Eleven hours of Ironman training in two days, new personal record

Quick update to say, I AM SMASHED! 11 hours of training in two days. Yesterday, the Saturday morning brick was a long one, taking 6:45 to complete and I was toast by the end. This morning I did 4:15 on the bike at a firm pace and now I am burnt toast. I was a good ride, part of it was spent in a good size pack of cyclists and we smacked it. I was hurting, but it was fun. I am so happy its a long weekend, because I will need the sleep-in tomorrow. In the next few days, I will write a little article about podcasts, because I think they are great and that people training for Ironman could benefit from the info they provide and the enjoyment they bring.

Magnesium supplementation update – I have now been taking Ultra Muscleze for over two weeks and I think I'm onto a winner. I have had minimal problems with cramp at all in that time, other than minor twinges when working for long periods at high intensity. Compared to the bad cramping I was getting this is a huge improvement. I am gaining fitness also, so maybe a little bit of credit should go to that. Still, I can definitely give Ultra Muscleze the "Ironman Cafe Seal of Awesomeness".

Sleep and Ironman training

I went out for an “easy ride” for 3hrs this morning. The group I rode with was a step up from what I am used to, which was great for the fact that it will benefit me greatly to train with athletes at a higher level than me, both for the physical step up and for the motivational,inspirational step up. I can learn from people doing Ironman well and apply this to my training.

What made this morning not so great, was, for the first time in months, I went out in the city last night. We went out for a great dinner, I highly recommend teppanyaki restaurants for a great time with friends. We then went out to a bar which was nice, but this meant we got home about 1:30-2:00am. I got up just before 6:00am to head out for this ride, and as I struggled along lacking any gas on the hills, I remembered a couple of good articles I had read, on the importance of sleep to Ironman training. They make some good points and you should check them out. I, for one won't be hitting the town again any time soon. I don't feel its worth the cost to my training. Of course special occasions will be celebrated, but the going out for the sake of it is not on my agenda for a while.

Sleep more, train better, race faster
Sleep Your Way to Better Performance

Easter Sunday morning long ride

This morning was the usual Sunday long ride. I think it is a common part of most triathletes training. This mornings was a 5:50am start to ride for 40 minutes to meet with a riding group of about ten. We did two hours with the group then headed home again. It was cold to start off with but warmed up later. I felt good the whole way, and was happy with a solid 3:40 ride and done with training for the day. Now I can indulge in a few Easter treats and have no guilty feelings. Ironman WA is still a long way off, but I am feeling motivated at the moment. Hopefully over the net few days I can develop a few ideas for pieces to write to get this site rolling. I have lots of fleeting ideas which I must start writing down.