Been a bit since Ive updated here. Theres been a few things happen since the last post. My run focus block of training has ended finishing off with a hilly 12km TT, a half marathon and a 4km TT over 3 weekends. Was happy with all performances in these, especially in the half marathon where I managed fairly even Km splits. I have also gained my first official sponsor, L.J. Hopper Photography. You can cheek him out at www.ljhopperphotography.com. New training and race kit is on the way.
We are siting now just over 9 weeks out from Powerman Zofingen which means things have become serious. Trainings been ramping up now these last few weeks. Sessions are done less at easy or hard, and more done in heart rate zones or at a particular pace, especially on the bike. This is something that I’m able to be very controlled with and defiantly have allowed me to make gains quickly. I have trained this way most of my athlete life which has positives and negatives. Some of the big negatives is that it becomes mentally draining and you can lose touch with what your body is doing, thats why this time I have reserved this method for my main build phase only. Its all part of bringing more balance to my training and life, something my coach is big on! I feel that is is working exactly as I had hoped it would work. the brains fresh and focused which means staying with these numbers mentally easier plus means I don't have to think about hitting the numbers I just go out and make it happen. I like to call it entering Peter Reid mode. For people that don’t know Peter was well known for being extremely focused and dedicated to his training, except he was this way for most of the year which ultimately lead to him being hurt mentally from the sport, thats another reason why I have done things the way I have.
Sticking to the numbers was one thing I identified as something I didn't do last year, especially on the bike. Instead of working on staying in my current zones and allowing power to increase, I rode at a power I wanted to ride at race day hoping that the duration I could hold that power would increase. Big mistake and resulted in me spending way to much time in the gray area, not getting the volume required in on the bike and impacted my ability to get in the run training needed.
I’m currently happy where most of numbers are sitting at this stage. Running wise I’m about 5% quicker for a given zone than what I was before last years race with still the really work to be done. On the bike I'm about the same if not a little lower then where I was last year, which is actually where I want to be. Last year around this time I was coming off a cycling racing block, which I think may have effected my final build for the race. This year we are building the bike and run up together which is the key and I’m confidant that we are going to get it right. Last year I peaked my run around 6 weeks out and never really reached a peak on the bike. This was a big learning experience for me, which more information was gained through my IM Melbourne build.
Last weekend was the first big weekend of training that I’ve gone through this build. 158km hilly ride on Saturday ended with me not in a great way. Poor prep with nutrition left me around 100cal an hour short, partly due to not reading labels. Amateur mistake but a wake up call that has come early enough in my build. These nutrition issues and bad habits are something I want to get nailed down asap and replace with the right ones. Was able to turn things around a little bit Sunday with a good hilly 17km run. Legs pulled up good and felt fairly comfortable on the climbs which is key.
I’ll be updating here a bit more regularly now that the fun has began,
Until next time
Hopper
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