The long weekend

So with race day a little under 6 weeks away now the training is really cranking up for the final 4 weeks before my taper kicks in and I bring back the mileage and recover ready for race day.

Last weeks training looked like this

Tuesday - 8.3mile run/walk (with 10min run / 1 min walk)
Wednesday - 50mile ride
Thursday / Friday (off preparing for weekend)
Saturday - 112 Mile (IM distance) + short run straight off the bike
Sunday AM- 10mile run/walk (with 9min run / 1 min walk)
Sunday PM - 25 mile recovery ride.

That was 14.5 hours training last week and I really should have gone to the pool or lake to keep my swimming going but am going to ensure I swim at least once a week from here on out as although my swimming is good I want to get out feeling half decent ready for the bike.

The 112 Mile ride on Saturday was a huge milestone in all my training, when I think back to Feb 2012 when I went out I struggled to cover 12 miles, now completing almost 10 times that. The course I took was somewhat as a obstacle that I needed to overcome, the route took me down to parents by the sea, The last time I did this route (march 2013) I found myself really struggling and had to rest multiple times on the trip and my legs were very very sore when arriving. It just goes to show that training really does pay off as this time round not only did I do the 68mile trip I also added on an extra 44miles for good measure cover 3,500 ft on elevation in the process.

I did around 50miles before meeting my mate Stu in Billericay, we then did around 35miles around the countryside before he went back and I continued on solo to reach my 112 target. The last 15 or so miles were tough but come race day ill know that is coming, I managed to average 16.8mph with 80 odd miles of that riding solo with a heavy backpack on the whole way, still more work to do but knowing the distance is in the legs is a huge boost ahead of Frankfurt in 6 weeks.

On Sunday morning the 10mile run/walk was another big milestone for me, with all injuries and setbacks over the past months to get to 10miles without any pain or niggles is great. The run/walk strategy for 9min run / 1 min walk seemed to be the best combination and found myself comfortably maintaining around 9:45 min pace which seems good to getting me along without hurting myself.

Heres a pic from my sat AM ride