It's coincided with another really busy time at work which meant my early morning sessions took a hit as I had to get into work early and ended up doing sessions late into the evening, hitting that downward spiral of fatigue and stress. That said, I got my key sessions done and went back to the old school method of just getting a long bike and long run in, while everything else was a bonus.
The most important session has been my long weekend ride. Last week I got 93 miles done in a tad over 5 hours, while yesterday I went over 100 miles (for the first and last time before Zurich) with 103 miles in 5hrs 40. It was quite a bit slower than I had hoped. A 14 hour day at work followed by a family party until midnight, then on the road by 9:30am. There was a lot of traffic heading to the coast that I got caught up in and I didn't fully fuel so I was running on fumes towards the end. I noticed that my IF dropped off in the last 90 minutes because of this, going from 0.70 to 0.68. It doesn't sound much but this power decoupling was noticeable. Still, a really solid ride in the bank when it would have been easier to have gone to the pub.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2471181558
I've had another minor injury scare. Thursday became a double run day and it was an easy 8 miles in to work and then another easy 3 miles home, but literally within sight of my house I felt my right calf pull/tear again. I stopped straight away and as I type, it seems fine after a few days icing and stretching. I've bought a decent pair of calf gurds and while I hate wearing them, I will until the Ironman just to provide that extra level of security (fingers crossed). Realistically, I 've only got a few more runs left to do, so I will cut my runs short if I have to and hope my bike fitness carries through.
After my underwhelming Cotswold swim, I hit the pool today and had a much more pleasing 3km swim in 55 minutes, which although about the same speed as my half swim, it was obviously without a wetsuit, so, in theory, I should be a bit faster in July. I had another guy in my lane who was just a little faster than me and I used him to keep pace with, although we were swimming in opposite directions. It was amazing how a little competition got me to get out of my ironman plod and raise my rpe. Maybe I need to hit the swim a bit harder? We'll see.
There is something that could completely scupper my swim anyway. I've been tentatively keeping an eye on the weather in Zurich, and next week the temperature is due to get up to 37 degrees. This is quite frankly, shit. As a general rule, I don't do heat but it's looking like there could be a good chance of a non-wetsuit swim and it being baking on the run. I can't do anything about the former, but for the latter, I have a plan, which I will divulge in my next post. I've been thinking about it, a lot!
That said, I think I'd prefer 37 degrees compared to what Ali Brownlee had to contend with today at the inugural Ironman Ireland. Who'd have thought that it could possibly be a tad wet in Ireland?
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