Saturday, October 17, 2009

The week before the taper starts.......


Start of another week. What would it bring I wondered!! Even though we are only 4 weeks out, the volume hasn't reduced much, if any, at all. I realised this week that I have been uttering the same words over and over again. Thy are 'I feel so tired'..... So with that in mind I decided to have a smarter week, relax a little more, and build up the energy reserves for the weekend.

Monday: As mentioned above I was feeling tired but had arranged to meet Eanna for a 2 hr spin Monday morning. Legs were a little heavy but I had run 31km yesterday. I stayed in the low front ring and spun the legs until I met up with Eanna and we headed out to Aughrim and back. It went great, legs felt so much better after I had finished. Had a quick shower and off to the gym for a weights session.

Spent 45mins there and did the 12 exercises. This is the last week of weights. This is great as it will free up some time to recover. This is also frightening as it means we are getting close to D-day. After the weights I had a massage and Alex worked on my knees and rubbed out the knots in my calves. I need a few more sessions to get them right.

Monday evening, I joined up with the WTC crowd for the swim session. We threw out approx 2500m. i was hapy enough with that. I'm not swimming enough and plan in the next 2 weeks to throw in a session or two of long slow swims to get the feel for the water again.

Tuesday: I did the speed bike on the turbo. It was tough. After the warm up etc the main part was a 20min TT, with a negative split and then 8 x 30secs sprints and a cool down. Took about 1 hr, but it was a tough one hour.

Wednesday:

Mid week run day. I met up with Jenn and we headed out to Ashford. I planned on 1.2ohr. As soon as I started I started, I knew it wasn't there. Legs were heavy. I plodded on, hooked up with Jenn and well we just ran the best we could. I really wanted to stop but I've been running really well, even when tired so thought my legs would return. They didn't. I got home a little dejected, 1.17hr and only 15km ran. I stretched and tried to understand why it had gone wrong. Conclusion, I'm really tired.

Thursday: I decided to have an easy one so tonight I just did my weights set. I left out the speed run, thought my legs could do with the rest. An easy night, 45mins of weights. The rest of the night was spent on the couch.

Friday: I had planned long swim Friday as I only had swam once this week. Was late leaving work, got back to Wicklow, pool was booked, drove to Greystones and had forgotten my goggles and hat, so with the hump I went home. I ended up doing another 45mins of weights and had another easy night. Two easy days in a row, its been so long!!

Saturday: Long day planned (again), I had a lie on and only left today at 10.40am. An extra few hours sleep, ya gotta love it. We headed out to Glenealy, Rathdrum, Clash, Aughrim, Carnew, Gorey, Arklow, Woodenbridge, Aughrim, Rathdrum, Laragh, Annamoe, Roundwood, Ashford, Fruit farm, Rathnew and Wicklow, 160km, 5.30hr, quick change and out for a run, did my usual, fastest ever, 25.30min for 6km, sub 4.20min/km off the bike, deadly, looks like I needed the 2 day rest. I felt great. Confidence grew today. I felt strong on the bike, particularly the latter end. I ate well too, 2 gels 2 bars, 1 banana, 1 electrolyte drink, 1 coke and 1 water. Tomorrow is 2.20hr run. Not sure what route I'll take but reckon I'll go a little easier. I plan on doing approx 26km.
Sunday: It must be a sign of fitness but I’ve noticed I’m feeling much better on the morning after my long ride. Today I felt great. Legs didn’t feel at all heavy. We were scheduled for 2.20hr run. We also had planned the same route, the feck*n fruit farm loop. If I see that loop again it’ll be too soon. Nothing wrong with it per se, I just don’t like the coast road as it is extremely dangerous and the hedges haven’t been cut back all year so you are constantly crossing the road at corners to ensure your safety.

Moley, Jamie, Jenn and myself set off, all of us with our own goal in mind, mine close to 30km at an even pace, have 3 gels and focus on smoothness of technique. I went nice and easy for the first 3-4km, to loosen up and ensure my muscles were warm. Then just got into my stride. While it didn’t feel hard, it didn’t feel easy!!! If that makes sense.

I had my first gel at about 8km, early enough, just to make sure really, topping up the reserves, then another at 19km and 22km. Really I didn’t space the gels well enough but I got caught out with the placement of the water stops.

I finished up on 2.17hr with exactly 29km completed. I was thrilled. I really felt that I managed to control my pace for teh duration of the run and there was definitely more in the tank.
Roll on next week......

No comments:

Post a Comment