Build Beasting - TR*

Having completed two base cycles I now find myself in the middle of a build phase. A build phase does exactly what it says, you take your base level fitness and build on it. In my case Holden (coach) is getting me ready for a marathon in my race schedule (still to be published) therefore this build cycle is aimed at improving my running and getting me ready for the marathon.

I was rather blasé when I declared the Myrtle Beach Marathon to Holden as part of my race schedule, when I started this build I was still far from certain that I was actually going to do it. I know it is silly but I still have a phobia about running a marathon. The idea of running that far scares the sh*t out of me even though I have committed to doing an ironman which features a marathon just as the icing on the cake. Somehow the massiveness of an ironman means that I cannot comprehend it therefore it doesn't scare me, whereas I can visualize 26.2 miles and I don't like the look of it. This is magnified by a childhood dislike of running. Although I now love to go out for a long training run I still have an irrational dislike of the term 'running' which reminds me too much of the forced runs at the all boys grammar school I attended, where we were forced to run in our white shorts, t-shirts and daps in all weathers. I was also a podgy teenager which didn't help with my enjoyment of the runs.

Yesterday I actually went on line, paid the race entry fee for the marathon and booked a room for our stay. Because money is now involved and you rarely get a full refund if you cancel a race I am definitely committed to doing it. I highly recommend signing up for any races you are dilly-dallying over because as soon as you submit your credit card details a weight is lifted off your shoulders and you can get on and with your training with a renewed sense of urgency.

So why have I called this post "Build Beasting"? Beasting is a British military slang term for a physical training session where the instructors work you exceptionally hard, or 'beast you'. This build phase comes as quite a shock and in some ways resembles a bit of a beasting. Volume is not too bad with runs still at about the 1 to 1.5 hour mark and rides up to 3 hours but intensity has suddenly shot up. Holden has me doing hill repeats where I have to find a hill 1/4 to 1/2 miles long and go up and down it 6 times. I do a run each week where I have to pick the pace up and do sub-lactate threshold pace for 20 minutes or so.

The weights sessions are 'hypertrophy' where I have to do less repeats but with significantly heavier weights and the last swim session was tough. It involved 5 x 200m repeats, then 5 x 100m and then 5 x 50m repeats where the first repeat was quick, the second fast, the third really fast, the fourth quick and the fifth as fast as you can. By the end I thought my arms were going to drop off. I have just finished 2 hours on the trainer where I had to do 30 minutes of FCAD (fast cadence) and OLD (one legged drills) then 30 min of OG (over gear) intervals then 3 zone 3 intervals. So for FCAD you cycle PDQ, for the OLD, aka SLD, I thought OMG I am going to be KO'd and the OG were far from OK (you have got to love the acronyms there are 3 times as many as most sports).

The end result is that my legs now feel like James Caan's must have after he spent a few nights with Kathy Bates. I find that where I used to take the stairs I now take the elevator to try and rest. To be fair to Holden he did warn me that this build cycle was as much about recovery as it was training and if I didn't rest properly I would not get through it. Still it makes a change from the endless endurance miles during the base phase.