IRONMAN TRAINING 2021

Week beginning Sunday, July 4, 2021

12 weeks until IRONMAN Canada.

WEEKLY GOAL

Travel done. Time to get back into a routine.

SUMMARY

I feel I like was SMART ABOUT THINGS

Dealing with a back spasm on Tuesday was not fun. I think the scariest part of it is the consequence it could have to me making it to Penticton in 3 months. Fortunately, I was able to manage the balance of the week without taxing the QL and putting me behind schedule.

SUNDAY JUL 4 ☀️

Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 4
^{Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning}

PLANNED WORKOUT

1st: Open Water swim 52 minutes: 4x 2 minutes easy swimming. R 1:00 (stretch/get loose during the rest) Then....4x 8 minutes continuous and steady swimming. Always have an area to sight on. Practice swimming straight! Rest 2:00 between each. Short stretch/splash around to cool down.

2nd: Run 2:00. Easy effort. Early and consistent fuelling.

NOTES

Total Time: 270 minutes Est. Swim: 2000m
Bike Comute Time: 90 minutes

Nice day so instead of driving to Elk Lake, I thought I would ride. I don't know what I was thinking as it is ~45 minutes of pedalling to get to Hamsterly Beach; meaning an hour and a half of pedalling that was not on the calendar for today. I pedalled softly.

Once in the water and away from the flotila of blown up objects, I felt pretty comfortable. Garmin doesn't have a way to do two different interval lengths for their OWS activities so I after the 4x2 minute warm up, I had to stop the activity, reset the interval value and start a second activity. In doing that, I pressed start and for whatever reason, must have pressed stop because I swam probably 10 minutes without the watch recording. Regardless, I got myself back on track with the 4x8 minute set and continued swimming straight and with a nice rythmn.

The first lap of the lake was easy running.

The second lap started to become a slog.

Store brand drink mix (strawberry) for the first lap/first bottle. Maurten 320 for the second lap/second bottle.

MONDAY JUL 5 ☀️

Sleep 4 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 4 | Soreness 4
^{Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning}

PLANNED WORKOUT

Short commute to/from pool. 5:30am: Swim 2100: 6 rounds (50 easy free r :10, 25 steady kick r :10) 6 rounds (50 as 25 fist/25 strong catch r :15, 50 w/ buoy and catch focus r :15) 16x 25 Odds: Strong/High turnover/consistent kick, Evens: EASY r :15. 50 super easy. 5x 100 steady w/ your best form. r :20. 4x 25 easy to cool down

NOTES

Total Time: 75 minutes   Swim: 2100m

12 minute bike to Esquimalt Rec Centre (14 minutes back).

Shared the fast lane with a guy more that half my age that was a swimmer most of his life. Really awesome experience and it pushed me harder than I likely would have otherwise. My arms, shoulders and lats were tired but I worked through it and got out of the water feeling like I accomplished something.

TUESDAY JUL 6 ☀️

Sleep 5 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 4 | Soreness 5
^{Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning}

PLANNED WORKOUT

Ride 1:30 on TT bike. Easy spin out to Willis Point road. 3x 8 minutes uphill @ an effort you can hold for 40-50 minutes all out. Easy descent after each effort. Easy spin home to finish up. Make sure you have some calories in your water bottle.

Off the bike or earlier in the day.... Run 25 minutes flat and EASY.

NOTES

Total Time: 0 minutes

0100 wake up to hit the bathroom and take an Advil; my head is throbbing. I don't know if I can point to de-hydration because my weight is "normal" but I am bunged up.

0630 and the headache is still there but movement begets movement and I have finally evacuated myself (twice). The coffee helped.

Also, my lumbar is lit up (again) and that is super frustrating.

Rode the route as written with 3 times up Willis Point Road to the turn around near the dump. I got about 50m further up the road on the second time up and maybe 150m further on third effort. Just as important was spendig the time going fast downhill on the TT bike.

No issues with the bike while on the bike but getting upright and walking the bike to the garage afterward was a tender experience.

WEDNESDAY JUL 7 ☀️

Sleep 4 | Fatigue 2 | Stress 3 | Soreness 5
^{Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning}

PLANNED WORKOUT

Run 60 minutes, hilly route. EASY effort. Followed by 12x :20 flat strides, :40 walk after each. Short walk to cool down.

NOTES

Total Time: 0 minutes

Movement in the night was enough to have my back wake me up. I am sore again this morning (expected).

I laced up my shoes after dinner and started with a walk. I tried running for a short bit but there wasn't much life in the legs tonight. I continue to the manmade hill in Cuthbert Homes Park and walked up it 10 times before walking home.

Live to fight another day.

THURSDAY JUL 8 ☀️

Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 4 | Soreness 4
^{Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning}

PLANNED WORKOUT

Short commute to the pool. 5:30am: Swim 2500: 3 rounds (100 easy free, 100 moderate effort w/ buoy r :20 after each) 8x 200 as 25 meters strong/25 meters relaxed-smooth. r :45. Odds: Swim, Evens: w/ buoy. 8x 25 FAST r :40. 100 easy to cool down.

Ride 60 minutes EASY on the way home from the pool.

NOTES

Total Time: 120 minutes   Swim: 2500m

This swim hit the mark in terms of distance but when looking back, the 8x200m should have been alternating strong/relaxed and I swam steady for each set. Regardless, I did get the work in and I with the bit of rest in between, I was consistently hitting the wall in 18 seconds for the 25m fast reps.

After the swim, I rode for 45 minutes before getting home.

I rode again in the afternoon; 15 minutes to Carina's Office and then for an another 40 minutes just noodling through town.

My back does feel better today.

FRIDAY JUL 9

Sleep 3 | Fatigue 2 | Stress 4 | Soreness 3
^{Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning}

PLANNED WORKOUT

60 minute easy spin on the trainer, the rollers, outside on any bike you like. Just make sure it's easy.

Run 30 minutes flat and easy.

NOTES

Total Time: 90 minutes

After work, I decided to do the run first. The weather app said it was 25°C outside but a sign near the Switch Bridge said 31°C. It felt closer to the latter. I ran easy up the Lochside Trail and turned back after 16 minutes. I was in a very comfortable groove on the way back and even split the run almost to the second.

Before dinner, I rode up Highlands _ to _Barker Road. Easy spinning, even up some of the punchy hills on the way out and a fun descent on the way out of the park.

My back did better again today.

SATURDAY JUL 10 ☀️

Sleep 4 | Fatigue 2 | Stress 3 | Soreness 3
^{Rate on an scale 1-7   1=best 7=worst   +5 is a warning}

PLANNED WORKOUT

Ride 2:30 on TT bike. Flat to rolling route. Standard fueling. Standard hydration. Easy to steady effort.

Great day to STRETCH.

NOTES

Total Time: 0 minutes

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