Who opened that locker again??

Boy this week has been another full on week, for training, for work, for everything really! Its been so full on right from Monday morning (6am). The Sunday night I did a whole host of changes to our citrix farm, somewhat tested them, and then essentially all night worried about it, so instead of going to swim at 6am, I went into work, and thank god I did as I had to undo all the work I did over the weekend. So, it was a stressful start, and I guess it did not improve much as the week went on.
It was my own fault though for not testing 100% which to be honest, was not like me at all, I fully understand the impact that poor change management and testing can have on the end users, so not sure what got into me. Mind you, as I type this, I am going through the same changes again....this time however, I am fully testing the new steps required.....so lets hope I go swimming tomorrow morning!
I did catch the swim up at lunchtime which was good and then Tuesday was a solid brick session, with a recovery run in the afternoon. Wednesday was a long run, which ended up being a half marathon run in 90mins, and a very tough swim at lunchtime! I then stayed back at work through to 7pm, and popped over Vlads 2XU Paddington store to listen in on one of his monthly workshops, this one delivered by Jamie Hunt (former pro) on what gear we should be buying as triathletes. It was fantastic! Really well delivered, Jamie's knowledge on the deisgn and materials which go into wetsuits and other clothing was excellent, and very very interesting the science that goes into the garments. He might work for 2XU but he delivered it in an unbiased manner....
I also met a chap whose name i wish I had got. He was it seemed an average triathlete like most of us are, although he had already done a number of Half Iron Man races and to his credit a full Iron Man in March. He was so excited about his achievements, so excited to share his experiences with me and so generous with his thoughts. He reminded me what training to Heart rate is all about and why we need and must do it (when the program stipulates this). Something I have not done well on my own of late which is why I visit that bloody pain locker more than I need to. He reminded me how important nutrition is on the bike, even for shorter endurance races, he reminded me that pacing is very important and to not get ahead of myself, and above all, its all about being out there, being able to train, race and enjoy the sport and other triathletes. His first Half Iron Man he pretty much felt like I did, very bad stitch and cramps, he however, ended up with kidney failure and in hospital (he did finish the race), but his story shows how careful we need to be and to ensure we have a proper nutriotion plan and to make sure it is followed during such a long race like Iron Man....the reminder has been saved and will be reviewed weekly on my long rides.....
I got home at 10.30pm, and was up at 3.30am and on the train to hornsby to get out there and ride in to meet Vlad to join him in his recovery ride, which is around centennial. The set was all about cadence for me, so it suited the flats. Well, I ended up doing nearly 80kms which was way too much, but it was pretty good fun and not particulary heavy on the legs. The lunchtime run which consisted of 6 x 1km efforts (done at between 3.30 and 3.46) were really really hard, especially in the heat at lnchtime. I was completely stuffed after that, and was pretty buggered on Friday as well, so the heat ook a whole lot out of me, and makes we wander if I should be doing more running in the afternoons now, to prepare myself for the heat as I will be running mid to late afternoon in March....Rollo - any thoughts??

Saturday Andrew and I ran for a touch over 2 hours, whcih was about 24kms! Today I was not able to join them on the long ride but I did get up at 5am, hoped on the Turbo Trainer for 140mins followed by a 12km run which was great....so all done before 9am, which was nice.

To summerise this week :

Swim - 6.5kms (2hours)
Run - 68kms (6hours)
Cycle - 105kms + 210mins(TT) = 7Hours
TOTAL = 15hours

I was short on the swim this week, which was due to time constraints and a bit of fatigue, but I think my swim is the least of my worries. Not that I am complacent about it, but its the one leg I can consider myself to be pretty reasonable in.

So I feel okay tonight, legs seem to be okay and ready to go for the next week, which ends in a club race....whicih should be fun!

Until then......ciao!