WEEK 12 IRONMAN TRAINING (REST WEEK)

Well nothing exciting to write about this week. Took advantage of my rest week & just did the bare amount. Tuesday did a light 8k run at an easy pace. Wednesday did a light swim off 1200m & took Thursday off. Back at it on Friday where i did some core work & a some drill work in the pool (1000m). Saturday was supposed to be a light cycle but the weather was terrible & ended up doing 1hr 30mins on the Turbo trainer & later that night went for a light 11k run as i felt good. Summer time began on Sunday and Thank God the bright evenings are here. With the clock going forward i had an extra lie in bed.

Decided to do a light cycle & headed out wind in my face for an hour & could not wait for the turn around with the wind behind me. Finally after the hour the turn around & started picking up some good pace & BANG my bloody tyre blew up.. S**T i was so disappointed as i was really looking forward to some serious speed on the bike. Anyway a call was made to my back up team of Leila & sat at the side of the road for 25mins until my lift home.. Meeting with my coach on Monday for the next installment of this madness…

WEEK 11 IRONMAN TRAINING

Well this has by far been my biggest week yet. With some long weekends overlapping it’s been ideal training. This week i’ve managed to get in 17.5hr’s cycling (480k), 9700m swimming & 2hr’s running (20k). So i’m delighted to have done this & it’s becoming more & more realistic that i can do this now. It’s been a great week i even started swimming at 6 in the morning & did a great session with Mark. Now i’ve done that i’ll do a lot more so that i can now train twice a day.. Anyway this is short & sweet as i’m off to bed for a well deserved rest & as this is my rest week I’m going to rest…………………..!!!!!!!!!!!! So total’s for this month are 20,800m Swimming, 620k Bike, 94k Running..

WEEK 10 IRONMAN TRAINING

Another week down & it seems that the weeks are going quicker now than ever before. Was back at it on Tuesday after resting on Monday & with the weather being so crap with some nasty winds i ended up doing a 2hr slow run on the treadmill & covered 16.5k but i’ll never do that again as it was so boring on the treadmill but i suppose i did it & that’s what counts. Had arranged to meet Mark on Wednesday for a long swim so i decided to do 1 hr on the Turbo trainer. Used a hard gear for the hour & got off & ran for 1k at a nice easy pace & felt good. We then got in a 4700m swim & was tired at the end but then again i had a hard session.

Thursday i did a 7k Fartlek session & i did start of fairly slow but stuck at it & about 10 mins into it i started to get going & did fairly ok overall finished of with a 800m swim. Friday i rested as we headed to Castlebar for the weekend but delighted to have got a 14k run in on Saturday at a good tempo pace in 1 hr 15 min’s. Watched Ireland getting hammered in the rugby in the afternoon & enjoyed the pints in doing so that afternoon. As this was a Bank Holiday weekend we headed home on Sunday & i got me cycle in on Monday & did 4hours in the hills (Wicklow Way, SallyGap) against the wind & cold all the way & this turned out to be one of the toughest cycles i’ve done all year but felt great after which is proving to me i’m at least seeing some improvement in my biking..

WEEK 9 IRONMAN TRAINING

I’m back at it hard this week & decided to train on Monday instead of rest.. Ran an easy 8k in a hr & was delighted as it’s my first run since my heel injury.. Tuesday did a long slow run 17k covered in 1hr 45min at a really easy pace. I seemed to be geting a slight cold so rested up on Wednesday & took loads of drugs.. Back at it on Thursday & swam 4200m (10 x 100, 1000m, 10 x 200m fininshing with 1000m & them warm down) followed by a 6k run at an easy pace. Friday i ran to the gym & covered 6k althogether & did some core & weight training & cooled down with a 800m swim. Saturday was supposed to be a long spin on the bike but the weather was terrible with really nasty winds so ended up going to the gym & doing 45 min on the turbo trainer in a really big gear & worked really hard before being roped into doing the swim leg (750m) in the indoor triathlon in the gym & ended up being very happy with my time of 11 mins 56 sec & thats a personal best for me… Happy Days….

Sunday was bike day & seeing that we’ve been expecting a massive storm i expected not to get out but woke up at 7 & weather as fab so gear on & was in the saddle at 8 & out for a really good 4 hours in the saddle at a very good pace & my heart rate is getting lower so things are looking up. Covered 110k in 3hr’s 45min & decided to run of the bike when i go home so running gear on & ran for 10 mins & was very surprised how good i felt but it was bloody cold in doing so.. So all in all this week’s training Running 37k (4hr’s 20mins) Swimming 5600m done & finally Bike 140k (4hr’s 45mins). 11hr’s training done.. ok i’m of to watch LOST….

WEEK 8 IRONMAN (REST WEEK)

This week was rest week…… !!!! Nothing exciting to report. Did something to my heel & still don’t know what.. So rested up until Thursday when i got in a short swim… Friday went & did a big swim with Mark &  Sunday did a swim before a 2hr easy cycle with the Pulse group.. So overall this week NO running, 2hr’s Cycle & 8,200m swimming.. Was worried about the heel but ICED it & took loads of drugs & hope to do a short run today… Need to up my running as i’m getting worried about it now… Any still lots of time left i suppose…. Thinking of getting a new bike but not to sure of the PEDALS that comes with it…….