Another chance to put a lot of miles into this week, but made slightly more complex as I try and fit around interviews, a CT scan for my kidney stone, a trip to the garage, Granite City Comic-Con and the latest Marvel movie.
I have an option for a long ride on Sunday with 100km Deeside Reliability trial. This is probably out of my comfortable range at the minute but I might take it as an option anyway once I see the weather.
Monday - Yoga session.
Easy ride.
TPT Swim session.
Tuesday - Yoga session.
Fast ride or intervals.
Light weights session.
Easy run.
Wednesday - TPT Fartlek.
Long swim.
Yoga session.
Thursday - Core session.
Long run.
Yoga session.
Friday - Run reps.
Easy ride.
Yoga session.
Saturday - Yoga session.
Stretching session.
Easy run.
Sunday - Yoga session.
Long ride. Deeside Reliability ride?
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Monday, 25 April 2016
Training Review - Week 17 - April 18 to 24
Starting a new week without work to get in the way should give me a lot of scope to train. So obviously I packed a load of other things in to the day instead and had to squeeze my training around them. So my bike ride had to go in favour of a short run so that I could get back in time for a phone interview. And my afternoon was filled up with attending a lecture at Aberdeen Uni so I didn't even get a chance to do any of the long list of DIY jobs on my list. I did manage to squeeze in a yoga session in the morning.
I forgot to take my garmin to swimming but fortunately the session was easy enough to count. Missed out on the chance to clock some fast times though as the set included probably some of the fastest sprint reps I have ever done.
Tuesday I started with a yoga session. I have recovered much faster from Turriff than I expected but there is still a bit of tightness and some DOMS. Another yoga session took care of that and then I went out on the bike for a planned hour loop before lunch. Despite seeming to be into a headwind for the entire route I managed to get my speed up over 15mph average.
Then I had to get my fiancees help to extract a tiny piece of glass from my heel. Despite the warnings about taking the Turriff transition barefoot, I decided to brave it. That resulted in what I thought was a tiny cut in my heel. It didn't give me any problems on the day and it was barely an annoyance since, but it definitely wasn't getting better and a bit of stabbing with a safety pin helped to fish out a tiny sliver of glass.
In the afternoon I caught up on some jobs around the house before one of my Iron-friends texted wanting company on her running commute home. I took the train in to town and then we ran back out to Dyce together. Nice steady miles but my legs are starting to suffer a bit from the change of training regime this week. Two double-session (plus yoga) days coming out of a race has been tough.
Wednesday I started with the next yoga session on the plan, and then took the bike out again in the sun. I did the same loop as Tuesday but with a little bit less wind and a little bit more effort. I managed to turn the speed up close to 17mph, which I would normally only manage during a group ride. Then when I got back I went straight out for an easy loop of the park to get in a short brick session.
I had the whole day to myself and I wanted to get stuck into some of the courses I have been neglecting. I managed to make a bit of progress on them, but not as much as I should have.
My first sports massage in over a year was a combination of heaven and hell. She quite quickly managed to locate several of the spots that I seem to be missing with the foam roller.
And then in the evening I was invited for an extra swim session, so a trip to the pool at Bucksburn as well. Unfortunately this undid some of the masseuses good work but it was a pretty good session, with 2,500m worth of reps at 400-750m pace.
Thursday I decided just to take an easy ride in the morning to finish out my bike miles for the week.
Friday I started the morning with yoga and a short run. Then I tidied up my week with core and stretching sessions. So by Friday lunchtime I was all done with my entire planned week.
Saturday I planned a brick session with one of my iron-friends but she bailed out on the bike when it started snowing. By that point I was already dressed for biking so I decided to go out on my own anyway and do a short loop round Dyce before meeting up with her to run for an hour. In 40 minutes on the bike I got snow, sun, wind, rain and back to snow again. Not the most enjoyable ride ever but more miles in the legs. The run was slightly better, slow and steady, at a sensible heart rate.
Then Dexter came to visit for a couple of days, which means I have had to reshuffle my plans a little bit for the next few days. I managed to get my yoga session in while he was out for a walk in the park.
Sunday I wanted to finish the week with another double session so I took the bike out for a very short ride in the morning. I took a right turn out of Dyce and just rode to the next junction (it is 5 miles and over a hill) turned round and came home. A decent spin to log a fifth ride this week.
Then I took Dexter to Kirkhill. And my legs finally started to pay the price for my binge week of training. The uphills I was having to stop and walk some sections even at Dexter's pace.
In the evening I managed the next yoga session and then did a quick bit of rollering on some knots that have come back since my massage.
My longest (by far) bike and run weeks so far this year and my second longest swim week. And I think my first 'complete' week of the year having done all the numbers on the plan. This was a bit of a binge week as I settle back into having an extra 50 or so hours a week to myself. I don't expect to keep this level up for long but I might try and carry it through next week if the weather allows.
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Monday - Yoga session 35 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 1.
Recovery jog 4.0 miles
Swim with TPT 1750m in 50 mins.
Tuesday - Yoga session 34 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 2.
Easy ride 13.8 miles in 53 mins.
Run 6.0 miles in 57 mins.
Wednesday - Yoga session 22 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 3.
Brick session: Ride 13.8 miles in 49 mins. Run 0.8 miles in 7 mins.
Massage.
Swim session 2,500m in 60 mins.
Thursday - Yoga session 20 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 4.
Ride 20.3 miles in 1 hour 16 mins.
Friday - Yoga session 20 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 5
Easy Run 4.6 miles in 40 mins.
Core and weights sessions.
Saturday - Easy ride 7.2 miles in 37 mins.
Easy run 6.7 miles in 61 mins.
Yoga session 17 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 6
Sunday - Easy ride 11.0 miles in 45 mins
Kirkhill with Dexter 3.9 miles in 45 mins.
Yoga session 30 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 7
Actuals - Swim 2.7 miles (3,250 m). Bike 66.1 miles. Run 26.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 stretching/rollering session. 178 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 33.2 (30.7) [35.3],
B 611.6 (728.8) [911.0],
R 282.9 (251.3) [283.9].
I forgot to take my garmin to swimming but fortunately the session was easy enough to count. Missed out on the chance to clock some fast times though as the set included probably some of the fastest sprint reps I have ever done.
Tuesday I started with a yoga session. I have recovered much faster from Turriff than I expected but there is still a bit of tightness and some DOMS. Another yoga session took care of that and then I went out on the bike for a planned hour loop before lunch. Despite seeming to be into a headwind for the entire route I managed to get my speed up over 15mph average.
Then I had to get my fiancees help to extract a tiny piece of glass from my heel. Despite the warnings about taking the Turriff transition barefoot, I decided to brave it. That resulted in what I thought was a tiny cut in my heel. It didn't give me any problems on the day and it was barely an annoyance since, but it definitely wasn't getting better and a bit of stabbing with a safety pin helped to fish out a tiny sliver of glass.
In the afternoon I caught up on some jobs around the house before one of my Iron-friends texted wanting company on her running commute home. I took the train in to town and then we ran back out to Dyce together. Nice steady miles but my legs are starting to suffer a bit from the change of training regime this week. Two double-session (plus yoga) days coming out of a race has been tough.
Wednesday I started with the next yoga session on the plan, and then took the bike out again in the sun. I did the same loop as Tuesday but with a little bit less wind and a little bit more effort. I managed to turn the speed up close to 17mph, which I would normally only manage during a group ride. Then when I got back I went straight out for an easy loop of the park to get in a short brick session.
I had the whole day to myself and I wanted to get stuck into some of the courses I have been neglecting. I managed to make a bit of progress on them, but not as much as I should have.
My first sports massage in over a year was a combination of heaven and hell. She quite quickly managed to locate several of the spots that I seem to be missing with the foam roller.
And then in the evening I was invited for an extra swim session, so a trip to the pool at Bucksburn as well. Unfortunately this undid some of the masseuses good work but it was a pretty good session, with 2,500m worth of reps at 400-750m pace.
Thursday I decided just to take an easy ride in the morning to finish out my bike miles for the week.
Friday I started the morning with yoga and a short run. Then I tidied up my week with core and stretching sessions. So by Friday lunchtime I was all done with my entire planned week.
Saturday I planned a brick session with one of my iron-friends but she bailed out on the bike when it started snowing. By that point I was already dressed for biking so I decided to go out on my own anyway and do a short loop round Dyce before meeting up with her to run for an hour. In 40 minutes on the bike I got snow, sun, wind, rain and back to snow again. Not the most enjoyable ride ever but more miles in the legs. The run was slightly better, slow and steady, at a sensible heart rate.
Then Dexter came to visit for a couple of days, which means I have had to reshuffle my plans a little bit for the next few days. I managed to get my yoga session in while he was out for a walk in the park.
Sunday I wanted to finish the week with another double session so I took the bike out for a very short ride in the morning. I took a right turn out of Dyce and just rode to the next junction (it is 5 miles and over a hill) turned round and came home. A decent spin to log a fifth ride this week.
Then I took Dexter to Kirkhill. And my legs finally started to pay the price for my binge week of training. The uphills I was having to stop and walk some sections even at Dexter's pace.
In the evening I managed the next yoga session and then did a quick bit of rollering on some knots that have come back since my massage.
My longest (by far) bike and run weeks so far this year and my second longest swim week. And I think my first 'complete' week of the year having done all the numbers on the plan. This was a bit of a binge week as I settle back into having an extra 50 or so hours a week to myself. I don't expect to keep this level up for long but I might try and carry it through next week if the weather allows.
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Monday - Yoga session 35 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 1.
Recovery jog 4.0 miles
Swim with TPT 1750m in 50 mins.
Tuesday - Yoga session 34 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 2.
Easy ride 13.8 miles in 53 mins.
Run 6.0 miles in 57 mins.
Wednesday - Yoga session 22 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 3.
Brick session: Ride 13.8 miles in 49 mins. Run 0.8 miles in 7 mins.
Massage.
Swim session 2,500m in 60 mins.
Thursday - Yoga session 20 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 4.
Ride 20.3 miles in 1 hour 16 mins.
Friday - Yoga session 20 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 5
Easy Run 4.6 miles in 40 mins.
Core and weights sessions.
Saturday - Easy ride 7.2 miles in 37 mins.
Easy run 6.7 miles in 61 mins.
Yoga session 17 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 6
Sunday - Easy ride 11.0 miles in 45 mins
Kirkhill with Dexter 3.9 miles in 45 mins.
Yoga session 30 mins. 30 Days of Yoga - Day 7
Actuals - Swim 2.7 miles (3,250 m). Bike 66.1 miles. Run 26.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 stretching/rollering session. 178 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 33.2 (30.7) [35.3],
B 611.6 (728.8) [911.0],
R 282.9 (251.3) [283.9].
Tuesday, 19 April 2016
Race Report - Turriff Triathlon
Full results are here.
I woke up feeling terrible. Overnight someone had replaced my right side with all the correct parts but from someone 3 inches shorter. I limped down the stairs and did my standard pre-race rollering and yoga sessions and started to feel a bit more human. On the drive out to Turriff I even had the heated seats on to try and keep everything warm and relaxed.
Registration was nice and calm but a bunch of extra rules made things a little more complicated than before. Nothing too difficult, and actually good practice for higher level races. And some minor changes to the course. T1 was slightly rerouted and the run was extended to be a true 5k distance.
I had packed absolutely everything, I even put two bikes in the car, partly for the potential weather conditions but also to test travelling with two bikes. This turned out to be a benefit as I spotted someone else with toe covers on their shoes and remembered mine were in the bottom of my enormous bag of cycling kit. I fitted them, clipped my shoes back on to the bike and then headed in for a long wait through the 4 slower heats.
My swim started well. About five lengths in the two guys in front of me decided to switch places, but did it in such a smooth way that I didn't even have to break my tumble turn and one of them let me pass as well. The leading swimmer from our lane always goes out fast and he did so again this time. At lap 10 he caught me and I let him through, so smoothly that I only lost 3 seconds. The only other time I had to let someone pass was at lap 25, where I dropped another 3 seconds. For 34 of the 38 lengths I was getting little or no draft effect so that is basically a time trial swim.
So I was out of the water in 12:36. Nearly 30 seconds faster than last year and only just outside my 12:28 750m PB despite being a 760m swim.
T1 could have been improved. The run down to the transition area was good, but I was worried about how cold it was when I came out of the pool. I stopped to put socks on, based on the temperature it was a safety decision, but in turn I had the shoes mounted to the bike so I didn't have to put them on. Even with the longer distance to run I still came through T1 a couple of seconds faster than last year.
Out on to the bike and I was feeling the cold. I managed to slip into my shoes within the first 20 metres on the bike. The route turns sharply uphill so I didn't get a chance to strap them on properly. I managed to work fairly well up the first hill despite being passed by a road bike. On the first flat and downhill section I flew past him and he disappeared out the back.
I was struggling into the cold and wind and I still haven't come up with a style that allows me to climb on the bike, but especially on the TT bike. Over the top of the hill and I started to feel a bit more comfortable. The side wind was annoying for handling and I had to back of quite a lot into some of the more aggressive corners. On the return trip with the wind behind I had hoped to make some gains on the cyclist I had seen in front of me on the climbs. Somehow he was managing to find even more speed on the fast sections.
Just as I dismounted for T2 I spotted one of my regular opponents exiting and decided he was my new target for today. I have never beaten him before and I know I am running better than ever. So my whole run was now just about closing that gap.
As expected T2 was slick. Only the winner and my club mate managed quicker times, by 2 and 1 seconds respectively.
I planned to go out hard on the run, working up the hill for the first half and then letting the downhill carry me home. My legs had other ideas though. I was moving comfortably but not as fast as I would have liked. Running off the bike definitely changed my style to shorter strides with higher cadence, but this wasn't hurting my pace enough to try and force a style change on tight legs. By the turn I had the gap down to a handful of seconds.
He knew I was coming and pushed to try and hold his lead on the downhill. By the mile to go marker I was passed him and couldn't hear his footsteps any more. I risked a glance backwards and could see the gap was comfortable now. I kept working hard enough to extend that gap but I wasn't taking any risks with a sprint finish. I was sitting 6th overall and second Vet. A much better result than I had expected. In hindsight the two places that I lost to Seniors from Heat 4 were probably within my range, and I could have probably snuck under the 20 minute 5k time.
With second day hindsight it was better to have played safe and kept legs to train on today and through the week rather than having to recover all week for the sake of a few seconds and a couple of places against athletes who weren't even in my age-group.
The overall time looks disappointing but the longer T1, bad wind on the bike and longer run all account for chunks of that. Anything within my control and equally comparable to previous years was an improvement. Judging against the times of my rivals, I seem to have gone about a minute faster by comparison.
Target check
Swim time was 12:36, well inside the 13 minute I targeted and even slightly inside the 12:40 I hoped for.
Bike was much slower but that was mostly down to the weather. All bike times were slow.
I noted that the run course was short so I should get under 20 minutes. This year they fixed the length, so I only did 20:34, but the increased distance means I was actually faster paced than last year.
My 1:18:31 was 111.9% of the winners 1:10:10, well inside the 120% I had targeted.
I was 2nd Vet, nearly 2 minutes clear of 3rd place and 6 ahead of 4th. So comfortably on my
podium target.
Monday, 18 April 2016
Training Plan - Week 17 - April 18 to 24
So I suddenly have an awful lot of time to train so two-a-day or a long session should become standard for a while, with ancillary sessions on top of those as well. I have to try and be sensible about this though. I want to avoid injuries from over-training and I have to be careful not to put too many long miles just for the sake of it.
I am also booked in for a massage. Hopefully between this and the increased time available for yoga, stretching and rollering I can keep everything in a state to allow me to increase the intensity of my training without damaging anything.
I also have the chance now to catch up on a few courses that I started and then fallen behind on.
Monday - Yoga session.
Easy ride.
TPT Swim session.
Tuesday - Fast ride or intervals.
Light weights session.
Easy run.
Wednesday - Massage
TPT Fartlek.
Long swim.
Yoga session.
Thursday - Core session.
Brick session.
Friday - Long run.
Saturday - Yoga session.
Stretching session.
Swim reps session.
Sunday - Yoga session.
Long ride.
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
I am also booked in for a massage. Hopefully between this and the increased time available for yoga, stretching and rollering I can keep everything in a state to allow me to increase the intensity of my training without damaging anything.
I also have the chance now to catch up on a few courses that I started and then fallen behind on.
Monday - Yoga session.
Easy ride.
TPT Swim session.
Tuesday - Fast ride or intervals.
Light weights session.
Easy run.
Wednesday - Massage
TPT Fartlek.
Long swim.
Yoga session.
Thursday - Core session.
Brick session.
Friday - Long run.
Saturday - Yoga session.
Stretching session.
Swim reps session.
Sunday - Yoga session.
Long ride.
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Training Review - Week 16 - April 11 to 17
Monday I started the morning with a fraction of a core session. I should have been on these months ago but since I have skipped them for so long I have now resorted to breaking them into smaller more frequent sections. After work I had to rescue the fiancee from a breakdown of her car. That dented my running plans but I did still manage to get out for an easy half hour before dinner. Swimming was nothing spectacular. Some speed work mixed in but I was struggling by about half way through and it just dragged from there.
The second day and my 'bit of core every day' plan almost collapsed. My kidney decided to play up again and sit-ups are definitely not compatible with kidney stones. I did get through it though, and felt better for getting it out of the way. In the evening I gave my TT bike a quick check over and then took it out for a spin round Dyce to test it out before Sunday's race. Feels really comfortable and fast. Good confidence builder for race day.
I finally made the definitive decision to leave my current job. It has been damaging my mental health for a while now and having accepted a one-month extension on the promise of positive changes I have now reached the end of that month with things continuing to worsen.
Having made that decision I tried to go out for a run but was in no mood for it. I managed a lazy loop of Dyce.
Thursday, I didn't sleep well and was up an hour early, but instead of getting a whole core session in I In the evening we had a trip to do more wedding invitations. After that I went for a short run just to get out of the house and do something.
Friday was my last day at work, and then a trip to the cinema to watch Eye in the Sky. Then when I got home Predator and the Terminator 2 were on. I did at least manage to get in some rollering during the ad breaks.
Saturday I did a yoga and stretching session in the morning. As I am back to full-time athlete-ing while I search for a new job the yoga is back in as close to a daily feature as I can make it.
Sunday was Turriff Sprint Triathlon which will get a post to itself.
Not a great week for miles. Rescued somewhat by a decent race at Turriff. Next week comes with a job interview, a massage and a whole lot of time to train, so hopefully a difference in miles might come with all the additional free time.
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Monday - Core session - partial.
Easy jog 3.3 miles in 31 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,100m in 52 mins.
Tuesday - Core session - partial.
TT bike check 10 miles in 33 mins.
Wednesday - Core session - partial.
Slow Dyce loop 3.6 miles in 31 mins.
Thursday - Steady run 3.8 miles in 31 mins.
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - Rollering session.
Yoga 12 mins.
Sunday - Rollering session.
Yoga session 30 mins.
Turriff Triathlon
Swim 760m in 12:36.
Bike 12.5 miles in 42:31.
Run 3.1 miles in 20:46.
Actuals - Swim 1.8 miles (2,940 m). Bike 22.5 miles. Run 13.9 miles. 1 short core, 0 short light weights and 2 stretching/rollering session. 42 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 30.6 (28.8) [33.1],
B 545.5 (683.2) [854.0],
R 258.9 (236.0) [266.6].
Thursday, 14 April 2016
Race Preview - Turriff Triathlon
2015 Race Preview
2015 Race Report
Time for my first proper race of the season. I can't complain too much about my preparation. It would have been nice to have done more on the bike and to have spent some real time out on my TT bike, and it would have been nice not have had a problem with my calf last week, and less stress from work but those are small issues and they won't really hurt my race.
Ignore the swim time from the official results, it is skewed by the long Turriff transition. By my own timing I clocked 13:02 last year.
I want to get inside 13 minutes for the swim. The pool is a strange size with handrails at the end and that does affect my swim time every year. Also the funny pool means it is 760m instead of 750m. That doesn't seem like a lot but it is about 10 seconds extra. Even given those factors I would like to go somewhere closer to 12:40. And I would like to make more out of the transition. It is a bit of a run to the bike racks and in previous years I have lost time on the run down and on the transition itself.
My bike time on this course was 40 minutes exactly last year for 13.1 miles. That was already close to a 20mph average so I don't really expect to go any faster this year. It is a bit weather dependent though. A calm and warm day and there is time to be made up here. A bit of a wind, a chill and some rain and I could easily throw away 5 minutes.
My second transition is normally pretty slick so nothing to gain there.
So to this point I have only aimed to nibble seconds, maybe a minute in total from last year's time. I should be here in 55 minutes-ish. Now the run is definitely a place where I can make some decent time. The course is short so I should run under 20 minutes despite it going up and down a fairly significant hill. I would really like to see that somewhere under the 19 minute mark if possible.
Anything under 1 hour 15 mins I will be happy with, under 1 hr 14 and I will be ecstatic. A bit of give and take for weather on the bike and I could go a couple of minutes over those and still come out happy.
As targets for Strathclyde I will have to get within 120% of the winner of my age-group and be in the top-4 to get an automatic place. If I don't get in the top-4 (likely) I still have to be within 120% to have any chance of a roll-down place. I should be aiming at that as a minimum standard in this lower quality race. I really want to be within 120% of the overall winner and be in a podium place for Vets. Those are both a bit dependent on who turns up but are both in the realms of possibility.
2015 Race Report
Time for my first proper race of the season. I can't complain too much about my preparation. It would have been nice to have done more on the bike and to have spent some real time out on my TT bike, and it would have been nice not have had a problem with my calf last week, and less stress from work but those are small issues and they won't really hurt my race.
Ignore the swim time from the official results, it is skewed by the long Turriff transition. By my own timing I clocked 13:02 last year.
I want to get inside 13 minutes for the swim. The pool is a strange size with handrails at the end and that does affect my swim time every year. Also the funny pool means it is 760m instead of 750m. That doesn't seem like a lot but it is about 10 seconds extra. Even given those factors I would like to go somewhere closer to 12:40. And I would like to make more out of the transition. It is a bit of a run to the bike racks and in previous years I have lost time on the run down and on the transition itself.
My bike time on this course was 40 minutes exactly last year for 13.1 miles. That was already close to a 20mph average so I don't really expect to go any faster this year. It is a bit weather dependent though. A calm and warm day and there is time to be made up here. A bit of a wind, a chill and some rain and I could easily throw away 5 minutes.
My second transition is normally pretty slick so nothing to gain there.
So to this point I have only aimed to nibble seconds, maybe a minute in total from last year's time. I should be here in 55 minutes-ish. Now the run is definitely a place where I can make some decent time. The course is short so I should run under 20 minutes despite it going up and down a fairly significant hill. I would really like to see that somewhere under the 19 minute mark if possible.
Anything under 1 hour 15 mins I will be happy with, under 1 hr 14 and I will be ecstatic. A bit of give and take for weather on the bike and I could go a couple of minutes over those and still come out happy.
As targets for Strathclyde I will have to get within 120% of the winner of my age-group and be in the top-4 to get an automatic place. If I don't get in the top-4 (likely) I still have to be within 120% to have any chance of a roll-down place. I should be aiming at that as a minimum standard in this lower quality race. I really want to be within 120% of the overall winner and be in a podium place for Vets. Those are both a bit dependent on who turns up but are both in the realms of possibility.
Monday, 11 April 2016
Training Plan - Week 16 - April 11 to 17
Triathlon race season has finally arrived with Turriff on Sunday.
I only get two chances to race before my trip to Strathclyde so I need to make the most of them and to treat them in the same way as my main race. So Saturday and Friday are both geared to prepare me for the race, and even earlier in the week there are some slight changes to try and deliver me to the weekend in the best condition possible.
Monday - Yoga session.
Easy run.
TPT Swim session.
Tuesday - Easy ride.
Light weights session.
Wednesday - TPT Fartlek.
Swim at Bucksburn.
Yoga session.
Thursday - Core session.
Easy run or ride.
Friday - Easy run.
Saturday - Yoga session.
Stretching session.
Sunday - Yoga session.
Turriff Triathlon.
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
I only get two chances to race before my trip to Strathclyde so I need to make the most of them and to treat them in the same way as my main race. So Saturday and Friday are both geared to prepare me for the race, and even earlier in the week there are some slight changes to try and deliver me to the weekend in the best condition possible.
Monday - Yoga session.
Easy run.
TPT Swim session.
Tuesday - Easy ride.
Light weights session.
Wednesday - TPT Fartlek.
Swim at Bucksburn.
Yoga session.
Thursday - Core session.
Easy run or ride.
Friday - Easy run.
Saturday - Yoga session.
Stretching session.
Sunday - Yoga session.
Turriff Triathlon.
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Training Review - Week 15 - April 4 to 10
Monday I decided to play safe and skip my run to protect the calf injury that I had been limping around on all day. I did go to swimming though. That went fairly well. A couple of calf twinges coming out of turns but other than that I actually came out of the water less pained than before.
Tuesday I was in two minds about resting my calf injury for another day but I decided to take an easy jog round the block to see how it was. It is a bit tight and achey but no longer the stabbing pain from the weekend. Probably still isn't ready for a serious test but I should be ok to get back onto gentle training already and hopefully be back up to speed early next week.
Wednesday I had an attack of common sense and decided not to run on my calf injury, but I did manage a trip to the pool. When I arrived and got changed I realised I hadn't started my GymPact and I didn't have any phone or wifi signal to start it. The fall back option is to do 30 minutes at 2miles per hour. That sounds easy if you are walking but is a decent pace in the pool. I decided I would just do a flat out 30 minutes and make sure I did at least a mile in that time.
I had a quick check of garmin to see my progress at 6 minutes and found it hadn't been counting laps. I stopped and fiddled with it a bit, and did another couple of lengths and it still wasn't working. So I turned it off and turned it on again. That worked but now I had to start from scratch with 400m of tired arms and the watch now said 1min and I hadn't started yet. I set off without resetting it (dumb in hindsight). I was trying to do the calls in my head from then on and fighting bouts of cramp as my calf strain tried to protect itself. I eventually clocked a further 2,100m in just over 39 mins. Total session of 2,500m in 45 mins. Not a great day, but not bad considering the cramp problems.
My longest swim session of the year, giving me my longest swim week of the year.
Thursday I decided on another easy loop to test out my calf strain. A bit quicker than Tuesday but still not particularly good.
Friday I didn't have time to fit anything in before we went to the cinema to see the Huntsman. When we got back in the evening I did a bit of a service on my winter bike so that I could take it out on the Saturday in what promised to be fairly terrible conditions.
Saturday was a planned club ride and some technical lessons on bike fitting. I had planned to just do the ride and then go home but I ended up staying for the rest of the day as well. The ride was a bit broken up as we stopped for some technique discussions at regular intervals. Even allowing for the breaks I actually rode quite well. Certainly better than I had expected to given all my missing bike miles and the conditions on the day.
Sunday's weather meant that I wasn't taking any bike outside so I decided to go for a long run instead. My calf strain is almost fixed but I wanted to build a bit of confidence on it so I decided to do everything I really shouldn't. I went for a long run, on an uneven surface, in the wet, with interspersed efforts trying to evade the zombies my 'Zombies, Run' app. All the possible things that might aggravate the existing injury. In hindsight that combination was probably a bit too high risk, but it seems to have worked out as I had no problems, even when I got a random zombie chase at the 9 miles mark and had to do a 100m effort.
In the afternoon I got the house to myself while the triathlon was on, so in between tracking athletes at Ironman South Africa and watching the Gold Coast Men's race I set up the turbo and spun away for 10 easy miles. Then I did a new rollering session and my first core session of the year. It seems the rollering I have been doing has been working, and that becomes abundantly clear when I try and roll an area that I haven't been doing in my previous routine.
While I am continuing to fall further behind my target bike miles for the year and well behind previous years I am actually not riding too badly for short sections. Time Trial season starts in the first week of May so I should get a better idea then, if not at Turriff next weekend.
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Monday - Swim with TPT 2,050m (1.3 miles) in 55mins.
Tuesday - Easy Dyce loop 3.6 miles in 34 mins
Wednesday - Swim at Bucksburn 2,500m (1.6 miles) in 46 mins.
Thursday - Jog Dyce 3.9 miles in 35 mins.
Friday - Rest day.
Saturday - TPT Training day ride 21.9 miles in 2 hrs 18 mins.
Sunday - Long steady run 9.2 miles in 1 hour 20mins.
Turbo 10 miles in 38 mins.
Core session.
Rollering session.
Actuals - Swim 2.9 miles (4,550 m). Bike 31.9 miles. Run 16.7 miles. 1 short core, 0 short light weights and 1 stretching/rollering session. 0 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 28.8 (26.8) [30.9],
B 523.0 (637.7) [797.1],
R 243.1 (220.7) [249.4].
Tuesday I was in two minds about resting my calf injury for another day but I decided to take an easy jog round the block to see how it was. It is a bit tight and achey but no longer the stabbing pain from the weekend. Probably still isn't ready for a serious test but I should be ok to get back onto gentle training already and hopefully be back up to speed early next week.
Wednesday I had an attack of common sense and decided not to run on my calf injury, but I did manage a trip to the pool. When I arrived and got changed I realised I hadn't started my GymPact and I didn't have any phone or wifi signal to start it. The fall back option is to do 30 minutes at 2miles per hour. That sounds easy if you are walking but is a decent pace in the pool. I decided I would just do a flat out 30 minutes and make sure I did at least a mile in that time.
I had a quick check of garmin to see my progress at 6 minutes and found it hadn't been counting laps. I stopped and fiddled with it a bit, and did another couple of lengths and it still wasn't working. So I turned it off and turned it on again. That worked but now I had to start from scratch with 400m of tired arms and the watch now said 1min and I hadn't started yet. I set off without resetting it (dumb in hindsight). I was trying to do the calls in my head from then on and fighting bouts of cramp as my calf strain tried to protect itself. I eventually clocked a further 2,100m in just over 39 mins. Total session of 2,500m in 45 mins. Not a great day, but not bad considering the cramp problems.
My longest swim session of the year, giving me my longest swim week of the year.
Thursday I decided on another easy loop to test out my calf strain. A bit quicker than Tuesday but still not particularly good.
Friday I didn't have time to fit anything in before we went to the cinema to see the Huntsman. When we got back in the evening I did a bit of a service on my winter bike so that I could take it out on the Saturday in what promised to be fairly terrible conditions.
Saturday was a planned club ride and some technical lessons on bike fitting. I had planned to just do the ride and then go home but I ended up staying for the rest of the day as well. The ride was a bit broken up as we stopped for some technique discussions at regular intervals. Even allowing for the breaks I actually rode quite well. Certainly better than I had expected to given all my missing bike miles and the conditions on the day.
Sunday's weather meant that I wasn't taking any bike outside so I decided to go for a long run instead. My calf strain is almost fixed but I wanted to build a bit of confidence on it so I decided to do everything I really shouldn't. I went for a long run, on an uneven surface, in the wet, with interspersed efforts trying to evade the zombies my 'Zombies, Run' app. All the possible things that might aggravate the existing injury. In hindsight that combination was probably a bit too high risk, but it seems to have worked out as I had no problems, even when I got a random zombie chase at the 9 miles mark and had to do a 100m effort.
In the afternoon I got the house to myself while the triathlon was on, so in between tracking athletes at Ironman South Africa and watching the Gold Coast Men's race I set up the turbo and spun away for 10 easy miles. Then I did a new rollering session and my first core session of the year. It seems the rollering I have been doing has been working, and that becomes abundantly clear when I try and roll an area that I haven't been doing in my previous routine.
While I am continuing to fall further behind my target bike miles for the year and well behind previous years I am actually not riding too badly for short sections. Time Trial season starts in the first week of May so I should get a better idea then, if not at Turriff next weekend.
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Monday - Swim with TPT 2,050m (1.3 miles) in 55mins.
Tuesday - Easy Dyce loop 3.6 miles in 34 mins
Wednesday - Swim at Bucksburn 2,500m (1.6 miles) in 46 mins.
Thursday - Jog Dyce 3.9 miles in 35 mins.
Friday - Rest day.
Saturday - TPT Training day ride 21.9 miles in 2 hrs 18 mins.
Sunday - Long steady run 9.2 miles in 1 hour 20mins.
Turbo 10 miles in 38 mins.
Core session.
Rollering session.
Actuals - Swim 2.9 miles (4,550 m). Bike 31.9 miles. Run 16.7 miles. 1 short core, 0 short light weights and 1 stretching/rollering session. 0 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 28.8 (26.8) [30.9],
B 523.0 (637.7) [797.1],
R 243.1 (220.7) [249.4].
Monday, 4 April 2016
Training Plan - Week 15 - April 4 to 10
Monday I hope to get out for an easy run to make sure that the damage to my calf isn't anything serious. That could be dropped in favour of just a 'safe' trip to swimming instead.
Thursday if the weather has improved enough I may try a commute to and from work on the bike.
This is my last full week of training (calf injury excepted) before I have an actual triathlon race to think about. So next week will be a streamlined plan focussed on racing.
Monday - Yoga session.
Easy run?
TPT Swim session.
Tuesday - Easy ride.
Light weights session.
Wednesday - TPT Fartlek.
Swim at Bucksburn.
Yoga session.
Thursday - Core session
Easy run or ride.
Friday - Rest day.
Saturday - Long run.
Stretching session.
Sunday - Yoga session.
Long ride.
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Thursday if the weather has improved enough I may try a commute to and from work on the bike.
This is my last full week of training (calf injury excepted) before I have an actual triathlon race to think about. So next week will be a streamlined plan focussed on racing.
Monday - Yoga session.
Easy run?
TPT Swim session.
Tuesday - Easy ride.
Light weights session.
Wednesday - TPT Fartlek.
Swim at Bucksburn.
Yoga session.
Thursday - Core session
Easy run or ride.
Friday - Rest day.
Saturday - Long run.
Stretching session.
Sunday - Yoga session.
Long ride.
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Training Review - Week 14 - March 28 to April 3
Annoyingly the post that I had written for this week has disappeared.
Basically, Monday I had a holiday so I did a decent bike ride in the morning and then swam at night, I then ticked through the week struggling to recover from Sunday's race. That culminated in a long slow run on Saturday and somehow I managed to pull my right calf muscle.
That then cost me a ride on Sunday so despite getting Monday's ride in I still didn't make any inroads on my bike miles.
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Monday - Ride 30 miles in 2 hours.
Swim with TPT 1.3 miles (2,100m) in 56 mins.
Tuesday - Run 3.9 miles in 32mins.
Wednesday - Run to bucksburn 4.5 miles in 42 mins.
Swim at Bucksburn 0.9 miles (1400m) in 31mins.
Thursday - Ride 7.2 miles in 40 mins.
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - Jog 7.1 miles in 1hr 6 mins.
Stretching / rollering / massage
Sunday - Injured day.
Actuals - Swim 2.2 miles ( m). Bike 37.2 miles. Run 15.5 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 1 stretching/rollering session. 0 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 25.9 (24.9) [28.7],
B 491.1 (592.1) [740.2],
R 219.3 (205.4) [232.1].
Basically, Monday I had a holiday so I did a decent bike ride in the morning and then swam at night, I then ticked through the week struggling to recover from Sunday's race. That culminated in a long slow run on Saturday and somehow I managed to pull my right calf muscle.
That then cost me a ride on Sunday so despite getting Monday's ride in I still didn't make any inroads on my bike miles.
Target totals - Swim 1.9 miles. Bike 45.5 miles. Run 15.3 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 60 mins of yoga.
Monday - Ride 30 miles in 2 hours.
Swim with TPT 1.3 miles (2,100m) in 56 mins.
Tuesday - Run 3.9 miles in 32mins.
Wednesday - Run to bucksburn 4.5 miles in 42 mins.
Swim at Bucksburn 0.9 miles (1400m) in 31mins.
Thursday - Ride 7.2 miles in 40 mins.
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - Jog 7.1 miles in 1hr 6 mins.
Stretching / rollering / massage
Sunday - Injured day.
Actuals - Swim 2.2 miles ( m). Bike 37.2 miles. Run 15.5 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 1 stretching/rollering session. 0 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 25.9 (24.9) [28.7],
B 491.1 (592.1) [740.2],
R 219.3 (205.4) [232.1].
Saturday, 2 April 2016
Race Review - Moray Roadrunners 10k
I have always worked in min/mile pace for running times, mostly out of habit. But for a 40 minute 10k that means trying to keep track of 6:26.22 per mile and just gets messy. But 4:00 per km is simple. So for the first time ever I switched my garmin over to pace reading in kilometres. And that also extends this review as I now have 10 sections to cover instead of 6 and a bit.
I started the morning with a rollering session and then 30 minutes of running yoga. Then I headed out to the course nice and early so that I could get registered and warmed-up in time.
I collected my number and then tried to do a bit of a jog to warm up before heading back to the hall for the race briefing.
The course was described as gently undulating. I suppose that is a fair assessment in hindsight, although I might not have fully agreed with that description while staring up gradients at a few points around the course. The description also didn't allow for the headwind for the first 2 miles, or the sunburn. I knew I was in good form so I planned to aim at 4 min/km and see how far I could hold that pace. If I could get to 7 or 8 k before paying the price for that I should still be finished in a respectable 42-ish and I would have an idea of my chances of a fast time later in the year.
The first couple of miles were into a headwind but I decided I would still go with the time targets and if that meant working a bit too hard into the early wind I would be able to ease off slightly later on during the wind-assisted return leg. I did a last bit of a jog off the front so that I could walk back to the start at the last minute and be nice and close to the front of the race. Seems some habits from back in my more serious days just won't go away.
I started off pretty fast. Primarily to get into a space away from the pack, but also to give me a few seconds of leeway later on if I slipped behind my planned 4 min/km pace later on. That turned into being 7 seconds too fast through the first kilometer and as I settled off that pace to something more sensible quite a few people went past. I just ignored them, checked the watch now said I was close to the 4:00 mark and settled in for the next couple of k's. Through 3,000m in 11:57 and doing the maths in my head and I was still happy enough, a few seconds lost whilst still going into the early headwind was nothing to worry about.
Then came the hill that I wasn't expecting and 'undulating' turned into a short sharp climb. I pushed on here, ignoring the fact that I was passing a few people and having to work a lot harder, despite that I still lost a chunk of time on the climb. 4:19 for that kilometre and I am suddenly 16 seconds off the pace, and out on my own with no-one to work off.
Fortunately a Forres Harrier had taken the same approach to the hill and pulled up alongside me. He was wheezing badly, which was a bit distracting, but he had a good pace going and had obviously gauged his effort to get to the top of the hill better than I had as he started to ease past. I tucked in nicely behind him and tried to follow as closely as I could. That took us nicely though the next kilometer slightly under plan and put me at 20:13 through the 5k mark.
I knew there had to be a downhill at some point and the course and I was feeling quite comfortable so I started to try and work out if I could actually go inside 40 minutes and I got back on the maths in my head. Where can I make back 13 seconds? I thought about trying to even it out for the whole second half of the race and run 3:57s but I decided instead to try and just stay with my original plan of 4:00s for as long as I could and then if I had anything left in the last mile I could try and chase those few seconds.
Apparently I still looked quite comfortable at this point. It certainly felt that I was working harder than that picture suggests.
Through another couple of bumps and steady kilometres and I wondered if the course was ever going to give back elevation during the second half. The guy from Forres was making the most of the rolling sections as he started to get away from me. He managed to pass a young girl ahead of us and she became my new target. Annoyingly she had her coach / dad / friend on a mountain bike pedalling along beside her for a big chunk of the race.
And then at the 30 minute mark suddenly we were onto a downhill. And at this point you can see across to the finish, and that is still nearly 3k away but it doesn't look that far, and it is definitely downhill from here. Then the course seems to curve away from the finish line. It doesn't really, it just heads on a parallel so it feels like you aren't getting any closer even though the downhill means the speed is definitely going up.
With about a mile to go there is a left turn towards the finish and after that turn I knew it was possible to go sub-40, I was taking back chunks of time and gaining on the runners ahead of me. I finally caught the young girl and her mountain biking supporter and I could see the crowd and the finish flags now.
With a single kilometre to go the clock says 36:00! All I have to do is find another 4:00, but the course designer has added another 'undulation' up to the finish. I know I made back nearly 10 seconds in the previous downhill kilometre and if I can keep the same effort level that I did for 9 that should be enough.
I had to dig quite deep for that last kilometer, as can be seen from the look on my face as I cross the line. And I was over the line before I felt the watch buzz and remembered to press stop. It then took me another couple of steps to get my breath back, take a couple of steps and check the watch.
39:49!!
My first ever sub-40 10km. Finally breaking my 21 year old PB of 40:24.
The official results even rounded down from my hand timing to give me a 39:47!
Way inside my main target for the year to run under 42 minutes!
Inside my stretch target for the year to run under 40 minutes!
Yes all of those exclamation marks are warranted.
The only thing I didn't quite get was my stretch target to 'run my age'. On race day I was 39.75 years old, and my time was 39.78 minutes. Two seconds faster or a week later and I would have been able to cross that off the list as well. With the wind conditions and the bumpy course I think I can run a bit quicker yet.
I then scoffed a couple of the awesome cakes at the finish hut and took the bike out for a lap of the course as a warm down.
Here is the full breakdown for the statisticians among you.
| Splits | Time | Cumulative |
| 1 | 03:53 | 03:53 |
| 2 | 04:02 | 07:55 |
| 3 | 04:02 | 11:57 |
| 4 | 04:19 | 16:16 |
| 5 | 03:57 | 20:13 |
| 6 | 04:00 | 24:13 |
| 7 | 03:59 | 28:12 |
| 8 | 03:58 | 32:10 |
| 9 | 03:50 | 36:00 |
| 10 | 03:49 | 39:49 |
| Summary | 39:49 | 39:49 |
Full results here
Official time 39:47
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