Yep, even in London there are places where cycling would be so much quicker. But if the tubes work perfectly, I have got from Clapham to Paddington in 20mins before. No way to do that on the road with all the new traffic lights and cycle lanes (I’d done it in 20mins at one point in time, but whilst the new cycle lanes are much safer, they force you to ride slower and stop more frequently)
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But think of all those explosive 700w efforts away from the lights 
Not feeling great this morning.
Was feeling great yesterday. Solid 235TSS day, with gentle morning Zwift, then a Zwift Race at Lunch (4.3w/kg), and a Swim set in evening
My CTL is now above 135
When you look from a distance at 15 hours or 20 hours, or whatever number of hours training, it is just a number.Its easy to think “if I had time, piece of piss”, its like looking at a mountain from some distance away. However, when you are doing it, it can be really daunting. Firstly the time; to get to and maintain a high CTL becomes a massive task, it means finding 2 or 3 hours almost every day to train.
Almost every day is a double or triple training day. A distance equivalent to an OD triathlon is pretty much a normal training day, a HIM distance is a long training day. Easy days are the ones where you just do one discipline, a 120km ride is an awful lot easier than a morning ride for an hour, a lunch run for an hour followed be an evening swim
Maybe its an age thing, but tired muscles seem to take much longer to warm up. Initially it is easy to think, “i’m going to bin this”, however, I find that after 10-15 minutes all is back to normal
Anyway, Lent didn’t seem to survive long… I’m off to buy lots of chocolate
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Hey Matt, others who know more than me will chip in, but I think this is the first sign of overdoing it. Particularly if this is day in day out.
Stay fit and healthy. GL.
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I don’t know how you’re doing it tbh; I’d be broken by now. Or just sick of the training 
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Was also going to say that it’s ok to take a day off. Listen to your body!
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Really? I’m not saying Matt isn’t entering that territory, but the Trainerroad workout text always talks about this. And they do the same on their podcast. When you’re tired from training and the muscles are fatigued, you can feel rubbish before getting properly warmed up. I’ve already had numerous sessions where initial warm up watts at 50% have felt hard, and then 90mins later I’ve knocked out 3x20 sweetspot wondering how that was possible. But that’s largely the point of the warmup.
What is more concerning (to me) is the risk mental burnout, which is the flag a post like Matt’s latest one can be a warning sign of and something to be wary of. That would be where I’d agree a day off can help … and according to his plan he has one of those coming up in 36hrs.
By the end of four 16h weeks I’m ready for my Ironman taper!
I think that the mental side is the toughest. Certainly not helped by mother in law calling at midnight to complain about eldest son, who is living with her in the UK.
When I am actually out exercising, I almost always feel great (after warmup period), both mentally and physically. The issue is mainly the thought of going out, especially at this time of year, when it is nice and warm inside and cold outside
I wouldn’t normally write a post like the last one, however, since I wanted to use this thread as general discussion / diary, I want to be open that there are downs as well as ups. @stenard I am guessing that there were times like this on your sub 3hr Marathon… not withstanding the disappointment with London (which was actually one of the best posts I have read on TT2.0)
Mood much improved
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Phwoar. Went all in on that 
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Weight was very good this morning 
. I’ve put them in my filing cabinet, locked it and put the key away, otherwise I may have a big pile a wrappers by the time I go home
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I don’t disagree - that a warm up can help you out of feeling rubbish. But it is also a sign of building fatigue.
I can’t actually recall the post you mean? Didn’t we migrate over a while after London?
Anyway, you are right. That was largely the purpose of my blog. It was giving me the opportunity to document stuff which can provide some useful insight when looking back. I’ve frequently used previous race reports to remind myself of mental state, race day timings such as when I try and wake up, that kind of thing.
London was crap. I wrote after how I lost the love for running. Malaga was different, as I approached it in a different way with much harder, intense running sessions, but cross training for variety. That kept my motivation up significantly. Which reinforces the point … often the biggest battle is in the mind when you’re in the midst of a tough block and it would be so easy just to not step outside the door. I also ensured I did things when they best suit me mentally. I prefer training in the evenings (even though some people say it’s important to train at similar times of day to when you race), so I just did mainly evening running.
And strangely, given what we’re talking about here, I think not talking about it so much helped. I didn’t actively tell people I was doing it. I wasn’t talking about it. I didn’t even say anything about it on here … just a few people put two and two together from my strava training sessions. I didn’t deny it when the question was asked, I just wasn’t being as outspokenly public about the race and goals. I really think that helped. Only a week or two before the race, my gf even said something about the half marathon I was going to run. I was so mentally low key about it she didn’t think it could possibly be a full marathon. She said after that I was a totally different person in the weeks leading up when compared to the spring … a lot more relaxed about the race, and I think in the end that helped permeate my training and the eventual race (notwithstanding the spring illness of course).
I’m trying to maintain that mindset into this year. Although I won’t lie, my foot is really beginning to worry me, and that is starting to lead to escalated mental anguish.
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Interesting stuff here.
One of my KQ rules was that I had to enjoy it, all of it. My first 3-4 IMs I loved it - getting fit, knocking out big training weeks, the endless puzzle of balancing everything. I loved race week, the anticipation, laying it out there on the day, the aftermath. Wanted to keep that feeling once KQ became an achievable target.
Seen a lot of folk get very stressed before and depressed after as it’s a very binary thing: Q it not Q. I did not want to put 8 months of ridiculous work in, and then be unhappy at the end of it.
I’ve loved my Kona attempts; being in there fighting for it even though none have been successful. To be seriously in a KQ battle is fricking awesome. Remind myself of this when training gets tedious; it’s a hobby, it’s voluntary and I love it*.
*reminding myself wasn’t working well this week with a couple of tough 5:30 am turbos…
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some good stuff. The only thing I would say is not make Q the main goal, use process goals and control the controllable. You never know what or who will turn up on the day so do what you can plan your goals based on what YOU can do and if you have the race of your life and don’t Q because ex pro doping cyclist shows up you aren’t so disappointed.
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@TROSaracen I’m with you there. I realise that the most likely outcome is that I won’t KQ, and that doesn’t bother me. What does bother me is the thought that I want to KQ, but don’t put in the work.
Of course there are exceptions, as @Chriswim has shown, however, there are some pretty clear targets to indicate whether you are on track, this doesn’t mean that everyone who hits those targets will KQ, however, people aiming to KQ should be at those levels
I love cycling, even when cold, wet and tired, I still love it. I enjoy running, even feeling like I did this morning, I went for a very easy lunchtime run, the sun came out, and I really enjoyed it… however, sometimes running can be a chore, whereas I never feel this about cycling. When I was coming into work on the train, I was looking outside and wishing that I cycled, even though I know it would have been the wrong thing to do. Swimming I am beginning to like a little, I love open water swimming, but have struggled to like pool swimming, however, now that I am making progress, I will grudginly admit that it’s not too bad
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Thanks, you put it much more succinctly than my rambling post
My 2 cents. I’ve KQ’d a couple of times once in 2015 and once again last year. I agree with what @Hammerer said about process goals. I knew back in 2015 that the likelihood of qualifying was a longshot. What I really wanted more than anything was to come away from that race knowing that I’d given it my best shot. I was just lucky enough (and I do think luck plays an important part) that on that particular day having achieved both – I knew I had given it my best shot and it had paid off. I’m not expecting to feel that level of satisfaction many more times in my life. Even competing in Kona didn’t match up to the feeling when I actually qualified – @Matthew_Spooner prepare yourself for that because I (like others) feel pretty confident you’ve got a good shot at qualifying in Lanzarote.
My interest in Kona has waxed and waned since then. I felt sure I’d qualify in 2017 when I raced Wales. They had an additional 20 slots that year and I knew I was fit. However, that was the year of the awful weather and I crashed badly at 90 miles on the bike which put an end to that (more luck – this time the bad kind).
I went back to Wales in 2018 looking for redemption. That summer I was in the process of changing jobs and had lots more spare time than normal. Foolishly I decided to seriously up my normal levels of training wanting to see how fit I could get. I hit a max CTL of about 146 that year. I had the most awful race I’ve ever had in my 10 years of doing Ironman. I’d totally overcooked myself. I knew I was close to the limit but I thought the taper would sort me out but even the day before the race I was still struggling walking up the stairs – it was deep deep fatigue like I’ve never felt before. The warning signs had been there. They’ll be different for everyone but for me it was restless legs at night, I couldn’t get to sleep and kept waking up through the night with the restless leg stuff. I knew (at the back of my mind at least) that it was a warning sign but I ignored it and continued to plug away at my block of x 3 20 hour training weeks. I’ve never been as miserable as I was on that run. – Three weeks after Wales I was smashing all my previous personal bests but by that time it was too late, the race was finished and the season was over.
Bit of a cautionary tale I guess.
I’ve worked out what works for me and that means gradually building to a max of 135ish CTL before tapering and racing at just under 120. I went back to this strategy l last year and KQ’d again. Didn’t take my slot last year and that stung (a lot) so have decided to give it another go this year but as was the case the first year I just want to come away from Lanza knowing I gave it my best shot (without overshooting the mark). I totally echo @TROSaracen points about loving the process and the build up to race week. That’s what I’ll miss when I give this stuff up.
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Great stuff guys.
It amazes me to read about people finding the hard training miserable. Not because they’re daft to do so, but because they’re still training that hard when they’re not enjoying it!
(I don’t mean the odd day here and there, I mean not enjoying it over weeks)
Its a hobby, and its meant to be fun… lose that, and you’re missing the point big time IMO.
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I had the race of my life in Elsinore, if I hadn’t got a slot for the 70.3 World Championships I would still have been happy. If I repeat that performance in Lanzarote, that’s all I can ask for, the rest will be down to luck