Going Strong

Well I have been on my Half Ironman Training Plan for almost 9 weeks now and I am rapt to say so far so good - no flare ups bad enough to stop me from training in 9 weeks - unheard of for me!

It just goes to show that my intuition was correct about taking on the Half. My reasoning for the Half Ironman so early on was to ensure I disciplined myself to take a super conservative approach to my training so I don't end up injured. I knew that if I wanted to even get to the start line I had to be cautious.

So often early on I wanted to add speed work to my running or add weights to my program but just listened to my body (and my physio's) and waited and waited until I was recovering well from the training load and my body adapted.

The downside is my speed is nothing to write home about just yet but the upsides outweigh this. I rarely pull up sore, I have not missed training sessions through injury or illness and my body is absorbing the increase in training load from week to week really well.

The training really picks up the pace next week and I feel more than ready to tackle it which is very promising.

Add the fact I am training my ladies early every morning of the week in the middle of winter (this morning we ran in the near dark and rain) which is definitely heaps of fun but by the end of the week when I am getting tired means I am dragging my butt out of bed when I would really like an extra hours sleep :)

At the moment my week consists of 3 x run (longest run is 75minutes at the mo) 3 x bike (longest bike is 2 hours at this point) 3 x swim (longest swim is around 3k) and 3 x weight sessions of about 45 minutes including my physio program.
If I am beat I drop a swim session from time to time simply because this is the least of my problems - I am swimming quite strongly now and am not at all worried about the 1.9k distance. That gives me a bit of a mental holiday from time to time when I need it.

Tomorrow I have my long run and speed swim session and Sunday I have my long bike and a run session as well and I am looking forward to both days - always much more fun when you enjoy the sessions!

I am eating like a woman possessed to keep up with the calories I'm burning and while for the most part it is all good stuff from time to time just from sheer exhaustion I'll go for something easy like toast which is not ideal and typically I always pay for it next session so I need to be a bit more disciplined about that from here on in as things step up once again.

It is a busy few weekends coming up with Chloe's dancing. She is in a production of Honk the musical so has dress rehearsal tomorrow for 4 hours (time enough for me to run and swim!) and next weekend rehearsal Friday night and shows on Saturday and Sunday.
In between this Chris or I will be dragging Cody and his drumkit around to countryside for his band practice :)
The following weekend I am doing my Level 1 Triathlon Coaching course all weekend.
And after that it will be SPRING!!!

Winter has really kicked my butt this year, it has just been rotten and my skin and hair is really looking a bit worse for wear so I am really looking forward to some nicer weather that's for sure.

Anyhoo I think that is about it for now, time to log off and grab a cuppa.