Micros to macros – into block 2....

Blog 4 – 26^th February 

One month down, with many more to go...Thankfully! Each month has been split into training blocks of four weeks (or micro cycles). This helps to focus on particular training objectives and slowly but concisely, work towards peaking at the right time; in my case the Challenge Barcelona (Ironman) on the 6^th October 2013. With a background in sport science, I understand the application of training periodisation; the aim of splitting your training into cycles, towards a long term goal or event. Periodisation involves a combination of smaller micro cycles that form part of a larger macro cycle. In a way, it’s a bit like having a 12 sliced pizza. You would be pretty annoyed if the pizza delivery man dropped off your eagerly awaited take-away but there was only 11 slices. Each slice represents a micro cycle but the whole pizza; all twelve equally valuable slices represent a macro cycle. You want them all; you need them all; and they all work together. Hmm, think I’d quite like some pizza.... Anyway, back to periodisation.

A periodised training plan is split into phases:  phase 1 is the General preparation, phase 2 is the specific preparation, phase 3 is the taper and competition and finally, phase 4 is the transition (recovery), see the diagram below. Not to bore you too much, I know I already am, yawn yawn, but at the minute the training programme is about building my base fitness, ‘the general preparation’. In this first month of the general preparation phase specific preparation sessions have been included to build the drills and skills to improve technique in the three disciplines.

Adapted from Trent Stellingwerff, Ronald Maughan & Louise Burke, 2011

So I’m into week 6 of the training plan provided by Dr Justin Roberts of Herts University and hand on heart, I’m actually really enjoying it, including the swimming. Swimming is clearly my weakest of the three disciplines; probably in part due to the fact that I always found it really boring and wanted to get out of the pool quicker than I got in. Fortunately my thoughts have changed; by no means am I going to threaten Michael Phelps’ reign as a swimming legend but I’m getting there... slowly, tortoise and hare spring to mind. Speaking of which, yesterday was my first official swim in a 50 metre pool, very interesting I thought, just 77 laps and that’s the swim cracked. 77!!! Holy crap, that’s a lot. Not forgetting of course that you can stop in a pool, no such luck in the sea..... Haha, you’ve got to love a challenge.

Putting the distances of each discipline aside for a moment, something else that slipped my mind when I agreed to this challenge is weather conditions that I would have to endure whilst training. As the sessions get longer, training in the gym just isn’t feasible but facing the great outdoors with the cold and wet wintery weather, well hold the excitement. I now understand why many triathletes venture off to places like Lanzarote to train.  I did however manage a 2 hour turbo session (indoor) the other day but it was incredibly tedious and quite a drain on my motivation. Fortunately, I had the athletics on the TV and my ipod on the stereo but 2 hours felt like 2 days, stuck in one place on the turbo. Oh well, hopefully the weather will brighten up and get warmer, it needs to.

For my next post, I hope to tell you that my fitness levels are improving. I’ve got the next set of physiological testing to go through on 10^th March. For now though I’m off for another swim in the mini ocean. Thanks for reading! [GN]