6 weeks till my first Tri….or is it?!?!

Happy Monday to all…although Mom we already spoke on the phone so you’ve had all the news.

Waiting, waiting, waiting....

It was a great week of training this past week with a return concentration on interval training.

Unfortunately this week, all week, I have not really felt that I have been in the right mindset for training. I am not sure what has been going on in my head but I have felt a bit flat and off through most of the sessions. Once I am there and training all is good and I am putting in but it has been a test of motivation to physically get to each session! Kind of makes me happy that I have gotten to know a few of my fellow team mates and they are able to hold me accountable should I not arrive!

Monday run session. Intervals. After a brief warm up (about 1k) we hit the circuit. The set up was a 300mtr circuit and we were tasked with the following:

900m : 60sec rest;
600m : 45sec rest; 600m : 45sec rest;
300m : 30sec rest; 300m : 30sec rest; 300m : 30sec rest;
150m : 15sec rest; 150m : 15sec rest; 150m : 15sec rest; 150m : 15sec rest;

PHEW – I was pretty well worked out by the end of it! I really need to work out how to use the interval function on my watch but in terms of per km I hit the target of speeding up on each lap. I even culminated with a 3:58 km!!!

Tuesday – I wussed my ride…AGAIN! Honest, I will get back into it!

Wednesday bike session. Intervals. 2.5km sprints. Really enjoyed this session. All up we ended up with about 17km of sprinting under our wheels and I hit a top speed of 49kph and averaged 32.5kph for the session (including the cool down). There was one set where I felt awesome. The bike had loads of grip, the wheels where humming and the pedalling felt effortless…now if anyone can tell me how to harness the feeling that would be great.

Wednesday night stairs. Was REALLY feeling the morning bike session! Tried to get smart and hit the lap button on my watch each time I got to the bottom of the stairs…yup “smart”. In one of the sweat dazed returns to the bottom step I must have hit pause. The sad part is that it took me 3 laps to figure that the time hadn’t changed! Will try again this week…lesson learnt…time will tell.

Thursday swim session. Still feeling slow in the water at the moment and still feel like my shoulders are not really releasing properly. I had a sports massage on the weekend (thanks to my sister for my b’day present). The therapist is actually a Commonwealth Games swimmer and commented on the tension in my shoulders. Worked on them a fair bit so I am hopeful of a more “free” feeling in the pool this week.

Saturday – BRICK day! Woo hoo. A chance to practice our transition works and test our effort levels. I WAS looking forward to this session (as opposed to every other session this week). First session was a BIKE – RUN – BIKE. 5k – 2.5k – 5k. Felt great and enjoyed pushing the limits a little here.

On the first bike leg my cadence was 85 (aiming for low 90s) and speed was 29.8kph (aiming for 30s). Should have had a swig of water/liquid before transition as on the run all I could think of was how dry my mouth was (either a drink or learn to ride with my mouth closed…might speed me up too (more aerodynamic)). Run was good, got chicked out of nowhere but was happy with a solid 4:59/km. Felt good getting back on the bike after the run. Was a bit slower 27.6kph but did fight with my water bottle for a bit trying to get it back in the cage…just me being a dope!

The second BRICK was a Run – Bike – Run. I stuffed up the Garmin and apart from distance and time the data is a bit of a dud. A lesson in me trying to be smarter than I am or testing something before using it (or a bit of both!).

Closed out Saturday with a 1,500m swim while part one had his swimming lessons. Was 150m short in the time slot and finished up with 1,500m in 30:54. Really want to get below 2min/100m again. Note this was pre massage so I am still holding out hope!

Sunday. It is my grand plan to alternate a long ride with my club mates one week with a long run the next. This week was the run week. I am REALLY grateful that a friend of mine asked to come along for the jog. Definitely helped being made to be accountable as the temptation to stay under the covers was huge (even when part 2 called out at 5:55!). Despite holding my mate back a bit we clocked a comfortable 10.6k in an hour flat (5:42 pace). Highlighted to me that it is a good idea for me to get these longer runs back in my legs! And thanks Matt for your patience.

Up until mid-week last week my first tri was planned to be 14/12/14. Well that’s now changed….TWICE!

I have a nice little enticer on 16/11/14 (yup two weeks’ time!) followed by a pursuit at the Interclubs on 30/11/14. Ha! Nothing ventured nothing gained….and I love my wife for being sooooooo understanding!

Thanks for reading and here’s to a highly motivated positive week!