Monday, 29 September 2014
Training Plan - Week 40 - Sept 29 to Oct 5
I was planning to be into just winter training by now, but having entered Huntly twice by accident I got a place transferred into Peterhead Sprint Triathlon.
Even though the race wasn't on my plan I am still going to take a rest day on the Saturday and in order to fit that in while keeping my Health Challenge numbers I am going to make up the time and miles earlier in the week and to get big numbers without the big impacts, that means trips to the gym.
Monday - Easy run.
Swim with TPT.
Stretching session.
Tuesday - Gym bike or brick.
Yoga session.
Wednesday - Massage.
Thursday - Gym bike.
Core session.
Friday - Easy ride or run.
Core session.
Saturday - Rest day.
Sunday - Peterhead Sprint Triathlon.
Target totals - Swim > 2 miles. Bike > 40 miles. Run > 12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.
Health Challenge targets - Walk 300, Swim 60, Cycle 200, Run 120, Yoga 30, Core 30.
Training Review - Week 39 - Sept 22 to 28
Monday was meant to be a double session but the sore throat is at least as bad as Sunday and has turned into a full-blown cold, so I just stuck to the swim session. New 100m PB and my first time under 1:30, then 3 more times under 1:30 in the same session. Plenty of good tumble turns (couple of dodgy ones still but even the bad ones are survivable now) and basically another great day in the pool.
Struggled with my cold getting worse through the week so had to take a couple of days off from doing anything at all.
Thursday I was still suffering a bit with the cold but it was improving so I decided to just ignore it and go to the gym anyway. Sat on the bike for 45 mins just to spin my legs a bit. No major problems from the bug so I will get back on trying to catch up on the week from here. I did add a yoga session in the evening as well.
Friday I was still a bit sniffly but still managed to drag myself to the gym. Being so far behind on health challenge numbers I had to try and get some running and biking in so that I could do sensible weekend sessions. I started with and easy half hour on the treadmill and then did another 45 minutes on the exercise bike.
Saturday I had to drag myself out for a run. Felt terrible and was a real struggle to keep moving. Ended up barely making 10km in an hour. In the evening I also did a core and a stretching session.
Sunday I decided to go out and catch up on some of my missing bike miles.
Overall for the week I am slightly behind my running targets and while I did all my bike miles I didn't do all the time I expected to. However, since I lost 3 sessions to my cold and cut both my gym sessions for both time and miles this has actually been a really good week.
Target totals - Swim > 1 miles. Bike > 50 miles. Run > 15 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.
Health Challenge targets - Walk 300, Swim 60, Cycle 300, Run 120, Yoga 30, Core 30.
Monday - Cold
Swim with TPT 1.3 miles (2,200 m) in 56 mins.
Tuesday - Cold
Wednesday - Cold
Thursday - Gym bike 12.4 miles in 45 mins.
Yoga session.
Friday - Gym brick. Treadmill 3.7 miles in 31 mins.
Gym bike 13.0 miles in 46 mins.
Saturday - Jog 6.3 miles in 60 mins.
Core session.
Sunday - Easy ride 38.1 miles in 2hrs 50mins.
Core session.
Actuals - Swim 1.3 miles. Bike 63.5 miles. Run 10.0 miles. 1 short core, 0 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.
Health Challenge - Walk 399, Swim 60, Cycle 261, Run 91, Yoga 30, Core 10.
Struggled with my cold getting worse through the week so had to take a couple of days off from doing anything at all.
Thursday I was still suffering a bit with the cold but it was improving so I decided to just ignore it and go to the gym anyway. Sat on the bike for 45 mins just to spin my legs a bit. No major problems from the bug so I will get back on trying to catch up on the week from here. I did add a yoga session in the evening as well.
Friday I was still a bit sniffly but still managed to drag myself to the gym. Being so far behind on health challenge numbers I had to try and get some running and biking in so that I could do sensible weekend sessions. I started with and easy half hour on the treadmill and then did another 45 minutes on the exercise bike.
Saturday I had to drag myself out for a run. Felt terrible and was a real struggle to keep moving. Ended up barely making 10km in an hour. In the evening I also did a core and a stretching session.
Sunday I decided to go out and catch up on some of my missing bike miles.
Overall for the week I am slightly behind my running targets and while I did all my bike miles I didn't do all the time I expected to. However, since I lost 3 sessions to my cold and cut both my gym sessions for both time and miles this has actually been a really good week.
Target totals - Swim > 1 miles. Bike > 50 miles. Run > 15 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.
Health Challenge targets - Walk 300, Swim 60, Cycle 300, Run 120, Yoga 30, Core 30.
Monday - Cold
Swim with TPT 1.3 miles (2,200 m) in 56 mins.
Tuesday - Cold
Wednesday - Cold
Thursday - Gym bike 12.4 miles in 45 mins.
Yoga session.
Friday - Gym brick. Treadmill 3.7 miles in 31 mins.
Gym bike 13.0 miles in 46 mins.
Saturday - Jog 6.3 miles in 60 mins.
Core session.
Sunday - Easy ride 38.1 miles in 2hrs 50mins.
Core session.
Actuals - Swim 1.3 miles. Bike 63.5 miles. Run 10.0 miles. 1 short core, 0 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.
Health Challenge - Walk 399, Swim 60, Cycle 261, Run 91, Yoga 30, Core 10.
Tuesday, 23 September 2014
Race Review - Huntly Standard Triathlon
I woke up in the morning with a horrible sore throat. I had a strepsil after breakfast which took the edge of it but had no lasting effect. After registering and setting up for transition I took a walk to Tesco and got some chloraseptic which at least masked the pain. (Writing this on Monday and it is still just a sore throat and a slight temperature).
As the heat prior to mine went in to the water I got changed and went through to poolside. I had a lie down on a bench next to the pool and realised that I was running a temperature. I closed my eyes for a bit and think I had about a 10 minute nap. Didn't encourage me about how healthy I was but the wee nap did stop me from stressing out.
The first few lengths were a bit messy as everyone tried to arrange ourselves into an order. The first guy away managed to stretch out a little gap but of the remaining three of us no-one seemed quite strong enough to get away off the front of the group but similarly the two trailers always felt like they were being held up slightly. After about 200m we all stopped with the place juggling and just settled in to a steady pace.
Being at the back of the group meant I could do my turns without risking bumping into anyone, but actually they were still giving me problems. Huntly has a stupid metal bar along the edge of the pool that I clipped with my heel on a bad turn, and whenever I did manage a good turn I was too close to the feet in front and had to back right off to avoid crashing. It felt like I was going very slowly, but I still felt a bit ropey so I figured I would just get through the swim and see how I felt afterwards.
Happy with my swim time nonetheless. I wanted to get under 27 minutes and I was out of the water and over the timing mats with time to spare.
I took my time in transition. It was quite cold so I took enough time to dry my feet and put socks on.
On the bike I was still trying to decide how I was feeling. The pedals seemed to be turning ok, I was feeling comfortable in my TT position and I was making up places on the flat sections, even passing other TT bikes. My throat was still pretty scratchy as I was breathing but the chloraseptic was still masking the worst of it, and the cold was covering up my temperature so I actually felt not too bad.
That is 7 seconds slower than last year, which is really nothing. I am not quite sure why the time is so similar to last year though. It felt a lot easier, even though the weather was colder and my sore throat was bugging me. When I look at the Strava I was slower on the way out on the TT-friendly segments and barely faster through the uphill segments. I don't remember any of the terrible grinding sections of of working hard but feeling like I wasn't moving forward, maybe these were somewhere in between the Strava segments in previous years.
My second transition was much slicker.
That is 7 seconds slower than last year, which is really nothing. I am not quite sure why the time is so similar to last year though. It felt a lot easier, even though the weather was colder and my sore throat was bugging me. When I look at the Strava I was slower on the way out on the TT-friendly segments and barely faster through the uphill segments. I don't remember any of the terrible grinding sections of of working hard but feeling like I wasn't moving forward, maybe these were somewhere in between the Strava segments in previous years.
My second transition was much slicker.
So I was out and running in 1 hour 40, with targets to run faster than 51 minutes and to total 2 hours 30 which meant I would need to run faster than 50 minutes. The course is longer than 10k, it comes in at about 10.5km so the times are always slow. I felt much better than previous year's though. On a course with two equal laps I also knew I would get a half way check where I wanted to be under 2hrs 05 as I passed the finish line with a lap to go.
I felt like I was running really smoothly compared to previous races. Maybe taking it slightly easier on the swim and bike was paying off or maybe I am just in better shape than I had predicted. I came past the finish line in 2:04 so I knew another lap the same would get me in easily under both targets. The chloraseptic was starting to wear off, and breathing was getting to be more painful than just scratchy but my legs still felt good so I was able to keep the pace fairly steady. Turning into the last 200m straight I saw my watch just tick over 2hrs 28 but it took me another 44 seconds from there to cross the line.
My run time was over 2 minutes faster than I have done for this course on any of my previous attempts. And my overall time was a 3mins 35 PB for this course. On a cold day with a sore throat I am really pleased with that.
I felt like I was running really smoothly compared to previous races. Maybe taking it slightly easier on the swim and bike was paying off or maybe I am just in better shape than I had predicted. I came past the finish line in 2:04 so I knew another lap the same would get me in easily under both targets. The chloraseptic was starting to wear off, and breathing was getting to be more painful than just scratchy but my legs still felt good so I was able to keep the pace fairly steady. Turning into the last 200m straight I saw my watch just tick over 2hrs 28 but it took me another 44 seconds from there to cross the line.
My run time was over 2 minutes faster than I have done for this course on any of my previous attempts. And my overall time was a 3mins 35 PB for this course. On a cold day with a sore throat I am really pleased with that.
Change of format from previous year's results:
| Pos. | Bibno. | Finish time | Participant | Category | Club/Company/Sponsor |  |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 2:28:44 | Kevin Morice | (M) Senior | Three Peaks Triathletes | 26:47 | 1:37 | 1:11:00 | 29.0 | 48:51 |
Monday, 22 September 2014
Training Plan - Week 39 - Sept 22 to 28
Slight change of plan. Apparently I had entered Huntly twice, so I have had one of them transferred to Peterhead on October 5th. However, it is 'only' a sprint and I am in good enough shape to get through the next two weeks and be able to race that.
Monday I have a flexi day so I should be able to get in a double session. It will depend on how my throat feels in the morning though. If I can find a space to put in a second swim session during the week then I will.
Monday - Easy run or ride.
Swim with TPT.
Stretching session.
Tuesday - Gym bike.
Yoga session.
Wednesday - Offroad run.
Thursday - Rest day.
Core session.
Friday - Gym bike.
Core session.
Saturday - Long run or short ride.
Sunday - Long ride.
Target totals - Swim > 1 mile. Bike > 50 miles. Run > 15 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.
Health Challenge targets - Walk 300, Swim 60, Cycle 300, Run 120, Yoga 30, Core 30.
Training Review - Week 38 - Sept 15 to 21
It is late on sunday evening and I have just realised that I haven't written anything more than the numbers for this week.
It has been a fairly uneventful week. I just kept the numbers ticking over for points and miles. And on Sunday I did Huntly Standard which will get a post to itself.
Target totals - Swim > 2 miles. Bike > 45 miles. Run > 12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.
Health Challenge targets - Walk 300, Swim 85, Cycle 210, Run 90, Yoga 30, Core 30.
Monday - Gym bike 13 miles in 43 mins.
Swim with TPT 1.4 miles (2,250m) in 55 mins.
Tuesday - Gym run 20 mins 2.1 miles.
Gym bike 60 mins 17.1 miles.
Wednesday - Kirkhill run 5.1 miles in 50 mins.
Thursday - Vote no.
Friday - Gym bike 12 miles in 40 mins.
Saturday - Rest day.
Stretching session.
Sunday - Huntly Standard Triathlon
Swim 1500m in 26mins 47.
Bike 22.4 miles in 1hr 11 mins.
Run 6.5 miles in 49 mins.
Actuals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 42.1 miles. Run 7.2 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of yoga.
Health Challenge - Walk 341, Swim 90, Cycle 213, Run 99, Yoga 0, Core 0.
Saturday, 20 September 2014
Race Preview - Huntly Standard Triathlon
Here are the results from my previous 3 attempts at this race.
2010
2012
2013
2010
 |
2012
|
2013
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||||
With my new turns I should be comfortably able to beat last year's swim time. To get my annual target of swimming a 1500m race in under 27min is also possible. It would take a good swim but shouldn't take a great swim. A decent lane draw might be anough to take a minute off last year's time.
Over the past three attempts at this race I have carved 7 minutes off the bike each time. I can't see anything like that happening again. I am biking well though so I should be able to sneak under 1 hour 10.
The run on all three attempts has been 51:something. I would like to at least get a time under 50, but I will take something similar again.
So despite having a good year, and knowing that I am in great shape, my target for this race is pretty much just do do something slightly better than last year. If I could sneak under 2hours 30 I would be really happy.
The weather looks like it is going to be as good as last year.
Monday, 15 September 2014
Training Plan - Week 38 - Sept 15 to 21
Last race of the season this week with Huntly Standard Triathlon on Sunday. Still on with the work's health challenge as well. So I am going to front load the week slightly to try and get in time and miles and then still get a couple of rest days in before Sunday.
Monday - Gym brick.
Swim with TPT.
Stretching session.
Tuesday - Gym bike.
Yoga session.
Wednesday - Offroad run.
Thursday - Rest day.
Core session.
Friday - Gym bike.
Core session
Saturday - Rest Day.
Sunday - Huntly Standard Triathlon.
Target totals - Swim > 2 miles. Bike > 45 miles. Run > 12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.
Health Challenge targets - Walk 300, Swim 85, Cycle 180, Run 90, Yoga 30, Core 30.
Monday - Gym brick.
Swim with TPT.
Stretching session.
Tuesday - Gym bike.
Yoga session.
Wednesday - Offroad run.
Thursday - Rest day.
Core session.
Friday - Gym bike.
Core session
Saturday - Rest Day.
Sunday - Huntly Standard Triathlon.
Target totals - Swim > 2 miles. Bike > 45 miles. Run > 12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.
Health Challenge targets - Walk 300, Swim 85, Cycle 180, Run 90, Yoga 30, Core 30.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)