In the bank

Two weekends have elapsed since my last blog, during which I've covered about 1200 kms in the water, on wheels, and by foot!! I ratcheted the training volume up again to a final big weekend, two days ago. 

The weekend before last (Aug 2nd) I headed out early Saturday morning and biked the full Ironman distance (180 km) on a hilly (1200 m elevation) course. It was dry but windy, so the conditions were far from great, but I came home in about 5hrs30mins, which is about 15 or 20 minutes slower than my target for race day. As soon as the bike was over, I changed shoes and went out on a 15 km run, averaging around 3hrs15min marathon pace (my race day target is just over 3hrs30, so the pace was all good!!!). The next morning, I woke early and ran 30 kms at around 3hrs20 marathon pace, followed by another 7 km:s at a similar pace later in the day. So the grand total was 180 km biking and 52 kms of running (not to mention the one hour trek I did with my boys on Saturday afternoon!!). That was a big weekend, after a fairly hard week's training, so even I was starting to think I'd gone crazy... until this past weekend that is :-)

Last week I cranked out a bunch of big bike-run sessions with a few swims here and there. I felt strong and light on my feet, running  faster directly after a hard bike than I have done for a couple of decades! As Saturday approached, I knew this would be my last hard weekend's training before race day. I've had a busy summer with many major work deadlines, as well as keeping some time reserved to spend with my family during the kids' summer break. So seeing the end of the training process was something of a relief, as juggling these three big commitments has been a major challenge for me and my wife! 

I got my head down early on Friday night, skipped setting the alarm and resolved that whatever time I woke-up would be the start of my last long weekend. Early the next morning, my eyes creaked open and I squinted at the digital clock next to the bed, just making out the digits 03:30... damn, it was early, but a deal's a deal, so I crawled out of bed, threw my bike gear on and some food down my throat, and set out on the bike just after 04:00 hrs. I'd arranged to ride the last section with my wife Camilla (who's also training for another Ironman in October), so I wanted to get as far through the 180 km ride as possible before she set out to meet me at 07:00. 

As it transpired, first light wasn't until 05:30 and it was pitch black out, which hadn't crossed my mind the night before, so I rode in the darkness for the first 40 or 50 km. The wind was picking up again and the hills seemed steeper than the previous week, perhaps because of too little sleep! At around 110 km I spotted Camilla biking towards me. As she u-turned to join me, a surge of motivation kicked in driven by the sense of relief that I'd have company for the next couple of hours at least. 

The final climb on the circuit is about 20 km:s from home, dragging up over Hallansåsen (a ridge-back in northern Skåne county) for a few km:s. Camilla had sat in behind me since joining the ride some 60 km:s earlier, but as she occasionally pulled-up alongside me and then sat back in, I could tell she was growing impatient with the pace. As we hit the final climb, she edge-up to my front wheel and flouted a slightly mischievous grin that said "GAME ON"!!! The next few km:s hurt like hell, as she pummeled my legs, lungs, and ego by keeping one or two wheel-lengths ahead of me for almost the entire climb!! Together we raced up and over the summit, and eventually down the other side and across the flat land for 15 km:s until we were home. Finish time a few minutes slower than the previous week (5hrs37)... but much more fatigued - mentally and physically!!! And then the run...

In days before, I'd determined  I should up the distance for the 'brick' (bike-to-run) to 20 km:s, which seemed like a good idea at the time. As I biked the last few km:s into a headwind home, all I could think was that 20 km was a dumb idea, but that I should at least put on my running shoes and go round the block, or I'd be truly irritated with myself the rest of the weekend. So off I went... 1 km past by, then 2 and then 3... "seriously", I thought, "you can't turn round now"... ..."run at least 10k!". But then 15km seemed like a better idea, to equal the previous week's distance, and by the time I'd got to the turn at 7.5 km, another 2.5 km seemed doable. So by the time I arrived home, I'd run the 20 km I'd initially planned, and at 3hrs20 marathon pace. Not too bad considering how tired I'd felt earlier in the day, and I was back home by noon, in time to spend the afternoon with Camilla and kids, followed by a dinner party with friends (although I wasn't exactly the life and soul of the party!).

Sunday morning came 'round quickly, and before I was properly awake I was out running again; this time a 30 km run (15 km alone, and the second 15 km with a friend - Viktor). As I approached the half-way point, I was knocking along at just below 3hrs20 marathon pace, but with Viktor feeling in high spirits, this soon picked up considerably, and the final 5 kms were close to the 3hr marathon mark. A quick shower, breakfast, and I headed out with the family on an excursion to some old ruins on the coastline where the kids love to climb, and back home by 5pm for the second run of the day. 

This final session of the 'last big weekend' would be a fast 12km run. The wind was blowing pretty hard as I stepped out, and during the first km I felt sluggish, with the 50 km:s of running and 180 km:s of biking of the past 36 hrs lingering in my legs. But as I warmed up, so did the pace, and soon I was close to 3hr marathon pace, with the final 2 km:s around 2hrs40 pace, as planned. And then that was it, 62 km:s of running and 180 km:s of biking were over and so too was most of a six week Ironman training odyssey, all in the bank! 

These last 2 weeks will involve less mileage and more rest, which is called a "taper". Still quite some sessions to go, but I'm now essentially ready for the big day on August 24th! More to follow...