Road to Challenge Aarhus: February in Review

And that’s the end of February. From a training standpoint and getting ready for Challenge Aarhus in July I’m not sure it was a good month at all. I am 100% sure that the next 4 months have to be a lot better for me to be reasonably comfortable at the start of Challenge Aarhus. Let me try to break the month down:

Overall: had a cold for about a week just trying to stay in the game, but didn’t train at all, which already stresses me since I know I should be doing more. Also this month I sure didn’t sleep in as early as I wanted, but then again, when you’re not fit to train who cares about getting up at 5:30 (so I didn’t).

Swim:

Very satisfied with the number of sessions for February (7), the time spent and the mileage done. More than any month prior to February. Increased speed nicely with improved technique and the distance is now more than OK. Even if I did experience some issues with my left shoulder, those were a result of over-reaching. Basically: if I can keep this fitness level on the swim for the rest of the year I’ll be happy.

Bike:

In February I’ve had more sessions on the home trainer than ever before, but am still really looking forward to 5-8 degrees warmer weather so I can start cycling outside – the home trainer is just SO boring! To increase strength I’ve been working on both one-legged and regular intervals. The aim is to build strength in both legs as well as work my technique. Also the bike leg is of little concern – anything up to 90km at low pace should be OK.

Run:

This is where it becomes interesting! So far training has been going alright and I’m aiming for a 1:44 half marathon time (not as part of the half ironman, though. Recently, however, I seem to be plateauing with little progress. At the same time I’m often close to injury, especially since I tried to start Newton forefoot running. Need to find a better way to get into that. Early runs for the month of March show progress on strength and distance, so plateauing might now be a thing of the past.

What I want for March:
Increase the weekly training volume by an hour. I figure that if I add 10 minutes to each training I’ll make that. So far I’ve had a long run and a long swim this week, but we’ll see what the weekend brings. Eventually I should be able to have two training per sport per week, each of at least an 1-1,5 hours.

That should get me fit for Challenge Aarhus – fingers crossed.