London Triathlon: A Training Diary

"TRAIN TO YOUR WEAKNESS, RACE TO YOUR STRENGTH" says Mr Trew. If I don't get my swimming training together I will have to race in the 'I'm not taking this seriously' chicken suit of shame
July 2003June 22nd was obviously a positive day. In the month or so since I have certainly peaked and begun the long downhill ride towards middle age. Work committments have shot my training programme and my diet to bits. I haven't run seriously for almost two weeks (partly for fear of getting shot in Durban) and my first serious bike ride since I got back almost killed me. I am still quite sure that I can get round the course but it seems unlikely that I will get under the three hour mark. On the plus side, I have aquired some slightly lighter bike kit and improved the amount of swimming training I've been doing.
June 22nd 2003For the first time I am beginning to think that, short of punctures or other acts of God, I can do this. Yesterday I had my first full distance run-through of the event. Starting at 9am at Hinksey outdoor pool I worked through each of the disciplines in turn. The swimming is my weakest event but breathing every three strokes and taking it fairly steady it proved to be fairly easy. Dave kindly offered to do the cycle leg with me and had planned a good fast route via Eynsham. Thursday had seen a rather punishing cycle run so I was pleased to get round the 25mile course in under one hour 30 minutes. I was left very heavy legged for the run and my normal pace was eroded significantly. Gareth was unable to run with me because of a nasty attack of hay fever but was there at the end brandishing a welcome bottle of water. I wasn't fast by anyone's standards but, I feel that a combined time of 3hrs: 3mins: 48secs gives me a platform to build on. Most importantly I know I can get round.
May 4th 2003The end of my third four-week training phase was marked by a very hard weekend of activity. With about three months to go to the event I wanted to prove to myself that I could cover the full Olympic distance over a weekend. In this at least I had some success. Saturday was marked by a back-to-back 1.5km swim and 10km cycle; and some hours later by a 10km run (with Gareth and Tim). Cafe CoCo supplied the food and the Far From the Madding Crowd supplied the beer that put me to sleep by 8:30pm. Sunday was a little different, with the Oxford triathlon Club (rather than Gareth) dictating the pace. After 50+km I had to say enough-is-enough and let the remaining nutters (who hadn't bottled it already) zip off into the distance. I did the remaining 25km at my own pace and managed a pint of IPA, chips, a king size Mars, a pint of water, a pint of orange juice, a jacket potato with cheese and beans and a treacle pudding and custard on the way. Dave know my weakness for a good steamed pudding.
April 18th 2003Forced absences from home (due to work commitments) have made sticking to my schedule tricky over the last couple of weeks. However, I seem to have been able to increase my speed and distance all the same. My swim distance is now up to 50 lengths (1,250m) and I am running with a faster group on my Thursday night runs. The extra speed means that we are now covering around 10-12km during the session. What puzzles me is my the fact that while my cycling speed peaks soon after the beginning of a session and tails slowly off, my running speed improves over the course of our hour-long session. This week saw my first session with the Oxford Triathlon Club. It was an hour and a half of 16-25mph cycling and, coming the day after a fairly hard run, it was really quite hard.
While I was away at a conference this week I read a chapter in Mr Trew's book on nutrition. As I have a largely vegetarian diet I thought I might be missing out on something vital. It seems that this is not the case. Trew suggests that because we consume dairy products I am getting pretty much everything that I need. What surprised me is the fact that he recommended cutting out a lot of fats (including chocolate).
February to April 2003I bought Steve Trew's 'Triathlon: A Training Manual and began training immediately. Mr Trew's primary maxim seems to be 'Train to your weakness, race to your strength'. This is very sound advice which I am afraid to say I have thus far failed to heed. I know I can cycle the 40km because I do it most Sundays, and I know I can run the 10km because I do that every Thursday. My problem was always going to be my swimming. 1,500m is a long way for me and I still haven't managed to do it in training. With three and a half months to go I am still training at half swim distance and it is beginning to concern me. Despite the demands on my time and the scuzzy nature of Oxford's swimming pools I must get this part of my training together.
On a more posititive note both my running and swimming times have come down quite a lot. My 40km cycle time has come down from about 1hr 45mins to around 1hr 30 mins and my 10km (6.2 miles) pace has come down from about 8min 30sec to 7min 45sec miles per mile. Cycling and running with friends has been the most important factor in this improvement but joining Headington Road Runners has also helped a lot. As I enter the third four week training block and start to consider joining the local triathlon club I certainly feel fitter and stronger. If I can stay injury free I feel like I am in with a good chance of getting round the course.