77 days to go, under 12 weeks now. I’m so busy with other work fitting around training I mostly don’t have the time to think about doing the Outlaw in July. Lots to do in the meantime so it seems a long way away. But I know I’ll soon be looking at the other end of June and beginning to feel butterflies every other thought. Probably at least once every couple of days I get them at the moment.

I was talking to my coach on the phone, a bit worried about being away for 5 of the next 8 week, and fitting in training, and how hard it was in the tough 20 hour training week I did 2 weeks ago to ride 2 hours and run 1, when the Outlaw is going to be at least 4x that. And he explained that I’ll be rested and psychologically prepared, and that we’d sit down and work out all my availability from now until July, and fit the training and taper around it, that “there are going to be a lot of people less prepared than you”. A ‘taper’ is where you bring training down, after building fitness and endurance, so that you’re really really well rested before the event. That’ll mean no training and generally staying off my feet and eating well for at least 2-3 days before the event. I’m travelling up to Nottingham 2 days early too so I can get used to the bed I’ll be sleeping in, and getting up as early as I’ll need to be up.

Prepared. I like being prepared. It’s the Crystal Palace Triathlon tomorrow – it’s less than 10 minutes from my house, and only a sprint distance, so it shouldn’t take much more than an hour and a half. Last night I wrote out my kit because I was worried I might forget my race belt – a small cheap but vital bit of kit so you can wear your race number easily/properly between disciplines. It’s not a usual bit of kit, so easy to forget. I wrote down what I thought was everything, and then proceeded to have anxiety dreams all night about not being on time or having the right gear to do the event, particularly in the dream I realised I left off ‘sports bra’ on the list. I woke up thinking that.

As if I’d go out having forgotten to put one on.

I like being prepared. Except proper prepared is really ‘having done this before’. Which I won’t have. I can’t really do anything but deal with that.

Anyway, I thought I’d share the general shape of my next few weeks with you.

W/C	Type of training week	Goal
11/5	Moderate week	Maintain fitness levels
18/5	Recovery week	Recovery from previous weeks and prepare for next big weeks
25/5	Big week	Lots of endurance work Key sessions are  long ride (5-6hrs), long run 2 1/2 hrs, long swim >4k
1/6	Moderate week	Less training focussing on higher intensity to help you through a busy week
8/6	Recovery week	Recovery from previous weeks and prepare for next big weeks. Also helps you with a busy period of work
15/6	Big week	Lots of endurance work Key sessions are  long ride (5-6hrs), long run 2 1/2 hrs, long swim >4k
22/6	Big week	Lots of endurance work Key sessions are  long ride (5-6hrs), long run 2 1/2 hrs, long swim >4k
29/6	Recovery week	Start of Taper. Unload fatigue from previous weeks
6/7	Moderate week	Aim to maintain fitness without adding fatigue. No more really long workouts Max Ride = 4hrs Max Run = 2hrs Max swim = 4k
13/7	Moderate week	Aim to maintain fitness without adding fatigue. No more really long workouts Max Ride = 3hrs Max Run = 90 mins Max swim = 3k
20/7	Race week	Minimal training. Some higher intensity but only to maintain top end. Key goal is to remove remaining fatigue and mentally prepare for the event