Ironman UK 2013 Training/Progress Thread

I haven't really stopped training since September. I have mostly been running as I have my Marathon and a half on the 11th and 12th so just over a week.

Fly out to Florida on Tuesday and can't wait for the races and also for them to be over. :p

It's been hard training in Winter however I feel I have had my best ever marathon preparation.

Last weekend was my last big training week and it ended with a 10 miler on Saturday (1:18:56) followed by 20 on Sunday (2:48:01). The last few miles on Sunday were tough but I'm hoping the Disney atmosphere can push me through.

I've worked my strategy out and am aiming for roughly 1:45 for each third. I will have to make sure I stick to the 8 minute miles for the half as if I go off too fast I know I will ruin the marathon. I had a look at last years results and loads of people stormed the half and completely blew the marathon.

My current marathon PB is 3:41 and I know I could go and beat that if it was just the Marathon. However the half the day before is going to make it a lot
tougher. Overall I would be happy to get through sub 4, very happy at sub 3:45 and I would love to get a new PB but everything would have to go perfectly for that to happen!!

Other than running I've completely neglected the swimming as I seem to do every winter. I've been doing one Sufferfest video on the turbo each week just to keep the bike legs ticking over.

On the strength side of things I've been doing 1 hour a week at the local Crossfit gym. This has been a total shock to the system. I had been going to my normal gym doing weights a couple of times a week but have been wasting my time. This style of training is insane none stop torture, and I love it. I've seen more gains in strength in the five weeks I've been going than the previous year at my other gym. Once I get back from Florida I am planning on
joining up and doing 2 - 3 crossfit workouts a week.

As for the Tri coach, it is quite expensive but I want to try it and see how it goes. I'll be starting that in Febraury and they charge £65 per month.

Looking forward to this years season and hoping to blitz all of my current PBs!!!
 
Had a great time in Florida and the events didn't disappoint.

After arriving we went to the expo and picked up our race numbers, easily the best race number I've had:



Did the half on Saturday 11th. Race started at 5.30am so it was still dark. It was really humid which made it quite difficult. I finished in 1:44. Spent the rest of the day eating and trying to rehydrate.

I'd had a bit of a sore throat since arriving and wouldn't you know it, I woke up feeling dreadful on Marathon day. Waking up at 2.30am to go for a run is bad enough without feeling ill as well. I hid this from my wife as it was her first Marathon and I didn't want to add to the worry.

Again the race started at 5.30 and I finished in 4:17. Nowhwere near my best but I was just pleased to finish given how my chest and throat were playing up.

The atmosphere was excellent and the amount of people out cheering us on in the dark was amazing.

My wife finished in 5:02 which she was really pleased with as she had a hip injury which ruined most of her training.

Medals were the best I've had yet. Unfortunately mine were borrowed by these fellows:

 
Thanks although I won't be running much for the next few weeks. :(

Got home on Saturday morning and got cramp in my right calf. Stretched it out and thought nothing more about it.

Over the last few days it got more and more sore until Wednesday when I had to take painkillers to get to sleep.

I went the Doctor yesterday and I have torn my calf. Cant' believe I get through Ironman then a marathon and a half unscathed and tear my calf sitting on the settee.

Pretty annoyed but I was planning on having a quiet couple of weeks after the marathon, have no choice now!!

I've been told I am still good to swim but even walking is painful at the moment. Going to rest and ice it over the weekend and hopefully see an improvement.
 
Like the new bike!!!

Calf is sorted now, been back in training for a couple of weeks, 5 weeks off in total. I was a bit worried about missing out on those weeks but after the Marathon and a half in January I think the time off was needed, even without the injury.

Luckily I don't seem to have lost any fitness and have got back into it fairly easily.

Have you seen the changes to the course this year? 2 laps on the bike now. I'm a bit annoyed as it's not going to be a true comparison to last year now. Only good thing I see is that T2 is now at the Reebok which I am happy with.
 
I don't even have a road bike yet... my road to iron man is in its infancy... 10KM Race in May, Half Marathon in October, Full Marathon next may then then Iron man Mallorca end of September 2015.

That is the outline plan so far but need to decide how I am going to fit bike training in.

Luckily I have a pretty decent support team around, one of my best friends cycled for a team in France for a period of time, and another swam for Scotland until his late teens.
 
Dolmio Chips said:
Like the new bike!!!

Calf is sorted now, been back in training for a couple of weeks, 5 weeks off in total. I was a bit worried about missing out on those weeks but after the Marathon and a half in January I think the time off was needed, even without the injury.

Luckily I don't seem to have lost any fitness and have got back into it fairly easily.

Have you seen the changes to the course this year? 2 laps on the bike now. I'm a bit annoyed as it's not going to be a true comparison to last year now. Only good thing I see is that T2 is now at the Reebok which I am happy with.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Got out for a decent 40 miles this afternoon at 20.5mph average which I was pleased with, definite improvements on the bike!

Yeah I'd been keeping track of the changes on Tri-Talk and was hoping they wouldn't be altering it. Was also hoping they didn't change so it would be a like for like comparison, but I can't see it making too much of a time difference hopefully. Seems they just want more bodies on the course, and I suppose you can't blame them. Just hope they do something about the swim like a wave start or something, because it freaked me out last time and I'm usually more than confident in water.

T2 at the reebok should be an improvement from a logistics perspective though, no long drive over to the school! Thinking about staying for Monday too, Craig Alexander is supposed to be attending the race and the awards dinner too. Would love to get my medal from him! My idol!!

Niceone Blair! Sounds like you've got all the right ingredients, let us know how you get on. Don't be under any illusions that you need to have completed a marathon before you do an Ironman through. Completely different beasts. I "ran" my first marathon at the end of IMUK 2013.
 
10k training for may 24th is going great, averaging 30km a week the last few weeks including a few runs over 10k already. 5 weeks to speed up a bit now that I know I have confidence in my distance! Pace is mainly stuck around 5:45 Min / Km at the moment, would like to see this reduced to at least 5:30 for a 55 Minute 10K (not bad for my first run)
 
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