Comments | skean: Did you know that Rapperswil and Jona were twinned at the beginning of 2007?

skean

Did you know that Rapperswil and Jona were twinned at the beginning of 2007?

Jun 05, 2007 21:01

No? Well, I do, because that was the bit of the Rapperswil-Jona Ironman 70.3 pre-race briefing I remember. For which I was of course late. But before getting into the event itself, let’s begin at some point we'll call the beginning, and how did I ended up coming to be there ( anyway... )

him, triathlon

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skean June 6 2007, 14:44:15 UTC

Harder. Of course, I may be biaised being so close to it at the moment.

The marathon was incredibly hard work, don't get me wrong, but...different. It was tough to run - physically, I started hurting during the marathon. My legs wouldn't go any quicker, and I got a specific cramp in a tendon that I had to stop and stretch out to carry on. My cardio vascular system worked hard at it, and I knew about it. It required a lot of mental talking to myself to keep running.

At the end of the marathon, my legs ached like mad, I had specific pains, I was hobbling. I was tired, mentally and physically, and had a couple of lazy days afterwards.

The HIM was different. My cardio vascular fitness was never really an issue - my HR stayed way down for the whole thing, and I didn't feel short of breath until picking up the pace towards the end of the run. It was physically hard to do, but surprisingly not as much as you might think. I didn't have specific things that limited my speed at any point, more just I had to conserve what I had and stretch it out over the distance.

What was surprising was how hard mentally it was. It was very, very tough to keep going. At times, what was still to be done felt overwhelming. Getting out of T2 was very difficult - I saw a few DNF's that happened there. And at the end of, I didn't have specific pain anywhere, or particular aches, but my body is GONE. My leg strength at the moment is just not there - its not like I feel aches or pains or tired, I simply do not have that strength available. I'm hoping it will come back. Mentally, I'm pretty spaced as well. Monday was OK, but yesterday I was a mess. I took the morning off work (also as leaving the vicinity of a toilet was not a good idea).

Not sure how to explain it better than that I'm afraid. Some day I'll be doing them both at the same time for the full Ironman, but not this year.

skean June 6 2007, 15:25:26 UTC

Yikes, I think you need to take it easy for a bit.....
What was your training regime like? Reckon you'd be ready for an Ironman if you kept it up?

Nick S

skean June 6 2007, 16:15:38 UTC

Training regime...unstructured I think would cover it. I've got the spreadsheet with the log if you're interested. I started majoring on bike in December/January, with the idea that'd I'd sort out a proper plan after Christmas. Feburary, running seemed to take over as I was training a lot with a friend who was prepping for a marathon in April. But by March, I still didn't have a plan and suddenly I had no time as I was working longs hours and away, and everything went to pot. The last 2 months have been a steady downhill.

So, no way would it do for an Ironman. I was lucky on this that I had the base of endurance to get me through. My biggest weakness is the bike. I've only been cycling properly for a year. My muscles are still adapting to it. Whereas my run muscles have by now been hardened for nearly 5 years. I need to go out for long rides to acclimatise my muscles to biking. Another couple of years of regular cycling before I consider the Ironman I reckon.

jonnycowbells June 6 2007, 16:45:24 UTC

Oh good. That still gives me time to catch up then.

Ah ha ha ha ha haaaaa....

skean June 6 2007, 17:55:03 UTC

Hehe all that skiing should surely give you muscles that translate to cycling.

What was your typical training week like then Mr Prior?

skean June 6 2007, 21:55:20 UTC

Don't think I ever got a "typcial" week, that was the problem. I've sent you the excel file I logged everything in to help you sleep.

andygates June 7 2007, 07:59:51 UTC

If only anything translated directly to anything.

jonnycowbells June 8 2007, 12:51:41 UTC

Skiing? I was meant to be skiing? Hell, I was just in it for the booze and pretty views.

skean June 8 2007, 17:36:20 UTC

C'mon you must have done a bit of skiing Mr Cowbells, I bet you're actually really ace.

Ben your training plan actually doesn't look quite as frightening as I'd have thought. Which begs the question, how do you go so damn fast?

skean June 11 2007, 08:25:00 UTC

Hare and the Tortise :-) My time isn't fast at all - I'm 1:28 behind the leaders and two thirds of the way down the field.

Theorectically endurance takes a few years to build. Last year, I was getting there with the marathon and I never relly let it drop away too much over the winter I guess.

Hows your going?

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