So this was my longest ride (and possibly THE longest ride before the 70.3 in Galway!) - the plan was:
60min RPE12-13 rpm around 95(EZish)
30min max effort/top gear (54-12 on my bike)
40min RPE12-13 rpm around 95 (EZish)
20min max effort/top gear
30min spin down
All was good, the bike felt amazing I was riding the HED3s front and rear on this ride with no problems (well apart from how hard they are compared to spoked!!) and I came in to home just as my daughters were going out for a walk with my parents and the dogs - so they got to see me on the bike too :-)
Nutrition went well too - 1200ml of ZV Zero drink (no cals/rehydration) and 4 ZipVit gels (60g of carbs/gel) diluted 50:50 with water - 1/30mins.
Immediately after the ride I went out on a ascending brick run:
10min @ 6:10/km pace
10min @ 6:00/km pace
10min @ 5:50/km pace
it felt great - I really struggled to hold the pace back on the first 2km :-)
So that was the weekend - good training and on Sunday I became Godfather - to one of our friends little boy, Jonathan - v proud!
If only yesterday's swim could have gone as well! the training was planed for and aerobic skill/effort set:
WU: 400m, 300 Ez, 50 moderate, 50 tempo
DR: (Ez!) (400)
1 x 50 (Record
stroke count and time)
1 x 50 3/4 catch up
1 x 50 Single arm
1 x 50 6
beat kick and switch with fins
1 x 50 swimming with fins
1 x 50 Paddles
and fins
1 x 50 Paddles (keep kicking)
1 x 50 (Record stroke count and
time).
MS: (1800)
9 x 200 TEMPO +
20s rest in b/t
CD: 100 - put
stroke back together, EASY
....nice and complex!! however I got through the warm up and the drils and then the wheels came off...I am still not sure what happened but I developed pain in my distal biceps area which radiated down my arm - not good! I had to pull up on 200 number 2 and I limped back to the shallow end - i swam down doing 200m of 6beat kick with fins - very unhappy. I saw my GP and I am now referred to the physio - I reckon it is a nerve impingement or cramping/spasming in the long head of triceps (more likely) - more stretching before swimming needed I think!
This morning I got out for an aerobic run - again at ascending pace. This time the plan was:
15min @ 6:10/km pace
15min @ 6:00/km pace
15min @ 5:50/km pace
Which for some reason I found harder than after 3hours on the bike!! Really strange but there you have it - sometimes I just cannot get my head into it and today was one of those days!
Oh well busy few days coming up, I have lots of swimming and running left for the week but then at the weekend I am off to Hong Kong for a short meeting (fly out Sunday, Arrive Monday, Meeting Tuesday/Wednesday and fly home - arriving back on Thursday!) so training WILL be limited...
Later I.
Beatrice Howden
19 July 2012
Poor Bea is back in hospital with another chest infection - the last one left her in PICU on a respirator - fingers crossed this time!
If you can please follow the link on the right of the page -------> and support her by sponsoring me for the 70.3 race (1.9km swim/90km bike/21.1km run) in Galway.
Thanks
I.
If you can please follow the link on the right of the page -------> and support her by sponsoring me for the 70.3 race (1.9km swim/90km bike/21.1km run) in Galway.
Thanks
I.
A perfect run :-)
For the first time in ages running was enjoyable this morning - it all just felt right. The first 2 miles was a bit creaky but after about 16mins it all freed up and felt good - evening managed a sub 9min/mile - which for me is v good!
The aim was 21min EZ out and 19min MOD back with 6x30s strides to tempo pace - executed to the second! :-)
The aim was 21min EZ out and 19min MOD back with 6x30s strides to tempo pace - executed to the second! :-)
A relatively easy 10km
17 July 2012
So this what was planned this morning:
OBJECTIVE: Ez - Aerobic Run
FOCUS: Focus on good form and 95RPM
30mins Ez - 70% (6:10min/mile)
15mins Mod - 75-80% (6:00min/mile)
15mins Tempo - 80-85% (5:50min/mile)
CD: Walk and Stretch - 5mins
and when I woke up I was greated by a beautiful morning :-) however I didn't feel great before I headed out, I will spare you the detail but guts were just not right (there is a bugdoing the rounds at the moment) but went out and focused on holding pace as set out (of course Mike meant /km not mile :-O- felt it went pretty well (although I was a little fast at times...) :-)
OBJECTIVE: Ez - Aerobic Run
FOCUS: Focus on good form and 95RPM
30mins Ez - 70% (6:10min/mile)
15mins Mod - 75-80% (6:00min/mile)
15mins Tempo - 80-85% (5:50min/mile)
CD: Walk and Stretch - 5mins
and when I woke up I was greated by a beautiful morning :-) however I didn't feel great before I headed out, I will spare you the detail but guts were just not right (there is a bugdoing the rounds at the moment) but went out and focused on holding pace as set out (of course Mike meant /km not mile :-O- felt it went pretty well (although I was a little fast at times...) :-)
A tale of two rides....
13 July 2012
What a total disaster of a morning, horrible weather so I thought I would do a turbo....turbo software crashes so I decide to go for a ride on my roadie...two flats in four miles...inner replaced (and then patched on the second flat) all three CO2 cannisters used up on the ride home...not happy...looks like attempt two will be at lunch.....ho hum...
Take 2 after this morning's disasterous effort....
So I decided to take the road bike out for a spin today - I had forgotten how different it is riding it from my TT - almost died a couple of times as it is so much more responsive!! pushed it really hard (maybe too hard 8-) ) on the first TEMPO but the second I tried to OG....unfortunately I forgot I was on a bike with a compact....so it ended up being top gear 50-12 for nearly all of it to make it hard enough (those extra 4 teeth on my TT make a BIG difference!) All the same felt ok back was sore in a different place though :-)
Followed it with a 15 min brick run - which hurt....
Take 2 after this morning's disasterous effort....
So I decided to take the road bike out for a spin today - I had forgotten how different it is riding it from my TT - almost died a couple of times as it is so much more responsive!! pushed it really hard (maybe too hard 8-) ) on the first TEMPO but the second I tried to OG....unfortunately I forgot I was on a bike with a compact....so it ended up being top gear 50-12 for nearly all of it to make it hard enough (those extra 4 teeth on my TT make a BIG difference!) All the same felt ok back was sore in a different place though :-)
Followed it with a 15 min brick run - which hurt....
My latest "begging" email that went out last night
12 July 2012
This is the text from an email that went out last night to all those who have sponsored me in the past or to people whom I think might be interested - however if you are interested and weren't on that list please feel free to click on the JustGiving.com app on the right and throw a few coins in the pot :-)
Hi All,
I just wanted to give you a quick update on progress following my last email a couple of months back (and for a few new names on the list - an idea of what I spend my spare time doing and raising money for!!).
I just wanted to give you a quick update on progress following my last email a couple of months back (and for a few new names on the list - an idea of what I spend my spare time doing and raising money for!!).
Work and life are busy, so from a training perspective things are going
okay, but trying to fit in training hours often means antisocial training times
(think of a 10km run at 4-5am...) however it does mean I get to run around some
beautiful and interesting places (in the past eight weeks that has included
Tokyo, Stockholm, Paris and Washington DC). Races are not going so well – I
competed in the Eton 1.5km open water race and came 36/253 overall and 8th in
age group in 25:24 but unfortunately the swim at Windsor was cancelled and due
to other commitments I could not take part. Roll on Galway!! – 1.9km swim, 92km
bike and 21.1km run :-)
From a fundraising standpoint though, I am hopeful we can raise a little
more for the worthwhile cause I am supporting this year – Team Bea. Currently
the grand total stands at £45 - a big thank you goes out to those people who
have sponsored me so far :-) but for the last two years I have managed to drum
up around £7-800 so we are some way short!
Team Bea is a group of amateur age group triathletes who raise money for
Beatrice Howden and the charity which supports her (A Smile for a Child). Bea
has Type II SMA, a recessive genetic disease which causes muscle wasting and
thus mobility impairment (http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/spinalmuscularatrophy1.shtml).
In addition her condition leaves her more prone to other problems such as
serious infections, something which led to her being admitted to the paediatrics
ICU at Leeds General (Jimmy’s) a month or so back and it was touch and go for a
few days. There is no known cure for SMA, it does and will have a profound
impact of Beatrice, her life and her family – anything that may improve that
(even slightly) is a good thing. That is why I want to raise money for
them.
Please take a couple of minutes to have a read of my JustGiving page (http://www.justgiving.com/DoingGalwayforTeamBea)
and if you can please donate to this cause – even the price of you lunchtime
sandwich would help!
Thanks for reading and if you want to see what training I do please follow
me on twitter (@isainsbury) or have an occasional look at my blog (www.iaindoestriathlon.blogspot.com)
I.
A quick 40 min run
This was a 21 min EZ set followed by a 19 min element at pace - with a build to tempo every 2:30 =-felt good and the weather was beutiful!!
Todays ride
7 July 2012
This was a planned two hour set - basically 30min EZ/ 30min TEMPO (70.3 pace)/ 30min EZ/ 20min TEMPO+ (OD pace), really good ride bar the puncture on the second easy section - added a few minutes!
Another long break...
4 July 2012
It has been months since I have put fingers to keyboard to write a blog post - why?? Well it has been just a little busy at work and in life...
Evie is nearly eight months old and this year I have travelled to most of Europe in addition to Canada, Japan and the states (with Hong Kong, the US and maybe Japan (again) this month...
So has this left time for training? Yes and no...in some respects the training I now do is better than it used to be! Why? Well I have to ensure that any training I do is worthwhile, I have had to ask Mike to loose the junk miles, the sessions which have limited bearing, and focus me on key sessions which improve output.
There is a a 'however' though, my swimming has suffered significantly as this is the only area which I cannot routinely do. When I go on trips I can always pack running kit and there is usually a gym for a training bike (more on that later), but good pools are few and far between and despite having an app on my iPhone which tells me about local pools I have yet to use it in anger. As a result of this drop in skill/fitness and due to time, I have decided not to attempt several races that I had considered this year - the 14km Bridge to Bridge race, the UK Masters Open Water National Championships and a couple of other open water races. This is frustrating but it is balanced out, to a degree, by the positives.
So what are the positives - well the running and cycling have benefitted!! My running pace/km has improved from an average of 7min/km when I trained for IM Switzerland to around 5:45min/km now. My top tempo pace has improved to about 5min/km and with all the 'brick' (bike/run) I can feel good about running after about 1km off a long ride. As for the cycling that has improved dramatically . After IM I realised that if I wanted to be middle of the pack (MOP) rather than back of pack (BOP) I had to up my game on the bike. Initially we (Mike and I (I always think of my coach as part of the team)) tried to go for increased cadence, with some increased strength work, this was the strategy we tried in the build for last year and it worked, to a degree, however it was only when I changed the chainrings to 54/42 TT setup, before IM 70.3 Ireland that there was a step change.
During the Irish race I did something for the first time - I overtook people on the bike. This change was the foundation for the training plans this year - rather than focus on high cadence rather to move towards significant strength work. In an ideal world this would mean lots of gym work on building muscle BUT life through a curve ball in there and I blistered the cartilage on the back of my left patella running for a train - rather than go for surgery, the recommendation was to stop doing exercises which loaded the knee eccentrically (ie no squats, etc). Therefore we started to introduce some significant interval work in through the winter (all of my training was based on building speed/pace rather than base over winter) building over time culminating in some recent significant sets. My current favourite set is a 2hour ride broken down as into 30min blocks (warm up/effort/easy/effort) where the effort block is basically put the bike into the highest gear possible - in my case 54-12, rather high....- it is immensely hard but delivers a really effective strength workout. The output of these sets came home to me yesterday as I did an interval set on the turbo:
WU: 10mins Ez (Focus on good technique 3 x 3mins, ILT (3 x 30s), Spin-ups 3 x 30s as (10s 100RPM,10s 110RPM, 10s 110RPM+))
MS: 6 x 5mins - Hill Climbing (RPE 15-17!)
Rep 1 - 250w @ 90rpm
Rep 2 - 260w @ 80rpm
Rep 3 - 270w @ 70rpm
Rep 4 - 280w @ 70rpm
Rep 5-6 - 290w @ 80rpm
5mins Ez in b/t @ 95rpm!
CD: Stetch down
If last year someone had told me I could hold 290W for 5mins I would have laughed!
As you will guess if you read this blog post in a one'er you will realise that it has been written over several days...today is a week since I started writing this and I am currently sitting in Washington DC's BA lounge finishing it off. since I started writing this I have been to Stockholm (where as far as I can see everyone is drop dead gorgeous (well those who run at 6-7am anyway!) and I have spent several days in the US Capitol - all I can say is - what a place to run! I was lucky enough to be staying in the JW Marriot on Pennsylvania Avenue - just down for the White House - and despite the temperature ranging from 36-42 degrees during my trip, an the humidity in the 80s-90s I managed to get in s couple of runs. Yesterday I ran 11.47km in 1:10 - a slow pace but the heat killed me - I took a work colleague and friend out with me and he held up well despite his longest run recently being 5km!! We ran around the White House, the Lincoln, WWII, Vietnam, Korean and Washington memorials and then headed up to The Capitol before returning to base, the long way round - it was fantastic - sightseeing and running :-)
More to follow with maps :-)
Later
I
Evie is nearly eight months old and this year I have travelled to most of Europe in addition to Canada, Japan and the states (with Hong Kong, the US and maybe Japan (again) this month...
So has this left time for training? Yes and no...in some respects the training I now do is better than it used to be! Why? Well I have to ensure that any training I do is worthwhile, I have had to ask Mike to loose the junk miles, the sessions which have limited bearing, and focus me on key sessions which improve output.
There is a a 'however' though, my swimming has suffered significantly as this is the only area which I cannot routinely do. When I go on trips I can always pack running kit and there is usually a gym for a training bike (more on that later), but good pools are few and far between and despite having an app on my iPhone which tells me about local pools I have yet to use it in anger. As a result of this drop in skill/fitness and due to time, I have decided not to attempt several races that I had considered this year - the 14km Bridge to Bridge race, the UK Masters Open Water National Championships and a couple of other open water races. This is frustrating but it is balanced out, to a degree, by the positives.
So what are the positives - well the running and cycling have benefitted!! My running pace/km has improved from an average of 7min/km when I trained for IM Switzerland to around 5:45min/km now. My top tempo pace has improved to about 5min/km and with all the 'brick' (bike/run) I can feel good about running after about 1km off a long ride. As for the cycling that has improved dramatically . After IM I realised that if I wanted to be middle of the pack (MOP) rather than back of pack (BOP) I had to up my game on the bike. Initially we (Mike and I (I always think of my coach as part of the team)) tried to go for increased cadence, with some increased strength work, this was the strategy we tried in the build for last year and it worked, to a degree, however it was only when I changed the chainrings to 54/42 TT setup, before IM 70.3 Ireland that there was a step change.
During the Irish race I did something for the first time - I overtook people on the bike. This change was the foundation for the training plans this year - rather than focus on high cadence rather to move towards significant strength work. In an ideal world this would mean lots of gym work on building muscle BUT life through a curve ball in there and I blistered the cartilage on the back of my left patella running for a train - rather than go for surgery, the recommendation was to stop doing exercises which loaded the knee eccentrically (ie no squats, etc). Therefore we started to introduce some significant interval work in through the winter (all of my training was based on building speed/pace rather than base over winter) building over time culminating in some recent significant sets. My current favourite set is a 2hour ride broken down as into 30min blocks (warm up/effort/easy/effort) where the effort block is basically put the bike into the highest gear possible - in my case 54-12, rather high....- it is immensely hard but delivers a really effective strength workout. The output of these sets came home to me yesterday as I did an interval set on the turbo:
WU: 10mins Ez (Focus on good technique 3 x 3mins, ILT (3 x 30s), Spin-ups 3 x 30s as (10s 100RPM,10s 110RPM, 10s 110RPM+))
MS: 6 x 5mins - Hill Climbing (RPE 15-17!)
Rep 1 - 250w @ 90rpm
Rep 2 - 260w @ 80rpm
Rep 3 - 270w @ 70rpm
Rep 4 - 280w @ 70rpm
Rep 5-6 - 290w @ 80rpm
5mins Ez in b/t @ 95rpm!
CD: Stetch down
If last year someone had told me I could hold 290W for 5mins I would have laughed!
As you will guess if you read this blog post in a one'er you will realise that it has been written over several days...today is a week since I started writing this and I am currently sitting in Washington DC's BA lounge finishing it off. since I started writing this I have been to Stockholm (where as far as I can see everyone is drop dead gorgeous (well those who run at 6-7am anyway!) and I have spent several days in the US Capitol - all I can say is - what a place to run! I was lucky enough to be staying in the JW Marriot on Pennsylvania Avenue - just down for the White House - and despite the temperature ranging from 36-42 degrees during my trip, an the humidity in the 80s-90s I managed to get in s couple of runs. Yesterday I ran 11.47km in 1:10 - a slow pace but the heat killed me - I took a work colleague and friend out with me and he held up well despite his longest run recently being 5km!! We ran around the White House, the Lincoln, WWII, Vietnam, Korean and Washington memorials and then headed up to The Capitol before returning to base, the long way round - it was fantastic - sightseeing and running :-)
More to follow with maps :-)
Later
I
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