Pre Kona Prep
My prep for the Ironman World Championship has been short, after only qualifying in Bolton on the 4th August. I had to take a full week off to recover which was aided by my Sigvaris Compression kit and let my body rest before putting it back through its paces in preparation for the World Championships in Kona, Hawaii on 12th October. I built up the training slowly, by doing shorter and less intense sessions, to ease my body back into it. I could still feel the affects of Ironman UK, apparently it can take up to 6 weeks to recover which is time I do not have.
I have however been mindful of this and tried hard to manage my training to ensure I was keeping the risk of fatigue and injury to a minimum plus I’ve been having a weekly check up and sports massage from Tom Lane SRMT. I know I have a good base fitness but I always strive for more, like all Iron men do! I am now currently back into a full training schedule and have been putting in the long hard sessions again. My run sessions have been great wearing my new Scott trainers and Sig Sport Pulse Performance Sleeve’s. I have been able to put some great base miles in wearing the new Scott Eride AF trainer. I have also tested out the Scott T2C Evo; which I am going to be wearing as my trainer of choice for the marathon part of the Ironman in Hawaii. Both of these editions are very comfortable from the off and they suit my style of running; giving me great support. I really like the way they encourage me to roll forward to give better running economy.
My running economy was analysed at Metres to Miles whilst wearing a variety of trainers. They tested my oxygen usage running at marathon pace on a treadmill in the Scott T2C Evo against other well known brands and the Scotts came out on top. This confirmed for me that they will be my trainer of choice as any marginal gains are needed when competing at such a high level.
Along with all the running in my Scott’s, I have slowly started to up the mileage I am putting in on the bike. It has been hard to find training partners to persuade to come out and put the long miles in with. Unfortunately most of them have all done there ‘A’ races for the year. Putting in the long miles alone are hard, but it does help toughen you up mentally which should be an advantage come October. After speaking to Lucy Gossage after the Ironman UK she recommended doing some warm weather turbo session to get me used to the temperatures and humidity, I will have to face. So I have moved my turbo into the conservatory and put a heater in there as well for good measure. It is unbelievable the amount I can sweat but I guess that is what it is going to be like!!
My swim training has ticked over nicely, although I haven’t been able to do any open water swimming without a wet suit, which is a shame but I am a bit of a whimp when it comes to getting in cold water with no wetsuit. With around 5% body fat I don’t have much in the way of insulation. Instead, I have been putting the hours in in the pool doing a variety of different drills to try and add some strength to tackle the sea currents. I will ensure get a couple of sea swims in whilst I am in Hawaii, the week before as a little bit of final prep.
Overall I am happy with where I am at right now and have a couple more weeks to go and will slowly start to taper shortly. Fingers crossed I stay injury free and hit Kona in tip top shape ready to smash it.