The Challenge

Last year I didn't have the background to complete the challenge,  despite putting up a pain cave when we went away for our fortnight over the Christmas I just wasn't strong enough to do it.   I also felt that I was being a little selfish;  as all year stuart supports me and this is our only proper vacation.   So I've made the decision to not attempt it this year when we go away;  it means a lot of extra stuff to pack;  lol 4 bikes;  turbo;  all my gear plus the awning;  so we'll be travelling a lot lighter this year!

So that decision made I decided to start the challenge on 4th November this year;  I wanted to see whether I was able to do it this year.

I always have to juggle workouts;  my long ride is usually through the week and wildcard / rest days are better for me on a weekend.  

The first week I had to juggle abit and bought a couple of workout from later in the programme;  as I needed shorter ones.   I also for one reason or another didn't manage the first two 3 hours rides and had to go with 2 hours lol meaning in the final week I did these on the Friday and Saturday;  slightly shorter but got them done.

With about two weeks to go; I really thought this was not going to be possible; Stuart came down with shingles;  Iain was poorly and I had an infected cyst that antibiotics sorted and fortunately I didn't react to them; lol the ibuprofen was a different matter!  Fortunately with some more juggling around of workouts I got through it and partly because Iain is loving school so much he only had 1 day at home rather than the 3 days I feel he should have had!   Honest this was all Iain I wanted him to stay at home!

As I progressed through the challenge I could literally feel the fitness flooding through,  I was stronger and able to push speeds I hadn't previously.  

Yes;  I had some tired days but was able to push through them and the next workout I would feel great.   I had a definite bonk on Sunday past doing 43.0 but the previous 2 days I had done 2 high z3 rides of 2 hours+ and think I just hadn't replenished fuel properly over these days.
This week has been tough but I felt strong;  I was tired on Monday's Kona ride and Tuesday I did a double continuous ride to make up for a missed workout;  the wildcard day yesterday made all the difference to today's ride.   Stuart altered my saddle to the nose pointing down very slightly;  oh boy what a difference;  I was maintaining aero on all big gear work with no problems lol its so so much easier when your comfortable.  

My bike needs a service;  had a lot of dropped chain issues today but Stuart going on a strip and build course on Saturday so my bike will have the tender loving care it needs tee hee :)

So what to take away from this; 

don't be frightened to shift workouts around if necessary (not everyone may agree) but this was primary to me succeeding;  I only missed 2 workouts.   

I was able to do them all within the specified zones but sometimes I would do them low-mid that zone;  other times top of zone;  Monday and Tuesday this week was a prime example; I did them in the correct zone but kept it at the bottom of the zone!

Nutrition is so important; today I really zoned in on this and it's made all the difference; I felt great and at the moment lol; I don't feel I've done a really long ride!  I'm usually wrecked after!

So now what;  I'm currently thinking and edging towards the thought of predominantly base building on the bike with maybe a threshold or interval session once a week over the next couple of months.   December I'm thinking will be a run focused month to try and get my running back up to where it should be and January I'm thinking of focusing on my swimming.

Sorry this has been long winded and thanks for reading :-)

Good luck to you all doing the challenge, I'm enjoying reading all your posts and looking forward to cheering you all on :-)

Thank you for all your support :-)

My goals for the next few months!

The last few days I've been thinking about my goals for the coming year;  this is a good time to set them when I'm just returning to base training phase and not a massive training load!  

Now these intermediate goals are for one purpose to allow me to get to the Outlaw in my best shape possible.   This is not just about being in the greatest race shape ever;  I have such confidence in Spinervals that I know I will be;  no matter what is thrown at me over the coming year;  its also about being lean but strong and mentally prepared for the coming season!

I'm going to divide my goals up into chunks;

Weight Goals

Long Term

I'm currently sitting at nearly 146lbs which is just way to high; I'm aiming to lose around 20 lbs by the end of March;  in preparation for my first race on the 6th April!  

Starting from next week (I've already started to look at it this week in preparation) I have 27 weeks,  that's 3/4 lb a week!

Short Term

So to achieve this I need a plan:

Step 1 : my food cupboards have next to no junk in them now; its to easy to succumb.

Step 2 : I'm going to plan out our meals for the work day week on a Saturday to allow me to get any ingredients in!   This is something I've never successfully done!

Step 3 : All food during the week is going to be freshly cooked and thats going to include dressing too.

Step 4 : Weekends will be kept in check but I think a wee treat isn't going to hurt;  will need to monitor this; but to keep Stuart, in particular, on board I think this is necessary.

Step 5 : Now I think this is probably the most important; I'm going to try and lose 4 lbs a month;  these are going to be small goals on the way to the bigger one.

Training Goals

Strength - I'm planning on introducing a regular core workout most days;  and weight training 3x a week at the gym.   Last year throughout the winter I only did this at the most once a week!   This needs to change!

Swim - 3x a week;  fortunately I'm going to be liaising with a coach on this one;  which is brilliant :-) Again last year; I really didn't do enough but family had to drive it;  so my focus was the bike last year.

Bike - I topped just over 500 miles in one month last winter;  I did follow coach's programme to the best of my ability but with no real background I had to adapt it a lot but it worked great for me.   It's super6 for me where it fits and the challenge but modified;  I'm just not risking back to back hard sessions; I seem to be prone to niggles these days;  I think a modified version over 6 weeks is better for me.  Just doing this will see my monthly mileage way higher!

Run - now this is where I can make some serious dent into last year's Outlaw; again I'm being coached by the same person as the swimming;  so I don't need to think so much on this one!  

The start of my journey to the Outlaw 2014

My journey to the Outlaw next year, 27th July 2014 starts on Monday;  nearly 11 months out;  I'm so excited and raring to get going!

I've not been great since this year's Outlaw;  a combination of circumstances

Getting my wee muchen ready for starting school and a last minute decision to change his school,  a decision just a week in, I know without doubt was right, but it caused me a bit of stress while making it.

A couple of niggles,  I wouldn't go as far as to say injuries but this last problem has been very painful,  it seems to be clearing nicely now and I should be able to start the Super6 on Monday;  but I suspect I might have to trade the running for some alternative cardio at least for a few days.  Basically I will do this as long as necessary until my foot is okay.

I have been clearly suffering with a bit of demotivation latterly,  but once I entered the Outlaw I've been rejuvenated and I'm  itching to get back at it :-)

So a general run through of my plan over the next year;  I'm planning out my whole year now,  partly as I'm going into the free version of TP next month so won't be able to move things around as I do presently;  therefore I'm working an outline now,  plus I want to just get on with the training and not have to plan it.  

My running and swimming is going to be guided by the person who helped me with my swimming last year and the exciting thing is I don't have restrictions for how much pool time I can do now that Iain's at school compared to my very restricted swim programme last year!   

It has all worked out nicely for the biking element in 6 week blocks; in between each block I have a recovery week basically they fall superbly in school holidays! 

1st block - Super6

2nd block - December's Challenge but stretched over 6 weeks with some ABBs and long rides added in.  Basically I'm doing 2x interval sessions and 1x long ride a week; plus some ABBs and Technique each week;  I just don't feel confident enough to tackle back to back hard sessions.

This takes me to Christmas and a 2 week aerobic / recovery break, guess it's active recovery.

The new year will see me repeat the 2 Super6 6 weeks blocks allowing me to do the icing on the cake block which I feel will help my pace before going into the event specific training.

This will lead nicely into the 16 Week IM plan.

I'll be including regular strength work and a clean diet throughout to help me get to race weight this time :-)

This is going to be so much fun :-)

Thank you for those that stuck with this rather long blog :)

Outlaw Gallery

The official photos have arrived, I'm so chuffed with them and a race video is being composed.

1st picture - lol trying to get the wetsuit off

2nd - a couple of minutes from transition

3rd - approximately 15 miles

4th - approximately 78 miles

5th - a couple of miles from the finish

6th - woohoo the finish line

7th - awards ceremony thou Stuart took this one

Outlaw Results

http://www.onestepbeyond.org.uk/the-outlaw-triathlon-live-results.php

The Journey's Complete

After 9 months of preparing for the Journey to the Outlaw its finally arrived;  my alarm was set for 4.15am; and for the first time I was up immediately I've never felt more excited about any event before.   I have used a new strategy this last week, I kind of think the nervous feeling is the same as excitement; so using some mental strategy I used this thought pattern;  and  everytime I thought about the journey I was going to undertake on Sunday 7th July, it was one of excitement.  I really feel this kept my nerves under control come race morning;  I had nerves but they were useful nerves rather than wasteful energy ones;  hope that makes sense.  Breakfast was a banana,  roll with jam, gel packet and 500ml of high5, for once I consumed them with no problems;  lol nerve control.

We were camping just a short walk from the venue;  and with only race nutrition and a couple of bits to put in my race bags there was virtually nothing to do, which meant no hassle;  wetsuit on, caffeine gel and some h5 to wash it down.

Arriving at the venue to a beautiful sunset; it was already warm and as we later found out we had temperatures in the 90s!  Wow amazing for the UK!

I got in the water;  decided to go in pen 2; for the first time I did a few minutes swimming warm up,  then back to the pen for the start;  urgh found myself at the front wanted to be at the back;  which I said to another competitor and he just replied don't worry they'll swim around or lol over the top I thought!   Had a bit of cheering, lol the organisers doing competitions between the pens who could be the noisiest;  all good fun!

Then we were off;  it was rough for the first 500m then we kind of settled thou still abit of barging at times and at the turn buoys.   But I managed to stay relaxed, got into my rhythm and didn't let the odd kick, thump bother me;  for the first time in open water I felt relaxed and this resulted in a very strong swim for me. I didn't have any disorientation out of the water either.

Into T1 lol not very quick; lol I kind of differed about too much!  I had a caffeine+ gel and 4oz of water which I had in my swim-bike bag then headed out to the bikes,  a quick detour to the loo then to my bike; out of transition and away for a lap of the lake before out onto the roads for two loops; southern loop first,  northern loop then back to the southern loop before heading back to transition.   Due to the weather I decided to use my heart rate and perceived effort as my guide but really wanted to make sure I didn't overcook the bike.  Heading out towards the first loop I really resisted the temptation to blast it;  as others blasted past me; it was amazing how many I caught later!   I had an aero bottle and a 750ml bottle on my frame; I had strengthened the formula from 3 scoops to 4; as I was worried about the heat.  My watch alarm was set for every 15 mins to drink and on the half hour for a gel and hourly for the gel +.  Heading round the first of two southern loops; I felt great but I was still resisting the urge to open it out;  my HR was generally nicely zone 2 creeping into zone 3 on any climbs; I have the ride data to load later to have a proper look.  Along the road to the northern loop (I think its around 10 miles) I tried to refill my aero bottle on the go;  lol the cap came of my aero one;  so stopped and finished refilling it;  the next feed station I took a bottle of water, lol my hands were getting all sticky from the gels;  used some of it to rinse the stickiness off, and to drink;  rather than H5 all the time; I then headed onto the The northern loop where the one main hill was, it really wasn't that bad but I didn't hammer it; just went into small ring and spun up without any problems;  I'm still very much a novice in respect of hills and gear choice,  plenty of work to be done in this area.  It was back along the road to the southern loop;  and I stopped at the beginning to grab a bottle of H5 and water, and refill my aero before heading off round the loop.  I still felt good though I was finding my quads and my top of my calf's were threatening to cramp; because of this I increased my nutrition and drank every few minutes both H5 and water.  This seemed to sort the issues I was having out.  I stopped at both the 2 remaining feed stations for refills.  Even at 100 miles I felt great;  but the last 12 miles I really cruised in and just maintained my average pace.  I consumed 4x750ml of H5 and 3 bottles of water;  4 gel + and 5 gels, way more than I have in training but conditions were exceptional.   I managed the ride without the need for a pit stop!

T2 was much smoother and I was out onto the run; lol then I knew it was hot!  Us Brits aren't used to temperatures in the 90s lol even for non-strenuous activities;  I knew I had to think smart lol without blowing my own trumpet,  so I quickly decided to adopt a strategy of running between feed stations and walking through the station to ensure I got the nutrition on board and also chucked water over my head at every opportunity to cool me; I had also bought a hat the day before to try and protect me from the heat, I had one pit stop at 1.3 miles and didn't need anymore.   As I walked through the stations I grab H5, water to drink and to throw over my head,  I went mainly for fluids throughout but did have an iso gel, some H5 Gels and caffeine gels;  I put off starting on coke until the 20 mile point.   As the race progressed my HR went into figures I've never seen, ignoring the first 2-3 miles I think my monitor was being silly but later it hit 200; I'm sure this was heat induced as each time I cooled myself it went down quite a bit.   The data will be interesting when I download it.   After each feed station I clicked back into 9-10 min miles pace very comfortably each time.   It was only the last 5 miles that I was wrary of cramping, but it never got beyond a warning.   I maintained the same pace all the way through with about a 30s mile difference but that was due to the different terrain and a from time to time I lost the gps signal or it went a bit haywire.I really have no idea how much I took in on the run but I stuck to gels and the liquid form rather than jaffas or crisps.

It was an awesome feeling running down the red carpet with both Stuart and Iain and hear Simon the commentator say 'Karen Haldane you are an Outlaw' and that I won the Dublin Marathon in 1992; lol I was then interviewed by channel 4 to be shown in August.

I had no idea I was closing down on 1st place,  had I known who knows but I'm very very happy with my 2nd place and 16th overall and more importantly I've learnt so much to take on board for my next Irondistance / Ironman race!!

Thank you to my fantastic family and friends for all their support throughout this endeavour :)

The other major shout out needed is to all my friends on the Spinervals Members Page;  the way you tracked me from afar has really bought a lump to my throat; and just to mention a couple, but you all are close to my heart, thank you Chrissy Bianco Brooks for starting the thread and Kelly Mendoza for acting as commentator,  and to you all for the lovely comments.  I really consider myself very lucky to have the support, advice and encouragement of you all, it means so much :)

Finally,  one more shout out to Spinervals for all the dvds and Coach Troy for is invaluable training programmes that enabled me to become an OUTLAW :)

This is me starting the run; lol Stuart nearly missed me!  And my recovery meal today!

Heading into my final week!

I can't believe that my final week of training is finally on me!  I'm soooo excited :) 

We've arrived at Dayton Manor Theme Park yesterday, and are now just an hour away from the race venue, I think the fact that I can just relax now,  spend time with the family and have fun helps, I feel incredibly calm about the whole challenge ahead of me lol that may change nearer the time :)

Thoughts on the Training

I'm really happy with how's the training gone;  swimming has been difficult but swimming the distance and feeling comfortable with it has dispelled the fears of the distance but that said,  I will be happy when I'm out of the water.   I'm looking forward to the bike,  lol hope weather forecast is right, it's forecast for 60-70 partly cloudy and no wind!  Again,  the run has a few concerns but doing 17 miles and feeling very strong at the end has helped but this is such unknown I have no idea how I will feel as the run progresses. 

My race plan is a case of using a mixture of perceived and heart rate measures especially on the bike;  even if it results in my bike split being slower than I hope for :)

My nutrition plan is all set, I'm planning on setting my watch for every 15 mins to remind me;  especially on the bike and there are so many feed stations on the run that frequency is not a problem.

Now it's final week taper time; and really time to chill and enjoy;  lol Stuart was right heading away this early is perfect :)

Final Couple of Big Sessions

Last week I started my taper on the bike discipline but I still had unfinished business with the swim and run disciplines but at the beginning of the week I did Spinervals 13.0 again on tired legs after a big brick the day before but once I got into it I felt great and recorded my best ever ride of this dvd despite increasing the trainer tension a little bit;  I know my bike is ready especially after covering the distance the previous week and feeling great when I did an hour run after.  Then following that up with a massive pb on our 10 mile TT last Thursday of 27mins, average speed 22.2 mphs.

I still had reservations about both the swim and run disciplines.   So last Friday I went and swam the distance at our pool starting at 7am; I had a gel and around 4oz of water before,  after the previous nights TT I knew I was going into this dehydrated; I really didn't know how it would go as I've had difficulty fitting swimming in, only 1 or sometimes 2x a week and only covering around 2k the majority of the time,  but I needed to try it;  I was hoping for 2 miles in the time I had but unbelievably I swam the whole distance in 75 mins (now this was my A goal had everything gone to plan in respect of training).  I'm so so happy and relieved.   I know the lake is nice,  it's man made so not too deep therefore should warm up nicely by the 7th, but more importantly its clear, sightings is easy as you swim 2x lengths and about 200m across, basically the buoys are your guide and with an awareness of the turn for the width :)

I've had to box clever with the run;  with a flair up of my old injury early May I could not risk the 3 hour runs so instead I stuck with 2 hours but kind of like intervals; not intense as I used my base pace as a float;generally around 6mph and then did the intervals on the Runervals but not as intense as specified by coach.   Last Sunday was my last long run and I was hoping to manage 2hrs 30 mins for it but it would depend on how I felt,  no point in risking anything at this stage.  

To say I'm happy is an understatement, I used Irongirl Runervals all 3 workouts and repeated workout A at the end.   I love this Runervals and for anyone new to interval work its a great starting point,  I started and went for a base pace of 6.2mph (the intervals were set at my base pace of 4mph which I've been using for my sessions;  think this may need revising!) the idea was to use this as a float between intervals as this was a long run but as I got into it I felt great and using my normal base pace I hit all the intervals at the pace I was meant to;  didn't need to adjust as in previous long runs.  Workout B was the same format but at a float base of 6.3mph, C at 6.4mph and repeated A at 6.5mph.   All intervals were done of my previous base of 4mph as per coach.   Something that was tough not so long ago on an individual workout. 
To sum up lol this long winded explanation (I hope it makes sense) I covered 17.3 miles in 2 hrs 35 mins.  I took 5 miles times and progressively got quicker on each one to finish with the last 5 miles in 42 mins.

More importantly I finished this full of running.  

I'm now into my taper and lol a 50 min run today felt great and very short.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement;  you are awesome :)
And thank you for taking the time to read my blog :)

The joys of pedalling the road to no where!

It was long ride day today; I had planned to do 6 hours but circumstances changed and had to stop at 5 hours.   It isn't an issue really as last week I did 5hrs 40 on my 5 hr ride day plus I'm actually going to get one extra long ride in due to the way my schedule works.  As from next week my long ride will be Monday or Tuesday; this will result in week 13; officially start of taper,  having my long ride at the beginning of the week;  I felt that doing my final long ride Tuesday 4th June was to long before the Outlaw;  hence the additional long ride on 11th June was better.  My taper will start on the 17th June instead.  

On to my ride;  I did the OTR Lake Placid followed by Quads on Fire (but this would be done in zone 3), to make it 5 hours I repeated the 2x8 mins and added 3x30secs to finish the 5 hours;  like we do on HC100.

I was up at 6.30 am, had a banana and a cereal bar, sorted my nutrition and started around 7am.  Initially I had a few issues with the tyre slipping;  I really must get a trainer tyre; to stop it I had to increase the tension,  not much but was pushing around an extra 10 watts for the same speed.  

I love the lake placid OTR but I do struggle with high cadence low resistance work and especially first thing in the morning; it resulted in a lower speed over the first hour then I would have liked.   Once I've done some heavier gear work I seem to be able to increase my cadence on the lower resistance work.  I loved the last hour;  felt great.  

I then went on to Quads on Fire and basically pushed top end zone 3 for the next couple of hours;  I repeated the 2x8 mins set and added an additional 3x30secs at the end; I felt brilliant throughout,  my HR didn't go out of zone 2 and I really don't feel like I've covered 87 miles.

I also did a short 20 min run straight of the bike and felt great.  

Lol I might not be saying that tomorrow :)

First Triathlon of the Season

Today was my first triathlon of the season;  and I'm not afraid to admit I was scared lol

Yesterday my quads were feeling tight and achy; this morning they still felt sore; nevertheless race day was here so time to quit moaning and get on with it :)

I had a bowl of cherios dry and then throughout the morning consumed about 250ml of H5 and the same in water;  took a gel+ when heat 3 started.Now I need to sort out a warm up routine;  I didn't do any; I'm never really sure what to do!

Swim - 1500m - 29.20

I'm really happy with this;  wasn't really sure how this would go;  apart from the Inverness jaunt;  I'm only swimming once a week and due to Iain not being well this week, the swim didn't happen;  so no swim in 10 days.   I decided not to tumble;  I wanted it more realistic for the OW swims, obviously the drive of the wall aids us.  It was in a way a messy swim; the guys had put slower times down which resulted in about a dozen stops, it'll be interesting to see the swim data later.   I felt really strong throughout,  so well chuffed.  

T1 lol well let's say it wasn't good;  its a very short transition run!

Bike - 42km - 1 hr 44

Mmmmm now I knew this was going to be difficult for me;  its a very technical course and my lack of skills resulted in a time probably a good bit slower than it should have been. 

It was quite a hilly course;  they had to change it last minute due to roadworks,  thou it still has the big hill in and there was a lot of debris and loose gravel on the roads due to the heavy rain the day before.   I felt really strong up the hills but going down was a different matter;  lol I was slower then going up!  But there were parts of the course were I could push it and in times past I would have been on my brakes on these too; so that's an improvement;  however,  one good thing from today, is I now have the confidence to go out and tackle the hills round here and the decents are not as severe :)

My transitions need work, there weren't the smoothest lol

I set out for my run and felt great; I was wearing my garmin and I consciously had to back off;  I took a gel+ early on and had about 250ml of water at the turnaround;  I hadn't managed to take any more than a couple of sips of H5 on the bike due to my handling issues.  I was really thirsty so I actually backed right of to get the water into me;  I eased abit on the last mile more due to my periformus problems,  it hadn't been bad but could feel it in the last couple of miles,  I was holding 7.55s average and ended up with an average of 8.06.  Got a massage lined up for Tuesday that should sort it.

Even with the below par bike; a 3hr 7 is the fastest I've done an Olympic Distance. 

This is me heading out for my run :)

HC100 Week 9 of the Spinervals IM Plan

This is only the 3rd time I've done this and I do enjoy it;  lol in our Spinervals way!

Stats - 100 miles - Average Speed 18.2

My alarm was set for 6am as I wanted to get a good chunk in before Iain woke up;  he should have been at pre-school but has a cold so he's at home til Monday.   Fortunately he's not really ill with it;  so happily watched telly;  came and chatted with me and played play station for the last 3 hours of it;  he's such a fantastic wee boy :)

I've only just started making a conscious effort to do early morning sessions so really wasn't sure how this would go straight out of my bed.  I had half a powerbar and a gel plus; was on the bike at 6.15 and lightly spinned for 10 mins listening to coaches notes;  I haven't counted this in my workout tally.

The previous night I had put my gels;  powerbars, water and high5 drinks ready.   Started the first disc about 6.30; I felt surprisingly good; after the 2nd 10 mins effort however,  I decided to move everything downstairs;  as my training room is opposite muchens bedroom I was worried about disturbing him plus it meant everything's at hand including most of his toys.   It proved a good plan as Iain seemed really happy with me being downstairs.  It did mean a break in the workout thou but it was early on.
After that the first disc went by smoothly and I ended up with an average speed of 17mph.

The second disc went okay;  I find the fact that the intervals are reducing in duration helps me mentally;  I also never think further than the set I'm currently doing,  rather than how long is to go.  At the end of this disc I did decide to do a clothes change and it made me feel better but I did find after each break it took a couple of reps to get back into it.  

Now the final disc I approach differently; I know I've still got 2 hours left but I done so many 2 hours rides I just think well I've done this long before and do a take on how I feel and I actually felt very good;  so knew I was going to finish but wasn't sure whether I could hold onto that magic number of 18 mph;  its a tough last couple of hours but the longer recovery can bring your average speed down;  I focused on keeping my recovery speed up lol not easy I really wanted to just lightly spin especially after the minute reps.  I finished with a 100 miles in he 5 hrs 30 and an average speed of 18.2. 

I'm so excited I really thought it would be next year before I managed this.   It was the longest I've done on my TT bike and though I didn't spend a lot in my aero position due to the periformus issue which didn't trouble me when I was on the horns; I generally felt quite comfortable.

Nutrition used;  I think my liquid intake could have been better;  I never needed a comfort break and developed a bit of a headache in the last hour too.

2 x 500ml water
2 x 500ml H5 4:1
3 H5 Gels with caffeine
4 H5 Gels
1 x Powerbar
1 x Banana

I don't think the powerbar will work for me;  think gels are easier and quicker to get the calories in.

The Mileage Block

Okay this week is week one of a six week mileage block and I've been working on the training over this week to get it into a structure for the next 5 weeks.

So far this week is going well and all being good I should be sitting around 15-16 hours;  Monday started with a very light spin and a short run; to be honest I've not counted it, as it was more of an active recovery and a chance to check that my bike is A okay (which it seems to be) after the weekend fun lol not!  My long ride will be 4 hours and long run 2hrs 30 and as this is my first week it'll be zone 2; a rule my running coach used in week one was nothing with any intensity just get the miles in;  which I'm applying to the long stuff this week.

The next 5 weeks should be around 18-20 hours; with long rides of 5-6 hours and my long runs 2hrs 30-40; I will do one 3 hour run but feel doing a 3 hour run every week is too risky with the year I had last year through the periformus syndrome.   I'm also going to take some of my old marathon training and incorporate a long steady zone 3 of about 90 mins and one of them will be replaced with a long fartlek that I used to do; basically run zone 3 for an hour then go into a progression of descending by minute intervals from 6 mins hard 6 mins at z3 pace down to 30s then finish with 6 mins hard 6 mins z3 pace.  Lol my coach had a great sense of humour putting that last 12 mins in after the 30s ones!

My long stuff will be done generally at the beginning of the week to accommodate the races I have lined up;  the duathlon that was cancelled I think was a blessing;

Races in 6-Week Mileage Block

19th May - Selkirk Olympic Distance
2nd June - OW Sprint Triathlon
9th June - Peebles Sprint Triathlon

I also have some Thursday night TTs but I'm not doing them all; I've decided they have to fit my training programme rather than the other way around.   I'll have some open water swimming on a Thursday instead of the TT or like in week one my long ride is on Friday so I binned the 25 mile TT lol plus the weather forecast was appalling for this night!

My long rides need to be accommodated around my family so to that end they need to be slightly different to the schedule;  basically my husband has agreed to take Iain to school on these mornings; he's going in gear he can run in lol poor kid; I'm getting going early so that I can get a large chunk done before preschool finishes;  I'll run down pick him up and he's going to run the mile back with me;he can easily run a mile in 10 minutes;  I'll then finish the rest of the session but even on the 7 hour one I should only have a couple of hours left!  Basically I' ll have done about 20 mins run in the middle :) 

So excited :)

Now the Fun Starts

Yesterday was a big disappointment when I had to pull out of my first triathlon of the season due to bike mechanics:(  But thanks to my good friends Kelly and Eddie Mendoza between them and Stuart we got it sorted and having been out for a short technical spin on it;  wow what a difference with the handling, I've often found the front a bit shakey but assumed it was me and it seems to have gone!

My next and final stage of my training prior to my taper commences today; when I prepared for a marathon I always did a 9 week build up of 6 weeks high mileage,  2 weeks speed and race week.   That is where I'm at now and I'm going to follow the same format for this final 9 weeks;  still using the IM plan but adjusting it a little.

I'm currently planning it out in terms of what days I'm doing what; today started with a short spin and run with striders as it is a holiday so planned in family fun which is nice as over the next 6 weeks I'm going to have to put my selfish hat on!

Summary of my IM Plan Training to-date

My 16 Week plan following the Spinervals 16 Week IM Plan started w/c 18th March.

It hasn't been perfect but at the same time I have successfully completed the majority of it.

I am happy with where I am at the moment;  my bike is strong and my first time trial last Thursday reinforced it; I opened with a 29.09 for 10 miles despite riding into a strong headwind and being held up at the turnaround;  I was only 20s away from our leading lady lol its started some excitement for the coming season;  so I've been informed.  

My running is coming on from strength to strength and completed a 1hr 45 min treadmill run feeling very strong and still full of running.  

Swimming is also coming on but a wee bit slower than I would have liked;  but signs are good,  I'm quicker over short distance but still working mainly on technique;  was disappointed to miss the swimathon today but I really needed to look at the bigger picture.

I've relooked at my plan and have taken this week as a recovery one (week 8 of the IM plan) and next week will see me increase back to the levels I need to be at;  each day lol if this works I will post my training; this will allow me to monitor how I feel and hopefully if I can share this with my friends get they input too.

We have used the time the last day or two between myself and my hubby to check we have everything I need for the race.   I only need to get my two piece race suit:)