5th August 2008

This week has been pretty good on the training front. For the first time in a while I’ve gone an entire week without being sick or tied up with work. As a result I’ve managed to get in a number of solid sessions.

In some ways this week has been targeted as a bit of a “rest” week in that for the first time in about 10 months I haven’t been for a run. Those normal run slots have been replaced by swim and bike sessions. There are a couple of reasons for this.

1. My running has really come on lately, and I’ve experienced some great gains, but it’s been 10 months and my “running legs” are well due a rest.
2. My bike’s been fairly neglected and I really needed spend some time on it especially as I’ve recently picked up some new gear, lowered the aero bars, and I need to nail down the setup.

So no running this week. I did however participate in a sack race. Yes that’s right, a sack race. It was all part of a “professional development day”, don’t ask me how sack racing fits in with professional development, cause I’m just not sure. However, never being one to miss a training opportunity I gave it my all. And I have to say that its actually not a bad workout, I’m kind of surprised that I hadn’t come across it in any of my sports coaching textbooks from when I was studying exercise physiology. I haven’t added it to my training log but maybe I should?

The week was finally capped off by an 80k ride today. We finally had some sun, and the ride was awesome. I felt really strong throughout and wasn’t overly tired at the end, I could have easily kept on going but time’s always my enemy as I have kids to entertain!

I picked up a couple of roadies about 20k’s into the ride. We had a good chat and they asked it they could jump on, so I ended up towing them along for 25 – 30 k’s. I dropped them twice going up hills (I waited once, cause it’s nice having the company). My average speed for the whole ride was 29.7kph, and my average for the flat(ish) section (about 20’ks) was 33kph, which is pretty much where I want things to be for NZIM, there’s still plenty of time so I’m pretty comfortable that I should be able to nail that down.

It’s also been a busy week on a none training, but Ironman focused front. I’ve entered the Auckland Marathon, which is a key event for me. I think that it’s really important to go into an event like NZIM knowing that you can go the distance, and do it well. So Auckland Marathon will be my second marathon. I’m not to thrilled with the idea of running with several thousand other people, but it’s the best marathon at the best time for my needs.

I’ve also entered the Rotorua Half Ironman, which again is another key event in the lead up to NZIM. I want to get in at least two half ironman distance events before NZIM. This is so that I get to go through the motions but at a slightly reduced stress level (and therefore reduce recovery time).

And lastly I got fitted for a wetsuit.

So providing I get this swimming thing sorted, everything’s on track for a great 1st March.