10 days to go....the FEAR (TM) has kicked in.....

OMG where did the last four months go???? It seems like yesterday that we were coming back from the Xmas holidays and now we are past Easter, the Royal Wedding is on Friday and I have a half Ironman in ten days - my legs feel like lead, every session I do I seem to be getting worse...hmmm....this does not bode well.....it must be the FEAR (TM) - that well known experience amongst endurance athletes that lurks just below the surface especially just before a big race....

So lets focus on the good and the bad for a moment -

The BAD:
No open water swimming yet - no lakes near me are open
General swimming - my times are getting slower!
Cycling - not managed to get out and do as many hours as I would like to have done
Running - my Achilles tendons hurt - nearly all the time

The GOOD:
My swimming stroke and consistency is improving - I was doing 100s yesterday all were in around 1:21 and an average of 20 stroke/length
Cycling - My ability keeps improving - I went up a cat 5 hill last week without finding it hard (there are four cat 5 and one cat 4 hills on the Wimbleball course) and I am feeling more comfortable on the TT bike (aero helmet helped)
Running - Biggest improvement - my recovery pace 6:00/km - was my flat out pace last year and I can hold 5:20-5:45 for extended periods in training
Nutrition - fingers crossed - I seem to have found a company whose products work for me :-) Zipvit (http://www.zipvitsport.co.uk/) - I have been using a protocol of 1 ZVgel/30min on the bike with Nuun and I have not run out of energy and I have done lots of brick runs without GI problems - we will just have to see how the race pans out....

So there you have it - some bad (the OW one worries me the most!) but mostly good - the FEAR (TM) is abating a little.....

.....so what training have I done today? I started with an hour of turbo pain:

WU:

15mins EASY spin - build cadence to 95RPM for the last 5minutes.
Include 8 x 30s ILT, straight through
Every 2nd minute focus on smoothing the pedal stroke - no dead spots.

MS:
6 x 4min @ 300w (115% FTP)
Alternate: high cadence 90RPM+ REP 1 with 80RPM REP 2, repeat.
3mins v.v.easy in b/t.

CD: 6mins easy (lower HR <100)

Followed by a Fartlek run:

10mins Easy Jog (6:00min/km)

INTO
24mins as:
3 jog (6:00min/km)
2 jog (5:40min/km)
1 jog (5:20min/km)
x 4

I managed all of the intervals on the turbo (accompanied by the secod half of Armageddon) although the cadence bit went out of the window... and all bar the last 3mins of the run (time was pressing...)

Tomorrow is a long (70+min) pool session and then a rest day :-)))))

Please visit https://www.justgiving.com/iaindoesthreehalfironmanracesin2011/ or click on the just giving banner to the right to sponsor me in my ongoing efforts - all monies raised go to the Urostomy Association

Later,
I.

2011's fundraising begins....

Tell your story. Let people know why you're raising money and why their support is so important to you.

Put a video and photos on your page - they really help bring it to life and connect people with your fundraising.

Let people know how their donations will help your charity. Give them an idea of what different donation amounts will allow your charity to do.

Make sure to update your page regularly and email it round to remind people to donate or send it on to their friends.

So what is this post about? it is about one of the things I do every year around this year - try to raise some money for the silly endurance sport I take part in - yes triathlon!

This year (as you will be able to see from the counters on the right) I am taking part in

 not one half ironman (2009 challenge), not one ironman (2010 challenge), but three half ironman races! 

The races are spaced out over the course of the 2011 race season:

The Marshman 2011 (8^th May - http://www.velocity-events.co.uk/marshman-and-mini-marshman/) – a fast and (almost) flat course covering 1.9km lake swim, 92km bike and a
21km run.

The IRONMAN UK 70.3 (19^th June - http://www.ironmanuk.com/2011/) – one of the world’s hardest half ironman races covering 1.9km lake swim, 91km bike (with 1800m climbing) and a 21km run (with 400m climbing).

The IRONMAN Ireland 70.3 (4^th September - http://ironmanireland.com/) – a brand new event for 2011 - The event begins with a 1.9K swim in the crystal-clear waters of Galway Bay before taking on a challenging 90K bike course finishing with a 21km run through the Salthill area of Galway.

All in all, a pretty fantastic line up – in addition, I might throw in an Olympic (1.5km swim/40km bike/10km run) distance triathlon and maybe a couple of open water swimming races (there is a 1.5km race at Dorney lake (the Olympic 2012 rowing venue)) – depending on time, life and job!

Every year since I got serious about triathlon I have tried to raised a little cash for good causes – in total this is now over £2500 (with GiftAid), and this year is no different. Despite the ecomonic downturn last year I still managed to raise nearly a thousand pounds Please help me to do the same this year.

Before I write this post I spent some time thinking about which charity I should support. I am not keen of sending money to an anonymous organisation who loose significant amounts in admin costs and don’t pass as much as they can onto those who need it most, but instead I prefer to find a charity which is small and needs support for the hard work they do. This year I am raising money for the Urostomy Association (https://www.urostomyassociation.org.uk/home.php, Registered Charity number: 1131072). 

They are a fabulous small charity who assist those who are about to undergo or who have undergone surgery which results in a urinary diversion, such as a urostomy, continent urinary pouch or neo bladder. In addition they assist carers in the rehabilitation of people with a urinary diversion and improve the quality of life of people who have undergone urinary diversion surgery and those who care for them.

So why them? Well, about seven years ago my mother had a urostomy, subsequently followed by a colostomy. It is a major surgical procedure which very nearly killed her, due to the post op infection. If you do not know anyone who has had either of these procedures you will not realise how life changing they are. There is a whole realm of challenges and difficulties they present. The members and staff of the UA were of great help to my mother and my father in that learning period and in the years that followed. I simply want to show my thanks to them by “doing my bit”. Any amount large or small will help this small charity immensely so (if you can) please be generous!

In the meantime please keep coming back to see how things are coming along - or alternatively just follow me on twitter (@isainsbury) where I tend to post shorter but more regular updates on my training. 

Later

Iain.

a busy week....

Okay so the last week has been hard. Work has taken me out every day somewhere else in the country:

Monday - Royal Tunbridge Wells
Tuesday – Maidenhead/Exeter
Wednesday – Exeter/Truro
Thursday – Truro/Exeter
Friday – Home :-)

This has meant squeezing in training....

Monday - an hour overgearing on the bike followed by a 40min pacing tempo run
Tuesday - a late night run in Exeter after I had driven down - 30mins at 147(ish)bpm
Wednesday - a core strength set (mainly squats/lunges and single leg squats) with a bit of rest

Yesterday was meant to be a hills interval set on the turbo to build some top end power for Wimbleball:

Warm Up:

15mins EASY spin - build cadence to 95RPM for the last 5minutes.
Include 8 x 30s ILT, straight through
Every 2nd minute focus on smoothing the pedal stroke - no dead spots.
Main Set:
5 x 4min @ 300w (115% FTP) - 75-80RPM
4mins v.veasy in b/t.
CD:
5mins easy (lower HR <100)

Promptly followed by a 28min fartlek run:
4 @70%
2 @80%
1 @85%
x 4
CD: 5min stretch
Which turned out to be a disaster - after driving back Cornwall (left at 8am - did a 1hr presentation in Exeter and then got back at 6pm) I tried to do the set - 1-3 went well then I failed the last one and only managed half the run...not good....


So I had to drag myself out of bed today - really tired...and the session in front of me was:

Swim - Speed Endurance 100s
WU:
400 easy f/c
Drills:
2 x 50 Fins (Kick only)
2 x 25 kick board
2 x 50 Best stroke count
2 x 25 kick board
2 x 50 Paddles
2 x 50 Fins (Full stroke)
Main Set:
2 x (10 x 100m) - (90% AT, medium discomfort)
Coold Down:
100 Easy - put stroke back together, finish with good form.

Started well - nice to be in the pool but felt a bit off going into the 100s. First set ranged from 1:20 to 1:24 and the second 1:22-1:25 so consistency was good but just slow - this combined with my disasterous set last night make me wonder if I either have a low grade bug or am just tired! (very long week at work and quite stressfull....)

At least I managed to get a slot at Marshman on the first week of may - eek only a little over a month to my first 70.3 of the year :-O

Oh well - 3hr ride and a negative split run tomorrow then a dinner party in the evening - four courses moving house between them - should be fun!