Training Plan - Week 53 - Dec 26 to Jan 1

Last week of the year and there is no TPT swim session on Boxing Day as the pool is closed. Dexter is still visiting so I will try and get out to run with him whenever he is able and I will swim and bike on the days in between. 

Sunday will be my traditional New Year run to first foot my granny, and will also be the first entry on my new blog.




Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 36.4 miles. Run 13.9 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Training Review - Week 52 - Dec 19 to 25

I am still not clear of my cold. And Dexter has been too much of a grump to run with most of this week. My social life and christmas shopping got in the way of some of my commuting and I have just been generally lazy all week. 

I have passed my 750 mile run target for the year with a week to spare. 

On Sunday Santa brought me some new trainers and a cadence sensor for my mountain bike, but I managed to lose the Xmas Sprint with little help from Dexter during the last 50 meters. We were first to the top of the hill though.



Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 36.4 miles. Run 13.9 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Commute ride to office mtb 7.2 miles in 35 mins.
Commute ride from office mtb 7.1 miles in 41 mins.
TPT Xmas relays 750m(?) in 56 mins.

Tuesday - Commute run to office 6.8 miles in 62 mins.

Wednesday - Commute ride to office 7.2 miles in 44 mins.

Thursday -  Commute run 6.9 miles in 65 mins.

Friday - Commute ride mtb from office 6.7 miles in 37 mins.
Jog with Dexter 2.7 miles in 32 mins. 

Saturday - Rest Day

Sunday - Elgin Xmas Sprint 4.3 miles in 58 mins.


Actuals - Swim 0.5 miles (750 m). Bike 28.2 miles. Run 20.7 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 0 stretching / rollering session. 0 mins of yoga. 

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 95.7  (100.7)  [115.8],
B 2,322.4  (2,015.8)  [2,519.8],
R 763.1  (725.2)  [819.5].

Training Plan - Week 52 - Dec 19 to 25

Last full week of the year, I am still at work until Friday so it will be the standard commuting plan for most of the week. On top of that I have Dexter to play with so I will maybe get a couple of extra short runs in through the week as well. 

Christmas day will be my usual trip to Elgin. I am half tempted to do my first ever Parkrun in the morning before the usual loop of the town with Dexter, the Xmas Sprint and Lady Hill. 


Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 36.4 miles. Run 13.9 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Training Review - Week 51 - Dec 12 to 18

Monday I was still suffering with the cold so didn't manage to do anything useful with my day off work. I didn't even manage to get to swimming in the evening.

Tuesday was worse as I suffered through work but had to resort to the train for my commutes. 5 days in and I am now fairly fed up of being ill. 

Wednesday i made it down the stairs without coughing so I decided to take the bike to work. At a leisurely pace through some 'light drizzle' I arrived at work 10 minutes slower than normal, soaked and cold. But without coughing up either lung so I will call that a success. I managed a similarly slow ride home. 

Thursday I felt like I might be just about healthy enough to jog in to work in the morning. That was probably a bit ambitious but I did survive without making myself any more sick. 

Friday I resorted to the mountain bike for no other reason than all my road biking gear was in the wash. I arrived home to find Dexter has arrived for his Xmas holiday. I was too tired to take him out for a run and he has some muscle problems that mean I am only allowed to run with him every second day anyway. We did go for a brisk walk around the park to test out his new Cani-cross harness though. 

Saturday I did a loop round Dyce with a very grumpy Dexter. I eventually cut a half mile off as I was fed up fighting with him. 

Sunday I took a look at my week and considered which numbers I could make up. 8 on the bike, 4.3 of a run or a 2-mile swim were all possible. A run to the pool, an hour swim and a half hour on the bike in the afternoon to get them all was even a possibility. Instead I spent the day wrapping Xmas presents and walking Dexter. 

I am still not completely clear of my cold and the last couple of months my training load has been fairly heavy, and it gets heavier still in the next few weeks, so having a very light couple of weeks with the cold and a few rest days now aren't the worst idea. 


Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 36.4 miles. Run 13.9 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Cold

Tuesday - Cold

Wednesday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 40 mins.
Commute ride from office 7.1 miles in 42 mins.
Stretching and rollering.

Thursday -  Commute run 6.9 miles in 67 mins.

Friday - Commute ride mtb to office 7.1 miles in 33 mins.
Commute ride mtb from office 7.1 miles in 41 mins.

Saturday - Jog with Dexter 2.7 miles in 35 mins. 

Sunday - Rest day.


Actuals - Swim  miles ( m). Bike 28.4 miles. Run 9.6 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 1 stretching / rollering session. 0 mins of yoga. 

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 95.2  (100.7)  [115.8],
B 2,294.2  (2,015.8)  [2,519.8],
R 742.4  (725.2)  [819.5].

Training Plan - Week 51 - Dec 12 to 18

This week depends mostly on whether my cold has cleared up. I have Monday off work and if I am able I will put some miles in during the day. 

Dexter might be coming midweek for his Xmas holidays but he currently has a muscle injury that means he can't run every day, so I will stick with my commuting runs as the base of my plan and anything I get with him at the weekend will be a bonus.


Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 36.4 miles. Run 13.9 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Training Review - Week 50 - Dec 5 to 11

Monday I rode to and from work and managed to survive swimming but I was struggling with not having had a rest day for a month. That then got a lot worse on Tuesday morning. My run to work was a disaster, despite getting green lights all the way I was nearly 10 minutes slower than either of last week's runs. 

Wednesday I rode in to work but then got dragged in to meetings for an extra couple of hours and after a late ride home I was too tired and hungry to even consider going swimming.

Thursday I went for a pair of easy commute rides, hoping to get a bit more recovery before Friday's run. That was going fine until I got overtaken by another bike commuter and it turned into a group ride as we took turns at charging along as fast as we could. Then the trip home was similarly over-paced. I did drag myself to the pool in the evening to make up for Wednesday's missed swim session. I just did a steady 30 minute swim. 

Friday I woke up with a bad cold and immediately scrapped my plan to run in to work. Taking the train to work and surviving until lunchtime was as much as I could manage. I was actually so out of it by that point that I managed to misread the timetable and miss the train home. 

The entire weekend was a similar write-off as I tried to fight off the bug. As it was only a head cold I could probably have trained over it but I am long overdue for a rest anyway so it was probably not the worst time in the world to be ill for a few days. 



Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 36.4 miles. Run 13.9 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Commute to office 7.0 miles in 31 mins.
Commute from office 7.0 miles in 38 mins.
Stretching session.
Swim with TPT 2,000 m in 51 mins. 

Tuesday - Commute run 6.8 miles in 69 mins.
Stretching and rollering.

Wednesday - Commute to office 7.1 miles in 34 mins.
Commute from office 7.0 miles in 35 mins.

Thursday - Commute to office 7.1 miles in 32 mins.
Commute from office 7.1 miles in 37 mins.
Swim at Bucksburn 1,600m in 30 mins. 

Friday - Cold

Saturday - Cold

Sunday - Cold


Actuals - Swim 2.2 miles (3,600 m). Bike 42.3 miles. Run 6.8 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 1 stretching / rollering session. 0 mins of yoga. 

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 95.2  (98.8)  [113.6],
B 2,265.8  (1,979.4)  [2,474.2],
R 732.8  (711.3)  [803.8].

Training Plan - Week 50 - Dec 5 to 11

With a short week at the start of the year it looks like I will have a 53 week year, but it has taken me until now to notice that my counting has been slightly out of alignment with previous years. 

Another standard week of commuting and as much swimming as I can cram in as I continue try to test out next year's plan a few weeks early. This week Thursday and Friday commutes switch around to accommodate Mrs M's 30th birthday dinner on Friday night. That should be a calm evening with the parents so I shouldn't lose another Saturday, but then we have a night out on Saturday which might cost me Sunday's session. 

Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 36.4 miles. Run 13.9 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Training Review - Week 49 - Nov 28 to Dec 4

Monday's commutes on the bike were uneventful. My swollen knee has become just an annoyance rather than a pain. I did a bit of stretching before dinner to try and minimise the chances of cramping up during swimming. The swim set was tough and swimming on consecutive days is always a challenge. I got through it all though, even the drills and the bits with swim aids that I normally have to adapt. I even managed to put in some decent reps in the middle. The stretching helped delay the arrival of swim cramps but didn't completely prevent them. 

Tuesday was another chilly morning and I over-dressed for my run in. That did keep me warm and meant I ran a decent time. My post-season fitness levels are still improving and that is showing through even on tired days. 

Wednesday I did my standard cycle on the way in but then a quick bit of maths and I figured out that another couple of miles would take me over the 25% for a Strava badge for November. So on the return commute I did a loop around Dyce as well. That also took me past 2,200 miles and this is now my longest bike year ever. With a month and 8 cycling commute days still planned I should go through 2,300 miles. 

In the evening was my midweek swim session. I started with 6 x 200m at slightly faster than 400m pace and then paddled around a little to cool down. 

Thursday I ran to work in another surprisingly quick time. Both times this week I have been comfortable inside an hour despite traffic lights and faffing about with Pokemon and zombies. 

Friday was an unpleasant commute through the drizzle on the bike, and the first time I arrived in total darkness, spent the day at work looking at the grey skies which weren't raining, and then about 20 minutes before I went home the sun went down and the drizzle started again. It was a far from enjoyable day on the bike but got me over my mile targets for the week and left my weekend entirely free. 

Having the weekend free should have given me a chance to catch up on the smaller session that I missed through the week but instead I took the opportunity to add some extra miles. A visit to my granny on the way to the cinema meant I could squeeze in a run on the way there. I also squeezed in the weights session last thing before bed time. 

Sunday I wanted to fulfil my plan to get a third swim in to this week so I went to bucksburn for the early session. I also took the opportunity to run both ways just to start winding up my run miles before xmas. 

I also tried to wind up the pace a little bit rather than just slog through the miles as I have been doing lately. While that is helping with my fitness levels and I am making pace gains on my running just through being in generally better shape, it isn't really making me properly faster. Every year at this sort of time I look back on my year and lament my lack of faster running work, and this year is no different.

    


Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 36.4 miles. Run 13.9 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Commute to office 7.1 miles in 34 mins.
Commute from office 7.1 miles in 36 mins.
Stretching session.
Swim with TPT 2,200 m in 55 mins. 

Tuesday - Commute run 6.8 miles in 58 mins.
Stretching and rollering.

Wednesday - Commute to office 7.1 miles in 32 mins.
Commute from office 9.6 miles in 51 mins.
Swim at Bucksburn 1,450m in 40 mins. 

Thursday - Commute run 6.8 miles in 59 mins.
Stretching session.

Friday - Commute to office 7.2 miles in 34 mins.
Commute from office 7.2 miles in 40 mins.

Saturday - Run to grannys 5.0 miles in 44 mins.
Weights session.

Sunday - Run to bucksburn 2.5 miles in 22 mins.
Swim at bucksburn 1,000m in 20 mins.
Run from bucksburn 2.5 miles in 19 mins.
Yoga session 23 mins.


Actuals - Swim 2.9 miles (4,650 m). Bike 45.3 miles. Run 23.6 miles. 0 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 stretching / rollering session. 23 mins of yoga. 

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 93.0  (96.8)  [111.4],
B 2,209.1  (1,942.9)  [2,428.7],
R 726.0  (697.4)  [788.1].

Training Plan - Week 49 - Nov 28 to Dec 4

So the numbers are still set for the rest of the year and I am not going to mess around with them with only 4 weeks to go this year. I will just ignore them instead. I have done my biggest cycling year ever and exceeded my bike target so I could just stay off the bike entirely from now and chase run and bike miles. That doesn't help me get to work though so the commuting rides will stay for now. 

More importantly I need to shift my focus to swimming and running for Bratislava. So while 3 commute rides stay for now a third swim should come in and become the norm and with two commute runs clocking up my basic miles for the week I am going to try and add at least one reps run in to the week as well. At the minute I am planning to put that in at the weekend but I do have an option to shuffle my working time and fit it in at lunchtime on a cycle commuting day. 

The yoga, stretching and general body maintenance have to take a front seat. And if I can afford it trips for regular massage need to come back in to the plan sooner rather than later. 


Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 36.4 miles. Run 13.9 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Training Review - Week 48 - Nov 21 to 27

Monday's commutes were both in sub-zero temperatures. The road bike handled the frosted over roads much better than I expected. My full length bib tights didn't fare so well and I was freezing when I arrived.

In the evening I went so swimming and managed nearly three quarters of the session before my first bout of cramp kicked in. From there it was a bit patchy to the end of the session but I did manage to get through all of it.

Tuesday I stuck with my plan to run to work. Once again I am in need of a rest day and it was a struggle to keep moving. I managed to shuffle all the way to the office though. The plan to alternate between running and biking seems like a smart idea on the face of it, but that leaves me doing each run commute the day after two-way bike commutes and a swim. 

In the evening I did a bit of stretching and rollering to try and undo some of the worst aches and tightness. 

Wednesday was a bit of a mixed bag. In the morning I took the road bike to work, got about 70 yards from my house, slipped on some ice and ended up in a heap on the floor. After a couple of minutes I was up and checked myself out. A few aches but nothing serious so I walked it through the path until I got back to a road and carried on. In hindsight that was ambitious. I have skinned my left elbow and knuckles and gave my left knee a whack on the top tube which had me limping for the rest of the day. More importantly I must have landed on my wedding ring as I have bent it out of shape.

In the evening I rode home again, slowly with lots of twitchy nerves every time the road surface looked wet or icy. That did help ease my knee off a little bit. And I arrived home to an email from British Triathlon confirming my selection to go to Bratislava for next year's ETU Aquathlon age-group champs. I would still prefer to go to Dusseldorf for the Sprint Triathlon Champs and I don't think doing both is an option so if a place comes available I might consider a switch. In the meantime it is a bit of a change of plan as I focus on swimming and running.  

Thursday I decided to risk that the lovely purple bruise on my knee was nothing more serious and ran in to work. While it was a bit painful and annoying it didn't seem to make much difference to my running. I was a couple of minutes slower, but that could just as easily have been from the traffic lights I was caught at. In the evening I started on my training plan for 2017 and then did some stretching. While the bruise isn't directly affecting me the swelling and pain to pressure did prevent me from getting on the roller, and as the bruising is already settling my right knee flexibility is suffering a little from the swelling. 

Friday I took the mountain bike to work but forgot my garmin so I had to use my phone to track it. As usual that resulted in a slightly longer distance measurement. Then in the evening was the works xmas party. That in itself was great fun but it did cost me a big chunk of my weekend. Saturday morning was completely lost to my hangover. By lunchtime I was just about able to stand up without vomiting and my planned run to collect the car had to be cut in half and slowed down and the swim to follow it was never going to happen. 

I did manage to floor out a bit more of the garage in the afternoon so that I can move the treadmill and the turbo trainer out there for winter and clear some space in the house. 

Sunday I dropped my plan to mountain bike and instead tried to recover the other half of Saturdays run and the missing swim in the morning. The jog to the pool was s struggle as the bruising on my right leg has now settled in and swollen both my knee and ankle. The swim was good though. Apparently there is a bit more slow traffic at the Sunday morning session but they were all keen to break up their sessions and move out of my way whenever I caught them. 

In the evening I did a bit of yoga and stretching.

Through 700 miles running for the year takes me to my third highest run total ever. I had always planned for this year to include less running than last year and 2011 was my marathon training year. So I am pretty happy to this point. My target is only another 50 miles to the end of the year and I should easily pass that before Christmas Day and then I have a week of Dexter after that.

Having drafted my 2017 plan I am going to start on it early. And that means more swimming from now until the end of the year to try and get into a habit that I can carry into 2017.




Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 36.4 miles. Run 13.9 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Commute to office 7.1 miles in 36 mins.
Commute from office 7.0 miles in 39 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,100 m in 54 mins. 

Tuesday - Commute run 7.0 miles in 65 mins.
Stretching and rollering.

Wednesday - Commute to office 7.0 miles in 39 mins.
Commute from office 7.0 miles in 42 mins.

Thursday - Commute run 6.9 miles in 64 mins.
Stretching session.

Friday - Commute to office mtb 7.2 miles in 39 mins.
Commute from office mtb 7.2 miles in 42 mins.
Works Xmas dinner.

Saturday - Run to collect car 3.0 miles in 34 mins.

Sunday - Run to bucksburn 2.6 miles in 27 mins.
Swim at bucksburn 1,650m in 35 mins.
Yoga session 10 mins.

Actuals - Swim 2.4 miles (3,800 m). Bike 42.5 miles. Run 19.5 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 2 stretching / rollering session. 10 mins of yoga. 

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 90.1  (94.9)  [109.2],
B 2,178.2  (1,906.5)  [2,383.1],
R 702.4  (683.5)  [772.3].