Triple Tri Training - Week 3 - 29/09 - 05/10

Monday
AM - Swim squad 3.9k.
PM - Hill session with Tom 11k run. My first time back to Lilyfield Rd in a few weeks and I was a little apprehensive, but it was great. My first rep was 1.17, which is the fastest I have ever done. After that it was 1.18, 1.18, 1.23, 1.24, 1.23. I felt good and pleased with my speed and form. I think the secret was being fresh, I usually do that session later in the week and more fatigued.

Tuesday
AM - Ride at SOP 45k. I decided to have a go with Group 3 at the last minute. I hung on for 4 laps but I got dropped on the incline on the 5th lap. But I was v.happy to almost make group 3.
PM - Pain in the Domain. This was the last time I will be able to go to PITD as I won't be working in the city from next week :(. So I tried to enjoy it. I went with Group 4, I felt okay but not great. We finished in 29.05 which is pretty solid.

Wednesday
AM - Ride at SOP 45k. This was the first time I have been on a Wed, when they do a recovery ride. It was looovely. A nice gentle pace and lots of chat. I could get very used to that.
PM - Swim at ITAC 2.8k continuous in 56.14. Another torture-fest for the mind. Bizarrely I think next week when I get to 3k it will be easier. There is no kidding oneself that its not long and boring.

Thursday
AM - Ride at SOP 45k. I gave group 3 another go and I made it! Horray. I was very satisfied with that, its been months since I rode with group 3.
PM - Run from work around CP. I didn't have my Garmin but I think its about 9k in 49 mins. I felt good and strong. We had a very nice dinner in town at Ramen Kan followed by Cold Rock icecream. Yum.

Friday
AM - 4k swim squad. I felt quite good this morning, and I think I might be improving a little bit. But I still need to develop/find/buy/steal some speed.

Saturday
AM - Striders 10k at Homebush. I was hoping to go under 43 minutes but it wasn't to be. I only managed 44.04. I felt like I pushed quite hard, so I was pleased with that, but was disappointed with my time. I think I have to chalk it up to having already done 9 sessions in the week.
PM - We were planning a big mtb, but Tom was feeling sick and the weather was crap. So instead I sat around feeling a bit frustrated and worried about my lack of long mtb at the moment.

Sunday
AM - A last minute invitation saw me getting up at 4AM (pre daylight savings time) and driving north to Cammeray to do the 3 Gorges Ride through Bobbin Head, Berowra Waters and Galston Gorge. I was a bit apprehensive about such a long ride (I have not done near 100k on the road since last year) but it was just fantastic. I felt great, loved the climbs, loved the views, loved rolling along in a bunch, loved the ferry ride, especially loved the coffee stop. It was my first time ever riding "north" and it almost enough to make me want to start road riding on the weekend again. We did 104k in 4 hours riding time.
PM - 14k run. I planned to go whatever pace I felt like and it turned out to be quite quick, with an average pace of 5.00 exactly. That is probably the fastest I have ever done that loop. I felt good but definitely spent by the end. After dinner I lay on the couch watching Australian Idol do ABBA and eating Chocolate Brownie icecream - both were great.

Weekly total
Swim: 10.7km - Good, I am happy as long as I am getting in 3 swims.
Bike: 240km road, 45km commute, 0km mtb - Very happy with the road kms, not great about the mtb but I will make up for that next weekend.
Run: 54km - a solid effort but no long run.

I finally made some real progress on the bike this week which was nice. I am running out of time to build my long run but everything else is going okay and as long as a I am running consistently through the week I should be okay. I am not sure how my knee would cope with a long run at the moment. Next weekend is the Scott 24hr mtb in Canberra and the following weekend is the Forster short-long-course event, so I am going to be busy.

This week also marks a possible major turning point in my training. I am starting a new job which I expect to be less flexible and more demanding on my time and energy. If this means that my training and racing suffers I think I am prepared for that. On the plus side its a 20k commute from home. ;)