Training Review - Week 44 - October 24 to 30

Monday I started with a commute to work. Having eliminated the noise from my drivetrain that had bothered me on and off last week and all of Sunday's ride (slight twist in rear derailleur) I had a lovely smooth ride to work, and a slightly tougher commute home as my legs started to complain about the shift to winter training volumes over the last couple of weeks. I went to swimming in the evening to find an awful lot of new people meant that there was a general reshuffling of lanes and quite a few had to move up. That put me into lane 4 for the first time in a while and the difference is noticeable. I was actually swimming quite well according to the clock but it felt like a hard day as I tried to avoid being lapped too often by the fastest swimmers. It turns out that this was also my longest pool swim session of the year. I am fairly happy with that, simply getting back to two swims a week is already making a clear difference. Missing out on trips to Knockburn this week has put a big dent in my swim progress and the only real positive this year has been in my turns, it would be good to get my swimming back on an upward trend before the year end. 

Tuesday I started with a run to work. I made a mistake when downloading this week's Zombies, Run mission so I didn't have zombie chases for company, and it has now reached that point in the year where gloves are essential on every run so no Pokemon to play with either. They effectively cancelled out their pace effects and with slightly more traffic light stops than usual I arrived spot on the 1 hour mark. My legs are now in need of a decent rest though. Wednesday I have planned just a swim as I can take the car to work for the day. Then Thursday I will cycle commute and see if the single day of rest has eased my legs. Friday I have another cycle commute planned and I will have to make a decision to keep that and get my 100-mile cycling week or drop it and get a rest day before my heavy weekend.

Wednesday morning swimming reminded me of why I was never a junior swimmer. I find it uncomfortable to ride or run in the morning, but I can do them, with some application of willpower. Swimming on the other hand just doesn't work for me at that time of day. My lungs and shoulders take time to recover from sleeping and going straight to the pool in the morning means too much congestion and not enough freedom of rotation. By swimming in the morning I then am left with stiff shoulders and back for the rest of the day. Fine at a weekend or when I am out of work and I can stretch and recover through the day, but too much for a full day at work and an evening of sitting in the cinema. I did do a bit of stretching before bed, but barely enough to work out the worst of the aches. 

Thursday I took my road bike to work but it was a struggle. I was completely empty and even at commuting speed there was nothing in the tank. Even before I arrived at work I had decided that Friday was going to be a train-commuting day and my 100-mile cycling week was not going to happen. 

Friday I had an effective rest day but in the morning I managed to tweak something in my bag whilst putting my shoes on. In the evening I had planned weights core and yoga sessions but I only managed the yoga. It did loosen off the pain in my back and eased off some of the other aches and pains that are developing through the increase in miles. 

Saturday I went through to Gordonstoun for the next race in the North District Cross-Country League. I started the first mile much too fast, paid the price for the next 4 and then had a half decent finish. One day off wasn't enough to recover properly from my current heavy training load, but it was enough for me to place around similar athletes to my run at Keith last month. 

Sunday was the Deeside Falling Leaves ride. I volunteered to lead the slow group, as a cunning plan to ensure that I would get in the slow group. That did mean for a fairly slow ride but it was way out of my current range and I was empty before the end. As was the battery on my garmin, which frustratingly gave up at about 58 miles and lost my history for the ride in the process.

That means that despite missing out on my 100 mile week I still sneak over 2,000 bike miles for the year. I caught up some of the backlog on my swim miles, with a triple swim week coming next week. And I had a pretty good running race despite being in the midst of some really heavy training. Missing out on the core and weights was annoying but I can live with it when everything else is going so well. 


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 7.2 miles in 36 mins.
Commute from office 7.0 miles in 38 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,400m in 54 mins.

Tuesday - Commute run 6.9 miles in 60 mins.

Wednesday - Swim at Bucksburn 1,350m in 33 mins.
Stretching and rollering.

Thursday - Commute to office 7.2 miles in 36 mins.
Commute from office 7.0 miles in 38 mins.

Friday - Rest Day.
Yoga 33 mins.

Saturday - Warm-up 1.0 miles in 9 mins.
NDXCL Gordonstoun 6.4 miles in 46min 54.

Sunday - Deeside Falling Leaves 66.5 miles in 4 hours.


Actuals - Swim 2.3 miles (3,750 m). Bike 94.8 miles. Run 14.3 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 1 stretching / rollering session. 33 mins of yoga 

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 81.3  (87.3)  [100.3],
B 2,000.3  (1,760.8)  [2,200.9],
R 635.2  (627.9)  [709.5].