SOCIALLY PROFILED
IRONMAN TRAINING 2021
Week beginning Sunday, December 6, 2020
42 weeks until IRONMAN Canada.
WEEKLY GOAL
I may be internalizing the results of the 5k time trial last Saturday for a while. My goal is to metaphorically, put to those thoughts in a box, put that box on a shelf, and get on with the preparation for an Ironman in less than 9 months.
SUMMARY
I feel like I was READY FOR A PIVOT
I honestly thought I would be brooding much longer over missing my mini-goal to run a 5K PB. Watching the Daytona Challenge, the 3 promotional emails received from IRONMAN Italy, and an email from IRONMAN Canada announcing their swim and run course had me thinking longer, much longer than 5 kms.
Even with the change in training focus, my legs finished the week feeling heavy and worked.
SUNDAY DEC 06 🌤
Sleep 4 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 4 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Ride 90 minutes easy on the MTB. Get out and have some fun.
NOTES
Total Time: 0 minutes
Today was a miss. Sore throat and feeling off. I know there is a mountain bike ride and this may be the last dry day for a while but I am really looking at curling up with a blanket and watching the Challenge Daytona race.
MONDAY DEC 07 🌧
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
25 Minute Relaxed Evening Flexibility Routine V2
NOTES
Total Time: 0 minutes
I woke up feeling groggy.
Interestingly, the sorest part of my body is my left masseter muscle. It has been a bothering me for a week now and now chewing is very much a strained, painful experience. If I thought that running a 23:07 5k was a punch in the jaw, then it manifests into a real thing, I'd say dumb luck.
TUESDAY DEC 08 🌧
Sleep 4 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Trainer 70 minutes: 25 minutes easy spinning to warm up. 10x 1:00 high cadence/very stable hips, 1:30 easy after each. 20 minutes easy spinning to finish up. Run 30 minutes. Flat route. Easy effort.
NOTES
Total Time: 95 minutes
So so sleep last night.
I use the rollers instead of setting up the trainer. I am pretty confident that the rollers force my hips to be steady during that cadence work otherwise I would be picking myself up off the floor (or worse). I loaded the workout into my bike computer and just pedalled by the beeps (meaning there was no looking at numbers). I felt pretty good about the effort and was generally around 120RPM for the 10x1:00 spins.
New Product: I mixed 52 grams of Country Time Lemonade and a pinch of salt into a 600ml bottle and stopped briefly to drink throughout the bike workout; I finished it all before the 70 minutes too. The lemonade crystals are a "first time try" for me as my last tub of Gatorade is almost done. No GI, ok taste and vitamin C.
The shoes and headlamp were with me in the garage and once the bike was put away, I headed out for the run (almost) off the bike. I could still feel some residual fatigue from the run last Saturday; specifically in the left hamstring/glute but my right achilles was stiff too. Tonight's run was a super chill effort around the neighbourhood and I was lucky to have a period of no rain to enjoy the Christmas lights that people have strung up for the season.
HEART RATE FROM THE BIKE
WEDNESDAY DEC 09 ☀️
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Mobility 25 minutes (Really slow moving one)
Run 50 minutes. Rolling to hilly route. Effort is EASY.
NOTES
Total Time: 53 minutes
I didn't feel like I slept all that well as I woke from a dream or a nightmare; I honestly can't remember. My jaw works today (finally).
Work has been busy and engaging of late. I have a handle on some of work's support tasks (which can be a drag) and I am back to doing more development coding.
I ran after dark again tonight; if there isn't pace work on the schedule, I do find it very relaxing. The low light gives me the illusion that I am running faster than I am but my heart rate stays in a perfect zone two range.
I also didn't run with much of a route in mind other than going over Craigflower Hill (between Tillicum and Admirals). Once I got to Admirals Road, I decided that the hilliest route back would be to simply turn around and retrace the route I just did. Effort was easy and everything felt good too.
I did the mobility after dinner. This routine was different in that there was no background music. First movement(s) showed me that there isn't much internal rotation in my shoulders and the last movement let me know that my left glute/hamstring is pretty stiff and tender.
CRAIGFLOWER OVER AND BACK
THURSDAY DEC 10 ☁️
Sleep 4 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Mobility: 25 minutes.
Trainer 70 minutes: 20 minutes easy riding to warm up. 8x :45 high cadence, :30 easy after each. 3:00 easy. 12x :15 seated/strong effort (something you could hold for 3-5 minutes up a really steep hill, NOT a sprint) :45 easy spin after each. 5 minutes easy riding. 5x 1:00 high cadence, 1:00 easy riding. 10 minutes easy to cool down.
NOTES
Total Time: 75 minutes
Another so-so sleep last night. I am feeling tight in the hip flexors even though they were part of yesterday's mobility routine.
Today was another engaged day at work. There is a push to get projects completed before we go into a company "brown-out", a period of no systems changes over the holiday season.
After dinner, I headed out to the garage for the workout on the rollers. I felt a bit of the ride from Tuesday lingering in the legs. Regardless I pedalled through and got +70 minutes on the bike. I didn't program the last part of the workout correctly but I did get most of the work in.
VARIABLE HEART RATE RIDE
I didn't top up the tire pressure before tonight's ride and I did notice it; especially on the 8x:45 cadence reps.
FRIDAY DEC 11
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 2
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
3:30pm: Swim 2050: 2 rounds (150 easy swim r :30, 2x 75 swim w/ buoy r :20, 2x 50 steady kick w/ board r :15) 16x 25 Odds: Strong, evens: Relaxed/smooth r :15 after each. 6x 125 aerobic/steady stroke r :25 after each. 4x 25 super easy to cool down. Run 40 minutes. Flat route. Easy effort.
NOTES
Total Time: 50 minutes
Another night of less than great sleep; I was up earlier than I wanted. Work was a longer day too.
So... solid workout in the pool late this afternoon. Just two people in the moderate lane; just me and another age-grouper dude who wore the olympic distance coloured swim cap from the Elk Lake Triathlon. This meant things both of our workouts flowed well; neither of us really got in each other's way.
NORMALIZED SWIM PACES
The swim felt good though if I was to note anything, it would have been that the burn in the quads during the kickboard lengths.
NO JUICE
If the swim felt good, the jog was anything but, even after a decent dinner.
It was heavy, dead legs that never came around tonight. I stopped for a minute or two to snap this week's photo, walked the uphills and stopped the watch with aroung 600m home. Nothing was feeling "injury sore" during the run; just no power or spring off the ground.
I did notice some soreness in my lumbar and right ankle before headed to bed.
SATURDAY DEC 12 ☀️
Sleep 4 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 3 | Soreness 4
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Can be separated by most of the day, can be back-to-back, in either direction. Up to you. MTB ~ 90 minutes. Fun ride. A trail or two would be nice. Overall an easy to moderate ride. Run 60 minutes. Flat to rolling. Nothing too steep. Maybe on Colquitz or something like that. Effort is EASY!
NOTES
Total Time: 150 minutes
Another so-so sleep but a great breakfast to start the day (Carina's pancakes).
I got into the garage to find that the front tire on my MTB was flat. Interestingly, the previous owner ran the wheels tubeless and for the 6 years that I have had the bike, I've never needed to touch it, until today. After a walk to an LBS for 26" tubes and a second walk to exchange Schrader for Presta, I now had a rideable bike.
I headed out to Thetis Lake Park via the Highland Road. I stuck to the fire roads while in the park. I felt the same heavy legs as yesterday and I wondered if this was still residual fatigue from last week's 5 km TT. I finished a 750ml bottle with 200 calories of lemonade before returning home.
LAP THROUGH THETIS PARK
40 minutes after the bike, I set off on the run.
Given how much yesterday's run/walk sucked and how I fatigued my legs felt on the ride, I accepted that I was in for a very long hour.
I stayed with the single thought of "good form" and a little after 15 minutes, it began to pay off. A rhythm set in and although my heavy legs remained heavy, the run was becoming fun.
Judging by the numbers (pace/distance) afterwards, one might say this run was a sub-par effort but during the run, I was in the moment, staying with the best form I could muster; cadence and breathing followed. I likened it to feeling the dull ache of a 20 km run even though I only did 9. Throw out the numbers; what I felt I accomplished over the course of the 58 minutes was not measured by a watch.
KM SPLITS HINT AT THE STORY
*My right ankle is more sore than last night.
