Training update leading into the Ironman 70.3 World Championships

With just over one week to go before the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Zell am See, Austria I thought I’d give you an update of how my training has been going. With a rest day (‘what is that?’) tailored into my training block, today seems like the perfect opportunity to blog about my training post Ironman UK.

A month on from Ironman UK it feels like a distant memory. Time has flown by and so much has gone on since the 19th July. I have never felt so horrendous the day following a race, yet the speed in which I recovered after Ironman UK really surprised me. After a couple of recovery days with some light swim training I felt pretty good and by Thursday evening I was running hard 400m intervals with Hoddesdon Tri Club. I wouldn’t normally take so little rest time but with the World Championships so close I had to recover fast and rebuild myself. I have no doubt that CurraNZ (a supplement I use made from natural, New Zealand-grown berries rich in antioxidants) has made this possible, my recovery rate and endurance has boomed!

Health Currancy have kindly given me a 15% discount code for friends, training colleagues and clients to use on all orders of their health and sports supplement.

Use CURRANZLC in the discount code field when ordering from http://www.healthcurrancy.co.uk, which will apply a 15% discount (£24.65 instead of £29 for 30 capsules)

A week on from Ironman UK I took part in the London Brik triathlon, a Nice Tri Event. Hoddesdon Tri Club had chosen this as our Olympic Distance Club Championships. I had told many member of the club that I wasn’t entered as I thought that would be ridiculous. However much to my surprise I later received an email to say I had in fact entered, of course that meant I would most definitely be racing! I felt surprisingly strong on the swim and bike legs whilst managing to hold it together on the run to finish 1st female and 4th overall.

Post race: Body is reminding me that it’s only one week on from Ironman UK.

Two weeks after Ironman UK I took part in the prudential Ride London, this was a fantastically well organised event, a 100 mile sportive from London to Surrey and back on closed roads. I would definitely recommend the event as close roads in central London were a fantastically surreal experience. It was also a nice change to be out on my road bike for once, however I did miss my time trial bars. (Sorry cyclists I know that’s some kind of sin but i’m very much a triathlete!)

Since Ironman UK I have been working with Coach Mark Racher from MarkOneCoaching. Mark has very similar roots to me in that he was ex International swimmer and was coached under the same club and coach as me back in the day. Training has been going brilliantly since working with Mark, there is no doubt that this new added structure to my training is already paying off, even in such a small amount of time. Those who train with me will know I thrive of working hard and pushing my physical boundaries so the nature of Mark’s coaching suits me perfectly. I have already started to produce numbers on the bike that scare me and run at speeds I didn’t think possible. I am excited to see what the future holds… watch this space!

This week I took part in the Active Training World Aquathlon at Stanborough Lakes, Hertfordshire. This was a very well organised local event and worked perfectly in adding some top end work into this weeks training block. I am very pleased to be working with Active Training World as one of my newest sponsors, I look forward to taking part in many of your future events. At Wednesday’s event I produced my fastest 750m swim split to date with an 8:33 and put in a solid run of 19:02 run on a very hilly 5k. I have really upped my swim training (intensity and volume) of late and this is most definitely starting to show. I finished 1st female and 2nd overall to my fiance Reece.

What my swim training sessions normally consist of… I wish!

The ongoing support I have had from Hoddesdon Tri Club has been fantastic. I love the atmosphere of the club and enjoy training with each and everyone of you. A big thank you must go to Anthony Collier, Annie Thomas and my physio Matt Rogers for your continued support, it means so much! Also thank you to Ian Brinkley for loaning me your disk wheel for the 70.3 World Championships, if I bring back a trophy 50% is yours, subject to contract which is yet to be drawn up, haha!

If you would like to contribute towards my journey I have a Talent Backer page where you can pledge your sponsorship. There are GB swim caps up for grabs but only 4 days left to pledge. Every little helps are greatly appreciated to help me reach my target. http://www.talentbacker.com/talents/view/lucy-charles-1

With just over one week to go until the 70.3 world champs I am feeling ready and excited to race! Keep your eyes peeled for my race report from Zell am See, Austria.