Training Review - Week 45 - Nov 2 to 8

Monday I was just too tired to fit in a run before swimming. The benefit of that was that when I got to swimming I was able to push a bit harder without causing too many problems. I had a bit of cramp early on but that eased off during the main session. 

Tuesday I went to an Energy Institute presentation on Brent decommissioning. It ran late into the evening and by the time I got home I was just too tired to train. 

Wednesday was a trip to Kirkhill for the Club fartlek session again. Seemed much harder this week, although the time doesn't seem to be any different. 


Thursday was meant to be bonfire night and fireworks at Kemnay. Instead I had problems with a bout of depression. It has been a long time since it was this bad. The entire time I was unemployed I didn't have a problem, even though that should have been much more stressful than now. 

Friday, I still felt shit but had to get in 30 minutes of something for my GymPact so I dragged myself out for a very slow lap round the block. 

Saturday I was feeling a lot better but wedding stuff tried to get in the way. Early morning the best man started collecting favours with a lift to the airport. That actually worked out well though as I went for a quick swim on the way home. Then in the afternoon the fiancee went for a dress shopping outing. That also worked out in my favour as it meant Dexter came to visit and we went out for a steady run at Kirkhill. Clocked the rest of the target run miles for the week and got some cuddles from a very sleepy Dexter afterwards.

Sunday I planned an easy ride for beginners with the Kintore Sunday group. Unfortunately no-one turned up for the shorter ride so I decided to step up and go out with the main group for the full 50-mile version. I was fine until about 20, where we had a second puncture stop. I was a bit stiff when we restarted but I managed to keep ticking over and I was surviving until 30, but from there it was just a slog to get back.

I passed 700 run miles this week. That makes it my second longest running year ever and well on course to become the longest. My second swim on Saturday took me through my original target for the year of 92.6 miles. And the long ride on Sunday covered all of this week and nibbled another 5 miles off my backlog. 

So the core numbers make this look like a good week, but it really wasn't. Friday I was forced into a session by the financial penalty in my GymPact app. Saturday was rescued by Dexter. And Sunday's bike miles were only so high because no-one else turned up for the Lite version I had planned.



Target totals - Swim 1.5 miles. Bike 45.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Swim with TPT 1.2 miles in 57 mins.

Tuesday - Energy Institute.

Wednesday - Kirkhill fartlek with TPT 5.0 miles in 1hr 3 mins.

Thursday - Depression.

Friday - Slow Dyce loop 3.8 miles in 33 mins. 

Saturday - Swim at Bucksburn 1,000m in 19 mins.
Kirkhill with Dexter 5.3 miles in 1 hour.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday 50.1 miles in 3 hours 42 mins. 


Actuals - Swim 1.8 miles (2,900 m). Bike 50.1 miles. Run 14.1 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions.  mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Original cumulative target) [New cumulative target]
S 92.6  (81.2)  [86.9], 
B 2023.1  (1884.3)  [2076.4], 
R 705.8  (578.3)  [666.4].

Training Plan - Week 45 - November 2 to 8

I have an Energy Institute event taking out Tuesday evening and Bonfire night and fireworks taking Thursday. And I am not sure yet what is coming to the cinema this week but as it is Strictly season, Saturday cinema trips are out so I can probably write off Friday evening to the cinema as well. That leaves me trying to squeeze everything else in and it looks like something will have to give this week (and next).

As I am falling behind on the bike and I need to get back in to the Sunday rides so that I can set up regular Lite rides, it can’t be that. Monday and Wednesday Club sessions are also on the definite list. They are too valuable to drop in terms of socialising as well as training. So that still leaves me looking for about 8 miles of running, about half a mile of swimming and as much extra biking as I can find. Trying to squeeze a double session into Monday nights is not helping my swimming as I arrive at the pool tired and my back gives me problems, but I am just going to live with it again this week. I do need to keep that sensible in terms of distance though so it will stay short and easy. That still leaves me trying to fill Saturday with bits of everything, and Sunday evening with all the extra sessions.

That simply isn’t going to fit so the plan will be to let the weather dictate what I can do on Saturday and then try and fit in the shorter sessions wherever I can squeeze 15 minutes in through the week. If there is nothing decent on at the cinema this week then getting Friday night back would certainly help.

Monday - Core session.

Swim with TPT.

Tuesday - Energy Institute.

Wednesday - Fartlek run. 

Weights and core sessions.

Thursday - Fireworks.

Friday - Turbo session or easy run?

Saturday - Anything that fits with the weather.

Yoga and stretching.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday

Target totals - Swim 1.5 miles. Bike 45.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 44 - October 26 to Nov 1

Monday I managed to get out for an easy run before swimming. Trying to grab sessions this week is the only way I am going to get enough done. Even then I am not going to get anywhere close to the bike this week. 

Looking towards the end of the year I wonder if I might have to trade off somewhere and just go nuts on the bike. I am so far ahead on swimming and running that some time next week I am going to pass through my original end-of-year targets.

Having wasted Tuesday on the worst Bond film in history I was back to the serious stuff on Wednesday. This week's club fartlek session came with the added bonus of a dark, wet forest run at Kirkhill. It was really good fun being out for my first torch lit run of the year and it was a good session as well. I did remember the right orthotics for my trail shoes this week, but still came back with some aches in the stabilising muscles in my calves. 

Thursday I went out for a nice easy recovery run. Turned out I didn't need much recovering as I cruised round my 4 mile loop in my fastest time ever. So Friday I went out and did the a similar run but at a properly casual pace. I used it as a warm-up for a long yoga session. That definitely helped ease off some of the aches that I have been building up over the last few weeks. 

Saturday I had a day off from the main sports but I decided to get in a double stretching session and another big chunk of yoga. 

Sunday's Kings Aquathon will get a report to itself. 

Another milestone ticked off this week as I went through the 688 miles that I had originally set as my 2015 run target. But that is more than ruined by a complete zero on the bike. 



Target totals - Swim 1.5 miles. Bike 45.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Dyce loop 3.9 miles in 32 mins.
Swim 2,000m in 59 mins.

Tuesday - SPECTRE.

Wednesday - Kirkhill run 5.3 miles in 63 mins.

Thursday -  Dyce easy loop 4.1 miles in 30 mins.

Friday - Dyce easy loop 3.3 miles in 31 mins. 
Yoga session 32 mins.

Saturday - Rest day
Stretching session. 

Sunday - Yoga session 12 mins.
Kings Aquathon 750m swim in 13 mins.
Run 3.5 miles in 24 mins.

Actuals - Swim 1.8 miles (2,750 m). Bike  miles. Run 20.1 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 44 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Original cumulative target) [New cumulative target]
S 90.8  (79.7)  [85.4], 
B 1973.0  (1839.3)  [2031.4], 
R 691.7  (564.3)  [652.4].

Race Review - Kings Aquathon

Here is my race review from my last attempt at this race. I could dig out a couple of others but they were all on the old course so they are not really comparable. 

Preview

The Kings Aquathon (the spell checker keeps changing that to 'Equation', which is nearly as annoying as the increasingly common 'Aquathlon')  was my first ever multi-sport race. Long before I ever even thought about doing triathlons. I used to breast stroke up and down for about 10 minutes for the 400m swim and then run past people on the 5k run. Occasionally I have also done the long 750m swim /10k race. Nowadays the race is a mixed distance, with a 750m swim and a 5k run. 

I expect to swim a solid but not a spectacular time. Anything under 13 minutes will be pretty good. If I can race anywhere near the 12:28-35 marks that I was doing for summer races that will be excellent. 

I am running really well. The only other time the race has been on this course I clocked 25:10. The course is slightly long for a 5k so it wasn't as terrible a run as it looks. I still expect to hack a minute or two off that time. 

Pre-race

Briefing was pretty standard. Key factor was that they had changed which pool we were swimming in, which in turn changed the exit and the start of the run. Adding an extra 300m or so. They also announced a 3-lap run, but fortunately a quick confirmation had them move it back out to the full 5-laps.

Setting up transition I ignored my own note about socks from my previous blog. Instead I went for wearing my race shoes slightly looser and dumping a lot of baby powder in them.

The run route was changed to allow for the shift to the other swimming pool. About 300m extra around the pool building before joining the previous run course. 

Race

I started the swim pretty comfortably. I easily caught up to the girl in front but I decided to draft her for a few lengths. By 125m, it felt just a tad too slow so I passed her and within a length I got straight on to drafting the other guy in my lane. I took another few laps easy behind him before deciding I could still go faster on my own from the 250m mark. Once I was out in front I towed them for a few lengths before trying to break away. Turns out that even at full pace I didn't have enough to break their tow, so I stayed at the front doing the work for a few hundred metres before I decided to play a bit more tactically and let them past so I could draft and recover through the last 150m. It did cost me over a second a length from there but I was saving a lot of energy so I decided it was worth it. 

I barely felt the tap from the lane counter but I had been checking the watch so I knew to expect it and I knew there were only two lengths left. Unfortunately the girl in my lane didn't feel hers and carried on for an extra couple of lengths. Trying to get out of the pool with high edges is a bit of a challenge. A bit of a belly flop onto the side and then dragging myself out was all I could manage. 

Swim time 13:01, just about what I predicted.

I had an ok transition, despite dropping my phone when I tried to pick it up. I like to have the step counter with me even on a short swim/run race like this, on top of the habit of making sure I have it for any cycling race in case I ever have another crash.

27 seconds through transition.

Out on to the run and I was trying to figure out where I was overall. The 6 people from the faster lanes were definitely all out in front. The guy from my lane that got out ahead was faffing about in transition and I had shot past him. And one guy from the final lane was out with me and had a slightly better transition so maybe 8th? About 100m in to the run it became partly clear why as he had to stop and tie his shoelaces. So I think I am up to 7th at this point. I could see a few people in front and I started working my way after them one at a time. This was going really well for the first couple of laps as I made at least a couple more places. There was only one other girl in the race so I knew when I passed her. 

As I continued passing people, I couldn't tell if I was lapping back markers or making places. I picked off another 4, who were generally really struggling with the run. Turned out they were all back markers as I still finished 5th overall. I was definitely closing on another couple of places but I maybe took the run a little bit easy in the middle. 

Run time 23:36. 

I would have been happy with that on the old course, so on the new longer course I am really pleased. On my slowest of 5 laps this time I was still seconds faster than my fastest lap last time out. 

My no-sock decision has bitten me, as expected, and I have now skinned the same part of my foot as I did the last time I did this race.  I have also blistered the big toe on my other foot. Both of those are going to bug me for a couple of weeks but I think I will be able to run over them.

Training Plan - Week 44 - Oct 26 to Nov 1

A strange week. Kings Aquathon on Sunday takes out the whole weekend and my major biking option. I may cycle to and from the race just to get some bike time in to this week. And SPECTRE takes out my Tuesday evening. 

The clock changing for the end of summer time takes out evening rides on the road and I am still not convinced to buy a mountain bike. I will have to resort to putting the TT bike on the turbo. Then I somehow have to find the willpower to sit on it for any length of time. 


Monday - Core session.
Swim with TPT.

Tuesday - SPECTRE.

Wednesday - Fartlek run. 
Weights and core sessions.

Thursday - Easy run.
Stretching session.

Friday - Turbo session.

Saturday - Easy run
Yoga and stretching.

Sunday - Kings Aquathon.

Target totals - Swim 1.5 miles. Bike 45.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Training Review - Week 43 - Oct 19 to 25

Monday I missed my chance to run as I just couldn't fit it in. I went to swimming but I had a terrible night as my right side, back and shoulders all tightened up. Garmin was recording nonsense. to the point that it logged my 100m breast stroke warm down as 200m in 2:18. I count that I did something around 1850m in the 43 minutes before I gave up on my back. 

Tuesday was a trip to Kirkhill. Last chance of the year to get an evening run round the hill before it is going to need head-torches.Even that was pushing it a little bit. Some of the sections through the forest were pretty dark and a little bit dodgy. Also I forgot my smaller orthotics to fit in my off-road running shoes. The larger set from my work shoes dont fit so I had to run with none. This meant that by the end of 6 miles the stabilising muscles in both calves were really suffering. I did get a roller session in before bed to treat the worst pains but some of the tightness is going to last all week.

Wednesday I really could have used a rest but I had been volunteered to lead the club running session in the evening. That turned out to be a relatively comfortable session. the tightness from Tuesday wasn't as bad as I feared, but it did certainly affect some of the tighter corners. 

Thursday I got home from work slightly early and managed to sneak in a loop around Dyce before going to organise wedding invitations. Still struggling with tight calves from Tuesday. 

Friday I had a rest day.

Saturday the weather was beyond terrible so I decided to skip the ride to the pool and just drove instead. Then once I was in the water I felt pretty terrible as well. I decided almost instantly to skip the long swim in favour of a 4x400m reps session, justifying it with next weekends 400m race. Then after the second 400m rep I decided to start cutting again.

Sunday was a long ride with the Kintore group. Last week before they reset the miles to suit beginners. I was really struggling at a few different points. No real surprise as we spent the first 30 miles averaging over 17mph and then straight into climbing the Learney.

Another good week. All the miles covered and a few extra as well. Looks like I am going to have to make some nutrition changes though. I am still gradually losing weight, when I really should be adding. The free lunches at work are nice but they simply aren't enough calorie content.


Target totals - Swim 1.5 miles. Bike 45.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Swim 1,850m in 43 mins.

Tuesday - Kirkhill run 6.2 miles in 60 mins.
Stretching and rollering.

Wednesday - TPT Fartlek 4.8 miles in 43 mins.

Thursday - Dyce loop 3.6 miles in 30 mins. 

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday -  Swim at ASV 1,100m in 24 mins. 

Sunday - Ride 51.6 in 3 hours 12 mins.
Stretching session.
Yoga session 18 mins.

Actuals - Swim 1.8 miles (2,950 m). Bike 51.6 miles. Run 14.6 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 18 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Original cumulative target) [New cumulative target]
S 88.3  (78.2)  [83.9], 
B 1973.0  (1794.3)  [1986.4], 
R 671.6  (550.3)  [638.4].

Training Plan - Week 43 - October 19 to 25

Another week of the same. Nothing exciting in the plan this week. The main thing is to try and get an evening cycle in somewhere before the clocks change and deprive me of daylight and I have to resort to the turbo, or buy a mountain bike. 


Monday - Core session.
Swim with TPT.

Tuesday - Easy run or bike.
Yoga.

Wednesday - Fartlek run. 
Weights and core sessions.

Thursday - Easy run.
Stretching session.

Friday - Short ride?

Saturday - Long run, or bike to pool.
Yoga and stretching.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday.

Target totals - Swim 1.5 miles. Bike 45.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.