Training Review - Week 8 - Feb 16 to 22

Monday I came up short of my swim distance again after cramping up towards the end of the session. 

Tuesday I did my first hill rep session of the year. I have been making plenty of excuses over the last 7 weeks to not do them. Dexter, flu, darkness, and so on. When I got to my hill I realised I was going to be doing reps into a headwind but I stuck with the plan. I did 6 reps on the hill. None of them were particularly quick, but I did sneak one of them in under the 6min/mile target pace that I had set for the week. 

Wednesday I went for probably my last trip to the gym at work. I had set my target at biking 20 miles in an hour so I had to go pretty much full gas right from the start. I made it, but I sweated out about half my body weight trying to get there. So that is both speed targets for this week done. 

I also went for a massage. Again this is going to be my last one for a while. Massages are on the luxury spending list so they are off the cards until I can find a new job. 

Thursday I went out for a run round Dyce with a couple of friends. Just trying to get some comfortable miles in. Turned into my fastest 10k of February, despite being just a gentle run. This is as much a sign of how lazy Feb has been as anything else. 

Friday I had some time to kill before the cinema so I went back for an extra trip to the gym while I still have access. I decided to do a very slow and lazy brick just to clear my legs out a little. I did purposefully leave the run short of my weekly total so that I would have to go out again on the Saturday and do a proper run. Then I sat on the bike for 20 minutes and read my kindle. Picked off a few more of the missed miles from my week with the flu. 

Saturday I did a lazy jog round the block to get the last of my miles for this week and to clear a little of the backlog from the flu. 

Sunday was my usual Sunday ride. This is the first week that we planned in advance to split into a shorter group. So I took a group of 5 on a planned 40 mile route. We left with the cloud threatening and with a bit of a gentle breeze, and came back into a fairly massive headwind. It was a good day out though. 

All in, another a good week on the basic numbers but absolutely nothing on the extra sessions. From next week I should have a lot more time to pick those up.


Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50 miles. Run 14 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.

Monday - Swim with TPT 1,950m in 50 mins.

Tuesday - 6 x Zara Hill reps 5.3 miles in 48mins.

Wednesday - Gym bike 20.5 miles in 60 mins.

Thursday - Dyce run 6.5 miles in 56mins.

Friday - Gym brick run 2 miles in 20 mins.
Gym brick bike 5.6 miles in 20 mins.

Saturday - Dyce jog 3.7 miles in 33mins.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday Lite ride 40.3 miles in 2 hours 44mins.

Actuals - Swim 1.2 miles (1,950m). Bike 66.4 miles. Run 17.5 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of yoga.



Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 9.6 (10.6) , B 395.3 (422.9), R 103.0 (110.4). 

Training Plan - Week 9 - Feb 23 to Mar 1

Aboyne duathlon is on Sunday so I have a decision to make as to whether I want to race there or not. I will leave that decision until midweek and watch the weather forecast. At the minute the base plan is not to race. And the alternative version with the race in it is in purple below. 

This is also my last week working at ConocoPhillips. Still not quite sure when my last day in the office will be. I have left my plans flexible enough to do everything in evening sessions in case I have to go in to the office every day this week but without going to the gym in case I don't have access at all. 

On the speed front  I am going to keep a running target but speed things up slightly I am going to leave a cycling target for a couple of weeks as I need to come up with a sensible way to measure that with such varied rides.

Run one session either under 8 min / mile average for the session or under 5:55 mins for 2 out of 8 Zara hill reps. I managed one out of six reps in 5:57 last week so this isn't a huge step (especially if there isn't a headwind to deal with) up in speed but is a step up. 



Monday - Swim with TPT

Tuesday - Run reps
Stretching session

Wednesday - Short ride

Thursday - Long run
Weights and core sessions

Friday - Rest Day or long ride

Saturday - Long run or rest day

Sunday - Long ride or Aboyne Duathlon.

Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 7 - Feb 9 to 15

Another disastrous (I am sure there should be an e in there somewhere but the spellchecker doesn't like it) start to this week. Obviously still not completely clear of the flu. I barely managed half the session, and even to get to that I had to drop into lane 3 and stay out of the way of everyone else as they lapped me. 

Tuesday was slightly better. Not a great day at work but I did manage to squeeze in a trip to the gym before going to an Energy Institute presentation. 

Wednesday I had a flexi day and a Dexter so I went out for a run in the morning. I am still not properly clear of the flu but that didn't real get obvious until we were a couple of miles in and he was having to drag me along just to stay under 10min/mile pace. We did carry on for a very slow 6.6 miles though including some stops for a walk and to get some breath near the end.

Thursday was another terrible day at work, followed by an interview. Then Dexter and I went for a simple loop around the block. Still coughing a bit from not clearing last week's flu but managed to keep moving without having to resort to walking.

Friday was a rest day and a trip to see 50 Shades of terrible. Really terrible day at work as the redundancies start to be enacted and I had to take escort some people out of the building for their last day. I am starting to struggle with the stress of the situation.

Saturday I went out for another run along the railway line with Dexter. I am still coughing a bit so it was hard work, and slow.  

Sunday I went out to ride with the Kintore Sunday group but with the intention of cutting off early to get 30-35 miles. Fortunately a couple of the others were also struggling so when I turned off from the main group at the 18 mile mark I had company for the return leg.

Overall it looks like a bad week on the numbers as I missed everything except my run target, and even that I did at such slow pace that it barely counts. However, I really was struggling to recover from the flu this week so to get a full load of major sessions in is a success. Also knowing I am going to be out of work from the end of the month means I will have plenty of time in March to catch up any mileage that continues to slip away at the minute. 



Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50 miles. Run 14 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.

Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,400m in 39 mins. 

Tuesday - Gym bike 14.3 miles in 46 mins

Wednesday - Slow run with Dexter 6.6 miles in 70mins.

Thursday - Slow run with Dexter 3.6 miles in 37 mins.

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - Slow run with Dexter 5.1 miles in 51 mins.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday Lite version 34.2 miles in 2 hours 15 mins.

Actuals - Swim 0.9 miles (1,400m). Bike 48.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of yoga.



Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S  8.4 (9.2) , B 328.9 (372.9), R 85.5 (96.4). 

Training Plan - Week 8 - Feb 16 to 22

Nothing particularly special about this week. 

I have a massage booked in for Wednesday and no Dexter to run with so I have reshuffled my week back to normal. Wednesday's planned bike session is likely to be my last session in the free gym at work.

I am still going to keep the speed targets from the last two weeks as well.

Gym bike over 20 miles in under 1 hour. 

Run one session either under 8 min / mile average for the session or under 6 mins for a hill rep. It is light enough to do hill reps in the evening as long as I plan to do them as soon as I get home. 



Monday - Swim with TPT

Tuesday - Run reps
Stretching session

Wednesday - Gym bike (over 20 miles in under 1 hour).
Massage

Thursday - Long run
Weights and core sessions

Friday - Rest Day

Saturday - Long run

Sunday - Long ride

Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 6 - Feb 2 to 8

Another decent swim session. Struggled a bit with the pace this week, but pretty sure that the toll of a heavy January is still adding up to cause that. 

Or not.

I have the flu. And a particularly bad dose at that. Resting heart rate is about double what it should be, not managing to sleep more than a couple of hours a night and struggling to breathe. I am aching everywhere, even my eyelids hurt. 

The last time I had 4 days in a row completely off training was October 2012. And since I was less than 3 weeks out of surgery for a broken collar bone, I had a decent excuse for that. The flu this week has been completely debilitating. 

I have an app, Pactapp, which effectively pays me 15-20p a day for training. The deal is that I predict how many days in the coming week that I am going to manage to train for at least 30 mins or do 10,000 steps. The flip side of that being that if I fail to meet my target I get a £12 penalty for each day missed. I automatically sign it up for 6 days a week (just in case I have a completely lazy rest day) and then pretty much forget about it. This week that app has been an absolute nightmare. 

Tuesday it took me two attempts walking on the treadmill to get to my 10,000 steps. Wednesday I didn't get anywhere close. So having failed that day I had to score on every remaining day. Thursday afternoon a walk round to Asda and a detour home just got me over the 30 minute counter. Friday the same trick of taking a walk to Asda for 30 minutes. Saturday I thought I might manage to get up and go for a jog, but after managing the getting up part of that plan I had to resort to the Asda trick yet again. 

Sunday I decided to try and jog/run round Dyce just to see how I felt. First mile I was coughing, sneezing, snorting, waddling... and it just went downhill from there. By mile 2 it felt like someone was sandpapering the inside of my throat and hitting my lungs with a hammer. And by the end of mile 3 I was reduced to walking home. I was definitely not quite ready to be back out. 

So this week has been an all round disaster.


Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50 miles. Run 14 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.

Monday - Swim with TPT 2,150m in 60 mins. 

Tuesday - Sick

Wednesday - Very sick

Thursday - Sick

Friday - Very sick

Saturday - Mildly sick

Sunday - Jog 3.0 miles in 32mins.

Actuals - Swim 1.3 miles (2,150m). Bike  miles. Run 3.0 miles.  short core,  short light weights and  short stretching sessions.  mins of yoga.



Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 7.5 (7.8) , B 280.4 (322.9), R 70.1 (82.4). 

Training Plan - Week 7 - Feb 9 to 15

I am not even going to try and make up last week's disaster. 

But I am going to try and get straight back into my targets rather than build back up. Gambling that I can swim Monday and then by Tuesday I will be clear enough of the bug and  with less than a week off I will not have hurt the base I built up in the previous 15 uninterrupted months. Also I get a couple of days of Dexter and a midweek Flexi this week so a good chance to get out for a long run. 

I am still going to keep the speed targets from last week.

Gym bike over 20 miles in under 1 hour. 

Run one session either under 8 min / mile average for the session or under 6 mins for a hill rep.  Although it may still be too dark for evening hill reps for another week or two yet. 



Monday - Swim with TPT

Tuesday - Run reps
Stretching session

Wednesday - Long run with Dexter
Stretching session

Thursday - Gym bike (over 20 miles in under 1 hour).
Weights and core sessions

Friday - Rest Day

Saturday - Long run.

Sunday - Long ride

Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 5 - Jan 26 to Feb 1

Not really much to write about this week. Sessions were fairly standard. Swim was good, Runs were all slightly better than hoped, so I managed to catch up on some of the backlog from last week. Biking was set back a little by the wind and snow on Sunday and being a bit lazy on Wednesday. I missed a bit of biking against this week's target, but I was much farther ahead in previous weeks than what I have missed this week.

So another good week. 

I am going to have to start watching my weight a little bit as I have dropped under 75kg for the first time in a few years and continues to drop. I am not at worrying levels yet, but trending in that direction. 

Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 58.6 miles. Run 14.9 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.

Monday - Swim with TPT, 2,300m in 56 mins. 

Tuesday - Run 6.4 miles in 52 mins.

Wednesday - Gym bike 13.8 miles in 45 mins.

Thursday - Rest Day

Friday - Run 3.9 miles in 30 mins.

Saturday - Run 6.7 in 61 mins
Yoga session

Sunday - Gym bike 40 miles in 2 hrs 20 mins. 
Stretching session

Actuals - Swim 1.4 miles (2,300 m). Bike 53.8 miles. Run 17.0 miles.  short core,  short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.



Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 6.2 (6.4), B 280.4 (272.9), R 67.1 (68.4). 

Training Plan - Week 6 - Feb 2 to 8

Into Feb and my smarter plan for the year starts to pay off already. Less biking and running to do this week. The idea being that it will be faster instead. So in addition to the miles this week there are the first speed targets as well. For now they are actually going to be fairly simple.

Gym bike over 20 miles in under 1 hour. 

Run one session either under 8min/mile average for the session or under 6mins for a hill rep.  Although it may still be too dark for evening hill reps for another week or two yet. 

Hopefully back outside for biking on Sunday. Weather could easily get worse before it gets better though. 


Monday - Swim with TPT

Tuesday - Run reps
Stretching session

Wednesday - Gym bike (over 20 miles in under 1 hour).
Weights and core sessions

Thursday - Fast run
Stretching session

Friday - Rest Day

Saturday - Long run.

Sunday - Long ride

Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.