A Bit of Prep

I’m a firm believer that ageing as an athlete should not hold you back. Especially for us that came to sport later in life, just because you have reached a certain age doesn’t mean that all your bests are behind you. Also, in Triathlon, since we compete in age groups – each new age group provides new opportunities for setting AG specific bests. 

For me the challenge of a faster Ironman is still firmly dragging me forever onward, and to this ends I have decided (as alluded to in my last post) to be more structured about my training. 

With a Joe Friel inspired structure, I am just coming to an end of my first phase: PREP. Running from the 1st January through to 4th February, it is a short 5 week phase to get me ready for the real training to get me ready for Ironman Vichy. With this in mind, during Prep of have moved my training to be both more structured and more Triathlon focused (PREP Plan Below). Although, I am still totally ignoring the swim element of the sport.

I have decided to take the TrainerRoad / Wattbike route for the Cycling element of both PREP and BASE phases. The aim: to provide me with structure and focus for the job at hand – rather than just riding round country trails with a few mates. 

I will probably talk more on my thoughts on TrainerRoad / Wattbike in a future post. So watch this space. 

You will also notice from this plan that I have both Saturdays and Sundays as rest days, this is due to the fact that I work away from home - so weekends are family time. Also, this early in the session the planned volume is low enough that I can fit the training into 5 days.

MY PREP PLAN

Next phase: BASE training, so watch this space. 

Will 

2018 - A New Start

The start of another year means the start of another campaign… 

But, now in my fifties, I need to consider my long term goals. Is that ever elusive sub 12:30 Ironman doable for me. Or, is it all just a pipe dream that remains forever out of reach? Do I need to revise my goals? Do I need new goals? Questions, questions.

This year I have, once again, entered the ‘hot box’ which is Ironman Vichy (France). I have raced Vichy twice and both times the temperatures have reached the high 30s. (About 100f for those of you who are still old school). Also, the last time the swim was an over distance, non-wetsuit swim. But all considered I like the place, the people, and the race. Plus, I will treat the race as my summer vacation.  

Across the early winter months I have been feverishly scribbling, and now, I have a plan, which consists of:

• 5 weeks prep 
• 12 weeks base 
• 8 weeks build 
• 8 weeks peek

With the odd ‘off’ week built into the schedule to account for family time and a few breaks to allow for recovery.

So, at the moment, I have the plan, I have the enthusiasm: so I am saying to myself: “Ignore the age and onward and upwards … the goal will be sub 12:30.”

Will