Outlaw Half Training – Week 3 done – 16 weeks to go – really??

Phew! Struggled this week big time – I’m writing this very quickly before I take myself off to bed. If it tails off a bit, I’ve already fallen asleep. It’s not just the tiredness that is kicking in now, but also the mental toughness that I need to toughen up on a bit if I’m honest.

I’ve completed every session (one tweak to my run intervals as usual while my knee gets better) so I do have a real sense of achievement but am just struggling a bit with the whole putting it together concept – there’s not a lot of light at the end of the tunnel – well it is 16 weeks away still! The bike rides seem hard (I don’t think I’ve managed to ride in anything other than gale-force winds since New Years day), core hurts (never done it before), turbo is mental (jelly legs central) and even running is a struggle (10 miles today – hurt – I ran two marathons last year 10 miles should be a walk in the park…!) and swimming, well, my supposedly stronger element took a bit of a hit this week too.

But, it’s all good as I know I’m getting some good training in, I just don’t think i was quite prepared for how tough it was going to feel. But looking forward to next week – recovery week although still as mad as this week, just not quite as far…

The tunnel – no light showing yet – but I know it’s there…

Outlaw Half Training – week 1 done, 18 to go…

First week of training is complete! Not exactly as set out on the training plan, but pretty darn close and for me that’s pretty good!

The week started well – usual GreenlightPT turbo session in the open air. It was bit chilly so I actually wore tights for a change. Was a good move as the wind doesn’t half whip under that underpass – anyone who knows MK will know the John Lewis underpass is a rather large underpass underneath Midsummer Boulevard and takes you through to Campbell Park – the highest point in MK.

Tuesday was a rest day which was nice and a bit of a change as I’ve always run on Tuesday since I was about 12 and trained with MKAC. Wednesday started early with a core session – and boy does my core need some work. I’m reasonably fit and regard myself as strong, but as for core fitness I am lacking severely! But it’s still early days and with 2 sessions a week in my plan, plus a bit as part of the turbo session I’m hoping this will improve over the next 18 weeks. I struggled in the swim in the evening but completed everything in the required times and still got some rest.

Thursday should have been intervals, but as my knee isn’t up to that yet, I’d planned an easy run instead but as with the best laid plans it didn’t happen. Mr C had to work late so I ended up doing an improptu turbo session instead. As a result of the late night – and it was very late, I had to forgo my early morning swim session but did get a quick (sorry slow) recovery run in at 6am. There is something quite special about running before the sun comes up. The birds are already tweeting and although it’s still dark, it doesn’t feel like you’re running in the dark – hard to explain but I’m hoping to get some more early morming running in like that as it really does set you up for the day – especially if it’s a bit fresh outside – I was wide awake by the end of the first mile!

We had a long ride planned for Saturday – I had about 40 miles on my plan so took an amble over to Cartlon. The wind must have been behind us as it was the fastest ride I’d had for months – slowed a little on the way back but felt really good. Lots of chat, not too much puffing and I only got dropped once – that’s good! The week was rounded off with a slow 5 mile this morning in horizontal rain and I finally squeezed in that missed swim session in the evening. A bit of traffic in the lane made it a challenge but all done and that is week 1 complete! All starts again tomorrow…

And so it begins…the road to Outlaw Half 2014

Today is week 1, day 1 of my training programme that will take me to the start line of the Outlaw Half in Nottingham on 1st June. It will be my first half ironman triathlon (and possibly my last) and is a step beyond anything I’ve ever done before.

I’m armed with my GreenlightPT personalised programme and on the surface doesn’t look too daunting – nothing beyond anything I’ve done before apart from some core sessions and much more regularity on the bike – I must be the only triathlete who can get through a season with less than 500 miles in training on the bike! That has now changed though – I’ve got a good 25-50 mile ride in most weekends since October so am ready for the long rides in the programme – not sure how the usual cafe stop will be factored in though, but I’m sure if there’s a will there’s a way. There’s less running that I would normally do, but with my knee still dodgy that’s no bad thing and I’ve proved over the past year swimming and biking are enough to keep the running ticking over.

The first session on the plan was a turbo session and is one I normally attend anyway so no big changes to the current set up. Towards the end of the week it’s a little different though. I need to get some run intervals done which I haven’t done for a while because of my knee injury and I also need to get in a swim on Friday. I don’t mind swimming in the evening (my local pool has 9-10pm lanes) but with a big ride most Saturdays I’m going to try to get the session done in the morning at 6am then go straight to work. Not sure how this will work with the family as husband and four year old will need to get themselves up in the morning but we’re going to give it a go. It will then give me time to do an easy recovery run straight after work.

So that’s the first day/session done, rest day tomorrow and then the hard work will start to kick in…

(c) http://inspirationboost.com/thomas-edison-famous-quotes