March - the month that was...

The training month or March is pretty much done. Here are the main points for the month that was:

• March was a good start to my semi-focused build-up. I got stuck into weights (not overboard, but consistent), got into reasonably regular swimming, made progress on the running front, and did not appear to go too far backward on the bike! I made the 40km swimming for the month, got two runs in over 1hr30min, and one over 1:45 (just), and I think this week will be 5 hours of running (have not added it up yet, but should be a little over). On the down side the legs do feel a little more fragile running at the end of the month than at the beginning - but not at snapping stage yet (I hope). Cycling has been low priority - no long rides this month! A hour and a half windtrainer is about the longest. Did try for a little longer, but a puncture at 1:15 and it being 7:30 at night sort of took the wind out of that sail.
• I still have a fair way to go on sorting a good routine out. I got a little out of whack mid-way through one week, and did let it upset the week - which annoyed me. A couple of disjointed and busy-not-achieving-much days got to me, and I sort of let the training go out the door. I really should have got back on track after the hiccups, rather than let it get to me. The idea of making monthly goals, rather than weekly was to try to help avoid this...
• I had my first "bad" training session this month. One of those, "OK, this is not going to be flash", and it wasn't! Now I have had a few fairly depressing sessions - but they have just been due to lack of fitness (like finishing a set of 1km running reps on the Friday interval session, and realizing I had run a marathon at the end of an Ironman faster than my "efforts"). Anyway - the warm-up for this "bad swim session" was OK, and it was only ever going to be an easy session, but once I started the main set - I just felt awful! A combination of tired (muscle soreness and wanting to be back in bed tired), and hypoglycemic - the tank pretty much completely empty - probably due to a steady day the day before and not eating well enough that day. The first goal was to get to 1500m, as that would get me 40km for the month, and I got there, but not before a few dark moments of really just wanting to get out and go home! Then it was 500m to finish the set we were doing, so I got through that, but really the only thing keeping me going was that I was actually swimming OK for feeling so bad (doing 1:25's on the 1:45 for 12x100 - with a bit of a draft). The next set was a strength set - with a heap of "bands only". Now I swim well (relatively) doing pull, but bands-only are really my arch enemy, second only to hypoxic swimming. So that was not going to happen. To resurrect something out of the session I decided to do a kick set (same set, just kick), and managed a 1km kick set in the end, including a few 25's on the 25. So the session sort of ended up a success (3km including 1km of kick - no fins!) after being doubtful about making 1.5km initially!
• What I am now finding is that I can do the occasional good session (swim, bike and run), but no way can I back up sessions. If I have a good day, the next day must be quite easy. Even two relatively achievable sessions of the same discipline on consecutive days is hard work at the moment. General nutrition has been quite good, better than in general for the last year or two! I am feeling a little low in Iron, and anaemia has been an issue for me over the years. So with a bit more running on the cards, I will need to be careful with that.

Goals for the next month:

• I want to be conscious of not doing too much too soon - and being in the shape of my life in August, and a gibbering wreck by December. I am contemplating a few races over winter, which I had not really got my head around until this point. In the back of my mind I know I probably should front up to a few things along the way - just to get back to racing mode...
• Weight training is still the higher priority. Just keep with the consistency, and with the basic program I have (which only takes about 30min). In the second half of the month I may add in a couple of bigger upper-body sessions, but that is only an option. If I feel I am plateau-ing a little, I will do a couple of sessions of alternative exercises - just for a change. The big thing to add into this block is more core strength (start!) and more stretching (have done a couple - and realized I need to do more). I will quantify this somehow - maybe that is a goal!
• The 40km goal for total swim mileage worked well for last month, so I will make this month 50km as the target. Two swims of 4.5km would also be good - this should not be too hard either, as half my swims are around 4km anyway.
• Running is higher priority, and I do just want to be consistent - without over doing it. Two runs of at least 1hr45min would be good, and the target is one long run to be 1hr50min. One week to have at least 5hr 30min of running in it. I think the better plan is to increase the frequency at the moment - so just add in a couple of 20-30min runs in a couple of the weeks. I may do a 6km time trial at the end of the month, or it may roll into next month. I think I need to also make sure there is an easy run week in the month as well - back off before I need to!
• Cycling - that can just tick along. I expect there will be some degree of de-training, as I have not done a long ride for over a month. There is a 25km Time trial coming up in training, so I will probably have a go at that. I will not really go for my best time, Just a ride to see where I am at. If it is within 2minutes of my best time, that will be a good result.