5 days before Tri #2...

Wednesday 28 April 2010:

WORKOUT:

Swim(30 mins): I am really fortunate in that I have a pool downstairs. Sadly, it's a very small pool. Not quite a "Mr Turtle" pool (i.e. plastic kiddie pool with built in slide), but certainly not something intended for hard training triathletes! I'm not sure how big (i.e. long) the pool is, but it isn't very big. I'm guesstimating that 4-5 legths of it would be equivalent to one length of the Hampton pool.

In the pool shortly after 6am, sporting my Speedo swimming cap (in "fantasy pink"!), Zoggs Speedspex Mirror Goggles (which so far, touch wood, seem to have solved my leaking goggles problem (I kid you not, I've been through at least 4 different types of goggles), Zoggs Aqua-Plugz (to avoid the dreaded water in the ear - these being new plugs to try to avoid the problem I was having with the "arms" of my Speedo ones digging into my ear when the swim cap presses on them), QR tri top and shorts. Unfortuanately "bun lady" (so named because she wears her hair up on the top of her head when swimming) beat me in (gym officially opens at 6am, but, those "in the know", know that the timer unlocks the main door a bit before 6am), meaning I wound up on the crappy side - i.e. the side with the ladder.

Warmed up with 10 lengths of breast stroke, followed by 10 lengths of crawl; then switched to alternating between 4 lengths of breast, 4 lengths of crawl. I think my breathing is getting better, but I'm not sure. I guess I'll find out for sure next Monday (i.e. Thames Turbo Race #2). About 06:15hrs "nice smelling man"("NSM") came in (not sure what cologne he's wearing, but he does smell nice!), saw that the "pool was full" (which, given its rather small size, it is if you've got 2 people doing lengths) so went into the sauna to wait. Bun lady was done about 6:20ish (early for her, she usually finishes about 6:30, but then again, she usually gets there later…). Shortly after 6:30am another guy came in (not sure I've seen him before, older guy (but not "old old") could do with losing a bit (but not heaps). "New guy"("NG") saw both me and NSM but decided that there was room for him too - plunked himself into the middle - swimming between NSM and me! While he wasn't a huge guy, there just wasn't enough room for NSM and I to swim comfortably with NG in the middle! NSM and I exchanged glances (of the "what is he doing???" sort) but carried on. NG managed to avoid making any contact with me - if he had I'm pretty positive I would have gone ballistic - him just being in the pool was cramping my space (not too mention style!) never mind any "incidental contact"! That said, I'd like to think NG understood why there was a whole lot more splash to my kick. Must try to beat bun lady in on Friday (i.e. my next swim).

Bike (60mins - Turbo Training "Combo" programme on stationary bike): Into the gym from the pool about 6:40am; put my cycling shoes on (I've taken to wearing cycling shoes on the stationary bike - finding the more rigid sole to be beneficial) and jumped on the bike to do the "Combo" programme I pulled from www.turbotraining.co.uk. The combo programme is a combination (betting you guessed that much!?!) of short hill intervals, sprint intervals and longer hill intervals. I've been doing programmes from turbotraining for the past 2 or so weeks, quite enjoy them and find they help "mix it up" on the bike - something to do other than read Heat and Now magazine (though I do still make sure to get some "H&N Sessions" in each week!). In terms of music, today I listened to some of Lee Harris' "Housenation UK" podcasts. For those of you who like House music, I highly recommend Lee's podcasts - they are absolutely brilliant - far better than a lot of the mixes I've bought (and I've bought heaps!) I'm in the process of loading an old iPod with a bunch of his podcasts, all of which provide a brilliant backing track to some focused work in the gym (new old pod to be my "gympod"). About 12 or so minutes into the programme I was sweating (having warmed up and into the first set of hill intervals) and breathing a lot harder - heart rate monitor reading about 140ish. Prior to doing the turbo programmes on the bike I found it difficult to get my heart rate up on the bike, now, doing the programmes I routinely see my HR in the 140-160 range. Fair to say I'm working a lot harder on the bike than I was. A solid 60 minutes, going 34.55km.

Run (20 mins): Wanting to work on my bike to run transition, I jumped from the bike to the treadmill (after of course wiping the bike (I SO HATE people that sweat all over the equipment (and boy oh boy was I sweating - leaving two what are probably best described as "sweat lakespuddles" on the left and right side of the bike) and can't be bothered to wipe it down!) and changing my shoes (even I, the Tri newby, know (and so far have always remembered...) to change my cycling shoes for running shoes before running). In the interest of trying to get my legs going and not feeling so heavy I started out faster than my intended 5km pace - running for 2 minutes at 7miles per hour (according to the speed on the treadmill), decreasing to 6.5mph for the next 4 minutes, running the last minute of each 5 minute block (for a total of 20 minutes) at 7.0mph or faster - save for minutes 18-19 and 19-20 which I ran at 7.5mph (or 8mins per mile). Whew. Fair to say I found it challening. Not impossible (because I did it!), but challenging. 20 minutes and approximately 3.5km.

Getting of the 'mill I noticed that my left heel was quite sore, looked down and noticed that the shoe had "bitten" my ankle - blood on my sock and on the back of my "Sinisters" - not so much that it looks like I've been attacked by a dog, but enough to look "tough and hardcore". Yay me!

Impressions: A good session. Seriously annoyed with NG "creating" a 3rd lane in the pool, to the point of my getting out, but, doing so meant I ran for 20 minutes after the bike (a good thing).

DIET:

I try to eat reasonably well, but, sometimes (perhaps all too frequently) find myself drawn to chocolate and crisps. Not necessarily in huge quantities (though I suppose what constitutes "huge" varies from person to person), maybe a chocolate bar and a small (i.e multi-pack) bag of crisps after dinner while watching tele. I suppose it's probably more of a habit than something I genuninely hunger for (though I'm not sure…).

On the advice of a personal trainer I had last year (which was, in hindsight perhaps not my best decision) I tried going really low carb but found I felt like rubbish (i.e. no energy, headaches and really (REALLY) irritiable) and soon realised that a low carb diet wasn't providing me with the energy I needed to fuel my intense gym sessions. At the time my training was more focused on lifting "big and heavy" (with carido thrown in for "good measure" and much to the annoyance of my trainer ("you're going to go catabolic doing all that cardio" being the oft heard refrain…), but with triathlon firmly on my agenda for 2010, I was keen not to give up my beloved cardio (a love which is, at times, bordering on the obsessive!). I know there's lots of information and advice out there (i.e. internet, books, studies, etc.) about low carb diets and their various benefits (weight/fat loss in particular), but for me, and my goals (i.e. triathlon) I don't think low carbs was (or is) the answer. Although I'm not a trained nutritionist, I really question the relative merits, let alone safety of trying to limit (or in some instances eliminate) a particular food group - particularly when it provides the primary source of fuel for many of your bodily functions? No doubt too many carbs (much like too much of anything isn't good (except maybe sex, money and chocolate...)) aren't good either - guess I like to think of myself as being "carb aware". By carb aware I mean that I think about what (I think) my body needs and fuel it accordingly. And yes, my body does NEED chocolate (and crisps!).

Pre-workout:
coffee

Post-workout:
1 scoop Optimum Nutrition Whey Gold Standard (Rocky Road flavour);
1 scoop MyProtein's Superfood Xs (mixed with water and orange juice); and Cheerios and soya

Mid-morning Snack:
oatcakes and peanut butter; and
Apple

Lunch:
Meditteranean Tuna sandwich on whole wheat bap;
Carrot sticks;
Apple; and
Raisins, dried cranberries and almonds

Mid-afternoon Snack:
Luna bar; and
Banana

Dinner:
"Purple Power Shake" (I'll post about what this is soon);
toasted tuna buns (i.e. toasted buns with tuna and light mayo);
bag of cheese and onion crisps.

Maybe it was the Purple Power Shake (and all the added fibre!), but I didn't even feel like chocolate after dinner! Strange (but true).