IRONMAN TRAINING 2021
Week beginning Sunday, January 31, 2021
34 weeks until IRONMAN Canada.
WEEKLY GOAL
This week is a "rinse, repeat" of last week with an small uptick in volume. My goal is to handle that extra bit volume while paying attention to my overall energy level.
SUMMARY
I feel I like was EXPANDING MY ENVELOPE
Before I knew it, this was a +13 hour training week and what I didn't do well was keep this training log up to date.
JANUARY STATS
52 Hours, 42 Minutes in the books. 19 Hours more than December.
SUNDAY JAN 31 🌧
Sleep 4 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
1st: Run 90 minutes. Hilly route. On trails or dirt if possible. Does not have to be super hilly. A few rollers is good with me. Remember to bring some calories. 200 calories is about right.
2nd: Spin 60 minutes. Outside would be great, but a nice easy spin on the trainer is ok too.
NOTES
Total Time: 150 minutes
I could have slept a bit more as I was late getting to bed last night.
Motivation was low today and I procrastinated getting out the door. I walked for a bit before hitting the start button on the watch. I could have easily blamed today's rain for my low energy but my thoughts while walking were about my father and I was having a moment of missing him. I took my time, breathed and when I was ready to start, that's when I started.
The run today did feel better than last week but it still wasn't as "springy" as two weeks ago. Regardless, I was feeling good through the first 80 minutes but the last 10, the legs started to feel heavy and I was thankful to be on the final stretch home.
225 calories from 60g of lemonade in a 500ml bottle; this was close to being too sweet for where I am at today. That bottle was empty at 70 minutes.
I rode the trainer to close out the day. Light spinning while I watched an old CBC Sports video of 2012 Subaru Ironman Canada-Penticton. I'll probably watch that video again.
UP LAMPSON AND A MIX OF TRAILS
MONDAY FEB 01 🌧
Sleep 4 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 3 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Swim 2350: 3 rounds (50 free, 50 as 25 fist/25 easy, 50 as 25 build/25 easy, 50 steady kick r :05-:20 after each) 10x 125 aerobic/steady swimming r :30 after each. 6x 50 steady kick r :10 after each. 200 cool down swim.
Mobility 18 minutes
NOTES
Total Time: 57 minutes
Night sweats and a very groggy start to the morning; just like last week, I am stiff from the lumbar to my toes. "Happy Monday!"
In the pool, things felt good. 2 things of note:
- During the main set, the difference between 2:19 and 2:26 for 125m is concentration.
- I noticed the difference a between 2200 and 2350 m workout.
TUESDAY FEB 02 ☁️
Sleep - | Fatigue - | Stress - | Soreness -
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Ride 60 minutes easy. Inside or outside. Any bike. Keep it easy.
Run 40 minutes easy. Flat route.
NOTES
Total Time: 102 minutes
I put the front wheel back on the TT Bike and balanced on the rollers tonight. It is nice to have the option to flip between the two modes of indoor riding. I did have a can of Ginger Ale over the course of the hour too.
I was running immediately off the bike tonight; I felt pretty good from the get-go too. There was a hint of soleus tenderness that didn't last very long. I headed on the typical route out to Quadra Street on the bike path. It was pretty cool in that in the darkness, it was just me out there.
Time for a big dinner.
WEDNESDAY FEB 03 🌤
Sleep - | Fatigue - | Stress - | Soreness -
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Ride 80 minutes: 15 minutes easy spinning. 8x :30 high cadence, :45 easy. 2:00 easy. 8x 3:00 @ an effort you could hold for 30-40 minutes, 2:30 easy spinning after each. Easy spinning to cool down.
Mobility 22 minutes
NOTES
Total Time: 80 minutes
Back on the rollers again tonight after work. And like last night, I felt pretty good on the bike. On the screen, I watched an old Ironman Canada video from 1995.
BIKE EFFORT
THURSDAY FEB 04 ☁️
Sleep - | Fatigue - | Stress - | Soreness -
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
1:30pm- Swim 2250: 3 rounds (150 easy free r :30, 4x 25 odds: Fist drill, evens: Build from easy to strong r :10) 6x 200 Odds: Steady effort swim, evens: Steady effort swim w/ buoy r :30 after each. 6x 25 Strong/Fast r :20. 150 easy to cool down.
Run 45 minutes: 25 minutes easy running to warm up. 8x :40 strides, :50 jog after each. 8 minutes easy to cool down.
NOTES
Total Time: 100 minutes
I felt good in the pool this afternoon. Me and two others and were generally swimming the same speeds but there was a slower guy that made for a bit of congestion. Funny thing, he didn't seem to like being passed; as soon as I would pull up along side him, he'd find another gear and race me to the wall.
After the swim, I left the pool, run kit on and ready to go. I checked in with work and no messages so I made my way toward downtown on the Songhess Walkway. This felt exactly like a run immediately after a swim workout; it was uncomfortable. I attempted my best idea of what a stride might look like on the flat road near Spinnaker's Pub but after the 2nd (and every stride thereafter), I walked during the recovery period. It was a slog back to the car too.
SONGHESS RUN FROM THE POOL
I was thankful to get the run in during a dry weather window but I can't help but wonder if the swim took more out of me than I had estimated.
FRIDAY FEB 05 ☀️
Sleep - | Fatigue - | Stress - | Soreness -
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Ride 70 minutes: 30 minutes easy spinning. 8x 1:00 high cadence, 1:30 easy after each. 20 minutes easy spinning to finish up.
Mobility 22 minutes
NOTES
Total Time: 60 minutes Total Distance(s): 26 km
Weather was really nice and I had a lunch meeting for work so I jumped on the road bike and rode to Royal Oak. This took about 18 minutes.
After lunch, I headed north on Lochside Drive and crossed the highway at Haliburton to ride Old West Saanich and Interurban home (the long way). I had good pressure on the pedals on the hill up to the highway and on the hills of Old W. Saanich; an opportunity to burn off the burger that I had.
SATURDAY FEB 06 ⛅️
Sleep 2 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 2 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Ride 3:00 on road or MTB. Steady riding. Staying well fueled. Staying well hydrated. Minimum of 800 calories on the ride.
Off the bike (within an hour or so) Run 30 minutes. Flat route. Easy effort.
NOTES
Total Time: 243 minutes
Good sleep and Carina made me french toast for breakfast!
Road bike day mostly because I added the Shimano medium arch supports to my RP-9 shoes. I have been on the fence for some time with these shoes and although they are "close", there is something about them that I don't love about them. The arch supports feel a bit "aggressive" when just standing in the shoes but did disappear while pedalling.
Today was a mixed bag of weather; it was mostly windy with a squall blowing in from the ocean at the south end of today's route. I was thinking about heading west but decided to pedal north and do a lap of the peninsula with the hope of staying out of the weather. That idea paid of and heading into Saanichton, I enjoyed a decent tailwind.
That tailwind didn't last long and I was pedalling into the wind again from the airport through to Lands End Road.
I was out a bit longer than the scheduled 3 hours and that wasn't intensional. I just miss judged the time.
The ride didn't feel super fresh and I was on cruise control for the better part of the ride and enjoying the saddle time. For calories, I replaced "Jujubes" for "Swedish Berries" to see if I liked them better. They are sweeter and I was ok with that (no GI) but they do take more effort to chew and get down. I measured 600 calories worth of candy and added 200 more calories in lemonade crystals to a water bottle.
I did take a relief stop at 3:13 into the ride and finished the last of the Swedish Berries 15 minutes after that.
Throughout the ride, I thought about the run. It was my legs driving the conversation in my head mostly. Could I even do 30 minutes of running? Do I 20 minutes and call it good? Would Elliot mind if I replaced the run for a walk?
Rolling into the driveway, I still did not have a plan but the Nikes, hi-vis vest and headlamp went on and back outside I went.
The run began sucking just as much as I thought it would; if I just carried on, the jelly legs would clear up in about 2 to 3 minutes. 7 minutes in and the legs are still not comfortable.
After 11 minutes however, I finally noticed some spring in my legs! At 15:06, I turned around to follow my way back home. If I could hold form, I might be able to even split the return to my starting point. With 5 minutes to go, I really notice how hungry I am. Back to the crack in the road where I started the clock, I am seconds faster on the return trip. I wonder how much this will haunt me tomorrow...