I originally posted this yesterday, but for some reason it didn’t publish.. so reposted today

 

Now my half Ironman is well in my rear view mirror, my focus has shifted to my upcoming Full Ironman in Septtember. I have a total of 9 weeks between the two races, and after my dismal showing last week I know I will have to work really hard to get myself to a level that I can expect to finish.

I have done 5 full distance races. Four of them Ironman branded with the fixed distance of 3.8k swim, 180k bike and a full 42.2k marathon to finish. The other race, which was actually my first , was a local race on the island of Sado in Japan, and was one of the most beautiful races I’ve done, with the only difference in length being an extra 10k on the bike to make a complete loop of the island, for a total of 190k.

What is interesting is that all 5 races have been completed in the 14 hour mark, the fastest 14:02 and the slowest 14:50. This is despite there being 10 years between them, 3 different locations and the extra 10k on the bike!

So while I don’t expect to beat my previous times I would love to keep within the 14 hr time limit. My endurance is suspect having not completed any race for over a year, so knowing I have limited time I really need to use what time I do have to the fullest. This being the first week after a race I have been tired, but I don’t have time to take the normal rest after a big event, and have managed to put some decent numbers in on two of the three events.

Stats

Swim. Only one session, but over 3000m in a small 16m pool.

Bike. 2 rides, longest 102k with over 1150m of climbing

Run. Bit low volume as my knee has been slightly swollen, longest being 16k, plus one 5k pace run on the trainer at 4:47 pace. All other have just been recovery runs.

Strength training. One intense 2hr session.

All in all a decent return to training, and if I can keep this commitment and pace, I should be ready to race in 9 weeks.