17 Weeks to Kona

Total training duration - 19 hours 16 min

• Swim - 7.6km
• Ride - 328km
• Run - 76km

This week's new gear:

• O'syometric chain rings.
• A $50 swimming aid that goes "beep".

A solid week with massive highs and lows. Swimming is back, running is good but I'm in struggle town with the bike (rather odd!). 

Mondays Velo session hurt the legs. Couldn't get the heart rate up but the legs were still burning. This frustrated me, wanted to throw the bike. Not a great moment but I just want to feel I'm getting the most out of EVERY session. At the Velo that morning I just couldn't do what program asked of me. A more rational mindset would have seen this being the result of a massive 90km of running combined with 345km of hill riding the week before. Didn't see it that way at the time. 

Peter Elliot doing FAST laps at Monday's Velo session

That night week we 'popped' Lauren's Mother's Day present and watched the first episode of Game of Thrones. It's generating excitement on the social media pages so I want to check it out.  We're hooked.

 

 

It had been in the fridge since Mother's Day. Was time to drink it.

Tuesday saw a return of the unwanted emotion. It's amazing how quick the mind can turn when things get hard. Same thing as the 'post ironman blues' (refer blog post on 9 April 2013). Just sad all day for no apparent reason. I did miss swim training that morning due to an early meeting at work. Then there was Monday's velo session that was below expectations. I think those two combined with being absolutely wrecked brought it on. 

The run snapped me out if it that night. Amazing that more training was the cure. When in doubt run it out! Ran a Fartlek session with Red Bear, we pushed it hard, a great workout. Wouldn't have run so hard on my own. Always good to run with others on the same program. Also good to chat about how we are doing with the training. We all have our own individual challenges. 

Tuesday's Fartlek run with Red Bear. We ran the sh!t out of each other!!!

Had a well deserved Crunchie McFlurry as a post run treat. Do yourself a favour and try one, they're awesome. 

I've gotta run! My thoughts...

I don't have a good "tri base" so I feel I need to work harder than a "seasoned triathlete". My issue is endurance. I've always been a "sprinter" in all my past sports. I'm really focused on doing the time and intensity stated in the program. If the program states a duration range, I'm generally doing the upper end every time - unless there is something external preventing it being family or other commitments...or I'm completely shattered. The biggest issue for me in Ironman Melbourne was hamstring cramps at the 20km mark (Mordialloc). I need to get stronger running legs otherwise this will be a big problem on the big island....

On Wednesday night I made up the missed Tuesday morning swim session with the development squad - the squad I was with 12 months ago before being moved up to the morning squad. This program consistency thing actually works!

Still have a honey craving

I'm really motivated with swimming. 1 month out from Ironman Melbourne I struggled to get out of bed for swimming training. Swim coach Ben has run a good program so far that is getting me some early results. Still more work to do but my technique is showing improvement. Just need to keep the momentum going. Thanks Ben Street!

Thursday morning was Kew Bvd on the bike for hill repeats. I had no strength on the hilly sections. Struggled to get out of bed that morning and hit the snooze button. Really tired that day. The rain made it harder.

  
Got started 30min late but caught up with Steve Guy during the session. He's much lighter so is better up the hills but I've got the strength on the flat. Made for an interesting morning. The late start resulted in me only getting 4 of the 8 repeats done (as it was I was in struggle town anyway). However, as I rode to Kew from home I got the overall duration completed. I feel like my training performance in cycling is down. 

Thursday's run session at the Tan turned into a Tough Mudder set. The rain didn't stop and turned the surface into mud. Had to reduce the intensity due to fatigue but did the time. 

Thursday's Tan run was more like Tough Mudder!

Saturday saw the return of the big MTC bunch ride. Lots of contenders on varying programs. An 'easy' ride was scheduled, but the outcome was very different. First we came across pro triathlete and strong biker Matt Bailey. He set an awesome pace to Frankytown. Once over Oliver's Hill Sam Madden, Ollie, Red Bear and myself put on the pace to Dromana. A short stop at the servo then we dropped the hammer back home. We did 140km+ averaging 36.7km/hr for the entire ride. 

I was feeling better that day and had a great ride. Was good to have some strong riders there. The Northern Combine road series has made them fast!


Also a good test for the new O'symetric chain rings. Just attached a set of 54-42. Good so far, Kinglake will test them next week....  

Weird looking but seem to work

Stirling and I went and saw Despicable Me 2 on Saturday night.

...and had Nandos

 

 

 

...and ate donuts!

Sunday was hill time with the run session a Kew Boulevard and local trails. It was slippery and muddy on the trails for the first 50 min but then stuck to the pavement once we reached the boulevard. The Blackburn Cycling Club ITT was on so there was something to keep the mind off the legs...and the hills made them hurt! Stuck with the front runners for the first hour then had to watch them go. Ran 30km in 2hrs 16min and ended up really sore.
 

Hill time at Kew

Summary - A mixed week mentally and physically.
 

Well done to the MTC / FM athlete results in recent events - Brimbank XC, Sri Chinmoy half marathon, Cairns Ironman & 70.3, Kew Bvd cycling ITT, the Northern Combine cycling 3DT...the list goes on! Inspiring stuff.

3 months 24 days to go until 'the big dance'