It's All Chicken Oriental.....

Ironman Louisville was about a month ago now and after four weeks of general loafing it's time to get back into something a bit more structured in terms of training. As I had posted before, the Fall is going to be the time to concentrate on swimming and really try to make some headway before the start of next season. Some people may be entering the off-season now, some may be racing cross but for me it's back into the base training.

The past three years I have raced deep into November - 2006 was IM Florida, and then 2007 and 2008 was the 70.3M World Championships. In a way I wish I had taken my slot for the 70.3M Worlds this year but I felt it was time to give it a break and not race so late into the year. It was hard racing late, everyone on the group rides was taking it easy in October when you were still trying to go hard and then when you get back from your last race eager for some easy rides everyone is back going hard again....you couldn't win! So this year I took the four week break after Louisville and am now looking forward to the base sessions, hitting the weights, swimming like a fish and dropping by some running races.

Ironman racing and training really is a truly mental (chicken oriental....get it, cockney rhyming slang) thing and it takes a lot to train, race and then get back into training after a race. To race and compete to your potential is a 2-3 month undertaking of solid preparation in addition to all the training you have accumulated over the previous months and years. Not only does the training take it's toll, but mentally it is draining and it's good to take a break for a while. It allows the body to recover and gives important time away from the training log and the daily sessions. It's nice to be "released" from the daily demands of training and just chilling not worrying if you have a hard workout or if you need to get up at 5:30am to hit the pool! Maybe even eat some oreo's (the new PB ones are great!) and M&M's.

Now after a four week break I feel like getting back into some structured training and hitting up the Fall running races. When you feel like getting back into it, that's a sign that the break has been long enough and it's good that you want to train again. I'm planning on being in this sport for a while and so there is no point in burning out now. You need to enjoy what you are doing and enjoying it makes you want to do more....it's self-perpetuating but you have to make sure that you don't overdo it. Afterall, we are amateurs and it's a lifestyle that involves work, rest and play....we have other things in our lives that we need to balance.

April 2008 - Training Summary

We are now a third of the way through the year and are exploding into the season with a bang, here are my training stats for April 2008.

April without doubt was a huge month and my biggest four-week training period ever....even bigger than any month in the Ironman year of 2006. I concentrated on some longer intensity sessions as well as running on consecutive days to get used to running on tired legs. The bricks were focusing on running fast off the bike and simulating some race pace efforts. The structure for the month was a four week month with no recovery time. After the marathon at the end of March, the target was too maintain the run form but build extensively on the bike. As such I begun to ride four or five times a week and included the tuesday night hammerfest. All of these rides were done on the tri bike and the road bike has been collecting dust in the garage. After February and March had plateaued at an average of 13+ hours a week, I needed to breakthrough and stress the body with something new. I managed to consistently get large weeks in throughout the month and so here are the numbers in the log from April 2008:

Total Workouts - 46 including
17 cycle sessions
14 run sessions
15 swim sessions
(10 bricks)


Total Time - 64 Hours 45 Mins (16 Hours 11 Mins Weekly Average)

Cycling Time - 35 Hours 38 Mins (8hrs 54mins weekly average)
Running Time - 13 Hours 22 Mins (3hrs 20mins weekly average)
Swimming Time - 15 Hours 41 Mins (3hrs 55mins weekly average)

Total Mileage - 844.9 Miles

Cycling Mileage - 693.72 Miles
Running Mileage - 121.38 Miles
Swimming Mileage - 29.80 Miles

As I stated April was my biggest month ever and it also included my biggest week ever at 17 hours. The weather and work cooperated for the most part and that enabled me to be consistent and get the key weekly workouts in as scheduled. A couple of work related items forced me into two rest days but nothing that couldn't rectified.

During April I had two races the Walkersville Road Race (13th overall) and the Duathlon Nationals (16th overall and 5th Age group, and qualification for the World's in Rimini in Sept....unfortunately it clashes with Chesapeake Man so it will be arrivederci to the Worlds for this year).

May brings two more races and the first triathlon's of the year at Devilman and Columbia....all leading up to June 8th at Eagleman 70.3.