A week in the life of

For my first post-100000 view post I thought I would try and do something a little interesting.

I work full time, I didn't use to, but the realities of life means that I do now. When I say I work full time I mean it too. None of this namby pamby working part time in a bike store here. I work 40 hours a week in an office, just like a lot of people. People who know I have a pro racing license often assume I don't work, but that unfortunately is not the case. I really wish it was, but I really wish for a lot of things and that doesn't make them any more likely. On a side note people may be surprised that most 'Pro' triathletes work in one capacity or another.

The reason I raise work is because one question I get asked a lot is how much a train. Triathletes love to know how much other triathletes train. How many hours a week do you do is probably the most common question I get asked. I guess it is just another area where triathletes love to compete, regardless of whether that volume of training is effective or not.

After people find out how much I train (it isn't that much compared to some) people then usually ask if I work (see above), then they ask if I am married and have kids (yes to both). The final question they usually ask is how?

So given that I get asked how a lot, I thought I would spend a blog writing answering it.

Before I get into it though, time for an important community announcement.

This isn't meant to be an Ironman training how to guide. The training program I describe below would be too much volume for some and not enough for others. Plus it is one thing to say 90 minutes of swimming, but depending on what you do in that 90 minutes of swimming could give you very different outcomes. If you want to know how to train for an Ironman, talk to a coach. The below is more about how I fit that training in around work, which I think some people might find useful.

Also, before I get to the details I should say that the real reason I can fit in both training and full time work is because my wife and family are really, really patient. If I didn't have their support I wouldn't be training and racing, simple as that. The day that they finally snap and tell me 'NO MORE' is the day that I will be stopping.

The final caveat on this is that what I am writing below isn't my training program week in week out. This is sort of a worst case scenario, how I fit in my heaviest weeks, because if I can fit that in I can fit in anything.

So with all that said, for me a heavy week of Ironman training can look like this:

Monday:

Monday is usually a recovery day which for me means a technique/recovery swim. I usually do between 3 to 4km, normally about 70 minutes give or take. The pool I go to on Monday opens at 5:45 and is a couple of minutes from my house so that means I can get the session done and am home by 7:10 or so. From there a quick shower, some breakfast and I am normally in the office around 8:00 (I drive to work - half an hour commute if I get it right).

During some phases of training I will also do strength work on Monday. I have a gym at work so if I am doing strength work I usually get this done during lunch.

After work I would normally go home and rest. Very occasionally I might have a recovery ride on for the afternoon. My wife usually goes out Monday night's so once we have had dinner and put the kids to bed I might jump on the Kickr for an hour or so then head to bed myself.

Tuesday:

Tuesday is often a ride/run day. The rides can be anything up to a couple of hours. Tuesday I will usually do these rides on the Kickr. I take just under an hour to go from waking up to getting on the bike, so if I want to be finishing a two hour ride by 7:00(ish) that usually means I will be up around 4:00am. As you can imagine Monday night is typically a very early night.

Tuesday during the day can sometimes include a bit of Pilates in the gym at lunch.

If I am running in the afternoon, how I fit it in will vary depending on time of year, length of run etc. If it is cooler and the run is short I might do it during the day rather than go to the gym. Usually though I will simply do the run after work. I get home around 5:30 from work and if I get the timing right I can be running by 6:00pm, finishing up around 7:00 or perhaps a bit later.

Wednesday:

Wednesday morning is nearly always swimming with Swim Smooth. Nice and simple. Get up at 4:30, get to the pool by 5:30, swim to 7:00, get out and go to work, breakfast once I get there.

Once again, if I am doing strength work it will be at lunchtime in the gym.

Wednesday afternoon is often a rest session, but if there is some training then it will be on the Kickr again for another recovery ride. My wife goes out again on most Wednesday night's, so similar to Monday once the kids are in bed it is time to train.

Thursday:

During heavy training, Thursday is usually a carbon copy of Tuesday, another bike/run day, although the Tuesday and Thursday sessions are very different.

On Thursday I usually ride outside and the session can be up to two hours, very occasionally more. I can fit in two hours pretty comfortably, but if the session is longer than that it means getting into work a bit late or getting up before 4:00am. I really don't like getting up before 4:00am (I don't much like getting up at 4:00am either but I have got used to that), so if I have to go longer than two hours then I just talk to my boss and then get to work a bit late. It is not something I do very often.

In the afternoon I either run when I get home like on Tuesday or I run with some mates near my work. Either way I am normally home by 7:30, earlier if I can manage it so that I am there to help with the kids.

Friday:

Friday is kind of similar to Wednesday in that it is another swim day. Up at 4:30, get to the pool at 5:30 then swim with the Swim Smooth until 6:30. At 6:30 I will either do another squad session through to 7:30 or  I will do my own thing up until 7:00, it depends a bit on how tired I am and what phase of training I am in.

Friday is another day where I can be in the gym at lunch time.

Friday afternoon is a bit like Monday and Wednesday, there will either be no training or I will do a recovery ride or run. My wife doesn't go out on Friday's so I will usually just get the session done straight after work so I am around to help put the kids to bed.

Saturday:

During Ironman training Saturday is all about the long ride. These rides can be 6 or 7 hours and so I try and get them going early. Even still I am often not back until lunch or later and I am usually not good for much once I am home. During race prep there may also be a run off the bike, but it is usually pretty short.

This is by far my wife's least favourite session of the day since it is the one that robs us of the most time. It is the session that gives meaning to the term 'Ironman widow'.

This session is also one of the reasons I do so much of my riding alone or in small groups. I find that once I try and do this session with a lot of people it goes from 6 or 7 hours to 7 or 8 hours due to the additional faffing around. It sounds anti-social, and it sort of is, but training alone I can be efficient. Plus, you know, we do race alone, or at least we are supposed to.

Sunday:

During Half Ironman training Sunday is often a long brick session, but during Ironman it is all about the looooong run. I always enjoy this session. That is partly because I have had lots of practice at running slowly, but also because it is a long, tiring session that you can have done before 9:00am. It gives me most of the day with the family. Time efficient.

Sometime mid morning on Sunday I will usually go down to the river and get in a 3 to 4km swim. I regularly do this session with a mate and so when the weather is good we make it a combined family outing. We swim, the kids play and the ladies talk about crochet (I am not kidding). It is kind of an idyllic way to finish off the week and when the weather is good and the river is flat it can be a little slice of perfect.

So there you go. that is what I fit in and about when I fit it in. I am always a bit amazed just how much you can cram in. If you added it up you would find it would be a touch over 20 hours. Not actually that much compared to some people. Ironman training programs often go into the high 20 or even into the high 30 hour regions. I simply wouldn't have time to do that, plus I have to wonder how much more I would gain by doing so. I guess that might be where that last 5% comes from although I am not convinced. When people talk about training 28 to 30 hours a week I often wonder how smart they are being in what they are doing, particularly if they then go off and race slowly.

On the whole though I find this sort of arrangement works quite well for me. As I said earlier, this is sort of peak load, so it is not week in/week out, but I have found that it is fairly sustainable, well as long as my wife lets me it is. Whilst this sort of weekly schedule works, there are some things I wish I had time for. For instance I would love to have time for a good long mid week ride. That would just be lovely. Plus, of course, not getting up at 4:00am would be nice too.

That is about it. Just a couple of other points. What about stretching you may be asking (or not)? Well if I am doing Pilates sessions in the gym at work I incorporate it then, plus I am one of those guys who stretches at my desk (I have a desk that raises so I can stand and type at the same time). I also stretch at night in front of the TV if I have time.

The other question I can see people asking is, where does my wife go in the evenings? Well she is either going to rehearsals or fighting crime as a masked vigilante. I know which one she tells me, but I am yet to be convinced. If she was a masked vigilante she WOULD say she is going to a rehearsal, wouldn't she...

I hope you have found this interesting.