Training Plan - Week 22 - May 26 to June 1

Last week at Knockburn the water was lovely so I am going to put it into my training plan for every week from now. I am also going to start cycling to and from Monday night swim sessions when the weather suits. 

I am making really good progress on the Strava challenge to run 40.4 miles (65 km if you are wondering about the funny number) in 16 days. I have logged 28.6 miles already with this whole week still to go. So this week's minimum run target is under my normal 12 mile target. However, since I have another week without racing I am going to keep the number higher.

I am ahead of my swim and run targets now but failing to make back the lost ground on my early year bike numbers. I will be able to go on long midweek rides once I start getting flexi-days from next week but there are limits on where I can fit them in over the next month due to a jury service call-up and several races.



Monday - Swim with TPT. Bike both ways or a short run. Weights session.

Tuesday - Run reps session. Core session.

Wednesday - Run and Swim at Knockburn. Stretching session.

Thursday - Long run >10km. 

Friday - Short brick.

Saturday - Long bike > 35miles. Wii yoga session.

Sunday - Long run >10km, with added reps. 


Target totals - Swim > 2 miles. Bike > 45 miles. Run > 18 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of wii yoga.

Training Review - Week 21 - May 19 to 25

I have been tracking this week but not been writing much as I go. So in hindsight the main things to look at are:
Wednesday, first trip to Knockburn, very warm and fairly relaxed, but still as fast as the best of my swims from last year. 
Running, I got to my milage target, but with only one long run and no reps it isn't really what I should have done.
Biking, I was way short. Can't even really blame the weather, just need to get some willpower and get out. 
Yoga, skipped it again, and rollering and stretching isn't covering up for it anymore. 

Really need to bike more. 



Target totals - Swim > 2 miles. Bike > 45 miles. Run > 20 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.

Monday - Easy run 3.2 miles in 25 mins.
Swim with TPT. 2,100m in 53 mins.
Stretching and rollering.

Tuesday - Run 3.7 miles in 28 mins.
Stretching and rollering.

Wednesday - Run 3.9 miles in 33 mins.
Swim 1,200m in 26 mins.

Thursday - Rest day.

Friday - Jog 3.1 miles in 27 mins.

Saturday - Bike 20 miles in 1 hr 21 mins.

Sunday - Run 6.3 miles in 55 mins.
Short core.
Short weights.
Stretching and rollering.

Actual totals - Swim 2.0 miles (3,300m). Bike 20 miles. Run 20.2 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 3 short stretching sessions.  mins of wii yoga.

Training Plan - Week 21 - May 19 to 25

I am still in two minds about going to Knockburn for my first outdoor swim of the year on Wednesday night. Last week seems to have been survivable temperatures by all accounts. And there is nothing at the cinema that I am desperate to get to this week. So I am probably out of excuses and should get on with it. I would like to get in a decent run beforehand as well.

There is also a Strava challenge to run 40 miles in 16 days which I signed up to assuming I would get 13 miles into the first day. Instead I only got 8 so there is some work to do there. And I am very short of running reps the last few weeks as I have lazily settled for just completing 5-8km runs instead of rep sessions.

And I am still a bit behind on my bike miles for the year and am going to try and make some more of those back.

So I have scheduled a heavy week with a load of miles and no rest days. 

Monday - Swim with TPT. Weights session.

Tuesday - Run reps session. Core session.

Wednesday - Run and Swim at Knockburn. Stretching session.

Thursday - Long run >10km. 

Friday - Short brick.

Saturday - Long bike > 35miles. Wii yoga session.

Sunday - Long run >10km, with added reps. 


Target totals - Swim > 2 miles. Bike > 45 miles. Run > 20 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.

Training Review - Week 20 - May 12 to 18

Monday I had planned to just swim but it was another great weather night so I got talked into going for a couple of hours on the bike first. A third 20-mile day in a row turned out to be a bit much when it came to swimming though. I moved up into lane 4 as it was a sprint session that suited me. I took the opportunity to do some more work on my turns as well. 

Tuesday I went for a jog around Dyce. Legs were suffering from the last few heavy days and it was just enough to get round. 

Wednesday I just went for an easy roll around Dyce. Just needed to turn my legs over for half an hour and then do a bit of stretching and rollering on the achey bits that were piling up. 

Thursday was a cinema trip to Godzilla. It was as good as I had hoped for. 
And a quick weights session in the evening.

Friday I stayed on my plan to do a brick session. I took the road bike round my 10-mile Dyce loop in 5 minutes faster than I have before, despite some breezy conditions. Then straight out for my new short loop in as close to a real transition as I could muster. As with last week I felt fairly heavy on the run but the clock wasn't showing it.

Saturday I found a list of DIY excuses to do instead of training. And my back was hurting. It has been a while since it has been problematic and a bit of rollering in the evening seems to have helped ease it off a lot.

Sunday was a long run. It was planned at 13 miles, but hot weather, hangover and time constraints cut my training partners plans to about 8miles. That still suited me to get a long relaxed run in. 

Technically short of targets for both bike and run this week but only because I had increased them by ~25% from a normal week. I was well over my normal weekly targets for both. I should have done something on Saturday but just couldn't find anyone with plans that fitted, and had used all of my solo motivation on taking Friday night's brick session pretty much at race pace.

I am gradually nibbling at the miles behind my annual targets. At one point I was over 100 bike miles down and that is now less than 50 miles which equates to about 10 days behind my plan. Running and swimming are both within a few days of my target for this point in the year and a trip to Knockburn will eat up those losses within the next week. 


Target totals - Swim > 1 mile. Bike > 45 miles. Run > 15 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.

Monday - Ride 26.2 miles in 1 hour 45 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,000m in 57 mins.

Tuesday -  Run 3.6 miles in 31 mins.

Wednesday - Ride 8.3 miles in 35mins.

Thursday - Cinema - Godzilla.

Friday -  Brick Ride 10 miles in 35 mins. 
Brick run 1.3 miles in 10mins.

Saturday - Rest day.

Sunday - Long run 8.4 miles in 1 hr 13.

Actual totals - Swim 1.25 miles (2,000 m). Bike 44.5 miles. Run 13.3 miles.  short core, 1 short light weights and 3 short stretching sessions.  mins of wii yoga.

Training Plan - Week 20 - May 12 to 18

No races to interrupt this weekend so I have put in for 2 long days at the weekend. 

I am in two minds about going to Knockburn for my first outdoor swim of the year on Wednesday night. I have left it off the schedule for now as I am quite keen to see the new Godzilla movie. But I may do a change of plans through the week since I have enough flexibility to easily get all of this week's increased miles easily enough. 


Monday - Swim with TPT. Wii yoga session.

Tuesday - Run reps session. Core session.

Wednesday - Rest day. Cinema - Godzilla?. Stretching session.

Thursday - Long run >10km. Weights session.

Friday - Short brick.

Saturday - Long bike > 30miles.

Sunday - Long run >10km, with added reps. 


Target totals - Swim > 1 mile. Bike > 45 miles. Run > 15 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.

Training Review - Week 19 - May 5 to 11

Monday I tried the same double session as last week. The run was fairly quick but then the swim session was heavy on leg work and I was struggling a little bit. I did manage to throw in  20 tumble turns though, and several of them were not completely terrible. 

Tuesday my legs were pretty heavy from the double session but I stuck with my plan to run again. I went for a new route to check out a few Strava segments that are near my house. Then I got on the roller when I got home to try and work out some really tight knots.

Wednesday was a cinema trip to see Bad Neighbours. not the best film, but not the worst. It is fairly dull and predictable but a couple of hilarious sections near the end mean you leave with happy. I did a quick weights session once I got home.

Thursday was back to logging the miles. My plan this week was to up the run miles a little so I went for my third run of the week. I decided to put in a time for this months Strava 10k challenge so I just went straight out the railway line and back. Was steady to start with but came upped the pace a little every mile till I was up to a decent speed on the way back.

Friday I sacrificed my brick session for a nap. I seem to be struggling a bit to get through a work and training week at the minute and Friday evenings seem to be taking the hit as I once again binned the session and collapsed in front of the TV and fell asleep. 

Saturday I had agreed to help out at Cults Junior triathlon and then had arranged to meet someone and cycle there and back. The weather was a bit muggy in the morning and she decided to drive across instead. I decided to stick with the bike and rode over in the rain. I had a bit of an unintended detour going through Hazlehead park and had to practice a bit of cyclocross-ing. The bonus effect of this was that I am now more confident that I can get my road bike around the Forres triathlon course easily enough. 

I did my core session and another turn on the rollers and stretching in the evening.

Sunday I did a brick to finish off my remaining miles for the week. The weather forecast was for intermittent light showers. What it forgot to say was that in between the light showers would be heavy downpours. I just took an easy pedal out to Kintore and back over Kirkhill, then a very short run just a mile around Dyce to get my legs going.

Over targets for everything except the wii yoga this week. And with the extra stretching and rollering I have done the wii yoga is probably the least beneficial session on my plan.

Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >35 miles. Run >15 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.

Monday - Run 3.7 miles in 27 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,250m in 56 mins.

Tuesday -  Run 4.1 miles in 33 mins.

Wednesday - Cinema - Bad Neighbours.

Thursday - Run 6.4 miles in 50 mins.

Friday -  Rest day

Saturday - Ride to Cults tri 12.3 miles in 57mins.
Ride from Cults tri 9.5 miles in 40 mins.
Core session.

Sunday - Ride 20.7 miles in 1 hour 29mins.
Run 1.3 miles in 11 mins.

Actual totals - Swim 1.4 miles (2,250 m). Bike 42.5 miles. Run 15.5 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions.  mins of wii yoga.

Training Plan - Week 19 - May 5 to 11

For a second weekend in a row I am going to a race that I am not racing in. Slightly different this week in that I am planning to bike there and back to get my bike miles in for the week. 

I am still gradually nibbling at my bike backlog, but have missed quite a few run miles in the last month. So I have upped the run miles target again and planned to do extras this week. 


Monday - Swim with TPT. Wii yoga session.

Tuesday - Run reps session. Core session.

Wednesday - Rest day. Cinema - ??. Stretching session.

Thursday - Long run >10km. Weights session.

Friday - Short brick.

Saturday - Marshall at Cults Junior Triathlon. (Bike both ways).

Sunday - Long run >10km, with added reps. 


Target totals - Swim > 1 mile. Bike > 35 miles. Run > 15 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.

Training Review - Week 18 - April 28 to May 4

Monday was such a nice day I decided to go out for a run straight after work. 

At swimming I was also doing some turns (badly). But doing them repeatedly is building up enough confidence that I can survive the bad ones without drowning, or becoming too much of a lane obstacle to other swimmers behind me. So I can keep working on them during sessions.

Having done my run a day early I had an option to bike on Tuesday evening instead. It was meant to be a leisurely recovery ride with two of us having raced at the weekend. Instead it pretty much turned into a three-bike team time trial.

Wednesday night the cinema didn't have anything worth watching so I just took a rest day. 

Thursday I went for another midweek bike ride. So my weekly bike miles are done and I still have a long ride planned for Saturday. 

Friday I should have at least gone for a short run but I was tired from my week at work. I did a bit of bike maintenance for a friend who had buckled his bike wheel. Then went out to dinner and had a night off.

Saturday I dropped my planned long ride and put in my planned brick session for the week instead. Another garmin problem (user error this time though) annoyingly means that I can't compare it to riding the same route a month ago or to future attempts of the same. but the ride time was pretty good and the run was surprisingly quick for a brick session.

Sunday was crewing for Deeside Duathlon. I had hoped to sneak in a short run as well but it is a long day and I was exhausted by the time I got home. Leaves me short of run miles for the week but 3 fast bike rides were worth it.

Overall it has been a solid week. I could have had the run miles in either of the rest days or possibly even on the Sunday if I had managed my time better. The extra bike miles at the pace they were done is worth the missed run miles. Still missing more than a few of the extra sessions but getting in plenty of stretching and rollering.
Knockburn Loch is officially open from Monday. Probably still too cold for me to be in it so I will give it a couple of weeks until someone I trust comes back with a temperature report on the water before I go to my regular Wednesday night outdoor swims. 



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 - Run 3.2 miles in 25 mins.
Swim with TPT 1,950m in 57 mins. 

Tuesday -  Bike 13.5 miles in 50 mins.

Wednesday - Rest Day

Thursday - Bike 26.1 miles in 1 hour 44 mins.

Friday -  Rest Day

Saturday - Brick. Bike 10.1 miles in 40 mins.
Run 4.2 miles in 32 mins.

Sunday - Crew Deeside Duathlon.

Actual totals - Swim 1.2 miles (1,950 m). Bike 49.7 miles. Run 7.4 miles.  short core,  short light weights and 3 short stretching sessions.  mins of wii yoga.

Race Report - Kings Aquathon

I have been a regular competitor at the Aberdeen Uni Kings Aquathon for over a decade now. It was my first ever multi-sport event before I even started doing triathlons. My first few attempts involved breast stroking and trying to chase people down on the run. More recent attempts have been vaguely more balanced.  

However the race is normally 400m swim & 5k run or 750m swim & 10k run. this year they changed it to 750m swim & 5k run to be more representative of a sprint triathlon.

Also it is the first time they have held this race in the new Aquatics centre. The assumption when I was submitting my entry was that this would mean the race would be held in the new 50m pool. Instead they held it in the diving pool It is still a fairly good pool, with nice wide lanes, water-level sides and a magical floor that they can move up and down to change the pool depth for diving or swimming. But it isn't the 50m pool I was hoping for. 

On the first length I somehow managed to miss the wall with my turn and ended up bashing my ankle on the pool side. It was stupid, and meant I was nervy about the rest of my turns for the whole race. Also all the rollering from the previous few days had loosened off a lot of things in my back and shoulders, but they very rapidly tightened up again during the swim. 

I had to make a couple of stops to let the two other swimmers in my lane pass as they were managing to swim on predicted time. And once they were past the wide lanes and their better turns meant that I couldn't draft off them either. 

With a few lengths to go I realised there were hardly any other swimmers left in the pool. So I dragged myself out of the water nearly a minute down on my planned swim time thinking I was third-last in the slow heat. Turns out that they had put the fast heat on first and that the slow heat was still waiting to go in.

I had gambled on my feet surviving 5k without socks, and that being worth saving the 10 seconds to put them on. This was not the right choice. 

The new run route wasn't very exciting. It was 5 loops around half the block. I was fine for about a lap and a half before I managed to wear a chunk of skin off my toe. From then every second step was increasingly painful. The ankle I had bashed off the pool-side was also starting to stiffen up. 

I was managing to pick up the pace slightly each lap, and I think I made up as many places as I lost on the run. I was struggling to get my legs moving fast though and I was only just under 8 minute mile pace. Coupled to the run being slightly over distance (about half a mile) the run was also a lot slower than I had hoped for. 

I finished as 4th Male Senior (non-student) of 6, and 18th of the 29 total starters.  The places just in front of me were quite densely packed so if I had swum close to my target time or run anywhere near the pace I raced at the week before I would have been much better placed.

So I am mildly disappointed with the overall result. It gives me some things to work on though. My turns really need to be sorted, and my swim speed should be better. And if I work too hard in the pool it does affect my run. And remember to wear socks!

Full results are here