Update March 2014

Coming to the end of my first block of training for this years Ironman I thought it was about time for a bit of an update before people start to think I've fallen off the face of the Earth!

Well its taken me a bit of time to get going but (I think) I seem to have settled into a bit of a groove with training now. Time really has flown by the last four weeks which is a stark reminder of how fast July will come around and how important every week of training really is. I set out my goals for the year pretty clearly in my last post and I've summed up my progress in swim bike run below (each block of 4 weeks with the forth week as recovery).

Swim

From the start I made the decision that swimming would take a back seat up until around the beginning of April (after Paris Marathon) so that I could prioritise bike and run where my biggest gains lie. I've just been ticking over with 2 x 3k swims each week steady endurance sets. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get my swim to where it needs to be in around 12 weeks so although I'll probably try to step things up a little from the next block it still won't be a priority. My local lido (50m heated outdoor pool) reopens in about a week which will help a great deal.

Bike

I'm pretty pleased with how things are going on the bike I did a CP30 test at the beginning of January where I averaged a miserable 275 watts. This gave me a FTP starting point of just over 260 watts. I haven't repeated the test yet but averaged 290 for 60 minutes at a recent race (Ballbuster duathlon) so I think it's a fair assumption that FTP is now ~300 watts I plan on doing another CP30 for comparison during the next block. These numbers put me on schedule for my targets for July. I'm well aware that further gains won't come quite so easily from now on though. It'll be interesting to see where I am. I read an interesting blog by Jim Vance recently where he suggests that top AG'ers should be aiming for a (bike only) peak chronic training load (CTL) of 30-40% of FTP if my goal FTP is 340 then this makes my CTL peak target >100. This will be a good metric to follow to ensure my training stays bike focused. 

I do have a slight concern that my back is still uncomfortable during longer rides and I'm really not sure how I'm going to adapt to getting back on the TT bike at the end of April. Perhaps a bit of professional advice will be needed before then to try and keep this in check.

Run 

Running seems to be going reasonably well. Easy aerobic efforts on the flat are at ~4:30/k. I'm not doing any marathon specific training (race pace stuff) for the Paris marathon other than long easy aerobic runs. I'm undecided as how to approach Paris but the most sensible thing to do would be a big negative split and not push it much below 3hrs, I should be able to recover reasonably quickly from an effort like this, it's just a matter of keeping my ego in check! My HR data from the Ballbuster Duathlon also looks encouraging both runs averaging below lactate threshold. Feeling comfortable on the first run and strong on the second (also quickest 2nd run I think).

Family/work/Training

My biggest motivator this year is that its a bit of a 'last chance saloon' for me. I've promised Katie that this will be my last year (at least until girls are older) doing Ironman. I've no intention of hanging up my wetsuit/bike/trainers completely but Ironman training just isn't fair on my family. I believe that most competitive tri/athletes have to be selfish to a degree and I certainly hold my hands up to that and I'm far from the most competitive. Up until now I've kind of got away with it having a limited social life and a very understanding wife. Now though things are so unbalanced that I'm not getting the enjoyment out of either of these areas of my life. Spending far too much of my training time feeling guilty that; I've left Katie with the kids on her own again or trying to justify to Annie why we can't do the things she wants to at the weekend because I have to do a long ride. When I do spend the time with the family there's a nagging doubt in my head that I should be out training. With all this in mind will I make it to July? I can't say for sure but I'll certainly give it my best shot. Being content with the knowledge that 2014 will be the last Ironman for a while seems to be helping me get out the door. Kona or no Kona I still win the time back with my family having given it my best shot.... For now ;-)