Here’s my all body stretch routine, ideally you do each stretch 3 x 20 seconds;
Toe Stretch
Foot Strech
Calve Stretch
Achilles Stretch
3D Hamstring Stretch
Hamstring Strech (Ideally with partner instead of rope)
Sitting Hamstring Stretch
ITB Stretch
Piriformis
Quad Stretch
Glutes Stretch
Hip Stretch
And more: http://www.fitbodyhq.com/fitness/12-great-stretches-for-tight-hip-flexors/
Lower Back
Chest
Deltoid
Tricep
Wrist
A few ideas for my long run workouts which will all include finishing strong to prepare my mental strength for a race.
Long Run Workout – Strong Finish (Example 90 min run):
The key is to hold form even if it starts feeling tough. For longer runs, steps 3 and 4 get longer and everything else holds steady. So for a 2 hour run the format would be:
Long Run Workout – Negative Split (Example 90 min run):
So my race schedule for 2015 will look something like this:
OFF SEASON POTENTIALS:
Naveslink Challenge (Middletown, NJ) – November 15th
NYRR Fred Lebow 5k (Bronx) – November 16th
NYRR Ted Corbitt 15k (Manhattan) – December 13th
Curly’s MA State Championshipn Snowshoe Race (Pittsfield, MA) – January
Cold Feat 10k (Staten Island) – Feb 15th
Finally Spring 5k – March 5th
Wolfes Run 10k (Staten Island) – March 29th
Fools Rogaine Adventure Race (Wawayanda State Park, Hewitt, NJ) – April
Lost Brook Trail Race 5M, 10M (Tenafly, NJ) – April 5th
Hither Hills Off-Road Half Marathon (Montauk, NY) – May 4th
Long Island Greenbelt 25k (Long Island, NY) – May 10th
Trail 2 Trail Series: Kettletown State Park 5K 10K 20K 50K (Southbury, CT) May 17th
TRIATHLON SEASON:
*American Zofingen ITT 5m run/84m bike/15m run – may 15th
Black bear Olympic Tri – may 31st
*Challenge Quassy Half Iron Tri – June 7th
Stamford KIC IT Olympic – June 22nd
ITU Long Course Triathlon in Motala, Sweden (if I am chosen)
*Nj State Olympic Triathlon – July
*Ironman Mont Tremblant – Aug 16
Rev3 Pocono (not sure of distance) – Sept 14th
SOS 8 stage Triathlon (30m bike, then swim/run/swim/run/etc) – mid sept
ITU Chicago Olympic Triathlon – sept 15-20 (if I am chosen)
*Ironman Louisville – Oct 13
*Denotes I have already registered.
It looks like a busy schedule with multiple ironman events but my A race will be Mont Tremblant. I’ll be able to train in the hills of 9w north of New York City which have a similar elevation profile. The ITU races are not certain since I would have to be selected and I can apply closer to the time depending on how I’m feeling. Ironman Louisville will be a back-up race if I am not able to qualify for Kona in Mont Tremblant.
Most athletes use a periodisation approach to their season, concentrating on different parts of their athleticism throughout their year; at some points focusing on technical skills, strength, aerobic endurance, speedwork, race preparation, etc. I have 10 months until Mont Tremblant which affords me a lot of time to truly prepare for the endeavour.
The key points of the Mont Tremblant course are that the bike course is rolling hills with some solid climbs, and the run course is on loose gravel (more like a trail run I guess). I still have more investigation to do into the course.
THE PLAN:
Block periodized training. E.g. a block of 4 weeks, week 1 and 3 have more HITS (High Intensity Training Sessions) than the other weeks. Say, week 1 and 3 have 2 HITS sessions whereas week 2 and 4 have only 1. Week 4 being the recovery week where that HITS session would be shorter. HITS sessions might be 3x6min at LTHR, or 10x2min at VO2, or 4×10/2×20 sub LTHR session.
Towards the end of base blocks, and continuing into build blocks, 4 sessions per week I can integrate periods above lactate threshold (e.g. 15-20 minutes) in a 1hr + workout with the remaining mostly in Z2. The LT portions stimulate improvements and the Z2 maintains aerobic endurance. These drop at peak training blocks in favour of race specific workouts.
Occasionally I’ll place intervals on consecutive days or perform intervals on a fast to provide new stimulus. Put these early on in a block when fresh as they are higher risk of injury.
Every 4 weeks perform a 4-6 hour bike ride or all-day hike to help maintain the aerobic engine.
3-4 strength training sessions per week until the end of the build phase and peak phase. Beginning of year starts with high reps (currently in progress) and reps decrease but weight increases. Gradually transition to explosive moves (e.g. burpees/jumpes/olympic lifts/etc) at lower weights.
Plan 1 or 2 crash training periods where volume increases 50-100% from previous week. Try to package in with a weekend trip to avoid distractions and maximise recovery. This is a dangerous approach.
http://www.wentwood50.co.uk/downloads/training_periodization.pdf. Periodize! Aim 2 peak twice. Once for the half in June, followed by a base/build/peak rebuild for Ironman Mont Tremblant.
Example:
October: Transition.
November: Base w/ skills focus.
Decemeber: Base w/ test protocols
January: Base w/test protocols
February: Build w/swim focus
March: Build w/swim focus
April: Build w/run focus
May: Peak.
early June: 1w taper/1w race/1w recovery/2w build
July: Peak
August: 1w peak/2w taper/A Race
After the Ironman Sweden race I was flying from Copenhagen to Newark (NJ, United States), my third flight with BA within a few weeks. British Airways had already lost my bike twice (see here for one, see here for two). Unfortunately they did it three times. Third time connecting through Heathrow, third time losing my bag, third time being terrible at keeping me updated.
Like I had done on my way to Sweden I spoke to the gate agent and asked if my bike made it onto the plane. It had not. I was livid, absolutely livid. The previous two occasions had cost me money, time and inconvenience. On the plane I sat down and was extremely angry with British Airways. The cabin manager, again, a polite and friendly face of British Airways was incredibly apologetic and sympathised with me as his mother had gone through (even worse) issues with lost baggage whilst on a cruise. He did a good job of cheering me up somewhat and submitted a very well worded complaint to the customer service department. He showed me when he was submitting it and explained that he wished he could do more but unfortunately couldn’t. At least they gave me food first, so I didn’t have to wait until the end of the food service to get tucked in to some mediocre calories (as I was at the back of the plane).
At Newark I spoke to the baggage agent again. I was getting used to dealing with them. I got my unique number and this time there were no more flights from Heathrow to Newark, so my previous strategy of camping in the baggage reclaim was out of the window.
Being the third time this had happened, I had strategies on how to deal with lost baggage. Hammer the social media department so everyone could see how deficient their service had been. Being the middle of racing season I still had races to get to and needed my bike this time for the ITU world champs in Edmonton, Canada. Having lost all faith in airlines I resolved to drive there from New York, see a few sights on the way, and cycle and run in some great landscapes in the ‘flyover states’.
2 days passed, the social media department must have disliked me by then. I was eventually given the flight number on which I could expect my bike to be cargo. I went to the airport the following morning as I hadn’t heard anything further from anybody despite being reasonably confident my bike was in Newark. I got there at 9am which turned out to be a mistake given the EWR baggage service staff don’t start work until much later in the afternoon. Delta, Virgin and other airlines all had reps available to deal with baggage services so I asked them about British Airways and they all told me the same, British Airways arrive about 3pm and I could speak to someone when staff come to check in passengers. Luckily I had my ukulele with me so stood in the empty line in front of the empty BA check-in desks. After a while a security guard came to tell me they wouldn’t be open for a few hours so I told him my situation and that I had nothing better to do than wait in the airport for BA staff to start working. They were very friendly and they even joked giving me busking money as I stood and played.
In the early afternoon after multiple coffees, pastries and other sundries from Dunkin Donuts, the security guard happened to know the girl who worked for BA and pointed her out and advised I run after her before she entered the secure area. She was a bit curious who the chap was running towards her but after explaining the situation I let her know about my bike, and voila, 3 minutes later she reunited me with it.
After vowing never to fly British Airways again I decided to give them one last chance at redemption. I awaited a response from the complaint lodged by the cabin manager on my flight (I wish I remembered his name because he was the only bright spot in an otherwise broken system). No response came so I logged another complaint.
It’s now been 2 months since everything hit the fan and the systems still show my bag as being traced by the system:
The response I got from BA was:
Dear Mr Doherty
I am sorry your bicycle was delayed on your flight from Dublin to London Heathrow on 30 July 2014. I understand how frustrating this must have been for you, especially as you were heading to compete in a triathlon.
I spoke to my colleague from London Heathrow today who informed me of the delay. Unfortunately, as the carrier of that particular part of your journey was Aer Lingus I am unable to tell from their file whether the bicycle has now been returned, but I hope it has been.
I hope the delay has not impacted on your competitions and does not deter you from flying with us again in future.
Best regards
Hayley Purves
British Airways Customer Relations
Your case reference is:12623081
So, the customer relations person did not acknowledge my other issues, didn’t know whether my bike had been returned, and basically did nothing. What a crock of s***.
Here’s a summary of the issues I had:
PART 1 (Dublin):
– The online system was never updated
– My bike arrived the same day as me, but there was a huge backlog of bags so no-one notified me of it
– I had to pay a taxi to take me to Dublin Airport
– At Dublin Airport, no-one answered the baggage courtesy phone
– I had to make international calls from my cell phone which were costly
– After getting my bike back, I had to pay for another taxi from Dublin Airport
PART 2 (Copenhagen):
– I wasn’t able to get to my hotel in time due to the delay waiting for baggage so spent ~$100 for an extra night at another hotel.
PART 3 (Newark):
– My road trip was delayed 2 days while I waited for my luggage
– I had to sleep on a friend’s soda for 2 nights (buying them dinner both nights by way of thanks)
– I stood around the airport for a whole day waiting for my bike, and paying for parking costs.
SUMMARY:
British Airways are rubbish at transferring outsize baggage between flights at Heathrow.
I will not fly with them again unless they acknowledge their issues and do something to make it right.
I will continue to broadcast my issues with them
British Airways staff are consistently friendly and polite, but their baggage systems are BROKEN!
Unfortunately I lost my phone in Sweden and with it, a lot of photos so some of these posts will be very textual!
I previously posted about my bike being lost by British Airways/Aer Lingus on my Heathrow layover from Hawaii to Ireland. The nightmare only got worse as time passed. In Ireland I decided to lessen my risk of a repeat issue by changing my flight to be direct between Dublin and Copenhagen. From there I had a 4-5 hour drive from Denmark to Kalmar, Sweden.
It turns out that BA reservations are a bit shit and they were unable to even provide me a quote to change my flight. Having a US phone, calling the UK from Ireland was pretty expensive so the booking agent told me they would talk to their ‘quotes’ team (I forget the exact name but a special team dealing with non-standard requests) and would return my call later that day. A day passed and no word from them. I tried calling them twice after 36 hours but after a bout of ‘unusually’ high volumes I gave up. It’s amazing how consistent their unusual volume seemed to be. I figured they couldn’t tit up taking my bike off one plane and putting it on another plane; not twice in ~7 days.
On the day of my flight from Dublin I decided to take affirmative action to try to increase the odds of a successful journey. When I got their I explained what happened before and asked if there was anything I could do. They were nice enough to put a ‘Short Transfer’ label on my bike bag to indicate it should be treated with urgency, and also assured me that it should be fine. Small win I figured.
After landing at Heathrow I switched terminal and had a bit of time to eat and drink before heading to the gate. I waited til all other passengers had boarded and then spoke to the BA staff at the gate to enquire whether my bike had made it successfully to the plane. My backpack had made is successfully but not my bike. She was polite and called down to the staff on the tarmac to see if there was any sign of the bike. Nope. ‘What are my options?’ I asked. She was blindsided by the question as the only option she was used to was the passenger boards the plane and gets fucked at the destination. I threatened to not board and asked what would happen in that case. Would my backpack be unloaded and I’d be reunited with that and my bike? She had no idea. The only solace she could offer was to start chasing the lost bag immediately. I acquiesced, boarded the flight and muttered to myself.
At Copenhagen I had the inside track against other unfortunate souls in that I already knew my bike was lost so made my way to the baggage services counter while there was no line. I spoke to the lady there and again she was polite and friendly, registered my lost bike and that was it, there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t tell me whether it was lost, delayed or when it might be there. The only information she had was that there were 4 additional flights from Heathrow by British Airways that day. We had a frank conversation and I decided to stay in the baggage reclaim area hoping my bike would arrive that evening. She told me it was a sensible thing to do with a wry smile. It was only after taking a look around later that afternoon that I realised why. There were 9+ bikes that looked abandoned along with hundreds, if not thousands of bags.
I was tweeting the pictures of lost luggage which you can view here:
The only bright spot was that their social media department were reasonably responsive. While their official systems told me that the baggage was being traced, the social media department were able to confirm which flight the bike would be on. I’m guessing they were able to call ground staff in Heathrow or that they have better access to data than Joe public.
A few hours later the bike arrived, we jumped in a car and then left. Unfortunately my dad had booked into a hotel outside of Kalmar and by the time I was dropping him off it was 11pm and too late for me to head to my hotel. I had to stump for another hotel so that I could get some kip.
At least the bike was in my possession and I could head to the race okay. Strike 2 for British Airways
Tired Legs Empty Mind 