After 26 weeks of training and countless will it, won’t it moments I have made it through to the tune-up race week and taper weeks for an A race.

Season 4 of my Ironman training began back on 14th December with the aim of getting a PB at half and full distance. The goal was to race Ironman 70.3 Mallorca in May and go for a PB, use Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire as a tune-up race in June before the big A race at Challenge Roth on 4th July.

All three of those races ended up being postponed/cancelled. I did have the backup of Ironman UK also on the 4th July and made a late decision to sign up for the Cholmondeley Castle Gauntlet tri on 20th June to use as a tune-up race and refresher on how to triathlon….. it’s been a long time since my last race at Outlaw X in September 2019.

In my IRONMAN SEASON 4 PART 7 update I completed the final two big weeks of training, getting the run out to 20 miles and some really good speed sessions with City of Stoke AC. Swimming is progressing well considering all the missed months due to various lockdowns and the bike has been the constant strong point throughout this year.

The plan for these next three weeks is to use week 27 as a mini taper into the middle distance race on Sunday then week 28 and 29 reduce the volume but keep the intensity high going into Ironman UK. The aim is to reduce the fatigue in the body and legs but keep them turning over.

Week Twenty-Seven – 14 – 20 June – Tune-Up Race Week

I can finally say it is race week! After racing one triathlon in the past 35 months, it is a nice feeling saying race week once again. It’s is only a tune-up race and not the big race yet but still nice. What I want to get from this race is a good last big workout before tapering into Ironman UK, I want to make sure my race nutrition is working well and more than anything just get some practice at packing the race gear, sorting out transition pre-race and get those turnovers quicker. Find any bugs and issues now rather than during Ironman.

Needless to say, don’t expect a PB from this race. It’s just a practice but also the bike is 59 miles and over 3,000ft of gain, the run is partly on grass with a big uphill on the grass and the weather forecast is for very heavy rain. That grass section could be a mud bath and the grassy uphill could turn into a slide.

Monday:

Easy day to start the week off. I am trying to focus on getting more sleep over these next 3 weeks so I woke 45 minutes later today and just managed 8hrs sleep.

Started the day with 10 minutes of lower body stretching followed by 20 minutes of core strength.

Lunch was a 1 hour easy ride on Zwift @ 200w, average heart rate was around 115bpm although my Wahoo TICKR HRM is taking 20 minutes before giving a stable reading, those first 20 mins range from 42bpm – 80bpm.

After work, I went out for a very easy paced 4 mile run along the canal. I choose this route to get some flat running on softer ground. Pace came out at 9:08/mi and heart rate 120bpm (using the Garmin chest strap).

Tuesday:

Prioritised sleep again, waking 45mins later and hitting 8 hours for the second day in a row (only the 3rd time in 28 days).

First thing was 20 minutes of stretching. 10 min lower, 10 min upper again followed by 20 min core strength.

I spent lunch in the garage on Zwift for 60min at middle distance pace. This was 10min warm up, 30 min @ 280w, 5 min @ 190w, 30min @ 280w, 5 min cool down. Again the Wahoo TICKR gave junk readings for the first 25mins, so frustrating as I really like to see this data to track progress. I can’t link the Garmin chest strap to my laptop because that uses an ANT+ connection rather than BlueTooth. This is something I will have to look into after this block of training is done. For now, I just can’t be bothered.

After work, I took the bike down to the bike shop to get it serviced. I have been having some issues with gear changes and random gear jumps over the past 2 weeks which I have not been able to resolve. It is long overdue a service so I thought now is the best time. I have done over 18,000 miles on this bike since it was last serviced by a professional.

Tuesday evenings are always speed sessions with my run club City of Stoke AC where I spent the evening towards the back of the pack. This week we were doing 8 x 5 mins where I averaged 5:38/mi for the 7 miles and average heart rate of 162bpm. I ran this session a few weeks ago but only 6 x 5 mins and was 20sec per mile slower than today but with a heart rate of 174bpm so I am speeding up whilst lowering my heart rate.

Wednesday:

The bike is in for its service today so no bike training on the plan. A fairly easy day beginning with 20 minutes of stretching, no core strength training today. Over these three weeks, I am going to reduce the strength work.

Back in the pool at 8am for the first of four swims this week. A reduced speed session of 6 x 25m, 8 x 50m & 10 x 100m, no PB’s but the pace was good and I felt calm in the water, I am trying to swim calm rather than go out and smash the water, this approach has paid off this year with faster more consistent swimming.

Thursday:

Thursday turned out to be quite a big day. Starting with 20 minutes of stretching followed by an 8 mile progression run, starting off at 8:00/mi reducing the pace by 15sec per mile down to 6:15/mi.

I picked the bike up before lunch. It only required a new headset and rear brake plus one link removing from the chain. The rear brake is on backorder with a 4 week lead time but who needs brakes in a race anyway!

Soon as I got the bike back home it was on the trainer and smashing out a “short but high cadence” session on Zwift, more focus on the 70.3 power than anything.

Just before dinner, I went off to Boundary Park for an open water swim. I wanted to get another good session to build on last Sunday’s swim. I only did three 750m laps, again reducing the volume slightly. The swim felt really good, the water was 21.7’c and felt a little too warm for the wetsuit. The breathing was really good, I am really settling into breathing every three strokes outdoors now, this has gone well in the pool and feels good in the lake now too. My Garmin watch brought me down to earth by saying I swam 2:08/100yrd pace but tracked 660m short! GPS at its finest.

Friday:

Another easier day starting with 20 min stretching then in the pool for a shortened distance swim, kinda feels silly calling it a short distance swim but hey. It didn’t feel great today, I felt tired in the water and a little slower than usual.

Looking at it now, that is to be expected after a bigger day yesterday.

Lunchtime was just a 1 hour easy-paced run to finish off this week’s training.

Saturday:

Full rest day!!! first in a long time. Just 30 minutes of stretching in the morning and 20 minutes stretching in the evening.

Sunday (RACE DAY):

Take a look at my CHOLMONDELEY CASTLE TRIATHLON GAUNTLET 2021 RACE RECAP post to see how things went on this tune-up race. Let’s just say! it felt so gooooood to be back racing a triathlon.

• Swim – 7,489 yrds, 2hr 7min
• Bike – 131 Miles, 6hr 9min
• Run – 42.9 Miles, 5hr 12min
• Strength & Stretching – 4hr 10min

The journey continues on my IRONMAN – SEASON 4 PART 9 post.