02.09.08
Home Trainer
I have decided I lothe the Monday Night Home trainer sessions. Bring on daylight savings so we can return to the Time Trial Course!
I am shattered today, shattered.
31.08.08
Recovery week gone missing
Well recovery week has come and gone, and to be honest I don’t feel all that recovered. I feel like i missed all the benefits. Yes, training was down in intensity and duration, yet i still feel pretty beat up and not all that ready to start it all again tomorrow for Monday night’s home trainer session. I had a massage on Friday for the first time in ages, which obviously helped, but i think the fact that I haven’t had one for a while meant i didn’t come up as well as I would have hoped from that.
Add in my umpiring appointment from today’s football match which was played in pretty ordinary conditions on an extremely heavy ground has left my legs feeling really heavy. It was probably the hardest game i have had to umpire in years, given the condition, the nature of the game and the way in which the two teams went about it. So it didn’t just leave me physically fatigued but also mentally too.
Only two weeks left of football for this season though, and I am looking forward to seeing whether my season continues on for another week or hopefully two. I’ll find out Tuesday night at training.
Time to sleep, tomorrow the next three hard weeks begin again.
20.08.08
Things looking up…
Last night was a step forward. It was the best i have felt in the pool for ages. It wasn’t the longest session i have ever done, but it is one of the longest i have done recently (3300m) and it felt good. I’m actually beginning to think I might be able to do this Ironman thing.
19.08.08
4 Week Cycle
Our training at the Tridents revolves around a 4 week cycle. Training increases in intensity and duration during weeks 1 to 3, so that our biggest training week is week 3. When in the middle of one of these cycles, by the time week 3 commences you know you’re in for a big week, and you are hanging out for week 4 - Adaptation week as the coach likes to officially term it, but better known around the traps as recovery week. In ‘recovery week’ we get Monday and Wednesday Nights off and volume at the other sessions is reduced.
After last night’s session I am hanging out for Monday and the beginning of recovery week. This is the most I’ve ever wanted recovery week. It also coincides perfectly with a week off in the football before finals begin. Bring on recovery week I need some sleep.
13.08.08
“That’s an Ironman Day, you can put that one in the bank”
… they were the “reassuring” words from super coach Ben Gathercole as i struggled towards the finish line of tonight’s run session. His words were in reference to the fact that in the morning i had paid a visit to Gurney, and not Scott Gurney of AFL Canberra Umpiring Fame, the Gurney VC Rest Area at the Northern End of Lake George, which resulted in just a tick over 3 hour return journey on the bike. Then last night in what was rather unpleasant cold and windy conditions I backed this up with a 15k run session. The last 3-4 kilometres really tested the body and mental side of things, so I was happy that I was able to complete the session. Although tough and a struggle towards the end, it was a good mental hurdle to overcome.
Although the way i am feeling now, and how my legs feel I am a little worried about how many more “deposits” I have to put into the bank before this race in December.
And also riding in all your winter gear is not fun! Bring on spring…
10.08.08
Building…
The key at the moment is concentrating on growing the amount of training incrementally each week while making sure i am hitting each session. It’s certainly been a shock to the system but things are looking good and while it can be a struggle at times the benefits are starting to come about. I am up to two decent rides a week now, and am building my running as best i can in conjunction with the end of the football season, which has one more round this weekend before the finals commence.
It’s closing in on the first race on the calendar the Gold Coast Half Ironman, on the October long weekend, which will be a good indication of where i am at heading into Busselton. So far everything is feeling ok.
06.08.08
Don’t you hate it when…
You’re out on your first decent ride in a while, you’re moving along with ease, feeling quite good, on one of your standard out and back rides. You turn around to head back to town and BAM! You’ve been riding with (what the BOM website tells you after is) the aid of a 30kph southerly (gusting up to 48kph).
Well I do!
01.08.08
Hackett 1 - Broughton 0
Last night upon rocking up to swim training I was overwhelmed with joy at the prospect of the timed 1500m @ 75% that was written up on the board. Fun for the whole family!
While I certainly won’t be setting the world on fire or going stroke for stroke with Grant Hackett any time soon, I was happy with what i was able to do, considering the time of the year and the relative quality and quantity of swimming over the last month. It was also nice to hold something back and swim at what will hopefully be a comfortable pace for the 3.8k swim around the jetty in Busselton.
I was also happy that I was able to get through the whole swim as it’s been a long time since i have been able to swim that sort of distance continuously without having any trouble breathing. It certainly adds a degree of confidence to the task i have set.
For the record i swam a leisurely 23:40 for the journey, meaning if Grant Hackett swum a cruisy 15 minute 1500, he would have beat me by 22 laps (assuming 25m pool) or 550m! OUCH!!
20.07.08
Readership up to 1
Broughton.id.au understands that readership is up to one. In a telephone conversation I had on Sunday, the person on the other end of the line, made (an unsolicited) comment that they had been reading my website. Despite the fact that the individual was obviously bored, it’s nice to know the blog is being read by more than one.
**The person’s identity has been kept secret to avoid them being unfairly ridiculed.**
19.07.08
One week down
The first two weeks of training have been a killer. The volume has increased and the tiredness level has also gone up. The body is hurting, but is slowly beginning to adjust to the additional volume. I still need to ramp up the miles on the bike but i’ll be switching to two additional rides come August. The next week my focus will be on my football as I head to Shepparton for the Australian Country Champs, but following that the switch will be on, and I’ll be into Triathlon mode.