With the end of 2011 nearly here perhaps it is time I should reflect on all that I have achieved, and what I've failed at.
Going into 2011 there was only one thing on my mind. Ironman. Granted that is a big thing to have on your mind. The thing is even though it was at the forefront of most of my decisions I wasn't paying it the respect it deserved. I mean it is only twice the distance of a half right? And that is only a little over double an Olympic? How hard can it be right? Well I got my wake up call in February (http://trijames.blogspot.com/2011/02/time-to-resurrect-this-blog.html) In a rather training light week when I got a cold I went out for a 50+km. A ride from hell where I realised I couldn't blag IM training like I'd done my half. So I set about creating a plan of epic proportions that would see me do one hell of a lot of training over the following weeks and months.
In February came one of my first races, the MK half marathon (http://trijames.blogspot.com/2011/03/better-week-with-tough-finish.html). Now in my 'oh MK is flat and I'm fitter now' mindset I'd decided this would be PB territory and a good chance to break the 1:40 barrier. Oh that run went horribly wrong. I learnt a lot about pacing though. You learn from your mistakes as the saying goes. I got carried away in the moment at the start, and held that stupid notion for 10K, and like a true idiot, almost broke my 10K PB, with over half the race left. It was a painful lesson I can still remember vividly, walking up the ramps from the underpasses, the tears in my eyes as I walked up the bridge. If you have a pacing plan stick to it, don't let macho bull**** throw you from it at the start of a race.
The start of April brought the start of the tri season, and I was entered into my first event of the year at Ringwood, the first time the event was being run. All my training was paying off as I managed a 2:25 finish, for an odd distance event, but one that is probably comparable (just short) of an Olympic. I swam well, I biked OK and I ran reasonably well. Training ploughed on and as Easter arrived I took a trip up to Bridgtown Cycles for a bike fit, of course as anyone that has been knows, you often find the bike doesn't fit.
Having spent nearly 5 hours having every last detail checked, including the placement of washers under the cleat of my right foot to account for a minor leg length discrepancy I left with what Dad later termed 'a clown bike'. Yes the bike was too small, so with the largest stem available and the saddle really high, using loaned handlebars Mike had bought me a little time. A couple of weeks in fact, as the next week a new bike was on order. Ready for me to pick up when I returned a couple of weeks later. In the meantime I had a bike I could ride faster.
On the clown bike I did the Randonee, effectively an Audax around the Isle of Wight. Wow that was a tough day at the office. There was one hell of a wind blowing (25 mph) and it made the hill (on my hilliest and longest ride ever) really tough. I did it though, and was pleased as anything to have got around in one piece. The next weekend I was heading back up to fetch the new bike.
What a beauty she is, Maddy madone, my Trek 3.1. Mike had done an excellent job putting her together for me, and after a few tweaks she was ready to rock. What a dream it was riding carbon after aluminium, and the wheels they built are still running perfectly true even after the 2000 odd miles I've done since getting her in May.
Late may brought the BCTTT tri camp out at Les Stables in France. What a great time that was. Some great coaching from Daz, Sibs, and Mark. Plus morale boosting hill sets on the bike with Mark. Can't wait to get back there in 2012 now.
Then it was back into the peak build weeks of June. Wow, the miles really racked up there. 17-18 hours of training, on top of a full time job. Not easy, and clocking up 7/186/40 & 7.5/300/37km of swim/bike/run in the 2 biggest weeks. Tough times, but it was to prove worth it. Early July and I had Bedford Olympic, my last little tester race before Ironman (http://trijames.blogspot.com/2011/07/bedford-classic-tri.html) It went pretty well, improved over the year before with gains on the bike and the run, suffered more on the swim, but that might have been because I wasn't able to draft as I was a leader in the wave.
The rest of July was my taper, and I had intended to do speedwork, until I gassed myself in the lab and had some respiratory difficulties I needed to sort out if I was going to make the start line. I do not recommend inhaling chlorine. It most certainly isn't performance enhancing. Then of course that brings me to Ironman. I'm not going to say much about it here, I wrote a rather long story on it already (http://issuu.com/jibby26/docs/imde_story). It was tough, I went into it with a goal that was respectful, but not respectful enough. I have to say It is the hardest thing I have ever done. It breaks you physically, then you stop feeling the physical pain as the mental pain kicks in. Still I loved it, and want to get back out there again, guess that makes me a little crazy.
August was a month of rest, every time I tried to train I just felt so lethargic. So I just went with it and did stuff for fun. Competing in the club relays at the end of the month. That was a wild and fun weekend. The BCTTT know how to have fun at a race. I put in a respectable performance too, so more than happy about that.
Coming into September and I was starting to get back into the groove, training was coming back and I was getting strong in the pool. It all went wrong though when I slipped on some mud and rolled my ankle. A proper sprain of my left ankle and the metatarsal ligaments. D'Oh. The day after I entered, and 10 days before, I entered Ringwood triathlon (The Return). A week of rest and taking care of it and the plan was to do pull for the swim (600m of pull hurts), ride the bike to death (weather was grim) then abandon the run (I carried on in the end and ran pretty well). Having spent a week in Italy unable to train, but rehabilitating my ankle I then returned for a week of biking and swimming before my last tri of 2011, Bedford Sprint. The ankle was alright riding, I could walk fine, just swimming that hurt. So I was employing the same strategy as Ringwood.
Swim wasn't good, bike was great, and my run was actually excellent. Almost breaking 1:15 for it, with a 2m53 saved on the bike and 27s in the run (http://trijames.blogspot.com/2011/10/bedford-autumns-sprint-end-of-season.html). A great finish to a season that could so easily have gone the other way.
October can be characterised by cycling and swimming (pull) I threw a few runs into the mix, but mostly I rode on the turbo. At some I went a little more crazy and decided 2012 was the time to do something for charity. Why I don't know, maybe it was dehydration from the turbo sessions. I went slightly loopy though and decided riding a bike for 24 hours would be a good thing to do. I have a feeling I will never be able to forget what an idiot I have been. This is going to hurt, and hurt good. Please check out http://www.twentyfourhourturbotorment.co.uk/ to see more about it and the good causes I'm trying to support.
The end of October brought the Minstead stinger, I was back running and this was a challenging 9 mile run through the hillier bit of the New Forest. I seemed to do alright, posting a respectable sub 1:10 and finishing in a pretty decent place. My new love of trail running was founded. Come November and I was back doing all 3 sports; swimming, cycling (mostly turbo) and running trails and road. I think as a result of all the turbo sessions something changed and I put in a supper speedy 10K in training. It was also suggested to me I give parkrun a go, I'm not sure who gave me the final nudge, but I have a feeling it is down to a woman, these things normally are. Of course having given me the final nudge it was suggested I didn't beat 19:49. My first run was good, almost beating it and so nearly going sub 20 for my first ever 5K. I tried again a week later and managed to slash 25 seconds off it with a 19:38. So in good form I ended November looking forward to my annual half marathon in December.
Just to make things awkward I got in in the week leading up to the half. Not the best prep, but a good taper. The race was tough, and far from fun, I suffered a few issues at 4 miles, and ran to the point the world was spinning in the last couple of miles. All to finish a way off the 1:30 I'd been trying to pace to. (http://trijames.blogspot.com/2011/12/half-marathon-time-again.html) Still, I managed to run a 1:33, taking another 7 minutes off my PB. At this rate I should be on for a 1:26 next year :-D The rest of December has been a bit of a bust really. Got some decent off road running in though. A long run with Gary that nearly destroyed me, and a couple of below performance parkruns. Well, it means 2012 has a better chance of a good start.
I seem to have rambled on for long enough now. So the all important stats for the year:
Total Duration: 437 hours, 43 minutes
Swimming: 104h 11m, 246.45km
Cycling: 175h 27m, 4421km
Turbo: 33h 59m
Running: 123h 15m, 1347km
Total Calories burnt: 388,167 (that's about the same as the energy in 50 litres of petrol, or 1492 mars bars!)
With that I'll close 2011 and stake my claims on 2012. In 2012 I will:
Run a sub 19 5K
Run a sub 40 10K
Ride a bike for 24 hours
Finish a middle distance in under 5 hours
Finish an Iron distance in under 12 hours
Most importantly, I'll have fun doing it!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Showing posts with label Ironman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ironman. Show all posts
Friday, 30 December 2011
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Ironman + 2 Weeks. You may have been right, I'm might be mad
So in case anyone managed to miss the fact I finished Ironman Germany 2 weeks ago you can read about it here: http://issuu.com/jibby26/docs/imde_story
So 2 weeks on. Well it has mostly been 2 weeks of rest. The first week I was itching to get back out there. I went swimming on the Thursday, and somehow managed to hold on (albeit at the back of the lane, at a slow pace) for the whole session, clocking up a slightly reduced 1750m. Went to the pub afterwards then came back as Friday was my first day back at work. Man I hurt. It didn't get any better throughout Friday at work either. So I did nothing over the weekend. Took the "I told you so"s on the chin and got on with my homage to Ironman to hang on the wall.
With that out of the way, Sunday was spent writing the story of the race and getting there (see link above) and of course tracking the guys doing IMUK. The weekend was a training free zone.
Was thinking of a run on Monday, but after a day at work I just didn't feel like it, so I sat on the sofa a little while longer. On Tuesday I woke up with knee pain, pain that didn't want to go away all day. My left hamstring was really hurting too, the two are possibly connected. The point that hurt is the tender point that caused me to almost kick the masseuse post race. So naturally I went swimming in the evening. Except I still wasn't ready. After 40 minutes I had to quit. After 1200m I'd decided I couldn't carry on, but pushed through the Masters session to 1500m, but being IM dominant it was never going to work. Woke up on Wednesday and leg still hurt. So I went for a run after work. A natural thing to do of course. What can I say, it was very hard, and pretty slow. 6.2km in 35'30" The first 3k were absolute agony. It felt slow, but I was running as hard as I could. Then all of a sudden, about 4 k in, at the bottom of the little hill something clicked and suddenly I was running at normal training pace again. It felt like a switch had been flicked. Once home 10 minutes of foam roller action and another 5 minutes of static stretches to make sure things didn't seize.
I'd decide on Tuesday that swimming wasn't sensible on Thursday, so went sailing. In my default position of jib trim (i.e. brawn on the winch) I was feeling a little lethargic in what is effectively an anaerobic upper body interval session. Still I survived and we even won the race! Friday was the after work run session. I thought I could hack the 4.5 mile route on offer. Thankfully Dave was away and Mike is coming back from injury so it was an 'easyish' run. 6.66km in 36'28". The pace got quicker throughout, with Mike pushing me (what felt) quite hard. The last bit of the run involved an uphill. I had to admit defeat and walk it, I just couldn't get one foot in front of the other. Yesterday was another lazy day. Maddy has been in bubble wrap ever since Frankfurt, I'd never gotten around to rebuilding her. So that was my task for the day (after watching the women's ITU race). As I set about rebuilding I realised that I needed some stuff so attempted to walk into town and get it from Halfraud's. With no joy, they sell tonnes of parts for bikes but don't have any anti seize of carbon fibre assembly compounds. Eventually having been to the LBS I rebuilt Maddy.
So, today, my first ride after Ironman. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. In fact it was quite nice. After a minor cock up when I thought there was a road that cut back and missed out the bigger hills, but it was really a dead end road. So I had to endure some of the hills around Farley Mount. Now they are not major climbs, but probably average 4-5% for a km or so. I made them all though. I even managed the hill into Chilworth I hate with two sprockets spare and holding a good cadence. The only downer was it chose to rain heavily 2km from home. Thanks for that.
So that is the past fortnight. I have learnt that rest is key, just like everyone says. At the same time, I do think it is one of those things that everyone is going to learn for themselves. Training for Ironman was my life for the past 3-6 months. It was the basis of almost all the thoughts in those empty moments you have when doing mundane tasks. Having finished things seem kind of empty, I now have no focus, no goal. Now this is where the mad bit comes in. No, I'm not suicidal with the Ironman Blues. I can't help thinking about the next one. After all that pain, suffering and mental torture. I want to do it again. I really want to do it again. The only thorn in my side is the possibility of another race in mid June next year. A race that will be both longer and harder than Ironman. A race that could take a lot of training to get fit for. A race that will leave me in a far worse state post event than Ironman. Which pretty much rules out all the major European Ironmans as they are in July, or are far too hilly for me to consider. Still, it hasn't stopped me looking at the profiles of all the races and thinking. Maybe I'll go back to Barcelona and do the full distance, the half distance was quick, and the full one is late season. Oh, and it is properly flat. Or maybe I'll do a UK one. So their you have it, I'm mad. Not for doing Ironman like you thought when I said I'd entered. But for wanting to go through all that again. There was a great post by Bopo on the BCTTT forum this week:
This sums things up surprisingly well (especially as it came from someone that hasn't done an Ironman). It is also the reason why I want to do another. Some people like the feeling of driving cars fast, or falling through the air. I masochistically liked the pure unadulterated fear that was running through me as I put my wetsuit on and made my way down to the swim start. That is why I'll be doing another.
So 2 weeks on. Well it has mostly been 2 weeks of rest. The first week I was itching to get back out there. I went swimming on the Thursday, and somehow managed to hold on (albeit at the back of the lane, at a slow pace) for the whole session, clocking up a slightly reduced 1750m. Went to the pub afterwards then came back as Friday was my first day back at work. Man I hurt. It didn't get any better throughout Friday at work either. So I did nothing over the weekend. Took the "I told you so"s on the chin and got on with my homage to Ironman to hang on the wall.
With that out of the way, Sunday was spent writing the story of the race and getting there (see link above) and of course tracking the guys doing IMUK. The weekend was a training free zone.
Was thinking of a run on Monday, but after a day at work I just didn't feel like it, so I sat on the sofa a little while longer. On Tuesday I woke up with knee pain, pain that didn't want to go away all day. My left hamstring was really hurting too, the two are possibly connected. The point that hurt is the tender point that caused me to almost kick the masseuse post race. So naturally I went swimming in the evening. Except I still wasn't ready. After 40 minutes I had to quit. After 1200m I'd decided I couldn't carry on, but pushed through the Masters session to 1500m, but being IM dominant it was never going to work. Woke up on Wednesday and leg still hurt. So I went for a run after work. A natural thing to do of course. What can I say, it was very hard, and pretty slow. 6.2km in 35'30" The first 3k were absolute agony. It felt slow, but I was running as hard as I could. Then all of a sudden, about 4 k in, at the bottom of the little hill something clicked and suddenly I was running at normal training pace again. It felt like a switch had been flicked. Once home 10 minutes of foam roller action and another 5 minutes of static stretches to make sure things didn't seize.
I'd decide on Tuesday that swimming wasn't sensible on Thursday, so went sailing. In my default position of jib trim (i.e. brawn on the winch) I was feeling a little lethargic in what is effectively an anaerobic upper body interval session. Still I survived and we even won the race! Friday was the after work run session. I thought I could hack the 4.5 mile route on offer. Thankfully Dave was away and Mike is coming back from injury so it was an 'easyish' run. 6.66km in 36'28". The pace got quicker throughout, with Mike pushing me (what felt) quite hard. The last bit of the run involved an uphill. I had to admit defeat and walk it, I just couldn't get one foot in front of the other. Yesterday was another lazy day. Maddy has been in bubble wrap ever since Frankfurt, I'd never gotten around to rebuilding her. So that was my task for the day (after watching the women's ITU race). As I set about rebuilding I realised that I needed some stuff so attempted to walk into town and get it from Halfraud's. With no joy, they sell tonnes of parts for bikes but don't have any anti seize of carbon fibre assembly compounds. Eventually having been to the LBS I rebuilt Maddy.
So, today, my first ride after Ironman. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. In fact it was quite nice. After a minor cock up when I thought there was a road that cut back and missed out the bigger hills, but it was really a dead end road. So I had to endure some of the hills around Farley Mount. Now they are not major climbs, but probably average 4-5% for a km or so. I made them all though. I even managed the hill into Chilworth I hate with two sprockets spare and holding a good cadence. The only downer was it chose to rain heavily 2km from home. Thanks for that.
So that is the past fortnight. I have learnt that rest is key, just like everyone says. At the same time, I do think it is one of those things that everyone is going to learn for themselves. Training for Ironman was my life for the past 3-6 months. It was the basis of almost all the thoughts in those empty moments you have when doing mundane tasks. Having finished things seem kind of empty, I now have no focus, no goal. Now this is where the mad bit comes in. No, I'm not suicidal with the Ironman Blues. I can't help thinking about the next one. After all that pain, suffering and mental torture. I want to do it again. I really want to do it again. The only thorn in my side is the possibility of another race in mid June next year. A race that will be both longer and harder than Ironman. A race that could take a lot of training to get fit for. A race that will leave me in a far worse state post event than Ironman. Which pretty much rules out all the major European Ironmans as they are in July, or are far too hilly for me to consider. Still, it hasn't stopped me looking at the profiles of all the races and thinking. Maybe I'll go back to Barcelona and do the full distance, the half distance was quick, and the full one is late season. Oh, and it is properly flat. Or maybe I'll do a UK one. So their you have it, I'm mad. Not for doing Ironman like you thought when I said I'd entered. But for wanting to go through all that again. There was a great post by Bopo on the BCTTT forum this week:
Think about it, really think about it. 2.4 miles of swimming hurts. Oh, it's fine in the pool or the lake, but what about when 2000 other people are punching your head? You can't settle down, you can't relax, you fight for every stroke and breath.
Then you get on your bike for one of the longest rides of your life. Sure, you've done the distance, but it wasn't easy, was it? And you hadn't been beaten up for 2.4 miles in the water beforehand.
Anyway, you'll get it done - you have to... because you need to get to the start line of a marathon.
This sums things up surprisingly well (especially as it came from someone that hasn't done an Ironman). It is also the reason why I want to do another. Some people like the feeling of driving cars fast, or falling through the air. I masochistically liked the pure unadulterated fear that was running through me as I put my wetsuit on and made my way down to the swim start. That is why I'll be doing another.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Time to resurrect this blog
So it has been far to long since I last wrote about my training. Since then I have completed many races (which I have blogged about) and become somewhat deluded into the fact I can get around an Ironman course. I won't go into how deluded I have gotten about the time I can do it in. Today I had a major wake up call (more later) and have decided to attack this problem head on. I have formulated a plan, and part of that plan will included an, at least weekly, reflection on my training.
So I guess I'll start with reviewing the events leading up to this point. This week has not been a wonderful one in training terms. As ever we are working shifts, which means the oh so joyous task of getting out of bed at 4:15 to go to work Tues-Thurs. This of course meant the 15K run I wanted to do would eat into far too much of my evening. Still I went out and, when the heavens opened 10K in, I manged to stick it out and do a third loop, I was so ready to quit after 2 though. Needless to say by the time I got back showered and fed myself it was already bed time, but I had to paint a living room wall. D'oh. I'd much rather shift everyday of the week when we have to do it.
Tuesday started far to early, still I finished earlier. In future I shall use this to my advantage a bit more and try to stick in a 5-10k run or a short turbo session before an early dinner and Masters. Not doing something before Masters was actually a good move this week though. My speed was there but I had naff all endurance. On the second 300m set I had to stop as I cramped in my foot, but I was also feeling a bit nauseous. Still, I persevered and made it through the 2350m session. Tuesday night was not good though, kept waking up as my throat hurt. Uh oh, I'm ill. The 4:15 wake up call bought confirmation, swollen throat glands, blocked nose. Yep I'd got a cold. Balls, Wednesday I had hopes of a cheeky little Turbo/run brick session. Cue rest days on Weds, Thurs, and Friday. Wasn't feeling too bad on Friday night, so if the weather cleared, I could try an easy ride on Saturday.
The rain gave way to a fine mist on Saturday morning and I opted to go for a gentle ride around my 54k loop. 3 drivers tried to kill me in the first 10k. Why overtake if you are going to turn left immediately after overtaking? Why do buses always pull out before indicating? And my favourite, what is the point in overtaking and practically doing an emergency stop before you've finished to let someone walk a horse across the road? How the hell am I meant to see the horse, and how the hell is the rider meant to see me? Well after all those shenanigans the rest of the ride went OK, I got around the 54K in 2:10, an acceptable speed, if not a little faster than planned. Whilst out on this ride I decided that I didn't want to push things too soon, so another, longer, ride would be more suitable on Sunday than a run.
Well, I learnt what a plonker I was on the ride today. My legs didn't feel good going up hills. At 34k when the turn onto the 20k loop appeared I told myself to man up and take the pain. I survived the loop, just about. Had to stop a few times to refuel, and my lower back hurt, but my legs just about held out. I was starting to worry I had remembered the distance wrong, I had, but a crafty shortcut would later fix that. There was a nasty little hill on that shortcut though, with a handily placed cyclist at the top to witness the pain on my face as I summitted the poultry 10m, 5% slope. 65 kilometres in and my world was about to fall apart. It was my nemesis hill, it is only a measly 3%, but it drags on for over a mile, and has a nasty sting in the tail just as you think you've done it. I knew things would be bad as I dropped down to the 30x20 early on. I was ready top cry as I reached the top, I had to stop and stretch.To make matters worse there was still over 8k left to get home. That was one of the more painful 8k rides I have ever made. My quads had blown big time. All I could manage as I walked through the front door was a stagger to the living room and lie on the floor. A few stretches and the pain would not budge. I looked at the foam roller, tried it but only got halfway down my leg. A touch of heat therapy and I was walking again. Great, enough movement to reheat the remains of the curry I made last night, and a couple of hours on the sofa in compression tights.
This ride was actually a good thing. It broke the cycle of delusion that I can do an Ironman of the junk training I have been doing. SO I sat down and applying a 3 weeks build, 1 week recovery, I have formulated a plan for my long rides and long runs over the next 4 months that will see me able to get around Frankfurt, at least I hope it will. Build weeks will go up 10k on the bike, and 2k on the run each week. The real scary thing is, that means 350km of running, and 1710 km of cycling over the next 4 months. This doesn't even account for training during the week, or the France training camp. It also doesn't pencil in any events between the MK half marathon and IMDE, and I really want to get a few sprints and some open water events in. Some hard decisions will have to be made, and that includes my social calendar too. Even though I've been tee total since new years eve, I can't see the opportunity for social drinking any time soon.
The road to IMDE starts here, hopefully I can hang on to the pain train for long enough. Let's hope the next week goes better than the last.
So I guess I'll start with reviewing the events leading up to this point. This week has not been a wonderful one in training terms. As ever we are working shifts, which means the oh so joyous task of getting out of bed at 4:15 to go to work Tues-Thurs. This of course meant the 15K run I wanted to do would eat into far too much of my evening. Still I went out and, when the heavens opened 10K in, I manged to stick it out and do a third loop, I was so ready to quit after 2 though. Needless to say by the time I got back showered and fed myself it was already bed time, but I had to paint a living room wall. D'oh. I'd much rather shift everyday of the week when we have to do it.
Tuesday started far to early, still I finished earlier. In future I shall use this to my advantage a bit more and try to stick in a 5-10k run or a short turbo session before an early dinner and Masters. Not doing something before Masters was actually a good move this week though. My speed was there but I had naff all endurance. On the second 300m set I had to stop as I cramped in my foot, but I was also feeling a bit nauseous. Still, I persevered and made it through the 2350m session. Tuesday night was not good though, kept waking up as my throat hurt. Uh oh, I'm ill. The 4:15 wake up call bought confirmation, swollen throat glands, blocked nose. Yep I'd got a cold. Balls, Wednesday I had hopes of a cheeky little Turbo/run brick session. Cue rest days on Weds, Thurs, and Friday. Wasn't feeling too bad on Friday night, so if the weather cleared, I could try an easy ride on Saturday.
The rain gave way to a fine mist on Saturday morning and I opted to go for a gentle ride around my 54k loop. 3 drivers tried to kill me in the first 10k. Why overtake if you are going to turn left immediately after overtaking? Why do buses always pull out before indicating? And my favourite, what is the point in overtaking and practically doing an emergency stop before you've finished to let someone walk a horse across the road? How the hell am I meant to see the horse, and how the hell is the rider meant to see me? Well after all those shenanigans the rest of the ride went OK, I got around the 54K in 2:10, an acceptable speed, if not a little faster than planned. Whilst out on this ride I decided that I didn't want to push things too soon, so another, longer, ride would be more suitable on Sunday than a run.
Well, I learnt what a plonker I was on the ride today. My legs didn't feel good going up hills. At 34k when the turn onto the 20k loop appeared I told myself to man up and take the pain. I survived the loop, just about. Had to stop a few times to refuel, and my lower back hurt, but my legs just about held out. I was starting to worry I had remembered the distance wrong, I had, but a crafty shortcut would later fix that. There was a nasty little hill on that shortcut though, with a handily placed cyclist at the top to witness the pain on my face as I summitted the poultry 10m, 5% slope. 65 kilometres in and my world was about to fall apart. It was my nemesis hill, it is only a measly 3%, but it drags on for over a mile, and has a nasty sting in the tail just as you think you've done it. I knew things would be bad as I dropped down to the 30x20 early on. I was ready top cry as I reached the top, I had to stop and stretch.To make matters worse there was still over 8k left to get home. That was one of the more painful 8k rides I have ever made. My quads had blown big time. All I could manage as I walked through the front door was a stagger to the living room and lie on the floor. A few stretches and the pain would not budge. I looked at the foam roller, tried it but only got halfway down my leg. A touch of heat therapy and I was walking again. Great, enough movement to reheat the remains of the curry I made last night, and a couple of hours on the sofa in compression tights.
This ride was actually a good thing. It broke the cycle of delusion that I can do an Ironman of the junk training I have been doing. SO I sat down and applying a 3 weeks build, 1 week recovery, I have formulated a plan for my long rides and long runs over the next 4 months that will see me able to get around Frankfurt, at least I hope it will. Build weeks will go up 10k on the bike, and 2k on the run each week. The real scary thing is, that means 350km of running, and 1710 km of cycling over the next 4 months. This doesn't even account for training during the week, or the France training camp. It also doesn't pencil in any events between the MK half marathon and IMDE, and I really want to get a few sprints and some open water events in. Some hard decisions will have to be made, and that includes my social calendar too. Even though I've been tee total since new years eve, I can't see the opportunity for social drinking any time soon.
The road to IMDE starts here, hopefully I can hang on to the pain train for long enough. Let's hope the next week goes better than the last.
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