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!" )

Chewing at the bars of my cage [@thelondontri @virginactiveuk]

The day before the weekend of The Virgin Active London Triathlon and I am right where I should be before a race - chewing through the bars of my cage to get out and race!

Last couple of months training; pink = intense/long training, blue = fitness, yellow = "race freshness"

Having tapered training down, keeping the number of sessions this week the same but dialling back the duration or intensity, I've been getting more and more itchy to just go out and run hard, or swim fast or *grrrrr* anything!  And that's where you're supposed to be at this point before an important race.  I can't wait to get out there on Sunday and mash around the swim, bike and run!  I'll be fit, well-adapted and rested with not having put as much fatigue as usual into my body this week and the little fun race the weekend before last really whetted my appetite.

My checklist is sorted and, even better, I have race kit to collect on Saturday morning and I'll be in full Freespeed colours for this flagship race.  I'm going to be so happy and proud to be wearing them (plus they are amazingly comfy - I have a pair of the tri-shorts already and they're lovely to wear) and the lift you get from supporters yelling for you and ringing cow-bells is something special.  I had a taste of that last weekend and a long time back at Blenheim (very fond memories of my first race there!) and it is an amazing feeling that even the hardest cynic can't fail to be moved by.

Tomorrow, I'll be on the Virgin Active stand at the triathlon expo in the afternoon, so if you're racing, supporting or just at the expo for a look/shop come and say hi!  Sunday... I'll be out on the course, having fun!

Virgin Active London Triathlon: 1 week to go! @thelondontri @virginactiveuk

One week to go!

And ohboy are we ready for a taper week :o)  I'm gonna go crazy!

This weekend Mr TOTKat and I went parkrun touring again for the first time since he did his knee in.  He's been slowly working back up to the 5km distance after many weeks of not being allowed to run (or cycle) at all and this week was the first time he's been able to run 5km entirely in one go.  And it was lovely!  We went to Clair parkrun at Haywards Heath which meant a nice little trip on the train.  A hilly 4.5 lap course in this heat was going to be challenging enough, but I had an intervals session of 5x1200m off 6 minutes scheduled and I was going to try to do that over parkrun and an extra lap.

Not today, sweetie and not on that course!  Too hot and too hilly, but I had a bit of a go; warmed up with some drills for a lap before starting and then hared off for my first interval.  Over the course, I decided that 1200m intervals just weren't practical and with the hills, the 6mins/1.2km plus some recovery wasn't going to be happening.  Still the quickest parkrun this year for me, but of course way off my 5km PB (22:36! srsly, I have no idea how that happened but reckon it was a lot to do with not being allowed to do any swimming & outdoor cycling for months earlier so ending up working on running a lot, and then a really good warm up).

So I have a medium length bike in for tomorrow, followed by a little brick run afterwards.  My worry at the moment on cycling is the RideLondon 100 the week after VALT where it's not only 100 miles, but there are a couple of evil hills in there so I'm feeling a bit apprehensive having done pretty much no hill work on the bike this year.  So, I sorta want to be a bit naughty and do some hills instead of a gentle 2.5 hour ride.  We'll see if I'm good or not :o)  This time next week I'll've finished the race and be hopefully not nursing very chafed underarms due to the salt water like last time I did this course - this time I'll use bodyglide and try to get rinsed off a bit better under the water sprays at the swim exit.

Not a lot planned in for the rest of the week; rest day on Monday, little short runs on Tue and Wed, then a short, sharp swim Thu and a short, sharp bike Fri and that's it!  Hoping to pick up some team kit on Thursday morning too - it'll be good to ride and run in the right stuff and wear it with pride.

Not long left to the first -real- test

3 weeks to Bolton and this week is supposed to be a final high-volume week before the taper into the race.  15 hours of planned training this week (the most ever by quite a bit) and I'm now laid low by a horrible ear/nose/throat thing.  Light-headed, sore, tired, cranky, and nauseated (due to the delightful pus produced by tonsilitis) but also hungry.  This is sub-optimal.

I should have seen it coming, given the last couple of days of training and how pants they've been.  It was probably an early indicator that my innards were on the decline.  The really annoying bit is that my longest brick ride/run before the race is scheduled for this weekend and it's pretty much the last time I get to try out any race nutrition changes.  I was planning to factor in using Gatorade (I'd link to information on Gatorade, but their web site is so awful, there's no point) as well as solid food, given how tricky solid food is for a number of reasons if it's the only fuel; carrying enough of it, actually eating it, avoiding littering, digestion and other fun things.  Gatorade is what is available at the aid stations on the bike course and I can't be self-reliant for drinks in a simple way throughout the 180km of that leg of the race, so I need to use the available aid and swap out bottles at least every 3 hours of cycling (so, probably twice over the bike course).  Having not tried it before, I'm not sure if it plays nicely with my stomach under the stress of endurance sport conditions and it'd be stupidity to go into the race just hoping it'll be fine.  I'll now need to rely on the final ride of any length left before the race which is the weekend after this one.  If Gatorade turns out to be not good, I've got no time to find and try something else under difficult enough circumstances to be sure.  Here's to hoping it is fine (and it seems to be for most people, regardless of whether it tastes OK or not).