I'm a "Triathlon" cyclist not a "Road" cyclist

Sometimes I forget that in my need to try to be good at everything. I went out last night with some young guys for a 2 hour cycle and found it challenging enough as it was at a fairly high tempo with accelerations up hills etc... I am not used to that because I train all the time maintaining a fairly steady (albeit reasonably fast) pace. These guys (roadbikers) ride like this all the time and they usually always go for hard 40-50 k rides max. The only time I felt like I might have been gaining ground was near the end of the ride when I was actually getting more comfortable with the pace and could have kept going because of my endurance. Anyway, changing the subject, I know i need to get some pictures on here to make things a bit more interesting. I will see what I can do. Otherwise, I am a bit mixed up this week with training. I am supposed to do 16 hours of training and i might get that done but alot of it is going to be on the weekend.

This blog is mainly a record of my training for myself and anyone who wants to read it. It is also about how you train for a goal (ie an ironman) and try to fit that into a normal life. This week I am feeling a bit like I need to remember that I am also a lawyer with a busy law practice (which pays for all my leisure activities) For better or worse, my law practice is much busier in the summer than the winter. I make a substantail portion of my yearly income in the months of June-October. This makes it tough because a substantial portion of my training and recreational activities happen in that time as well. This next week (end of June) is literally the busiest real estate week of the year. When you throw Canada Day in the middle of it, it can be crazy. I have people buying and selling homes all next week. On top of that I need to train 16 plus hours. It is going to be a bit crazy. (But I have done it the last two years) Tonight i am cycling for about an hour and a half. This morning I swam for almost an hour and did around 2900 meters. My cycling is supposed to be a series of speed drills tonight- 9 minutes fast, followed by the 3 minutes slow done 5 times with a warmup and cooldown. I will probably do that on the Pownal route.

Week 8

This week i am feeling a bit of pressure again trying to fit my workouts into my schedule. Yesterday morning I did a short swim of 1800 m and then did a 45 minute run after work. My legs felt very heavy when I started the run and then it got better as it went along. Last week I was full of enthusiasm and this week I feel a bit tired. I had a great swim this morning with Tyler Read. We did 2600 m fairly hard and Tyler pushed me all the way. I am thinking of doing the Fulton Campbell half marathon this weekend and biking from Charlottetown down to Montague and back. That would be my long run for the week, but would not be quite long enough to qualify for a long cycle. Between now and the weekend, it will be a question of trying to fit in a hour here or a couple of hours there.

The best week so far

This is now the end of week 7 of my 16 week ironman training program. This has been the best week training wise in terms of being able to balance training, work and life. I have completed 15 hours of the 16 hours on this weeks program. (and the day is not over- i have an hour of cycling left to do and i will try to do it this evening. )

I have started taking off Fridays from work and this helps with having enough time. This past Friday was an off day so I went kayaking in New Glasgow for something different. Saturday, I was sure it was going to rain so I was up early and on the road cycling at 7am. I did about 4.5 hours around Queens County and then ran for a half hour after. No matter how fit you are, that is a substantial workout and takes a bit out of you. I love the feeling, though, when i finish and get cleaned up for the rest of the day. I went to the Farmer's Market and had a big lunch. Sunday morning I did a two hour run and it was basically sort of slow and steady. I am still having problems with my toe and right foot. Corena has diagnosed it as being caused by my big toe starting to turn inward, maybe caused by a bit of arthritis. That is entirely possible as my mother has a lot of arthritis and lots of problems with her feet . (we are our parents children) . I have glanced at the schedule for week 8 and it is slightly harder than week 7. (they will get progressively harder till 4 weeks before the race.) I will just have to keep a positive attitude.