Tag: ironman

Feeling fit, bit bored of Triathlons though!

adamslifejourneyLeave a comment

Soooooo, i haven’t updated this for a while! I can not be bothered to fully recap everything in the last few months. I’ll do a quick recap of what i’ve been up to, a few picks, then i might rattle on about stuff.

  • May – Maltby Sprint Triathlon 1:16:41 – Was really happy with this and enjoyed the race.
  • Ripon Triathlon 2:48:08 – Swim = 31:19 – Bike = 1:21:17 – Run = 52:44 – I enjoyed this, bit warm, but was a nice day. I fucked up for about 10km on the bike, i couldn’t work my new hydration bottle thing!! And it was fucking baking, so i panicked a little! Yes, i’m the big dickhead who didn’t test things before a race!! No fucking medal either!!!!!!! Gutted!
  • Castle Howard Triathlon 3:08:25 – Swim 24:13 (Ripon was a non-wetsuit swim, hence the time difference) – Bike = 1:40:37 (This was about 7km longer than 40km, hence the 20mins time difference from Ripon) – Run = 55:57 – The swim was dirty and full of reeds, then a 600m run up an hill to T1 (T1 took me 6 mins!!!), i hated the bike, but again this is my dumb fault as the weekend before i did a 110mile bike from Filey to Barnsley! I could feel the fatigue in my legs. I loved the run, it was all off road on trails around Castle Howard, it was mainly up hill too! I might, next year just do the half marathon run as the weekend festival was good. I hate my time result on this, the 6mins in transition and extra 7km on bike ruins it!

The above are the races i’ve done, i’ve also do the Great Yorkshire Bike Ride which is 80miles, the Filey to Barnsley, about 7 Oxspring Trunces, which is a local fell race. The Dam Flask relays, which was awesome and Stan’s Toffee Run, which is a local trail race.

 

 

I’m getting bored with Triathlons, not so much the actual events but the training for them. I enjoy the swimming, the biking and the running. What i don’t like is that sometime its feels restrictive in how i train and what i want to do. Its mainly the biking and the running. The road biking i like and enjoy, i find nice rural roads and kind of just explore, which is good as there is plenty around where i live. The problem is that just training isn’t about a nice amble out. It has to be functional on the bike whether this is endurance or speed etc. So most of the time its head down and get the numbers right! And the running!! i love running, but i love running in the middle of hills, mountains and trails. I like to stop at the top and admire the views! I like that n one is around and its kind of just you and nature! i also like the kind of self sufficient thing about it. You put on your race vest, few snacks, water, rain coat and just fuck off somewhere! Training for flat road and speed gets boring.

I’ve been doing a few more trail runs lately and kind of neglecting the bike. I have about 4 to 5 weeks until Ironman Weymouth, so i need to get some biking in.

The plus point is i do feel a lot fitter than say 6 months ago. I did a 16 mile run in the Peak District the other day with 3,500ft of elevation in it. I felt brill, and i’ve not really done that for 3 months, and i have’t run over 10 miles since start of May. So i was happy with the progress.

Currently my training week breaks down into

  • Monday: Swim 2,000m (am) / 1 Hour turbo on Sufferfest (pm)
  • Tuesday: Swim 2,000m (am) / Speed work 5 – 10km (pm)
  • Wednesday: 1 hour Strength & conditioning (am) / 1 Hour turbo on Sufferfest (pm)
  • Thursday: 2000m (am) / Club ride 30km & 5km brick (steady pace)
  • Friday: 2000m (pm) / 30mins Yoga (pm)
  • Saturday: 100km bike ride & 5km brick
  • Sunday: 10 – 20km steady recovery run

Sometimes i miss shit, sometimes i swim less than 2,000m etc but i try and roughly stick to this. If i’m feeling tired or that i need a rest then i’ll take a day off. I use Training Peaks to plan shit and review my form and numbers etc. It works out to around 10 – 15 hours per week, depending on how i feel.

I do think though 2019 will be a run only year though, i’ll still swim and ride, but the comps will be run only!

New Year New Goals (bit late, who cares)

adamslifejourneyLeave a comment

So long time no blog (ish), not sure why, sometimes i just forget to blog, until WordPress email my bill anyway!

Anyway screw recapping what i missed from this blog to the last! I’m not sure about everyone else, but i kind of do make New Year goals, or resolutions. I learnt a fe things from last which i intend to take into the new year. All in all last year i did about 20 different running/triathlon events. This was way to many, fun, and add to the medal collection, but way to many to be of any use. My last race in December (i know i said no recapping, but this is me making a point, stop judging) was a 10mile trail run that i had done the year before. Now i beat my time this year, but i was still 10mins shy of my actual goal time. My legs have never felt as bad when running, i have never felt as bad! The fatigue in my legs was shit, this was an accumulation of too many races over too many weekends. The week before i had done a trail marathon with around 4000ft of elevation, two weeks before that i did a race, 98km from one end of the Peak District to the other!

Now my lesson is too many races too soon after each other, not enough time training!

This year i have booked every event i’m doing up until end of September.

  • 27th Jan – Waterway 30 (31 mile race along the canal toe paths)
  • 17th March – Hardmoors 55 (55 mile race around North York Moors)
  • 5th – 7th May – Great Lakeland 3 day (3 marathons 3 days, Lake District)
  • 13th May – Maltby Sprint Triathlon
  • 30th June – Ripon Triathlon (Olympic Distance)
  • 21st July – Castle Howard Triathlon (Olympic Distance)
  • 23rd September – Weymouth Ironman 70.3 (half Ironman!!)

So that its so far, i know the 3 day event is near the Maltby triathlon, but the Maltby one is more of a club event and there is around 20 of us doing it, so fuck it!

Thats my entire race calendar, i’m not sure what to do after September, i would like to do the 98km Peak District race again, but i’m not sure how fast i can transition from doing Triathlons to Ultras! Currently i’m prepping for the 2 Ultras and 3 day event. I know from doing this my speed is pretty much gone. Which i’m assuming will be role reversal once i start the triathlon training. My speed will get better over 5km – 20km, but my long distance running will probably suffer. Which means is 1 and a half months enough to train for a 98km Ultra! I mean the fitness will be there, but the miles in the legs will not be there! Fucking decisions eh (i’m very lucky that these are the worrying decisions i have to make in life)!!!

I have a training plan until May, when the 3-day event starts, mostly running. I will also being doing 1 to 2 turbo sessions in the house every week, and currently 1 swimming session, but this will increase when i can get back into the lake to around 3 times a week, plus the odd strength/conditioning/stretching session per week. Currently i’m doing around 60/70km per week running, all activities included, around 8-9 hours per week. I think this will have to increase to around 12 for the 70.3.

The Hardmoors 55 and the Ironman 70.3 are pretty much my main focus this year!

Other goals – Do 50 push ups a day, i know doesn’t sound a lot, but it was 0, and i want to see if it actual makes a difference, more of an experiment than a goal!

Eat more healthy – so far i’m doing well, no fast food ( i rarely ate this anyway, but cutting it out altogether is still better), no sweets, no chocolate – all currently a tick. By the way there are rules and disclaimers to this, pizza is allowed at all times!! Pizza is life, especially after a race!!

And boring work goals, but i’m not going into that shit.

1 bike trip this year to Scotland (motorbike), for a few days.

Also fucking Australia for Christmas & New Year (my best mate moved there last year with his family), i haven’t been to Oz for 15 years, so i’m pretty excited already! By the way i live in England, just incase Oz doesn’t seem like a big deal, England will be cold, Oz will be warm, England has no cricket on, Oz has cricket, England has Christmas dinners, Oz has BBQ’s 😉

Here are some photos of the last few months.