How is it ALREADY February…

So I had started typing a “welcome to 2017” post and it looks like I ran out of steam and never finished it. Shockingly that was abandoned over a month ago and now here we are charging through February. Suppose I should get to the Christmas holiday chore list…….

Training wise, 2017 started/carried on in much the same way that 2016 left off. I have now entered a much more hectic 6 week period at work and as such will not make all of my planned/usual sessions. I know this is the case and have mentally accepted this and will be aiming for quality sessions where possible over this period. To be honest, this was a major factor in not signing up for the Busso 70.3 this May. Last year it really was only the post IM fitness that carried me through and I had major guilts over missed sessions and the like that I didn’t enjoy the training period (can anyone say burning the candle at both ends).

So on to the exciting stuff….

SWIM: Consistency is paying off. I have been making a concerted effort to show up and swim at least twice per week. I have seen my threshold pace drop from 1:50 / 100 to 1:39 / 100 (sustained) and my 100m PB is now at 1:28 (repeated…ie not a fluke). Continuing to work on form and ease in the water…attempting to calm down my rapid stroke rate.

BIKE: Returned to the Perth Hills for our Sunday rides. So happy to be back hill climbing. Probably haven't moved as far forward as I would have liked to by this point but still moving forward. Feeling comfortable on the bike and starting to feel some strength return slowly but surely…need to ensure to keep the consistency in this space.

Little insta snap of the hills ride

RUN: Hmmmmm…an interesting one. I am experimenting here at the moment. Without the pressure of any upcoming races I am trailing the Maffetone method of running. The method involves running at a capped maximum heart rate (180 minus age). The brief idea here is that you then remain in the aerobic phase (ie fat burning) rather than anaerobic phase (ie glycogen burning) and are able to sustain much longer durations at this level as you are not stressing/shocking your body (paraphrasing from here). I am also working on the 80/20 rule here…80% of my runs at this MAF limit and 20% as all out intervals…

The MAF running method is not easy for me to cope with at the moment. As someone who has come from being VERY overweight and slow to running “comfortably” at 5min/km I have had to back right off and this method has me running (and walking…frequently…when HR is maxed) at closer to 7min/km. I know this is more of an ego thing and over time I will improve my fitness and base level. So for now I am shelving those thoughts and committing to this method for the next few months in the hopes that I will see some improvement and become more comfortable and natural at this. As an aside, I find that after running at this pace for any distance/time I am ready to repeat the run again right away, which supports this method and keeps the negative thoughts at bay.

See - keeping the zones down...

DIET: Its ok…could be better…could be MUCH worse. Down 2.6kgs since Christmas…slow improvement in that space. Have had the occasional blow out…keep trying to find some consistency in this space.

Scarily real footage....

CORE/STREGNTH: hahahahahahahaha…that is all…

OTHER: I have my winter training motivation….I have signed up for the Sunshine Coast 70.3 on September 10^th. 

Excited to experience travel to my first interstate triathlon. This race has several benefits as I see it.

·         Makes me have a goal to ensure training through winter is achieved (and is with purpose).

·         I get to experience travelling to a race (before the main event in November).

·         It is positioned as a great lead up event for the full…and will provide me enough time for recovery, training and any tweaks to strategy that may be required.

So for a quick little update there was a fair bit going on. So if you have managed to stay with me this far thanks for reading!