The last of the big weeks in 2013

Last week was, on paper, the last of the big training weeks this year.  The message from my coach was "get your head down and get through it".  So.  I did.  And, come Sunday's 3.5 hour bike ride I was knackered.  My hamstrings were already battered from still being unused to the new set-up on the Fuji and having put in a lot of miles of bike work in the last fortnight from Ride London 100 onwards; 100 miles that day, a few gym bike sessions during the week and a ride home, then a 65km ride from Winchester to Bagshot, some more quality gym bike sessions in the week, then a 3 hour ride on Saturday.  Sunday, I headed out for my usual 3 Hills route in Surrey with quite some fatigue, but it felt OK.  I wound it up gently at the start and then hit Hungry Hill Lane with less horror than usual at the terrible road surface, ground up Staple Lane in my second fastest recorded time, followed by the same performance up Crocknorth and then PBd chunks up to Box Hill and some of the segments up the hill and then all the way home from there.  Even fatigued and with hamstrings on fire, the grind seemed less difficult up the hills and I felt able to push through the discomfort and tiredness with more than usual ease.  This is exactly how I felt in the latter stages of Ride London; tired but with plenty of power and drive left.

On paper, this has been the most successful (unsupervised) training week since Galway last year... only one missed swim:-

The bike work is really paying off and it's making me a little excited for Zell Am See.  In my head, I'm starting to believe that I might be able to do something good at that race.  I should be able to and I'm starting to believe that my body can do stuff when I tell it to.

This week, I have a couple of runs (one sharp one, one recovery) a couple of bike (one sharp, one cadence work), two swims (one sharp, one endurance) and that's it.  Then it's 4 races in 4 weeks; sprint, 70.3, Olympic, sprint.

FUN!  (gotta get race plans set in my head that aren't just "SMASH IT!1!!}#&*^]!]@1@J+ZZ!" )

Another one comes around quickly - Ironman UK 70.3

3 days to go and I'm well and truly tapering - from what it's hard to tell as apart from a week in Almeria earlier in the year, my training never really took off.  But still... I feel pretty OK, if a bit heavier than this time last year.  As I said before Blenheim last week, a lot has happened in the last 12 months...

Last year we drove to Exmoor on the Thursday and had all of Friday and Saturday to take things easy, this year we've cut it shorter and will be travelling over at silly o'clock on Friday morning to avoid the traffic and straight to registration.

I'm so glad I blogged about last year as it gives me some comfort and information to use for this year.  My goodness me, I was fierce in the run (probably due to being really very fit at the time and pacing the bike very conservatively), especially given the course profile.  This year, I'll have a few changes to the plan and I'll be taking it a lot harder in the swim and the run, and on the flat and uphills of the bike but still risk-managing in the descents on the bike.  I know I can hurt more than I did last year and I know I can handle mental difficulties, I've done it and I know how to make it work.  I also know that I made some corking mistakes, like the one where I didn't realise my quick release brakes were undone the whole way around...

So.  I went through the packing list and packed last night as I'm late home tonight; a last loosening sports massage at 6pm and then a visit from our builder before an early-as-possible bed so we can get going early on Friday morning.  The bike is still set up from last week's aborted race, so not much to do there other than take it to bits to pack it in the car.  The course doesn't work for a TT bike for me, I'd be up on the hoods too much at the moment, so the road bike with HED Jets it is.

There's going to be a massive line-up in the pro field and the age-group list doesn't look shabby either.  I've not had a chat with coach yet on what the race strategy will be, but I'm hoping I'll be "allowed" to actually race rather than be conservative.  I'd like to come in under 7 hours on this course, but I have no idea what I'm capable of at my current fitness and training point.  I find out on Sunday!

Expect a proper race report at some point, but if you want to follow on the athlete tracker on the day, I'll be race number 1048.  Not quite the good ol' 104 of last year, but no such special treatment this year.

Strong Is The New Skinny

I like

Strong Is The New Skinny

Thanks to a Facebook post by Rachel Cosgrove, I've come across a great new movement... Strong Is The New Skinny, based on a particular post in a blog, which is taking shape and making strides.  While I think "Strong Is The New Beautiful" is a great message, "Strong Is The New Skinny" is more powerful right now.  Skinny has been king (or even queen) in the modelling, film and entertainment world for such a long time even for the front cover of some fitness magazines for women which just seems absurd.  Skinny is not something to aspire to in the same way that Morbidly Obese is not something to aspire to.  Neither is good, neither is healthy and neither is something that should be put on a pedestal as the ideal of beauty, yet Skinny is there right now and has been for many decades.  I want to see Strong up there where Skinny is.  And I want to be part of getting it there.

Though I'm laid up in bed feeling crap, I'm still excited and thrilled by videos like this one:-



OK, so some of the pull-ups and lifts are a little snatched and silly, but the overall effect... that's what I want.  Yes, women have a different hormonal make-up from men but it shouldn't get in the way of aspiring to strength, health and fitness.

Now, to get me a couple of gym-tops with that slogan on it... annoyingly the "official" ones are sold from the US and suffer from the usual  problems with import duty and the messing about with the Royal Mail to get the delivery released etc.

First gym in a little while

Last time I did any proper exercise was 20th September - an off-piste gym session at the Cornwall Hotel Spa and Estate which had a tiny gym equipped with lots of cardio machines but not so well on the free weights front.  No Smith machine, only a wobbly bar and bar weights up to 5kg to add on.  Still managed a reasonable couple of routines in that gym though, which was nice.

This morning... back to the last routine from my trainer and I was expecting to be weak and pathetic after almost 2 weeks off.  But no :o)  Increased weights on most stuff and added in a couple of extra bits from previous routines as well:-

• Warm up 1km on the rower (L7 04:30)
• Squats - Smith machine (no counter-weight) with Olympic bar plus 15kg - 3x10
• Clean and press - 25kg barbell - 3x10 (A)
• Reverse crunches - bodyweight - 3x15 (A)
• Overhead squat - 3x10 - 12kg ViPR (B)
• Crunch with overhead lift - 3x10 - 12kg ViPR (B)
• Planks on 3x medicine balls - 2x60s
• Pressups on 3x medicine balls - x5
• Squat and swing - 18kg dumbbell - 3x10
• Lunge and horizontal press - 3x10x2 - 10kg ViPR
• Lunge with overhead swing - 3x8x2 - 16kg ViPR
• Cool down on x-trainer - 5 minutes (L7, L6, L4)
• Stretch on the Powerplate.

 RAWR!  Gonna hurt tomorrow :oD

Photos from holiday(s) and some further thoughts later... it's been a bit sorty-outy this weekend so far and I could do with sitting on my arse a little bit.

Cor!

Good gymmage today!  I upped my clean and press to 17.5kg and cleared all 3x 10 reps. :o) I was feeling so good after the routine I thought I'd try an assisted pull-up and managed one with only 10kg assist which is far and away the best performance ever.  I reckon had I tried it at the start, I would probably have managed one with no assist, through sheer bloody-mindedness.

The routine is now:-

• 1km warm up on the rower at L7
• squat and swing - 12kg dumbbell - 3x10 SUPERSET A
• pendulum swings - bodyweight - 3x10x2 SUPERSET A
• lunge with cable rows - 12.5kg - 3x10 SUPERSET B
• side plank with rows - 4kg dumbbell - 3x10x2 SUPERSET B
• lunge with crossed-arm raise/swing to knee - 4kg dumbbell - 3x10x2
• clean and press - 17.5kg bar bell - 3x10
• planks - 3x60s (60s recovery)
• 3x 30s sprints (>200rpm on L6 on the cross trainer) with 60s recovery
• 5 minutes cool-down and stretch

So, yay!  Good gym!  Feeling good and strong and almost ready for Monday's race (start postion #17!  *wibble*)

I also tried the Nakd Pecan Pie bar today and that was pretty much as nice as the Cashew Cookie, so both are very much recommended and fill a little afternoon snack place in the overall scheduling quite nicely.  So thanks loads to Laura for those!

Kangaroo steak for dinner..

Very mild flavour, probably because it is sooooo lean.  Juicy, cooked rare like this.  Very nice.  Will eat again :o)

B - greek yogurt with 1 scoop MP Max, fruit compote and Grape Nuts
S - banana
L - salad; lettuce, cherry tomatoes, celery, sweet peppers, pomegranate seeds, cucumber, chicken breast
*gym*
S - 1 scoop MP Max in skimmed milk
S - MP beef jerky
S - carrot and Waitrose houmous
D - kangaroo steak, roasted sweet peppers, couscous, peas and sweetcorn

Exercise 53 minutes gym

Calories (kcal) [kcals to maintain weight (inc. exercise)	1689 2203]
Protein (g)	173.9 (42.2%)
Carbohydrate (g)	162.3 (36.9%)
Fat (g)	38.4 (21.0%)
Fruit & Veg	10.9

Keep on moving; don't stop!

Today is cardio day!  Little swim in the lunch break and a little run after school.  I'll aim for a fast 408m in the pool and a fast 5km on the road later.  There's not really time to do endurance runs/swims etc. before the next triathlon and they're pretty much the only disciplines I can make a difference to my overall time with at the moment.  But more on that to come :o)

Will report in on swim and run later...(and think about an evening snack to top up the kcals before bed)

...swim was pretty good; tumble-turns take a whole second of length times it seems and I'm doing rubbish ones at the moment, so it might improve :o)  And the run, apart from getting rained on at the start felt really strong!  Not massively quick (5.2km at 10.7kph) but I felt great (comparatively) and not totally dead at about 4km.  I could definitely have gone faster, which is very encouraging.  Maybe I should have gone further, but I ran out of route and I was thirsty!  I'm pretty sure that getting back to the gym is helping me on the strength side to make running a bit "easier".

I've evolved part of my recipe for Eggs Florentine; basically quadrupled the amount of spinach, doubled the eggs, doubled the butter and added seasoning.  What a difference!  It's soooo nice like this!  We had it tonight with baked tilapia and boiled new potatoes:-

B - greek yogurt with 1 scoop MP Max, blueberries, Maca root and Grape Nuts
S -Starbucks skinny latte
S - EAT Natural, cranberries, apricot and yogurt bar
L - salad; lettuce, cherry tomatoes, sweet pepper, celery, capers Food Doctor herb boost and chicken breast
*swim*
S - 1 scoop MP Max in skimmed milk
S - carrot and Waitrose houmous and pistachios
*run*
S - 1 scoop MP Max in semi-skimmed milk
D - baked tilapia fillet with new potatoes and egg florentine
S - Tim's Dairy yogurt (toffee)

Exercise - 30 minutes swim, 30 minutes run

Calories (kcal) [kcals to maintain weight (inc. exercise)	2336 2359]
Protein (g)	202.3 (35.1%)
Carbohydrate (g)	205.7 (33.5%)
Fat (g)	80.3 (31.4%)
Fruit & Veg	9.3