Race Report - Moray Roadrunners Elgin 10k

I got up in the morning and felt terrible so I did a combination stretching, yoga and warm up session which seemed to help ease of most of the problems. 

The course was changed back to the original version, with a tiny detour to go the opposite side of the cathedral to the traditional route. 

I went for a lap of the park to try and warm up. I had a massive limp on one side. I tried to move up to my planned race pace of 7-min/mile but couldn't get anywhere near it. I had about another 20 minutes so I tried to do some stretches to loosen it off.

On the start line my hip was still bugging me. 

Through the first mile I was feeling really uncomfortable and had half a mind to just pull out and go home. My hip wasn't getting any better and it felt like I was really dragging around. The watch buzzed for the mile mark and a quick look told me it was 6:25. So I was pretty much flying along and the stiff hip certainly wasn't hurting my pace much. 

The second mile is uphill. Last year it was mile 1 and I know it is tough. Somewhere here my hip just eased of as if someone had flipped a switch. I was in with a decent group and I could still see the two lead ladies in the group ahead. I was through it in 6:43, pretty much exactly the same pace as for that mile last year. 

The third mile includes a turn back on yourself and as I approached that turn I could see I was a lot higher up the field than I expected to be. After the turn I was passing a few people that I expected to be behind. Through the third mile in 6:47 and through 5k in under 21 minutes, I knew I was going too fast but I wasn't struggling with the pace so I kept pushing. 

At the 4-mile mark I grabbed a cup of water so I missed when my garmin buzzed. (Turned out to be 7:01). 

Mile 5 is uphill into the wind and I was having to push harder. I was making ground on the runners around me even though I knew I was going slower (7:15). I was gaining on the group ahead with the second lady in it. That group started to fracture and string out on the hill so I knew the pace was still good and some of them started to drift back towards me. 

Mile 6 is downhill and I got into a bit of a tussle with a Highland Hill Runner who had fallen off the back of that group. I thought I had dropped him but he eased past and made about 10 metres on me. As a car pulled into a junction in front of us he had to chop slightly to go around the back of it and I managed to up my pace slightly to go past him. This took the pace back up to 6:41 and I pushed into as fast a finish as I could manage.

Into the park I could see the second woman just ahead but I couldn't close the gap to her any more and I ended up finishing a place behind her. 

I am really pleased with my time of 42:17. That is within 2 minutes of my fastest 10k ever despite not really being in the best running shape. Well inside the 45 minutes I wanted to do this year. And I still think there is plenty more to come. 

Training Plan - Week 14 - March 30 to April 5

Into April and the target numbers are meant to decrease slightly on the bike as I try to up the speed. But I still don't have a new job so realistically I am not going to see much of a decrease in distance, although I am hoping to add some speed. 

As I write this I haven't raced Elgin 10k so I am not sure how it went or how hard I had to push. So I have written a plan which may face some major changes once I know. In particular Sunday I might race at Knockburn Duathlon, or I might just go out on the bike for a longer ride with the Kintore group.


Monday - Easy jog.
Swim with TPT.

Tuesday - Short ride, TT bike if weather suits.
Yoga session.

Wednesday - Reps run. 
Weights and core sessions.

Thursday - Longer run. Or TT bike test ride if racing Knockburn.
Stretching session.

Friday - Easy run.
Yoga session.

Saturday - Rest day.

Sunday - Knockburn Duathlon or Long Ride.

Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 39.3 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 13 - March 23 to 29

Monday I started with a stretching and rollering session. I had then planned a reps session but Dexter is still here so that changed to a gentle run round the block. Probably for the best since I am still not completely clear of the cold I had over the weekend. 

In the evening I went to swim training and actually felt pretty good. Turns are definitely improving but are still pretty inconsistent. I am now confident enough to try them when there are other people turning just ahead and behind, and even when there are other people waiting at the ends. When I do have a bad one I can still recover from it fairly quickly.

Tuesday I had trouble with my yoga session. I am not big on all the hippie nonsense that has been wrapped up into yoga, but I do understand that like any other exercise there is a psychological component to it. If you aren't able to focus and concentrate on what you are doing then it is going to be more difficult. I think the stress of being out of work is starting to get to me so I was struggling to pay attention to what I was doing and that made the session a lot harder than usual.

Since I am going to Elgin from Thursday and racing the 10km on Sunday this was my only chance to get a bike ride in this week. I knew I wasn't going to do a 50 mile solo ride so instead I planned to put in a decent hour and a half with some climbing an some faster sections in it and get some miles in for the week. 

Wednesday was a yoga session and a steady run on a new route. Yoga went much better, as I was able to switch off everything else for half an hour.

Thursday I woke up with a muscle spasm in my lower back which was causing a pain in my glutes. I decided to skip my light weights and core sessions that I had planned for the morning. In the afternoon we travelled through to Elgin for a long weekend and in the evening I went to train with the junior section of my original running club. It was great to be getting a chance to pass on some coaching knowledge to the junior athletes and the other coaches. It was also interesting to feel the difference trying to go flat-out-sprint fast compared to the running-effort fast that I have been doing for the last 7 or so years. I am considering re-gearing some of my rep sessions to this sort of speed work, just for the variety.

Friday I was paying a price for using muscles that haven't had a proper workout for years. Our plan for the day was to take an easy day and go to Inverness for a day of tourism and shopping. It was by far the most enjoyable day I have had in a long time. Possibly still high on endorphins from sprinting the night before and the nostalgia of 20 years ago. 

Saturday I started with a yoga and stretching session. I was still suffering a little from Thursday night's sprinting session but everything was easing off nicely. I had planned a short jog as well but decided to stay with a second rest day instead. 

Sunday was Elgin 10k which will get its own race report. 

Overall this was another good week. Light on the bike miles but I am ahead anyway, light on the extra sessions. But lots of running and a couple of good lessons learned. I can run a lot faster, and that is fun and I can race faster but that is hard. 



Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50.0 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Monday - Stretching session.
Easy run 4.1 miles in 38 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,200m in 53 mins. 

Tuesday - Yoga session 30 mins. 
Easy ride 23.0 miles in 1 hour 32 mins. 

Wednesday - Yoga session 30 mins.
Run 5.2 miles in 45 mins.

Thursday - Sprint session with MRR. 3.7 miles in 1hour 8mins.

Friday - Rest day. 

Saturday - Yoga session 25 mins. 

Sunday - Stretching session.
Warm-up run 1 mile in 9 mins.
Race - Elgin 10k 42:19.

Actuals - Swim 1.4 miles (2,200 m). Bike 23.0 miles. Run 20.2 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 85 mins of yoga.



Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 18.8 (17.8), B 702.2 (680.0), R 192.5 (178.1). 

Race Preview - Moray Roadrunners Elgin 10k

Last year I had a really great run at Elgin. 2014 race report here.

I am in overall better shape than I was going into this weekend compared to last year but I don't think I am in quite as good running shape as I was and the forecast suggests that it is unlikely to be quite such good weather. In short don't expect to run as good a time as last year. My target for this year is set to run twice under 44 minutes, this is going to be a big ask. 

With all that in mind, last year I didn't think I was in particularly good shape going in to the race either and I still came out with a great time. I am going to prepare slightly better going into the race year. I am travelling three days ahead and putting an easy day and a rest day in. I know the new course now, so I won't be surprised by the lumps or the trail section. So it is actually possible that I could get at least close to the target, if not close to last year's time. 

Training Plan - Week 13 - March 23 to 29

I reach my first proper* race of the year as I go to Elgin for the 10k on Sunday. Also we are going to take a few days holiday up visiting my parents in Elgin before that.

Since we are through in Elgin on the Thursday night I am planning to go along to the MorayRoadrunners Club session. I suspect I may end up doing more coaching than training but at the very least I will get in a few miles of jogging each way to the track and I can always turn that into a longer route if I want to add some miles in.  

Next week the target numbers are scheduled to drop again as I move to shorter and faster on the bike. And despite missing Sunday I still broke 70 miles last week, so I have no problems with cutting this week down to a single ride even if that likely means missing the set weekly target.



*Cross-Country races don't count as I only do them for fun**.

** I know they aren't really fun but they are supposedly good for you***. I suppose the idea being that if you can survive running around for 6 miles in snow, rain and mud that anything on a sunny day with a nice surface will be easy?

*** I have never really believed they were good for you, but as I was writing this I realised they gave me an option to leave the most fitting tribute that I could manage to Terry Pratchett.   If you don't understand you need to go and read some of his excellent work. 


Monday - Reps run.
Swim with TPT

Tuesday - Long ride.
Yoga session.

Wednesday - Easy run.
Weights and core sessions.

Thursday - Track session.
Stretching session.

Friday - Easy run.
Yoga session.

Saturday - Rest day.

Sunday - Elgin 10k.

Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50.0 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 12 - March 16 to 22

Monday morning I started with a yoga session before my CV webinar. Then I went out to do my reps session. I changed to slightly longer reps this week, but still only did 6 of them, and at a more steady pace. Since I hadn't done too much damage I took a longer route back to get a couple of extra miles in. 

I went to the swim session with TPT but it had an option in it to do 2 or 3 sets. By the end of set two I was starting to cramp up so I called it a day. Leaves me slightly short of swim miles for the week, but I am still a mile ahead for the year. 

Tuesday I took my road bike out for a quick 10-mile loop around Dyce. I plan to repeat this loop regularly through the summer as a test. in hindsight I should have worn my heart rate monitor for future comparison. 

Wednesday we got Dexter for a holiday so I took him out for a steady run along the railway line. My legs were feeling pretty stiff from the last few days which have probably been a bit over the top in terms of volume and intensity. 

Thursday I had a longer ride planned with a friend who had holidays to use up. Her plan was to do 50 miles, so I took that as an opportunity to do an even longer ride and get a score in for Strava's March 100km challenge. We took it fairly easily and put in a half-hour cake stop so it took close to 5 hours for the 62 miles. I was struggling a bit by the end but I put that down to the distance, in hindsight it may have been that I was already carrying a bug.

By Thursday evening I was having trouble with a blocked nose and a headache and on Friday I woke up with a full-blown head cold. I did a quick stretching session and then went out for a jog around the block with Dexter during the eclipse. Didn't see much as it was too cloudy.

In the afternoon I went to see Insurgent.

Saturday I let common sense and my cold win over and had a rest day. I am way ahead of my mile targets for the week so I can afford to have a whole rest weekend if I don't feel any better tomorrow. 

Sunday I decided the cold still hadn't cleared enough to train over. The pissing rain may also have influenced that decision. I did take the opportunity to do almost all of the other missing sessions from earlier in the week though. 

Not a bad week altogether. Plenty of running and biking despite losing two days to a nasty cold.


Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50 miles. Run 13 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Monday - Yoga session
Reps session 5.7 miles in 48 mins.
Swim with TPT 1.2 miles (1,800m) in 48 mins.

Tuesday - Bike 10 miles in 35 mins.

Wednesday - Run 6.6 miles in 1 hour

Thursday - Gran Fondo 100km bike ride. 62.7 in 4 hours 51 (including 30 min cake stop).

Friday - Stretching session.
Jog around Dyce 3.3 miles in 31 mins.

Saturday - Rest day.

Sunday - Light weights session.
Core session.
Yoga session 45 mins.
Stretching session.

Actuals - Swim 1.2 miles (1,800m). Bike 72.7 miles. Run 15.6 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 70 mins of yoga.



Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 17.4 (16.4), B 679.3 (630.0), R 169.0 (165.1). 

Training Plan - Week 12 - March 16 to 22

Another different week this week. I have a couple of appointments to fit around early in the week as I do a work placement webinar and a meeting with a CV consultant. Also I have two long rides in and Dexter is coming for a holiday so that will mean a few steady runs but not as much speed. I want to up the distance of the runs a little. I have done a lot in the 5k / 30 minute range but not a lot in the 6 miles range. With my first race in Elgin next weekend over 10k I should be making sure I am going to be comfortable with the distance. 

Slightly heavy on the bike with 3 rides and potentially 100miles on this week. That is partly just how things have fallen with other people being available but there is also a slight intention as next week I only have one available bike day.


Monday - Reps run.
Swim with TPT

Tuesday - Fast ride (TT bike if weather suits).
Yoga session.

Wednesday - Easy run.
Weights and core sessions.

Thursday - Long ride.
Stretching session.

Friday - Steady run.
Yoga session.

Saturday - Long run.

Sunday - Long ride.

Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50.0 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 11 - March 9 to 15

Monday I has an appointment with a careers advisor in the morning but I did get home from that and out for an easy run before lunch. Easy might be the wrong word as the 30mph winds and hailstones made the outward leg very tough. Then in the evening I went to the TPT swim session. It was a fairly hard session, I am not a fan of hypoxic sets or breathing to my weak side.

Tuesday I slept in, then when I did get up I did the yoga session I had planned. I went to do my reps session after that. I jogged round to the start easily enough but then when I tried to up the effort to do a rep I realised there was nothing in the tank. 30 days straight and a week of double and triple sessions has definitely started to add up. I decided to just turn it into a gentle recovery run to try and ease my legs off a bit and save something for later in the week.

In the afternoon I serviced my road bike and gave the drivetrain the proper cleaning that I have been dodging while the weather has been dodgy. It is now spotless and rust free and should spin much more quietly than the grinding, crunching mess I finished last Sunday's ride on. 

Wednesday I did my stretching session and then I planned to take the TT bike out and chase a specific Strava Segment during an easy 20-mile ride. The wind started as stiff and ended as howling gale. Over the entire 20 miles I spent maybe 20-30 seconds down in my aero position. I did make an attempt on the segment, but after nearly dropping the bike in a crosswind I was well off the full-gas pace for a large section of it.

Thursday I started with my core session. Having missed my reps session earlier in the week I thought about trying to get in a fast run session but my legs felt a bit stiff and the plan said easy recovery run. So I decided to head out and see how the first mile went and then judge from there if I was going to go for my fast 5 miles or just coast around for 30 minutes to try and clear my legs out. 

I set off at a quick but sustainable pace and went through the first mile in 7:18 and decided to push on and chase the fast target. I pushed a bit too hard the next mile and put in a 6:47. Then I calmed down a bit and dropped back to my target pace for a 7:18, then into a headwind the clock started to drift as I could only manage a 7:33. I was so busy trying to do the maths in my head to ensure I got home under 7:20 average that I didn't realise I was back up to pace for 7:13 for the last mile and still feeling good. The last quarter mile I coasted in for a total of 37:50 for 5.24 miles. 7:14 average, well inside the 7:20 I had planned. This bodes well for Moray 10k, I am going to enter and on this form I should be able to at least chase close to my annual target of 44 mins. 

Then when I got home I went straight into my yoga session. I opted to try a new beginners session. It was simpler than the ones I have been doing recently but was a nice change of pace. 

Friday I started with a stretching and rollering session and then settled down for most of the day in front of my online training courses. Then late in the afternoon I went out for an easy bike ride.

Saturday I dragged myself out of bed early for a run-swim-run session. Then we went to watch the finish of the D33 ultra race. Unfortunately we only got to see the first few finishers before we had to leave to go to the cinema and even from those I missed getting a photo of the winner as we just arrived as he arrived just as we did, 20 minutes under the course record! Fortunately 1 and 2 were the people I most wanted to catch up with. 

Sunday was my usual bike ride with the Kintore group. A few of them had plans for the afternoon so they all came out for the short ride. This meant a change of pace from normal, and plenty of lumps thrown in. The weather started as -2 degrees and ended at 6 but felt more like 26 wrapped up in all my winter training gear and trying to climb hills. 

Crashed through all the weekly targets easily. Also have caught and passed all my annual targets despite my week off at the start of Feb for the flu. Having all the extra time free to train is making it relatively easy to get all the extra miles and wind up the pace at the same time. 

Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50 miles. Run 13 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Monday - Easy run 3.7 miles in 30 mins.
Swim 2,200m in 54 mins. 

Tuesday - Yoga session 25 mins.
Recovery run 4.1 miles in 36 mins. 

Wednesday - Stretching session.
TT bike 20.0 miles in 1 hr 25 mins.

Thursday - Core session.
Fast run 5.2 miles in 38 mins.
Yoga session 20 mins.

Friday - Stretching session.
Light weights session.
Bike 15.2 miles in 1 hr.

Saturday - Run to pool 2.5 miles in 25 mins.
Swim 1,000m in 25 mins.
Run home 2.4 miles in 24 mins.
Core session.
Yoga session 15 mins.

Sunday - Bike 42.2 miles in 2 hours 35mins.
Run 1.1 miles in 9 mins.

Actuals - Swim 2.0 miles (3,200 m). Bike 77.4 miles. Run 17.9 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 16.2 (15.0), B  606.6 (580.0), R 155.6 (152.1). 

Training Plan - Week 11 - March 9 to 15

So my first week out of work was a major change of training structure. Doing 2 or three sessions each day and a lot more of the yoga and other ancillary session was a big change. Getting my first session in early every day was strange but quickly became an easy to follow habit. 

This week I am going to stick with a similar plan to last week and then just pick up some spare miles as and when the weather suits. I am going to try and keep the daily stretching and yoga sessions. I will probably also try and put in a steady swim if I can fit it around my other commitments.

I have a couple of appointments early this week (and hopefully a couple of interviews later in the week) that are going to interfere with the structure but I am now ahead of schedule on all of the online courses I am doing so I can flex the time to fit everything in. 

The speed targets are back as well. I missed them last week by accident. So I want to put in a run of at least 5 miles in under a 7:20 average*. I am considering racing Moray 10k at the end of the month and I want to do a decent tester at a sensible pace beforehand. 

*I originally wrote  "at least 4 miles in under a 7:30 average" when I was planning on Friday evening and then went out for Saturday morning's run and went 7:23 / mile for over 4 miles feeling fairly comfortable. 


Monday - Easy run
Swim with TPT

Tuesday - Run reps
Stretching session

Wednesday - Fast ride (TT bike if weather suits)
Yoga session

Thursday - Short recovery run.
Steady swim.
Weights and core sessions

Friday - Fast ~5 miles at ~7:20 pace.
Yoga session

Saturday - Long run

Sunday - Long ride

Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50.0 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 10 - March 2 to 8

Monday's plan was to do an easy run and swim. But plans change. So I got up in the morning and did a 30 minute yoga set specifically designed for cyclists with back problems. I managed the bulk of it but did struggle with some of the more complex moves. Definitely still need more of this. Then I had a one-way ride home from Ellon before swimming. Massive headwind all the way but it was a good 20-ish miles in the bag. And just to round off my day I also did my normal swim session. 

Tuesday I decided to stick with just a double session. In the morning I did a mixed stretching and yoga session and then an evening run at Kirkhill. Nice and steady offroad 10k in about an hour. 

Wednesday I got up and did another yoga session. Then before lunch I went out for my reps session. The headwind this week was even worse than the last couple so I decided not to try and chase the times but to do 6 steady reps instead and then do another faster session later in the week. Then in the afternoon I went for my first visit to the 50m pool at the ASV Aquatics Centre. It turns out that while I do like open water where there are no turns, I am not such a big fan of long course where there are fewer turns. The lighting is great, the calm water and the wake diffusers between lanes are great, the space is great but for some reason it is just slow and heavy going. 

Thursday I did my core session and another stretching session. Then I took my TT bike out for a quick test ride for the first time this year. Felt pretty good despite couple of minor technical issues. 

Friday I got up, did my weights session, did a 30 minute yoga session (already seeing gains compared to the same session on Monday, went for an easy recovery run, and then had breakfast. I am really enjoying being able to train this way. I used to hate morning training but by turning it into such a habit that is no longer the case. For the rest of the morning I watched the European Indoor Athletics champs and planned bike routes for the next couple of weeks. Then in the afternoon I did some more of my online courses and we went out to the cinema to see Unfinished Business. 

Saturday I went out for a run around the block. My plan was to try and take a decent pace but steady run just as a bit of a gentle tester before I decide if I should enter Moray 10k or not. What it turned into was more of a 4-mile time trial. I am definitely in decent running shape. I am going to do another trial through the week to go a little bit further and closer to race pace, but I am fairly certain that I will be going to race.

Sunday I went out with the Kintore group and took the Lite group. A nice steady ride was the plan as always, and for the most part it was. Despite never really working at full gas I still managed to set new best times for a whole chunk of Strava segments again. I am definitely in my best climbing shape ever and my speed on the flat is there as well. A couple of the guys from the group have been trading Strava KOM ties on a nice flat section and I am going to see if I can fit that in somewhere next week to see how close I can get to them. 

Also at the end of the ride I went for a short run just to turn my legs over. I am going to try and keep that for coming off the end of every ride from now on. 

First full week of being unemployed and obviously enough the numbers are up. More importantly though has been the way that I have been motivated to get up and get sessions in the morning, and added a lot of the sessions that I have been skipping. The effect of the yoga and stretching every morning is already showing huge improvements in only a week. 

Also the effect of not spending 8 hours a day working has allowed me to completely alter my effort levels in sessions. Getting home from work tired and having to go and grind out a 4-mile run has been replaced with getting up in the morning, having a good stretch, then going out and enjoying taking my session more easily but still going faster while I am still fresh, and then often adding another session later in the day.

On my cumulative targets I have caught back up to my swim target but my run and bike are still slightly behind since I had the flu. I am closing that gap fairly quickly though, I could easily have passed both of them this week by doing an extra couple of miles of each through the week. They will both be back ahead of plan by this time next week.


Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 50.0 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.

Monday - Yoga 30 mins.
Bike Ellon-Dyce 19.8 miles in 1 hr 30 mins
Swim with TPT 2,100m in 55 mins.

Tuesday - Stretching session
Run at Kirkhill 6.3 miles in 61 mins. 

Wednesday - Yoga 26 mins. 
6 x Zara hill reps. 3.9 miles in 36 mins.
Swim at ASV 1,600m in 41 mins.

Thursday - Core session.
Stretching session.
TT bike 11.1 miles in 38 mins.

Friday - Weights session.
Yoga 30 mins. 
Recovery run 3.7 miles in 30 mins. 

Saturday - Stretching session
Run 4.1 miles in 31mins. 

Sunday - Kintore Sunday Lite ride - 42.4 miles in 2 hours 45
Short run of bike 1.1 miles in 9 mins.

Actuals - Swim 2.3 miles (3,700m). Bike 73.3 miles. Run 19.1 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 86 mins of yoga.



Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 14.2 (13.6), B 529.2 (530), R 137.7 (139.1). 

Training Review - Week 9 - Feb 23 to Mar 1

Monday was my normal swim session. The session was meant to be reps at 400m pace. But if that was the plan then my 400m target is going to go fairly easily. Was taking it fairly easy but was still managing to go 2-5 seconds per 100m inside my race pace from last year. 

Tuesday I wasn't feeling too hot after work and the wind was pretty savage so I just did a loop around Dyce, trying to keep to sheltered areas where I could.

Wednesday I finished at work at lunchtime. I was a bit upset after 4 and a half years, so I decided to take my mind of it by getting straight on the bike. I rolled out to Kemnay into a headwind. Then came home and gave the bike the serious wash it was overdue for. It also needs a full service, which I will hopefully manage before the weekend. Despite feeling quite good on the ride I have decided not to race Aboyne on Sunday. 

Thursday I had a lie in. Being unemployed is not all bad. 

I did my yoga session before breakfast. I have clearly missed way too many of these recently, my current flexibility is terrible. Then I jogged to the pool and did a long steady swim. The swim wasn't in my plan for this week and the run should really have been a reps session but I have the extra time to start adapting my programme.

Friday I went out in the morning to do my reps session. The headwind was about the same as last week. I knew by the time I had jogged down for my warm-up that I wasn't going to manage 8 full gas reps, so I convinced myself that the target I had written didn't quite call for that. It said 8 reps and with 2 of them under 5:55 / mile. So I decided to rework it into medium pace hill reps and sprint hill reps alternating so that I could fulfill all the targets. I did manage to make the numbers I had planned, but I do feel I cheated my way to them by taking half the reps fairly easily. This will be reflected in next weeks targets. 

Saturday I decided to try out the Kenyan Progression session that everyone seems so keen on. It is hard to do a fair version of it with the lumps and bumps around here. Anyway, the plan was to run 4 miles in 8:30, 8:10, 7:50, 7:30. That went horribly wrong as I instead went 8:00, 7:01, then started to suffer decide to ease off to get the distance and came back in 7:40, 7:55. Interstingly the GAP (Grade Assisted Pace) on Strava which takes out the effect of hills, shows that my first mile was 8:19 equivalent so I actually wasn't too far off what I planned at that point, just that I got carried away trying to take steps from there. Will try it again next week. Bonus point is that this run averaged under 8min/mile so I got both of my "or" run speed targets this week. 

Sunday I went for my long ride with the Kintore group. Plan was originally an easy 40 but we changed routes at the last minute and went for a hilly 46 instead. There was a bit of a wind, but the sun was out and despite nearly 3,000ft of climbing it was a great day out. I am definitely climbing a lot better this year than previously. Not sure how that will translate onto the TT bike but I am guessing the higher power outputs and heart rates I am now managing to hold 'comfortably' for 15-20 minutes of hard climbing will translate to high power for 15-20min of time trialling.

I have now done 16 days straight since having the flu. I should be worried about the lack of rest days, but the combination of not being at work, and taking some sessions as lazy recovery days I still seem to be coping. I am also managing to nibble away at the losses from having the flu without doing any damage to my larger plan. 



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 1.4 miles in 55 mins. 

Tuesday - Jog 4.2 miles in 43 mins.

Wednesday - Ride to Kemnay 14.6 miles in 55 mins.

Thursday - Yoga 20 mins.
Run to Bucksburn 3.2 miles in 31 mins.
Swim at Bucksburn 1.0 miles in 29 mins.

Friday - Run 4.2 miles in 42 mins.
Zara hill reps x 8, 44-66secs.
Stretching session.

Saturday - Kenyan Progression run 4 miles in 31mins.
Core session.
Light weights session.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday Lite 46 miles in 3 hrs 10 mins.

Actuals - Swim 2.3 miles (3,750m). Bike 60.6 miles. Run 14.6 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 20 mins of yoga.



Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 11.9 (12.2) , B  455.9 (480.0), R 118.6 (126.1). 

Training Plan - Week 10 - March 2 to 8

So this is a complicated week to plan for. I have all the time to play with, so I could do some huge numbers, but then I have a plan which is structured for the season and is mostly small numbers (including a drop to 13 run miles per week in March). But with all this free time there is a sensible option to restructure my entire season and go after a better Half Ironman performance. If I was to do a Half, I would go for Aberfeldy in August so I have plenty of time to decide if I want to change and I need to try and leave both options available at this point. All of which complication just makes this weeks plan a bit of a nightmare. 

So I have left the target numbers at the bottom of the page as per the plan, but then I have actually structured the week so that I can hammer them, or I can do a significant pace change. I have tried to do it so that I can add the extra sessions in ways that will complement this phase of my season. If I am going to shift to a late season Half I should still be doing long (and longer) miles for another few months. If I decide to stick with the original plan to stay with sprints and standards, I should be transitioning from base fitness to faster sessions.

So for this week I have put in more faster sessions, so I get both a bigger total and some faster work in. And if the weather holds then I will try to get the TT bike out for a spin as well. 


Monday - Easy run
Swim with TPT

Tuesday - Run reps
Stretching session

Wednesday - Fast ride (TT bike if weather suits)
Stretching session

Thursday - Short run.
Steady swim.
Weights and core sessions

Friday - Rest day
Yoga session

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.