Monday, December 31, 2012

December Update: Southerly Change

I'm back down under after two years away. It is great to be back! I'm loving the sun, the open roads and, above all, catching up with everyone.
It was a bit of a nightmare getting here, though. I was supposed to leave on December 11th from Ottawa however it wasn't to be. Foolishly, I did not obtain an ESTA. I arrived at the airport on the 11th and wasn't able to leave! It was truly, truly heartbreaking. After a lot of stress, more money and a few extra days I was on my way on the 16th.
It was a rough few days off the plane with a decent shot of jet lag set in. I managed to settle in OK and got stuck into some good training with mate Jeremy. We nailed some good key sessions in the Christmas week and tallied 22-odd hours for the final week of 2012!

I've backdated this post so I'll get busy soon with a few more updates.



Here are a few shots from the 'workout of the week' (150km long ride + 30min run at HIM pace off the bike)




Saturday, December 1, 2012

Movember Mileage

Movember was a great training month, for me, all things considered (by 'all things', I really mean the weather).
It was another month of base and conditioning work with the odd race for fun. I had another great swim month with some killer workouts - longer and harder swims than I've ever done - and I think it's paying off. We'll see. I think I can get closer to the first guys out of the water - or within a few minutes - in local events, which will make things easier. I'm sick of Short Course (25m) pools though - I am really looking forward to hitting the Olympic pools at home!
On the bike I tried to a lot of aerobic miles as well as a lot of sweet spot work. Without TrainerRoad, I'm not sure I would have survived 27 hours on the trainer in one month! Nothing overly long (in terms of an Ironman build) but lots of steady consistent work. I'll worry about 4-6hr rides in January and February - now is the time to just maintain and be consistent, harden the legs up a bit and get ready for the onslaught.
Run mileage has been very steady indeed. I averaged about 70km a week. I think the only thing that will change between now and Melbourne Ironman will be the specificity of the long run, the introduction of some structured tempo/threshold runs, and key runs off the bike. But for the most part, the formula will be the same.
Happy training!