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Norseman 2009 – January Training update

In Norseman triathlon, Simon Ward, Training of TTC (February 6, 2009 8:16 am)

August seems a long way off right now but i know from past experience that it will come round very quickly. In an ideal world I would like to be completing a lot more training right now but the first 2-3 months of the year are always very busy. I am booked up with coaching or teaching commitments for probably 2-3 weekends of each month and with short days it makes difficult to get the long rides in.

I have also learnt from past experience that if I try to do too much then I just end up getting ill, so January has been all about getting some consistency and building a base fitness level.

At the beginjing of January my goals were as follows

Swim 3 times per week for a total of 8-9k
Bike – 4-5 hrs. per week of quality riding
Run – be able to run 3 x 30 mins per week with no hip pain
Gym – 3 x 30mins per week

I’m pleased to say that without exception I have managed to achieve all of these. My swimming isn’t quite where I would have liked but I reckon I’m still in good enough shape to finish 3.8k in under 60 mins.

On the bike I haven’t managed many outdoor rides for the reasons mentioned above, but, this is where the CompuTrainer comes in. Actually I have a VeloTron (http://www.racermateinc.com/velotron.asp) and its fantastic to ride. I never tire of my sessions on this and its so accurate in terms of power output and lifelike feel (I’ll probably talk about this more in a separate post) Anyway I managed at least 3 x 1-1.5hr session on this per week averaging 200-230 watts for each ride and I felt very comfortable.

Running has always been my weakest event, mainly due to chronic Achilles problems. I seem to be over these now but I still lack a decent running base. Unfortunately just as I started to build my miles up in November I developed an irritating hip problem which althougit didnt stop me running was quite sore after each run. I’ve isolated it to a very tight gluteus medius muscle on the right side, and some very painful massage treatment and regular work on the foam roller seems to have sorted it out. This is the reason why my goal was just to get back to 3 x 30 mins without hip pain. I’ve also been building up my enudrance with some fell walking. You can walk for a much longer duration than you run, develop leg strength from the stiff ascents (not to mention some good CV work) and some good eccentric quad strength from the long descents. This should springboard me quite nicely into some longer runs in the coming months

I’m actually happiest with my commitment to the gym work. I’ve always liked lifting weights but in the last few years I have been a bit complacent and just squeezed them in when I had time. This year I made a conscious decision to be more dilligent about my gym work. I figure that the Norseman is a race which requires strength rather than outright speed. There’s also a long term health benefit from lifting especially as I get older. ( I’ll write more about this on my fitness blog ..http://3dfitness.co.uk/blog/) For Jan – April I planned to work on my strength with some big lifts (squats, deadlift, push press, power cleans etc) and really build strength. Then as I ramp up the mileage from April onwards I’ll be doing more muscular endurance work with circuit training.

So I’m happy at the moment. It’s not an ideal training volume but my #1 aim is to train consistently through to the race in August I’m on track.

Stay tuned for another update at the end of Feb

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