Gene’s Ironman Journey: From Zero to Hero
12 months ago I decide to do an Ironman, the problem was, I couldn’t swim and didn’t own a bike. How hard can it really be? Initially, I decide to train myself, I jumped on the internet and downloaded a plan…easy as!
About two weeks in to “coaching” myself I realised there was more to it than just swimming, biking and running a few times randomly throughout a week. It was time to consult a professional.
I contacted Ray who had been recommended to me by a friend, this is when things really started to take shape.
Week In Review – July 1st, 2019
The Week In Review is a collection of both what I’ve put on my websites and what I’ve enjoyed reading from other sites.
How Mark Got Ironman Success
When I started to look for a coach for finishing an Ironman I looked Ray as I had already experienced his coaching and training style. We started with a phone consult where we discussed what my goals were how he ran his training for an event like this and what coaching package would best suit what I wanted to achieve so I went with the Team Qwik Kiwi. Ray understands the needs of life and can tailor your training around your individual needs, I work shift work on an 8 day week so training was written to suit this. As it is a long process to train for an Ironman Ray uploaded my training week by week and could tailor it to suit changes in my roster, fatigue levels, or if I had any injuries/or niggles. My intention was to do it once but I decided to carry on training for another year to complete Ironman twice along with a number of other events along the way including the Taupo 70.3 Half Ironman in 2017 and 2018.
Thursday Training Plan: Ironman 70.3 Taupo
“Training for excellence, with excellent training.” When you cross the finish line of your Ironman 70.3 Taupo, you will have accomplished something very special. Designed for Intermediate triathletes who are looking to complete Ironman 70.3 Taupo event faster than previously, the primary…
UltraHumps: Rotorua Half Ironman
Hi Blog Followers, I’m having a few computer glitches with the internet at home and also at Camp, so I have chosen to continue to include some favourite photo’s from Ultraman Australia 2016, which is the event for my charity…
UltraHumps – Attention To Detail
Hi Blog Followers – Well a big week of training this week with Coach Ray focusing on sprint training in the Pool and some long reps of high intensity Running and hill work on the Bike. I had to laugh…
UltraHumps: Coach Ray’s Training Programme for Me Last Week
Hi Blog Followers Welcome to Blog # 11 as we get closer to the 6 x Challenges that make up the 1306 kms of 3 Half Ironman events over 3 consecutive weekends in December, followed by 2 full Ironman events…
UltraHumps: A Trip Down Memory Lane
Hi Blog followers and welcome to Blog # 10. For this week I have shifted my training from ‘Windy Wellington’ to ‘Quake City Christchurch’.
UltraHumps: Health Improvement
Hi Blog followers and welcome to another addition of my journey towards 3+2+1=Charity. As you would of seen I had a refreshing break in Rarotonga which gave the batteries a chance to recharge, not just on the personal front but…
UltraHumps: Time for a Break
Hi blog followers Firstly, apologies for not sending a blog last week. I was overseas on holiday. My partner and I headed to Rarotonga for a much needed break from our respective work. This was a chance to refresh and…
- 1 week ago
I had a busy weekend over in the Manawatu this weekend. Yesterday I helped my son-in-law with his @hivesmanawatu stall at the Winter's Day Out market held in Palmerston North and today I headed into the city to do a few things. One of them was to freedom run the park run course. No walking in my training today. I'm gradually regaining my aerobic fitness and it's a confidence building feeling. #freedomparkrun #run #runner #running #athlete former #triathlete #duathlete #keepinghealthy #keepingfit #fitover60 #oldandfit #maturerunner #womenrunners #consistency #consistencyisthekey #qwikkiwi #instagram #instarunner #runnersofinstagram #offroadrun #wintercolours #winterafternoon - 4 weeks ago
Another half hour on the wind trainer. So I am not looking at my watch all the time to see how time is left I watch Netflix on my phone which I sit on a towel across the handle bars 😊 #windtrainer #training #trainingsession #cycle #crosstraining #fitover60 #oldandfit #maturerunner #womenrunners #consistency #consistencyisthekey #qwikkiwi #instacyclist #keepingfit - 1 week ago
The pool is finally open so made the most of it for 2,500m this afternoon. Great to be back in there. Pressed the wrong button on my @garmin and didn’t record the last 200m of the Cool Down #garminfail 🏊♂️ #qwikkiwi #coachray - 2 weeks ago
Park run #51 for me. I am currently only running once a week (including this run), so I ran 4 minutes, walked 1 minute. I realise I need to slot another two runs in each week. I usually am less motivated during winter and last week I didn't even get into the gym until Friday. I felt blah all week. I need some sunshine, like the rest of us ☀️😊 #parkrun51 #parkrun #parkrunnz #run #runner #running #athlete former #triathlete #duathlete #keepinghealthy #keepingfit #fitover60 #oldandfit #maturerunner #womenrunners #consistency #consistencyisthekey #qwikkiwi #instagram #instarunner #runnersofinstagram #offroadrun - 3 days ago
#heretoride a great day in CAP with perfect riding conditions. Cheers to @matt_reido for the company and bed for the night. See you next time 🚵♂️ #QwikKiwi #coachray - 3 weeks ago
I volunteered again at the Greytown Woodside park run, then had breakfast at The Offering with the park runners. After that I returned to Woodside Railway station & ran to the "start line" of the park run and then ran 4 minutes, walked 1 minute to cover off a freedom park run. This strategy seemed to work well and I improved on last week's effort. My legs felt reasonably good after their solid gym workout yesterday. Now to increase aerobic fitness. #freedomparkrun #run #runner #running #athlete former #triathlete #duathlete #keepinghealthy #keepingfit #fitover60 #oldandfit #maturerunner #womenrunners #consistency #consistencyisthekey #qwikkiwi #instagram #instarunner
8 week Spin Fitness Training Plan
This is a great training plan to build your cycling fitness over 8 weeks. Whether you are a road cyclist, mountain biker, Zwift or Peloton user or wanting to use a spin bike for general fitness.
Whether you want to improve your fitness during COVID lockdown or the Southern Hemisphere winter; the 8 week Spin Fitness Training Plans will help you take your fitness level to new heights.
There are a number of options for these Training Plans within the training spectrum depending on how long and the frequency of your normally rides.
Options based on how long you currently ride for:
- less than 30 minutes,
- 30-40 minutes,
- 40-50 minutes,
- 50-60 minutes, or
- more than an hour.
As well as options for riding 3, 4, 5 or in some cases 6 times per week, to optimise your fitness over the next 8 weeks.
After you've completed this 8 week block you can adapt to a more specific plan to target a specific event or specific goal.