Training Plan - Week 9 - Feb 24 to Mar 2

I have holidays on Thursday and Friday this week so I am going to try and take the opportunity to rack up a fairly big week. I might manage to steal Dexter instead though. 

My lodger is going to get in the way of some of the ancillary sessions again, but I am not worried about them this week. If I can get big numbers for the rest I will be happy enough with missing some smaller sessions.

I have left the mileage targets as normal but hope to beat a lot of them unless the weather is nasty towards the end of the week.

I am still having problems with my head but they are slowly improving. I will still need to be finding people to train with for a while yet though.


Monday - Swim with TPT. Stretching session.

Tuesday - Easy run or reps session. Core session.

Wednesday - Rest day. 

Thursday - Long run. Strava February Half-marathon challenge?

Friday - Easy run or mtb. Yoga session.

Saturday - Run - Rep session. Or Rest day.

Sunday - Long ride. Or Aboyne duathlon.

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 8 - Feb 17 to 23

Monday was another solid swim session. Had some early problems with drills putting too much strain on my pinned shoulder but I swapped some of the sculling drills out for breast stroke and it was fine from there. Another solid distance logged. 

Tuesday was a simple 4 mile run around Dyce. Personal problems are still messing with my head so I only went because I was being dragged out. 

Wednesday was a holiday from work so planned a double session. A bit of a pedal on the mountain bike and then a trip to the pool for a steady swim. Mountain biking turned into a bit of an adventure. We went for some random routes that we haven't done before. From my house to Kirkhill and back. Took just over 2 hours with the occasional detour. Then we went straight from there to the pool. Just ticked along for a few easy laps.

In the afternoon I went to see Lego movie - Not the best movie but solid enough for what it is.

Thursday should have been a rest day, but I was dragged out for another run. Nothing too adventurous, just an easy jog for half an hour to turn my legs over again. 

Friday I stuck to a rest day. It has been a tough week and I needed a break.

Saturday I went to do a rep session. But it was barely a shuffle. There was no physical reason for me to feel so empty or stiff, so I am going to write this session off against the emotional problems from the rest of the week. When I got back I did my wii yoga session. 

Sunday bike ride was cancelled at the last minute as winds were too gusty. But I had an offer of a run at lunchtime which I took instead. Was a steady run round Westhill but some decent steady miles. 

All short notes on the blog front this week as I try to deal with motivation and depression problems. Actually slightly better this week than the last few weeks but still affecting me fairly badly. Slightly short on bike miles again because of the weather but made up for them with the sunday run. And the extra sessions took an expected bump, but not quite as badly as they might have.




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. 2,300m in 58mins.

Tuesday -  Run 4 miles, in 33mins.

Wednesday - MTB 14.1 miles in 2 hours 8mins. 
Swim at Bucksburn. 900m in 28mins.
Lego Movie - 6/10.

Thursday - Run 3.8 miles in 34 mins.

Friday -  Rest day.

Saturday - Run reps 4.4 miles in 41mins.
Wii Yoga.

Sunday - Run 7.3 miles in 63mins.

Actual totals - Swim 2.0 miles (3,200 m). Bike 14.1 miles. Run 19.9 miles.  short core,  short light weights and  short stretching sessions.  36 mins of wii yoga.

Training Plan - Week 8 - Feb 17 to 23

I have a holiday on Wednesday again so an opportunity to maybe do a longer midweek session and catch up on the some missing miles. Apart from that it should be a fairly standard week.

My lodger might get in the way of some of the ancillary sessions, but shouldn't affect any of the major ones.

I have stuck with the full plan for this week and will try to get as much of it as possible. Depends a lot on my head though. Swimming should be fine but everything else will depend on finding people to train with.


Monday - Swim with TPT. Stretching session.

Tuesday - Long run. Core session.

Wednesday - Long run or ride. Weights session.

Thursday - Rest day.

Friday - Easy run or mtb. Yoga session.

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 7 - Feb 10 to 16

Monday I expected to still be struggling. I had a look a the swim session though, and it suited me fairly well so I decided to go anyway and get through as much as I could. As it turns out it suited me extremely well. I had to move in with lane 4 again as lane 3 was much too busy. The session had a decent warm up, then a set of 50m sprints, then some longer reps. In addition to doing 4 of the fast 50m reps each in a new 50m PB, later in the same session I also did a 'steady' 400m in 6:48, (10 seconds under my 400m race PB) and my total session was 2,400m. 

Tuesday was a nice steady run around Dyce. Head is still not right but was able to at least keep my legs moving at a relatively decent pace this time. 

I also did my light weights session as I was watching the Winter Olympics highlights.

Wednesday I had a day off work so arranged to go mountain biking at Scolty. The weather threatened to get nasty later in the day so we went out in the morning and did 10 miles. Occasional bits of snow and ice underwheel but we stayed on the major tracks so there was nothing too adventurous. Timed it pretty much perfectly. Washed and hung the bike back in the garage just in time for the storm to restart. 

Then I did a stretching session and my core session in the evening.

Friday was valentines. I was having stress problems throughout the afternoon and had a problem with a minor panic attack on the way to dinner but once we got seated and fed I was a bit more comfortable. Then we went to see Robocop, which was absolutely dire. Even if it wasn't a poor remake of a classic it was an utterly rotten film in it's own right. Gary Oldman does what he can but everything else is beyond turgid.

Saturday I did my wii yoga. I wanted to do a run as well but after the anxiety problems I have been having the last couple of weeks I couldn't face going out on my own. I was in no state to go to race at Forres. I packed all my gear to go biking on Sunday.

Sunday I went out with the short version of the Kintore Sunday ride. Planned 40 miles. The first 20 we headed north, into a fairly major headwind. I was really struggling and at a few points I was having problems with my head. Fortunately(?) we had taken a route that I didn't know so I had no options to bail out and head back early. That meant I had to stay with the group till we got back. Once we turned back so that the wind was behind us it was much more fun. I managed to get my head into a better place  

It sounds like the bottom bracket on my training bike is on the way out as well. It was making some fairly clanky noises at points. That is probably fair enough though. It does have over 4,000 miles in it. But that is going to be a hassle to get fixed. It isn't a job that I can do myself and I am not sure about taking it to the shop in my current state.

After I got back I was completely exhausted. This has very little to do with training and a lot to do with stressing and not sleeping. I fell asleep in the afternoon and woke up with a massive headache. 

Making up some of my missed bike miles from previous weeks was good. But I missed enough run miles this week that now everything is slightly behind schedule. Managing to do anything at all in my current mental state is good though. Also my weight is down from not eating properly over the last couple of weeks. It is still sensible at the minute but if I can't get my head right soon I will have to start watching more closely again.  



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 2,400m in 54mins. 

Tuesday -  Run 3.7 miles in 31mins.
Weights sessions.

Wednesday - MTB 10 miles in 1 hour 22.
Stretching and core sessions.

Thursday - Rest day.

Friday -  Valentines day. Robocop - Fucking terrible!

Saturday - Wii yoga. 

Sunday - Kintore Sunday - Lite version. Ride 44miles in 3 hours 27mins.

Actual totals - Swim 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Bike 54.1 miles. Run 3.7 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions.  36 mins of wii yoga.

Training Plan - Week 7 - Feb 10 to 16

Still a long way behind on bike miles and could do with getting some extras in midweek now that it is getting lighter in the evenings. Might still be a few weeks away from being able to go out on the road bike in the evening though.

A friend is moving in to my spare room on Thursday so have to take that as an off day to sort things out. And Valentines then takes Friday out.

To balance that slightly I have a holiday on Wednesday so I could throw in something large there if the weather is anywhere near decent.

Saturday I have an option to go and race cross-country in Forres or just do a rep session. It would be good to go and do the race, to compare to last year. Will see how the rest of the week goes before I decide. Both in terms of training and depression.


Monday - Swim with TPT. Stretching session.

Tuesday - Long run. Core session.

Wednesday - Long run or ride. Weights session.

Thursday - Rest day.

Friday - Valentines Date Night. 

Saturday - Run - Rep session. Or North XC League at Forres.

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 6 - Feb 3 to 9

Back into lane 4 for swimming this week. Not intentionally. Just lane 3 was really full and lane 4 was empty so I took the opportunity to move up. More important was that I was coping with some single arm drills and my back and shoulder weren't particularly loving it, but they were coping. And I was coping with the slightly tougher pace in Lane 4. 

Tuesday I decided to do a double loop around Dyce, just for steady miles. Quads are stiff from biking at the weekend but I kept a sensible pace for both laps. Having done decent miles I can now afford to take 3 days off from major sessions if I don't have training options.

Then I went out to dinner and had a mild/medium panic attack. A lot of stressful things all going on at once and going somewhere new didn't help. First time I have had an attack in about a year I think. Certainly at least a year since I had one this bad. I managed to finish eating, but I could hardly speak and I couldn't control the twitches, despite having someone with me. 

Wednesday, I went to see the company nurse in the morning to check that my heart rate and blood pressure were back to something sensible after my panic attack. Not quite as perfectly textbook as normal, but pretty close to it. Having clocked a decent amount of miles yesterday I can afford 3 days off now. I was tempted to do something extra but the weather was crappy so not worth going out in it and I got home late from work so and was still suffering a bit from my panic attack so decided to stick with a rest day. I did get in a couple of the minor sessions. 

Thursday was pseudo-Date Night. No need to go into the details here. But in training terms it was a day off.

Friday I had a leaving party to go to for a couple of people from work so I went to that instead of a training session. Also had news that a friend from work had died and after an already stressful week that left me in a bit of a state.

Saturday I still wasn't feeling right. I did go out for a run at Kirkhill but I was dragging along at the back of a group that I normally have to wait for. Not sleeping and pains in my back and hip were part of the cause, but most of it was in my head. The run at Kirkhill was slightly short of my weekly total so I got dropped off half a mile from home so I can jog in for the rest. 

Sunday I was still suffering a bit from depression from earlier in the week. I had completely forgotten that it was Westhill Duathlon but I wouldn't have wanted to be racing in the wet conditions anyway. Instead I went out to ride with the Kintore Sunday group but I was off the back within the first couple of miles and just wasn't enjoying it. I took the first opportunity to quit and headed back to the car. 

Went to watch Lone Survivor. What a lot of ridiculous American propaganda nonsense. Seemingly bullet-proof Navy Seals slaughter a huge number of Afghanis. 

I forced myself to do my core session in the evening. And I did a bit more stretching to try and ease off my sore hip, back and neck.

Short of bike miles for another week. Not just the weather to blame this time though. I could put a gloss on this as a solid week and blame the weather. Instead I am going to go with it being a really bad week so I am pleased to get as much done as I did. The anxiety attack on Tuesday and the subsequent depression for the rest of the week was enough that I could have just done nothing for the rest of the week. Saturday was really slow, and Sunday I quit early, but I had at least made the start line and pedalled out into the storm, and on a nicer day I might have gone further. 


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. 2,050m in 55mins.

Tuesday -  Steady run 7miles, 59 mins.

Wednesday - Rest day.
Light weights and stretching sessions.

Thursday - Date Night - ish.

Friday -  Rest day.

Saturday - Run at Kirkhill 4.4 miles in 48mins. Jog ~0.8 miles.
Lone Survivor - Propaganda nonsense.

Sunday - Ride 11 miles in 53 mins.
Core session.

Actual totals - Swim 1.3 miles (2,050 m). Bike 11 miles. Run 12.2 miles. 1 short core, 2 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions.  mins of wii yoga.

Training Plan - Week 6 - Feb 3 to 9

Back in for the final stage of my dental work this week. But on Thursday this time so it might spoil date night, but shouldn't affect training plans. 

Still way behind on bike miles and really need to sort that out. 

The rescheduled date for Westhill duathlon is Sunday 9th. Might have a go if the weather is nice, but based on the last few weeks that is pretty unlikely.


Monday - Swim with TPT. Stretching session.

Tuesday - Long run. Core session.

Wednesday - Short run. 

Thursday - Dentist and Date Night. 

Friday - Wii yoga.

Saturday - Run - Rep session. 

Sunday - Long ride or Westhill Duathlon. 

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 5 - Jan 27 to Feb 2

Started the week exhausted, again. This is becoming a common theme. As soon as I am at work I am exhausted by the time I get home. I thought about trying to squeeze in a nap but there was no way I would get up again in time. I considered doing a core or weights session but decided against it. Turns out to be a good job that I skipped anything extra as the swim session was really tough. Lots of faster blocks than I have been doing recently. 

Tuesday, I did a loop around Dyce. Nice easy 4 miles. Even easy runs now are regularly coming in under 8 min/mile pace. Still not great weather, but managing to get my runs in on plan and seeing a big benefit from the reps sessions.

I also did my weights and stretching sessions. 

Wednesday was wrecked by the dentist, as predicted. And Thursday was Date Night. A trip to see Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Not the best movie, not the worst. Keeps ticking over, but doesn't really feel like a Jack Ryan film, and it really bugged me how all the clothes and cars and desks and everything were pristine. Even after fights everyone's clothes were still perfectly ironed. 

Friday was another horrible weather day. If I had realised how horrible I would have said no to going for a run. Glad I didn't though. Went up to Kirkhill and did a short loop in the storm in the twilight. Was ridiculously wet, but nice steady miles means that the remainder for the weekend still fits in to a weekend rep session.

Saturday I had a bit of a lie in, then went to do my rep session. Was a bit lethargic and stiff but still went out to do the session. The reps themselves were slower than the last couple of attempts but I think this was partly because I forgot to put my orthotics in my trainers. This is normal for hill running as my off-road shoes are much more supportive but it doesn't work for my road shoes. It was actually good for a change and gave some different stabilising muscles a bit of a workout. 

Once I got home I went through my core session and did a quick service on my road bike. 

Sunday was a bike ride with the Kintore Sunday group. I was really struggling for big chunks of the first 20 miles. Every time we hit a headwind or a hill I would get dropped. And there was plenty of headwind. After we turned back to be wind-assisted and sunny I was having a much better time of it. Still had odd patches where I was struggling, but was managing at least to do occasional turns at the front, and feeling much better about the whole idea.

I then did a quick mile run, just to see what state my legs are in for running off the bike. Felt terribly stiff but was actually a decent pace, so happy enough again.

Good week. Despite missing a day for the dentist I still managed everything on the plan except for my yoga session and I have made up some of the missed bike miles from previous weeks.


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. 2,100m in 52mins.

Tuesday -  Run 4 miles, in 31 mins.

Wednesday - Dentist.

Thursday - Date Night - Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Friday -  Kirkhill run. 3.5 miles, in 35mins. 

Saturday - 8 x Zara hill reps. 5.1 miles in 48mins.
Core session.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday bike 45.0 miles in 3hrs 19. 
Run 1.1 miles in 8mins.

Actual totals - Swim 1.3 miles (2,100 m). Bike 45 miles. Run 13.7 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions.  mins of wii yoga.