13 Weeks to Kona

 Total Training Duration - 13hrs 37min (Adaption Week)

• Swim - 13.2km (killer swim week)
• Ride - 99km
• Run - 70km

 

Sunrise on the morning of Ironman Melbourne 24 March 2013

This week was adaption or recovery week. No bike session Monday was appreciated. Nice to rest the legs, they needed it! Good programming Foz. 

Had a great swimming session Tuesday. Smashed out the 400's and felt strong. Was a good set with changes of pace. More interesting than just swimming laps. Started the week really positive.

Fartlek run on Tuesday night. Ran home from the city solo. Yarra trail was closed due to safety concerns so did some detouring.

Then.......Wednesday's bike session at Kew was a killer. Not only was it a hard set but it was cold. My fingers hurt and lips were so numb I was struggling with speech. Started riding with Ralph Glatz until I dropped a chain on a hard lap. Got a good workout chasing but was never going to catch him. After two hard full loops (4 laps) we hit Yarra St for hill repeats. Met up with Henry Polk and we did 5 reps. Legs were shattered at the end. Henry ended up with a puncture from a torn tyre side wall - taxi ride home. 

Was tired on Thursday morning at swimming. Most likely due to Wednesday's Kew session. Had to put on the fins to get through the main set, but got there. Thursday night the Hawaii team had the easiest run of all teams at the Tan - only 60 minutes. Nothing too heavy before Saturday's 3 hour OD run. Ran with Henry. 

Friday's swim was a repeat of Thursday as far as energy levels go - flat again. Could feel in the warm up that it was going to be a tough morning. The 15 x 200m main set cooked me. Had to sit out a rep then drop back to last in the lane - just tried to hang on to Speedy. Some weeks are like that in the pool. However, it was a tough swim program this week.

Goggle marks on the head. A regular addition at work 3 days each week.

All squad training was at Buninyong on Saturday doing a bike session on the national championship course. Team Hawaii had the OD run.  

We are about to demolish and rebuild our home so it's time to sell a rental. The tenants moved out this week so the big clean up has begun. As such I couldn't make Buninyong and ran Heidelberg loop. Would have been lonely running but Red Bear, Steve Guy and Henry Polk were there. 

Warmed up with a 60 minute bike around Kew Boulevard then laid out the water bottles and nutrition and started running. Running as a group made the time go quicker - a 3 hour run around a 2km loop would get very boring solo. I have to say it was a very enjoyable run as far as OD runs go. Apart from Steve Guy pushing the pace on the inclines, I felt good and more comfortable than any other OD run prior. It still hurt after the 2 hour mark but the legs are now stronger than prior to Ironman Melbourne. My issue in the run at Melbourne was hammy cramps which started at the 20km mark. Legs need to be stronger this time round...and they are! 

I ran 40km in 3:01:51 for an average of 4:32min/km. It was my fastest ever OD run and my legs didn't feel anywhere near as wrecked as previous runs. A great result.

Just finished 40km. Good job legs!

For recovery - Large meet lovers from Crust Pizza. Ate the lot.

The comparison against past performance:

• Saturday's OD Run (Heidelberg loop) - 40km at 4:32min/km avg for a duration of 3:01:51 at 78%MHR avg or 152bpm
• 8 Dec 12 OD Run (Heidelberg loop) - 33.55km at 4:52min/km for a duration of 2:43:14 at 77%MHR avg or 149bpm
• 19 Jan 13 OD Run (Beach Rd) - 40km at 4:33min/km avg for a duration of 3:03:38 at 81%MHR avg or 158bpm
• 24 March 13 Ironman Melbourne - 42km at 4:56min/km avg for a duration of 3:28:32 at 78%MHR avg or 152bpm

Analysis - Ran much faster with almost the same average heart rate (78% v's 77%) as my previous Heidelberg loop run 7 months earlier. Ran faster with a much lower heart rate (78% v's 81%) than the flat Beach Rd run 6 months earlier. 



Result - I'm now running faster with less effort compared to my lead up to Ironman Melbourne - a great place to be!

 

Saturday's OD Run on the Heidelberg loop - Consistent each lap

Heidelberg loop OD Run 8 Dec 2012 - A surge then a big drop toward the end

Beach Rd OD Run 19 Jan 2013 - Started strong then dropped off

Ironman Melbourne 24 Mar 2013 - Hammy cramps kicked in at the 20km mark. Ran as fast as the legs could go without cramping from that point.

But then there's the Red Bear - Congratulations to the Red Bear who went on to do the marathon that morning for an average of 4:30min/km. Great running mate! Check out the video at 36.5km:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200910602181234


After running 40km it was time for me to start working on a house. A great way to recover after an OD run. 

My last injury - I strained a hammy while moving a washing machine. Had to be VERY careful this weekend. Every move was slow and considered.


 

The real sign board goes up in 2 weeks

 

Bunnings - Always the first stop

Run everywhere mate - Strengthen those legs!

Yes I know the trolley's heavy, just keep pushing!

My job was to remove the overgrown Pittosporum....
 

Before

During

After

Stirling attacked the paving.

Feeling good after adaption week. Results show I'm running faster than ever!


3 months to go until Ironman World Championship - 12 October 2014.