Tuesday 21 August 2012

From 14k to 1.5k and beyond

So, with a 14.1k swim completed on Sunday, my next race is at the opposite end of the scale, a 1.5k which is the shortest distance that I race.  I feel like I'm going pretty well and would love to beat my PB of 21:59 if possible to end the season on a high

It's not actually my last race of the season.  Oh no!  Saturday kicks off 9 days in which I will race 4 times, and then there are four more races before the season ends in eight weeks time.  So in order of occurrence I have left to go a 1.5k, a sprint tri, a 3.8k swim, a 40 mile sportive, a 3k sea swim, an Olympic distance tri, a 3.8k swim and a 2.6k swim (yes, the latter is a rather odd distance).

When I swam 10k back in May, it took me nearly 5 weeks before I was feeling race ready again, possibly something to do with the small matter of my first ever tri only 2 weeks later, and I know I definitely did not give myself the best possible recovery (even swimming 2.5k in a 50m pool the next day!).

So what am I doing differently?  I'm trying to listen to my body.  I have swum both days now since the event, but only a slow 1k yesterday, and a faster 1.75k today.  I'll do another recovery swim tomorrow - my arms are still feeling tired now but no longer sore - before some speed work over 3k on Thursday morning and a rest day on Friday.  I wanted to fit in a run to keep my legs ticking over, and I may head out tomorrow night, but I will be guided by how tired I feel (I still have an hour of cycle-commuting each day!).

Between the race and tri, I'll maybe fit in another speed swim session or recovery swim, depending on how my body feels, and then after the tri, I'll have to work out how I feel to give myself the best possible chance of doing well in my 3.8k on Thursday 30th.  I was so close to breaking the hour for that distance back in early July, and I was convinced that it was the rather odd course (with multiple turns per lap) that cost me the extra 18 seconds, so I really want to be in the best shape I can be to challenge that!

Does anyone else have any thoughts on how to manage training and recovery around multiple events?

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