A Question of Strength

Many endurance athletes are against weight training as a part of the overall training plan, often quoting "Weights build muscle, therefore adds weight therefore slows you down" I AM NOT OF THIS SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

So this week saw me get back into the gym looking to improve my strength, power and body composition.

Strength is defined as the ability to coordinate and contract muscle fibres to overcome a resistance.

Power is defined as the ability to perform a movement with strength at speed. Power is the combination of speed and strength but needs to be trained regularly to get the best coordination between these two attributes.

Power is also useful in the stride phase (contact, push off) as well as when the athlete has to run up hill and downhill. Increased power results in better efficiency in running, cycling etc which can help overall race time.

Body Composition is the ratio of lean body mass to fat … i.e. I am looking to reduce my body fat levels

The form of weight training I have introduced is circuit training with an aim of strengthening my core and the muscle groups utilised (directly and indirectly) by my sport. The sorts of exercises perform are:

• Squat / lunge /step-up type exercises.
• Push up, bench press type exercises.
• Seated row, bent over row, chin type exercises.
• Mid section specific exercises

These exercises work many muscles/joints and lead to the best overall strength gains.

After warming up for 5mins on the x-trainer I move from one exercise to the next without pause, but switch muscle groups etc from one exercise to the next to ensure I get maximum workout density (the most from my time) this I do for 25-30mins aiming for a total body workout and finish off with 5mins or so of stretching


And as expected this first session left me a bit sore …. But that is to be expected and I’ll be back in the gym next week

IRONMAN GERMANY ... 296 DAYS AND COUNTING

Training Week 6

As my season is now over, I am going to have a couple of weeks transition, Easy(ish) training, as I prep to move into my larger volume winter training period, this gives me a chance to have a few pints with mates and not worry about a long weekend training session the next morning.


So this week looked like: -

SUN	AM	02:00	RUN	Great North Run (see race report) Plus 7 mins of stretching at end
MON	__	__	__	REST
TUE	PM	01:00	RUN	Steady mixed terrain run with the running club
WED	PM	00:55	RUN	Easy off raod run
THU	PM	02:00	SWIM	Warm up =========== 4 x 200m in 3:30 : RI 1:00 8 x 25m on the 0:45 Main =========== 4x( 3 x 50m on the 0:50 1 x 50m drill on the 1:20 1 x 200m steady ) 8 x 50m (of 25m back/s, 25 catch up) 1 x 300m fc on the 5:20 2 x 200m kick drill 4 x 100m fc on the 1:50 1 x 25m fly 2 x 25m back/s 2 x 25m fc 2 x 25m brest 1 x 25m flt Warm down ============= 1x 200m
FRI	__	__	__	REST
SAT	__	__	__	REST

So, Just short of 6 hrs

IRONMAN GERMANY ... 301 DAYS AND COUNTING

Great North Run

A jog to the coast (with 50,000 others) to mark the end of the season.

What can I say about this race; apart from it’s big, probably too big.

My aim for this race was to take it easy and not bother aiming for a quick time, which lead to me enjoying the run much more than I probably would have if I’d been really going for it.

I stood on the start line next to the 1:45 target marker (for 2 hours) until the start of the race and then as the gun went off slowly made my way to the start line, on passing this I had to dodge straight into the port-a-loos as I had stood for so long that to needed to pay a visit.

Then I was off for real, through the underpasses to shouts of “oggy oggy oggy” and toward the Tyne bridge. By now there were already people walking, MY FIRST GRIPE … why do idiots that cant go a mile without having to stop to walk start near the front, as I say blood idiots.

The heat was taking its toll and I was glad to see the water stop at 4 miles, even though I was carrying an energy drink, the cool water was refreshing and great to pour the remainder over my head to help me cool, I preceded to do this at every water-stop to help keep me comfortable and ensure not to suffer with the heat.

This brings me to MY NEXT 2 GRIPES, I understand that later in a race people may need to stop for a walk rest, but: why do it in the middle of the road … move over to the side and do it so not to get in the way of other runners … and finally why do people walk 4-abreasthaving a chat, aging blocking the progress of other runners.

Along the route a ran into quite a few friends and made many more, that’s the beauty of these large participation events and why I do them along with all the serious races I take part in.

At between 11 and 12 miles you climb a hill, from which you can see the sea and the crowds as you drop down onto the sea front for the last mile and a bit are great – to motivate you to the finish

Finished in 1:53 (about 6mins slower than my PB) feeling quite happy with myself and even happier when I got to the beer tent and there not being a queue

;o)

IRONMAN GERMANY ... 307 DAYS AND COUNTING

Training Week 5

Well another week bites the dust and sees the end of my race season, with a little bit of training and a couple of days off to rest for the GNR. I have a bit of a problem with a bruised heel pad but hopefully it will be OK.

So week 5 looked like: -

SUN	__	__	__	REST
MON	PM	03:00	BIKE	A hard paced trail ride on my MTB probaly about 42miles
TUE	PM	01:15	RUN	Club run, an offroad hilly 8.5miles in the wind - felt good, this is my longest run for a while - feel I should get round the GNR without much problem
WED	AM	01:00	SWIM	Structured swimm session including 3x500m build (10:30, 10:00, 9:35) followed by 5x100m drils (25m each of catch up, Left arm, right arm and kick) finishing with 500m warm down (starting hard then slowing)
WED	PM	01:50	BRICK	A 15mile ride in strong winds on my road bike, folowed by a 5mile mixed paced run and 5-10mins stretchin - ride cut short as it was getting dark
THU	__	__	__	REST
FRI	__	__	__	REST
SAT	__	__	__	REST

So a gentle week of just over 7hrs

IRONMAN GERMANY ... 308 DAYS AND COUNTING

Training Week 4

After 2 Triathlons in 2 weeks and the Great North Run approaching quickly (next Sunday in fact) I thought I’d give my legs a chance to recover and have a swim focused week, and then as I was to be at a friends wedding on Saturday a weekend of R&R called.

So the week looked like: -

SUN	AM	01:47	TRI	Loads of fun and games at Teesdale Triathlon, See Race Report
MON	__	__	__	REST
TUE	PM	01:00	RUN	6.5Mile @ 75% MHR in 52 mins (felt really good), followed by a stretching session as my legs were still very tight from Sundays race
WED	PM	01:05	SWIM	A continuous 3k at almost long distance race effort followed by more stretching, my 1k splits were 10:22, 10:17, 11:15 - felt a bit nauseous over the last 1k
THU	PM	01:00	SWIM	The pool was full so decided to work on technique did 2.5k slowly ensuring good style
FRI	AM	01:00	SWIM	Speed work this time 2.6k in total as 3x500m build, 10x50m hard 1x500m, race pace, 100m warmdown
SAT	__	__	__	REST

So just short of 6hrs this week but feel recoverd now and ready for the GNR

IRONMAN GERMANY ... 314 DAYS AND COUNTING

Teesdale Triathlon

… hot days, mad runs and my last triathlon of the year

Teesdale is on of my favourite races and I’ve done it every year since I took up triathlon, managing to improve slightly each year. So I was well up for this race and again looking for improvement. It’s a bit of an odd distance race with 500m / 28k / 7k (Swim / Bike / Run), with the swim being in a pool and both the bike and runs being those of a hilly, challenging nature.

Being a pool swim my start time was based on my swimming ability, and I was to be off at number 143, but I still went down to watch the early competitors (including my brother, who now has the triathlon bug) and to soak up the atmosphere on what is always a good race, and the sunny day made for a great day out.

Also seeing a mate, Keith, try to do a bike start with his shoes pre-attached to the bike, was entertaining to say the least with Keith becoming more closely acquainted to the tarmac ;o)

SWIM
My start time arrived. 11:23 and it was into the pool for an all out 20 lengths, I felt strong as I entered the water, I counted down the seconds 8.7. on with goggles 4.3.2.1 and off. I felt strong in the water but after 5 or 6 lengths thought I may be going a bit to hard, so slowed it up a bit, but still managed to exit the water in 9:03

T1
A much slicker affair this time, no wetsuit to deal with, so it was straight on with my helmet, and shoes, fast my number belt, grab a quick drink grab my bike and out of transition to the bike mount point in 1:12 … a much more acceptable time

BIKE
As I said Teesdale is a hilly bike ride but is very scenic, to, again I rode by a combination of HR and Cadence aiming to keep my HR up to about 160bpm and my Cadence at 90-95rpm, this time I had the added advantage of a working speedometer too so all was going well and I remembered to sip on my sports drink al the way round as by now it was very hot on the section that takes you down from the hills back to transition, I hit a head wind, and where I had been looking to average over 40mph for this section as was stuck to the low-to-mid 30s, but it would have been the same for every one. I was back to transition in 59:16

T2
This is normally the easiest of the 2 transitions but I made a fundamental mistake, in going down the wrong row to rack my bike and had to retrace my steps but still I was in, bike racked, helmet off shoes changed, grabbed my water bottle and out on to the run in 00:50.. I now felt i was on for a good time (for me anyway)

RUN
Teesdale is always a hard hilly race, but this year was just mad, an off road affair on trails and across farm fields, with the fits section taking me down a path that hardly had the head clearance and very rough under foot, resulting in me going over on my ankle, I managed to run this off but it had slowed me down and I need to be much more careful of where I put my feet. Next the run entered a series of very hilly farms fields and proceeded to take a rout that involved running up and down the steepest of the a number of times each. This continued for a number of fields then it was time to head to the finish … or so I thought, just as I approached the finish, the run emerged onto a rugby field, where I was instructed to run its length half a dozen time before finally making my way to the finish with a run time of 36:58 … as I said “A mad run route”


The race took me a total 1:47:21, exactly 10mins faster than last time and beating my brother and another couple of mates I was well pleased

IRONMAN GERMANY ... 322 DAYS AND COUNTING

Training Week 3

This week sits between 2 Triathlons, Hartlepool last week and Teesdale this week, so is scheduled to be an easy week to allow me to recover from Hartlepool and prepare for Teesdale, where I’m looking to better my time from last year.

So this week looked like: -

SUN	AM	01:25	TRI	An problomatic but enjoyable race on a windy day, see race report below
MON	AM	01:25	BIKE	An easy MTB ride in strong winds to loosen up my legs from yesterdays race
MON	PM	00:45	RUN	Easy run in the local woods … felt good
TUE	PM	01:05	RUN	Steady run with running club keeping my heart rate around 75% MHR
WED	PM	01:15	SWIM	Swim session mad up of: - 3x500m on 10:00, 10x50m in 52 secs : RI 20secs, 1x500m race pace, 5x100m in 1:52 : RI 25secs, 300m warm down (3.3k)
THU	__	__	__	REST
FRI	__	__	__	REST
SAT	__	__	__	REST

IRONMAN GERMANY ... 323 DAYS AND COUNTING