Build Up

This is the time of the year when every athlete starts his build up for the next season, and its no different for me. I have been building it up gradually, very gradually since the beginning of November. My target this year is Ironman France which is in the end of June. A long way from now, but the training I am doing at the moment will help me build my engine for the big push which will start at the beginning of April.

To keep motivated in the build up its a good idea to have minor targets which will help you gauge your form and do the required adjustments to your schedule depending on the result and feeling. At the moment I am doing some road / cross country races with rather no so good results but the feeling is good so I know that for this time of year I'm on the right track. My first major target is a half marathon at the end of February, so as you can see the first part of the season is dedicated to my running. I was told that if I don't do 1hr 15mins it wasn't worth the effort..... we shall see.

After that I have the National Duathlon Championships which will be a good test for my transition run. I would be a good idea if we had to change the distances of these championships to more official ones like 10km run / 40km bike / 5km run. After that the build up for Ironman France will start with the possibility of taking part in the Malta / Sicily Tournament depending on selection criteria.

I am still unsure whether to do a Half Ironman distance some weeks before the Ironman. In previous years I have done one 4 - 6 weeks before the big day with very good results but looking back I believe I have lost some of my freshness to the result that I have lost my edge in the longer race. Being that the course in Nice is no joke (21km mountain on the bike course is one of the obstacles) I am starting to think that I should keep the racing in the last few weeks as limited as possible to arrive on the start line as fresh as possible.

Will keep you updated on my training progress. Until then train safe.

Dermot