Rookie Goes for 4 in a Row @IMUK Week 2/28
Areet…
Speak to anyone who did IMUK in 2019 and they will tell you that the toughest challenge out on the revised circuit is now without doubt, the ‘brutal’ bike leg…
To me, It felt like 112 miles of long, slow, continuous, relentless climbing…
And I bloody hate climbing….
It’s no wonder the DNF rate was a whopping 20% last year…
I only made the bike cut-offs by the skin of my teeth…..
So the focus for 2020 is crystal….
Get the bike time down….
In order to improve our bike time, you would think that the obvious thing to do would be loads more training on the bike right?
Maybe….
But remember when I told you last week that on New Years day I weighed 16 stone 1 lb and am carrying about 4 stone of excess lard???
Well in my Rookie opinion, and without meaning to state the bleedin obvious, the best thing you can do if you want to get yer IMUK bike time down, is to shed as much of yer excess weight as possible before you even think about climbing onto the saddle cock…
If you are in any doubt about what I am saying here, then on your next training ride, strap a 20 kilo bag of spuds to your back and go try cycle up your local ‘mountain’…
Half way up, take the bag of spuds off, continue up the mountain, then come and tell me which you found easier….
It really is a no brainer as far as I am concerned……
On that basis, for the month of Jan, I have deceided to ditch the bike completely and add in an extra 10k midweek run instead….
In the past I have found that extra running, mixed with a sensible diet, is how you lose the weight…
So me schedule looks like this….
Mon – Pool Mile
Tues – Weights set in the gym, protein shake in sauna to finish
Weds – 10k run
Thrus – Pool Mile
Fri – Weights Sesh in gym, protein shake in sauna to finish
Sat – 10k run (option to swap to sun)
Sun – off
I have not drank or smoked since the 1st Jan and am trying to eat right (however as always, diet brings it’s own set of challenges, but more on that another day)
For entertainment purposes, I thought it may be of interest to record how my early new year runs have ‘felt’ considering I have not trained for about 4 months and have largely been on the sauce that entire time, so here they are….
10k Run #1 of 2020 – Weds 7th Jan – took this ridiculously slow, almost taking the piss slow, focused on completing the distance instead of time, took over 1:15 – which is easily 30min over my ‘PB’ for this distance – first 2.5km tough, 2.5km -5km starting to struggle, 6km coming unstuck but then gel kicked in and I floated on a caffiene enfused high to 8k – 8-9k tough – final 1k horrendous – back at base spent at least a good 5 minutes keeled over coughing, thought I was going to Yak on several occasions
10k Run #2 of 2020 – Sun 10th Jan – The only way I would describe this is that it felt like lap 4 of the Ironman UK marathon from the outset and throughout – horrible – back a base repeated the 5 min ‘post run’ ‘keeled over’ coughing fit and once again felt like I was going to Yak but didnt. – 1:12
10k run #3 of 2020 – Weds 15th Jan – starting to get into it, feeling easier, the point at which I am losing the will to live is increasing much further into the distance, amount of time spent coughing when back at base signficantly reduced – 1:10
10k run #4 of 2020 – Sat 19th Jan – Found the garmin and fired it up for this one – amazed at how well it worked once charged given that it has been hibernating for 4 months – made the mistake of chasing the numbers for the first 30 minutes as you do when you are wearing a garmin – felt tough for the first 5k – reverted to ‘feel’ and adjusted the pace accordingly paying no attention to the watch (slowed right down) so the second half felt much easier – Over the moon with 1:03 – Hardly any coughing back at base – The Garmin is a game changer if you want to increase your pace – but I should still be in ‘cruise’ mode to be fair…. www.strava.com/activities/3024253766
Has my plan worked?
In terms of the early results, 2 weeks in and I have lost 4 lbs which is a good start – nothing happened for the first week but with me it’s almost like i’m operating ‘a week in arrears’ on the weight loss front…
Be interesting to see where we end up at the end of Jan….
Next Update Sun 26th Jan
To understand why I keep entering IMUK click here www.iron-rookie.com/4-in-a-row-imuk-1-28/
Like this article? so will your mates – feel free to share it and don’t forget to ‘add’ me on FB where you will find my daily training log for 2020 updated daily, as it happens
By the way, have you heard about this book? its nearly 500 pages crammed full of hints and tips detailing exactly how I was able to go from zero fitness to completing an Ironman triathlon and covers super sprint, sprint, olympic 70.3 & full iron distances all from a ‘first timer’ perspective – please take a moment to read the reviews on amazon www.amazon.co.uk/Secrets-Ironmen-Iron-Rookie/dp/1974002322/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540676777&sr=8-1&keywords=iron+rookie
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