66 hours of training: over 55 swimming kilometers, 1018 bike kilometers and 177 running kilometers.

Numbers that do not frighten the PROs (but they don’t have to work for 108 hours!), numbers of which, literally and figuratively, make me hungry, numbers of 3 intensive weeks of train and work, after a week of recovery from WK Ironman 70.3 in South Africa.

The first week I felt lazy, the muscles were recovering, but the body was tired of the trip. The mind was good, I wanted to continue, everything for the big goal. I knew what had to happen in these last weeks before Hawai, the body had to fully recover as much as possible between the training sessions and at the same time become stronger. I knew it would be 3 hard weeks, more intensive and more hours than ever. The schedule of a fighting agegrouper and future pro.

I struggled with a stiff left hip / glute, always my weak side. Especially on the bike, while the pain often comes with running. Treatments of the physio / osteopath gave relief, but it didn’t became completely free of pain. A quick bike fitting came with the solution: the saddle height was not properly adjusted after South Africa. A stupid mistake but fortunately immediately no pain anymore!

The second and third week were a world of difference with the first. I felt more rested and strengthened by the day, as the intensity increased in this peak weeks. Sometimes it’s unbelievable how a body responds to rest and effort. The numbers and graphs showed a rising line in fatigue and falling line of form, as it should be this period, but I felt good every day until the last day of the block: today.

Last Friday the last big brick session was planned: 4 hours on the bike with 3×45′ on 240-250W followed by 1.5 hours of running in 4:40-4:50/km. A great day to test my Fusion race kit. Of course it didn’t felt easy, but that wasn’t the expectation either. For I-don’t-know-how-many-times I ran my kilometers on the boulevard in the burning sun. These weeks I tried to run as much as possible on the middle of the day to get used to the heat. It takes a lot more energy and sometimes it destroyed you, but mentally it has given me a lot of strength and confidence. In the corner of my eyes looking at all the tourists on the terraces, thinking: “Ne lazy you there, I’m going to fix this Kona job and then it’s my turn”.

FusionTeamNL🇳🇱 racekit has passed through the inspection without problems!

This morning I ended the block with a 3800m swim in the sea and that felt incredibly good. Without doubts, with 100% confidence I start my taper weeks. Normally I taper a week before the race, but now it’s necessary to be rested for the long trip from Lanzarote to Kona-Hawaii. We leave on the 7th of October we leave, 4 full days to acclimatize. Untill that time I’m comfortable in my familiar environment, with also Kona-conditions, put myself in the fridge, rest and let the form rise!

We keep in touch, next report from Kona-Hawaï!

Aloha! 🌺

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