Monday, 27 April 2015
Training Plan - Week 18 - April 27 to May 3
Another slightly unusual week as I try to pack things into an increasingly hectic schedule despite still not having a job. Monday and Tuesday are filled up with interviews and outplacement meetings and Sunday I have volunteered to crew the Deeside Duathlon for a couple of friends.
On the flip side, this is also the first week of the new Kintore Midweek sessions. These are going to be organised by the same guys as the Kintore Sunday rides that I go on but are more structured cycling training sessions rather than just brute mileage. As well as the change to smarter training it should also give me a proper chance to see how fast the pure cyclists can go, and how long I can stay with them.
Also into the new month and the swim miles go up from 1.4 to 1.8. This does mean that I need to be on two swims a week. The plan was built around being in Knockburn around now, but that was always ambitious, it needs a couple of weeks to warm up before I am going to be brave enough. That fits with my need to get in some faster swim work though as it gives me at least a couple of weeks of double pool sessions.
Monday - Easy run.
Swim with TPT.
Tuesday - Short ride, TT bike if weather suits.
Yoga session.
Wednesday - Longer run.
Weights and core sessions.
Thursday - Steady swim.
Kintore midweek.
Stretching session.
Friday - Reps run.
Yoga session.
Saturday - Long run.
Yoga session and Stretching session.
Sunday - Crew for Deeside Duathlon.
Target totals - Swim 1.8 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Training Review - Week 17 - April 20 to 26
Monday I was feeling surprisingly good after racing. So I got straight into the week with a short yoga session and an easy run. Then swimming session in the evening was pretty tough. Lots of single arm and pull buoy work.
Tuesday I had an interview in the morning. In the afternoon I went out on the bike for an easy 20 mile spin. Turned out not to be quite that easy as there was another heavy headwind on the way out. Garmin seems to have lost the data track but my back up app has it as 1 hr 16mins. Would have liked to see the breakdown of the segments against the wind though.
In the evening I went to Kirkhill with a couple of people for an easy run. Neither session was particularly tough, and both were nice sunny sessions that have added nicely to my developing cyclists tan lines.
Wednesday I had another call about a job. It looks increasingly likely that I will be back in work within the next month or two. I should be really pleased about that but I am actually really enjoying the freedom of time despite the restrictions of money.
I did a short run and some stretching. Then washed the car and did a bit of work on my tan. Some tightness from racing at the weekend and then going straight into two days of double sessions. I did squeeze in a very short, very light, arms-only weights session in the evening.
Thursday was a busy day with a trip into town in the morning, and then back into town for dinner and the new Avengers movie at night. Left me scrambling a bit for times to fit something in. I did manage to get up earlier in the morning and do a quick yoga session but in the afternoon I was exhausted and chose to have a nap instead of squeezing something in. I am already well ahead of my plans for the week and with 3 days left and a longer ride planned for Sunday I can easily afford a rest day.
Friday I slept in and then did a lazy loop around Dyce just to wake myself up and try and get my legs moving. Felt really lethargic all day, and reminded myself that I really need to avoid sleeping late just because I don't have to get up for work, otherwise I feel crap all day. In the evening I was having problems with my hamstrings so I did a bit more stretching to try and ease them off.
Saturday I dragged myself out of bed early and went to the pool. Did 3 x 400m reps all under 7mins. I should be pleased at the consistency and at the relatively good pace for all three reps, but I really need to be going faster if I want to get near my 6 minute 400m target for this year. A few weeks till Knockburn opens and I have plenty of endurance but no top-end pace. And swimming long sessions outdoors is just going to make that worse. I need to try and focus on some faster sessions for the next few weeks.
Sunday I went out with a couple of the Kintore Sunday group for a 43 mile loop. Because the group was so small there was a lot less group work, which was actually a good thing as it gave me a chance to work pretty hard as a solo without being out all day on my own. The weather wasn't great compared to the last few weeks, even got hailstones coming back over the Learney. The legs are good though. The first 28 miles are littered with Strava PR's including another chunk off the Learney.
In the evening I did my remaining yoga for the week.
Another great week. Way over targets for everything except my core sessions and in truth I get some of that from the yoga sessions.
And cumulative numbers continue to be meaningless, other than to show that I am now so far ahead of my plan that it is getting silly to even consider them.
Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 35 miles. Run 13 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Monday - Yoga session 15mins.
Easy run 4 miles in 33mins.
Swim with TPT 1.3 miles (2,100m) in 55 mins.
Tuesday - Easy ride 20 miles in 1 hr 15 mins.
Easy run 5.5 miles in 56mins.
Wednesday - 3.5 miles in 29 mins.
Stretching session.
Weights session.
Thursday - Yoga session 20 mins.
Friday - Core session.
Easy run 4.5 miles in 39 mins.
Stretching session.
Saturday - Swim 1,200m in 30 mins. (3 x 400m, 7mins each).
Sunday - Kintore ride 43.3 miles in 2 hrs 51 mins.
Yoga 27 mins.
Actuals - Swim 2.1 miles (3,300m). Bike 63.3 miles. Run 17.5 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 62 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 25.8 (23.4), B 926.2 (824.3), R 273.4 (230.1).
Tuesday I had an interview in the morning. In the afternoon I went out on the bike for an easy 20 mile spin. Turned out not to be quite that easy as there was another heavy headwind on the way out. Garmin seems to have lost the data track but my back up app has it as 1 hr 16mins. Would have liked to see the breakdown of the segments against the wind though.
In the evening I went to Kirkhill with a couple of people for an easy run. Neither session was particularly tough, and both were nice sunny sessions that have added nicely to my developing cyclists tan lines.
Wednesday I had another call about a job. It looks increasingly likely that I will be back in work within the next month or two. I should be really pleased about that but I am actually really enjoying the freedom of time despite the restrictions of money.
I did a short run and some stretching. Then washed the car and did a bit of work on my tan. Some tightness from racing at the weekend and then going straight into two days of double sessions. I did squeeze in a very short, very light, arms-only weights session in the evening.
Thursday was a busy day with a trip into town in the morning, and then back into town for dinner and the new Avengers movie at night. Left me scrambling a bit for times to fit something in. I did manage to get up earlier in the morning and do a quick yoga session but in the afternoon I was exhausted and chose to have a nap instead of squeezing something in. I am already well ahead of my plans for the week and with 3 days left and a longer ride planned for Sunday I can easily afford a rest day.
Friday I slept in and then did a lazy loop around Dyce just to wake myself up and try and get my legs moving. Felt really lethargic all day, and reminded myself that I really need to avoid sleeping late just because I don't have to get up for work, otherwise I feel crap all day. In the evening I was having problems with my hamstrings so I did a bit more stretching to try and ease them off.
Saturday I dragged myself out of bed early and went to the pool. Did 3 x 400m reps all under 7mins. I should be pleased at the consistency and at the relatively good pace for all three reps, but I really need to be going faster if I want to get near my 6 minute 400m target for this year. A few weeks till Knockburn opens and I have plenty of endurance but no top-end pace. And swimming long sessions outdoors is just going to make that worse. I need to try and focus on some faster sessions for the next few weeks.
Sunday I went out with a couple of the Kintore Sunday group for a 43 mile loop. Because the group was so small there was a lot less group work, which was actually a good thing as it gave me a chance to work pretty hard as a solo without being out all day on my own. The weather wasn't great compared to the last few weeks, even got hailstones coming back over the Learney. The legs are good though. The first 28 miles are littered with Strava PR's including another chunk off the Learney.
In the evening I did my remaining yoga for the week.
Another great week. Way over targets for everything except my core sessions and in truth I get some of that from the yoga sessions.
And cumulative numbers continue to be meaningless, other than to show that I am now so far ahead of my plan that it is getting silly to even consider them.
Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 35 miles. Run 13 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Monday - Yoga session 15mins.
Easy run 4 miles in 33mins.
Swim with TPT 1.3 miles (2,100m) in 55 mins.
Tuesday - Easy ride 20 miles in 1 hr 15 mins.
Easy run 5.5 miles in 56mins.
Wednesday - 3.5 miles in 29 mins.
Stretching session.
Weights session.
Friday - Core session.
Easy run 4.5 miles in 39 mins.
Stretching session.
Saturday - Swim 1,200m in 30 mins. (3 x 400m, 7mins each).
Sunday - Kintore ride 43.3 miles in 2 hrs 51 mins.
Yoga 27 mins.
Actuals - Swim 2.1 miles (3,300m). Bike 63.3 miles. Run 17.5 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 62 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 25.8 (23.4), B 926.2 (824.3), R 273.4 (230.1).
Monday, 20 April 2015
Training Plan - Week 17 - Apr 20 to 26
Surprisingly busy this week, despite not having a new job yet. Monday I have a job search webinar. Tuesday I have another interview, and I start a new online course. Wednesday is an online chat session for the online course that I complete this week. Thursday is the new Avengers movie.
I am still planning another overfull week though. Assuming my hamstring has survived Turriff Triathlon. The targets are still based on my original s-curved plan for the year, so I expect them to be fairly meaningless again this week. If my hamstring is a problem then I may change to a virtual rest week and then load my entire mileage into the weekend if it recovers by then.
Monday - Easy run.
Swim with TPT.
Tuesday - Short ride, TT bike if weather suits.
Yoga session.
Wednesday - Longer run.
Weights and core sessions.
Thursday - Longer ride.
Stretching session.
Friday - Reps run.
Yoga session.
Saturday - Long run.
Yoga session and Stretching session.
Sunday - Long ride.
Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Training Review - Week 16 - April 13 to 19
Monday I started with an easy yoga session in the morning. Then I had to go and sign-on in the morning. I took the train in to town and jogged home. Felt like a steady effort but the clock was all over the place. On the Grade-Assisted-Pace on Strava though it looks much more sensible, so the variations were more about the hills and the traffic crossings than about my legs.
The Monday night swim session was our annual T-20 test. Basically a 20-minute time trial. In the last two years I have covered 1,125m and 1,150m. This year I expected to go 1,200m. The first 300m was pretty quick, the next 150m was ok, but with a couple of untidy order changes as the 5 of us were all too similarly paced, then from there it seems we all decided it was easier just to sit in the train and work at 90% rather than keep reshuffling the order. This effectively meant I was going 2 seconds a length slower than I really wanted to. So I am not too disappointed about the distance, I had it in me to go further. I am disappointed about how quickly I had to get rid of the tumble turns. Under stress I really can't cope with the technical and the pace. However, the pace was barely quicker than Saturdays swim reps and that was all turns. Smoother with tumbles is faster than flat out with touches.
Tuesday I lost track of the day as I went into town for an appointment in the morning and then stayed to watch Fast and Furious 7. Then I got sidetracked by some DIY. By the time I go out for training the weather and traffic weren't going to suit for biking so I decidede to put in the reps session I had rescheduled from Monday. Went to the park and did 3 x 1k reps, each in just under 4 minutes with 2 minute recovery.
Wednesday I started by looking out the window and deciding I didn't want to ride on the wet roads. So I started with weights, core and stretching sessions while I waited for the roads to dry out. Then I went out for a couple of hours on the bike. The first hour I only covered 11.5 miles heading out into the wind and uphill. Then despite going over Kirkhill on the way back I did 16.2 miles in the second hour.
Later in the afternoon I went out for a run with a couple of my training partners as well. Was fairly slow but that was necessary as my left hamstring is starting to give me some problems.
Thursday I charged the battery on the Di2 shifts for the TT bike and then took it out for a quick test ride for Sunday. Hamstring is 'ok' when it is warm, maybe 90% before it really starts to scream at me to ease off. Another couple of easy days and some stretching and I should be ok to race on Sunday.
Friday I decided to warm up my hamstring with an easy jog and then try a yoga session to ease it off. The jog was sore on downhills but not on climbs which suggest that the hamstring is just tight rather than damaged, causing it to be painful when extended. Also through the 30 minute yoga set I didn't feel it at all.
Saturday I played it safe with a total rest day. I did some very light stretching in the morning to try and ease my hamstring without risking further damage before Sunday's race. Seemed to help at the time but didn't last all day. Will need to do something more tomorrow.
Sunday's Turriff Triathlon will get a report of its own.
Cumulative targets were a bit meaningless this week as I was ahead of them before the week even started. Weekly targets are also fairly meaningless as long as I am out of work and they were all but done by Thursday lunchtime.
Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Monday - Yoga session 30 mins.
Run from town, 7.3 miles in 62 mins.
Swim with TPT 17,50m in 57 mins. (Inc T20 - 1,150m).
Tuesday - Reps run 3x1km in 4mins, 2mins. Run 3.5 miles in 30 mins.
Wednesday - Weights session.
Core session.
Stretching session.
Bike 27.7 miles in 2 hours.
Run 5.2 miles in 46 mins.
Friday - Easy jog 3.6 miles in 32 mins.
Yoga 30 mins.
Saturday - Rest day.
Stretching session.
Sunday - Stretching session.
Turriff Triathlon
Swim 760m in 13:02
Bike 12.6 miles in 39:59
Run 3.0 miles in 20:19
Actuals - Swim 1.6 miles (2,550m). Bike 50.5 miles. Run 22.6 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 3 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 23.7 (22.0) , B 852.2 (789.3), R 256.8 (217.1).
Sunday, 19 April 2015
Race Report - Turriff Triathlon
Here is my race preview.
Here is a link to the results if you don't want to read all my waffling.
Turriff is something of a strange race. As the first local triathlon of the year and with a novice distance available it attracts a disproportionate number of first timers but also it serves as a good tester for early season form so some of the big guns of the local scene also (normally) turn out.
Being so early in the season it is always untidy as people have 6 months of swimming since their last race and find it difficult to predict their swim performance accurately. This means that right from the off there is a bit of a mess as people with disparate times get laned together or set up in slightly the wrong order.
Also it is at a strange time of the year and very early in the season which means the weather can do all sorts of things. Even on the best of days the North-East of Scotland is going to be a cold place to be trying to bike in a wet tri-suit. On worse days it has been changed into an aquathon due to wind or wet conditions.
Then the layout of course is strange as the transition area is quite a long way from the pool. This means there is effectively a double transition arrangement as some people lay out their gear next to the pool and run the 300m in their bike gear, whilst others run in their swim gear (and bare feet) and make all their changes at the bike.
Anyway, that is a lot of excuses for why things might not go smoothly at Turriff. Here is what actually happened.
I got up in the morning and did a short stretching session. This was mainly targetted at easing off hte hamstring that has been bugging me all week. Was very successful. Didn't have any problems for the rest of the day.
I had to change from my normal fuelling plans as I didn't buy butteries this week. Also I expected to be in a later heat with an almost lunchtime start so I needed to allow for that. So I had a bigger breakfast than normal with a bowl of cereal a couple of bagels and some tea.
I had pre-packed the car and checked everything twice the night before so I had no last minute equipment panics. Knowing it is a race with a lot of triathlon virgins I had also packed double of a lot of things just in case anyone needed to borrow things. I considered packing a second bike in case it was too windy for the TT bike to be useful, but I am just about confident enough in my bike handling to feel that if it was going to be too dodgy for me to handle then the bike leg would be cancelled anyway.
I arrived, registered, set up transition, listened to the briefing and then went back to the car for a nap.
The swim was 'ok'. I didn't start fast enough so I couldn't get on to the feet of the one man in front and the two guys behind me passed after about 100m, and then they moved away so I didn't get a huge benefit from drafting them either. I also had to get rid of my tumble turns at about this point. I just can't seem to keep them tidy enough when I am working at full pace. Gives me something to work on.
At about the 500m point the three of them all lapped me. This time they were going much slower so I was easily able to get on the back of the chain and got towed to 720m and then was able to push the last two lengths in clean water. Out of the pool in 13:02. slightly faster than last year but still behind the 12:40 I thought I would do. I am going to blame the short course pool for the slow time. Longer pool and less turns should have kept me on the chain longer first time round and less chance of the lapping.
Out into T1 and I tried a new trick. Turriff is a long distance transition so I made a lot of changes on the move with glasses, race belt, gloves on and goggles, hat, earplugs off while I jogged down to the bike leaving me with just helmet and socks / shoes to add when I arrived.
Unfortunate side-effect of the subsequently smooth transition was that I forgot to press garmin on the way out so I missed the first mile on the bike as garmin thought I was still in T1. This has made it difficult to reconstruct a comparison to last year. I felt pretty good and I passed a few people on the first climb. It looks from the garmin sections that I do have that I went out to the top of the hill about 4 minutes faster than last year. Then came back slightly slower. The wind accounts for the return difference and maybe 30 seconds of the outgoing gains. Still I cycled under 40 minutes (39:59) and that brought me into T2 way ahead of plan. And despite my preview note that finding 3 minutes on the bike was 'a big ask' it turns out I really am cycling that well that I made all of that and more.
T2 was very slick. I accidentally parked my bike on top of my running shoes which cost me a couple of seconds. Apart from that it was as smooth as I could hope for.
On to the run and I knew the people I wanted to chase were well ahead. The bike route comes in along the run course and I could see they were well up the road even before I got in to transition. There were a couple of catchable targets though and my legs felt pretty good. I chased as hard as I could to close the gaps on the faster people and to pick off a couple of the weaker runners. As I reached the turn I had a look at the watch and started trying to do the maths for how fast I had to run back to get my 1hr 18 target and realised that I was actually on schedule to run close to 1hr 16. There was no one else left to chase but I kept working through to the end, remembering that people from other heats might be going faster*. I felt surprisingly smooth on the run and went nearly a minute faster than last year.
Targets for this race were to beat each of last years sector times and to go under 1hr 18.
Actuals were all faster (10 secs, 3mins 15, 56 secs) and total time was 1hr 16:08.
That would have put me in contention with the people I want to be racing on their 2014 performances. They went faster this year though and I ended up still a couple of minutes behind them. I am still very happy with how I raced.
15th Overall. 8th Senior Male.
*Some dodgy looking swim times from one of the earlier heats means two of them did move ahead of me on the standings.
Here is a link to the results if you don't want to read all my waffling.
Turriff is something of a strange race. As the first local triathlon of the year and with a novice distance available it attracts a disproportionate number of first timers but also it serves as a good tester for early season form so some of the big guns of the local scene also (normally) turn out.
Being so early in the season it is always untidy as people have 6 months of swimming since their last race and find it difficult to predict their swim performance accurately. This means that right from the off there is a bit of a mess as people with disparate times get laned together or set up in slightly the wrong order.
Also it is at a strange time of the year and very early in the season which means the weather can do all sorts of things. Even on the best of days the North-East of Scotland is going to be a cold place to be trying to bike in a wet tri-suit. On worse days it has been changed into an aquathon due to wind or wet conditions.
Then the layout of course is strange as the transition area is quite a long way from the pool. This means there is effectively a double transition arrangement as some people lay out their gear next to the pool and run the 300m in their bike gear, whilst others run in their swim gear (and bare feet) and make all their changes at the bike.
Anyway, that is a lot of excuses for why things might not go smoothly at Turriff. Here is what actually happened.
I got up in the morning and did a short stretching session. This was mainly targetted at easing off hte hamstring that has been bugging me all week. Was very successful. Didn't have any problems for the rest of the day.
I had to change from my normal fuelling plans as I didn't buy butteries this week. Also I expected to be in a later heat with an almost lunchtime start so I needed to allow for that. So I had a bigger breakfast than normal with a bowl of cereal a couple of bagels and some tea.
I had pre-packed the car and checked everything twice the night before so I had no last minute equipment panics. Knowing it is a race with a lot of triathlon virgins I had also packed double of a lot of things just in case anyone needed to borrow things. I considered packing a second bike in case it was too windy for the TT bike to be useful, but I am just about confident enough in my bike handling to feel that if it was going to be too dodgy for me to handle then the bike leg would be cancelled anyway.
I arrived, registered, set up transition, listened to the briefing and then went back to the car for a nap.
The swim was 'ok'. I didn't start fast enough so I couldn't get on to the feet of the one man in front and the two guys behind me passed after about 100m, and then they moved away so I didn't get a huge benefit from drafting them either. I also had to get rid of my tumble turns at about this point. I just can't seem to keep them tidy enough when I am working at full pace. Gives me something to work on.
At about the 500m point the three of them all lapped me. This time they were going much slower so I was easily able to get on the back of the chain and got towed to 720m and then was able to push the last two lengths in clean water. Out of the pool in 13:02. slightly faster than last year but still behind the 12:40 I thought I would do. I am going to blame the short course pool for the slow time. Longer pool and less turns should have kept me on the chain longer first time round and less chance of the lapping.
Out into T1 and I tried a new trick. Turriff is a long distance transition so I made a lot of changes on the move with glasses, race belt, gloves on and goggles, hat, earplugs off while I jogged down to the bike leaving me with just helmet and socks / shoes to add when I arrived.
Unfortunate side-effect of the subsequently smooth transition was that I forgot to press garmin on the way out so I missed the first mile on the bike as garmin thought I was still in T1. This has made it difficult to reconstruct a comparison to last year. I felt pretty good and I passed a few people on the first climb. It looks from the garmin sections that I do have that I went out to the top of the hill about 4 minutes faster than last year. Then came back slightly slower. The wind accounts for the return difference and maybe 30 seconds of the outgoing gains. Still I cycled under 40 minutes (39:59) and that brought me into T2 way ahead of plan. And despite my preview note that finding 3 minutes on the bike was 'a big ask' it turns out I really am cycling that well that I made all of that and more.
T2 was very slick. I accidentally parked my bike on top of my running shoes which cost me a couple of seconds. Apart from that it was as smooth as I could hope for.
On to the run and I knew the people I wanted to chase were well ahead. The bike route comes in along the run course and I could see they were well up the road even before I got in to transition. There were a couple of catchable targets though and my legs felt pretty good. I chased as hard as I could to close the gaps on the faster people and to pick off a couple of the weaker runners. As I reached the turn I had a look at the watch and started trying to do the maths for how fast I had to run back to get my 1hr 18 target and realised that I was actually on schedule to run close to 1hr 16. There was no one else left to chase but I kept working through to the end, remembering that people from other heats might be going faster*. I felt surprisingly smooth on the run and went nearly a minute faster than last year.
Targets for this race were to beat each of last years sector times and to go under 1hr 18.
Actuals were all faster (10 secs, 3mins 15, 56 secs) and total time was 1hr 16:08.
That would have put me in contention with the people I want to be racing on their 2014 performances. They went faster this year though and I ended up still a couple of minutes behind them. I am still very happy with how I raced.
15th Overall. 8th Senior Male.
*Some dodgy looking swim times from one of the earlier heats means two of them did move ahead of me on the standings.
Thursday, 16 April 2015
Race Preview - Turriff Triathlon
Here is my race preview for the 2014 race.
My times for the 2014 race were:
Swim 760m in 13:12
Bike 12.6 miles in 43:14
Run 3.0 miles in 21:12
Here is my race report for the 2014 race.
All in all I had a pretty good race last year. But with the new bike and the good weather that was really to be expected. Obviously with the way training has been going this year and the last 7 weeks of full-time training I expect to go faster again. I would love to go about 4 minutes faster, which would put me in amongst last years times for the people I want to be beating. That might be ambitious as I would have to do almost all of that on the bike leg.
I can maybe make 30 seconds or so in the water, maybe not as Turriff is a funny short pool with handrails that are going to make my turns risky. Maybe a minute on the run, I am running better so that is maybe possible. That leaves me looking for nearly 3 on the bike. I am biking well, but 7% better than a day with already nice weather is a big ask.
So for target setting I am going to play it a little bit safe and aim at beating last years times for everything. And a target to total under 1 hour 18. That is half way from last year to where I really want to be.
Monday, 13 April 2015
Training Plan - Week 16 - April 13 to 19
First triathlon race of the year comes this weekend at Turriff, so planning a slack Saturday. In a normal year that would mean a light week but this year I have daytimes all week to adapt everything else to suit so I can cover a lot more earlier in the week.
I am going to try and squeeze in everything to the first half of the week and then I can adapt my taper from the plan depending on how I feel.
Monday - Reps run.
Swim with TPT.
Tuesday - Short ride, TT bike if weather suits.
Yoga session.
Wednesday - Longer run.
Weights and core sessions.
Thursday - Longer ride.
Stretching session.
Friday - Easy run.
Yoga session.
Saturday - Rest day.
Yoga session and Stretching session.
Sunday - Turriff Sprint Triathlon.
Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
I am going to try and squeeze in everything to the first half of the week and then I can adapt my taper from the plan depending on how I feel.
Monday - Reps run.
Swim with TPT.
Tuesday - Short ride, TT bike if weather suits.
Yoga session.
Wednesday - Longer run.
Weights and core sessions.
Thursday - Longer ride.
Stretching session.
Friday - Easy run.
Yoga session.
Saturday - Rest day.
Yoga session and Stretching session.
Sunday - Turriff Sprint Triathlon.
Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Training Review - Week 15 - April 6 to 12
Monday I started with an easy recovery run in the morning to try and ease my legs off after racing on Sunday.
Then in the evening I went to swimming. This week's swim set had a lot of kicking and flippers. Not really what I want the day after racing, so I stayed down in lane 3 and took it as steadily as I could to try and survive the session. Even at that I had to cut a couple of the reps out.
I also had a change of plan for the rest of the week to fit with other people. I could have just reshuffled sessions to fit around them but instead I have decided to double up for a couple of days. On top of this I have online training courses and cinema plans that are going to keep me busy all week. Not sure when I would have time to fit in a job!
Tuesday I went for a short bike in the morning, mostly just to spin my legs out. Had some problems with the drivetrain on my road bike so I had to spend a chunk of the afternoon trying to fix it. I found a couple of small problems that I improved slightly, but I don't think either of them was causing the problems and it is entirely possible I have made them worse.
In the afternoon I also took an unplanned extra run to fit around someone else's training plan, and then in the evening went to see John Wick.
Wednesday I did a 30 minute yoga session to start with. I struggled a bit with some of the moves that I was managing last week. Then I went round to the park for a running reps session. First time I have done a proper reps session in the park, 4 x 600m reps starting ever 4 minutes. This was enough to remind me why I was never an 800m runner.
In the afternoon I went out on the bike to find around someone else's training plan again. Did a fairly steady 34 miles. Was colder than I have been getting used to this week. Shorts were maybe a little ambitious as the sun was going down it was getting a little chilly.
Thursday I had a trip into town and then a busy day of chores. I planned a run in the evening and managed to tie that in with someone else's run so I had some company. Another good example of what good shape I am in, a few months ago that would have been a decent run. Now it is an easy social jog with plenty of chatting in a week where I have done at least double sessions for each of the previous 5 days.
Friday - Weight session, Tabletop, breakfast, yoga, core, waterjet decking, tea break, study, waterjet slabs, shower, lunch, job search, Macgyver, easy run, shower, Pointless, dinner, crash on sofa.
Saturday I got up and went to the pool. I had thought about doing a 20-min test but garmin wasn't behaving and I don't trust myself to count accurately so instead I shifted to doing a rep session. I did 5 x 250m at my 1500m race pace. Lots of good turns as well.
Sunday I went for the Kintore ride but into a headwind and a lot colder than I dressed for so we cut back slightly short. Still covered double the miles I had planned to bike this week.
Another good week all considered. Way over miles on all three sports and solid at the rest. So far ahead of training that I am now about 10% ahead. And outside training things are going well. Got a lot of DIY and gardening done this week, passed one of my online courses and started another two, lined up a job interview…lots of good things happening.
Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Monday - Run 3.8 miles in 32 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,050m in 55 mins.
Tuesday - Bike 10.0 miles in 44 mins.
Run 3.2 miles in 28 mins.
Wednesday - Yoga 30mins.
Run reps 4 x 600m on 4 mins. Total 3.4 miles in 31 mins.
Bike 34.1 miles in 2 hours 25 mins.
Thursday - Run 5.7 miles in 53 mins.Swim with TPT 2,050m in 55 mins.
Tuesday - Bike 10.0 miles in 44 mins.
Run 3.2 miles in 28 mins.
Wednesday - Yoga 30mins.
Run reps 4 x 600m on 4 mins. Total 3.4 miles in 31 mins.
Bike 34.1 miles in 2 hours 25 mins.
Friday - Weights session.
Yoga 10 mins.
Core session.
Run 4.5 miles in 39 mins.
Saturday - Swim 5 x 250m.
Sunday - Bike 27.4 miles in 2 hours.
Actuals - Swim 2.0 miles (3,300 m). Bike 71.5 miles. Run 20.6 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 40 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 22.1 (20.6), B 811.9 (754.3), R 233.2 (204.1).
Tuesday, 7 April 2015
Race Report - Knockburn Duathlon
Update: Full race results are now: here.
I couldn't decide if I really wanted to do this race or not. Even on the morning of the race I thought twice about just going out for a steady pedal instead. I finally convinced myself that I would go to the race, not push it but work on my TT position on the bike, and practice my transitions.
I tested the bike and my planned race outfit on Friday, in 7 degrees and a stiff breeze. As I left the house it was cold enough that I went back in for my arm warmers, fleece hat and gloves. But when I arrived at Knockburn it was 15 degrees and still. I had to strip off pretty much everything I was wearing and even in just my tri-suit I was too warm. I had to dig around in the car to see if I could find some suntan cream as well. Judging by some of the burn marks I didn't do a very good job of putting it on.
I didn't warm-up
I started off steady, didn't even try to get in the fast group. Still managed to go through the first mile much too fast. I was around the right people. A couple of my clubmates have recently raced 10k races and I had them to compare to and I was in about the right place. Especially given that I have trained heavily enough through the week. The new route wasn't comparable to previous years as the course had to detour majorly to avoid the ongoing works on the site. It is about 500m longer than previous races, but I came in to T1 in about the same time. As I came in I heard the crowd cheering the first lady just behind me.
20:51 for Run, 2.9 miles.
I flew through T1. Taking 3 places just for being organised and making a quick change.
The bike starts with a climb. It is fairly tough to get into the bike and I just ignored the couple of people that passed me in the first mile. The first lady passed me, but not the same one that had been behind me on the run. After the hill though the course is very different. It is fast but twisty, a bit of a rough surface in parts. There are two tight left handers where I had to almost dead stop the TT bike due to the bad surface but on most of the flat and downhill sections I was flying. I was passing cyclists that in previous years would have been making big chunks of time on me. Even on the climbs I wasn't losing a lot of ground, despite the TT bike being hard to climb on. I was yoyo-ing a bit with the first lady and a couple of men. They would climb or corner away from me but then I would make it back on the faster sections. I am really happy with how I rode. 4 minutes faster than I have previously gone for this course. That is pretty much 30 seconds every mile.
30:22 for Bike, 9.1 miles.
I really flew through T2. I was stood on my shoes well before the stop line and my dismount was smooth. The bike went straight on the rack and the run shoes went back on first time, no issues. I dropped the first lady at this point. Taking another three places as I shot out of T2, so fast that I actually forgot to take my helmet off.
I know there is a potential penalty for discarding your helmet outside transition so I didn't just toss it aside. I left it on, since it was comfortable enough (I hadn't bothered with the aero helmet since I wasn't really racing). The heat made me change that plan though. It was still getting warmer and back on the run it was getting too hot so I took it off and carried it for a while. Eventually with the last mile to go I decided it was so annoying that I would risk the penalty and I laid it down (carefully, no need to guarantee a penalty) next to one of the marshals. Then I got back on the run. I was struggling a bit on the second run but I think it was more because I had done too much through the week and pushed hard on the bike. I was a minute slower for the second run.
21:49 for Run, 2.9 miles.
I am really happy with this race. I am clearly biking even better than I had expected. On tired legs I still ran fairly well. The run is where I am going to have to make some gains if I want to be seriously racing with the groups ahead of me.
I beat a few people that I really didn't expect to. Normally I am competing against (and often losing to) female podium places rather than taking minutes out of the lady winner. I am still off the pace of the guys that I really want to be racing, but not by much. A little tidier and a better race prep and I might be there, or thereabouts.
Next race: Probably Turriff Triathlon on April 19th.
Monday, 6 April 2015
Training Plan - Week 15 - April 6 to 12
No race this weekend. I could go to Inverness for the Petrofac Athletics League, but it is a long way for a little race, so going to skip that and get back to a proper training week.
Fully into April and I think this is the shortest month I have for total miles. The idea being to get really stuck into speed work before race season kicks off. And then I will add more swim miles after Knockburn opens.
The likelihood is that I will just continue to score bigger numbers, especially on the running front as there is still no sign of a job.
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.
Stretching session.
Friday - Easy run.
Yoga session.
Saturday - Rest day.
Sunday - Long Ride.
Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Fully into April and I think this is the shortest month I have for total miles. The idea being to get really stuck into speed work before race season kicks off. And then I will add more swim miles after Knockburn opens.
The likelihood is that I will just continue to score bigger numbers, especially on the running front as there is still no sign of a job.
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.
Stretching session.
Friday - Easy run.
Yoga session.
Saturday - Rest day.
Sunday - Long Ride.
Target totals - Swim 1.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Training Review - Week 14 - Mar 30 to Apr 5
I wasn't sure how my legs would feel after racing Sunday. Turned out they were not good. It was a real struggle just to walk around the house in the morning. My hips was much worse than it had been pre-race on Sunday. It eased off a little with a walk around Tesco so I decided to do a very easy recovery jog around the block before going to swimming.
In the evening I went to the TPT swim session. It was going fine for the first half hour. A couple of dodgy turns with the hand paddles aside. Then a length into the fifth rep I came out of a decent turn and had a massive attack of cramp in my right hamstring. Definitely a hangover from the bad hip I have been carrying. I took a big lungful of water before I could recover from being upside down in the turn. By the time I could drag myself to the edge of the pool I was already having a panic attack. It took me a few minutes to get calm enough to haul myself out of the pool. I took another couple of minutes to try and calm myself back to normal and walked back to the shallow end. I had a quick chat with the lifeguard and my coach to confirm I was ok and then got back in and paddled my way gently through another 20 minutes to minimise the risk of having another panic attack next time I try to swim.
So why such a long report on such a small event. Because it turned out not to be that small. The after effect of the panic attack is that my body still associates panic attacks with depression and anxiety problems and a perfectly reasonable panic response resulted in a physical reaction and being quite depressed on Tuesday. A bit of showery rain on top of that was enough to put me off biking. By 4 in the afternoon I was back in my PJs hadn't managed to cover 1000 steps for the day. I had to get dressed again to go out to give my sister a lift home as her car is broken. This meant that I got some Dexter cuddles. Even that wasn't enough to cheer me up. As soon as I got home I got back into my PJs and collapsed on the sofa. Total steps for the day 1241, somewhere in the region of 10% of a normal day.
With my gymPact app set for 6 days this week I have to now do 10,000 steps or 30 minutes of active exercise every other day this week. Even if I am still this depressed for the rest of the week I will have no choice but do something, or face a $25 / day fine.
Wednesday I dragged myself out of bed and tried to do a 30 minute yoga session. Quit that at 8 minutes. My hip is still tight and my hamstring is twitching. That coupled to the light layer of snow and freezing temperatures outside was enough to cancel biking again. The knock on effect from that is that I am going to cycle at Sunday's group ride rather than race at Knockburn.
I did then manage to drag myself out for another slow run. A steady (ok not so steady when I look at the breakdown) 7 mile run out the railway line. That ticked off a first attempt at my Strava 10k for April and the Strava Adventure run challenges. In the evening I did a quick weights session.
Thursday morning I was still struggling for motivation but not so much with the depression. I did a 20 minutes beginners yoga session. Opting for the simplest one I have bookmarked to increase the likelihood of completing it. Then I dragged myself out on the bike. I took an intentionally short but hilly loop to try and work a bit on my climbing on the way out and my flat out speed on the way back. I stuck to the road bike because of the wet roads. This made climbing into the headwind bearable, and still meant I came back the last 5 miles at over 21 mph, and a 16mph average for the 20 mile route. Pretty pleased with performance on that.
Friday I started with core and stretching sessions in the morning. Then I was out for most of the rest of the day to help my sister collect her new caravan. When I got back I had a nap but then managed to drag myself out for a steady 4-mile run round the block.
Saturday I started with a core session and 40 minutes of beginners yoga. I still couldn't completely convince myself that not racing Knockburn was the best option. Nor could I decide that racing was the best option. I decided to take the TT bike out on the damp roads in the cold wearing my race gear and see how everything felt. This also meant that I would get the rest of my bike miles for the week if I took the shorter option to race instead of go out with the Kintore group. It was a bit chilly but I was pretty comfortable on the wet roads. Even if I just take it as a training day with some race transition practice it is going to be more beneficial than sitting on the road bike for 3 hours. It also looks like the weather might be warmer than today. So I am back to racing. I think. Might change my mind again between now and the start line.
Sunday I got up and the sun was out. So I went to race at Knockburn. Race report here.
Technically a mile short on biking this week but three fast rides so I am actually really happy with the bike. Way over on run miles again. And a great race at Knockburn.
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.
Monday - Recovery jog 3.3 miles in 28 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,100m in 53 mins.
Tuesday - Depressed day.
Wednesday - Yoga 8 mins.
Jog 7.0 miles in 60mins.
Light weights session.
Thursday - Yoga session 20 mins.
Bike ride 20.3 miles in 1 hr 17 mins.
Friday - Core and stretching sessions.
Run 4 miles in 31mins.
Saturday - Core session and 40 mins yoga.
Bike 8.8 miles in 32 mins.
Sunday - Knockburn Duathlon
Run 2.9 miles in 21 mins.
Bike 9.1 miles in 31 mins.
Run 2.9 miles in 22 mins.
Actuals - Swim 1.3 miles (2,100m). Bike 38.2 miles. Run 20.1 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 68 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 20.1 (19.2), B 731.6 (719.3), R 211.6 (191.0).
In the evening I went to the TPT swim session. It was going fine for the first half hour. A couple of dodgy turns with the hand paddles aside. Then a length into the fifth rep I came out of a decent turn and had a massive attack of cramp in my right hamstring. Definitely a hangover from the bad hip I have been carrying. I took a big lungful of water before I could recover from being upside down in the turn. By the time I could drag myself to the edge of the pool I was already having a panic attack. It took me a few minutes to get calm enough to haul myself out of the pool. I took another couple of minutes to try and calm myself back to normal and walked back to the shallow end. I had a quick chat with the lifeguard and my coach to confirm I was ok and then got back in and paddled my way gently through another 20 minutes to minimise the risk of having another panic attack next time I try to swim.
So why such a long report on such a small event. Because it turned out not to be that small. The after effect of the panic attack is that my body still associates panic attacks with depression and anxiety problems and a perfectly reasonable panic response resulted in a physical reaction and being quite depressed on Tuesday. A bit of showery rain on top of that was enough to put me off biking. By 4 in the afternoon I was back in my PJs hadn't managed to cover 1000 steps for the day. I had to get dressed again to go out to give my sister a lift home as her car is broken. This meant that I got some Dexter cuddles. Even that wasn't enough to cheer me up. As soon as I got home I got back into my PJs and collapsed on the sofa. Total steps for the day 1241, somewhere in the region of 10% of a normal day.
With my gymPact app set for 6 days this week I have to now do 10,000 steps or 30 minutes of active exercise every other day this week. Even if I am still this depressed for the rest of the week I will have no choice but do something, or face a $25 / day fine.
Wednesday I dragged myself out of bed and tried to do a 30 minute yoga session. Quit that at 8 minutes. My hip is still tight and my hamstring is twitching. That coupled to the light layer of snow and freezing temperatures outside was enough to cancel biking again. The knock on effect from that is that I am going to cycle at Sunday's group ride rather than race at Knockburn.
I did then manage to drag myself out for another slow run. A steady (ok not so steady when I look at the breakdown) 7 mile run out the railway line. That ticked off a first attempt at my Strava 10k for April and the Strava Adventure run challenges. In the evening I did a quick weights session.
Thursday morning I was still struggling for motivation but not so much with the depression. I did a 20 minutes beginners yoga session. Opting for the simplest one I have bookmarked to increase the likelihood of completing it. Then I dragged myself out on the bike. I took an intentionally short but hilly loop to try and work a bit on my climbing on the way out and my flat out speed on the way back. I stuck to the road bike because of the wet roads. This made climbing into the headwind bearable, and still meant I came back the last 5 miles at over 21 mph, and a 16mph average for the 20 mile route. Pretty pleased with performance on that.
Friday I started with core and stretching sessions in the morning. Then I was out for most of the rest of the day to help my sister collect her new caravan. When I got back I had a nap but then managed to drag myself out for a steady 4-mile run round the block.
Saturday I started with a core session and 40 minutes of beginners yoga. I still couldn't completely convince myself that not racing Knockburn was the best option. Nor could I decide that racing was the best option. I decided to take the TT bike out on the damp roads in the cold wearing my race gear and see how everything felt. This also meant that I would get the rest of my bike miles for the week if I took the shorter option to race instead of go out with the Kintore group. It was a bit chilly but I was pretty comfortable on the wet roads. Even if I just take it as a training day with some race transition practice it is going to be more beneficial than sitting on the road bike for 3 hours. It also looks like the weather might be warmer than today. So I am back to racing. I think. Might change my mind again between now and the start line.
Sunday I got up and the sun was out. So I went to race at Knockburn. Race report here.
Technically a mile short on biking this week but three fast rides so I am actually really happy with the bike. Way over on run miles again. And a great race at Knockburn.
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.
Monday - Recovery jog 3.3 miles in 28 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,100m in 53 mins.
Tuesday - Depressed day.
Wednesday - Yoga 8 mins.
Jog 7.0 miles in 60mins.
Light weights session.
Bike ride 20.3 miles in 1 hr 17 mins.
Friday - Core and stretching sessions.
Run 4 miles in 31mins.
Saturday - Core session and 40 mins yoga.
Bike 8.8 miles in 32 mins.
Sunday - Knockburn Duathlon
Run 2.9 miles in 21 mins.
Bike 9.1 miles in 31 mins.
Run 2.9 miles in 22 mins.
Actuals - Swim 1.3 miles (2,100m). Bike 38.2 miles. Run 20.1 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 68 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 20.1 (19.2), B 731.6 (719.3), R 211.6 (191.0).
Wednesday, 1 April 2015
End of Q1 Review
Unfortunately I no longer have access to the natty bit of software that allowed me to screengrab the graphical versions of my progress to date. So it is back to painting pictures with words.
Targets that this review is based on are: here.
2015 Annual Targets are:
Swim 92.6 miles.
Bike 2,268 miles.
Run 688 miles.
Swim race 400m under 6 mins.
Swim race 750m under 12 mins 30.
Swim race 1500m under 26 mins.
Optional - Swim race 5k under 1 hour 35mins.
Bike race - Any time trial.
Bike race - Any sportive.
Run race - 5k under 21:30 or 10k under 44 or Half Marathon under 1hr 48.
Run another race - 5k under 21:30 or 10k under 44 or Half Marathon under 1hr 48.
Optional - Run a championship race.
Bike 2,268 miles.
Run 688 miles.
Swim race 400m under 6 mins.
Swim race 750m under 12 mins 30.
Swim race 1500m under 26 mins.
Optional - Swim race 5k under 1 hour 35mins.
Bike race - Any time trial.
Bike race - Any sportive.
Run race - 5k under 21:30 or 10k under 44 or Half Marathon under 1hr 48.
Run another race - 5k under 21:30 or 10k under 44 or Half Marathon under 1hr 48.
Optional - Run a championship race.
But because I have S-curved the training plan for the year it is not as simple as quartering the totals this year. Instead I have a more specific set of targets that should be complete by the end of March:
Swim 18.2 miles.
Bike 694.3 miles.
Run 181.9 miles.
I have only done one real race so far this year but it was Elgin 10k in 42:17 so well inside the 44 minute target. I should hopefully have picked a few more of these off by the halfway point of the year as race season starts in earnest next weekend.
I have only done one real race so far this year but it was Elgin 10k in 42:17 so well inside the 44 minute target. I should hopefully have picked a few more of these off by the halfway point of the year as race season starts in earnest next weekend.
And the actuals to date are:
Swum 20.3 miles.
Biked 702.2 miles.
Run 195.8 miles.
All well ahead of target to this point.
All well ahead of target to this point.
Nothing particularly exciting on the swimming front. I am tumble turning 80-90% of most sessions these days and when we do faster reps in the middle of those sessions I am definitely going faster than last year. Until I get a chance to test the turns in a race and get a longer single rep pace test I am not really going to be able to tell how it is going. Still another month till Knockburn opens so I don't expect to make any real changes here until I can see how things pan out. The only thing I might benefit from is a longer test swim at race pace before going into Turriff triathlon.
In previous years I have struggled with cycling in Q1 due to the weather and the huge time commitment it takes compared to the other two events. This year has been pretty good for weather and even losing a week to the flu hasn't really cut into my numbers. Also I have had more control of the distances on Sunday rides so instead of slow paced 60 mile rides I have been able to keep the distances a little shorter and the pace a little higher. I am also able to get out and do other short rides in the daytime much earlier in the year than if I had been working so I am already more comfortable on the TT bike than I expect to be before early season races.
Running I am ahead of plan, slightly. And after running a decent time at Elgin 10k at the weekend I should be pretty happy. I am not quite happy though. I think I have done too many short and slow runs. I either need to exchange them for short and fast, or long and slow. If I am going to do 12 miles at ~8-min pace it would be much better to do it in one go rather than spread it over 4 runs. Better still would be 8 miles at 8-min and a separate 4 miles at 7-min or faster pace.
Overall, the flu put a dent in the numbers which I have managed to over-run. The time off from work hasn't really added as much as I expected. This may be because I am starting to struggle for motivation now. Particularly in the last week of March where I have effectively had 3 days off in 5 days. And failed to finish a session on one of the two days where I did train.
Overall, the flu put a dent in the numbers which I have managed to over-run. The time off from work hasn't really added as much as I expected. This may be because I am starting to struggle for motivation now. Particularly in the last week of March where I have effectively had 3 days off in 5 days. And failed to finish a session on one of the two days where I did train.
Changes to targets
So what changes to make with 3 months gone?
None. I am ahead of everything, by up to 10%, but partly because I have been out of work and that has cancelled out the flu and cold that I have had.
I am thinking about adding some shorter running events somewhere through summer if I can fit them in, but we will have to see how that goes once I get a new job and once I am into racing season.
I am thinking about adding some shorter running events somewhere through summer if I can fit them in, but we will have to see how that goes once I get a new job and once I am into racing season.
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