back running...

Well D-day is closing in! With the calf injury a good result in Ironman has passed - I am being realistic! After the Tauranga half Ironman I was planning on a good nudge on the running and to be honest, I needed it! However the calf took 4 weeks to get over, and it really needed to be sorted in 2 weeks. The last few weeks the running has been coming back on - and the injury has settled (touch wood), although the legs are pretty hammered after each run now, that is just due to lack of fitness. 

Plan B for the running started with the run-walks, and that went quite well. Then came the two shorter runs in the same day, and then struggled through an hour and a half (couldn't walk the next day, but the calf was fine). Stuck to 3 runs days per week, to make sure I did recover. The cycling took a bit of a hit, and with the school training starting up swimming has also taking a hit (two mornings a week gone). So this week would normally be a shorter easy run, but I pushed out the longer continuous run to 1 hour 40 minutes - bit snail pace at the end I have to say (really an hour 15min that took 1hr 40min). I also gave the run intervals a bit of a go this week. It did not go too badly I have to say. The faster running was actually easier on the legs than the slower running (probably a bit less time in "stance phase"!). Didn't set the world on fire, but it certainly went OK. Still, 42.2km is a long way to run after 180km of cycling, on essentially 2 weeks training...

It is a little hard to judge how performance is going at the moment. Taper has started, so effort is down a little and performance is too, but is that just because I am going easier?! My fitness profile has definitely change in the last 2 months, and the bike is easiest to quantify, as I have the best data. My threshold data (power output I can maintain for 30-60minutes) has not increased I suspect, perhaps even gone down a little, although I think it is more likely that the harder sessions have been done in quite high temperatures where I have struggled to dissipate heat. I suspect this is the case, as I have not actually tested it - that is just from training data in general. What has increased is the comfort with which I can ride at steady power outputs - more like Ironman pace. For me this is 240-260 watts, and it is a comfortable aerobic effort, where it did feel like a more solid steady effort - hard to differentiate from 270-300w. Given I am racing more in that range - that is probably a good thing!

Swimming is a little more difficult to get a handle on, as the squad sessions have changed, mainly by those that I swim with. The pace has just gone up to a new level! I tend to get lapped a little more regularly which makes knowing how things are going a little harder! I am pretty sure I am swimming similar speeds to a month ago, or two months ago, just I am a little further behind with that some speed now. It does play with the mind a bit, when you go faster and are further behind than usual. Keeping an eye on the clock for split times has helped keep my sanity somewhat in the pool.

I also need to start coming up with a race plan! Given the run is going to take a while, I have a couple of options race wise. Take it steady and just race the race as I intended, and pretty much go for the best overall time, or smack the swim and bike, with no regard for the run, as the run is going to take a heap of time and involve a fair amount of walking anyway! The second option does allow me to stroke my ego a little and say "look what I can do". But you do look like a bit of a plonker when the run takes longer than the bike. This is what happened last time I did Ironman WAY under prepared - and swore I would never do that again! I haven't totally made my mind up, but I am 90% sure it is going to be a steady roll through the day and try to enjoy it as much as possible. I don't feel I need to prove anything, apart from finishing it! I also need to reassess what I can do for the day, and estimate my time!