Week 4. I am Rex the brave jedi

Wow, only 4 weeks to race day! Feel like I have been training for ages and I guess I have. Such a difficult thing to do when you have a family, a job and a house that is being built up around your feet. It'll all be over in 4 weeks...

Monday started well. It was my wife's birthday and the summer solstice. Celebrated this day by first getting 3 of my prized bikes ready for sale - that's right, 3 of my bikes are currently on Ebay! Out with the old (make room for the new...). Training started with a spin on my turbo trainer. Wow, this was hard work but felt great. It had been an age since I had used this trainer and this was a first using my winter bike. I reckon this was the first session that I wasn't using my small chain ring too. (My retro bike was on this trainer previously, now that bike is up for sale). For those that are interested, my session lasted 1 hour 15 mins and I cycled at an average speed of 28.8 km/h with a cadence of 86 revs per min and an average heart rate of 133 bpm - not sure what all this means really, but pleased I can record it. Was watching a Warpaint gig on my iPad during this session which helped keep me cycling. After my spin, I dug out my old Ghost 7's and had a run in them. These shoes felt ok and I ran about 10k in the summer sun. Hmm, I just might wear these shoes for my race... Completed this wonderful day in style with my lovely wife, much food and a wee bit of rum!

Tuesday was pants. I had one of my headache's again. My left eye was also very sore - really felt like something was trapped in there. Made today my rest day. Hmm, not sure I'm going to be able to fit a lengthy cycle ride into my training this week.

Wednesday saw me go for a run. I had been lazy during the day - this was a forced run due to me feeling guilty for doing nowt during the day. I set off after my tea and think I should really have let my food digest first. Really am not best pleased with those Brooks Ghost 8's either. Hmm, naff shoes and indigestion. Not the best of days.

Felt much better Thursday. Cycled to work and back commute style. Cycling today felt great but think it is high time I got my commute bike (Genesis single-speed cyclo-cross) serviced as it's making funny noises. Hmm, maybe the bottom bracket needs replacing again?!

Friday was another feel good day initially. Ran into work and really enjoyed this run. My shoes today were my old Lunarglide 6's - really am thinking these will be my Ironman shoes. Had plans of swimming later in the evening but my feel good feelings had dissipated. Paralysis of will prevented me swimming.

Saturday came and I decided to take out my newly built up road bike for it's debut ride. My Specialized bike had it's previous groupset and wheels swapped over (lower spec but newer). This bike felt like a rocket. She felt more comfortable, light and was super zoomy. In the lower gears the bike made some funny noises - not sure if it was the front mech or the press fit BB (have read they are known for creaking). Most unusual for me to take my 'summer' road bike on a work cycle commute.

Sunday was pretty awesome too. In the early hours of the morning I took myself to Ragley Lake for an open water swim. I was the first person in the lake and pretty much the last person out. I swam 4,000m in under 1 hour and 50 mins! To me that's a lot to shout about. This was the furthest I had swam ever and this was 200m over Ironman distance. Better yet, if this was the Ironman event, I'd have been 30 mins away from the cut off time. A much needed confidence boost and didn't feel quite so bad with that being my only swim of the week. Saw Phil at the lake too which was nice. Who's Phil? - you know, the geezer that got me into this triathlon lark in the first place! Shared my exciting story with my family once home but joy turned to sadness when I realised our Melody had caught Lunar's chicken pox. Also noticed that my wet suit had chaffed my neck somewhat too - it's never done that before (have probably not been in my wetsuit for that long before). 

My week of training finished with a run in my Ghost 8's and they were perfectly fine. I just ran for about an hour whilst my daughter Lunar was at Sunday School. Have to fit training in when and where I can!

Not a bad week on the whole but not brilliant either. Had planned to train for about 16 hours but didn't even make 12. I only swam once - but was real pleased with the swim I did complete. My running wasn't too bad and was only slight off target. Cycling was poor - I never used my IM bike and didn't put enough hours in. Maybe I'll focus more on cycling next week. At time of writing this blog post my race is 3 weeks away today!

If you'd like to become part of my Ironman journey, you can! All you have to do is support one of my charities listed below! Big thanks to those that have supported/sponsored me already. 

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