ironman – Page 2

Training Week Nine

Week nine has been my best… four runs, three swims, one bike ride and one gym PT session. I felt great this week even after three 5am wake up calls! My main issue this week was my swimming cap. It was rather frustrating when I was trying to do an hour’s continuous swim when every 15-20 lengths you have to adjust your cap! I have bought new swimming caps for long hair so I hope this solves my problem.

Running this week, I managed one long run of twelve miles, a club hill reps session and two four to five mile runs. My legs were a little sore before my long run (after my hills session) so couldn’t really push the pace. I hope that now I’m running more regularly this will ease and I can push more in my longer runs.

Swimming is going well, I’m noticing my times are getting quicker, I can swim longer distances with a stronger pace and I’m starting to keep up with some of the stronger swimmers during triathlon club training sessions. I’m going to do more continuous swim sessions like I would be doing during the race (Once my swimming cap fiasco is no more).

Cycling is getting better… I am managing to complete one long ride per week. I am slowly getting more confident handling my bike and cycling in different weather conditions. This week I went out with my friend Jill, it was a slow ride as it was wet but I’m getting out on the bike, training and cycling. Again, I need to use my turbo trainer more (the story of my life).

I managed to complete my goal this week, increasing my distance on all disciplines. I am going to continue with this next week and also start brick training. Brick training refers to the stacking of two disciplines during the same workout, one after the other with minimal to no interruption in between. It is really essential to practice this prior the race. I plan to practice cycle into run workouts this next week. Changing disciplines from cycling to running you get a strange feeling of heavy legs. It’s really important I practice this so my body gets used to the change in demand, for race day.

Jenwaar

Training Week Eight

Last week was rather good…. Two runs, two swim sessions, one gym session and one bike ride. My chesty cough continued last week. Earlier in the week I found my runs and swim sessions hard and slow but thankfully it’s now gone.

This weeks bicycle ride I went out with the triathlon club (Edinburgh Triathletes). I am now feeling much more confident in handling my bike again. I’m still quite nervous in wet weather and going down steep hills but I’ve just got to keep practising.

Both swimming and running I’m quite comfort with, my main problem is being able to maintain pace after more than an hour in either exercise. I particularly find this hard with swimming as I’ve swam most my life at short distances hard and fast for 50-200metres rather than 750-1500metres or longer in triathlons. I’m going to focus next week on longer continuous swim sessions rather than short sets during the session.

It was Easter last weekend and also the end of my alcohol free lent. I went out on Saturday night and had a few cocktails and danced the night away. It was great socialising with friends as I currently feel like all I do is train and work. On Sunday morning however I wasn’t feeling my best (hungover) and I didn’t train which I had planned (bad Jennie). That’s life and now I feel much more focused and energised on training.

It’s now only eleven weeks till the race, it’s slowly creeping up! Next week focus is on distance, I’m going to be doing longer distances on all disciplines.

Jenwaar

Training Week Seven

Training week Seven

So this week’s post will be short and sweet. Last week I was sick, I had the flu and a chesty cough so spent the first five days of the week in bed. I felt much better by Saturday and went for walk with my husband. On Sunday I ran Edinburgh Kilomathon 13.1 kilometres (eight miles). It was a beautiful early morning run along Edinburgh’s cycle paths starting from Ocean terminal and finishing at Murrayfield stadium. I really enjoyed the run, I still wasn’t 100% so treated the race more as a training run than a race. My time as expected was slow but I’m happy I completed it. I was also meant to do the swimathon in the afternoon but my cough was much worst after the run and I didn’t want to push myself too much.

This week’s goals are to regularly train and keep well!

Jenwaar

Training Week Six

Training week six

Last week I completed two runs, two gym sessions, one swim, one hour on the turbo trainer, and a long bike ride on Sunday. I’m pretty pleased this week, as I worked five shifts at work and still managed to fit it all in.

My run times are slowly but surely getting quicker, I keep comparing myself to when I was much quicker two years ago. At that time I was pretty much running all the time not swimming and cycling as well. I’m trying to stay positive; hopefully I will be getting close to those times again soon.

I feel I am getting quicker at swimming and managing to keep up with the fastest swimmers in my lane for most or all of the session. I am very good at short sprints but not very good at pacing myself over a long distance. I am completing the 5K swimathon next week so hopefully this will help. I aim to swim it in under one hour and forty five minutes.

On Sunday afternoon, my husband and I went for a long bike ride 56miles in total. We cycled from Edinburgh to North Berwick and back. I was very nervous as this was the first time I had been on my road bike since I fell off my bike in a race last May. I regularly cycle to work using a cyclocross bike. My commuting bike is heavier and uses SPD clip in pedals, whilst my race bike is a full carbon road bike, much lighter and has non-recessed SPD-SL clip in pedals. I sometimes feel like I’m unstable on my road bike due to its light weight. I find it harder to clip in with SPD-SL’s so I can panic when I’m clipping in and out whilst in the city. After a couple of cries and good pep talk from Sam I felt much more confident about cycling on my road bike. Once I was out of the city I was fine, long roads, less cars and less clipping in and out. After the ride I was knackered, it then dawned on me that I would then have to run a half marathon after cycling this distance. This was a massive wake up call. I need to up my cycling time, the weather is much nicer now and I should be able to complete one long distance cycle outside a week on the run up to the ironman.

Next week I am upping the mileage in all disciplines and competing in a swimathon on Sunday afternoon.

Training week five

Week five was not my finest….two runs and one gym session. So here comes the excuses, I went away on holiday for a long weekend away (holidays shouldn’t really be an excuse). I went to Iceland and it snowed most days and I did not want to risk an injury rather than complete a slow run. During the holiday, I was busy site-seeing and doing tours so I really don’t think I could have done anything more than one run. On a positive note I did not a lot of walking, averaging six to ten kilometres a day.

I would also like to point out that I’m no elite athlete. I exercise for fun and to challenge myself, sadly I have to work to pay the bills and exercising isn’t my full time job. Having a rest is healthy and can help you focus more. I have 13 weeks left before my race and having four days off shouldn’t put me back and should hopefully give me more energy for todays run!

Next week I will be getting back to regular exercise and I’ve planned a long cycle ride on Sunday.

Blog post about visiting Iceland with come later this week.

Jenwaar

Training Week Three

This week I managed two swims, two runs, two gym sessions and two rest days (all the two’s). Ideally I should have done a little more but that’s life. My parents came to visit at the weekend and I worked five shifts last week. On a positive note, one of my runs this week I ran eight miles; the furthest distance I’ve done in a while.

Sometimes I find it hard to train when working a few shifts together so I need to plan my sessions ahead. I work twelve and a half hour shifts both day and night which change each week. Some weeks I have a few shifts back to back so I have a few more 5am sessions and may train less. You just have to be realistic and flexible as we are only human and sadly I have to work to pay the bills. I plan each week ahead so I know what I’m doing each day and generally if I have a plan I do (most of the time) stick to it.

Another way I try to stick to my fitness plan each week is to go to at least one trained session per week. I am member of the Edinburgh Triathletes club and they run weekly sessions each week for running, swimming and cycling. This keeps me motivated by mixing up my exercise sessions. Group sessions help me to work harder as you have someone pushing you. I am quite good at plodding along at the same pace during training and I find club session push me much harder. Other members at training also help as I am quite determined to finish training just like everyone else.

Next week I’m continuing regular running and swim sessions. I am planning longer runs, maximum two gym sessions and to use my turbo trainer more this week.

Training Week Two

Training was much better this week… I managed 4 runs, two swim sessions and two gym sessions. I did a mixture of triathlon club running and swim sessions, runs by myself, a, gym session with my friend Kim and a personal training session. I’m slowly starting to feel like my lungs aren’t going to explode after each session and on Saturday I found my five mile run a pleasure. I’m feeling much more positive about being able to actually complete the Ironman.

Tuesday was Shrove Tuesday aka Pancake day! I made Chocolate avocado protein pancakes with blueberries, peanut butter and Nutella, they were amazing. I am not religious however I do like to give up something each year. I usually give up alcohol and this year is the same, apart from I am adding fizzy drinks as well.

On Thursday evening I went to a talk by Freya Ross about her cook book called Food on the run. Freya is an Olympic marathon runner and will hopefully qualify for Rio soon. She talked about her training regime and typical foods she eats every day. It was really reassuring to hear she doesn’t follow a strict diet, calorie count and weigh everything she eats. She advocates having a varied diet with a few treats. She spoke about when she eats before and after running and what she does during race days including what drinks and gels she typically uses during a marathon. I left feeling inspired and positive about my own training and dietary habits. The cook book is filled with easy to follow and simple recipes. I shall be trying out some of these recipes very soon!

This week my CycleOps turbo trainer arrived. A turbo trainer is a device that enables you to ride your bike whilst stationary, and indoors. They clamp around the quick release skewer of a bike’s rear wheel suspending it in an A-frame. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who build the trainer for me and attached it to my bike. Sunday evening I managed an hour of hill climbs whilst watching call the midwife. I hope being able to cycle at home will help me train when the weather is bad outside.

Next week I’m continuing regular running and swim sessions including one long run. I am planning to slowly increase my mileage and in a few weeks eventually to start increasing my speed.