Preparing For The Big Year!

Fail to plan...plan to fail! I've heard that little saying plenty of times throughout my life and in relation to many pursuits. But another, that I have probably heard equally as often, is one which I am sure has rang true as much for you in your lives as it has for me in mine and that is 'Life Is What Happens When You Are Busy Planning Other things'. The month since my last post has reflected a mixture of both those statements ......I've been doing lots of planning in order that I might do my best not to fail in July and I had a big surprise too!

So what have I been planning. Well firtsly I'd like to share with you an outline of the training plan that I hope will see me getting to the start line in Zurich in the best condition that I can and will see me cross the finish line still on two feet rather than all fours. Before I do though I'd like to emphasise that while I have loosely based this plan on one provided on the Ironman website (Six Month Ironmman Plan) I've adapted it to what I think I can manage - if its useful to you as a guide then happy days but I'm no expert!

The first significant thing I did was change how I measured my training volume from distance based to hours based effort. I did this for the simple reason that given the time pressures involved in balancing work, family life and community commitments it's easier to calculate how I can fit training hours into my schedule as opposed to having to think ' I need to do 4K Swimming 30K running and 100 K cycling this week - now where do I find the time for that?' Also most of the commentary on Ironman training out there seems to refer to hours trained rather than distances covered.

Next I broke my time between the beginning of November and July 2014 into managable blocks, trying to take account of rest periods, events, holidays etc and then set myself a training volume for each block that I thought I could achieve e.g. Right now I'm in the middle of a four week block of winter training where I am aiming to achieve 8-9 hours each week divided between the three disciplines with the addition of a little bit gym work focused on building speed and strengthening my core. A typical week for me at the moment looks like:

• Monday - 45 Minute Swim (AM) and a 2 Hour Turbo Class
• Tuesday - 45 Minute Run
• Wednesday - 1 Hour Gym Session followed by a 30 minute swim
• Thursday - 45 Minute Run
• Friday - 1 Hour Gym Session followed by a 40 minute swim
• Saturday - Day Off
• Sunday - 1 Hour Run

I have 3 more 3 or 4 week blocks leading up to the 23rd of March and I will increase the training volume target at the beginning of each block to a peak of 10 hours. At this point 'winter training' ends and I take a two week break for recovery (meaning much lighter training) before commencing my more intensive 16 week program building on that 10 hour base. The plan during those 16 weeks will be to peak at a training volume of approximately 16-17 hours per week before I begin to taper about 2 weeks out. 

Throughout all of this as I say I will be putting effort into all 3 disciplines but I will definitely be placing additional emphasis on my cycling which is no doubt my weakest discipline of the 3.

An integral part of my training will of course be participating in in a number of events at the rate of about one per month. So far I plan on including:

• Jan/Feb/Mar - The three Naas Duathlon Series events
• April - Run Kildare Half Marathon
• May - I'm hoping to find a Cycling Sportive of approximately 100Mile distance
• June - Tri An Mhi CXIII Middle Distance Triathlon
• July - Tri Athlone Olympic Distance
• 27th July - IRONMAN ZURICH

Others, but not many, may be added to this list

My training and event calendar of course aren't the only things that I've been planning. I've also been trying to have a look at how I might raise a few bob for my chosen charity LauraLynn House. My biggest efforts so far have gone into setting up an event called 'GOING THE DISTANCE' where I have managed to enrol the the support and time of a number of eminent experts in the field of Endurance Sport preparation and participation. Making contributions in the areas of training, coaching, nutrition, psychology and motivation will be people such as:

- Gerry Duffy of 32 Marathons and Deca Ironman Challenge fame and author of 'Tick Tock Ten'

- Andy Holgate Author of 'Can't Swim, Cant Bike. Cant Run - Common Man to Ironman'

- Aisling Coppinger Ultrarunner, Coach and co-owner of Wheelworx Bike and Triathlon Shop

- Barry Murray Performance Nutritionist and Owner of Optimum Nutrition4Sport

- And a host of athletes with lots of Marathon, Ironman and Ultrarunning experience under their belts

The event will take place on February the 22nd in Wheelworx Bike and Triathlon Shop, Fonthill Retail Park, Lucan from 11am - 4pm and at a cost of €20.00 it is fantastic value with all profits going to Laura Lynn house. You can register at http://www.wheelworx.ie/Going%20the%20Distance or contact me for tickets.

So for my big surprise! Well as you can see Wheelworx Bike and Triathlon Shop feature heavily in 'GOING THE DISTANCE'. Its where I bought my bike and I've always been a big fan of the store and it's proprieter Rob Cummins who has 9 Ironman finishes to his name including two at Kona in the World Championships. Needless to say I was delighted when I needed a venue for the event that Rob and Aisling offered to host it at Wheelworx. Anyway during the course of setting it up an opportunity presented itself to work for them which I went for and I'm now a pround member of the Wheelworx team. Well they say if you do what you love it will never be work! My role is in the area of corporate sales with initial emphasis on promoting general uptake of the Government Cycle To Work Scheme and selling specifically the unique Wheelworx Cycle To Work Service including their renowned 'LIFETIME GUARANTEE'. Now forgive me for the unashamed sales line - If you would like to know more about the scheme and Wheelworx truly unique service offering please do get in touch with me or check out the Wheelworx website, the link for which has been a permanent fixture on my blog homepage since I launched it.

Well 2014, the year of my 50th Birthday, is upon us and it's shaping up to be a busy one filled with fun, challenges and excitement. For 2014 I'll be trying to do a little bit of additional posting on the blog to give you more regular updates on my training progress(about every 2 weeks) as well as my usual monthly post.

It only remains for me to thank you all for reading and sharing my blog in 2013 and to wish you one and all a very happy, healthy, fit and prosperous New year.

Remember if you like it share it and do think of LauraLynn house when you are looking at the One Percent Difference you can make in 2014.

Take Care 

John