Training Plan - Week 53? - Dec 28 to 31

Last 4 days of the year but no time to switch off. Dexter is still on holiday so it is out to run with him every day  for starters.

I also want to try and find a swim somewhere. And if I can fit in a couple of hours on the bike that would round off the year nicely.

  
Monday - Easy run with Dexter.

Tuesday - Easy run with Dexter.
Yoga session

Wednesday - Short swim.
Fartlek run. 

Weights and stretching sessions.

Thursday - Easy run with Dexter.
Easy ride.
Core session

Target totals - Swim 1 miles. Bike 40.0 miles. Run 10.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 52 - Dec 21 to 27

Monday I did an easy jog round Dyce before the last club swimming session of the year. Swimming was the last club session of the year. This normally means it is just a play session but instead we were given a xmas treat of a solid session to finish the year on. 

Tuesday Dexter came to visit and we went out for the first training run of his Xmas training camp. It was a fairly steady run round Dyce for me but in my current form that meant it was pretty quick for Dex. He coped really well at the time but then once we were home he crashed out on the sofa and fell asleep for the rest of the night. 

Wednesday the Club run was on so I decided to give Dexter an easy day while I went to that. We just did a steady run instead of the usual fartlek session. 

Thursday I went for an early swim at Bucksburn. I planned a long steady swim but was really tired and just did an easy 25 minutes instead. Then in the afternoon I took Dexter for a run at Kirkhill. 

Friday being Xmas Day I went through to Elgin as always and went for the tour of Elgin with the Xmas Sprint along the High Street and the Hill race up Lady Hill. With Dexter dragging behind me and not committing to the sprint I was only able to get second place, but the tactical nature of the sprint and the reduced pace meant I still had enough in my legs to win the race to the top of the hill. Although Dexter almost stole that from me himself. 

Saturday I just took Dexter to Kirkhill for an easy loop. We did a reverse version of Thursday's run. 

Sunday was my usual ride with the Kintore Sunday group. Still keeping it sensibly short I did 35 miles at a steady pace. That probably rounds out my bike miles for the year unless I get a stunning day in the next four, and Dexter has a serious grump about going running.

The running and swimming miles just keep ticking on as the record year continues. I end the year with my longest running week of the entire year and my first week over 25 miles. That was mostly due to Dexter visiting and being on holiday though. At first glance this is a terrible statistic, but with a bit of consideration it is actually further confirmation of how good a year I have had. I managed to run more this year but by doing it in lots of smaller (and often faster) pieces.



Target totals - Swim 1.5 miles. Bike 55.0 miles. Run 15.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Dyce easy loop 3.0 miles in 30 mins. 
TPT Swim 2,200m in 54 mins.

Tuesday - Dyce loop with Dexter 3.6 miles in 34 mins.

Wednesday - TPT Steady run 5.7 miles in 52 mins.

Thursday - Swim at Bucksburn 1,200m in 25 mins. 
Run at Kirkhill with Dexter 4.5 miles in 50 mins.

Friday - Xmas Sprint Elgin with Dexter 4.4 miles in 1hr 7 mins.

Saturday - Easy run with Dexter 4.6 miles in 50 mins.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday Lite ride 34.9 miles in 2 hrs 21 mins.


Actuals - Swim 2.2 miles (3,400 m). Bike 34.9 miles. Run 21.2 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Original cumulative target) [New cumulative target]
S 101.7  (91.6)  [97.3], 
B 2194.2  (2237.9)  [2430.0],
R 827.8  (680.1)  [768.2].

Training Plan - Week 52 - Dec 21 to 27

Last full week of the year and as always it is slightly strange. 

As usual Dexter is coming for his Xmas holiday and I get time off work, both of which give me extra training time but mess up my usual planning process. Having already gone through 800 miles this year, against an original target of only 688, I am now going to pile on top of that with runs almost every day from now to the end of the year. 

  
Monday - Core session.
Easy run.

Swim with TPT.

Tuesday - Easy run.

Wednesday - Fartlek run. 

Weights and stretching sessions.

Thursday - Easy run with Dexter.
Core session

Friday - Xmas day run (inc Xmas Sprint and Lady Hill) with Dexter.
Santa.
Dinner at parents.

Saturday - Easy run with Dexter.
Yoga session. Lunch at In-laws.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday ride.

Target totals - Swim 1.5 miles. Bike 55.0 miles. Run 15.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 51 - Dec 14 to 20

Monday I considered skipping swimming. After bailing out on so many swim sessions lately I want to get out of that habit. I either have to finish this session or skip it completely and just go to Bucksburn for an easy swim myself. I decided to go with the club session and take it carefully and aim to finish. About half way through I was feeling really good and managed to push on and clock some decent times on the faster reps. Only one club swim session left this year, and only half a mile to go to break through the 100 miles in a year. 

Tuesday I went for an easy run round Dyce in the rain. I accidentally turned this into a progression run by chopping 20 seconds off the pace each mile. 

Wednesday the club training session was cancelled so I went out for a run on my own. Having had my flu jab during the day and with a bit of a toothache I decided to just cruise round a steady run to bring my miles up to a point where a weekend run can finish out my 15 for the week. 

Thursday was meant to be spin class, but the gym I have been going to has revamped their programme so that is now spin and tone class. This meant half a spin session and half a circuit session. Which actually suits me fine since I have let go of the bike numbers. I am going to claim 5 miles against the 20 minutes on the spin bike. Mainly because that leaves me still a couple of miles short of my longest bike year ever so I still have to go out again on the bike before the end of the year. I am going to claim the circuit session against weights and core.

Friday was a rest day and a trip to the new Star Wars movie.

Saturday I went out for a long easy run, purely with the intention of getting past this weeks 15 miles and my annual 800 miles. I went out the old railway line, past another set of the AWPR roadworks and a new detour from the original path. It was a slog to even trudge along on tired legs but I managed to survive it. I did a very short yoga session in the evening. 

Sunday I went out for  the Kintore Sunday ride. I was really empty and struggling in parts but managed to get round 31 miles in 2 hours. 

Sunday's ride takes me past last year's 2230 miles and while I am behind my cycling targets I have passed my longest cycling year ever. Running ticked through 800 miles for the first time ever. I didn't get to 100 swimming miles yet as I couldn't fit in a second swim this week. Monday night will clear that one up, if the dentist doesn't do anything that prevents me from swimming. 

Target totals - Swim 1.5 miles. Bike 55.0 miles. Run 15.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - TPT Swim 2,150m in 57 mins.

Tuesday - Easy run 4.0 miles in 30 mins. 

Wednesday - Dyce park loops plus 4.6 miles in 37 mins.

Thursday - Spin and tone class. 5 miles in 20 mins, plus core and weights. 

Friday - Rest day

Saturday - Long run 6.6 miles in 61 mins.
Yoga session 10 mins. 

Sunday - Kintore Sunday Lite ride 31.1 miles in 2 hrs 01 mins.


Actuals - Swim 1.3 miles (2,150 m). Bike 36.1 miles. Run 15.2 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 10 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Original cumulative target) [New cumulative target]
S 99.5  (90.2)  [95.9], 
B 2154.3  (2182.9)  [2375.0],
R 802.0  (665.1)  [753.2].

Training Plan - Week 51 - Dec 14 to 20

Two weeks to go and most of the numbers are now meaningless. It would be nice to get over 100 swimming and 800 running but neither of those really matter. It would be good to get the 7 more bike miles to take me to my longest bike year ever but that is another one that doesn't really matter. 

I lose Friday to the new Star Wars movie. 

I need to start putting some effort into writing next year's plan. 

  
Monday - Core session.

Swim with TPT.

Tuesday - Easy run.

Wednesday - Fartlek run. 

Weights and stretching sessions.

Thursday - Easy run.
Core session

Friday - Rest day.
Star Wars. 
Yoga session.

Saturday - Ride or swim if possible. 

Sunday - Kintore Sunday ride.

Target totals - Swim 1.5 miles. Bike 55.0 miles. Run 15.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 50 - Dec 7 to 13

Monday I didn't have time for a run before swimming as I had to go to the hospital for an ultrasound on my kidney. She gave me the all clear. No obvious problems so whatever keeps causing me pain in that area is probably just muscular. And whatever had me peeing blood has probably passed. Anyway I went to swimming, and didn't even make it half way through the warm-up. After a trip to throw-up and a quick rinse I felt a bit better so went back to start the main set but was having problems with my back and shoulder tensing up. I didn't even manage to make it to the half-hour mark before I had to quit. 

Tuesday I just dragged myself out for an easy jog around the block to get some miles in. 

Wednesday was a terrible day for wind and a bit of rain and I half expected running to be cancelled. I turned up anyway, and was not on my own. Always good to have someone else to run with, but especially so on nights when the conditions are so harsh. Despite the weather, and both of us complaining about niggling problems, we were pretty quick round the 2 laps of the fartlek course. 

Thursday I had to fit in a run between work and wedding planning. That meant going straight from the office on a tour of Westhill, looking for 6.3 miles or about an hour to try and finish off my running week. It actually worked out surprisingly well and I came back in 59 minutes having clocked 6.8 miles. That takes me beyond my extended target for the year and also to my longest running year ever. With 21 days left to clock another 17 miles my first ever 800 mile year is looking to be a cinch.

Friday was a rest day and dinner for the fiancées birthday. 

Saturday I went for a quick jog round Dyce in the morning as I couldn't fit anything else in. Then went on a DIY binge before an afternoon of wedding planning and another night out for the company Xmas party. 

Sunday's ride was cancelled for the ice. I initially planned to use that opportunity to go for a swim or catch up on some of the other sessions from the week. Instead I got hijacked by DIY again. 

Another poor week on the numbers, as I drift under my original bike target for the first time since mid March. So less than a fortnight after deciding I am going to let go of my extended bike target a 0/55 mile week means I am now also going to have to admit defeat on my original bike target as well. 7 miles worth of riding before the end of the year will still make it my longest year ever on the bike, and I can get that from a spin session if the weather is going to prevent getting out on the road bike. 

More worrying is another bad swimming session and the realisation that I have only completed one session of the last 6. 

Running continues to tick along nicely though. 


Target totals - Swim 1.5 miles. Bike 55.0 miles. Run 15.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Swim with TPT 700m in 35 mins.

Tuesday - Easy jog 3.6 miles in 31 mins. 

Wednesday - TPT Fartlek 5.1 miles in 43 mins.

Thursday -  Westhill run 6.8 miles in 59 mins. 

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - Dyce jog 3.5 miles in 33 mins. 

Sunday - Rest day.


Actuals - Swim 0.4 miles (700 m). Bike 0 miles. Run 19.0 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Original cumulative target) [New cumulative target]
S 98.2  (88.7)  [94.4], 
B 2123.2  (2127.9)  [2320.0], 
R 786.8  (650.1)  [738.2].

Training Plan - Week 50 - Dec 7 to 13

Just 3 weeks left this year. I should really be making more headway into planning for 2016. I have at least been through the list of Championship events and potential qualifying events for next year and added them to my calendar. 

In the meantime I still have a few more numbers to tick off for this year if I can get to them. I am well on target for my first 800 mile year*. Some time this week I will pass each of my extended targets for swimming and running for the year. It is already my longest swimming year by a long way, and some time this week will become my longest running year ever. Accepting that I am not going to get close to my extended biking target, I am still within range of my original biking target and some time this week 2015 should become my longest biking year ever.

*I might actually have done an 800 mile year when I was a junior and no-one counted miles, but I might not have. And I certainly wasn't biking or swimming on top of it. 

 
Monday - Core session.

Swim with TPT.

Tuesday - Easy run.

Wednesday - Fartlek run. 

Weights and stretching sessions.

Thursday - Easy run.
Core session

Friday - Rest day.
Yoga session.

Saturday - Ride or swim if possible. 

Sunday - Kintore Sunday ride.

Target totals - Swim 1.5 miles. Bike 53.6 miles. Run 14.9 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 49 - Nov 30 to Dec 6

Monday I realised that my plan for the week wasn't going to work. I had a quick reshuffle and added in an easy run after work. Those three miles should be enough to get me over my 15 miles for the week. 

Then I went to club swimming for another set that should really have suited me. I struggled a bit with cramp early on but then managed to get in a chunk of the session at a decent pace. Then about half way through a 400m rep I went from 25/26 secs a length to 29/30. I wasn't working any less hard, I just was suddenly flapping around and everything from there was a disaster. I carried on for a bit but when I managed to follow a slow 75m (82secs) with a supposedly fast 75m (85 secs) that was enough of a sign to call it a day and go home. 

Tuesday I couldn't fit a major session around Energy Institute and work commitments. I did get home early enough to fit a yoga session in to the evening. These have been severely lacking since I went back to work. It makes a huge difference even to work through a short yoga workout.  Going through an extended 35 minute session there were an awful lot of clicks and cracks that have built up over the last couple of months.

I do focus too much on the mile numbers and dismiss the added sessions so easily whenever I get a little bit of time pressure. I really need to be more strict with myself about making time to fit in those extra pieces. So here is the first part of my 2016 plan being formalised. All of the extra sessions are going to be written in to the larger programme, with the yoga front and centre.

Wednesday as supposed to be a fartlek run at Kirkhill with TPT. I went to the session but with my kidney annoying me again and a race on Saturday I decided to just take it as a steadier session and take the off-road miles. 

Thursday I went to spin class. The session was much more suited to me this time but still very tough. I just don't have the power for the high resistance sections these days. I did have the heart rate monitor running for the entire session and it was encouraging that I can recover from 175+ back down to 100 bpm within a couple of minutes while still turning over high revs on the low resistance. As with the previous session the core section included at the end was very tough and the stretching section just showed how little that single yoga session has done to repair the last couple of months of damage. 

Friday I had a rest day before racing Saturday. I am going to pretend this was optional but my kidney was really bugging me so I wasn't able to do anything anyway. I also was really suffering after spin and core on Thursday.  

Saturday I woke up to massive DOMS from spinning. My hamstrings feel about 3 inches too short and trying to sit up uses ab muscles that no longer work. Obviously great prep for racing, forgot to write a race preview so I will roll it into the review. I started with a short yoga session to see if I could ease off some of the worst of the pained muscles. Then I headed up to Elgin for the race, which will get a report to itself. Then I jogged back for a shower, got changed as quickly as I could and drove straight back to Aberdeen for a Xmas party. 

Sunday I was out for the Kintore Sunday ride as planned. As with the last couple of rides I took the first section with the main group before breaking off and heading back. This time I had company for the first section on the way back as well, before finishing the last 10 miles solo. 

In the afternoon I managed to get some studying in on my current Nutrition course. That has taken a big hit due to work but I managed to make some good headway into water-soluble vitamins this week. 

Another week where I could be disappointed at the numbers. Another week where I am actually pretty happy with what I have done. I raced well on Saturday, I got two bike sessions in, I got back to yoga and stretching. I am still sliding on some of the numbers but this is partly as I drift into a new plan for 2016 and I am not stressing about any shorter weeks as I am still ticking over nicely and I have had a very big year already. 


Target totals - Swim 1.5 miles. Bike 53.6 miles. Run 14.9 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Easy run 3.1 miles in 30 mins.
Swim with TPT 1,850m in 53 mins.

Tuesday - Rest day.
Yoga session 35 mins.

Wednesday - TPT Fartlek 5.2 miles in 60 mins.

Thursday - Spinning class ~10 miles in 45 mins. 
Core session.
Stretching session. 

Friday - Rest day
Stretching and rollering.

Saturday - Yoga session 12 mins.
North XC Champs Elgin 5.9 miles in 43 mins. 
Warm-down 1.0 miles in 10 mins.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday Lite 27.2 miles in 1 hour 43 mins.


Actuals - Swim 1.1 miles (1,850 m). Bike 37.2 miles. Run 15.2 miles. 1 short core, 0 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 47 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Original cumulative target) [New cumulative target]
S 97.8  (87.2)  [92.9], 
B 2123.2  (2072.9)  [2265.0], 
R 767.8  (635.1)  [723.2].

Race Review - North District XC Champs, Elgin

Here is last year's report. Although it seems to jump four miles or so in the middle. Here is 2013's report. 

I was still suffering with really tight hamstrings from Spin class on Thursday. In the morning I tried a yoga session and some stretching to ease them off. That made everything else feel better but my hamstrings didn't improve. For the drive to the race I put the heated seats on hoping that warming them through might help but that didn't really make any difference. 

I parked the car at my parents house, put on a load of extra clothes for the cold drizzle and headed up the mile of hill to the race course. I did learn from previous years and remembered to change into my race shoes on the way up the hill before the first of the wet and muddy sessions. I got registered, chatted with a few people and tried to do a bit of a warm-up. Hamstrings were having none of it. 

I decided to start near the back and just take the first lap easy. I was hoping that once I got moving my hamstrings would ease off. The first mile or so is a nice wide track so I was able to take it easy and spot a couple of the guys I normally race against. With my sensible head on I decided to let them go, but try and keep them in sight. That worked fine for the first mile or so but then I realised that keeping them at 50m in front meant I was running at their pace anyway. I was actually starting to feel a bit more comfortable and my hamstrings stopped complaining just as we came in to a thinner section where overtaking is tough. 

A few of the runners in front of me were trying to pick lines of good surface. Since I know the woods so well I know that there is always a good surface. Sometimes it is under a puddle, or a few inches of soft mud, but it is there. So I was able to just charge through the softer sections while they were tip-toeing round the edges. This meant a bit of bunching, as I closed on them through the trickier technical sections. Just at the end of the lap there is a short climb and I tripped on a root. I managed to catch myself but my abs tensed as my core engaged to help my balance and suddenly spin class seemed like a bad idea again. 

The second lap was much better though. I was managing to pick off places, not just individual places, but whole groups. I coasted past my two team-mates that I had been trying to keep in sight on lap 1 and I picked off over a dozen places on lap 2. I was running really well on the hard surface landcover tracks now that there was space to pick a decent line, and through the technical sections I was still passing people. 

Then, just coming uphill towards the end of lap 2 I had a bit of a disaster. Going round a left hander I slid on a root. Obviously it must have looked like quite a spectacular slide as both the marshalls and the guy behind me asked if I was ok. I was fine, but again my core had decided to work a bit too hard to keep my balance. This time it had called a couple of muscles in my back to help and they decided not to let go. It felt like someone had stuck a stanley knife into the back of my kidney. I was still running well so I carried on but now I had problems when I tried to push the pace it felt like the little stanley blade in my back was being given a little wiggle so I had to back off. And that was the last of the overtaking. 

It felt like I was now dragging myself around at a terrible slog. Garmin says otherwise as the pace was pretty comparable to the previous laps. I was still running well enough but just not making any progress against the rest of the field. 

I haven't seen the results yet but garmin says the time was a couple of minutes faster than either of my previous runs on this course, and I was ahead of quite a few people that I would normally expect to lose to so I expect to be pretty happy.

Update 52nd place out of 83 in 42 mins 37. Bearing in mind that this race was the Championships and that skewed the quality of the field I am still happy with that.

All in, a good run on a great course. Just a shame I hadn't prepared slightly better the last couple of days leading in to it.