Operation Revenge on Another Rotorua

This post marks the start of Operation Revenge on Another Rotorua (ROAR) AKA training to finally complete the Rotorua Half Ironman. I know it's a long way off but I need something to get me motivated to get out and swim, bike and run. The last few weeks have been anything but restful but I have done very little training. My friend from the UK has been staying with us and we have been in full tourist mode. There has been lots of travel, lots of walking, lots of rock scrambling and lots of eating ... rubbish mainly. We've had great days out so I'm not sorry that I've had this lapse but enough is enough and I have to get back to normality. He is in Wellington at the moment and about to embark on a Contiki Tour. He's gonna have a great time. He's back with us on the 5th February and then flies home on the 6th.

I'm going to mark this as Week 1 of Operation ROAR although I've not exactly been training hard. Yesterday was an hour bike ride with Adam sorting out a new route to school and then a 30 minute spin out to the Toll Rd. This is a flat piece of road with very few cars and a half decent surface. I'm going to do my midweek interval bike training on this road and maybe jut maybe actually do some bike drills. Never done any before. Had a go at one legged riding yesterday. That was just weird. Hopefully they'll improve my cycling efficiency.

I've taken my race tyres off and they are packed away till 2 weeks out from Rotorua. I couldn't 'feel' any difference with the old tyres back on yesterday but my time for the 6.8K route was slower for a similar average heart rate but I have also put on nearly 10 pounds (over 4Kg) so that might (definitely) have made a difference. At least I have a starting point to work on.

I also went for a run this morning. Plan was a 6am start and an easy 10K along Fraser St. Reality was a 8:30am start and a shorter 6K to get back in time for Jo to go out. At least I got out there I suppose. I'm going to use Fraser St instead of my normal Cameron Rd route. It is much hillier and certainly a lot more like the Rotorua route. I have mapped out the K markers on mapmyrun and when I can be bothered I'll note these during runs.

I haven't actually got back in the pool since the race. I'm back at work on the 28th so I'll make sure I take my togs. I'm planning on doing a minimum of 3 swims a week. One concentrating on drills, one on intervals and the other just going long. If I get more swims in then all well and good but my plan is the minimum three.

I'm going to try the Endurance Nation 'way'. I'm going for a basic week that I can do week after week and just manage the 'details' to mix up the weeks. This means a basic 10 hour week rising to about 12 hours near to the race. There are also phases in the endurance nation philosophy that fit in nicely with my need for a near year plan. I am currently in Transition Phase.

Jan (what's left of it) - Transition
Feb till Apr - Out Season
May - Transition
Jun till Aug - General Prep
Sep till Nov - Race Preperation
December - Taper - RACE

So this is the starting point. Next week I'll do some 'official' testing to know exactly where I'm at and hopefully what I need to do to beat the Rotorua Course. My new targets are

Sub40 for the swim
Sub3 for the bike and
Sub2 for the run

With 5 minutes for transitions I suppose my overall target is Sub 5:45. I think that with a year's training this is possible ... if I can stay injury free. To this end I hereby do promise that:

I will not run on two consecutive days
I will warm up and stretch properly before every run
I will increase my cadence and NOT my stride length to go faster.
I will stretch after every run
I will not 'race' my long runs ... especially those close to the race. I reckon I put the last nail in the calf coffin during the Sub2 attempt around the run course two weeks before the race. It was a great run for me and one of my most enjoyable and rewarding ever but I think I would have swapped it for a Sub6 finish at the actual race. The main problem during that run was that I felt so fresh during the second half that I got carried away and strided out too far and that buggered the calf. I will increase my cadence in the future ... not my stride length ... my calfs can't handle being stretched that far ... at the moment. With lots of stretching maybe they will.

Tomorrow is my long ride. Going to try for 2.5hrs if I can get up early enough. I'll head for Reid Rd and do a few hill repeats. Be interesting to see what 10lbs does to my climbing time ... as well as the change in tyres. Fastest time so far is 12:24 (I think). Sure I can beat that! :)haha

Not Really a Post

I will get back to proper posting ... soon(ish). Life hasn't quite got back to normal yet and I haven't done any workouts for weeks. I saw these figures on another blog and wanted to document them here to remind me

Weight lost---- seconds/minutes saved:

2 lbs - 12.4 seconds for a 5K, 25 secs for a 10K, 52 seconds for a half marathon, 1:45 for a full.
5 lbs - 31 sec - 5K, 1:02 -10K, 2:11 - half marathon, 4:22 - full
10lbs - 1:02 - 5K, 2:04 - 10K, 4:22 - half, 8:44- full
20lbs - 2:04 - 5K, 4:08 -10K, 8:44 - half, 17:28 - full

I'm at the 200lb mark again and need motivation to get back down (hopefully) to the 180's. My parents come over from the UK in 11 weeks time for 3 weeks so I have to do something NOW! ... I know that visit will add the pounds :)

My kids are doing the Weet-Bix triathlon in March and they want to start training today so joining them will be my first workout. Gonna be fun.

It's growing on me!