And Repeat.....

You can see a pattern emerging here. I'm changing my training routine round to have 2 or 3 shorter and hopefully faster runs during the week and a long one at the weekend. I just wanted to see if an adjustment away from pure length and endurance training to speed will improve my overall speeds at half marathon and 10K distances.

Same 10K route today but it was very windy and much more constantly there, again from the West with some nice rain and hail mixed in.

I started quick and tried to concentrate on long strides as this has proven in the past to speed up my times considerably, despite it feeling odd. I was at the top of Hedgehog hill in 23:57 and was pretty tired but the turn and flat run at the top had me recovered within 500M. The turn was however straight into the wind, so wind is now in my face for almost all of the run back.

I can definately feel the ability to breath much easier than last week and much more deeply, although I only feel that naturally I fill about 75% of my lung capacity when I'm running. If I force it I can get much more air in but I'm not sure if that actually helps as it slows down my breaths per minute.

At 7K mark I got a bit of a second wind as I was sheltered between the trees.

As I emerged from the trees with just under 2.5K to go I got a blast of wind straight in my face from right across the open fields. It took my breath away. I knew the run in would be very hard now and as I climbed the hill to the top of the plateau the wind increased as did the rain and hail. It was hard just to keep going straight into it and I was glad I had my sunglasses on to protect my eyes from the hail.

My legs were getting stiff from the cold and I was struggling to keep a rhythm up with the constant battering of the wind. As I dropped to the last 700M I get more shelter from a small wood and it feels like someone has switched on an electric fire as the heat from the sun reaches me. I purposely avoided looking at my watch on the run in as it puts me off. I just kept driving the last 700M and finished in 50:26 which is a littled over Tuesday's outing but given the wind speed I think it was a fair session. It certainly felt harder during it but I was less wiped out right at the end.

The Heat is On

Right , two weeks to go till the big race. After yesterdays outdoor swim I'm ready but we agreed one more big brick training session(although I wasn't keen due to it being 28 Degrees C outside..)

That tune was playing through my head all the way round.

Today we'd do 90K bike followed by a run. Philippe wanted the full half marathon after the 90K bike. I wasn't commiting to that distance as I knew it was going to be a scorcher and I know how punishing a bike ride with him is for me. Therefore I said I'd run but won't do the full length. I'm mentally and physically fine on the run leg and anything now is just junk miles for me. My 2hr target time should be achieveable even after the two previous legs as I know my run pace is fine for a fair bit less than 2hrs for a half marathon.

We set off on the bike leg and Philippe sets a blistering pace right from the start. I'm dropped in the first 10K. I catch up as a women pulls out on him and nearly causes an accident then his speed sensor drops off his bike. Its only a temporary situation. At 20K he has about 700-800M on me and at 25K I can no longer see him even on a straight road. I keep going but I know my pace is dropping and the distance will be growing, its unavoidable. At 35K mark I've made up my mind to turn back at the roundabout and leave it at a straight 70K. However Philippe suddenly appears back on the other side of the road. I say I'm jacking, he says get on my wheel and lets do the next 10K. Then we'll turn back. I don't want to but say I'll try. His first 30K was under 56minites. I was 60 minutes and I'm absolutely dying in the saddle. We go another 2KM and I try to jack it in again. I'm again convinced to keep going and Philippe drops the pace a bit to give me time to get an 8th or 9th wind.

We drop into Namur and traffic lights are all against us. At one I'm crawling up to and I unclip my right foot but the bike falls to the left. I'm about to hit the deck and I just jump right out of the cleat binding. Obviously my legs are a little bit stronger than a few weeks back when I fell off in similar circumstances. I just land on my feet and set off. I'm laughing at how it must have looked to the drivers.

We setoff back and its uphill all the way out of Namur for about 4km. Again I'm struggling but not stopping. I get a little bit of stickyness to his wheel around 50K mark and I manage a good few km's without getting left behind. Its very hard work though and just a few inches too much between us and I'm gone. Although its cool on the bike as you effectively always have a breeze I know it is very hot. I'm forcing the liquid down even though its making me feel sick. I carry two 750ml bottles so its a fair amount. Does this sound like fun ?

We get back to 8km to go and my legs feel like they have been wrung out. Philippe is well ahead again. I click off 90K on my computer in 3:04:48. Thats as fast as I've done it but I needed carried most of the way and I nearly got on the broom wagon three or four times. Its OK for training but I can't race that fast or I'll blow up. I can't get that speed on my own as its faster than my normal pace and so I need to be dragged to it. I'm looking for a 3:30 cycle leg so I'm well under it today but with an effort beyond what would be OK for me to do on my own. I'm also not sure of the impact of the climbs in Switzerland on my time. I'll need see the course close up.

We get back home and we agree a run, I set out knowing I'm not going the whole distance as its way too hot and I really don't need a run session that much as I can't improve my run fitness that much now. However loyalty gets me out as Philippe dragged me back on the bike by the scruff of my neck. So I need to return the favor and help him on the run leg. Its only fair.

We agree we'll run at his pace and I'm OK with that as its nice and easy and I'm not personally looking for any personal best time at this late stage in my training. Its always been that running has been my relatively strong leg and biking my weaker one(although swimming occasionally dips it toe into weakness too). Therefore mentally I feel my hard work is done on the running already. I'm also 100% sure my 90k on Thursday, my PB 10K on Friday and back to back 2K swim sessions(fri/Sat) have left their mark on my body.

We click off 10K in 1:09 but we're just coasting and its really hot. Philippe says he is definately going for the full 21K as he isn't tired, I'm not going to go that far so I up my pace and take a shorter route home.

I do 14.5KM and my legs are tired at the end. I'm suffering a bit with bladder pain and the intense sensation of needing to pee at the end. I go to the toilet and it would appear I'm trying to pass what feels like a boiling water and ground glass mixture. The pain is intense and it doesn't go away for about an hour. I managed to drink down 1.5 litres of fluid(not beer) and after a shower and some cold/hot treatment on my legs I'm feeling better.

All in all a very tough session for me , especially on the bike. However thanks due to Philippe for keeping me in the game. The bike run was a killer and I no doubt added something to my armoury as a result of the hard work. The run was just punishment in the heat. Hat tip to Phlippe for doing the full 21K run though. Therefore he's now confident of finishing as a result of todays session.

Average heart rate on cycle leg was 145bpm with a max of 169bpm. Max speed was 61.3kmph and average was 29.1kmph. Average cadence(pedaling revolutions) was 87 rpm.

Average heart rate on run was 144bpm and a max of 169bpm.

Just a note for the calorie conscious readers. Todays energy consumption for me according to my watch/heart rate monitor was 3490 calories....nice.

My final jigsaw piece was yesterdays fantastic open water swim. Confidence is growing slowly but I don't want to peak mentally too soon. I'm off to the UK this week and will just take my swimming gear.

After work swim session

2Km straight freestyle swimming. As ever first 400m were a real push and I was really struggling, probably due to having too fast a starting pace at 8 minutes dead and the usual difficult start to a swim in relation to getting my breathing settled.

I settled into my stride and despite getting cramp twice in my right calf and once in my right foot(due to kicking off the wall) I finished the session in 48:21. My breathing was OK and I managed to swim more than 50% with bi-lateral breathing(every third stoke on alternate sides) Its hardly a fast time but its quick enough for me and in reality I'm just looking to survive the swim leg with a time like that. I'm going to swim outdoors tomorrow at a lake nearPhilippeville, 60km south of here. My race target for swim and cycle transition is still 60 minutes.

Lets hope I'm still blogging tomorrow night :O)

Sunday double

I was lying in bed around 7am this morning looking for excuses in my mind as to why I could not train today. The best I could come up with was calling Philippe to say I'd forgotten that it was mothers day and that I had booked lunch for Alison and so I could not train.

I went out for the papers and croissants just after 8:30. I came back and Team Kennedy manager asks me right away. Have you called Philippe ? I said not yet but I've sent him a text as he may have been out last night and he doesn't need me getting him up before 9am. I was secretly hoping he was also looking for an out....no such luck. He'd done 60k on his bike yesterday and was as keen as ever.

Texts were exchanged and I managed to negotiate us down to a 45K cycle and 17k run. Philippe was looking for the full 90k cycle plus a run of 15k minimum. I said I'd do the full 90 on the bike but not the run as well....Thats how it goes when your heart isn't quite in it yet. Even once we agreed 45K and we were out on the cycle leg I was still lying to myself that I didn't need to do the run leg when I got back anyway....

It was a fantastic day weather wise, sunny and blue skies. Only downside was that it was a little windy. We set off for Namur and traffic and other cyclists excepted I was managing to hold my own and not drop back too much. Only fly in the ointment was that after 20 minutes when I had a look at my computer I could see my pedaling cadence wasn't showing up . When I looked down I could see the crank attachment had fallen off at some point. Needle in a haystack to find it on the way back and I was pretty pissed off as I only bought it two weeks ago..

We were soon heading down the N98 and I was as usual sitting just behind the point where all the hard work was being done, straight into the wind. Once on the main road and off the cycle path and into our rythm I didn't get dropped. I had to work hard on the hills but I managed not to fall too far behind at any point. After what felt like no time at all Philippe said we were halfway and had to turn back. I did at this point offer the 90K option but no run but Philippe said we needed to do a double session. He was right of course and I was thinking well I could just do the 90K and be done. Avoiding the horrors of the bike-run transition on a sunny Sunday is well worth cycling another 45km for. We turned back and the run leg was still on.

On the way back I even had the cheek to lead for a couple of km's but it was with the wind in my back and it gave Philippe a chance to have another picnic on the bike. Normal service resumed on the N5 and I did drop back a bit with about 8KM to go as I was looking for the bit that fell off my bike. Amazingly I saw it and picked it up and so I now just need to put it back on. We finished 45K in 1hr:28min which is a good time and I felt OK.

Running gear on but my watch wasn't working right as I needed to change the battery and didn't have the time to mess about. I ran again in my cycling shorts and just changed my tee shirt. I managed to stretch my legs on the bike by standing up on the pedals for a few hundred metres and they were not as heavy as they felt last week when I did the bike-run session.

It was pretty hot now and I was happy I'd downed 500ml of sports drink on the last 2km on the bike, I knew that last time out I hadn't taken on enough fluid and I could feel the positive difference this run. I was however having to drink when I didn't feel like it, just ramming it down my throat for effect. Like drinking cans of warm lager before a school disco.

Our pace was pretty even around the 4:40 per km mark for the first 4km. Then we dropped to around 5:00 per km. We went round by the school to avoid M.Hedgehog but instead of one big climb you get faced with a much longer medium climb that really saps your legs.

I was pulling a little distance out on Philippe as he was suffering in the heat as he had a black top on and with long sleeves. His knee was also taking no prisoners. I was though expecting him to pass me like a steam train at any moment.

I finished the run and although the last 2km were a little sore on my legs I was still in pretty good shape at the end and adding another 4km would have been possible for me to do the full 21k.

I ordered tri bars and a tri suit this week to hopefully claim me a couple of minutes on cycle and on the transitions. The suit you wear for the whole race and despite it making you look like the wettest gay in the village it does speed up transition as once out of your wetsuit you are only ever changing shoes. I saw the positive side of the suit for others in the race two weeks ago.

The tri-bars allow you to have a much lower position on the bike and improve your aerodynamics. Therefore making it easier to keep a slightly higher pace, especially on flat sections.

Legs currently feeling OK but I know I've been out. I'm in the UK this week so training opportunities will be limited. I will be taking my running gear and my swimming gear though.

Cycle-Run Brick Session

I had back to back conf calls at 17:00 and 17:30. Therefore time was tight before it got dark and I was secretly hoping the second call would run long and I could avoid any training today. Unfortunately it went to plan and I had to remind myself of how hard Sunday was to encourage myself, I therefore went out to do a double training session.

Training plan was 20k Bike Time Trial round the normal Time trial route including Hedgehog hill then a repeat of yesterdays 14.26k run.

The bike leg produced a new personal best and beat the seemingly impossible 40 minute barrier with a rather pleasing 39:14 for the 20K. My new Blackburn Neuro computer says total climb over the 20K was 799ft(243m) which isn't a flat route but it only about 80% of the main climb in Switzerland. I have to do it twice though :O).

I had a 4 minute 27 second transition and then set out on the run. I made this reasonably realistic with a run through the garden/house and getting changed in the garage. I took on 250ml of fluid(not enough), I kept my cycling shorts on and just swapped my top,shoes and then I set out.

The first 5K was really tight on my thighs and it took that long before my legs felt as if they could actually run. Once that was over it got a little easier. The hills were tough especially running the cobbled section up towards Butte Du Lion. My pace was roughly around the 5min per km mark for the first 10K then dropped off to around 5:20/5:30 per km.

I ran the same 14.28km as yesterday in a somewhat slower time of 1:15:37 with an interim 10K time of 53:31. So slower but thats due to the fact I did the cycling time trial before plus I'm running on my own which is less competitive so I can't drive myself as hard. Running time still not bad as I think it would extrapolate out to around 1:40 for a half marathon, my target for Switzerland is 2hrs and my previous PB on a real half marathon race is 1:47. It was an 8 out of 10 difficulty with respect to how I felt at the end. I could have ran onto do a full half marathon in a competitive situation.

On the bike leg my average heart rate was 154 with a peak of 174. Average heart rate on the run was 150 and peak of 162.

I'm not sure if this is a problem but it is something i have noticed in my training over the last 5 months. Essentially as I go longer it gets progressively more difficult for me to keep my heart rate in the higher zone. I think my lactate level is about 166-168 and so I normally run around the 159-165 level anything above this kills my breathing in about 5 minutes. Anything below 155 feels like I'm not exercising at all.

I'm not sure if its normal but I usually find in the first hour I can easily cope with 165/166 BPM without real discomfort but after that my sustainable limit drops to 160 for the next hour/45 minutes and then down to 156 the following hour.

As this happens I obviously slow down and I see the effect on my overall speed and reduced effort. I've seen it in action in my two half marathons when I'm a fast starter but then get caught by people in the last third of the race.

Overall a nice 2 hours reasonably high intensity training session, not at the same pace as yesterday but it was obviously longer.