Training Plan - Week 27 - June 30 to July 6

Into the second half of the year. No races again this week but I do have races 3 out of 4 weekends from there. After struggling towards the end of last week I am going to try not to overdo it this week. It would be good to get in a few faster sessions and some more time on the TT bike but it depends how I feel.

And Sunday is my birthday so out for dinner and probably the cinema to finish off the week. 


Monday - Swim with TPT. Weights session.

Tuesday - Run reps session. Core session.

Wednesday - Run or TT bike, and swim at Knockburn.

Thursday - Easy run. 

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - Long run.

Sunday - Long bike.


Target totals - Swim > 2 miles. Bike > 40 miles. Run > 12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 10 mins of wii yoga.

Training Review - Week 26 - Jun 23 to 29

Monday I had planned a swim session only but I let myself get talked into going for a run first. Another double session day was a bit too much. I really struggled through both sessions. 

Tuesday I had to take a rest day. I need to try and recover from 3 heavy days in time to do Wednesday's long ride.

Wednesday I went for a long bike ride with my flexi day. The two girls I went with were doing a 100 mile ride and I just went with them for their second 50. I spent the first 40 miles / 3 hours of that on the front and the pace reflected that. Also they changed their route plans at the last second so we were having to do a bit of guesswork about how far we were going to cover as we adapted the route on the move. From 40 onwards I really started to suffer just from not having done anything in this sort of range for so long. The last 10 miles were a real slog. 

Thursday and Friday I had no motivation to do anything. Friday I got home from a training course and fell asleep on the sofa. 

Saturday, having slept for the best part of 11 hours I dragged myself out for my run in the morning but had to cut it short. Despite two rest days I was still exhausted and really struggled to jog back in. I did put a very short yoga session in. The main outcome of that was to show me how long it had been since I last did the full set. My back was really tight. This may have had some effect on the run and how terrible I feel in general. 

Sunday I slept in again and when I did get up it was raining. I still don't like to ride my TT bike in the wet so I decided to skip that and my legs still didn't feel great after Saturday so I decided to leave my run till at least the evening. When evening came round I was back to being exhausted and empty and decided to be sensible and miss it in favour of a nap. Later in the evening I was feeling a lot better so I did do my weights and stretching sessions.  

Not sure if I am ill, or fatigued, or if it is just tension in my back but definitely there is something not quite right. I was also having problems with not having any appetite on Sunday at dinner time but later in the evening after a short nap I had my dinner and added crisps, ice cream and a chocolate biscuit.

This also brings me round to talking about my weight. Whenever I do wii yoga it does a weight check and tells me what I am at. This has been fluctuating about a kilo or so either side of 78kg all year. I am currently back down at 77.5 kg, which feels quite light. Yet this is nearly 10% heavier than I was a couple of years back. Part of me still things I should be lighter for cycling, but a more realistic part of me thinks I am actually about right with what weight I am carrying and how much I like cake. 



Target totals - Swim > 1.5 miles. Bike > 60 miles. Run > 12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 10mins of wii yoga.

Monday - Run 3.2 in 27 mins.
Swim with TPT. 2,100m in 53 mins.

Tuesday - Rest day

Wednesday - Bike 50 miles in 3 hours 38 mins.

Thursday - Rest day

Friday - Rest day

Saturday - Long run 5.6 miles in 48 mins.
Cinema - Chef 6/10.

Sunday -  Rest day. 
Stretching, rollering, weights.


Actual totals - Swim 1.3 miles (2,100m). Bike 50 miles. Run 8.8 miles. 0 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 10 mins of wii yoga.

Training Plan - Week 26 - Jun 23 to 29

Wednesday I have the first of my flexi days. From now on I get one of these a month. This month it happens to tie in with my ironwoman training partner going for a crazy long bike ride so I am going to try and do a longer ride with her. Not the whole 100 miles that she is planning but probably 50. Then I have no races this weekend so I may go for a ride with the Kintore group on Sunday as well.

This also affects my run and swim targets which are both cut a bit for this week but since both are way ahead of my annual targets a slightly shorter week on them is not going to hurt. 



Monday - Swim with TPT. Weights session.

Tuesday - Run reps session. Core session.

Wednesday - Very long bike.

Thursday - Swim at Bucksburn. 

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - Easy run.

Sunday - Long bike.


Target totals - Swim > 1.5 miles. Bike > 60 miles. Run > 10 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 10 mins of wii yoga.

Training Review - Week 25 - June 16 to 22

Monday, I had planned to cycle to swimming but my legs were really suffering from racing so I decided to be sensible and just drive out.

Tuesday I went for a recovery run along the railway line. I decided to get my long run for the week in whilst taking it easy as my quads were still really stiff from Sunday's race. That plan was working fairly well on the way out as I tootled along in miles of 8:30, 8:29, 8:22. Then I turned round and heading back on the downhill section I did a 7:46 and the mathematician in the back of my head obviously had nothing better to do than point out that 8:30's would be 51 minutes, but averaging 8:20 would be 50 minutes, and 8:19 would be 49:54 and under-50 would be much better than 51, and that would only need me to do the last two downhill miles in 8:20. So I tried to hold the faster pace for the next mile and did 7:37. So now I am at 5 miles in 40:44 and I am thinking a 7:16 would get me under 48 minutes and average under 8 min/mile but it turns uphill at the end so I should just relax and remember this is meant to be an easy recovery run. So I eased off and tried to just stride comfortably in, and somehow did a 7:10. So the 3 miles out was 25:21 but back was 22:25. And all the time I still felt stiff from racing and not like I was running fluidly at all. Anyway, that is quite a long ramble to say that I am definitely running well.

So since I was feeling good I also did my weights and core sessions whilst watching the Brazil vs Mexico game.

Wednesday I took my trip out to Knockburn. Did my 4 mile loop in reverse. Started quite slowly again but once I was at the top of the hill I was nicely warmed up and came quite fast back down. Then I went in and did a couple of very easy laps in the water. 

Thursday and Friday I took very easily. I have some tight niggles that I want to ease off before racing at Forres so lots of rollering and stretching.

Saturday's Forres triathlon will get a post to itself.

Sunday was a recovery day. I stuck with this for the morning and just went for an easy pedal. When a clubmate of mine pulled alongside on his faster training ride I upped the pace a bit for half a mile for a quick chat but as soon as he turned off I backed off the pace again. My legs were feeling pretty clear after Saturday's race. I purposefully stuck to my plan not to finish off my weekly miles as n the afternoon my ironwoman training friend wanted company for a slow long run so I offered to run along with her for an hour and a half. We did a steady run which put me way over my run miles for the week. 

Another good running and swimming week. Slightly under on bike again but the bike section of Saturday's race was good so not really worried about the missing miles. And next week i will catch up a big chunk of them.

Target totals - Swim > 2 miles. Bike > 35 miles. Run > 12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 10mins of wii yoga.

Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,900m in 55 mins.

Tuesday - Railway easy run. 6 miles in 48 mins.

Wednesday - Run 3.8 miles in 30 mins.
Swim 2 laps (1,200m) in 24 mins.

Thursday - Stretching and rollering - lots of.

Friday - Stretching and rollering - lots of.

Saturday - Forres Triathlon
Swim 400m, 7 mins.
TT bike 12.7km in 26 mins.
Run 2.3 miles in 16 mins.

Sunday - Bike 20.0 in 1hr 26 mins.
Run 8.7 miles in 1 hr 20 mins.


Actual totals - Swim 2.3 miles (3,500m). Bike 27.9 miles. Run 20.8 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short long stretching sessions.  mins of wii yoga.

Race Preview - Forres Novice Triathlon

I know I am in good shape. It is getting really frustrating that I haven’t yet been able to put together a really good multi-event race this year. Knockburn Duathlon I was dying of the cold, Turriff I was still a bit ill from the same cold, Kings Aquathon I swam poorly then struggled on the run and Knockburn Sprint the swim was a disaster that I never recovered from.

 

However, both of my run-only races have been better than I could have hoped for, I am swimming times in training that are faster than any of last year’s races, my transitions are fine and the bike is actually going faster during triathlon races. I should be able to tie this all together into a fast race!

 

I have had a look at the entry list and the results from the last two years. I was really hoping to find a couple of names from just ahead of me on both lists so that I could set myself some targets for people to beat. Only there don’t seem to be very many returning racers from the names that have beat me in the past.

 

In 2013 I finished 13^th overall. The one name from this year’s entry list who did beat me last year, it was only by about a minute, but he made up over 2 minutes on the bike leg. With the new bike leg and me being on my TT bike I would hope to minimise or even reverse that loss. In 2012, when I had a poor race, I beat him by several minutes, and he was listed in an older age group. (It is possible that it was two different people but it is a fairly unique name so more likely that 2012 was his first ever race, 2013 he was had learned all the basics, 2014 he might be quite good by now).

 

In 2012 I finished 14^th. From the 2012 results list there are 3 of this year’s entrants that beat me. Two of those by over 7 minutes, I am fairly comfortable to just right them off as probably being classy enough to be uncatchable despite the bike changes. The third though, beat me by only about a minute again, and 2012 was a real struggle of a race for me.

 

Also, I do recognise one new name on the entry list, one of my running clubmates from Moray. I know he can run, almost certainly over a minute quicker, possibly 2 or 3. Never seen him swim or bike though, could be interesting.

 

Obviously, I haven’t looked at many of the names behind me on the previous results. If anyone has improved by more than I have then it is possible they could beat me as well. And there are a lot of unknowns on the list that could do anything.

 

All this together leaves me in a new position of looking at getting on a podium rather than my original target to get into the top-10. Anything in the top-10 I will still be pleased with but a really good race and a podium finish would be even better.

 

Race Report - Moray Way Relay (Leg 2)

This is the first time this race has been held. It involves a team of up to 10 (back to that later) runners each running between 8 and 11 miles sections to complete all 95 miles of the Moray way. 

The race starts and finishes in Forres and follows the Dava Way, the Speyside way and the Moray Coast Trail.

I volunteered to run for my original running club back in about March on the assumption that they would either get tons of volunteers and I would be able to easily step aside to 'let' someone else run or they wouldn't get enough and they would give it up. In the end they had 11 and then with about a week to go one pulled out and my easy weekend went with him. But after Knockburn Sprint I was keen to get back into a race sooner rather than later. I was sure I was in better form than Knockburn had shown and a run-only race was the ideal opportunity to confirm it without the complications of trying to figure out which sport wasn't working.

Fortunately I did get a 'short' leg of only 8.8 miles. Unlike a traditional baton passing relay it is arranged so that each leg starts on the hour mark. This makes it much easier for organising and officiating as the gaps that might grow between strong and weak teams are effectively reset at the start of each leg. The times for all the legs are collated at the end. This has the added bonus that you can't really be sure who is winning overall at any point through the day so everyone has to run hard on their leg. It also meant that I knew exactly where and when to be at my start point. This had the usual effect of me turning up way too early and spending the first 10 minutes wondering if I was in the wrong place as no-one else was about. 

Fortunately the other races and some associated crews started to turn up then and I could get on with warming up and catching up with some people that I haven't had a chance to chat with for a couple of years before getting ready to race.

At the start there were a lot of midges going about. The race briefing took place right in the midst of a large swarm of them. The briefing is basically, 'You are going 9 miles that way, stay on the Dava Way. There are some gates, close them as you pass. And remember it is a public route so you have no more right to it than any other user, so be polite to any that you do meet.' which is a fairly standard briefing for a trail race. As we were being briefed the first few runners from leg 1 were arriving having covered their 10-mile sections and my incoming runner came in in third place just seconds before the start of my leg. 

I suppose I had better get on with actually writing about how the running part went. I had jogged the first quarter mile as my warm up so I knew it twisted a bit through the forest so I lurked around in the middle of the pack as we started and settled into a comfortable pace as I watched the leaders shoot off into the distance. 

A pair of chatty girls from Inverness Harriers and Hunters Bog Trotters were hogging the path just in front of me and early on I thought maybe they were a bit slow. I decided to just settle in behind them for a while until we got moving and then if I really wanted to up the pace I could overtake on a wider part or squeeze between them. As it turned out their chattiness was just keeping them at the right pace for me to sit comfortably behind them for the first two miles. i couldn't really tell if they had upped the pace till they were uncomfortable or if they had just run out of gossip but they chat seemed to die out at this point. I had decided that this was a pace I could live with and if I still felt good later I could maybe push on. 

Then we arrived at the first gate. As a group of three one girl opened the gate, the next one popped through, I followed and turned round to close the gate…. and missed. So I had to take a couple of seconds to grab the gate again and close it properly. And when I turned round there was a 15 meter gap. I go back to running thinking the gap would disappear and I would be back with them quickly, but it seems their reduction in chat was due to their increase in work rate and I couldn't close the gap. But it wasn't really getting any bigger, until the next gate came at about 2.5 miles. Now they had the advantage that one of them opened it and the other one closed it while I had to do both jobs. and another 15 meters of space appeared. And now the gap was big enough to 'break the elastic' and they started to sneak away a little bit.

The pair of them were never really gaining much but the little bits were adding up at each gate and then at about the 5 mile mark I had a shoelace come undone. The wet heather and gorse at the sides of the paths had loosened my double knot so I had to stop quickly to re-tie it. This gave the runner behind me the chance to catch up and gave the girls enough of a gap that I could just about keep them in sight on the straighter sections of the course. But inside I knew I wasn't really racing them any more and my knew companion was the race I was in. 

We chatted away for a bit and he told me he was from Lossie and was a relative beginner at running, I was tempted to point out that I was coming up for 25 years but I figured that was more likely to scare me than him so I kept it to myself. When we came to a longer straight and then I realised that we had closed slightly on the girls despite chatting. So I decided to try and drop him and chase them down again. They rounded a corner and went out of sight and then as we came round the corner there is a sign with two arrows. one has Dava Way and a picture of a horse and a walker, the other says Dava Way - CYCLISTS THIS WAY in a very demanding font. I went with the horse/walker arrow but about 20 metres in I looked down and saw the girls had gone the other way and dropped down onto the road. In my gut I felt that was wrong but maybe they had recced the course better than me so I doubled back to follow them, and gave up the 40 meters I had made on my new pal as he reached the turn just as I got back to it. 

I decided to just stick with him for the little stretch along the road just because it felt a bit safer running as a pair on the road. About a quarter of a mile up we turned back off the road and back up onto the path. I should have stayed on the path. It does shrink down to a single file walking track through the trees but it does go through the middle. As we were back up onto the path it stretches out to a long straight and we could see the pair of girls again. I made a couple of attempts to break away again and as we passed through 8 miles I had enough that I couldn't hear his steps on the gravel. It was too rough underfoot to look round but I thought I was away from him. 

My legs were really starting to suffer now though and I was trying to figure out if I had enough to pick up and try to close the gap in front when I started hearing the crunches behind me. And they were getting closer fast. For a minute I thought it was maybe someone else who had started late or was just out for a run on their own but it turned out to be Mr Lossie again. He was really motoring now. As he passed I tried to stay with him but I didn't have anything left in the tank. I could see the finish and I picked up everything I had to try and put in a sprint to catch him but all I could do was hold the gap through the finish. 

With the little detour in, garmin logged 9.1 miles. My longest single run of the year. And also 625 ft of climbing on a leg which was almost entirely on a gentle rise. I finished in 1 hour 8 mins 57. I am pretty happy with that. It is only just slower than my current 10k race pace and given the uphill, the gates, the surface and the muggy weather may actually be real-terms faster than my Moray 10k performance that I was so pleased with. 

So all in I am really happy with my race.

As a team we placed fourth out of the 14 teams, so I am also really happy about that.

Anyway, I noted earlier that your team can be made up of up to 10 runners, because most teams will have the odd person drop out, so maybe you run out of substitutes and someone has to double-up and run a second leg or something. Or maybe because you are a completely bonkers pair of ultra runners who decide to take alternate legs for the entire 95 miles! That is right, two guys from Hunters Bog Trotters took alternate legs, running almost 43 miles each. And not only did one of them beat me on my leg which is not really a huge feat in the grand scheme of things, the pair of them kept beating people all day and eventually came second overall! 

Out of the 14 teams only one team failed to finish all 10 legs. Here are the final results:

1. Forres Harriers 11h.27m33
2. Half Baked 2some 11.47.56
3. HBT 12.03.41
4. MRR 12.17.19
5. Inv Harriers 12.23.59
6. Garioch RR 13.12.22
7. Keith A 13.34.13
8. Forres H Ladies 14.33.23
9. Keith B 14.39.07
10. RAF Lossie 14.45
11. MRR Ladies 15.58
12. Easier Said Than Run 18.07.14
13. Burghead Coastal Rowers (walkers)
14. HHR 11.22 (9 legs complete)

Next Race - Forres Novice Triathlon - June 21st.

Training Plan - Week 25 - Jun 16 to 22

Another race this week with Forres Novice Triathlon on Saturday. This is on my list of annual targets but was based on doing the race on the original mountain bike course. My target was to break into the top-10. However, I haven't replaced my stolen mountain bike so I had tested to race the course on my road bike, only to discover the bike section of the race has been changed to a road course. Not sure if this invalidates my target or not. Also this is one of the very rare occasions where I have a 400m swim so I need to push that hard if I am going to break my 6:30 target.

Having started racing well with a fast 10k, I have then missed my target at Knockburn Sprint. I have not even looked for a TT cycle race to enter and Forres have changed their course. I may need to start revising race targets after this weekend.


Monday - Swim with TPT. Bike both ways? Weights session.

Tuesday - Run reps session. Core session.

Wednesday - Run and Swim at Knockburn. Stretching session.

Thursday - Short run. 

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - Forres Triathlon.

Sunday - Long bike.


Target totals - Swim > 2 miles. Bike > 35 miles. Run > 12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 10 mins of wii yoga.