This weeks Stats:
- Swim: 10,000m
- Bike: 270km
- Run: 37km
- Training Time: 16 hours
It is a week out from the Wollongong and the lead up couldn’t be any different than the lead up to Geelong. The last three weeks since Geelong have been testing to say the least. Following a week of recovery with a few easy sessions I had a solid week trying to get back into the groove. The last week, however, has been a bit of a roller coaster ride.
Monday kicked off with a cracking swim session. I bounced back after missing Sunday’s long ride due to not being 100% and cranked out some great numbers a sprint session. Tuesday’s strength endurance bike session was solid with some big gear hill climbs where I left something in the tank for Tuesday night’s Fartlek set. The fartlek set was a Spot special and I gave it everything I had. I pulled up a little ginger but that is nothing unusual as I tend to bounce back well. We had another sprint session Wednesday morning and I had another really solid day in the pool. I was feeling really strong and thought I was getting back to my best just in time for race day.
I pushed hard again on Thursday’s interval bike session but I just couldn’t quite hit the numbers I was wanted to. It got worse from there. My lingering toe issue had flared up after Tuesday’s run and despite going easy, Thursday’s run session was a struggle. Pushing hard earlier in the week was catching up with me.
Triathlon is a demanding sport. Not only is it very demanding physically but it is equally challenging mentally. Coming off the back of a big race, recovering physically is a no brainer, but getting your mentality right and focused on the next challenge is equally important. I came back from Geelong focused on getting the body ready to go fast at Wollongong, rather than keeping my eye on my longer term goals. Instead of trying to rebuild my base I was ripping in before my body was in the right condition to handle the intensity. To perform at your best you need to be firing both physically and mentally.
So I ended up skipping Friday’s swim set in the hope that the rest would have me back firing on Saturday. Unfortunately, no matter how much I willed my legs to push, I struggled through Saturday’s bike set. When I thought things couldn’t get any worse, I copped a good dressing down from Spot. While thoroughly deserved, it isn’t always what you want to hear. After a constructive deconstruction of my training since Geelong amongst other things, I came away feeling more optimistic with my long term goal firmly back in focus.
What a difference 24 hours makes. With a fresh mindset I hit Sunday’s 40km TT with a goal to have a solid ride, focusing on the effort rather than the absolute power number I should be hitting. I started out just above half ironman pace and to my surprise I managed to hold my watts from start to finish. It was one of my most consistent rides I have ever done! I even managed to break the hour mark with an average speed of 41.3kmh. Suddenly, I was feeling like everything was falling back in to place. We had a 10km run TT off the bike and given I was still nursing a niggling injury I headed out easy. The longer I ran however, the better I felt, building speed throughout the run effort.
All in all, its been a pretty crazy week to say the least. I’m thankful I have finished the week in a better physical and more importantly, mental state, ready to finish of preparations for next weekend’s “TRAINING” race! I’m really excited to get to Wollongong as we have a huge contingent from BondiFit heading down. It should be a great weekend!
davidjflanagan 