Basic Week

Here is a pic from a while back when I was down in Wanaka for the Challenge race. That's Bevan James with me. You can hear him in all his raspy glory on the Ironman Talk podcast. I hosted the show with him that day while Johhny Newsome was out hammering the bike. Doing the podcast with Bevan is always a huge laugh for me!


I'm still down in New Zealand taking advantage of the nice summer weather and long days. The week after Epic was a bit of a recovery week for me. I wanted to take a some time to let things heal up so I could focus on my next task at hand which would be consistent weeks of training. I don't really enjoy these kinds of blogs because I find talking about training in too much depth to be boring and unnecessary for my blog. But since this is going to be my first year racing pro and my first year with an actual coach I figure I would take time once and a while and break it down.


I meet with Gordo, my coach, after Epic and we came up with my game plan for the rest of my time in NZ. The plan was built around the idea that I will be racing Wildflower in May and then Ironman CDA in June. Of course everything I am doing right now is built first on the idea of health.


Gordo is not a coach that is going to give you workouts on a daily basis. His philosophy, which I strongly believe in, is doing the same "week" for blocks of time and then building off of each block. I like that because it lets you have a set schedule and you can then manage the rest of your life around it. I am amazed at how well this process works for me. I have not been doing it like this for very long and already can't figure out how I trained before this.


Here is what my week looks like:

MONDAY-
Rolly swim (He is the squad coach) >6K.

JZ workout (Joanna Zeiger hooked me up with a really good gym routine that helps me not only build some strength but also ads to my flexibility issues. Gordo has added to that routine as well.)

Optional 90-180 Brick. Mostly I will just commute on the bike to the pool and do a 30 min run. If I am too tired I ditch that so that I can be sharp for the rest of the week.

TUESDAY-

Rolly Swim >4K

Gorges ride. That is one of the long rides we have here in CHC. It takes you out to the base of the hills for some rollers and then has a really nice long stretch that is a good hour 30 of either nasty head wind or sweet ass tail depending on the weather. I have yet to get a nice piece of tail. The ride from my place is 165K

Easy run 30-45 min. I don't really run straight off the bike yet. I like to stretch and refuel first.


WEDNESDAY-

AM run 30 min

2hr flat ride. I ride with Dave Dwan one of the crew guys from Epic and we head over to sumner for a nice coffee shop ride. I really enjoy a nice coffee on the beach in Sumner!

PM run 30 min

Yoga.


THURSDAY-

Rolly Swim >4K Make this a day where I go a bit faster. I either lead my lane or jump up a lane.

JZ workout.

Easy 30 min run.


FRIDAY-

Rolly Swim >5K

Ride to Little River. This is the ride we did first day of Epic but we went past to Akoroa. The ride is between 3-4 hours depending on where I start. It is pretty flat but the winds can be really hard and the road surface is rough as.

Easy 30 min run.


SATURDAY-

Ride to Corsair Bay. This is a bay just past Littleton. I ride to Sumner and then take Evans Pass (steep climb but short) over and then put on the Blue Seventy for a 2 loop swim in the bay (30-45 min). After the I go for a 30 min run and then ride back.


SUNDAY-

Ride Long Bays. This is a ride that has a nice flat section to start and then climbs a bit and then goes into rollers followed by an hour of flat.

Easy 30-45 min run

Yoga.


So there it is. I repeat this week until I leave. I am going into my third cycle of it tomorrow. Of course there are variations to it when weather forces you to change the day. If I have to miss something I don't "tack" it on to the next day or make it up. I just carry on with my week. Being anal just makes life miserable and a miserable life makes for poor racing.


There is nothing complicated about my training. I am working on making sure that I understand that and don't "think" about it too much. So many people obsess on their training, which is fine if it works for them, but I would rather not be that way.


I am rebuilding my website now and will try to get things updated with in the next few weeks.

Cheers,
bdc