A Muliti-sport Race Completed!

Well, after far too long I completed a multi-sport race yesterday evening. The Crazylegsevents.com race team held an evening sprint Duathlon series during the summer months. Yesterday was the 3rd and last iteration - I had been injured and ill during the previous 2 races. With some recent training sessions showing signs of some sort of fitness I entered and raced. I cycled to the race (17 miles) steady and then raced, the format being 2.5k/10k/2.5. The course was basically circuits around the Darley Moor motor race track. This was great fun but by no means easy! I held back slightly as the first run commenced. Sure enough the over enthusiastic starters soon came back to me and I finished the first run in 8:52 and in the first 10. This was pleasing and I was happy to still be able to run at his pace. I was on my Evo road bike, which is aero, but I missed the aero-tuck position and really did feel exposed in the wind. I had a decent bike split, averaging nearly 38kph. This was ok with the sharp bends. I basically spent the ride going into the red and then recovering! Not the best method but good fun! I actually caught a couple of TT bikes, which was enjoyable. As I started the second run, The legs were ok - very surprising after the short full-on blast on the bike! maybe the conditioning gym work really does pay off. I caught another guy and ended up finishing 6th overall. All in all I am happy. I certainly think I am in good enough condition to build for a longer event. Some great pics from the race below.

Key Sessions

Further to my last post detailing the theory of a training as 2 days build followed by 1 day recovery/rest, I am also aiming to complete key sessions that give me some feedback to how my condition is progressing. One of these sessions is a sweetspot bike session followed by a run interval set on grass. Today was the third such session. The aim is to build these sessions gradually. After 3 sweetspot efforts on the flat (total 1 hr 4 min at sweetspot), I set out on the run to complete 7 x 700m reps. Lat week I was picking up speed. This week, wit the additional volume, I reduced the pace to 3:55 - 4:00 per kilo. Most reps were closer to 3:50 pace and the last rep was 3:45 pace. Next session will be same volume and more speed.

This is Thursday is the final Darley Duathlon evening race. I have missed the previous 2 races due to injury and illness. I may well make this event as a training race. Some achilles pain is a worry but I have put up with this for the last 8 years! Rehab continues!

More Good Feelings

After the last blog entry detailing better feelings during a brick session, I have had a couple more decent sessions. On Tuesday I had a big training g day overall with an early hour bike spin followed by a swim set in the morning and then a conditioning/bike/run mega brick after work. My 2k run efforts amongst conditioning and 5 min hill bike bursts were close to 4 min per kilo pace. This is far quicker than my last session of this type. Now not to over cook it and build more fitness.

Virus? Tired? Stressed? Old? Or all of the preceding words!!

It was April when I recall being ok when training - feeling ok with the train sleep repeat cycle. I know my body and since suffering with a calf pull and a bout of man-flu 2 months ago I have just not felt right. The legs have been so heavy and I've not been able to recover well from what I see as medium intensity training. Whilst I accept that I will be getting slower due to age, this slowing should be gradual; not a cliff edge demise! Last week I switched to a training regime of 2 days training/1 day recovery (no training). Today was the first time in 2 months that I have sensed the old feelings that I can still move at a reasonable pace. Maybe I need the new training regime? Today I completed a 90 min sweet spot road ride over undulating terrain, followed by 6 x 700m run efforts. Last time I completed these run efforts I struggled through, maintaining 3:50 - 3:55 per kilo pace feeling crappy. Today I had increased the cycle effort and maintained 3:35 - 3:40 per kilo pace feeling more like my old self. When I have such a long period of feeling ill or unable to produce the expected feelings I seem to tell myself that all is lost and I can't do it any more. This is a mental thing and is quite negative. I have to acknowledge the stresses of the last few years and the contribution these stresses have towards reduced performance. Hopefully, life will be less stressful in the future and my performance can decline gracefully with age! Next year I move into the golden oldie 55 - 59 age group. So time to see what can be achieved in a new age group. It's a new start mentally, which should help😎 I'm off back to Saudi soon to start a new career venture. So let's see how the training is factored into that. My previous venture in the land of sand didn't do too badly for tri stuff. Onwards and upwards. More details to follow!