Post Bolton, general training, heat chamber, Mumbles and Pre Kona thoughts/feelings.
Ok so first of all, I have written this off my tiny phone screen on the plane. That’s my excuse for all the grammar and spelling mistakes....
I’m posting this from Seattle airport. 9hrs of flight time so far. 6 more hrs to go after the 4hr lay over.
What I think is more impressive is I have started a new job, fulfilled many social commitments including a stag do, a 6hr Kayak (my arse has only just recovered), a couple of holidays/mini trips to the South West, helped some friends complete their 1st IRONMAN, qualify for the 70.3 Worlds, set Half Marathon and Full Marathon PB's and “signed” my first sponsor (more on that post Kona I expect)..... WOW. Only writing this now am I appreciating how much I have burnt the candle at both ends and post race I cant wait for a break.
So after recovering from Bolton I have basically done 2 x 5 week blocks, 4 weeks build with a rest week, the second block essentially kicks off my taper. In each block the volume was high particularly "time in the saddle" with extra commuting miles thrown in. In this last block in particular I have averaged a weekly TSS in excess of 1,200, seeing my CTL hit 156 😳😳
The body has coped well, I have once again remained injury and niggle free and missed/cut short very few workouts due to general fatigue. This really is down to being stricter then ever with my diet (Yes Amy that was me being strict), sleeping more then ever (I'm not ashamed to say I was going to sleep between 2000 and 2030 most nights) and lastly the months of strength and mobility work in the winter and then general maintenance through the season. This has proved priceless, most weeks I have completed 1 session set by Tim and then attended a 30min blitz at Foursides with James and the team.
Heat Chamber
I have been fortunate enough to acquire a sponsor for the next 12 months or so. This sponsorship is focused on having access to my training and racing data. With that in mind Heat Chamber sessions were something we both had in mind to use as a tool to prep for Kona.
I have competed 6 1hr sessions at the University of Roehampton. I will go into a little more detail and numbers in another blog so that I don't bore those of you that aren't interested now.
What I can say at this point is WOW. Everyone, knows heat impacts performance. But as athlete that uses Power and HR (NEVER PACE). It was insightful to see the impact the heat does have on performance. I can certainly say I have walked away knowing more about my body and it's capability in the heat which ultimately is the goal.
Spoiler alert I won a race
I’m posting this from Seattle airport. 9hrs of flight time so far. 6 more hrs to go after the 4hr lay over.
The last 4-5 days have been intense but also full of pinch myself moments, I'm actually going to this race and I'm actually fit/healthy and prepped. I can't have ask for more.
So what have I been doing since Bolton.
Ultimately, I have been doing everything I can despite the dips in motivation to get ready for what is certainly going to be a huge undertaking both physically and mentally. In the last 12 weeks I have biked and run further then I have in any other 12 week block while maintaining my usual swim consistency. Quite incredible really on reflection as I was already doing a lot of miles over all three disciplines pre Bolton.
So what have I been doing since Bolton.
Ultimately, I have been doing everything I can despite the dips in motivation to get ready for what is certainly going to be a huge undertaking both physically and mentally. In the last 12 weeks I have biked and run further then I have in any other 12 week block while maintaining my usual swim consistency. Quite incredible really on reflection as I was already doing a lot of miles over all three disciplines pre Bolton.
What I think is more impressive is I have started a new job, fulfilled many social commitments including a stag do, a 6hr Kayak (my arse has only just recovered), a couple of holidays/mini trips to the South West, helped some friends complete their 1st IRONMAN, qualify for the 70.3 Worlds, set Half Marathon and Full Marathon PB's and “signed” my first sponsor (more on that post Kona I expect)..... WOW. Only writing this now am I appreciating how much I have burnt the candle at both ends and post race I cant wait for a break.
So after recovering from Bolton I have basically done 2 x 5 week blocks, 4 weeks build with a rest week, the second block essentially kicks off my taper. In each block the volume was high particularly "time in the saddle" with extra commuting miles thrown in. In this last block in particular I have averaged a weekly TSS in excess of 1,200, seeing my CTL hit 156 😳😳
The body has coped well, I have once again remained injury and niggle free and missed/cut short very few workouts due to general fatigue. This really is down to being stricter then ever with my diet (Yes Amy that was me being strict), sleeping more then ever (I'm not ashamed to say I was going to sleep between 2000 and 2030 most nights) and lastly the months of strength and mobility work in the winter and then general maintenance through the season. This has proved priceless, most weeks I have completed 1 session set by Tim and then attended a 30min blitz at Foursides with James and the team.
Heat Chamber
I have been fortunate enough to acquire a sponsor for the next 12 months or so. This sponsorship is focused on having access to my training and racing data. With that in mind Heat Chamber sessions were something we both had in mind to use as a tool to prep for Kona.
I have competed 6 1hr sessions at the University of Roehampton. I will go into a little more detail and numbers in another blog so that I don't bore those of you that aren't interested now.
What I can say at this point is WOW. Everyone, knows heat impacts performance. But as athlete that uses Power and HR (NEVER PACE). It was insightful to see the impact the heat does have on performance. I can certainly say I have walked away knowing more about my body and it's capability in the heat which ultimately is the goal.
Mumbles Summary
To finish off my last block I had entered a middle distance race in The Mumbles (Swansea). This doubled up as a race simulation and Clapham Chasers Club champs.
The plan was the swim/bike like a 70.3 then run to IM HR and only really go hunting in the last 5km if I had a shot at winning and had stuck to my plan.
Unfortunately, the race was shortened to an Olympic distance due to some pretty awful conditions. This was a real shame, but it did mean that I could race a little harder and not worry too much about extended recovery.
With an adjusted race plan I stood on the start line and flipped the switch to competitive Ross. Beating my chest and embracing the conditions I was encouraged that meantally I was willing to go to that dark place if required later in the day.
The gun went off and I went for it, hit the water first and didn’t look back, took the first 300m hard and I knew only 2 people had swam off in front, encouraged by this I settled into my rhythm and cruised around. The swim was two laps, it was choppy, strong currents and staying on course was key. I managed the conditions well and I knew without the information being relayed to me upon exiting I had only let two people get away.
The bike leg was epic. The conditions really were horrendous. Most of the time I couldn’t see my Garmin screen through the driving rain, the wind was furious and I was often just clinging to the bike to stay upright. However, I was determined, cycling relatively is my strongest of the 3, if I was to do well I knew leading off the bike would be key. I found the other two green bib wearers early on and pressed on past them.
Keeping a lid on my effort and actually post race analysis shows that in terms of absolute power it was way down on what I would hope for in a short distance race.
At about the half way point the marshalls confirmed I was leading. Game on. I kept pushing, thinking about my American buddie Justin’s “Full Send” mantra.
As I came off the bike I had Amy shouting/confirming “you’re at the front”. A great moment.
After a slow T2 to make sure socks went on and laces were done up I headed off.
The first 1km beep came and I was around 3:50min/pace and HR down on target. Perfect. I made the first turn at 2.5km and logged distance, waited until I saw second person on the way back and made a rough calculation of 1.4km lead/about 5-6mins. I knew at this point although this fella looked very strong I probably had this and I had no desire/need to really press on.
The run was great, flat, windy and fairy well supported for such a small event. Several Chaser groups lined the route - most had completed their respective legs in relay teams.
At the 7.5km mark I took another distance split, 1.4km and the chap actually shouted he wasn’t in a relay team..... great I’m even further ahead then I thought.
At this point my HR was at Tempo effort which is where we did plan to start at. Showing there was certainly a bit more in the tank.
I finished the run on the pier in Mumbles, I had a finish line tape to break and a solid crowd cheering me on as the announcer was calling my name etc. Such an epic feeling.
So my second win over the Olympic distance this year and this one was my favourite. Clapham Chasers club champion - Sorry Spraggins that’s my title now.
Ok so here goes - an attempt at trying to summarise my pre Kona thoughts....
This has been harder to write down and share then expected. I have given various answers depending on who has asked me in the last few months to the question "how do you feel" "what's the goal" etc.
Ultimately, yes I'm going to make sure I enjoy myself and embrace being in such a special place. However, my dips in motivation and low points in this block have come when I was thinking negatively about this race and how it was essentially a participation race.
This has been harder to write down and share then expected. I have given various answers depending on who has asked me in the last few months to the question "how do you feel" "what's the goal" etc.
Ultimately, yes I'm going to make sure I enjoy myself and embrace being in such a special place. However, my dips in motivation and low points in this block have come when I was thinking negatively about this race and how it was essentially a participation race.
About 6 weeks ago I decided to flip that around, I'm going there to compete. I'm going there to race the best in the world and see how I stack up. Training became easier to motivate myself for and those 05:20 alarms have seen me spring out of bed.
Now some of you may think what an idiot, he isn't going to be competing so I'm going to clarify this......
My main goal is to be running in that last 10miles. In that last 10 miles I honestly don't care what position you're in front of me, all I know is I'm going to do everything in my power to take it off you.
Competing for me next Saturday in Hawaii isn’t about times, splits and positions. I just want to feel like I’m racing all day. I want to feel like I did in Mumbles and Leeds this year. I want to feel like I’m giving an accurate account of the hard work I have put in over the last two years. I owe that to myself and more importantly I owe that to those (Amy and Mike) who had made the journey to Hawaii and all of you who genuinely care and are interested in my progress back at home.
So that’s it. Enjoy it, race hard and hit the bar harder afterwards.
I can’t even start to try and thank everyone for their support over the past year especially - but thanks it means the world - you know who you all are.
See you on the flip side.
Thanks
Ross