Last 2 weeks of hard training before the World Duathlon Champs, and it really has been a hard 2 weeks.
I feel like I've never trained this hard in my life, but what I really mean is I've never put this much effort into training! I've definitely done some harder sessions and done more volume in a fortnight, but because of losing so much fitness with tendonitis I've had to put absolutely everything into training to regain as much fitness as possible before the World Champs.
My coach, Phil Nichol, seems to have got my training absolutely spot on - I've ended each day absolutely exhausted, but when I wake up in the morning I'm looking forward to the day's training, and with a couple of exceptions I've managed to stick to the plan!
So this is what I've been up to in the last 2 weeks...
W/C 27th August
Mon: 10min run, 35min bike, 5min run
Tues: 5 x 1mile off 2 min rec: 6.32, 6.40, 6.28, 6.30, 6.27
Weds: 35min easy run - legs in agony
Thurs: 20min run (2.8 miles), 35min bike (inc 5min effort fast), 22min run (3 miles)
Fri: Rest! Bad day!
Sat: Worsley Woods Park Run: 1st Lady in 21.23
Sun: North West Triathlon
W/C 3rd September
Mon: 75 min run
Tues: Track session - 1600m (6.02) 1500m (5.40) 1200m (no idea-feeling really sick!) 800m (2.40)
Weds: 30min run, 45min bike including 5min intervals, 30min run
Thurs: Bike session - 20miles including 4 x 3mile efforts
Fri: Rest with sore hip
Sat: 10min run, 20min bike, 15 min run
Sun: Salford 10km: 10th Lady in 40.47
To be honest, although I have complained continually about being tired, I have absolutely loved the last 2 weeks of training. It's been good and hard but I can see and feel gains in my fitness every day.
I've done 2 cracking track sessions in the last fortnight, and for me to get down to 6 min miling is a huge step in the right direction - now if only I could get my tempo runs and race pace down to 6mins!
I used the Worsley Woods Park Run as a tempo run, running hard but controlled for the first 2 miles before easing off towards the finish - not wanting to tire my legs out too much for the North West Triathlon the next day, and I still clocked my best time for the course!
The North West Triathlon probably deserves it's own race report, but I really don't want to think about it anymore! I needed to do a duathlon before the World Champs so I emailed the organisers to ask if I could miss the swim in the Triathlon and just do the bike and run - they were very accommodating and gave me the thumbs up. Despite this, I certainly won't be doing this event next year! For a start T1 and T2 were 500m apart and the bike course was on roads which were far too busy for the event. I struggled to overtake because of the number of cars passing on the busy A roads and with another bike event taking place on the same day it felt really dangerous! I also had a bad experience during the race as I got my first blow out, hitting a pot hole at speed (with cars going past I was unable to avoid it) and juddered to a halt, struggling to keep my balance after only 5 miles. With a new tyre and inner tube required I had no option but to get in the support car and enjoy the drive back to the finish. Although I wasn't a fan of the course, the organisation of the event was fantastic - it must be hard to find suitable locations to hold triathlons, especially for the volume of people wanting to take part - I think they had thousands!
Before the blow out, the bike was going really well - it felt great to be out racing and I was loving zipping past people (yes, yes, I know I had a huge advantage of having not swum!). Having not been out on the roads on my bike since March because of injury, I was apprehensive beforehand, but I soon felt like my old self and enjoyed being in a race again. Luckily the organisers dropped me off at transition so I ran in with my bike, put my trainers on and headed off on the run. My aim for the day was to finish the bike & run, so I was more than a little annoyed to not achieve this. To compensate I speeded off on the run and clocked the fastest women's time of the day in 19.46, overtaking people all the way. Obviously not a fair competition on the run as I'd hardly done any of the race, but 19.46 for 5km is a reasonable time and I felt strong on the run with a bit of cycling in my legs.
Positives:
Felt good on the bike
No reaction from cycling the day after
Speedy run
Hopefully got some nerves out the way
Negatives:
Blow out!
Not getting a decent length bike done
I got my bike fixed up quickly and got it out on the roads on Thursday, putting in a tough session of 4 x 3miles with 2 mins recovery. It was great to get out into the countryside and enjoy a lovely sunny evening but I found where the roads were really uneven it really upset my tendon and I had to take the next day as a rest day and just test out my tendon and sore hip on Saturday before Sunday's 10km.
Race report on Salford 10km coming soon!
The next 2 weeks training are tapering nicely for the World Duathlon Champs, so it's just a case of getting a bit more bounce and speed in the legs and keeping healthy. Fingers crossed!
