Monday, October 6, 2008

Down to Business

I am hampered with a sore right knee at the moment so I have a feeling riding is going to have to take a back seat for a little while. Running and swimming however cause no physical discomfort, they just tire me out! Some of you may know that I am now following a programme structured by ironguides (see logo on the links and click to find out more).
I got the plan on Friday, promptly pooped my pants on viewing the swimming volume and intensity and then went about the weekend training as instructed, rallying those who were willing and silly enough to go out for a later than usual ride on a very wet Saturday morning. The ride went well albeit painful on the turnaround (resting the knee now). And a brick run in scorching heat after, was, well it was beetroot face hot. Sorry boss, managed 31minutes not 40!
ANYWAY. The swim fun started this morning and after a long run yesterday and a whole day out up Fraser’s with RH Bee, David Nik and John I was knackered last night and unsure of how this was going to kick off. In bed at 9.30pm and lulled to sleep with more training reading.
I followed the sets religiously, I am actually rather good at doing what I am told, it just depends who is doing the telling as to whether I will obey and listen! Won’t go into detail but it wasn’t that bad, ok so it wasn’t the heavy week set and it was only DAY1 but I finished feeling positive, which is good isn't it?
So there you have it. 145days to go. For those interested I will be doing a weekly blog on how the structured training is going. A bed of roses it is not going to be but if it makes me a better swimmer (really not that difficult), faster runner and stronger rider then I will be a very happy bunny.

3 comments:

Denis Oakley said...

Hi Emma,

Glad that you had a good time doing Genting. I alas was in A&E with an abscessed tooth (good excuse anyway) :)

One of the reasons why I've never come out with TTH is that it is too difficult to match the TTH sessions with my structured training (Matt Fitzgerald's week by week triathlon book - backed up with training peaks).

What is especially difficult is the periodisation and the length and intensity of rides. Thenn if I want to do a group ride or run - how do I modify my plan to take it into account. My plan is there so I take the headache away of deciding what I have to do each day. I'm always doing something different.

With Ironguides from what I've seen of their website you get a lot more guidance so I would be really interested to hear how they work the plan around your existing routine.

Emma said...

HI Denis,
My training plan has changed a lot, not really the hours but just reshuffled. You are right. It has taken the guess work away and the stress. The only stress now is what we put our bodies through!
If you fancy joining some of the Saturday rides please do - I am still able to train with the group on Wed morning, evening, Sat and Sunday albeit to a different intensity and volume. Everything else I am on my Jack Jones. It all makes sense really, we do those long long long rides for confidence and because they are fun (sometimes) but actually there is NO need to do them at this moment in time (well thats my thoughts on it anyway and it depends I guess on your goal). My advise - not that I have much to offer I am afraid is -If you are going to follow a plan and have one - don't divert. Stick to it and try not to get caught up in the "who's doing what in training". If you believe in what you are following try and ignore everything else. This is not easy when training buddies are tempting you with 230k rides and long runs but I will endeavour DO AS I AM TOLD because if you don't, what is the point, you may as well just continue flying by the seat of your pants.

Denis Oakley said...

Hi Emma,

I totally agree with what you are saying. It's hard going oput by yourself - but if you know exactly what you've got to do and why that makes it a lot easier.

Sticking with the pln is really important. I had a TI session afew weeks ago. It was great and I think it is the way to go - but trying to figure out how to integrate it into my plan was a nightmare. It is so different hat I either had to junk the plan, write a totally new plan, or put TI off for a while. Bye Bye TI.

I guess tat in 2 or 3 weeks as I move from base to build phase and my rides suddenly start getting longer (you don't know how frustrating a 90 minute long ride is!) I'll start joining the group a bit more. Plus I will have a car :)