Fatman to Ironman: Ironman UK Training Week 4

Week 4 done and dusted. So far so good, 26 weeks training left till the big day.

Training

Calories burnt for the year = 32,369
Training hours this week = 8 hours 33 minutes

Monday

SWIM - 1 hours Coached

Few drills tonight. Used the kick board again, pool buoy with the finger tips in first, wide stroke. Then did a drill where you drag your fingers through the water as your arm comes back over for the reach. Aim is to keep your elbow high and hand low. Makes you concentrate on making the most efficient arm movement, plus using your hips more. I think its aptly named the finger drag drill.

Started taking breaths on every fourth stroke instead of two as well. Think i'm making progress, does feel like i'm doing everything totally wrong though. Guess i'd just sink if that was the case though.

Tuesday

BIKE 31 minute / RUN 15 minute brick session

http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/226942016 Bike

http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/226950312 Run

Busy evening as i had to get a parents evening in, plus the training session.
Had a decent ride though, nice to be snow free, although was very windy.
Picked up the pace on the run a bit tonight. 9.12 min/mile on the run (fast for me)

Wednesday

RUN 45 minute

http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/227275778 Run

SWIM - 1 hour

Packed pool again. Couple of speedy, ignorant swimmers in my lane tonight. Some manners & a bit of tolerance, we can all enjoy our swims together a lot better guys. I'm sure getting held up behind a slow swimmer for a few seconds isnt going to scupper your Olympic selection chances!

On the plus side, being bumped and swam into is good training for my triathlon mass starts.

Thursday

BIKE - 47 minute

http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/227669748

Hill training session. Climbed 659ft. New PB on Gas Hill & Telegraph Lane
Did think my lungs were going to explode on Gas Hill though, took a good 10 minutes before i
felt like i'd recovered from it.

Friday

Rest day & Pizza. Although the wife only let me eat half the monster Pizza i bought. I did moan a bit but in hindsight, pleased she slapped the greedy pig out of me. A good 600 calories less consumed.

Saturday

RUN 5k (parkrun) - Glad this is back on, although out of nowhere i was awoken with
sleet, hail, wind battering the bedroom window. Great, really looking forward to park
run now. A feeling that was being played back to me by Arleya who had a face like a
slapped arse.

Anyway, bit the bullet & headed up there. Stayed dry for the run. I tried to keep up with
the boss, Vince, as he had been putting in some good times under my PB. However, the
pace he shot off at from the start left me blowing out my backside so I had to slow it down.

Still, felt good & i completed the first lap in a sub 8min time so was actually looking good for a PB. Opened up my stride a bit & was keeping a 7.5min/mile pace quite comfortable. I was actually starting to creep back up on Vince again. By the time i finished the 2nd lap i passed him. Second lap 16 minutes, PB definately in sight, although i was sucking air hard, which wasnt being helped with the icy air.

Still, managed to hold the pace and came in at 24.03, smashed my previous PB by 37 seconds. I guess i must be starting to get some benefit from the rest of the training. Although I'm concentrating more on my endurance rather than speed.

I'll never be the fastest, I'll never stand on a podium, but i really dont mind. Getting that PB this morning felt like i'd won a gold medal. Happy days

BIKE 1hr 38 Minute - http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/228223002

Managed to exceed the planned time by 23 minutes.
Snapped a few more churches - http://thecyclingnorfolkchurchspotter.blogspot.co.uk/
Experinced all four of the English seasons. Snowed on me once, Rained on me, Sleeted and
hailed on me nearly blown off the bike on numerous occasions & thought i was going to
get a suntan when i was out Spixworth way. Came across a great hill out Costessey way that
i havent been up before. Folgate Lane, worth a look. I'll be back on that again.

Sunday

RUN 1hr 31 minute - http://app.strava.com/activities/39581899

Longest run of the year. Again, a bit of a chore getting out of bed for this one.
Had to be done though as last day of the cycle course & also cycle show at the
Norwich Forum to get too. Run went ok, bit cold, slippy on Whit lane & quite
boggy along the river, round the lake. Legs felt really tired & heavy today. Shins
& calves quite achy as well. Apart from that, good run.

Bike 27 minutes

Rode down to the cycle maintenance course. Sorted my gears out, cleaned bike. Shiniest
it's been in a long time. Then headed up to the forum for the cycle show. Did 30 mins
Trianglia bike racking duties, then nipped in for Shaun Yates talk. Rode home, pretty cold
today, an icy chill in the air so glad i was nt out for long.

Monthly stats
January

Calories burnt = 29,160
Cycled = 13 hours - 151 miles
Ran = 7 hours - 45 miles
Swam = 8 hours
Walked = 15 hours - 46 miles

Other stuff

Norfolk Cycle Show, managed to get up to the forum for a bit to have a look. Made my
day getting to meet Shaun Yates, Tour de France stage winner & directeur sportif for
Sky last year.
Also met paralympian Lauren Steadman who was very nice. I had a chat with her about
her training & she was telling me how she needs to try and juggle finishing University this
year, as well as training for a multitude of championships she has this year. Inspirational.

http://www.thenorfolkcycleshow.co.uk/

Few pics from todays event.

Outside the forum in Norwich

Kids cycling & mini MTB track thing

Rollerdrome 500m sprint competition

Shaun talks about his career & last years phenomonal success with Sky

Have a go at Triathlon with Trianglia

Shaun Yates & his Tour de France yellow jersey

Lauren Steadman. Note to self, only give iphone to young people to take the pics in future

Thought I'd post a video clip of The Slateman I'll be doing in May - http://vimeo.com/24322153

As I don't have to pay for the Slateman accommodation until the event I was able to get my
entry in for The Grafman http://www.nicetri.co.uk/index.php?id=287

Also sorted my VLM accomodation as well. So, all accommodations sorted and all training
events booked. I'm so organised :-)

Signed up for a 5K swimathon in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.
You can sponsor me here :
http://my.artezglobal.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=422089&langPref=en-CA

Never swam 5k before & i dont like swimming as you know, so a bit unsure why i have signed
up for this. Be good training though & may make a few quid for a worthy cause.

My luck on winning triathlon related stuff continued this week. Completed a Triathlon survey
on Sunday evening & had this in my mailbox the next day

"This is just a quick message to let you know that you’ve won the following prize in the
Winning Weekend #3 of 3 from the Triathlon Industry Association...!"

Prize: Blueseventy: 1 x blueseventy transition bag

My friend Jim is doing a bunch of cycle events for Pancreatic Cancer UK.
If you would like to donate, a link to his FB page is here
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jims-Charity-Cycling-2013/567107546650718