IM70.3 SA 2014

[Snytjie]

I've also signed up for Club-V at Virgin Active which means I can do a session at gym and take the kids with. Afterwards I take them for a swim in the kiddies pool, so they love going as well.

 

Been doing that for two years now, and it works great. I really like the V-Max concept: it gives you a little time for yourself, and the activities in there are educational and active. My daughter (5) loves going to play in there. I normally swim with her for an hour while my wife goes exercising, and then she goes to V-Max while I do a 60-90min session. My wife picks her up and gets something to eat while I finish... works pretty well.

 

We go to Steenberg which has great facilities and great assistants (mostly) who are very active with the children. I'm not sure what other gyms are like.

[Snytjie]

I also try not to do another workout on the day of a long run/bike, but the rest of the week is going to be busy at work and I am probably not going to get time for lunch time swims. So I had to rearrange my training schedule for this week.

 

Hi,

 

Look, I'm no expert or anything, but what I read from coaches like Joe Friel and Phil Maffetone is that its not about the volume but rather about the quality of the session. According to them you can pack the hours on, but if your body is not recovered when you start the next session it can and will cause problems. These can range from wasting your time to actually loosing fitness and on to getting injured. Maffetone also makes a great deal about stress and its effect on your ability to train and elevate fitness. He says that it doesn't help to put yourself under immense stress to fit in sessions. That stress negates the effect of the training.

 

I have certainly seen that it my own training: when things are going tough at home/work, it's no use to try and force in sessions. I'm constantly tired, I don't progress in fitness and I often need extended periods to recover from sessions in stressful periods. I have now learnt to relax a little when the going gets tough and rather reschedule sessions than force them in. It works much better, and in the end I get to my targets set (even sometimes with less training than planned).

[sluiper]

We go to Steenberg which has great facilities and great assistants (mostly) who are very active with the children. I'm not sure what other gyms are like.

 

Agreed. We go to Claremont and the assistants there are very good and keep the kids entertained. With Discovery Vitality it's only R170 or so for both of them. Really worth it.

 

[...] it's no use to try and force in sessions. I'm constantly tired, I don't progress in fitness and I often need extended periods to recover from sessions in stressful periods. I have now learnt to relax a little when the going gets tough and rather reschedule sessions than force them in. It works much better, and in the end I get to my targets set (even sometimes with less training than planned).

 

Same experience for me. I've found that my body's immune system breaks down when I push too hard and I end up getting sick or missing a bunch of sessions in a row.

 

Most of the books I've read (Going Long, Triathlete's Bible, etc.) all recommend consistency over volume. If I feel like I can't make a planned hour run, I'll just do a light 30 minute run rather than kill myself to make the hour run. Going into a session tired and sore often does more harm than good (or so I've been told).

 

Doing a shorter session now or even cutting it out completely means I'll be able to do a proper session tomorrow.

[dracs]

Yeah its tough to balance everything. It have taken a decision not to train in the evening as well. That is why I train early mornings and swim during lunch (unfortunately I only have time for a max of 45 min sessions, but that is how it is). The evenings I spend with the family. So I try to be in bed by 10pm and up at 4-4:30 again.

 

Edit: sorry guys, a bit of topic.

Not off topic. Anyone training for ironman knows that balancing training and life is proabably the biggest challenge of all.

[Edge_Design]

The working parts are the protein in the milk and the glucose in the chocolate. The protein helps repair muscles and the glucose replaced spent muscle glucose and also cause an insulin spike which shuttles the protein quicker into the cells (or so I am told...)

 

You can create that effect with any easy absorbable protein/glucose mix. Chocolate milk is easy because you just buy the bottle or mix hot chocolate into a glass of milk. Industry standard is 4 part glucose to 1 part protein, but in my own experimentation I found that 1-1 works just as well for me.

 

Again, for me, chocolate milk just doesn't have enough protein by itself, so therefore I make the two egg/milk/sugar mixture (with either berries or chocolate powder for flavour).

 

Thanks for all the detailed info - went shopping now so will give it a try after my next training session...

[reteid]

i have also found that the most difficult part is managing time between training,work and family.

[bigjoe]

It is definitely a juggle. Mine is even more complicated. My wife also trains for 70.3 (her 3rd), so we need to ensure that we both get time to train. We cant do this at the same time (except for weekend bike)....as we have 2 small kids. Cant leave them home alone when we go for a run together....

[ADe]

It is definitely a juggle. Mine is even more complicated. My wife also trains for 70.3 (her 3rd), so we need to ensure that we both get time to train. We cant do this at the same time (except for weekend bike)....as we have 2 small kids. Cant leave them home alone when we go for a run together....

I am in exactly the same boat. My wife is doing her first 70.3 and our daughter is 2, so it takes a lot of careful planning every week.

[sluiper]

It is definitely a juggle. Mine is even more complicated. My wife also trains for 70.3 (her 3rd), so we need to ensure that we both get time to train. We cant do this at the same time (except for weekend bike)....as we have 2 small kids. Cant leave them home alone when we go for a run together....

 

Same here

 

I find that a very fixed schedule works best for us, so both of us know exactly when/where the other will be and who is training when.

 

The only time the kids are left with a babysitter is when we do a coffee ride on a Sunday.

 

As I said before, Virgin Club-V and the treadmill and spinning bike at home help a lot.

[fishbone07]

I dont have a wife or kids and I still battle to juggle training and life! Cant imagine how you guys with families do it!

[reteid]

i have to choose between extra running or extra bike sessions over the next few weeks.what would be better.i can do a solo 90 km currently at 25 km/h and run easy 16km at 6min/km.where would my time be best spent?

[reteid]

i am cutting out 2 swim sessions per week which gives me more time as i am happy with my swimming.

[travisza]

i have to choose between extra running or extra bike sessions over the next few weeks.what would be better.i can do a solo 90 km currently at 25 km/h and run easy 16km at 6min/km.where would my time be best spent?

Very difficult to offer advice based on the above. Which one is your stronger discipline? Always worthwhile working on your weaknesses.

[reteid]

both are weak,so i guess i might just alternate them.

[travisza]

both are weak,so i guess i might just alternate them.

Or work on the bike. More bike fitness means better run off the bike (generally). Try concentrating on the bike for a couple weeks and see how you feel

[mon-goose]

or do 2 weeks of your weakest discipline and then a week of your strongest