Monday, 27 January 2014
Training Plan - Week 5 - Jan 27 to Feb 2
Back in for the next stage of my dental work this week. So that probably takes Wednesday out. In order to get my run miles Tuesday will have to be a bit longer and I will probably still have to add a loop after reps as well.
I may take a hit on run miles to get in a mountain bike ride instead. The weather so far this year has meant that my bike miles are almost a month behind target so I need to be grabbing as many as I can, while run miles are ahead of target so I can afford to miss a few here and there.
Monday - Swim with TPT. Stretching session.
Tuesday - Long run. Core session.
Wednesday - Dentist.
Thursday - Date Night.
Friday - Wii yoga.
Saturday - Run - Rep session.
Sunday - Long ride.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Training Review - Week 4 - Jan 20 to 26
Started this week with the TPT annual swim time trial. The idea is to swim as far as possible in 20 minutes. I was aiming to do 1,200m. I did 1,150m. I could be disappointed about not getting there. I could be really upset about not even matching last year's 1,175m. Instead I am going to look at the swim itself. I had a lot more traffic than previous years. From my garmin track it looks like I had 14 overtaking moves, either following someone for half a length till they get out of my way, or moving out of someone else's way to let them pass. At an average of 5 seconds each that is a total of about 70 seconds in lost time, that is over 50m. So I 'think' in clean water I could do my 1,200m target. If I can find a lane session this week I may try a solo attempt at it.
Worth noting that I also went through 400m in 6:48 and 750m in 13:00. That is a 10-second lifetime best for 400m, and is a 20-second lifetime best and spot on my end-of-year target through 750m. Bodes well for the rest of the year. 6:30 does seem like a very ambitious 400m swim target now though, I am going to need the tumble turns to get it. I did get one videoed this week so maybe I can see some of the things I am doing wrong and sort them out.
Tuesday was mountain biking. As it was a later start than normal I decided I had time to come home and change, and to pedal to and from Kirkhill to add in a few more miles. It was horribly windy and a hard 4 mile slog around the airport to get to the start. Then we did a loop around Kirkhill, sheltered from the wind apart from a section at the top, so it wasn't too horrible. Mostly fire track but the odd bit of slightly tougher riding. A bit hit and miss on the off-track bits. Sometimes I seem to be getting better at it, then I start spinning wheels and toppling over and it just gets gradually worse until I get fed up. Anyway after 6 miles of that we were back to the start. And then I had another very windy 4 mile ride home. Total of 14miles. That is a pretty good distance for a whole day weekend mountain bike ride nevermind a midweek school-night ride.
I also did my weights and core sessions.
Wednesday I did a run around Dyce. Nice and easy but keeping the average pace under 8min/mile again. Nothing too exciting. Surprised not to be suffering after the long mountain bike ride. I also managed to sign up to the new health challenge at work. It is all around scoring diet points for eating more healthily.
Thursday night was Date Night. The Wolf of Wall Street is a very strange film. It is basically a slightly more extreme remake of Caligula. Lots of drug taking and nudity for no real reason. On the subject of bad films, I also go to see the video footage from Monday night. As expected my turn was terrible. But at least having seen it there are some things I can now see how they work and I can start to fix some of them.
Friday I had planned to do a short run, but I got an email in from Strava in the morning showing I was outside the top-10,000 for their January 10k challenge. This annoyed me enough to want to another shot at it. So despite the terrible weather conditions I decided to do a 10k out and back along the railway line. I managed to carve almost 9 minutes off the time I set during my rep session 2 weeks ago. Moving myself up into the top-4,000, out of the ~29,000 people who have logged a time. Much happier with that, especially given that very few of the 4,000 people ahead of me will have been clocking their times in 3 degrees of rain, in the dark, on a wet muddy track. If I had been a bit smarter I might have jogged another mile and a half loop somewhere to finish out my miles for the week and give me a day off tomorrow but I was too busy thinking about not drowning or freezing to do anything smart. So still need a couple of miles, either reps or a warm-up run somewhere.
Saturday I went for an early swim. My original plan was to do a solo T20 but it was clear even before I got to the pool that I was much too tired and stiff. I started off as hard as I felt I could go, but within 400m I was already 20 seconds down on my time from Monday. By 750m I was only 15 seconds down, but I was really suffering, and it was clear that even if I could make up the lost time from Monday I wasn't going to go any further. So I called it a day on the T20, dropped the pace a bit, and did some turns. In hindsight I should still be really pleased. Despite going in tired, achey and underfuelled I was still through 750m in 15secs faster than my fastest race.
I did my wii yoga session in the evening.
Sunday was weather for ducks, and only hard-core survivalist ducks at that. Only a complete lunatic would go out cycling in it. So I met up with 6 other complete lunatics at Kintore and we rolled out into the storm. I got dropped about 5 miles in, but I rolled on for another 3 before I turned and headed back. Was just wet but not cold on the way out, but after I turned the water was getting inside my clothes and my left glove especially. Was losing feeling in my fingers but my core was still warm. I got back to the car, hopped off the bike and jumped inside the back of the car to strip off some of the wettest gear and warm up. Took me another 5 minutes to realise the boot doesn't open from the inside! But by then I was at least warm enough to use my fingers and my brain. Turns out the button on the key that unlocks the boot allows you to get back out. So I was able to get out and put the bike in.
When I got home I was still not defrosted. I decided to get the last of this week's run miles on the treadmill to try and warm up. And in the evening I did my stretching session as well.
Then we went to see 12 Years a Slave. Certainly one of the dullest films I have seen in a long time.
All in another solid week. Shame about another miss on total bike miles but the weather was just too nasty. Pretty poor week on the film front though. Both were terrible.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,450 m in 35 mins.
Including T20 test: 1,150m in 20 mins
Tuesday - MTB 14.2 miles in 2 hours 14mins.
Weights and core.
Wednesday - Run 4.3 miles in 34 mins.
Thursday - Date Night. Wolf of Wall Street.
Friday - Run 6.3 miles in 49mins.
Saturday - Swim 1,000m in 21mins.
Wii Yoga.
Sunday - Ride 15.4 miles in 1hr 06.
Treadmill 1.6 miles in 15mins.
Stretching.
Actual totals - Swim 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Bike 29.6 miles. Run 12.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 36 mins of wii yoga.
Worth noting that I also went through 400m in 6:48 and 750m in 13:00. That is a 10-second lifetime best for 400m, and is a 20-second lifetime best and spot on my end-of-year target through 750m. Bodes well for the rest of the year. 6:30 does seem like a very ambitious 400m swim target now though, I am going to need the tumble turns to get it. I did get one videoed this week so maybe I can see some of the things I am doing wrong and sort them out.
Tuesday was mountain biking. As it was a later start than normal I decided I had time to come home and change, and to pedal to and from Kirkhill to add in a few more miles. It was horribly windy and a hard 4 mile slog around the airport to get to the start. Then we did a loop around Kirkhill, sheltered from the wind apart from a section at the top, so it wasn't too horrible. Mostly fire track but the odd bit of slightly tougher riding. A bit hit and miss on the off-track bits. Sometimes I seem to be getting better at it, then I start spinning wheels and toppling over and it just gets gradually worse until I get fed up. Anyway after 6 miles of that we were back to the start. And then I had another very windy 4 mile ride home. Total of 14miles. That is a pretty good distance for a whole day weekend mountain bike ride nevermind a midweek school-night ride.
I also did my weights and core sessions.
Wednesday I did a run around Dyce. Nice and easy but keeping the average pace under 8min/mile again. Nothing too exciting. Surprised not to be suffering after the long mountain bike ride. I also managed to sign up to the new health challenge at work. It is all around scoring diet points for eating more healthily.
Thursday night was Date Night. The Wolf of Wall Street is a very strange film. It is basically a slightly more extreme remake of Caligula. Lots of drug taking and nudity for no real reason. On the subject of bad films, I also go to see the video footage from Monday night. As expected my turn was terrible. But at least having seen it there are some things I can now see how they work and I can start to fix some of them.
Friday I had planned to do a short run, but I got an email in from Strava in the morning showing I was outside the top-10,000 for their January 10k challenge. This annoyed me enough to want to another shot at it. So despite the terrible weather conditions I decided to do a 10k out and back along the railway line. I managed to carve almost 9 minutes off the time I set during my rep session 2 weeks ago. Moving myself up into the top-4,000, out of the ~29,000 people who have logged a time. Much happier with that, especially given that very few of the 4,000 people ahead of me will have been clocking their times in 3 degrees of rain, in the dark, on a wet muddy track. If I had been a bit smarter I might have jogged another mile and a half loop somewhere to finish out my miles for the week and give me a day off tomorrow but I was too busy thinking about not drowning or freezing to do anything smart. So still need a couple of miles, either reps or a warm-up run somewhere.
Saturday I went for an early swim. My original plan was to do a solo T20 but it was clear even before I got to the pool that I was much too tired and stiff. I started off as hard as I felt I could go, but within 400m I was already 20 seconds down on my time from Monday. By 750m I was only 15 seconds down, but I was really suffering, and it was clear that even if I could make up the lost time from Monday I wasn't going to go any further. So I called it a day on the T20, dropped the pace a bit, and did some turns. In hindsight I should still be really pleased. Despite going in tired, achey and underfuelled I was still through 750m in 15secs faster than my fastest race.
I did my wii yoga session in the evening.
Sunday was weather for ducks, and only hard-core survivalist ducks at that. Only a complete lunatic would go out cycling in it. So I met up with 6 other complete lunatics at Kintore and we rolled out into the storm. I got dropped about 5 miles in, but I rolled on for another 3 before I turned and headed back. Was just wet but not cold on the way out, but after I turned the water was getting inside my clothes and my left glove especially. Was losing feeling in my fingers but my core was still warm. I got back to the car, hopped off the bike and jumped inside the back of the car to strip off some of the wettest gear and warm up. Took me another 5 minutes to realise the boot doesn't open from the inside! But by then I was at least warm enough to use my fingers and my brain. Turns out the button on the key that unlocks the boot allows you to get back out. So I was able to get out and put the bike in.
When I got home I was still not defrosted. I decided to get the last of this week's run miles on the treadmill to try and warm up. And in the evening I did my stretching session as well.
Then we went to see 12 Years a Slave. Certainly one of the dullest films I have seen in a long time.
All in another solid week. Shame about another miss on total bike miles but the weather was just too nasty. Pretty poor week on the film front though. Both were terrible.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,450 m in 35 mins.
Including T20 test: 1,150m in 20 mins
Tuesday - MTB 14.2 miles in 2 hours 14mins.
Weights and core.
Wednesday - Run 4.3 miles in 34 mins.
Thursday - Date Night. Wolf of Wall Street.
Friday - Run 6.3 miles in 49mins.
Saturday - Swim 1,000m in 21mins.
Wii Yoga.
Sunday - Ride 15.4 miles in 1hr 06.
Treadmill 1.6 miles in 15mins.
Stretching.
Actual totals - Swim 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Bike 29.6 miles. Run 12.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 36 mins of wii yoga.
Monday, 20 January 2014
Training Plan - Week 4 - Jan 20 to 26
Monday night's swim session includes a 20 minute swim time trial.
In the previous years I have done this test:
Dec 2010 - 975m
Dec 2011 - 1,025m
Jan 2013 - 1,175m
Jan 2014 - Obviously I am looking to go further than last year. However, in the past I have always had lane space to go at my own pace, while this year I am likely to get boxed into the pace of the rest of lane 3. While they are generally better swimmers than I am, they are for the most part, not such aggressive racers. Depending on how the traffic affects my time I may try a solo T20 later this week or early next week.
It is also possible that I might accidentally sneak under my annual targets for 400m in 6 mins 30 and 750m in 13 mins. Since this is swim-only and I don't have to get on the bike or run afterwards I won't count it, but it will be interesting to know that they are possible.
The rest of the week is structured the same as the last couple of weeks. No planned dental work to impede progress so hopefully I can get the numbers back towards where they should be. However I am on the phone list for cancellations so that may change again.
Monday - Swim with TPT - T20 Test. Stretching session.
Tuesday - Easy run or mtb. Core session.
Wednesday - Short but fast run. Weights session.
Thursday - Date Night.
Friday - Wii yoga. Turbo? T20 second attempt?
Saturday - Run - Rep session.
Sunday - Long ride. (Or Westhill Duathlon if the weather changes massively before midweek).
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
In the previous years I have done this test:
Dec 2010 - 975m
Dec 2011 - 1,025m
Jan 2013 - 1,175m
Jan 2014 - Obviously I am looking to go further than last year. However, in the past I have always had lane space to go at my own pace, while this year I am likely to get boxed into the pace of the rest of lane 3. While they are generally better swimmers than I am, they are for the most part, not such aggressive racers. Depending on how the traffic affects my time I may try a solo T20 later this week or early next week.
It is also possible that I might accidentally sneak under my annual targets for 400m in 6 mins 30 and 750m in 13 mins. Since this is swim-only and I don't have to get on the bike or run afterwards I won't count it, but it will be interesting to know that they are possible.
The rest of the week is structured the same as the last couple of weeks. No planned dental work to impede progress so hopefully I can get the numbers back towards where they should be. However I am on the phone list for cancellations so that may change again.
Monday - Swim with TPT - T20 Test. Stretching session.
Tuesday - Easy run or mtb. Core session.
Wednesday - Short but fast run. Weights session.
Thursday - Date Night.
Friday - Wii yoga. Turbo? T20 second attempt?
Saturday - Run - Rep session.
Sunday - Long ride. (Or Westhill Duathlon if the weather changes massively before midweek).
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Training Review - Week 3 - Jan 13 to 19
I am not sleeping well again and this is resulting in me being tired a lot. I think I also have broken a filling which may have been the reason I was waking up every 20-30 minutes on sunday night. It was ok during the day but toothache was bugging me before and during swimming. Also the session didn't suit me with lots of one-armed reps included. These mess up my back so I adapted the session to just swim and focus on trying a few things out. I did some work on my breathing and my catch. I also got a few practice turns in and tried a few 100m timed efforts to test my tumble turns against my touch turns. There is very little between them in time now. But the tumbles do use more energy and are still really hit and miss.
OK, so the filling was definitely broken. £313 later I have had an xray, half a root canal treatment and a temporary filling. Still two appointments and £700 to go before I will have the other half of the root done and a crown fitted. That also meant no training today, and no dinner.
Wednesday I was back on it, although struggling still with an achey jaw. I stuck with a short loop around Dyce. Taking it fairly easy I am finally managing to get under 8 minute mile pace. For easy runs I am doing quicker pace than about half of my races last year. This is probably a good sign, but need to see if it is sustainable for longer distance, and coming off the bike.
I also took the opportunity to make up a couple of the extra sessions. Did my light weights and my core session.
Thursday was Date Night. No movie this week though.
Friday was meant to be a quick double with a run and mountain bike trip planned. But the weather wasn't great so we decided just to run instead. Put in a fairly steady 5 mile hill run at Kirkhill.
Saturday I did my reps session. Having a few more miles in during the week meant I could just go straight to and from the hill without a detour. That also meant I could push a bit harder on the reps because I wouldn't have another 3 miles to do afterwards. This did mean that they were slightly quicker again than the previous attempts.
Sunday was another crappy weather day. So I used that as an excuse to skip cycling again. I had convinced myself that I would turbo instead. But I really couldnt be bothered, so as soon as I had a problem with the garmin sensor not measuring distance that was all the excuse I needed to quit. This needs to stop soon before it becomes a habit. Next week looks like the weather is going to be too wet to race Westhill Duathlon. So I can't get round it by signing up to a race. I can put an evening ride into Tuesday or Friday, but it is still too dark by the time I get home so that is likely to be a short turn on the mountain bike rather than proper miles on the road bike. Not having the gym at work is suddenly a lot more of a problem.
I did do my stretching session before bed time.
Up until Sunday it was another good week. I really need to do something about the bike miles though.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,950m in 58mins.
Tuesday - Dentist.
Wednesday - Run 3.6 miles, 28mins.
Weights and core.
Thursday - Date Night.
Friday - Hill run 5 miles, 50mins.
Saturday - 8 x Hill Reps. 3.9 miles, 38mins.
Sunday - Nothing.
Stretching.
Actual totals - Swim 1.2 miles (1,950m). Bike miles. Run 12.5 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of wii yoga.
OK, so the filling was definitely broken. £313 later I have had an xray, half a root canal treatment and a temporary filling. Still two appointments and £700 to go before I will have the other half of the root done and a crown fitted. That also meant no training today, and no dinner.
Wednesday I was back on it, although struggling still with an achey jaw. I stuck with a short loop around Dyce. Taking it fairly easy I am finally managing to get under 8 minute mile pace. For easy runs I am doing quicker pace than about half of my races last year. This is probably a good sign, but need to see if it is sustainable for longer distance, and coming off the bike.
I also took the opportunity to make up a couple of the extra sessions. Did my light weights and my core session.
Thursday was Date Night. No movie this week though.
Friday was meant to be a quick double with a run and mountain bike trip planned. But the weather wasn't great so we decided just to run instead. Put in a fairly steady 5 mile hill run at Kirkhill.
Saturday I did my reps session. Having a few more miles in during the week meant I could just go straight to and from the hill without a detour. That also meant I could push a bit harder on the reps because I wouldn't have another 3 miles to do afterwards. This did mean that they were slightly quicker again than the previous attempts.
Sunday was another crappy weather day. So I used that as an excuse to skip cycling again. I had convinced myself that I would turbo instead. But I really couldnt be bothered, so as soon as I had a problem with the garmin sensor not measuring distance that was all the excuse I needed to quit. This needs to stop soon before it becomes a habit. Next week looks like the weather is going to be too wet to race Westhill Duathlon. So I can't get round it by signing up to a race. I can put an evening ride into Tuesday or Friday, but it is still too dark by the time I get home so that is likely to be a short turn on the mountain bike rather than proper miles on the road bike. Not having the gym at work is suddenly a lot more of a problem.
I did do my stretching session before bed time.
Up until Sunday it was another good week. I really need to do something about the bike miles though.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,950m in 58mins.
Tuesday - Dentist.
Wednesday - Run 3.6 miles, 28mins.
Weights and core.
Thursday - Date Night.
Friday - Hill run 5 miles, 50mins.
Saturday - 8 x Hill Reps. 3.9 miles, 38mins.
Sunday - Nothing.
Stretching.
Actual totals - Swim 1.2 miles (1,950m). Bike miles. Run 12.5 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of wii yoga.
Monday, 13 January 2014
Training Plan - Week 3 - Jan 13 to 19
Going to stick with the same basic plan as last week since it went fairly well. I have adapted it slightly to try and front-load the ancillary sessions and I have left Friday as a floating day to give me flexibility to shuffle again if I can find another excuse to go mountain biking or similar.
Monday - Swim with TPT. Stretching session.
Tuesday - Easy run. Core session.
Wednesday - Short but fast run. Weights session.
Thursday - Date Night.
Friday - Wii yoga.
Saturday - Run - Rep session.
Sunday - Long ride.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Monday - Swim with TPT. Stretching session.
Tuesday - Easy run. Core session.
Wednesday - Short but fast run. Weights session.
Thursday - Date Night.
Friday - Wii yoga.
Saturday - Run - Rep session.
Sunday - Long ride.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Training Review - Week 2 - Jan 6 to 12
First swim of the year. Solid but not spectacular. Should have finished with 8 x 50m sprints but I was cramping up so I bailed slightly early, knowing that I had my weekly target in the bag already. Then I came home and did my core session. I am going to try and pick off the 'extras' earlier in the week rather than lazily leaving them to the weekend and finding excuses for not doing them.
Tuesday's run got switched for a mountain bike trip to Kirkhill. I have some slack in my programme this week to be flexible so I decided to take the variety and to make back some of the missing bike miles from last week. Wasn't the best ride. I still can't get the weight distribution right on my mountain bike. It is too light so climbs are a balancing act between wheelies and wheelspin. Also the summer tyres I am running slide a lot in the wet or the mud. Had a 'moment' over the handlebars, followed closely by two small 'offs' onto my pinned shoulder. It is really stiff since I got back. Pretty sure it has just tightened up as a precaution since this is the first time I have crashed on the pin and it still doesn't react quite as normal. I really need to try a set of heavier, chunky tyres, and some lower pressures. With a view to getting the shoulder relaxed a bit before it messes up my back I also put my stretching session in.
Wednesday I was still suffering a bit with my shoulder. Went out for a short run around Dyce, mostly just to knock off some miles for the week. Started ok but my stiff shoulder started pulling on my back and my hip so I cut a half mile off the end of my loop. Was a decent pace for what I did do though so I was happy enough.
Thursday was a trip to Last Vegas. Expected all the best bits would be in the trailer but there were plenty more tucked away. Decent film all in. Much like Walter Mitty last week it was predictable, but done well enough to be worth seeing. 7/10.
Friday I thought I might be getting the start of a cold. Got home from work and was a bit sniffly, but got out to do my run before I felt any worse. Stuck to just steady miles as it is still too dark for reps. Looked like evening reps might be sooner than I expected though as it was still just about light when I got home from work. Added a little bit to my normal loop to cover the missed half mile from Tuesday. That brings tomorrow's plan to about 10k, which I will do with an extended set of hill reps. This will get me a reps session for this week and will also get me on to the Strava Anywhere-10k scoresheet.
Getting out of bed on Saturday morning was pretty hard work, but I managed to drag myself out to do my rep session. I took a slightly longer route to the start to try and warm-up through the cold. I did 8 reps, massively inconsistent between 45-67 secs but on average faster and slightly more consistent than the 6 from last week but still need an awful lot of work. I then did an extended run home to take in the rest of my loop around Dyce and also did a quick loop round the park to measure where I plan to do some flat reps later in the year (0.4 miles). Clocked enough miles to get onto the Strava 10k list, but barely snuck under the hour mark. Happy enough with the reps on the hills and getting all my miles for the week though.
Sunday I planned to do 40-45 by riding out Kintore and following the group for 20miles before turning home again. I got up on time this week and wrapped up in 6 layers to ride out to Kintore. It was still too cold and I was struggling with fingers and toes even by the time I got to the start. I turned onto the back of the group and followed them back as far as Dyce but I was really suffering from the cold and I got off the chain gang and rolled home. Once back in the house I jumped on the TT bike and the turbo for 5 minutes to try and warm up. Garmin was misbehaving (again) so I have had to guess at time and take distance from a previous ride.
Also put in a trip to see Delivery Man. Slow and predictable and looked better in the trailer but inoffensive and worth 6/10.
Finished off the week with a full round of wii yoga on Sunday evening.
In terms of numbers I am a bit behind target on biking numbers for the year after 2 poor weeks, but I am still happy with where my overall numbers are at the end of week two. The weather hasn't been particularly bike-friendly so far and I can easily make up these small losses once the weather warms up a little. Everything else is going better than planned despite the weather. And the rep sessions are definitely improving my running already.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,775m in 35mins.
Core session.
Tuesday - MTB, 6.3miles in 1 hr 24mins.
Stretching session.
Wednesday - Run 2.6 miles, 22mins.
Light weights session.
Thursday - Date Night - Last Vegas.
Friday - Run 3.7 miles in 29mins.
Saturday - 8 x Zara hill reps. 6.4 in 59mins.
Sunday - Ride 18 miles, 1 hour 20-ish.
Wii yoga for 36mins.
Cinema - Delivery Man.
Actual totals - Swim 1.1 miles (1,775m). Bike 24.3 miles. Run 12.7 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 36 mins of wii yoga.
Tuesday's run got switched for a mountain bike trip to Kirkhill. I have some slack in my programme this week to be flexible so I decided to take the variety and to make back some of the missing bike miles from last week. Wasn't the best ride. I still can't get the weight distribution right on my mountain bike. It is too light so climbs are a balancing act between wheelies and wheelspin. Also the summer tyres I am running slide a lot in the wet or the mud. Had a 'moment' over the handlebars, followed closely by two small 'offs' onto my pinned shoulder. It is really stiff since I got back. Pretty sure it has just tightened up as a precaution since this is the first time I have crashed on the pin and it still doesn't react quite as normal. I really need to try a set of heavier, chunky tyres, and some lower pressures. With a view to getting the shoulder relaxed a bit before it messes up my back I also put my stretching session in.
Wednesday I was still suffering a bit with my shoulder. Went out for a short run around Dyce, mostly just to knock off some miles for the week. Started ok but my stiff shoulder started pulling on my back and my hip so I cut a half mile off the end of my loop. Was a decent pace for what I did do though so I was happy enough.
Thursday was a trip to Last Vegas. Expected all the best bits would be in the trailer but there were plenty more tucked away. Decent film all in. Much like Walter Mitty last week it was predictable, but done well enough to be worth seeing. 7/10.
Friday I thought I might be getting the start of a cold. Got home from work and was a bit sniffly, but got out to do my run before I felt any worse. Stuck to just steady miles as it is still too dark for reps. Looked like evening reps might be sooner than I expected though as it was still just about light when I got home from work. Added a little bit to my normal loop to cover the missed half mile from Tuesday. That brings tomorrow's plan to about 10k, which I will do with an extended set of hill reps. This will get me a reps session for this week and will also get me on to the Strava Anywhere-10k scoresheet.
Getting out of bed on Saturday morning was pretty hard work, but I managed to drag myself out to do my rep session. I took a slightly longer route to the start to try and warm-up through the cold. I did 8 reps, massively inconsistent between 45-67 secs but on average faster and slightly more consistent than the 6 from last week but still need an awful lot of work. I then did an extended run home to take in the rest of my loop around Dyce and also did a quick loop round the park to measure where I plan to do some flat reps later in the year (0.4 miles). Clocked enough miles to get onto the Strava 10k list, but barely snuck under the hour mark. Happy enough with the reps on the hills and getting all my miles for the week though.
Sunday I planned to do 40-45 by riding out Kintore and following the group for 20miles before turning home again. I got up on time this week and wrapped up in 6 layers to ride out to Kintore. It was still too cold and I was struggling with fingers and toes even by the time I got to the start. I turned onto the back of the group and followed them back as far as Dyce but I was really suffering from the cold and I got off the chain gang and rolled home. Once back in the house I jumped on the TT bike and the turbo for 5 minutes to try and warm up. Garmin was misbehaving (again) so I have had to guess at time and take distance from a previous ride.
Also put in a trip to see Delivery Man. Slow and predictable and looked better in the trailer but inoffensive and worth 6/10.
Finished off the week with a full round of wii yoga on Sunday evening.
In terms of numbers I am a bit behind target on biking numbers for the year after 2 poor weeks, but I am still happy with where my overall numbers are at the end of week two. The weather hasn't been particularly bike-friendly so far and I can easily make up these small losses once the weather warms up a little. Everything else is going better than planned despite the weather. And the rep sessions are definitely improving my running already.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,775m in 35mins.
Core session.
Tuesday - MTB, 6.3miles in 1 hr 24mins.
Stretching session.
Wednesday - Run 2.6 miles, 22mins.
Light weights session.
Thursday - Date Night - Last Vegas.
Friday - Run 3.7 miles in 29mins.
Saturday - 8 x Zara hill reps. 6.4 in 59mins.
Sunday - Ride 18 miles, 1 hour 20-ish.
Wii yoga for 36mins.
Cinema - Delivery Man.
Actual totals - Swim 1.1 miles (1,775m). Bike 24.3 miles. Run 12.7 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 36 mins of wii yoga.
Monday, 6 January 2014
Training Plan - Week 2 - Jan 6 to 12
First full week of the year.
I have set the targets just at 1/52nd of the annual targets for running and biking. This gives me a bit of leeway to make changes with the weather. If I get up towards these sort of numbers early in the year then through summer resting for races and better weather for training should average out.
So it is a fairly lazy week to start with. But 3 runs in so I can stick to trying to build up the pace a little.
I have also purposefully set a low bike target. This should make it possible to get it on my own (maybe with some resort to the turbo) and if I exceed it I can take some credit against the missing miles from Week 1.
Monday - Swim with TPT.
Tuesday - Easy run.
Wednesday - Short but fast run.
Thursday - Date Night.
Friday - Yoga, stretching, weights.
Saturday - Run - Rep session.
Sunday - Long ride.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
I have set the targets just at 1/52nd of the annual targets for running and biking. This gives me a bit of leeway to make changes with the weather. If I get up towards these sort of numbers early in the year then through summer resting for races and better weather for training should average out.
So it is a fairly lazy week to start with. But 3 runs in so I can stick to trying to build up the pace a little.
I have also purposefully set a low bike target. This should make it possible to get it on my own (maybe with some resort to the turbo) and if I exceed it I can take some credit against the missing miles from Week 1.
Monday - Swim with TPT.
Tuesday - Easy run.
Wednesday - Short but fast run.
Thursday - Date Night.
Friday - Yoga, stretching, weights.
Saturday - Run - Rep session.
Sunday - Long ride.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Training Review - Week 1 - Jan 1 to 5
Have had to completely rewrite this post. More than a little bit pissed off as I had put a lot of time into this weeks review and a lot of it I can't remember well enough to rewrite. Even though it was a shortened week I am still struggling to remember what I wrote most of it.
New Years Day I went for an easy jog around Dyce. Nothing spectacular but got the new year off to an easy start. I am sure the first time round I drafted something useful in here but I can't remember what it was now.
Thursday and Friday were back to work, and then had date nights on both of them that meant no training. Went to see the Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The trailer doesn't sell it nearly well enough, it is actually a pretty good (if basically predictable) movie.
Saturday I woke up with back and hip problems. I decided to have a first try at my new hill reps anyway. I jogged the half mile round to the start. having had another quick look I decided to extend them a little to take in a section of flat before the hill. I did 6 of them. This has obviously been a hole in my training regime as it was a real struggle to do what should have been fairly simple work. I then finished off the rest of my loop around Dyce.
Until the daylight improves I am going to be stuck with doing rep sessions at the weekends and steady runs during the week. This should be fine for a while at least but if it starts affecting bike time I may have to look at making changes as the light improves.
After reps I did a bit of wii yoga, then went in to town for some new running gear, then came home to finish off the yoga session and did a core sessions as well.
Sunday was a struggle. I woke up to my alarm in time to go cycling, but then fell asleep again and missed it. I could have tried to blame the weather as being too icy and cold to go anyway, but that doesn't give me any excuse for not turbo-ing instead.
All in this has been a pretty good week. My internal clock is not adjusting well after a month off so I am a lot more tired than I should be, hopefully that will sort itself out over the next week or so. No bike miles was a bit of a disappointing start to the week, but getting everything else and doing my first rep session since July 2011 have been good.
Target totals - Swim 0 miles. Bike >40 miles. Run >8 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Wednesday - Run 3.3 miles, 28mins.
Thursday - Date Night - Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
Friday - Extra Date Night.
Saturday - 6 x Zara hill reps, run 5.0 miles in 45mins.
Wii yoga and core.
Sunday - Slept in.
Light weights and stretching.
Actual totals - Swim 0 miles (0m). Bike 0 miles. Run 8.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of wii yoga.
Wednesday, 1 January 2014
Training Plan - Week 1 - Jan 1 to 5
Short week this week since I rolled Monday and Tuesday into the last week of 2013. I am back to work Thursday and Friday and I have to go out both evenings.
I am going to start on the running reps sessions in week 1. I have a few options for places and distances to try out so I will spread them over the first few weeks. depending on the weather I will either do the new short hill rep I found with Dex last week, or alternately a flat loop around the park.
Wednesday - Easy run.
Thursday - Date Night.
Friday - Ad-hoc Date Night.
Saturday - Run - Rep session.
Sunday - Long ride.
Target totals - Swim 0 miles. Bike >40 miles. Run >8 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
I am going to start on the running reps sessions in week 1. I have a few options for places and distances to try out so I will spread them over the first few weeks. depending on the weather I will either do the new short hill rep I found with Dex last week, or alternately a flat loop around the park.
Wednesday - Easy run.
Thursday - Date Night.
Friday - Ad-hoc Date Night.
Saturday - Run - Rep session.
Sunday - Long ride.
Target totals - Swim 0 miles. Bike >40 miles. Run >8 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
2014 Targets
So the training targets for 2014 are going to be built on something a little bit more scientific than last years (but not a lot). They are basically going to be built around what I think I will have the time to do this year. I still don't have a real single race target to aim at so everything is still a bit vague for now.
2013 was built around volume to prepare me for doing a half-ironman so those targets were just set as 'more than 2012'. I am not planning to do anything as long in 2014, so the total numbers certainly aren't going to get any larger. In fact in order to pick up the speed I am going to cut back on all of the mileage targets from what I actually did this year.
Swim - 78 miles. And learn to tumble turn properly.
In 2010 I swam 39 miles, 2011 I swam 44 miles, 2012 I swam 52 miles.
In 2013 I swam 85 miles. And I did a bit of tumble turning, but not enough.
So my new target is slightly up on last year's target, but less than last year's total. It is 1.5miles a week and I should easily get this from just TPT sessions and some summer trips to Knockburn. I missed a bit of volume early in the year as I rebuilt my collar bone but I am not planning the two 5-mile weeks in December that more than cancelled those out, so I don't expect to do 85 again. But by doing roughly the same basic number of sessions, and continuing to up the speed a little bit I should get pretty close with just my weekly TPT sessions. They are normally ~2,100m (1.3 miles), so it wouldn't take many extras to fill that out. So I am going to add a couple of speed targets into the racing section as well.
Bike - 1,820 miles.
In 2012 I rode 1,562 miles.
In 2013 I rode 2,078 miles.
In 2014 I plan to ride less miles but faster. So I am going to set the target at a slightly reduced 1,820 miles, which works out at 35 miles a week. I can easily see this target slipping away from me though. I won't be able to get the early gym miles I did last year, and I will be looking to go faster and shorter through the summer. I would like to do one of the local Time Trial races this year, but we will see how it goes nearer the time. The bike 'should' be my weakest event, and I am comfortable with just holding it where it is and moving the other two events forward.
Run 624 miles.
At the minute I am really struggling on the runs during races. I want to be back running at least at a level where it isn't my weakest triathlon event. With over 20 years behind me it should be my best event. The reason I started triathlons was because of how much I could chase people down on the run.
I am quite pleased with the total number of miles I got in 2013, but they didn't convert to fast running in races. So as with cycling and swimming the numbers come down a little from the 2013 actuals, but higher than the 2013 targets. There is also going to be at least one timed one in the racing targets, although still not sure I can cope with a proper road running race so might be a tough one to get.
Racing
The racing targets are going to be much more specific this year.
Swim 400m under 6mins 30, and 750m under 13mins, and 1500m under 27mins. (And if I do by some chance find another 5k swim race, get under 1hr 35).
Cycle a TT race. (Just out of interest as much as anything else).
Run a 5k under 21mins 30, or 10k under 44mins, or half marathon under 1hr 48. Finding a race I can go to and take part in is going to be the hardest part of this one.
Clock personal best times at Knockburn Sprint and Standard and at Huntly Standard (allowing for weather). Finish in the top-10 at Forres Novice.
I also have a list of people that I want to beat. Inkeeping with the history of my blogs I am not going to name people directly. That rule was originally in place because of a police investigation, but it makes sense to keep it so still no names. But I know who they are. There are a group of them just ahead of me in races. In the local vernacular they are the 'ken't faces'. Some of them I want to beat at races, some of them I will be happy beating in individual stages.
Targets that aren't targets.
Sessions - No target this time.
They can come and go with whatever suits. This number could get silly as I start doing shorter and faster. I could end up on 12-15 a week but all of them under half an hour, so counting a flat number here has little value.
Weight - No target this time.
At the start of the year I wanted to be heavier. Up to 80kg. I have been that or above since about the middle of the year. I want to be a bit smarter about this one. I would like to be a bit lighter, for the bike and run sections I am carrying a bit more than is really comfortable. There are just too many hills around here to be hauling extra weight up them. But part of last year's failure on this target was to just set a weight number, which I could just as easily reach by getting fat. And the risk this year is that I could hit a lower weight target by sacrificing useful swim muscles. So I am not going to set a target, but if I get anywhere outside the 75-82kg range then something has probably gone wrong.
2013 was built around volume to prepare me for doing a half-ironman so those targets were just set as 'more than 2012'. I am not planning to do anything as long in 2014, so the total numbers certainly aren't going to get any larger. In fact in order to pick up the speed I am going to cut back on all of the mileage targets from what I actually did this year.
Swim - 78 miles. And learn to tumble turn properly.
In 2010 I swam 39 miles, 2011 I swam 44 miles, 2012 I swam 52 miles.
In 2013 I swam 85 miles. And I did a bit of tumble turning, but not enough.
So my new target is slightly up on last year's target, but less than last year's total. It is 1.5miles a week and I should easily get this from just TPT sessions and some summer trips to Knockburn. I missed a bit of volume early in the year as I rebuilt my collar bone but I am not planning the two 5-mile weeks in December that more than cancelled those out, so I don't expect to do 85 again. But by doing roughly the same basic number of sessions, and continuing to up the speed a little bit I should get pretty close with just my weekly TPT sessions. They are normally ~2,100m (1.3 miles), so it wouldn't take many extras to fill that out. So I am going to add a couple of speed targets into the racing section as well.
Bike - 1,820 miles.
In 2012 I rode 1,562 miles.
In 2013 I rode 2,078 miles.
In 2014 I plan to ride less miles but faster. So I am going to set the target at a slightly reduced 1,820 miles, which works out at 35 miles a week. I can easily see this target slipping away from me though. I won't be able to get the early gym miles I did last year, and I will be looking to go faster and shorter through the summer. I would like to do one of the local Time Trial races this year, but we will see how it goes nearer the time. The bike 'should' be my weakest event, and I am comfortable with just holding it where it is and moving the other two events forward.
Run 624 miles.
At the minute I am really struggling on the runs during races. I want to be back running at least at a level where it isn't my weakest triathlon event. With over 20 years behind me it should be my best event. The reason I started triathlons was because of how much I could chase people down on the run.
I am quite pleased with the total number of miles I got in 2013, but they didn't convert to fast running in races. So as with cycling and swimming the numbers come down a little from the 2013 actuals, but higher than the 2013 targets. There is also going to be at least one timed one in the racing targets, although still not sure I can cope with a proper road running race so might be a tough one to get.
Racing
The racing targets are going to be much more specific this year.
Swim 400m under 6mins 30, and 750m under 13mins, and 1500m under 27mins. (And if I do by some chance find another 5k swim race, get under 1hr 35).
Cycle a TT race. (Just out of interest as much as anything else).
Run a 5k under 21mins 30, or 10k under 44mins, or half marathon under 1hr 48. Finding a race I can go to and take part in is going to be the hardest part of this one.
Clock personal best times at Knockburn Sprint and Standard and at Huntly Standard (allowing for weather). Finish in the top-10 at Forres Novice.
I also have a list of people that I want to beat. Inkeeping with the history of my blogs I am not going to name people directly. That rule was originally in place because of a police investigation, but it makes sense to keep it so still no names. But I know who they are. There are a group of them just ahead of me in races. In the local vernacular they are the 'ken't faces'. Some of them I want to beat at races, some of them I will be happy beating in individual stages.
Targets that aren't targets.
Sessions - No target this time.
They can come and go with whatever suits. This number could get silly as I start doing shorter and faster. I could end up on 12-15 a week but all of them under half an hour, so counting a flat number here has little value.
Weight - No target this time.
At the start of the year I wanted to be heavier. Up to 80kg. I have been that or above since about the middle of the year. I want to be a bit smarter about this one. I would like to be a bit lighter, for the bike and run sections I am carrying a bit more than is really comfortable. There are just too many hills around here to be hauling extra weight up them. But part of last year's failure on this target was to just set a weight number, which I could just as easily reach by getting fat. And the risk this year is that I could hit a lower weight target by sacrificing useful swim muscles. So I am not going to set a target, but if I get anywhere outside the 75-82kg range then something has probably gone wrong.
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