Just over three weeks until my first Ironman and it's been a crazy 5-6 months. So much training, maybe too much at times, an ongoing S.I Joint injury, being knocked off my bike 6 weeks out and the numerous other little sacrifices that have come with such an event such as a hit on the social life, the 24/7 thoughts that revolve around all things Ironman/nutrition/training/recovery etc. On top of that I have found as much as I promised myself it wouldn't the whole journey has 'taken over' as such.
Don't get me wrong I love all things fitness, adventure and find the whole nutrition side of it all fascinating but knowing 'I have to train' does get pretty annoying and there have been times when I've just wanted to quit but thats not an option at all!
Ironman has been on my to-do list for the last 5 years, since I first heard about it and like most people thought it isn't humanly possible to do such an event, the competitors must be 'on' something. What a difference 5 years has made, such a journey from a lazy person who let life pass by to someone who has managed to do everything I've aimed for, a sub 3 hr marthon, an ultra now for an Ironman!
Last year Wales hosted the first Ironman and having gone down to watch thought this is a must. Like most I didn't know where to start with the swimming, I didn't do swimming! I remember going to the pool and having to rest after 3 lengths. That only 8 months ago and even though I'm still very slow and the distance does worry me slightly I'm doing 1-1.5mile sea swims regularly. Something I'm as chuffed as anything about. SHould be fine.....Has to be fine!
The run is the run and will be 26.2 miles of pain but as long as I keep going will/have to make it. The cycling I've worked very hard at and managed to reach all my goals so far, just one to go!
I'm also 5kgs lighter than I was post xmas partying and even though I'm not quite as fast on the run as I was it's still probably my strongest section all in all so long as I get this taper correct should be going in to Ironman Wales in the best 'all around' shape I've been.....Who would have thought 5 years after thinking it wasn't possible I'm 3 weeks away from standing on the start line, EPIC!!
How am I going to taper??
I decided on a 5 week taper from the volume with the initial 2 weeks being high intensity but all very short (less than an hour including long rides). Having done so much long stuff felt I wanted that 'sharp' feeling you get with high intensity or a few of us say, 'pushing yourself until you taste blood' haha
The final 3 weeks will be a proper rest cutting volume doen to probably 40% in the 3rd week, 30% second week and 20% at most Ironman week. A bit of a change to the diet, opting for a higher protein diet during the taper before a graduall carb fest Ironman week or a few days before. Not the day before!! It's too close to be too full as such. I find it also a lot better to try and spread the carbs over the day and much easier on the stomach. The higher protein intake 2 weeks before will leave me a bit low on energy but don't worry, the training is done once you start the carb load will be able to get more carbs than usual down which will leave you 'bouncing' come Ironman - perfect!
Personal training blog as well as my own training and nutrition blogas lots of people have started asking me questions about my training and nutrition, how, why and when, what etc - il try and keep updates of training, nutrition and keep it open for any questions and advice. Also my training is not perfect and I'm always learning but it's just what I'm currently doing to live for the adventure and the next challenge!
Thursday, 23 August 2012
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Ironman Wales - 12 weeks to go!
With 12 weeks ish to go until the big day it's time to start to pick things up and get the body in fine working order!
Up until now I've kept my self with a bit in the tank and leaving the bigger volume for the next 8 weeks.
The thinking is I'm not going to do more than two 100 mile rides, maybe three at most! Up until now I've done a couple 70m rides and an 80m but except for them just done 40-50mile long rides and there hasn't exactly been much consistency. The only consistency is the fact I've been on the bike most days which has cramped up the mileage to around 150mile weeks with one or two 200mile weeks. However I found I was pretty tired after 200miles of cycling in a week so cut it back to about 150m. Whats the point killing myself early and in all honesty whats the point killing myself before the Ironman full stop?
The majority of my training has been on the bike and even though my swimming was non existent before Christmas, I found that 2-3 swims in the week with the od 4 swim week and also the od one swim week, it's come on a lot and even though it will take me a while I pretty sure I can get around the swim. With regards to the running I've had an injury all year so have literally only strated running again in the last week! However I'm from a running background and honestly think even though I've not run all year I can get the running up to scratch, or at least 'good enough' with 12 weeks left. 3 runs a week I'll do probably, one long, and two faster ones. I'll do a hand full of brick type sessions but not going to stress about the 'running after cycling' difficulty too much.
At the moment I'm probably doing between 12-15 hr weeks but a lot of the sessions are shorter sessions. From know on I'm going to bulk up the volume and gradually build it up to hopefully peak with a 20hr week about 4 weeks out. Then the nightmare of a taper which I always struggle with after been training so long but if you get it correct can be a the difference between a good day and a bad one.
So 12 weeks of graft ahead and 12 weeks of commitment and I hopefully will make it around.
At the moment anything between 12-13 hrs on the day and I'll be happy but if it took 16 I wouldn't really mind so long as I get around!
I could kill myself as such with the training for maybe a 30min improvement but I don't see the point and have no intention of getting too stressed about times. I'm going to do 'enough' to get me around as comfortably as can be with such an event but that's about it.
I'm estimating maybe 1.30 ish for the swim, 6.30-6.45 for the bike and 3.30ish for the run with no panics in transition! However in all honesty, I'm not fussed if it takes longer so long as I get around and can call myself an Ironman! Something I heard about 5 years ago and didn't think people could do such a thin, now I'm 12 weeks away from the start line!
Good luck to all taking on the challenge :)
With 12 weeks ish to go until the big day it's time to start to pick things up and get the body in fine working order!
Up until now I've kept my self with a bit in the tank and leaving the bigger volume for the next 8 weeks.
The thinking is I'm not going to do more than two 100 mile rides, maybe three at most! Up until now I've done a couple 70m rides and an 80m but except for them just done 40-50mile long rides and there hasn't exactly been much consistency. The only consistency is the fact I've been on the bike most days which has cramped up the mileage to around 150mile weeks with one or two 200mile weeks. However I found I was pretty tired after 200miles of cycling in a week so cut it back to about 150m. Whats the point killing myself early and in all honesty whats the point killing myself before the Ironman full stop?
The majority of my training has been on the bike and even though my swimming was non existent before Christmas, I found that 2-3 swims in the week with the od 4 swim week and also the od one swim week, it's come on a lot and even though it will take me a while I pretty sure I can get around the swim. With regards to the running I've had an injury all year so have literally only strated running again in the last week! However I'm from a running background and honestly think even though I've not run all year I can get the running up to scratch, or at least 'good enough' with 12 weeks left. 3 runs a week I'll do probably, one long, and two faster ones. I'll do a hand full of brick type sessions but not going to stress about the 'running after cycling' difficulty too much.
At the moment I'm probably doing between 12-15 hr weeks but a lot of the sessions are shorter sessions. From know on I'm going to bulk up the volume and gradually build it up to hopefully peak with a 20hr week about 4 weeks out. Then the nightmare of a taper which I always struggle with after been training so long but if you get it correct can be a the difference between a good day and a bad one.
So 12 weeks of graft ahead and 12 weeks of commitment and I hopefully will make it around.
At the moment anything between 12-13 hrs on the day and I'll be happy but if it took 16 I wouldn't really mind so long as I get around!
I could kill myself as such with the training for maybe a 30min improvement but I don't see the point and have no intention of getting too stressed about times. I'm going to do 'enough' to get me around as comfortably as can be with such an event but that's about it.
I'm estimating maybe 1.30 ish for the swim, 6.30-6.45 for the bike and 3.30ish for the run with no panics in transition! However in all honesty, I'm not fussed if it takes longer so long as I get around and can call myself an Ironman! Something I heard about 5 years ago and didn't think people could do such a thin, now I'm 12 weeks away from the start line!
Good luck to all taking on the challenge :)
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Carb Loading
It's that time of year again where Endurance events are back in the game. The London Marathon being one of many events coming up in the weeks ahead and with thousands of people participating it would probably be a good time to write about Carb Loading.
Over the last few years I've tried as many different Carb Loading techniques as I can think of. Some have been brilliant, others not so but one thing I'm certain of is that it works and works well! However everybody is different so you can't do something completely different to you training because the chances are your gut wont like it or you just won't feel like you want to. Below are some techniques I've tried and why I think they worked or didn't work:
1) This method is one that gets mixed reviews but I find this one to be the best for me. Every time I do it well I feel like I'm on form come the event. (However you need to have tried this in training, I wouldn't just do it off the cuff!) Basically it's a week long process (the week leading up) - Day one - Day three is a pretty low calorie diet, something like 2,000 calories which seems insane when you consider what your up to over the coming weekend. It's high in protein, high in Veg (Mountains of veg with a chicken breast style), high in fruit and pretty low in CARBS. Personally I start the day off with oats every day so that doesn't chance but the rest of the meals are pretty low carb. WHY?? After 3 days of this your body has completely rid of its glycogen stores meaning its frigging desperate for sugar (Carbs) and personally after 3 days of this having just come off big marathon training I can consume 5-6000 calories a day over the next two days and I'm only weighing about 72-75kgs at this time. Without the cut the first three days you wouldn't be able to eat this much but believe me after two 5000 calorie days you are bouncing and ready to go! The important thing is to follow up the day before the race with much less food, just a 'normal amount like you always eat'. If you get this rite you are bouncing on the start line. Dangers are that it's easy to get wrong and you end up a bit full on the day. Also if were being sensible, I can't imagine it being that healthy but theres no doubting how well it works and for only one time once every blue moon it's not going to harm anyone in my eyes.
Also when your eating 5000 calories in a day it's not all about just eating well. There's only so much veg, wholemeal foods you can eat before the fibre etc makes you way to full. As long as your body is familiar with it eat as much of everything as you can. I've been known to eat 10 jaffa cakes with a cuppa tea on a carb load followed by lunch of massive amounts of veg and a big sweet potato and fish. Before having an afternoon snack of 4 ham rolls followed by a dinner of a 12" pizza with afters of whole tub of Ben and Jerrys! I'm lolling at that as I write it but IT works, and the enxt day I'm still fairly full which is why you need the day before to be a 'normal' day of eating with foods that are as close to what you've been eating in your training as possible.
2) The second method and most sensible is the week before just to eat 'normally' each day but with a bit more carbs each day. E.g. if you eat 3000 then eat 3500 each day. This method means your body doesn't go in to any extremes the week before and for 90% of people this is definitely the best option! Option one is risky and can be horrible if you get it wrong but by far the best if it's done well. This way of doing it where by you just eat a little bit more each day is a safer bet and will still give you a plenty of loaded up glycogen levels to put in the effort you want.
You just need to make sure that your carb levels are high each day, like 400-450grams. You will feel a bit sluggish in the week but this is the case for any carb load method because you eat a lot of food and don't do hardly any training. However Carb loading works - how many of us have had a weekend off mid training, eatan what we think is too much over a weekend, drunk a bit too much but then come Monday we feel like we can keep going all day?? Well this, without thinking is a carb load and why you feel like you can go for longer. So don't feel like you need to do any extra training in the last week, just relax, stretch and eat a fair bit.
The only thing I wouldn't do is eat a ridiculous amount the day before, keep the big eating for in the week.
3)Final method and one I'm not doing again is just forgetting about loading but then the day before going nuts because I'm in some sort of panic because I think I need to load up. This left standing on the start line the next day with my stomach just way too full and me feeling like I'm huge and sluggish. I ended up feeling like crap all day and just wasn't up for it ending up doing rubbish.
Each to there own as everybody is different and if I was to recommend anything to the average person I would say option two, a steady increase in carbs all week/5days before, it won't be as much of a shock to the system and a much safer bet to feeling good on the day! When I've done my best I've used the first option and believe it works best but only if you've tried it in your training because I think it's too much of a shock for the average person to do it randomly a week before.
Anyhow, talk over about Carb loading....DON'T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT IT AT ALL, putting the training in is far more important. Best attitude is to go out and enjoy the whole thing. It's a much better experience and much more worth it I think. At the end of the day were not breaking any records just wanting to achieve something.
Over the last few years I've tried as many different Carb Loading techniques as I can think of. Some have been brilliant, others not so but one thing I'm certain of is that it works and works well! However everybody is different so you can't do something completely different to you training because the chances are your gut wont like it or you just won't feel like you want to. Below are some techniques I've tried and why I think they worked or didn't work:
1) This method is one that gets mixed reviews but I find this one to be the best for me. Every time I do it well I feel like I'm on form come the event. (However you need to have tried this in training, I wouldn't just do it off the cuff!) Basically it's a week long process (the week leading up) - Day one - Day three is a pretty low calorie diet, something like 2,000 calories which seems insane when you consider what your up to over the coming weekend. It's high in protein, high in Veg (Mountains of veg with a chicken breast style), high in fruit and pretty low in CARBS. Personally I start the day off with oats every day so that doesn't chance but the rest of the meals are pretty low carb. WHY?? After 3 days of this your body has completely rid of its glycogen stores meaning its frigging desperate for sugar (Carbs) and personally after 3 days of this having just come off big marathon training I can consume 5-6000 calories a day over the next two days and I'm only weighing about 72-75kgs at this time. Without the cut the first three days you wouldn't be able to eat this much but believe me after two 5000 calorie days you are bouncing and ready to go! The important thing is to follow up the day before the race with much less food, just a 'normal amount like you always eat'. If you get this rite you are bouncing on the start line. Dangers are that it's easy to get wrong and you end up a bit full on the day. Also if were being sensible, I can't imagine it being that healthy but theres no doubting how well it works and for only one time once every blue moon it's not going to harm anyone in my eyes.
Also when your eating 5000 calories in a day it's not all about just eating well. There's only so much veg, wholemeal foods you can eat before the fibre etc makes you way to full. As long as your body is familiar with it eat as much of everything as you can. I've been known to eat 10 jaffa cakes with a cuppa tea on a carb load followed by lunch of massive amounts of veg and a big sweet potato and fish. Before having an afternoon snack of 4 ham rolls followed by a dinner of a 12" pizza with afters of whole tub of Ben and Jerrys! I'm lolling at that as I write it but IT works, and the enxt day I'm still fairly full which is why you need the day before to be a 'normal' day of eating with foods that are as close to what you've been eating in your training as possible.
2) The second method and most sensible is the week before just to eat 'normally' each day but with a bit more carbs each day. E.g. if you eat 3000 then eat 3500 each day. This method means your body doesn't go in to any extremes the week before and for 90% of people this is definitely the best option! Option one is risky and can be horrible if you get it wrong but by far the best if it's done well. This way of doing it where by you just eat a little bit more each day is a safer bet and will still give you a plenty of loaded up glycogen levels to put in the effort you want.
You just need to make sure that your carb levels are high each day, like 400-450grams. You will feel a bit sluggish in the week but this is the case for any carb load method because you eat a lot of food and don't do hardly any training. However Carb loading works - how many of us have had a weekend off mid training, eatan what we think is too much over a weekend, drunk a bit too much but then come Monday we feel like we can keep going all day?? Well this, without thinking is a carb load and why you feel like you can go for longer. So don't feel like you need to do any extra training in the last week, just relax, stretch and eat a fair bit.
The only thing I wouldn't do is eat a ridiculous amount the day before, keep the big eating for in the week.
3)Final method and one I'm not doing again is just forgetting about loading but then the day before going nuts because I'm in some sort of panic because I think I need to load up. This left standing on the start line the next day with my stomach just way too full and me feeling like I'm huge and sluggish. I ended up feeling like crap all day and just wasn't up for it ending up doing rubbish.
Each to there own as everybody is different and if I was to recommend anything to the average person I would say option two, a steady increase in carbs all week/5days before, it won't be as much of a shock to the system and a much safer bet to feeling good on the day! When I've done my best I've used the first option and believe it works best but only if you've tried it in your training because I think it's too much of a shock for the average person to do it randomly a week before.
Anyhow, talk over about Carb loading....DON'T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT IT AT ALL, putting the training in is far more important. Best attitude is to go out and enjoy the whole thing. It's a much better experience and much more worth it I think. At the end of the day were not breaking any records just wanting to achieve something.
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Ironman journey begins
This week is the beginning of my Ironman journey and my plan is babysteps, especially for the first 4 weeks as I'm struggling to overcome a sacroiliac injury which has made my training broken and inconsistent and running hasn't even been on the agenda for 2 months. However with over a week spent doing 45mins of mobility work, stretching and general strengthning of the pelvic area I feel ready to try a run today so cross fingers!
I did devise a 20 week programe which I was convinced gave me the correct balance between maintaining some sort of social life aswell as training my ass off but this injury has disrupted things. So my new plan is to use the old plan as a guide but be flexible with when I do certain session. Also at the moment I think anything more than one run a week is too much for me and too much volume is also too much. Running and long rides are going to have to have a few days between and the 'inbetween' session are going to have to be short and high intensity. Strangelly it seems like I can handle HIT cycling fine but volume session make my pelvis a shambles the next day. However hopefully in a few weeks I will improve.
Basically this is my plan -
1) First 4 weeks will be rehab for the injury and an attempt at some easy short training session just to try and get some consistncey back. I'd have a guess at about 4 days training 3 off for now.
2) After 4 weeks I would like approx 12 weeks of base building where I will gradually build up some training and give me some sort of fitness back - May consist of 1 long ride, progressing (ish) as we go on, and the same with a run and swim and if I can I want one conditioning session in.
3) Then 4 weeks where I will try some of my longest rides and runs then the rest being speedwork to get sharp again.
4) Final 4 weeks taper where I shall do as little as possible just to keep me going. I would like to think I'll be down to about 4-5 days here as I know from experiance, less is more in the taper!
5)I'm going to training in 2-3week blocks with mini tapers as such on the 3rd or 4th week. This depends how I feel really and what I will have done in these blocks. Definitelly though I'm adament I don't want to get in to overtraining rut this summer like happened last year. I would rather be a bit under done than over as I'm sure staying motivated carries someone forward that extra few weeks alone.
Starting from this week I will post weekly training updates about what session I've done and how it's going on the journey to becoming an Ironman.
Finally, I have a rough plan of how I will train but as ever things will crop up, I will shuffle and change session if I would rather do one session than the other. So long as I'm heading in the rite direction and enjoying it I'm happy.
Goal - sub 12 hrs BUT mainly to get to the end!
I did devise a 20 week programe which I was convinced gave me the correct balance between maintaining some sort of social life aswell as training my ass off but this injury has disrupted things. So my new plan is to use the old plan as a guide but be flexible with when I do certain session. Also at the moment I think anything more than one run a week is too much for me and too much volume is also too much. Running and long rides are going to have to have a few days between and the 'inbetween' session are going to have to be short and high intensity. Strangelly it seems like I can handle HIT cycling fine but volume session make my pelvis a shambles the next day. However hopefully in a few weeks I will improve.
Basically this is my plan -
1) First 4 weeks will be rehab for the injury and an attempt at some easy short training session just to try and get some consistncey back. I'd have a guess at about 4 days training 3 off for now.
2) After 4 weeks I would like approx 12 weeks of base building where I will gradually build up some training and give me some sort of fitness back - May consist of 1 long ride, progressing (ish) as we go on, and the same with a run and swim and if I can I want one conditioning session in.
3) Then 4 weeks where I will try some of my longest rides and runs then the rest being speedwork to get sharp again.
4) Final 4 weeks taper where I shall do as little as possible just to keep me going. I would like to think I'll be down to about 4-5 days here as I know from experiance, less is more in the taper!
5)I'm going to training in 2-3week blocks with mini tapers as such on the 3rd or 4th week. This depends how I feel really and what I will have done in these blocks. Definitelly though I'm adament I don't want to get in to overtraining rut this summer like happened last year. I would rather be a bit under done than over as I'm sure staying motivated carries someone forward that extra few weeks alone.
Starting from this week I will post weekly training updates about what session I've done and how it's going on the journey to becoming an Ironman.
Finally, I have a rough plan of how I will train but as ever things will crop up, I will shuffle and change session if I would rather do one session than the other. So long as I'm heading in the rite direction and enjoying it I'm happy.
Goal - sub 12 hrs BUT mainly to get to the end!
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Injury nightmare!
It's been a while since I've blogged, mainly because I've finally met an injury! I say this because since I started my endurance/fitness/competing/health interest or whatever you want to call it four years ago I've been lucky and had to have nothing longer than about a week off due to injury. I've run marathons, a couple of ultras, done 100+ mile run weeks, done a lot of high intensity training be it running/cycling or on the weights but had nothing major until now!
Since the first week in Januray I've not been able to run for more than 10mins and there have only been 3-4 of them, by last week I couldn't even run 200yds. Cycling has kept me sane as well as swimming but recently I've struggled in the pool due to the twisting motion of the pelvis and after 2 months of cross training have finally been told to stop completely and only work on rehab exercises and at best low intensity (disco weights/pointless weights) upper body weights for as long as it takes!
I know there is more important things in life but to me this is a serious downer - In to the 3rd month of injury and when you train day in day out the weeks suddenly become ridiculously boring.
On the plus side my Ironman Wales training doesn't start until April 16th so my best option is to work on rehabilitate my sacroiliac joint (pelvis area) over the next four weeks and slowly start getting stronger again!
On top of this I'm ridiculously motivated and am positive if I can string a good month together come May the I'll be well on my way to getting back to fitness!
One goal - become an Ironman! (even if I have to do it slower than planned)
Since the first week in Januray I've not been able to run for more than 10mins and there have only been 3-4 of them, by last week I couldn't even run 200yds. Cycling has kept me sane as well as swimming but recently I've struggled in the pool due to the twisting motion of the pelvis and after 2 months of cross training have finally been told to stop completely and only work on rehab exercises and at best low intensity (disco weights/pointless weights) upper body weights for as long as it takes!
I know there is more important things in life but to me this is a serious downer - In to the 3rd month of injury and when you train day in day out the weeks suddenly become ridiculously boring.
On the plus side my Ironman Wales training doesn't start until April 16th so my best option is to work on rehabilitate my sacroiliac joint (pelvis area) over the next four weeks and slowly start getting stronger again!
On top of this I'm ridiculously motivated and am positive if I can string a good month together come May the I'll be well on my way to getting back to fitness!
One goal - become an Ironman! (even if I have to do it slower than planned)
Monday, 13 February 2012
Minimum training but breaking PB's
Last week I just finished devising a 20 week Ironman programme which starts in May and runs until the Ironman itself in September. I've made it as suitable as possible to my current work load and tried my best to make it as adaptable to my life with making it a big part of my life BUT NOT LET IT TAKE OVER EVERYTHING!!
I'm not just saying this because I'm lazy or looking for excuses to train less. Anybody that knows me will say I train my absolute ass off so I'm not for excuses. I'm actually adamant that less can be more even for an event of this stature. Reasons being:
1) Last year I went through a faze of training 100miles a week of running. Granted I'd struggle to do that at the moment but looking back I was too tired for anything social with my mates and even if I did join in I'd be so ridiculously tired from all the training that I'd be a complete bore. During this time I ran a 2.59 marathon - I remember I was exhausted at the start line due to all the training so I have no doubt with LESS training but more quality I could get nearer 2.50.....and I'd have a life - 100%!
2) I was running 3-4 runs a week but all fast/tempo and upped it to 5-6 runs peaking at 50miles a week. A big drinking event was never far away and in this time I ran a 1.18 half marathon. That should make me a fair bit faster than a 2.59 marathon. This whilst only training 4 days a week and out most weekends where shoots of tequila, jagerbombs and the dance floor was never far away. I was trying less and beating PB's!
3) A more recent example is for cycling. October through to January I hardly went on the bike but I do remember doing a 2hr cycle and managing 32miles. This shortly after I'd been training huge, huge volumes at running as well as some long cycles in the summer and coming 5th in a 50mile ultra. Forward to yesterday....Since January I've had a turbo trainer and ALL my sessions up till yesterday have all been max intensity 30-45min session on the indoor bike. I swear there has been nothing longer on the bike. I've trained 5 days a week instead of 6 or even 7 last year, but ALL my sessions have been all out effort to such an extent that some of my sessions on the turbo trainer have had to be done with no one else around as they seem to worry if I'M 'OK'!
I've been on some ridiculous drinking weekends with my mates on my 2 days off since early December, the last was a trip to Dublin for the Ireland vs Wales rugby match where er literally drunk, sung, ate McDonald's flat out, pulled huge shapes on the dance floor and probably had less sleep over 3 days than we usually get in one night. Yet come the Tuesday I had a hunger like I NEVER had last year when I was training 24/7 and all week performed some brilliant training session which ended yesterday in me trying the same 2hr cycling course I did last year when I got 32miles....Yesterday I got 38miles in 2 hrs on the same route!!
The best attitude I've ever switched to is not letting training take over all my life just be a great part of it and in turn I'm putting in some brilliant sessions, arguable the best ever. I've developed the ability to be able be able to find that 'switch off' button but when it's been time to cross that white line training wise I have in a big way lately.
4) Like I mentioned earlier that ability to be able to switch off that I seem to have been able to do in the last 6 months is benefiting me a lot and it's something I'm passing on to all my clients. Last year training wasn't fun but I just couldn't switch off so I kept going and going. People would say, 'Look how much he is training - he must be in ridiculous shape'. First off I will never be in 'ridiculous shape', I'm just someone who loves fitness and reaching goals that may be too far for me, I'm no pro how ever hard I train and neither is 95% of people who let training BE there life instead of be a big chunk of there life, people are almost afraid to cut back. My secret to being able to break PB's despite training less being way more relaxed with my nutrition is the fact that every time I put on my trainers, get on the bike or line up a big lift I'm loving it as much as I ever have!! I'm 100% this is all down to the fact I've learned to switch off and stop getting worked up about something that is sort of important but sort of not important at all!
Happy Training - Go hard or go home :)
I'm not just saying this because I'm lazy or looking for excuses to train less. Anybody that knows me will say I train my absolute ass off so I'm not for excuses. I'm actually adamant that less can be more even for an event of this stature. Reasons being:
1) Last year I went through a faze of training 100miles a week of running. Granted I'd struggle to do that at the moment but looking back I was too tired for anything social with my mates and even if I did join in I'd be so ridiculously tired from all the training that I'd be a complete bore. During this time I ran a 2.59 marathon - I remember I was exhausted at the start line due to all the training so I have no doubt with LESS training but more quality I could get nearer 2.50.....and I'd have a life - 100%!
2) I was running 3-4 runs a week but all fast/tempo and upped it to 5-6 runs peaking at 50miles a week. A big drinking event was never far away and in this time I ran a 1.18 half marathon. That should make me a fair bit faster than a 2.59 marathon. This whilst only training 4 days a week and out most weekends where shoots of tequila, jagerbombs and the dance floor was never far away. I was trying less and beating PB's!
3) A more recent example is for cycling. October through to January I hardly went on the bike but I do remember doing a 2hr cycle and managing 32miles. This shortly after I'd been training huge, huge volumes at running as well as some long cycles in the summer and coming 5th in a 50mile ultra. Forward to yesterday....Since January I've had a turbo trainer and ALL my sessions up till yesterday have all been max intensity 30-45min session on the indoor bike. I swear there has been nothing longer on the bike. I've trained 5 days a week instead of 6 or even 7 last year, but ALL my sessions have been all out effort to such an extent that some of my sessions on the turbo trainer have had to be done with no one else around as they seem to worry if I'M 'OK'!
I've been on some ridiculous drinking weekends with my mates on my 2 days off since early December, the last was a trip to Dublin for the Ireland vs Wales rugby match where er literally drunk, sung, ate McDonald's flat out, pulled huge shapes on the dance floor and probably had less sleep over 3 days than we usually get in one night. Yet come the Tuesday I had a hunger like I NEVER had last year when I was training 24/7 and all week performed some brilliant training session which ended yesterday in me trying the same 2hr cycling course I did last year when I got 32miles....Yesterday I got 38miles in 2 hrs on the same route!!
The best attitude I've ever switched to is not letting training take over all my life just be a great part of it and in turn I'm putting in some brilliant sessions, arguable the best ever. I've developed the ability to be able be able to find that 'switch off' button but when it's been time to cross that white line training wise I have in a big way lately.
4) Like I mentioned earlier that ability to be able to switch off that I seem to have been able to do in the last 6 months is benefiting me a lot and it's something I'm passing on to all my clients. Last year training wasn't fun but I just couldn't switch off so I kept going and going. People would say, 'Look how much he is training - he must be in ridiculous shape'. First off I will never be in 'ridiculous shape', I'm just someone who loves fitness and reaching goals that may be too far for me, I'm no pro how ever hard I train and neither is 95% of people who let training BE there life instead of be a big chunk of there life, people are almost afraid to cut back. My secret to being able to break PB's despite training less being way more relaxed with my nutrition is the fact that every time I put on my trainers, get on the bike or line up a big lift I'm loving it as much as I ever have!! I'm 100% this is all down to the fact I've learned to switch off and stop getting worked up about something that is sort of important but sort of not important at all!
Happy Training - Go hard or go home :)
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Minimum Ironman Training (in my eyes!)
The more I read up on Ironman things and the more days I spend on the bike (max of 1hr a time) I honestly think that if your goal is to 'complete' an Ironman then it can be done in 2-3months, providing your fairly fit already.
For the last 3 weeks all I've done is High intensity cardio sessions lasting between 20mins and an hour with one run being about 1hr 15. Through getting in quality training sessions and no 'junk sessions' I'm finding me improving through much much less volume!
I'll admit these sessions were pushing it until I literally had to slump over the turbo trainer in exhaustion (yes I've done my last 18 rides on the turbo!) and off just two runs a week have seen me doing 12mile runs at 6.30m/mile which is faster than I was doing them when I did a sub 3hr marathon and running 80-90mile weeks!!
Some of my sessions have been brutal but with making them high intensity I've managed to see definite improvements with much less volume!!
Volume I find takes over my life - not only is it time consuming but it leaves me exhausted and unable to move from the sofa without a bit of a moan. I know from experience how essential volume is for things like ultras and Ironmans but I honestly think before 2-3 months out of Ironman Wales I don't need to do any runs over about 15miles, cycles over about 50 and swims over 1hr. I'm doing a half Ironman early June and up until then no cycles will be over 50miles and swims over 45mins, that's not to say I wont be training hard. Some of the hardest session I've done in a long time have been the last couple weeks.
E.g. This session on the turbo trainer - 7 sets of 5min hard, 1min recovery, 1min flat out, 1min recovery x 7. It was brutal but in an hour id done a much harder bike session than some would do in 3 hours.
I've also realised the importance of rest and when I say rest I mean a complete switch off from eating well and training 1-2 days a week! Until I have to sacrifice social events for long rides followed by long runs (2months before) then I'm adopting a high intensity only policy then cramp up the volume after the half Ironman, which I belive with a bit more swimming I can do now maybe not to the standard I'd like but definitely finish it.
However it's all swings and roundabouts - last year I swore by high volume and now I'm swearing by high intensity! Truth is the maybe the reason I'm pushing out quality sessions of late is because I built up that endurance base last year and the fact I'm shocking my body with high intensity stuff is just keeping me improving. With that said I know I'll need volume but to do it now like I've heard people suggest is just too much, it will lead to burn out and lack of motivation.
I'm going to leave it 2-3months prior before training specifically for the Ironman. To a point I'd rather be underdone than overdone! So long as I'm chasing the p.b's and enjoying the volume then the improvements and main goal of nailing the Ironman will be in sight!
I asked someone what they thought minimum Ironman training was?
The reply 'Once your confident you can make it then you've done enough, the rest is just improving the level'
For the last 3 weeks all I've done is High intensity cardio sessions lasting between 20mins and an hour with one run being about 1hr 15. Through getting in quality training sessions and no 'junk sessions' I'm finding me improving through much much less volume!
I'll admit these sessions were pushing it until I literally had to slump over the turbo trainer in exhaustion (yes I've done my last 18 rides on the turbo!) and off just two runs a week have seen me doing 12mile runs at 6.30m/mile which is faster than I was doing them when I did a sub 3hr marathon and running 80-90mile weeks!!
Some of my sessions have been brutal but with making them high intensity I've managed to see definite improvements with much less volume!!
Volume I find takes over my life - not only is it time consuming but it leaves me exhausted and unable to move from the sofa without a bit of a moan. I know from experience how essential volume is for things like ultras and Ironmans but I honestly think before 2-3 months out of Ironman Wales I don't need to do any runs over about 15miles, cycles over about 50 and swims over 1hr. I'm doing a half Ironman early June and up until then no cycles will be over 50miles and swims over 45mins, that's not to say I wont be training hard. Some of the hardest session I've done in a long time have been the last couple weeks.
E.g. This session on the turbo trainer - 7 sets of 5min hard, 1min recovery, 1min flat out, 1min recovery x 7. It was brutal but in an hour id done a much harder bike session than some would do in 3 hours.
I've also realised the importance of rest and when I say rest I mean a complete switch off from eating well and training 1-2 days a week! Until I have to sacrifice social events for long rides followed by long runs (2months before) then I'm adopting a high intensity only policy then cramp up the volume after the half Ironman, which I belive with a bit more swimming I can do now maybe not to the standard I'd like but definitely finish it.
However it's all swings and roundabouts - last year I swore by high volume and now I'm swearing by high intensity! Truth is the maybe the reason I'm pushing out quality sessions of late is because I built up that endurance base last year and the fact I'm shocking my body with high intensity stuff is just keeping me improving. With that said I know I'll need volume but to do it now like I've heard people suggest is just too much, it will lead to burn out and lack of motivation.
I'm going to leave it 2-3months prior before training specifically for the Ironman. To a point I'd rather be underdone than overdone! So long as I'm chasing the p.b's and enjoying the volume then the improvements and main goal of nailing the Ironman will be in sight!
I asked someone what they thought minimum Ironman training was?
The reply 'Once your confident you can make it then you've done enough, the rest is just improving the level'
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