Back on track

I still have a nasty sounding cough but I am feeling much better, great in fact! Could be something to do with the mega-excitement.

After doing absolutely no training at all from Monday - Thursday, I got back into on Friday. After work I went for an easy 2k swim then easy 40 min run around the Bay. The swim felt great, the run felt pretty average. It was really windy and I felt crap, but I figured that was probably to be expected.

On Saturday we had decided on a "late" start of 6.30 - the extra 30 mins sleep was great. And we were "only" riding to Waterfall, what a treat. Unfortunately we were cursed with 6 flat tires so still didn't get back to the park until 10.30. Then we ran 2 short laps, took about 38 minutes for about 8k, so it was a fairly quick pace but it felt good. After a nice stretch and plenty of chat about guess what, I drove to Coogee for a recovery dip. It was so beautiful. I remembered to vote on the way home.

Today (Sunday) I stayed in bed till about 9 and then ran 14k around the Bay. I finished in 1.16 so I was probably going a little faster than I should (steady pace), but I guess I was keen to get home and be finished. I was going to go for a swim this afternoon but decided to give it a miss. At this point my number 1 priority is getting plenty of rest and recovery.
I can't quite believe that in exactly one week I will running the marathon at Ironman Australia. I am getting pretty nervous. I said to a friend yesterday that I have never felt so well prepared for a race, but also never so uncertain as to what will transpire on the day.

The dreaded lurgy

Well, something had to go wrong. I have been sick since Monday. Not super-duper terrible sick, but head cold, cough, tired sick. I am doing my best not to freak out. Its still 11 days or so till the race, I am sure I will be better by then, and any missed training this week isn't going to make much difference. Its still annoying and extremely stressful, but this is literally the only setback I have had in 3 solid months so I can't complain too much.

I have not done any training since Sunday. I went to work on Monday, but had yesterday and today off. I have been dosing up on echinacea, vitamin c, ferrphos, gallons of OJ and lemonade and salt gargles. Last night els made me a very soothing tomato lentil and spinach soup for dinner and today I have slept and watched a DVD. I am hoping to feel good enough to train on Friday and then do my planned sessions over the weekend, but we will see. Top priority is to recover fully.

2nd last weekend

Saturday

I drove to Centennial Park to meet my crew for a 6am start. Somehow out of 12 people I was only one with a decent front light so I had to lead till it got light. That’ll learn me for being Miss Prepared. I had thought/hoped we would just go to Sublime and back for 130k but the other IM-ers were keen for 150, so we went through the National Park from Waterfall to Stanwell Tops. It’s a pretty ride and we were making a pretty decent time. I felt good for the first hour or so, then I didn't feel so great and was really not keen for the extra k's, then I felt good again and enjoyed the ride and the company. But then on the way home from Sutherland I started feeling pretty bad. I had a very more muscle or something in my right bum cheek - I have never been sore there before. I also felt really bloated, I think from not eating/drinking enough at the start then eating/drinking too much. Fortunately it’s a pretty easy ride back from Sutho so I just hung in there. When we got back the others wanted to do an extra few laps to get up to 150, but I went straight back to the car.

I waited for the others and then 4 of us set out for a 10k run, 2x5k loops around the park. On the first lap we did a pretty solid pace, I am not sure exactly how fast but probably sub-5 min ks and much faster than IM race pace ! But I felt good, my sore bum muscle was not bothered so I went with it. On the second loop I started feeling a bit tired and the others pushed ahead strongly, but I kept up a reasonable pace and finished (gladly) in 52 minutes.

I picked up at a bag of ice at the servo and had an nice ice bath when I got home - that felt great. Then I had my yummy favorite frozen banana smoothie, tomato and ricotta pasta and several (!) homemade oat choc chip cookies for lunch. Then I lay down and had a 1 hour nap - I felt really refreshed when I woke up. After that it was hurried shopping and tidying up before picking Ella up at the airport at 9pm - horray! :) Then I didn’t get to bed till midnight.

Sunday

I didn’t set the alarm but woke up at 7 and went out for my run at about 7.30. I was planning to do a swim beforehand but I decided not to. I had already done 3 swim sessions for the week and I kinda knew that extra one might not happen. I ran from home around the Bay, planning on 2 hours but not really sure where I would go. I felt pretty flat around the Bay and I really didn't want to drag myself around a 2nd lap, so I decided to repeat last weeks out and back to the far side of Anzac Bridge instead. I felt better on the hills than I did on the flat and started enjoying the run more, but then the last 3k from the bay back to home dragged a bit. All up about 21k in 2 hours. It was an okay run but I was glad it was over.

Els and I mooched about all morning and she was impressed with me eating 2 breakfasts. In the afternoon we went to the Art Gallery and saw the Archibald Prize. It was not as good as last year, I didn't like the winner especially much. I liked the Toni Collette and Ex de Medici portraits best. We also saw the HSC Artexpress exhibition which was pretty amazing and interesting. Then we joined the hoards on the walk across the Harbour Bridge to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the bridge. It was maybe a bit of a cheesy thing to do, but I really enjoyed it, it was a great atmosphere heaps of families and a sense of occasion. The best thing was all these windchimes that were hanging at one point, it sounded amazing. Then we headed to Newtown and met Bree for a couple of beers at the Courthouse Hotel which was nice. But by the time I got home to bed I was SO tired - combination of beers, a long day and a late night.

Better sessions

Much better sessions! No grumbling today, promise :)

Wednesday
I did 14k in the morning in 1.20. I took it nice and easy and felt fine. I decided not to ride to work which I think did me wonders - maybe more mental than anything else. Taking the train means taking it easy. I wanted to have a good session in the pool after feeling rubbish on Monday. I got there a bit early and jumped in and did 500FS easy before we started. The the proper warm-up was 600FS. Then 20 x 50 pull on 1 minute and then 12 x 200 on 3.45 (2 easy, 2 very hard x 3) - whoa massive main set! But it was good, I felt strong and managed to stick to the times - just. Finished with my longest swim set ever I think at 4.5k.

Thursday
This morning I got up a bit early and went out to SOP to do an extra lap before we started because I knew I'd have to leave 1 lap early. Group 3 started off massive but the pace was pretty quick and it was a game of attrition. I felt good and enjoyed the ride and reluctantly left after 4 laps to get home and straight into town for a massage. Massage was GREAT! Floated out and into work. Then I squeezed in a quick 1.5k swim at lunch time. I was going to squeeze in a run today too but have decided not to. Rest day tomorrow.

Grumbles

Well, I didn’t enjoy squad last night. We did 800FS, 12 x 25 sprint on 40 breathing only twice per 25, 3 x 4x50 with the kickboard between your legs on 1.15, breathing every 3,4,5,6 strokes, 8 x 75 on 1.30 with 25 sprint in each 75 and then THE DRILL FROM HELL: swimming with a kickboard between your legs is hard enough, but then try doing it for 25m using only 1 arm, then 25 using only the other arm. It was very hard, I felt completely unco, and couldn't really see the point. We were supposed to do 10x50 but I only did 8 then the 200m warm down - only 2.9k total but I was over it. I was really cold for most of the set and then I had to ride home in the rain and dark. Not much fun! Whinge whinge whinge.

Then this morning I headed out to SOP. The road was wet but it wasn't actually raining. Group 3 didn’t really work for me today. First up I got a lecture from some guy about not "soft pedalling" on the front on my turn. Fair call probably, I am not very good at that, but we had started out much slower than usual and he didn’t have to be so rude and patronising about it. Then we were all over the place, with people dropping off the back, refugees from Group 2 coming back to us, some guy sitting right at the back the whole time (which is okay if you are struggling and need a short rest but I don’t think you should do that for the whole session because it can be dangerous) and then two people got into an argument about some bunch etiquette issue I missed the details of. Then at the start of the last lap I look around and its suddenly just me and 5 blokes. Uh-oh, testosterone alert. Then just as we finished it started raining quite heavily! Oh well, I tried to look on the bright side, at least it held off till we finished and I got to do my ride, much better than Thursday. I came home and went for a 30 minute run. For the first 10 mins my legs felt a bit heavy but then I felt much better and enjoyed my run. Then back on the bike, into work, got my hard-earned coffee and banana bread and the world looked much better. :)

Last big session

I was very pleased with myself today. It seems that the day off yesterday did wonders for me and I felt really good on my run. Woo hoo! :)

I started out with a 4k continuous wetsuit swim at the Dawn Fraser Baths. I have not done much wetsuit swimming and I wanted to see how my arms and back felt after that distance. I seem to get a sore back in the wetsuit, I guess because my legs are higher in the water so it is an unfamiliar body position. Just something I have to get used to. By the end my arms were tiring and my back was a bit sore, but it was fine. I took it at a very leisurely pace and finished in 1.12. I am not too sure how that will translate to race day, but I am happy with where I am.

Then I was off for a 3 hour run. I had been debating where to run, should I do 4 laps of the Bay, or go into the City and across the Harbour Bridge and back, or attempt to explore the Harbour Circle Walk even though I was not sure of the way or... decisions! Even when I started running I had not decided, but then after a few minutes I had a great idea - I could do a mini simulation of the IM run course, ie 2 laps with the first half of each lap flat and the second half hilly. I was excited by this idea, so I did 2 x a lap of the Bay plus the canal, then to the bottom of the far side of the Anzac Bridge and back. Each lap is about 16k I think and I finished in 3.05. I felt GREAT. My 5k CR split on the second lap was 26.45. I thought I was going to really struggle on the second hilly section but I just kept feeling good. So it was an excellent way to end my build and start my taper. I still have plenty of training to do for the next 3 weeks, but I won't run that long again.

Came home, ATE, and had an ice bath which felt really good. Then I spent some time reading the 6 Foot Track posts on CoolRunning. I am so impressed with all who did it and I can't wait to read more stories. I saw someone out - walking! - this morning wearing a shiny new 6ft t-shirt and I couldn't help but call out "well done!" Now that is a race I would love to do. I am not sure when though ... one day I guess.

Working 9 to 5

Yesterday I had the day off the work. So instead of going to work I did 7 and 1/2 hours of exercise. When you put it like that it seems kinda bonkers. I had organised to have the day off because I was going to go up to Port Macquarie for a training camp. When I decided not to go away, basically because I did not want to drive that far or spend the money, I thought I could have the day off anyway, do a big day training, then have a rest day on Saturday, and train again on Sunday.

I parked the car at Loftus Oval and rode 160k, which was two loops out to Sublime plus an extra 1 loop from Sublime to Helensburgh. I wanted to practice my nutrition and eating exactly to race plan and also practice riding alone and spending a lot of time down on my aero bars. And it was a great session for all these things. I averaged 27 which I was very happy with. I was not working hard at all, I ate and drank and did everything I was supposed to and there were hills and a good head wind, just like at Port. I felt fine when I finished. Then I did a 90 minute run into the National Park and along Lady Carrington Drive. This was the best brick run I have had, I felt really comfortable and steady. So all in all a really pleasing day.

Today (Saturday) was a great pleasure. A whole weekend day off. Slept in, made a yummy breakfast of pancakes with blueberries, strawberries and banana, read the papers, went to the beach, had a picnic, ahhhhh :). Everytime I felt guilty I just reminded myself that I did a good solid day yesterday. And long swim and run await me tomorrow.