked them for the strongest cough medicine they had. Lets hope it works for tomorrows long run!
Thursday
Well this morning I woke up coughing at the same time as the alarm - 420am - came downstairs, had some more cough mixture and thought "stuff it" I'm going back to bed! I felt tired, off colour and sore. I find it hard to listen to my body when it needs rest. I always think I am just being slack. But last night, when I went to bed I thought that unless I woke up feeling great, I would probably have an unscheduled rest day. My run was supposed to be 2:30 hrs but I just didn't want to risk further injury (left arch) and prolonged illness (cough etc). So I pulled the pin on a key run session for the first time in many months. I did feel guilty but I think I made the right call. So my last week of going long is not turning out quite that way... There was one upside this morning - I was able to drop Issy at Churchlands for orchestra practice on the way to work, which helped earn one or two SCU's (spousal credit units).
Friday
Just a swim scheduled for today - but a pretty tough one - a 3.8k non-stop race rehearsal one. This being only my 2nd swim for the week, I was feeling fairly fresh. But I felt 'un-co' for the first 2km or so. My last 3.8k TT returned a RR pace of 1:47. So the goal was to beat that avg pace. Considering I felt like I was swimming weird, I managed to clock a solid improvement of 2" per 100m and avg'd 1:45 for the 3.8k. Total was 4.0k in 1:10 exactly. So new RR pace set. I looked back to 2 years ago and my best RR pace was 1:47. So hopefully that improvement will pan out on race day too.
Saturday
My 2nd and final 180/10 RR brick. Unlike last time, I hadn't really psyched myself up for this one. I was pretty "ho-hum, business as usual". I was going to use my race wheels, but decided to keep them for race day to get the max lift/benefit I could in the race (mentally anyway!) Same as 3 weeks ago - from home to the very end of the Fwy bike path and back. I headed off about 5:30-ish, after turning my alarm off and sleeping for another 40' - oh that felt good! I purposefully did not check the weather and wanted to just take it as it comes. It was soon evident that it was going to be a headwind all the way down (90km). There was SE'ly blowing, not too strong, but enough to make my desired race pace hard work. I was full of cough mixture and Nurofen but still coughed my insides out after every little hill or effort. It was gunna be a long day! Like last time, I split the ride into 4. Home to Roe Hwy, Roe Hwy to the end & same in reverse home. The 1st 'lap' was 28km @ 29.7 and includes all the slow bits. On race day I will be riding a lot slower than my overall goal speed in the 1st 60km, so it is good practice to be patient and not get a bit antsy at the slow pace. The next lap is about 62km and I avg'd 33.6km/h for this leg. It was really tough and hard work. It was slowly grinding me down as I just could not sit on my goal pace (34.5) at all. The breeze was pretty solid at times and swung around from SE to Sth to SW as I slogged away. It was just so hard and it really had me questioning my ability to achieve my race goals. It took a lot of mental fortitude to keep pushing. One thing that kept me at it, was a wheel sucker I picked up just before Roe Hwy. He had a Stadium top on and was on a very flash looking BMC with snazzy race wheels. He looked about 10+ yrs younger than me. I had a quick chat before I passed him. He said he was doin a 5:00/2:00hr brick. Anyway, he stayed about 2 bike lengths back for the next 60km. So he kind of 'kept me honest' as I didn't want to seem to be weak and ease off the pace! Not once did he offer to set the pace though. He turned around about 2 k from the end. I know who would have got more out of that ride...
I was so, so glad to reach the end of the path. I just hoped the breeze would assist me on the return leg. By now I could feel my left vastius medialis had become sore in my push into the wind. I was not pleased to realise this! Anyway, I started to wind it up a bit and soon found that I was sitting on 40km/h with somewhat relative ease! Now that was more like it. Speed up, HR down! My Avg HR for the last 62k was about 73% of max. Now it was more like 66-68%. I flew up the path northwards and made my brief scheduled pit stop at Thomas Rd servo, as usual. A quick (pretty small?) wee and 2 Gatorades for $6 and I was off again. I also popped some No-Doze to sharpen up & focus. Avg speed back to Roe Hwy had increased to 37.1 km/h. So overall, I had lifted my avg from 29.7 to 34.1. Almost goal race pace! But at what price? Had I burnt too many of my box of matches in the 1st 90km? Not something I can afford to do on race day. I felt so much better on the return leg though and so with the increased speed came an increase in optimism. I completed the last (slow) leg (28km) at 33.5km/h. So my overall avg speed dropped off (as expected) and ended up as 33.5 km/h also. 1.0km/h slower than last time. But much more challenging conditions. Total time 5:22 for 180.2km. Add a sperm hat, race wheels, full taper, carbo loading and a faster course - and goal race time should be quite achievable.
I then had a quick change of clothes, a drink, a very small wee (not enough fluid?) and out the door for my brick run. I wanted to replicate (the 1st 10k) of race day and so the goal was to run at over 5min pace. Well the 1st 2k has a lot of downhill in it from my joint to the coast, so it is normally a bit easier. I kept holding back and going very easy but turned at 5k with a pace of 4:47! Doh! Too quick! The 2nd half would have more uphill, so I thought that might even out by the time I got home. It was warm but there was a nice cool SW'ly blowing me along at first. After I turned for home i was pushing into it but my legs still felt really good. I could not believe how good my legs felt. They felt fresh and had heaps of juice in them still. I tried going slower but ended up doing 10km at 4:50 pace overall in 48:29hrs. The long uphill finish was relatively easy also! My left foot had a bit of the 'hot foot' sensation that I often get with new shoes, but my arch was OK. I think I will swap my inner soles from my old shoes and put them in my new shoes for a bit.
So I had a few 'take homes' to remember today. - 1. Hang in there when times are tough, be patient and you will probably come good later, 2. Know your HR limits for the race, don't blow it in the 1st 90k, 3. Stick to the race plan, but be flexible enough to change it up to suit the weather conditions. 3. Keep eating and drinking no matter how you feel, even if not hot, 4. I need to ensure I don't blow out my VMO again, by pushing too hard early in the race and 5. Drugs are good - well No Doze may help a bit anyway!
Sunday
Scheduled rest today. Ahhh! Sleep in! (The legs felt a bit tired today, but I pulled up really well from yesterdays efforts). Then it was off to Surf Club with the girls. The masters club swim was a real tough one again today. A decent swell, onshore conditions and a tricky bank ensured I was absolutely stuffed when I finished today. My arms had gone totally lactic before I even got to the 1st buoy and it was tough coming in too. I couldn't breath bilaterally virtually at all. My handicap had been reduced from 5:15 last week to 4:10 this week - so I must have gone backwards a bit relative to the others! But it is all good fun!
So my week ended up being about 3.5 hrs short of the plan. Some very modest totals indeed. No matter, most of the hard work is now done. I just need to maintain my fitness, weight and form (without falling off my bike) for the next 20 days and then put it all together and focus on Dec 4th...
Weekly totals were:
Swim - 8.2km
Ride - 217km
Run - 28km
Time - 11:10hrs
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