It’s just a week away from my Ironman Cebu 70.3 and with the reduced triathlon training in the past month with the arrival of baby Aaron I’m more than a little nervous! But lots of encouragement from my Tribuddies friends and my coach (email below) have kept my hopes up and I felt great during today’s swim (1.6K) and run (15K) brick.
In the week running up to the event I’ll be tapering my training further. The triathlon training plan calls for 3 short brick sets during the week:
Triathlon Training plan tapering
“Whilst the last few weeks have not been ideal preparation for Cebu, I do think that you can still be confident of having a good race. On the positive side, you are still managing to get some training done on a regular basis, even though the volume is lower than what it would have been ideally. The planned training volume from this point forward is reduced anyway in the lead up to the race. You’ve been training for this race since March and you will not lose the endurance that you have developed quickly, so whilst I know these last few weeks have been a real struggle, you are still well prepared for a 70.3 distance race. I think that you need to go into this race feeling confident and look to enjoy the experience. The important thing with a race of this distance is to ensure that you pace yourself. The biggest mistake is to push too hard early on the bike and to therefore leave yourself struggling for the rest of the race. Ignore any other athletes who come past you, they are either very strong on the bike, or they are working too hard in which case you will most likely see them again later in the race. Keep the intensity as constant as possible and avoid any significant spikes in your heart rate. Use the bike leg as an opportunity to keep hydrated and get in your nutrition. Likewise on the run, keep the intensity under control and avoid the intensity to push too hard early on. If you’re feeling good, then try to pick up the pace during the final 4 miles, but don’t get carried away at the start…..” James Pryke
