Training Plan - Week 27 - Jun 29 to July 5

I am planning to do the Deeside 25 mile Time Trial on Tuesday. This wasn't on my plan but since things went wrong at the 18 I feel like I should do this one now to make up for it. No expectations, it is probably out of my range to really race it so it will mostly be a long TT position training session. 

The rest of the week is fairly standard. 

The water at Knockburn seems to be much colder at the minute, hopefully a couple of sunny days will change that before Wednesday. If not I may go to ASV and do a pool session instead. 

Last week of being 38.



Monday - Easy run?
Core session.
Swim with TPT.

Tuesday - Yoga session.
DTCC 25-mile TT.

Wednesday - Run reps.
Longer swim at Knockburn. 5 laps.
Weights and core sessions.

Thursday - Kintore Thursday session.
Stretching session.

Friday - Long run.
Yoga session.
Stretching session.

Saturday - Easy run.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday - Lite.

Target totals - Swim 2.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 12.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 26 - June 22 to 28

Monday started badly. I went to sign on in the morning and then planned to run home from that. I really struggled to run and when I hit a point that was uphill and into the wind I decided to bail out at half distance and get a lift home instead. Without really understanding why I was so exhausted I decided to still go swimming in the evening. Whatever the problem was in the morning was gone by evening. The session included 8 x 200m reps and I put every single one of them in faster than Saturday's race pace. 

Tuesday I had an interview in the afternoon so I went out in the morning for a longer run. Planned to be nice and steady but somehow it turned into an accidental Kenyan Progression type run. 

Wednesday I decided not to run during the day and took the time to catch up on some courses instead. Then in the evening I went out for a swim at Knockburn. I planned 4 or 5 laps but the water was ridiculously cold and I just managed 2 before I had to get out. Even those two were nearly 15 mins each instead of the usual 13.

Thursday I woke up feeling like someone had sandpapered my eyeballs and kicked me around like a football for a couple of hours. I tried some stretching but it was clear I wasn't going to manage a proper session today. Instead we went for a walk at Scotty hill. Felt a lot better by the time we got back so I did a yoga session after dinner and some light weights in the evening. 

Friday I went out for a run in the morning. I felt quite good so I decided to go to the park and do my reps session. About 100m into the first rep that felt like a bad plan. I am still feeling pretty empty. It is unlikely that the blood donation is still affecting me, and my mental health seems to be much improved. So that leaves me with hay fever and overtraining as the most likely culprits. 

Saturday I felt like a lazy day but the sun was out and it was too nice to waste the day. I did a short core session before breakfast and then went out for an easy run along the railway line again. Similar route to Tuesday but slightly more evenly paced. Then I did some light weights in the afternoon between bouts of housework and studying.

Sunday I went out with the Kintore group, planning to do 40 miles. Wasn't really paying attention to where I should turn off though and I ended up going too far out before I turned and doing 48 miles. Was going pretty well for the first half in the group, then struggled into the headwind on my own on the way back. Further confirmation that I am not going to do Aberfeldy Half this year. 

Slightly short on swimming this week due to the cold at Knockburn, and still missing some of the cosmetic sessions. Way over on running miles again, but more sensibly arranged with two long runs and a reps session in this week, so that is definitely an improvement in how I am getting them. Biking was then almost the opposite. All crammed in to a single session, and slower than I should be going because that session was too long. 


Target totals - Swim 2.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 12.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Monday -  Jog 3.3 miles in 29 mins. 
Swim with TPT 2,100m in 52 mins. 

Tuesday - Run 6.3 miles in 50 mins.

Wednesday - Swim at Knockburn, 2 laps (1,500m) in 30 mins. 

Thursday - Stretching session.
Walk at Scolty.
Yoga session 17 mins.

Friday - Run 3.5 miles in 28 mins.

Saturday - Core session
Easy run 6.3 miles in 51mins.
Light weights session.

Sunday - Kintore ride 48.3 miles in 3 hours 23mins. 

Actuals - Swim 2.2 miles (3,600 m). Bike 48.3 miles. Run 19.4 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 17 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 48.8 (44.4) , B 1331.5 (1139.3), R 431.2 (343.1). 

Training Plan - Week 26 - June 22 to 28

No races this week. And checking my calendar I have no races for the next 5 weeks. This should give me a chance to do a properly structured training block rather than just a week by week approach. 

No work plans yet either. I might have last weeks interview if it is rescheduled, not holding my breath as they seem to be taking a while to sort themselves out.

I have to go and sign-on on Monday so I plan to run back from that. I have put two swim and two bike sessions in and a whole load of running. I have plenty of free time and my online courses can all be shuffled around so I should be getting out and doing at least one thing every day.

The weather forecast for this week is all over the place. If it does give me a really good day somewhere I might revamp the plan and just go out for a long solo day on the bike. 


Monday - Long run.
Core session.
Swim with TPT.

Tuesday - Easy run.
Yoga session.

Wednesday - Run reps.
Longer swim at Knockburn. 5 laps.
Weights and core sessions.

Thursday - Kintore Thursday session.
Stretching session.

Friday - Long run.
Yoga session.
Stretching session.

Saturday - Easy run.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday - Lite.

Target totals - Swim 2.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 12.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 25 - June 15 to 21

Monday I started with a run. I have been slacking on fast reps sessions the last few weeks so I decided to do reps first this week. I went round to the park and did 5 of the short (600m) laps. Still struggling to recover so I moved the rest from the normal 1 minute to 90 seconds so that I could keep the speed of the reps closer to normal pace. 

In the evening I went to swimming. I was 'okay' for most of the session but started to run out of gas near the end. The session included 2x200m flat out reps near the end which I did in 3:09 and 3:19. I can convince myself to just write off the second one as I was basically exhausted. In order to break 6 minutes on Saturday I am going to have to find another 9 seconds on the fast rep and then keep that going. With the suit, cap, race adrenaline, someone to draft, another 5 days of recovery from blood donation and a rest day beforehand, the 9 seconds should be easy to find. Holding that faster pace for a another 3 minutes should also be possible. I really do fancy my chances of sneaking under the 6 minute mark.

Having completed two online courses last week I started 2 new ones this week. I also dropped a couple where they were boring or bad quality. The two new ones I am going to reference here as they are relevant. They are MAT150x Math in Sport from Notre Dame, and Nutr101x Nutrition and Health Part 1: Macronutrients and Overnutrition from Wageningen University, both from www.edx.org.

Tuesday I had to go in for a meeting at the Job Centre in the morning. They still call themselves the Job Centre despite being in absolutely no way, shape or form helpful or even capable of helping you get a new job. They should really be renamed the benefit police. Anyway, they used up my whole morning so I did some yoga and stretching in the afternoon before doing the Deeside Time Trial in the evening. 

I warmed up well and started the race well and pushed past the first junction and along to the roundabout. I thought I was meant to turn here but there was no sign and no Marshall and the standard rule is that if there is no sign and no Marshall, you go straight on. I should have read the course map more closely beforehand. I decided to wait for the guy behind me, but after a minute he still wasn't in sight so I thought maybe I had already missed a turn somewhere, maybe I should have gone left at the Kirkton of Skene turn? I have already wasted a minute sitting here. If I turn missed the turn already my race is over, if I turn left here and that is a shortcut then I am cheating and my race is over, so I went straight on. 

I didn't push on though, I still couldn't convince myself I had made the right choice so I decided to just settle in slowly and roll along until someone caught up to me, and then I could follow them round for a training ride. Another mile, and 2 more unmarshalled roundabouts later and no sign of anyone catching me I knew that I was going to end up at busy road junctions that couldn't possibly be on the route so I decided to quit and head back. Not passing anyone on my way back to the first roundabout confirmed that I was definitely on the wrong route somewhere. After I crossed the roundabout I saw the guys from 8 and 9 minutes behind as they approached the roundabout and took the left.  

I pedalled back to the start to tell them there was a missing Marshall, and then to the finish timers to tell them and to have them mark me down as DNF. Then I dropped off my number and timing chip and headed home. 

Then I went out for an annoyed run round the block. 

This was another health setback. I felt that I had recovered well from my problems at the start of the month and I was pretty much back to 'normal'. But as I was waiting at the roundabout and increasingly afterwards when I was on the wrong course, I was getting stressed and feeling really isolated. I managed to get back to the car and home without having a full panic attack and I managed to force myself straight out to run afterwards rather than letting it box me into the house again this time. 

Wednesday I had to go into town in the morning for a job fayre, so I decided to take the opportunity go to ASV for a swim as well. That went pretty terribly as I tried to work on a couple of things for the weekend and ended up going massively slower instead of faster. Being a shorter session than a couple of laps at Knockburn also means is going to leave me under my target for swimming this week. 

Thursday I went through to Elgin, partly in prep for racing on Saturday at Forres and also to get a short, fast running training session in and do some coaching. I jogged down to the Club session and did some coaching of Junior sprinters. Then I took a longer route home to get in a bit of a run for the day. 

Friday I had a bit of a lie in. Unfamiliar bed meant that I hadn't slept well and my back and shoulder were aching a bit. I Started the morning with a stretching and rolling session and then I went straight into a full hour of yoga. Feeling much better after those I decided to go out for a very easy and nostalgic jog around the Quarrelwood forrest behind my parents house. When I got back I got the Veet out and did my legs. However I race at Forres it won't be for lack of good preparation the day before. 

Saturday was Forres Triathlon so it will get a report to itself, here.

Sunday morning I went out to Knockburn to watch and Marshall at the Scottish Sprint Triathlon Champs. I was planning a couple of hours on the bike in the afternoon but the weather turned and it was too wet to risk riding in. Instead I went out for an easy recovery run round the block. When I got I did my short arm weights session. 

For the week I am a bit underwhelmed. I have run a lot, and I had a decent race at Forres. In turn I missed a lot of swim distance, and I was way short on bike miles after the race screw up on Tuesday evening and not cycling on Sunday.

For the year I am still so far ahead of target that they are meaningless. Two weeks till I rewrite those.


Target totals - Swim 2.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 12.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Monday -  Run reps 5 x 600m (90 sec recovery) 3.7 miles in 32 mins.
Swim 1,400m in 55 mins.

Tuesday - Yoga 25 mins.
Stretching.
Not the Deeside 18-mile TT. 8.2 miles in 30mins.
Run 4.5 miles in 34 mins.

Wednesday - Swim at ASV 1,000m in 24 mins. 

Thursday - Warm up and coaching Junior sprinters 2.6 miles in 72 mins.
Easy run 3.6 miles in 27 mins.

Friday - Stretching and rolling.
Yoga 60mins.
Easy job 3.1 miles in 29 mins. 

Saturday - Yoga 30 mins.
Forres Novice Triathlon
Swim 400m in 6:42 (plus 50m warm-up)
Bike 8.5 miles 24:35   
Run 2.3 miles 15:40

Sunday - Easy jog 3.7 miles in 31 mins. 

Actuals - Swim 1.8 miles (2,850 m). Bike 16.7 miles. Run 23.5 miles.  short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 115 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 46.0 (37.2) , B 1283.2 (1034.3), R 411.8 (307.1). 

Race Report - Forres Triathlon

Full results are: here. 


I started the morning with a yoga session. I specifically did this session to try and ease off my back and hips as much as I could. I also made sure to take the roller with me to the race, planning to do a bit of rollering during my warm-up. Neither helped with a tightness in my right hip that had appeared overnight. 

I headed to the race fairly early so that I could get a decent space in transition. Much too early as it turned out. I was the third person to rack my bike, and the other two were event organisers who were out putting signs on the course. 

I was off in the third heat of three. It was a fairly stacked heat. A GB International Junior girl who set up next to me and checked her transition run through three times, a GB International Vet Lady who I know is a better swimmer and runner than me, (and was the only other non-teenager!), the kid who has won it for the last 5 years, his pal who I mistook for him at the start, a serious looking kid in a Dundee Uni Athletics top, the kid that beat me in the Hurdles at Inverness a couple of weeks ago, a junior in a swim club training top ... and a handful of others that all looked too good to be in my heat.

I was off first in my swim lane but within a couple of lengths I felt pretty terrible. By the time I reached 75m I got a tap on the foot from the girl from the swim club, she had started 5 seconds behind me but was already wanting past. She was too small so I got no draft off her and she just eased away from me. By the time I got to 150m the hurdler from 10 seconds behind her wanted past as well. He was going too quick to hang on to as well. (Turns out both of them went very close to my target time). 

I glanced at the watch at the 200m mark and I was at 3:08, which isn't what I hoped for, but still left me plenty of scope for a 400m swim PB. I really started to drag from there though. Length splits drop from 22/23 secs out to 25/26. I eventually dragged myself out of the water in about 6:40. 40 seconds slower than what I declared, and even 30 slower than what I thought was likely. 

I am really disappointed with the time. The official time to the timing mats was 6:53, slightly faster than last year but the Garmin time with just the swim itself was closer to 6:39, which was actually slower than last year. And it wasn't like I hadn't worked hard. I was completely out of breath as I toddled to transition.

First transition was pretty clean and tidy but not very quick. Faster than last year though, so at least it was moving in the right direction. A handful of the faster swimmers were out on the bike, and everyone else from my heat was at least into transition by this point.

Out onto the bike and there were four of us together and trying to shuffle around each other without drafting, GB Vet, swim girl and a young guy with bright red hair. It took me about a mile to recover from the swim but once we got onto a faster section I started to pull away from the girls but the guy was a bit ahead of me. I finally recognised him from before as the kid who was wearing the Dundee Uni Athletics top so I figured he was possibly in my age group and could probably handle himself on the run. So I had to put some time into him on the bike. I closed up behind him just as we approached the dangerous left hander, then I took a rear wheel slide round that and got much too close to an oncoming car. I held it, nearly wet myself, then got straight back into my TT position and went past him. 

Then there is a bumpy bit of road that is really difficult to TT along because of the way if rattles the bike. Just as I came off my TT bars to handle that there is a left-hander, and a cameraman who obviously didn't allow for how far you need to lean a TT bike in to the apex to take a corner. I hope he got as much of a scare as I did, I guarantee he felt the breeze as I swooshed past him a lot closer than I want to admit. Here is the photo he took, and a link to their website: www.activnorth.com.

About two-thirds of the way round the course there is a double back section at a roundabout. As I approached it I passed the leader coming the other way, with second and third close behind him. I checked the watch and then went round the roundabout. I passed the oncoming Dundee Uni guy within seconds of coming off the roundabout, having hardly put any time into him. I figured at this point I was within 90 seconds of the leading trio. Last years winner, his pal and the GB Junior. I still hadn't put much into Dundee Uni, but from here the course really suited me and in the last 2 miles I managed to make about 30 seconds on him. I even managed to get out of my shoes on the bike while still keeping the pace up. Dismount was a bit slower than I would have liked but wasn't bad.

Quick check of the watch, I know I have hammered last years bike time, and must have gone close to the fastest time by anyone last year. It turns out I was 5 seconds under last years fastest time, nearly 2 minutes quicker than my own time from last year but the kid that wins had gone another 15 seconds faster than that, and his pal almost a minute quicker. I am still happy with my bike time. 

Into T2 was good. I racked my bike, remembered my helmet, right shoe on, left shoe - cramp - try left shoe again - cramp - third time? - ok, shoe is on but left hip is twitching. And out the other end of transition, just as Dundee Uni arrived at the entry.

My plan was to go hard to this point and then see what was left. Turned out to be not-a-lot. I have been running well lately but I knew I was going to be struggling at this one. I gave what I had but I was just empty. Dundee Uni came past me before the first mile and went scooting off into the distance in no time. Then I started catching back markers from the slower heats. I knew I was well clear of anyone else from my heat but last year I lost a place to someone from an earlier heat who had a great bike-run, so I knew I had to keep pushing all the way through.

I ended up running 15:40. Almost exactly what I had predicted and within a few seconds of my previous attempts at this course. Enough to hold on to my 5th spot overall. Dundee Uni did turn out to be a Senior, so I was 2nd Senior. So despite going 2 minutes faster than last year I still ended up in exactly the same position. Less prizes this year though, so winners only, and no snazzy little trophy to stack alongside the one from last year. 

Overall I am happy enough. I am disappointed with the swim time, and that lost minute probably cost me the chance to get more involved in a race with GB Junior and maybe get far enough out of sight of Dundee Uni that he might have chased less hard. Happy about most of the bike, but climbs still need work and I should have had smoother effort levels in some parts. 

Race Preview - Forres Novice Triathlon

Previous relevant blogs:
2014 Race Preview
2014 Race Report
2014 Full results

Bearing in mind that they were done on mountain bike courses rather than the current road bike course the following are only partly relevant, but still interesting in terms of development.
2013 Race Report
2012 Race Report


From reading all of those I seem to come out of Forres every year with a slower swim time than I expect going in. At least this time that won't come as a surprise. I have declared 6:00 mins for a 400m swim but I would have to have a perfect day to get that. My current PB is 6:25 from Alford, but that has more turns in it than a standard race. My current 25m pool PB is 6:37* from last year's Forres Novice. I have already gone very close to that during normal training swims in the middle of much longer sessions. 

Year on year I have taken my Forres Swim time from 7:29 to 7:01 to 6:37, so it isn't unreasonable to think that another year of improvements will have brought me close to 6 mins. I suspect it is going to come down to how long I can keep tumble turning when I am trying to thrash along at full sprint pace. At Mondays pool session I managed a 200m rep in 3:09. With a load of race tricks to add on top of that I think I should go through in under 3 mins. Whether I can back that up with a second 200m is still up for grabs.

I can be slicker through T1. There are a couple of seconds to save here.

On the bike I only have last year to compare against as the previous races were on a different bike course. I took 26 minutes to get round. The fastest time was 24:40 so it doesn't look like there is much for me to gain here. But it is a less than 8 mile course which is not hilly or difficult for handling, so I should be looking at a 20mph average or better on the bike, unless the weather intervenes. That would mean coming in inside 24 minutes. 

Based on what I have been doing for TT races lately I should be managing that. The Deeside TT on Tuesday night should have given me an idea of how hard I can push on the bike during a race that lasts just under an hour. Instead I am going to have to rely on my 10-mile TT data and the idea that I can't work quite that hard on the bike, and still be able to run, but without any idea of how much less to push. 

I doubt I can save much in T2. I could make T2 worse if I decide not to wear socks in T1. 

The run is the same as it has been for the last 3 years. My times have always been somewhere in the 15-minute bracket. That is still likely to come out about the same. If I can find a run at the 6 min/mile pace that I would need to colck a faster time then that is a sign that I haven't worked hard enough on the swim and bike. 

From last year's top-7, only myself and the kid that wins it each year is on the current entry list. He is now 18, which may still keep him out of my age-group. If he hasn't improved much then he should give me a good target as he is a slightly better swimmer and was a slightly better cyclist, so if I can get close to him by T2 I will be really pleased. I do then expect him to run away from me though. The race is only half full and they will take entries on the day so the field could get much tougher yet. 


*The official result of 6:59 includes getting out of the water and out across the car park to the timing mats.

Training Plan - Week 25 - Jun 15 to 21

Back to racing this week. Forres Novice is one of my favourite races. Partly because it is really short, and partly because I normally finish towards the top of the field. This year it is one of two chances I get to put in a fast 400m swim time. 

Also I am going to do Deeside 18-mile Time Trial on Tuesday night. As with last week I am going to take this one more as a course recce for next year and a chance to work on my handicap numbers for future races. 

I have built the rest of the week around those two but there are several flexible sessions to sort as I see how I feel through the week. The Great Inverurie Bike Ride is an option for Sunday if I dont fancy the Kintore Sunday ride. Either of those could drop out depending on how I feel after racing Saturday. 

Thursday I may go through to Elgin and do a junior track session or I may stay here and do the Kintore cycling session. 

I also have a few other things to fit around this week. Dental check up, meeting at the dole office, job fayre, interview... None of them particularly major but all of them just make it slightly more complex to fit everything in.


Monday - Run.
Core session.
Swim with TPT.

Tuesday - Deeside Thistle 18-mile Time Trial. 
Yoga session.

Wednesday - Run.
Longer swim at Knockburn. 4 laps.
Weights and core sessions.

Thursday - Kintore Thursday session.
or Track session.
Stretching session.

Friday - Rest day.
Yoga session.
Stretching session.

Saturday - Forres Novice Triathlon.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday - Lite.
or Great Inverurie Bike Ride.

Target totals - Swim 2.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 12.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 24 - June 8 to 14

Monday I wasn't able to go out and run in the morning after Saturday. Then I went to give blood in the afternoon and was advised not to train in the evening. I decided to heed that advice, hoping that it would give me a bit more recovery time before taking part in the Tuesday night time trial.

Tuesday I was feeling ok, but a little bit empty so I knew I wasn't going to be able to race at 100%. I decided to go to the race in the evening anyway so I spent the day trying to prepare as best I could. No great hopes for a time here after blood donation, but worth taking part to check out the course for next year and to move my handicap for future events. I did half a stretching session in the morning but decided to rest rather than do yoga as well.

Not going to do a full race report. Basically I got to about 6 miles going pretty well and then the lack of blood started to have an effect and where the course speeds up, I didn't. Slightly slower time that the Garlogie course last month, on what should be a faster course. And I look to have dropped a minute or so on the racers I was close to. Better than I expected but still a bit disappointing. Much more to come if I am fully healthy.  

Wednesday I did a lazy run round the block in the afternoon. Still feeling pretty empty. In the evening I went out to Knockburn and did 5 laps. The first one I was just babysitting a first timer to get him round a lap. Fortunately the water has warmed up a lot since last week. Then I pushed on to do 4 more laps at a proper pace. The first couple were ok but then I started to run out of gas on lap 4 and really struggled round lap 5. 


Thursday I knew I would miss the cycling in order to go to Jurassic World. I got up in the morning and tried to do a yoga session. Only managed about 15 minutes. Then I went out to run a few miles, just to get something into the day and to get far enough on towards my run target that I could finish it on the Friday so as not to complicate my already busy weekend. Still fairly empty, either from Saturday or Monday. Had to push really hard just to stay at the 8 min/mile pace. 

Friday started pretty poorly as I slobbed around in my PJs till lunchtime. I did eventually manage to drag myself out for a run around Kirkhill and being out and moving in the sun made all the difference. Once I was moving I felt much better and when I got home I went straight into my weights session and then did a long yoga session as well. 

Saturday we had plans in the afternoon but I went out to Knockburn for a short cycle and swim in the morning. Cycling was ok, a bit empty still but ticked along ok. Swimming was strange as the loch is now set up for racing the wrong way round and that was unusual enough to upset me this week. I managed three laps but all slower than the pace I was doing recently. The rest of the day more than made up for it though.

Sunday I was finally starting to feel normal again. Not sure if it was from Saturday or Monday but I felt a lot better going out on the bike in the morning. Did a rapid 12 miles with the whole Kintore group before we split off into a more sensibly paced group with just two of us cruising back over some hills for a 43 mile total. I also did a very short run off the bike but that also went quite well. In the evening I did a bit of stretching.

On the mile totals this actually looks like a decent week. The pace numbers give a more realistic view though. Whether it was mostly down to last week or giving blood I was struggling all week. By Wednesday I was at least managing to get out of the house, after a couple of hours of talking myself into it. And by Sunday I was back to going at a decent pace.


Target totals - Swim 2.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 12.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Monday -  Rest Day. Give blood. 

Tuesday - Stretching session.
Deeside TT 10 miles at Drumoak in 27 mins.
Warm up/down 5.7 miles 25 mins.

Wednesday - Run 3.5 miles in 31 mins.
Knockburn 5 laps (3,750m) in 1 hour 24mins.

Thursday - Yoga 15 mins.
Run 4.2 miles in 34 mins.

Friday - Run at Kirkhill 6.0 miles in 56 mins.
Light weights session.
Yoga session 39 mins.

Saturday - Bike at Knockburn 11.2 miles in 44 mins.
Swim at Knockburn 3 laps (2,250m) in 44 mins.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday Lite (but Learney) 43.7 miles in 2 hours 43mins.
Short run 1.1 miles in 9 mins.
Stretching session.


Actuals - Swim 3.7 miles (6,000 m). Bike 70.6 miles. Run 14.8 miles.  short core, 1 short light weights and  short stretching sessions. 54 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 44.8 (37.2) , B 1266.5 (1034.3), R 388.3 (307.1). 

Training Plan - Week 24 - June 8 to 14

Saturday I am going to go out Knockburn with a few new people to let them try out open water swimming. 

On the bike I miss the Thursday night group session as we are going to Jurassic World instead. With the TT and a Sunday ride I should still get my miles easily enough. Tuesday is the Deeside 10-mile Time Trial on their faster course so hopefully I can do a quick time there. My 26:42 on the Garlogie course was okay, but without a wind and on a better course I think I can take almost a minute off that time. 

So it should be a massive swim week, possibly topping the 10k mark if I go for extra laps on both trips to Knockburn. 

Running I will just fit in around the rest of the week and hopefully that allows me to also have a proper rest day this week.

I have in my diary to go and give blood on Monday. I may drop that in order to be properly prepared for Tuesdays TT.


Monday - Run.
Core session.
Swim with TPT.

Tuesday - Deeside Thistle 10-mile Time Trial - Drumoak. 
Yoga session.

Wednesday - Run.
Longer swim at Knockburn. 4 laps (maybe 5?).
Weights and core sessions.

Thursday - Rest day.
Stretching session.
Jurassic World!

Friday - Reps run.
Yoga session.
Stretching session

Saturday - Longer swim at Knockburn. 4 laps (maybe 5?, maybe even 6??)

Sunday - Kintore Sunday - Lite.

Target totals - Swim 2.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 12.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.



I wrote all of that before Saturday. No idea if I will be able to do any of it now. I should hopefully be able to go to swimming on Monday but no idea if I will even be able to finish that session. 

Training Review - Week 23 - June 1 to 7

Monday I started the morning with an easy run round the block. Mostly just to get something in to the morning. After a trip out for a nice lunch and a lazy afternoon I went swimming in the evening. Moved up to lane 4 again this week but couldn't keep up with them. Need to do some more serious pace work somewhere.

Tuesday I had to go to Inverurie to collect something from the shops, but I am still waiting for my replacement car tyres to arrive and T was away with her car. So I decided to do my yoga session and then change my planned run for biking to and from Inverurie instead. It was fairly windy so it wasn't fast but it was steady and a nice day out in the sun. 

Then in the evening I went to help at the Deeside Time Trial, getting my first taste as "pusher off".

Wednesday I went out for a longer run in the morning, but was a bit tight and struggled to tootle along under 9 min/mile. But when I got back I felt better for having done it. In the evening I still felt quite rubbish as I drove out to Knockburn and worse as I struggled to zip up my suit with a tightness in my shoulders. I got in and the freezing water didn't make me feel any better. 

I set off and in my head I decided to just do a couple of cold laps, maybe 3 and then quit early and go home. I forgot to check my watch after lap 1 but at the end of lap 2 it read 26 mins and I was feeling much better. The water was beautifully calm and I was cruising along smoothly, if a bit chilly in places. So I went back to my original 4 lap plan and finished in 53 minutes. Every lap was nearly a minute faster than last week. 

Then at night I finished another of my online courses, then noticed that two new ones started yesterday. Then I checked properly and realised that it was three new ones. 

Thursday I went to Kintore Thursday cycling group. I took a more sensible approach than last week but still did 5 laps while the faster guys did 6. This time though I was closer to them so I had to roll another couple of miles while I waited for them to finish. Another good day out on the bike with some quick sections, although generally trying to take it slightly easier to save plenty for Saturday. 

Friday I did a stretching session and a yoga session in the morning. Then I went out for a very slow jog around the block just to try and ease off my legs a little. Apparently I didn't take it quite easy enough on Thursday night. I also started on my mid year review and then realised some of my counters were slightly out for the last couple of weeks so I have gone back and corrected them.

Saturday should have been Ming the Merciless race, so will get a report to itself. But it was actually a completely wasted day. This also cut almost 4 hours off my week. Taking me back from what should have been a great week, to the same disappointing 6-7 hours I have been doing since the start of April. Also means I missed my run target for the week rather than doubling it. 

Sunday I couldn't face going out on the bike. I did manage to drag myself out for a walk/jog round the block. But only because it was going to cost me $15 if I didn't complete my GymPact for the week. I struggled to even keep jogging. 

This is the week that I should have passed 35 swimming, 1,000 cycling and 300 running miles. Instead I pass through 40 swimming, 1,190 cycling and 370 running. A month to go until I do my mid-year review and change my targets but obviously some changes will be on the way this time.

And that all sounds positive but the disaster of Saturday has been such a huge setback. Not just because of the 14 mile run and 30 mile bike race that I missed but in terms of my health it has been a major blow. 


Target totals - Swim 2.4 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 -  Easy run 3.9 miles in 31 mins. 
Swim with TPT 2,000m in 50 mins. 

Tuesday - Yoga 32 mins. 
Ride to Inverurie 11.6 miles in 49 mins.
Ride from Inverurie 11.5 miles in 40 mins. 

Wednesday - Run 5.2 miles in 45 mins.
Swim 1.9 miles (3,000m) in 54 mins.

Thursday - Kintore Thursday 29.0 miles in 1 hour 42 mins.

Friday - Stretching session.
Yoga session 12 mins.
Easy jog 3.2 miles in 30 mins.

Saturday - Not Ming the Merciless Duathlon.

Sunday - Walk/jog 2.6 miles in 27 mins.


Actuals - Swim 3.2 miles (5,000 m). Bike 52.1 miles. Run 14.9 miles.  short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 44 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 41.0 (37.2) , B 1195.9 (1034.3), R 373.5 (307.1). 

Race Report - Ming the Merciless

I was well prepared for this race. I had checked the bike over and sorted out all my kit for a variety of possible weather conditions. Last time I did this race I got caught in traffic on the way there and nearly missed the start so this time I left half an hour earlier. 

The lack of traffic this time meant I arrived about an hour before the race start but as I pulled into the car park I saw a couple of people I wasn't expecting. Including my evil bitch ex.

I did consider running her over. A large part of me wishes I had. There is a risk that if I got an unsympathetic jury I might then have to spend the rest of my life in prison, but to be honest I was more concerned that I wasn't going fast enough through the car park to guarantee the impact would be fatal. Some of you probably think that is me being funny. I don't. If I thought I could be sure she was dead I would do it. And I would quite happily spend the rest of my life knowing that my actions were justified because I had made the world a better place.

Instead I had an anxiety attack in the car. I thought I knew how to stay on top of these by now but this one was too severe for any of the breathing or relaxation exercises to even slow it down. I already had my garmin on for racing and watched my heart rate climb straight through the 50's, 60's and 70's despite just sitting in the car trying to stay calm. I tried to stop and consider my options but I couldn't even stay calm enough to work out what options I had, never mind consider which was best. I couldn't wait for help to arrive so I had to leave. I remember bits of driving home but even as I was driving I was finding I had gaps where I couldn't remember the previous few minutes. 

Once I was home I spent the next few hours curled up on the sofa trying to control my breathing and the twitches. 24 hours later as I type this, I have barely slept. I am managing to sit up but the twitches and shakes are still fairly significant. I can't concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time. 

Really upset to miss the race and worse to know that I probably won't ever be able to go to it again. Also really annoyed at how strong the effect of the panic attack has been and that none of what I have learned about dealing with them for the past 4 years has been any help today.

Race Preview - Ming the Merciless

It has been a couple of years since I did this race. At the time I wasn't in great shape and it was my first day on the TT bike. It was so new that I didn't even realise how tight I needed to clamp the carbon seat post so it turned out to be loose and slipped down during the race. I didn't even realise until the next time I took it out to ride and realised it was a couple of inches too low.  

Here is the full race report. Apparently a popular blog as 115 people have read it.

I am not sure how I will handle the distance this time. I am definitely fitter and faster but not sure about my pure endurance. 14 miles is a long way out of the range I have been running recently and all the miles I have been totalling have been spread over shorter efforts. If I can get through the run in a couple of hours again that would be a really good performance. 

The bike leg I should be way faster. I was 2 hours for the 29.4 miles last time. If I did that this time, even with the hilly route and off the back of a long run, I would be really disappointed. 15mph is an easy training ride on my road bike on a bumpy route these days. (I went faster for 23 miles, lumpy, windy and taking it easy on Tuesday). I can definitely climb better in my current bike shape so I should take a chunk off that part of the course and I am much more confident in my TT bike handling these days so I expect to be able to attack the descent more. Also the bike is much less 'out-of-range' than the run. 30 miles in one ride is more than I have done on the TT bike since Aberfeldy in 2013 but is by no means a long ride. And even considering it will be hours 3 and 4 of the race total is not out of range of what I can ride. 

So overall targets I would like to break are
Run under 2 hours.
Ride under 2 hours.
Total under 4 hours.

Training Plan - Week 23 - June 1 to 7

Back to racing this week, but it is just a fun race so I can afford to work fairly hard the rest of the week. But Dexter is coming for a holiday this week from Monday to Thursday so I should be out for a run every day with him. 

I am not going to do this weeks Deeside time trial as 25-miles in TT position just doesn't sound like fun, especially in a week where I am also going to be doing big chunks of a 30-mile race in TT position as well. But I am going to Marshall at it. If the weather is going to be nice enough I will maybe ride there and back to get some bike miles in. 

Dexter was meant to be coming for the week so I initially planned to run Monday to Thursday with him. But the other half starts a new job on Tuesday so Dexter's holiday is cancelled. I am going to stick with a lot of the plan I had already written though.

Also, we are into June and my smarter S-curved plan says that my run mileage should drop further to allow for pace increases. So obviously instead of dropping miles my race alone is over that this week and every other run puts me further over the top.



Monday - Run with Dexter.
Core session.
Swim with TPT.

Tuesday - Longer run with Dexter.
Deeside Thistle 25-mile Time Trial. Marshalling only.
Yoga session.

Wednesday - Run with Dexter. 
Longer swim at Knockburn. 3 laps (maybe 4?).
Weights and core sessions.

Thursday - Easy run with Dexter.
Kintore Thursday.
Stretching session.

Friday - Very easy jog.
Yoga session.
Stretching session

Saturday - Ming the Merciless

Sunday - Kintore Sunday - Lite.

Target totals - Swim 2.4 miles. Bike 35.0 miles. Run 12.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 22 - May 25 to 31

Monday I skipped my planned run as my legs are still really heavy from the weekend. I took the opportunity to do some cooking, clear out my old fish tank and get rid of it, catch up on my homework for my online courses and generally fail to have a rest day. I then went to swimming with Threepeaks at night. Struggled a bit with the session and had to cut chunks of it out. 

Tuesday was Deeside 10-mile Time Trial. I did some yoga in the morning, then we went out to Haddo House for a walk and some lunch. I had a very lazy nap in the afternoon and then did some rollering and stretching and got changed into my aero gear. I will write a separate, but short, report for it.

Wednesday I had an appointment in town in the morning so I didn't get a chance to get a session in until the afternoon. I managed a short and easy run before heading out to Knockburn. The loch is still too cold to be really comfortable but I did manage to stay in for a third lap this week. Slightly slower laps than last week but considering the extra lap distance I will take that.  

Thursday I did a light weights session and a core session in the morning. Then had a lazy afternoon catching up on studying before going out in the evening with the Kintore Thursday group. I warmed up comfortably enough but half way round our first lap of a planned six I thought someone behind me was pulling on my jersey. It was honestly like I was suddenly towing someone. I dropped right off the group and was struggling so bad I even started looking around to check I didn't have a puncture or stuck brakes or some similar mechanical. No such luck, just empty legs from doing too much this week. 

Friday my legs were still pretty empty. I let common sense take over and decided to have a proper rest day. A bit of gentle stretching in the morning and then nothing else. Then I worked out the maths that I would have to do over 9 miles in an already busy Saturday and then a long ride on Sunday. So I decided to go out and do half of those miles. Then once I was out and running I realised that if I only did half I still wouldn't be getting a rest day in anywhere, so I should go to 6 and then a really easy 3 on Saturday will be as good as a rest. But by the time I got to the turn point at 3 miles I was actually feeling quite good so I decided just to do the whole 9 miles and then I can have a proper not-training Saturday. This also had a bonus effect of being my longest run of the year so far and picking up the pace near the end gave me a bit of a confidence boost before trying to run 14 miles at Ming the Merciless next weekend. 

Saturday, I stuck with the plan for a non-training day, but still it was busy enough. I did some yoga in the morning to try and ease off some aches.

Sunday I couldn't make it out for the group ride because of problems with my car. And the weather was much too crap to go for a reasonable distance solo. I did drag myself out for a very slow run loop round the block.

Another solid but uninspiring week. Struggled a bit with recovery, not helped by squeezing in so many races recently. They are a bit more spaced out over the next few weeks so hopefully a bit more chance to recover between them. I should have doubled or even trebled my bike miles by getting out on Sunday and instead I was just a little bit over everything again. 

Disappointed that I got to Friday on course for a being back to 8-9 hours of the three major sports and instead a poor weekend meant that I ended up with just over 6 again. 


Target totals - Swim 2.4 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 -  Swim with TPT 1,950m in 51mins.

Tuesday - Yoga 30 mins.
Stretching session.
Deeside 10-mile TT 27 mins. 
Bike warm-up/down 3.5 miles in 14 mins.

Wednesday - Run 3.7 miles in 32 mins.
Swim 3 laps at Knockburn (2,130m) in 43 mins. 

Thursday - Light weights session. 
Core session.
Kintore Thursday 28.1 miles in 1 hr 53 mins.

Friday - Stretching session.
Long run 9.3 miles in 1 hour 18mins.

Saturday - Rest day
Yoga 20 mins

Sunday - Slow jog 3.4 miles in 31mins.
Yoga 13 mins.


Actuals - Swim 2.5 miles (4,080m). Bike 41.6 miles. Run 16.4 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 63 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target)
S 37.8 (34.8) , B 1113.5 (999.3), R 350.6 (295.1). 
S 37.8 (34.8) , B 1143.8 (999.3), R 358.6 (295.1). Corrected.