Bar a few cross country runs, my triathlon season is all but over.
I'm staring down the barrel of a much needed break from structured training and 4 months in Indonesia and South Easy Asia. I'm buzzing about the adventure, being able to sea swim every day and taking a break from the accumulated mental fatigue from what has been a very testing year.
Looking forward to swapping this...
For this!
Despite showing a lot of promise at the beginning of the 2017 season, two lacklustre performances have left me with a dirty great chip on my shoulder. When I began writing this post the coin was still flipping midair between heads - dropping down to half iron distance and enjoying the sport or tails - dusting myself off and climbing back in the ring for another round with a fearsome adversary.... I've since stumped up the cash and signed up for one more round with this fire breathing, claw toting, indomitable welsh dragon.
I've only ever done Ironman Wales as a last minute entry not knowing what to do at the end of triathlon season but this time it will be my main focus. This will be my fourth Ironman triathlon and my third bash at Wales so I know what's coming. I just need to learn from the lessons this season saw fit to teach me and turn up a different, better athlete.
Taking a 4 month gap from training initially worried me but now I think it may actually do me the world of good. A clean break from what I've been doing up until now and a chance to start a complete fresh and focus on technique in the meantime.
50 Weeks To Get Lei'd
I know if I'm going to stand a chance at jumping into my finest flowery shirt, getting Lei'd and being given the opportunity to empty my bank account into the Ironman coffers for a coveted ticket to Kona I will need to be faster than a greased weasel.... So how am I going to do it???
Phase 1 - Off Season Rebuild
In my four month break from the miserable UK weather I'm going to be stranded on this island for 10 weeks;
Not only is this place surrounded by some of the last remaining coral reefs that humans haven't managed to f*ck up yet, its miles from anywhere, and its conveniently shaped like a running track... A sandy 1100m running track to be exact. The plan is to focus on rebuilding my running technique and lose my sloppy loafing style and hit next season a high cadence machine.
The clear protected waters inside the reef will be perfect for swimming so I can continue to work on my swim technique without being lunched by any predatory fish.
Other than the swimming and running I'll be putting some quality time into flexibility and core work. Two things that I have definitely neglected up until now.
Phase 2 - Easy Does It!
When I return from playing Robinson Crusoe we're going to be moving to what I've dubbed as the triathlon mecca of the South West... No its not Boulder, Colorado... its Clevedon! Complete with a marine lake perfect for open water swimming, some great running routes, cycling hills in close proximity and a beautiful 15 mile ride into Bristol.
After analysing the hell out of my training from this year with my new Training Peaks Platinum account I've realised one thing; I tried to model myself as triathlon's version of Emil Zápotek who was famous for the high load HIGH intensity training approach. This did one thing.... cooked me by the time I got to July and left me feeling flat not to mention constantly knackered and unable to walk up stairs.
The most telling piece of information from my Training Peaks analysis session was this;
My 5 minute power to weight ratio (watts/kg) was on the cusp of domestic pro standards and 20 minute wasn't too shabby either. My ability dropped off as the efforts got longer as shown by my 60 minutes watts/kg falling into the Cat 2 region. This confirmed that my training has made me great at big short distance efforts but I can't sustain it.
I've been reading quite a lot lately on the 80/20 technique where 80% of your training load is easy (Z2) and 20% is a mix of moderate (Z3) and hard (Z4). I feel like this might be the key to helping me manage a higher training load and improve my ability to sustain a high output for longer.
Matt Fitzgerald's book 80/20 running provides a good insight into the technique.
If you are going to have a go at adopting the 80/20 approach its definitely worth going out for a run or ride and without looking at your Garmin, go at a pace that you think is easy. Then take a look at the end of the session and see if it actually was. My easy lunch run today was well into the moderate heart rate zone and definitely emphasised the points made in the 80/20 article and Matt Fitzgerald's book about people spending too much time in zone 3 when they think they're running easily.
So, with the 80/20 regime in mind I've devised the following hours based program;
- 8-10 hours a week bike commuting - Easy
- 3-4 hours bike on the indoor trainer - Hard
- 4 hours running - 3 Easy & 1 Hard
- 2-3 hours swimming - 2 Easy & 1 Hard
Totalling 17 - 21 hours a week depending on the period of training, 80% of which will be easy Z2 work leaving me with a few hours to go hammer and tongs.
In another effort to make my bike training specific to my goals I have changed my existing fixed gear track bike commuter for an cheap TT bike that mimics my race bike position and allow me to log some serious training miles in the TT position, hopefully reducing the gap between my road bike FTP and TT bike FTP figure.
Phase 3 - RaceHard!
Racing is awesome fun.... but its expensive and can sometimes derail your big A race plan if you struggle to recover and re-peak in time for the main event; something I suffered from in 2017.
The plan is, keep it specific but break it down into events where I can truly measure my ability in each discipline; open water swims, 25, 50 and 100 mile cycling time trials and running races including some off road runs and half/ full distance marathons.
Some of these events will be turned into bricks by combining a run off the bike after a time trial or maybe cycling to a run event.
Get help!
I need it! I'm just trying to suss out of which variety and how much help I need. Do I go fully coached or steer my own ship??? Answers on a postcard!
Historically I've found I don't play well with others and like the control of writing my program. I don't need any extra motivation, I'm more than happy burying myself on a daily basis... I just need another pair of eyes to look at me and the program and tell me if I'm doing too much or not enough.
2018 targets;
- Get my 1,000m swim TT below 14 minutes and 4,000m below 60 mins.
- Get my one hour bike power back above 325w (67-68kg body weight)
- Go sub 55 minutes for a 25 mile TT.
- Break 2 Hours for a 50 mile TT.
- Get my running back in order starting with a sub 2:50 target time at the Newport marathon in April.
- Improve my average run cadence to 180spm across the board.
And last but not least;
- Tear the Ironman Wales course apart next September!
Now for some much needed chill time and to put together the build spec of my sexy new race bike for 2018....
Train with Horsepower
If that is how you like your coaching, straight and built for your race, take a look at the training plans or see how coaching works.