Finish line of Thames turbo with Anya and Tim #teamAWESOME
Intro...
So as I hit post on this blog it's exactly 7 days until IM Wales.
I'm going to try an summarise how my training has gone since the HIM Barcelona back in May and my thoughts on how the big race may play out.
Since May my adventure into the world of triathlon has been a team activity. By that I mean it hasn't just been me and a training plan that I have made up, after HIM Barcelona Tim George accepted my request for help.
Although, I had achieved my goals in Barcelona I knew to take the next step forward I needed someone on my side who could have oversight of my training plan and help me achieve some larger goals.
I have to say from the start one of things I have enjoyed most is not having to plan my own sessions, I just print them off, complete it, tick it off my schedule and move on to the next one.
Tim and I had 16 weeks to build on my fitness, knowledge of triathlon and develop a race plan which will mean i'm awesome in Wales.
So let's start with swimming
I can honestly say I didn't expect to make the gains I have in the pool/open water. It is really hard to try and predict a time for the IM Wales swim. But, last year I did it in 1hr 9mins, based off a 3km swim race I did last week (30th August) I would complete 3.8km in 59mins.
In reality I would be over the moon with anything below the 1hr 5min mark.
Since January when my fastest 100m was 1:40 something and fastest 400m was 7min+ I can now swim 100m in just under 1:20 and my 400m time is now under 6 mins. I have clearly improved a lot!!!
I put this down to three things...
- Swimming 3 times a week minimum without fail. One key note is that to date I have averaged 6.8km a week in the pool which is 2.3km a session, I haven't just swam 3/4/5km distances. Short sessions with key learning objectives (First kudos to Tim).
- Most weeks I have done one session with a group of Clapham Chasers, in January I was in the social swim group and by late July I was given the green light to join the club fishes on a Wednesday morning. To put it in perspective on Wednesday we will often do something like 100m off 1:45 and i'm coming in @ 1:28/1:30 and i'm the slowest!!!
- Since teaming up with Tim I have learnt what pacing is for swimming. I can now with a reasonable amount of accuracy swim at 70, 80, 90, 100% effort for a range of distances and tell you what my splits/times are without looking at a watch/clock. This is going to prove key while in the water in Wales, constantly checking in with myself, am I swimming fast enough? am I swimming too fast? am I at 70% effort?
So swimming has gone well and now that I love swimming and intend to do a lot more of it I have splashed out on a new Roka wetsuit. My previous one was a £60 job off eBay and had more holes then neoprene.
First time in my Roka suit.... 1:35/100m just got a lot easier
Next up cycling...
Where to start with what I would say is the discipline I love the most.
I'm undoubtedly a better bike rider both fitness and technique wise but one big difference to last year is i'm on a TT bike and aero gains have become a fascination.
Due to a running injury I did spend a lot of time early in the year on the bike and managed to get my 20min average power score to a very respectable 307watts, weighing in at 65kgs (5.774w/kg) that is i'm told by training peaks "Excellent Cat 1". When I first tested myself in December 2017 my average was 218watts.....
From April to May I focussed on maintaining this fitness while giving some time back to the run discipline.
Tim in his own words said he cant take much credit for my ability on the bike. BUT what I will give him credit for is teaching me how to ride a bike. On occasions I have received some pretty detailed analysis of laps of Richmond Park or a Surrey hill of how if I kept my 10/30s power similar I would have maintained momentum and carried some speed.
In the last 16 weeks I have averaged 240km on the bike made up of some commuter riding, 2 rides on the turbo and 1 long ride at the weekend. One key point of note is that I always trained to power on my turbo, but I finally made the leap in June and bought some Garmin Vector 3 pedals so now have power as a metric while out on the road.
About 6 weeks ago when I first learnt what my IM target power was I have to be honest it scared me. Since learning that number the rides have focussed on that power number and developing my knowledge of VI.
For those of you who don't know VI is the metric used to determine how consistent your power was. A score of 1 is perfect and unachievable by a human, but something between 1.01 and 1.06 is good.
I'm going into IM Wales with a target 10/30s power of 220watts (3.4w/kg) with a reference HR of something between 137-145. There are undoubtably going to be dark moments on the ride BUT as ever I will have to remind myself they always pass!!
Like the swim trying to guess/predict a time is almost impossible. Last year I did 6hrs 50mins on a road bike with no knowledge of the course.
All I can say is I will have enough food and drink on my to sit in that saddle for 6hrs. Anything under that would be great.
Enjoying a trip down to Cornwall with the TT
My 200km spin down to Brighton Solo
I have smashed all my goals and targets for running this year. I can boost a 5km Park run @18:17, A sub 37min 10km, 35km run @ sub 5min/km pace.
It's the development of my running which has given me the confidence to believe I can be vaguely competitive at any distance triathlon.
Like swimming Tim has focussed on teaching me to learn my HR and perceived effort. My "easy" runs have been getting quicker over time and the duration/distance built up from 15km to 35km over the course of the 16weeks.
I have to keep pinching myself, last year I ran 440km in total and almost every km of that was in pain due to a tight ITB. I'm now cruising up to 1200km for the year and well on my way to running 1000miles for the first time in a year.
As for Wales.... well last year I shuffled around in 4:19 on the marathon. In May I would of said the goal is to go sub 4hrs, I have a feeling i'm going to smash that goal.
Pre Bolton IM for Dom joining me on a 28km easy run
My longest training run ever, simulated walking aid stations, HR targets and what nutrition to use
My Taper
So day 1 of my taper was a sprint race in London. Thames Turbo Race 2. Knowing this was a popular one for London based triathlon clubs and well attended my Clapham Chasers I knew it would be a fun event to enter. In my opinion it gave me the perfect opportunity 13 days out from Wales to practice the process of being a triathlete.
The race plan was pretty simple, in fact I didn't think I would actually get a formal race plan, but i'm glad Tim put one together. Essentially, swim fast and controlled, bike @280-300watts, run hard and keep HR above 170.
In short, I knew I had a great swim I over took two people (you start 10/15secs apart), the bike was fast and I hit my number for the most part, the run was quick and HR was high. I finished in 58:54mins in total and I'm shocked to say that got me 1st place overall!!!
The confidence this little sprint race has given to me is priceless. I followed the processes in my plan and I knew when I crossed the line I had given it everything. This was probably the first time I can say that.
Since the race I have been keeping things ticking over, the intensity still remains but the duration is certainly reducing.
The plan for race week it's self is;
- Monday - Rest day & massage
- Tuesday - 7km run, 1hr turbo & S&C class
- Wednesday - 1900m swim
- Thursday - 5km "easy" & travel to Wales
- Friday - 20min swim, 30min bike
- Saturday - 4km race prep run
- Sunday - RACE
So as I sign off this lengthy boring essay, congrats on making it this far. I'm relaxed, scared and excited for Sunday the 9th. I know that everything I can control is going to go well and what will be will be....
My race number on Sunday is 659, please let me know if you intend to track me as it really does motivate me during the day knowing that people are watching and wiling you on to do well.
Bring on a cold cider and veggie burger post race.
Thanks
Ross
@triathlon_ross