No idea how much I will manage this week. I have written a plan based on what I will do if I am healthy but the bug I have doesn't seem to want to let go. I can probably just about swim over it, but anything else is likely to be a struggle.
I have also planned a fairly heavy week to try and make up some of my lost miles in a week without races. I am then down for three races over the following two weeks.
Monday - Swim with TPT. Stretching session.
Tuesday - Run reps session. Core session.
Wednesday - Rest day. Cinema - Divergent?
Thursday - Steady run. Weights session.
Friday - Short ride, TT bike if good weather.
Saturday - Long run.
Sunday - Long ride
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >45 miles. Run >15 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Monday, 7 April 2014
Training Review - Week 14 - March 31 to April 6
Monday was the usual simple start to the week with a swim session. Slightly longer than usual but still a solid start to the week again. Surprisingly no real after effects from the weekend. Expected to suffer a bit with cramp but no real problems.
Tuesday I had to get a chunk of my run miles in. This week is tight for getting sessions into as I want to take a more sensible approach to racing this Sunday. Working backwards it looks like I get about 5 miles of racing on Sunday, and probably another mile or so of warming up. That leaves me looking for 6 miles before. the simple solution was just to put them into one run on the Tuesday night, but I didn't think about this till after I got back from doing 5 miles with a friend at Kirkhill. So now I am going to have to take a mile off my TT bike test later in the week.
On a brighter note I did finally get a response from the insurance company on my stolen mountain bike and it looks like they are going to pay out enough that I can get a relatively close spec replacement from Wiggle in a sale.
Wednesday's cinema trip was cancelled as my flatmate / cinema buddy wasn't feeling well. I dropped my road bike at the shop to get my new bottom bracket fitted. Then I took the opportunity to test ride my TT bike for the first time this year. Everything was going ok, but then I had a puncture about 10k in. Better than to have it during a race I suppose.
Thursday I seem to have caught the bug from my flatmate. Picked the right day for it though. The weather wasn't good enough to go out on the TT bike, and the road bike is still being worked on. My new road bike wheels arrived, I have tyres and a cassette to fit, but no tubes.
Friday I picked up my bike and went for a couple of drinks with people from work. But a lot of lemsip later and I was struggling to get off the sofa. I was hoping it was just a little sniffle or something but it has turned out to be a bit more severe.
Saturday, still sick. :(. Prepped both bikes for racing on Sunday, Road bike in case it is cold and wet, TT bike in case it is clean and dry. Looked out all my race gear. But was still on the lemsip and paracetamol right up until bed time. I have done this race twice before so I would normally be looking up my previous results to give myself some guide targets to ace against. I have purposefully not looked this time. If I do decide I am fit to race on Sunday I will just take each leg as it comes.
Knockburn Duathlon on Sunday was too soon for the bug. Started the first half a mile or so at a decent run and then just got gradually slower to the point where I walked in about 3rd last by the end of the first run section. Decided it wasn't worth even rolling round the bike so packed up and went home.
Disappointing week with the bug pretty much taking out everything from Wednesday onwards and stopping me from being able to race on Sunday.
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. (2,250m) in 56 mins.
Tuesday - Run at Kirkhill, 5.0 miles in 46 mins.
Wednesday - TT bike test, 6.6 miles in 27mins.
Thursday - Off day - bug?
Friday - Sick.
Saturday - Sick.
Sunday - Knockburn duathlon - DNF. Warm-up then 4k jog in 23mins. Sick.
Actual totals - Swim 1.4 miles (2,250 m). Bike 6.6 miles. Run 8.1 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of wii yoga.
Tuesday I had to get a chunk of my run miles in. This week is tight for getting sessions into as I want to take a more sensible approach to racing this Sunday. Working backwards it looks like I get about 5 miles of racing on Sunday, and probably another mile or so of warming up. That leaves me looking for 6 miles before. the simple solution was just to put them into one run on the Tuesday night, but I didn't think about this till after I got back from doing 5 miles with a friend at Kirkhill. So now I am going to have to take a mile off my TT bike test later in the week.
On a brighter note I did finally get a response from the insurance company on my stolen mountain bike and it looks like they are going to pay out enough that I can get a relatively close spec replacement from Wiggle in a sale.
Wednesday's cinema trip was cancelled as my flatmate / cinema buddy wasn't feeling well. I dropped my road bike at the shop to get my new bottom bracket fitted. Then I took the opportunity to test ride my TT bike for the first time this year. Everything was going ok, but then I had a puncture about 10k in. Better than to have it during a race I suppose.
Thursday I seem to have caught the bug from my flatmate. Picked the right day for it though. The weather wasn't good enough to go out on the TT bike, and the road bike is still being worked on. My new road bike wheels arrived, I have tyres and a cassette to fit, but no tubes.
Friday I picked up my bike and went for a couple of drinks with people from work. But a lot of lemsip later and I was struggling to get off the sofa. I was hoping it was just a little sniffle or something but it has turned out to be a bit more severe.
Saturday, still sick. :(. Prepped both bikes for racing on Sunday, Road bike in case it is cold and wet, TT bike in case it is clean and dry. Looked out all my race gear. But was still on the lemsip and paracetamol right up until bed time. I have done this race twice before so I would normally be looking up my previous results to give myself some guide targets to ace against. I have purposefully not looked this time. If I do decide I am fit to race on Sunday I will just take each leg as it comes.
Knockburn Duathlon on Sunday was too soon for the bug. Started the first half a mile or so at a decent run and then just got gradually slower to the point where I walked in about 3rd last by the end of the first run section. Decided it wasn't worth even rolling round the bike so packed up and went home.
Disappointing week with the bug pretty much taking out everything from Wednesday onwards and stopping me from being able to race on Sunday.
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. (2,250m) in 56 mins.
Tuesday - Run at Kirkhill, 5.0 miles in 46 mins.
Wednesday - TT bike test, 6.6 miles in 27mins.
Thursday - Off day - bug?
Friday - Sick.
Saturday - Sick.
Sunday - Knockburn duathlon - DNF. Warm-up then 4k jog in 23mins. Sick.
Actual totals - Swim 1.4 miles (2,250 m). Bike 6.6 miles. Run 8.1 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of wii yoga.
Saturday, 5 April 2014
Quarterly Review - Q1
First of these for 2014.
Targets that this is based on are: here.
2014 Annual Targets are:
Swim 78 miles and learn to tumble
turn.
Bike 1820 miles.
Run 624 miles.
There are some additional racing
targets, but the only one to discuss at this point is: Run a 5k under
21mins 30, or 10k under 44mins, or half marathon under 1hr 48.
That means at a quarter of the way
through the year I should have done somewhere in the region of:
Swim 19.5 miles and be doing some turns.
Bike 455 miles.
Run 156 miles.
And the actuals to date are:
Swum 18.9 miles and doing some
turns.
Biked 376.3 miles.
Run 155.9 miles.
And run a 10k under 44 mins.
I have some pretty graphs in my training diary that
show how this compares to previous years but it is proving difficult to paste
them in here in a readable format.
So I will have to try and paint my pictures with
something less than the metaphorical thousand words.
The swimming graph is less smooth than last year as
I am generally doing single swim sessions each week and longer distances than previous
years, making the steps wider and higher. Through Q1 I am always slightly under
the swim target but that is to be expected. The target works out at 1.5 miles a
week, and doing that in each session is still too big an ask unless I just swim
straight. And bearing in mind that this year I am racing shorter, long steady
swimming is not really inkeeping with the rest of my plan. So lots of speed and
technique work in the pool so far. But about 5 or 6 weeks until regular outdoor
swims get added to the middle of the week. The times I am posting in the midst
of swim sessions are way under previous years race times though, so I know I am
going fast in the water.
My biking plan is the one area that I am struggling
a little with. Quite a few long rides have been dropped for weather. And a few
short rides have gone since my mountain bike was stolen. I am a long way behind
last year’s cycling miles, but to be honest I am not really concerned. I am
feeling comfortable on the bike. I still can’t climb compared to my peers, but
I can normally make the ground back on flats and descents. I won’t be sure
until I get in to a race but I think I am pretty close to where I was last
year.
Against my running plan I am pretty much spot on.
So much so that on my graph it is difficult to even see the actual line behind
the target line. I am definitely running better than I have in a few years.
Again I won’t know for sure until I race off the bike, but I think over the
shorter races this year I will be in much better shape than the last few years.
Changes to targets
So what changes to make with 3 months gone?
Swimming is slightly down on target but this was
always planned. I actually expected to be much further behind the target at
this point and then to pick it up once I start swimming outdoors. So no change
there for now but I suspect I am going to jump way ahead of target through
summer and I might move it up as I go through the year.
The bike target is also still about right. I am
behind by about 2 weeks at this point as I have missed a few long rides with
the weather. Not particularly worried though. A couple of decent weeks or a
long sportive somewhere will put me back ahead. Even a couple of weeks with
midweek rides will be back on course. So no change there for now.
The run target is the one that is really going
closest to my plan so far. Just ahead of target. I think I could actually up
this a bit as I seem to be staying ahead of it without ever having to run hard
or far.
In Q2 I should start to pick off the rest of my racing targets
for the year. I haven't quite decided on my racing schedule for the year but I
have a few pencilled in for now and the rest I will take as they come.
I could add another run target for racing since I
have crossed that one off already but instead I am just going to leave it as a
success for now and work on chasing the swim race and tri race targets that I
still have. If I still feel that my running is going well by the middle of
summer then I might bring this one back with faster time targets.
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
Race Report - Moray Roadrunners Elgin 10k
I had in my targets list that some time this year I should
"Run a 5k under 21mins 30, or 10k under 44mins, or half marathon under 1hr 48." And that " Finding a race I can go to and take part in is going to be the hardest part of this one."
If there is a race that I was going to be able to go to and take part in without having a panic attack, then one hosted by my home club was probably my best option. But it was much too early in the season to be running a decent time. So the main reason for going was just to try and do a race, to get through it, deal with any anxiety problems that come up and get a feel for what options I have for the rest of the year.
I did not prepare well. On Saturday I did a double session of swim and cycle. Neither particularly hard, but enough to just empty my legs a little and leave them fairly stiff on Sunday morning. Before leaving for the race I did a rollering and stretching session to ease off some of the worst aches but in hindsight I could probably have done a lot more on my quads.
Once I got to the race it was much less busy than I had feared. With a changed route and following an incident with a car last year the entry limit was reduced so there were a lot less runners about, and more than a few of those that were about were people that I had known for decades.
I suppose at some point in this ramble I should get to the actual race.
As I was looking more toward just using this as a test to see what I might be able to do later in the year I was expecting, if I had a good run, to go somewhere about 46-48mins. I started off quite far back with more of the fun runner crowd with the intention of just taking it easy early on and maybe picking up a bit in the second half.
The first mile or so is uphill, not a huge clim, just a bit of a rise out of town. As I approached the mile mark I had a quick check of my watch and it said 9:51, and while I thought I was going quite easy I didn't think it was as slow as that, and I still recognised some of the other club runners around me, so I had another look as it buzzed for the mile split, 6:56. Now something in the 6's is even more stupid than something in the 9's so obviously there is something wrong with my garmin. I decided to just ignore the watch, and I would check the official time at the end.
So I settled into the long stretched line of average runners, still with a few people I knew hanging about just in front and just behind. And I am convincing myself that in the 3 years since I last did a road race they have all aged and are maybe not training well so it isn't a surprise to be around them. And things still feel easy enough, despite the tight quads. And at the 2 mile mark the watch buzzes again and I look again, purely out of habit, and it says 6:46 for the second mile. But that still can't be right so just ignore it again.
At the 3 mile mark the new race course goes onto the old railway line and does and out and back section. And I start passing the leaders going the other way but a mile ahead. And this time when the watch buzzes it says 7:21 for mile 3. But now I can compare against the fast boys, and they are at 4 miles in the same 21minutes. And that is exactly where they should be. So the watch is not wrong, and now I have to start on the mental arithmetic. 7 min / mile x 6.22 that is about 43:30, and I know my annual target is 44:00 and the last section is downhill back into the park.
So now I start wishing I hadn't been attacking on the climbs on Saturday's bike ride and I have to keep a 7 min/mile pace for the second half of the race. And it is getting hot. I had been comfortable up to this point but I was overdressed for the 15 degree temperature and the sunshine. I took a cup from the water station at 4 miles, had a mouthful and tipped the rest on my head, and checked the watch for a 7:03 mile. At 5 I looked and it was 7:13. So I have dropped 16 seconds That puts me at 43:46 if I can get back to 7:00's but outside 44 if I stay anywhere near the 7:10 mark. And the downhill mile from 5-6 is a lot less downhill than I remember but I need to be there by 42 and a 6:49 puts me at 42:06.
Less than 2 minutes for about a quarter mile. I picked up as much as I could, and my quads were really burning as I came in to the finish. As I crossed the line I heard the timekeeper read out "38" to his scribe and I was ecstatic knowing that it had to be 43:38.
For not racing over 3 years I am really happy with the time, and even more so with the run after poor preparation. I like the new course, it is obviously still fast and flat.
"Run a 5k under 21mins 30, or 10k under 44mins, or half marathon under 1hr 48." And that " Finding a race I can go to and take part in is going to be the hardest part of this one."
If there is a race that I was going to be able to go to and take part in without having a panic attack, then one hosted by my home club was probably my best option. But it was much too early in the season to be running a decent time. So the main reason for going was just to try and do a race, to get through it, deal with any anxiety problems that come up and get a feel for what options I have for the rest of the year.
I did not prepare well. On Saturday I did a double session of swim and cycle. Neither particularly hard, but enough to just empty my legs a little and leave them fairly stiff on Sunday morning. Before leaving for the race I did a rollering and stretching session to ease off some of the worst aches but in hindsight I could probably have done a lot more on my quads.
Once I got to the race it was much less busy than I had feared. With a changed route and following an incident with a car last year the entry limit was reduced so there were a lot less runners about, and more than a few of those that were about were people that I had known for decades.
I suppose at some point in this ramble I should get to the actual race.
As I was looking more toward just using this as a test to see what I might be able to do later in the year I was expecting, if I had a good run, to go somewhere about 46-48mins. I started off quite far back with more of the fun runner crowd with the intention of just taking it easy early on and maybe picking up a bit in the second half.
The first mile or so is uphill, not a huge clim, just a bit of a rise out of town. As I approached the mile mark I had a quick check of my watch and it said 9:51, and while I thought I was going quite easy I didn't think it was as slow as that, and I still recognised some of the other club runners around me, so I had another look as it buzzed for the mile split, 6:56. Now something in the 6's is even more stupid than something in the 9's so obviously there is something wrong with my garmin. I decided to just ignore the watch, and I would check the official time at the end.
So I settled into the long stretched line of average runners, still with a few people I knew hanging about just in front and just behind. And I am convincing myself that in the 3 years since I last did a road race they have all aged and are maybe not training well so it isn't a surprise to be around them. And things still feel easy enough, despite the tight quads. And at the 2 mile mark the watch buzzes again and I look again, purely out of habit, and it says 6:46 for the second mile. But that still can't be right so just ignore it again.
At the 3 mile mark the new race course goes onto the old railway line and does and out and back section. And I start passing the leaders going the other way but a mile ahead. And this time when the watch buzzes it says 7:21 for mile 3. But now I can compare against the fast boys, and they are at 4 miles in the same 21minutes. And that is exactly where they should be. So the watch is not wrong, and now I have to start on the mental arithmetic. 7 min / mile x 6.22 that is about 43:30, and I know my annual target is 44:00 and the last section is downhill back into the park.
So now I start wishing I hadn't been attacking on the climbs on Saturday's bike ride and I have to keep a 7 min/mile pace for the second half of the race. And it is getting hot. I had been comfortable up to this point but I was overdressed for the 15 degree temperature and the sunshine. I took a cup from the water station at 4 miles, had a mouthful and tipped the rest on my head, and checked the watch for a 7:03 mile. At 5 I looked and it was 7:13. So I have dropped 16 seconds That puts me at 43:46 if I can get back to 7:00's but outside 44 if I stay anywhere near the 7:10 mark. And the downhill mile from 5-6 is a lot less downhill than I remember but I need to be there by 42 and a 6:49 puts me at 42:06.
Less than 2 minutes for about a quarter mile. I picked up as much as I could, and my quads were really burning as I came in to the finish. As I crossed the line I heard the timekeeper read out "38" to his scribe and I was ecstatic knowing that it had to be 43:38.
For not racing over 3 years I am really happy with the time, and even more so with the run after poor preparation. I like the new course, it is obviously still fast and flat.
Monday, 31 March 2014
Training Plan - Week 14 - Mar 31 to Apr 6
Back to a single plan for this week. With Knockburn Duathlon on Sunday. Because of this I have taken the weekly totals back down.
Monday - Swim with TPT. Stretching session.
Tuesday - Run reps session. Core session.
Wednesday - Rest day. Cinema - ??
Thursday - Steady run. Weights session.
Friday - Works leaving party.
Saturday - Easy ride or run. Yoga session.
Sunday - Knockburn Duathlon. 4k, 15k, 4k.
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 - Run reps session. Core session.
Wednesday - Rest day. Cinema - ??
Thursday - Steady run. Weights session.
Friday - Works leaving party.
Saturday - Easy ride or run. Yoga session.
Sunday - Knockburn Duathlon. 4k, 15k, 4k.
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 13 - March 24 to 30
Monday I went to swimming.
Tuesday I went for a long run along the railway line. Was a lot faster than I had planned, especially on the way back in. Definitely starting to feel better about how I am running. The few hill reps sessions that I have done since the start of the year are making a notable difference. Still nowhere near how I used to run but feeling more like those levels are within reach again.
Wednesday was a cinema trip to see Captain America: the Winter Soldier. The Marvel series are really building on their own world. Lots of clever inside feedback to the fans without alienating the casual movie-goer.
Thursday and Friday I did the same 10 mile looped ride around Dyce. Thursday was a quick test of the bike. There is definitely a problem with the bearings in the rear hub. Friday I went to a couple of bike shops to get a replacement wheelset or new hubs but no-one in town had a pair. So I had to resort to the internet. Having fiddled with the bearings on Thursday evening I took it out again, but still no better.
Saturday I still had some bike miles to get in for the week and having started drafting my end of Q1 blog I realised an extra swim mile might put me right up to my end of Q1 target. So I put in a quick splash in the pool first thing in the morning and then went with a couple of friends for what was going to be an easy social ride before lunch.
Sunday I went to Elgin and did the Moray Roadrunners 10k, which gets a race report to itself.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >40 miles. Run >15 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga.
Monday - Swim 2,150m in 55mins.
Tuesday - Run 8.3 miles in 1hr 05mins.
Wednesday - Cinema - Captain America.
Thursday - Bike 10.1 miles in 38mins.
Weights session.
Core session.
Friday - Bike 10.6 miles in 37mins.
Saturday - Swim 1,000m in 27mins.
Ride 19.5 miles in 1hr 20mins.
And a lot of stretching in the evening.
Sunday - MRR 10k in 43:38. And a bit of a warm-up.
Actual totals - Swim 1.3 miles (2,150 m). Bike 40.2 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. mins of wii yoga.
Monday, 24 March 2014
Training Plan - Week 13 - March 24 to 30
Plan A:
I am keeping a midweek bike ride in the plan as that worked well. Will almost certainly be solo-ing the weekend ride this week though.
Have changed the run target up to 15 to make me do all three runs this week. Also I want to be back at least ahead of one target by the time my quarterly review post has to be written next weekend.
Plan B:
I have the alternative option to do Moray 10k on Sunday. I have written this in as a separate plan for now. If I decide by midweek that I want to go to race the 10k then I will switch to the underlined yellow sessions and targets for the second half of the week and squeeze my bike miles in before the weekend.
Monday - Swim with TPT. Stretching session.
Tuesday - Run reps session. Core session.
Wednesday - Rest day. Cinema - Captain America 2.
Thursday - Steady run or road bike. Weights session.
Friday - Short road or TT bike or short run.
Saturday - Long run or rest day. Yoga session.
Sunday - Long ride, or Moray 10k.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >40 or >35 miles. Run >15 or >10 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga. 10k race.
I am keeping a midweek bike ride in the plan as that worked well. Will almost certainly be solo-ing the weekend ride this week though.
Have changed the run target up to 15 to make me do all three runs this week. Also I want to be back at least ahead of one target by the time my quarterly review post has to be written next weekend.
Plan B:
I have the alternative option to do Moray 10k on Sunday. I have written this in as a separate plan for now. If I decide by midweek that I want to go to race the 10k then I will switch to the underlined yellow sessions and targets for the second half of the week and squeeze my bike miles in before the weekend.
Monday - Swim with TPT. Stretching session.
Tuesday - Run reps session. Core session.
Wednesday - Rest day. Cinema - Captain America 2.
Thursday - Steady run or road bike. Weights session.
Friday - Short road or TT bike or short run.
Saturday - Long run or rest day. Yoga session.
Sunday - Long ride, or Moray 10k.
Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >40 or >35 miles. Run >15 or >10 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga. 10k race.
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