Training Plan starts

Last week I did an 8.2 mile run at an easy pace and a few swims to get back used tobeing in the pool,

Yesterday was my first day of my schedule which compromised of a 40 easy run and a long swim made up of drills and structure, the swim consisted of 200 pull / 200 swim / 200 pull / 200 swim / 500 swim as the main swim, This was meant to be 1000-1500m but I just couldnt stand the people plodding in the fast lane doing breast stroke! Get in the SLOW LANE!

My plan consists of certain days being 2 activities e.g running and swimming but not bricked together meaning I really should get up and do one early and the other in the evening but that didnt happen this morning. Im sure it wont take long to realise that if I dont start training the the mornings my evenings are going to be full and I will be exhasted. Tonight consists of a 30min easy run and a 60min easy bike (again should have done the run this morning!)

 I will update every week with training progress and milage, for an accurate update go to my runkeeper

http://runkeeper.com/user/RobRFC/profile

First decent cycle and Swim

Last night I completed a 62min cycle through town just trying to get abit of saddle time in as I am trying to estimate possible completion times of each discipline. I am thinking along the lines of the best swim in my life may only improve it by 5-10 minutes , the same with the Run but the bike could hold significant time saving as its across 56 miles I estimate as of not I would look for a 4 hour finish if I could maintain the pace I cycled last night. I cycled 16.5miles in 62mins which puts the overall time at 3hr24mins if I could maintain the pace but I think 4 hours is much more acheivable as I am likely to fatigue after an hour or 2.

So in my mind my current time goals in my mind are

Swim - 40-45 Mins - Cutoff Swim: 1 hour 10 minutes from start    (30-35mins ahead of time)
T1 - 10mins
Bike - 4 hours - Cutoff Bike: 5 hours 30 minutes from start
T2 - 10mins
Run: - 2 hours 20mins - Cutoff Run 8 hours 30 mins From start

Puts the overall finish time at around 7 hours 20mins which I obviously intend to improve as the training develops. Ideally I would like a 35min swim / 3-3.30 bike and a sub 2 hour run.

I also went for a swim last night after the cycle, I did 40 lengths with the pull boye in around 27mins and then 10 more lengths easy to warm down.

Detailed training can be found http://runkeeper.com/user/RobRFC/profile

First Swim

I took to the pool for the first time in around 2 years for a proper swim, I think this will be my strongest disipline as I swam competitively at county level as a child for many years up to around 15/16 years old.

I purchased a poolmate swimming watch to help with the training as it apparently tracks your laps/ time / efficiency etc. After the first use I was rather impressed, I did 40 laps of the pool, the watch recorded 37 laps but I think this os because a few times I got stuck behind a slower swimmer or glided a little too much from the wall and confused it! anyway the 40 laps totalled to 1km (40 x 25m = 1000m) which was over half of the 1900m I am to complete in the race, My time was 23mins which after 2 years out I am rather happy with as I think with 4/5 months training I can probably get that time down to 20mins and without the stopping every 25meters to turn around I like to think I could put in a strong 40-45 min swim which when looking at last years results puts me right on track with most people. As I only want to complete the race and am not drivin by time I think a strong swim will allow me to feel more comfortable on the cycle as this is the leg I am dreading the most.

Swimming again tonight.

Training Day

I have decided that it would be a good idea to enter a dedicated training day around 4 weeks before the 70.3.

The Humna race event - http://humanrace.co.uk/events/triathlon/triathlon-training-day covers the following aspects.

These are just some of the things you will cover:

Swim:  Open water swimming techniques including group starts, course sighting, turning, removing wetsuit etc. There will be special provision for nervous and first-time open-water swimmers.

Bike:  Bike set-up and body position, bike handling skills including drinking on the bike, turning and efficient pedalling - and what do you do if you have a puncture!

Run:  Efficient run technique, good warm up and post exercise stretching, pace judgement, correct shoes.

Transition: Kit layout, options to save time, applicable rules.
Numbers will be limited so early application is required.

With one super sprint triathlon behind me at the point it should be invaluable in showing me how to improve on mistakes I am going to make.

The right road

I have started some training now although not that much, this week I have been for one 5k run @ theshold pace completing it in 24mins 30secs which I am happy with. I have decided to change my training plan to the one below

http://beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=52

It consists of a 20 week plan which contains arund 7-8 hours a week which should be very acheivable while continuing to play rugby twice a week.


I have also entered a super sprint triathlon which will be my first experience of the sport.

http://www.thefixevents.com/content/the-all-nations-triathlon-2012/

Race Details : 400m-20k-5k Style : triathlon - flat Level : 2/5

That seems very do-able but for me its really about seeing how my body copes with transitions and changing clothes during a race to try and get a feel for the sport.

The Plan

After much researching about training and plans etc it was obvious that I needed a plan to follow to achieve this goal. At first I thought I could do without one but realistically without something to follow I would probably stray off and vastly undertrain.

After much browsing different plans I stumbled accross this plan http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon-training/Half-Ironman-Training.php

It looked pretty acheivable even if I changed it slightly to fit into my life. I play rugby Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons, I did plan to give it up for the season as to risk of injury but I think the benefits of physical fitness and social benefits far outweight the injury risk.

The Gear

So with the race paid for and accomodation and sorted it was time to look at my current equipment and see what I need to purchase if anything.
 
The main things I need are

• Running Shoes - got
• Bike - got
• Wetsuit - need to buy
• GPS Watch - got

I purchased a new saddle and some gels and hydration tablet mixtures as after alot of research I was sure I would need them and need to try different brands to ensure they are right for me.

Realization

So after a week of not sleeping well and constantly thinking about the race I decided to book some accomodation etc for the event.

I researched for hours and hours comparing hotels and locations compared to the race start which was Exmoor National Park in Devon. I picked the accomodation and booked it up. I went for the Dunkery Beacon Hotel B+B. http://www.dunkerybeaconhotel.co.uk/ , With fantastic trip advisor reviews and the mention of the ironman on their blog I thought they seemed the best choice for me. Deposit paid and then it sunk in, thats the race and accomodation booked... no going back now.

Taking the plunge

Me and Kay went away for new year to a lovely retreat in the hills of Devon.

I decided to go for a run to get rid of some of that xmas luggage and ran up and down some steep hills for around 30-40mins. When I got home I thought "that was easy" and I was`nt even feeling fit and fresh being just after xmas and that got me thinking.
          After abit of browsing the ironman website on my mobile I saw the registration page for the 70.3 and didnt even think twice, card details in and pressed the "enter button". The confirmation email prompty came through, what had I done? I had just spent £220 on a race that I didnt really know anything about other than the distances of which I thought I could acheive.

So what had I signed up for? 1.2mile swim / 56mile Bike ride / 13.1 Miles run. O dear God

Think its best to get some research done.