Compared with some of the more illustrious triathletes posted on this site (ie: Mike Trees, Richard Stannard, Stephen Farrell and Chris Chamberlin to name but a few), I’m a relative newbie to the world of triathlon. 

That said, I suppose I should introduce myself!  My name is Carl Holland, (and as referenced in Mike’s opening blog), I am a physiotherapist working alongside Alex Drummond at the Drummond Clinic in Maidenhead – where we specialise in muscular skeletal problems, sports rehabilitation and biomechanics.

With a history of water based sport behind me (ie: National Age Group Swimmer), a growing interest in road biking over the past 2-3 years and a general interest in running, it was only a matter of time before the lure of Triathlon captured both my imagination and passion to push my boundaries to new limits… and this was especially true the moment I learnt that there was an event called – an Ironman!

However, given that I would much rather run numerous miles x-country, across the Lakes or Brecon Beacons, than run a standard 1/2 or full road marathon is somewhat of a sticky issue.  That said, given the impetus of a couple of friends who were planning to enter the 2009 Swiss 70.3 Ironman in Rapperswil-Jona earlier this year, I soon found myself swimming, biking and running (along the roads – and local woodland trails) to a whole different beat. 

Now whilst the Swiss 70.3 saw me complete my first official triathlon within a reasonable time, my indulgence to always push myself beyond my normal physical limits, still left me feeling somewhat disappointed that I had taken an additional 30 minutes over and above my anticipated time.  This on reflection I put down to a slightly slower bike section (due to insufficient hill training – relative to those encountered on the Swiss 70.3 route), a much slower run than I had achieved in training… and some poor final week preparation, including traveling to the event (ie: driving from England to Switzerland 2 days prior to the event) in conjunction with the associated pre-event camping and being a little off in my nutritional intake.  Still, as the expression goes, ‘you live and learn’ So with a 70.3 under my belt, and my impending 40th birthday only 5 months aways – I saw no better time than to step up to a full Ironman; and what better event than the Ironman which is alleged to be the toughest (ie: Lanzarotte – with its typically hilly, windswept and hot course) and is coincidentally the day before my 40th Birthday (and yep – the suggestion of a mid life crisis has already been highlighted by a number of my friends).

Anyway, given my previous experience (and post race frustration) at the Swiss 70.3, I thought it prudent to seek some additional coaching advice from Mike Trees and his team.  Consequently, Mike has (as you will have no doubt already read) provided me with a macro cycle of my training leading up to the event… ie: May 22nd 2010.

With the initial phase to build a strong foundation upon which we can then load during the subsequent phases of my training regime. 

However, best laid plans are often fraught with complexity; more especially when also needing to account for real world scenarios impacting on our daily lives – as I will now highlight.

Training Begins…

Prior to starting my training, I wanted to make sure each training session I performed would be as optimised as possible; especially in terms of working at the correct heart rate / training zones.  Therefore I asked my colleague Alex Drummond if we could test my current VO2 output on both the run and bike.  However, I awoke on the day of my scheduled testing feeling a little nasally and bunged up – and consequently it was decided to postpone the testing until the new year (and Alex’s return from his annual skiing trip).

I did however decide to attend the track training session with Mike Trees and Richard Stannard at TVA (Thames Valley Athletics) centre that evening in an attempt to sweat whatever nasties from my body that I could – and at the same time, check to see if my recent hamstring and achilles issues had finally been resolved.  And whilst I can report the hamstring stayed good, and only mild symptoms were noted in my achilles… training in the cold, wet weather did nothing to help my nose or chest – and I ended up having almost an entire week off training suffering from a cold and chest infection.  Although the latter was probably not helped by having to spend a long night (ie: the evening of the Track Session) sat in A&E with a family member… the heavy snowfall limiting any outdoor activity leading up to xmas – and causing me to spend a night sleeping alone in the physiotherapy clinic when unable to drive home.  All of which left me starting to feel extremely envious that my coach (aka Mike) was enjoying some sunshine in the Lanzarotte…. and that my colleague and appointed Physio / Massage therapist Alex was living it up on the slopes of Val d’sere – whilst it appeared I was struggling to maintain any training continuity.

Fortunately, Mike was on hand via email to both reassure me and confirm that I could use the treadmill and turbo in the interim – and thus limit any further injuries or accidents from occurring whilst trying to train out on the icy roads.  Additionally, it was also suggested that I spend no more than an hour on the turbo to prevent boredom setting in, and that as my body was trying to recover from a cold / illness, that I should tone down my heart rate / intensity accordingly so as not to overdo it.  Consequently, with my motivation restored  I was able to utilise both the turbo and the treadmill for a couple sessions leading up to xmas – and focus on both my running technique (ie: the land, lever, lift principle as previously discussed by Mike) and with the use of Drummond Clinics Computrainer, work on my spincycle and cadence…. ahhh, Happy days

Carl Holland, a physiotherapist from the Drummond Clinic,  has asked for help in his training leading up to the Lanzarote Ironman (IM) in May.  I shall use him as an example of how to build up the training plan, and he will keep a blog on his progression, so you can follow the reality of it. At the end of this week there will be 23 weeks to go until race day.

Below,  in list format is brief summary of Carl’s overall training plan. It is important that he knows what he will be facing in each phase of the training

To build up a training schedule it is necessary to work backwards from race day.

Week  23 LANZAROTE IM Race week – This will be travel, recovery and preparation.  More detailed information will be offered much nearer the big day

Week 19-22 Taper-  For IM,  I use a long taper of 3 weeks ( 1 month if you include the final race week)

The main point of an extended taper is because you need to rest up before the big day. There is no point in devoting months of your life to training and then under performing on race day because you are too tired !

Week 15-19 Speedwork:  Carl will need 4 weeks of speedwork to get back his race legs after his distance training. ( 3 weeks is the shortest time someone can train and benefit from a physiological change. I have added one extra week for safety.   6 weeks would have been ideal, but as there are only 23 weeks left to race day we don’t have that time spare.

Week 14  Recovery weekWeek 8-14 LSD training   LSD is a crucial part of any IM training programme. Carl will have 6 weeks, split into to two periods of three weeks, building the distance and time spent training  in weeks 1-3 and 4-6.

Week 7 Recovery week

Week 1-7 Base Training.  There will be 7 weeks for base training…which you may have realised by now is not lots of LSD training ,as some triathletes mistakenly think,  but instead it is strength building to lay down the foundations for the distance work and speed work to follow.

If I can get  Carl to build up his muscular strength, core stability and work on his form he will go into the following phases with his body, acting like a well oiled machine, if not it will be like trying to fine tune an engine that sits in a rusted shell of a car.