Training Plan - Week 17 - April 24 to 30

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is on Friday. This means a slightly rearranged commuting week again. 

I also have failed again to add any running speed to my programme. I have two fixes for that this week. Firstly I am going to cycle more through the week. That allows me to then put in a  shorter run on Friday evening and to go through to Elgin on Saturday and do some proper fast running. 

I have put my entry in for the North Champs 5k on May 13th which will affect my plan for the next couple of weeks and give me my first and last real chance to at least get a running race in my suit before Bratislava. 

I also need to get some time in my wet suit soon. This week looks difficult unless I can get to Knockburn on Sunday.


Target totals - Swim 3.0 miles. Bike 30.0 miles. Run 18.0 miles. 
1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Training Review - Week 16 - April 17 to 23

The lack of traffic for Easter Monday made for a fast ride to work despite the wet roads and 2 degree temperatures. Swimming at night was sparsely populated so I got a whole lane to myself. My legs were tight from racing and generally that means kick-heavy sessions are a cramp-laden disaster but I managed to survive this set. 

Tuesday I had a jog to run to work but I was still feeling heavy from Sunday's race. In the evening I went for a massage which included a set of chinese cups on some of the areas that I have been having problems with.

Wednesday I took a detour on the bike ride home to add a quarter mile and a pokegym. In the evening I went to bucksburn to swim a set of 10x100m every 2 mins. After the first one I wanted to bin it for something different, after the third one I was sure it was going to be a disaster, so from there I just took it one rep at a time until I got through the 10. Averaged out at 1:34 despite feeling terrible on every single one. Then cooled down with 600m of alternating breast stroke and front crawl. 

Thursday was another easy pair of commutes with a short detour to Asda on the way home. In the evening I went for an extra swim to make up for the missing miles from last week. I decided on a 20-min TT swim. Not as a formal test having skipped the trial-suit and swim cap. And not expected to be a particularly quick test either with no-one to draft and this being my 4th swim session in 5 days. Despite all that, my current form meant that I went through a PB of 1,200m for the 20 minutes. I then did a bit of breast stroke to cool down while I tried to figure out how much faster I can go if I made a full-gas, full-kit attempt. 

Friday I did an easy jog commute, then was out in the afternoon and evening leaving a full set of small sessions for the weekend.

Saturday I went to bucksburn for a swim. I was feeling pretty empty so I just did a steady 30 minutes.

Sunday morning I suddenly realised I had a load of sessions to catch up on for the week. I did most of a yoga session in the morning before Dexter came to visit and we went for a run at Kirkhill. In the evening I caught up with my core and weights sessions, and then did a bit of stretching just to round out my week. 

I have ticked off most of the numbers this week and passed a few big targets. Through 50 miles swimming, 600 miles biking and 350 miles running. But having clocked all of those it hasn't been a great week. I have been tired and empty all week after racing on Sunday and I still did no fast running. 

From now to Bratislava the numbers are going to still be there as a guide but I am going to try and take less notice of them for the next month. 



Target totals - Swim 3.0 miles. Bike 30.0 miles. Run 18.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 26 mins.
Commute ride from office 7.0 miles in 35 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,400m in 54 mins. 

Tuesday - Commute run 6.9 miles in 62 mins. 
Massage.

Wednesday - Commute ride to office 7.0 miles in 29 mins.
Commute ride from office 7.3 miles in 34 mins.
Swim at bucksburn 1,600m in 34 mins. 

Thursday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 28 mins.
Commute ride from office 8.6 miles in 42 mins.
Swim at bucksburn 1,300m in 29 mins. 

Friday - Commute run 6.9 miles in 62 mins. 

Saturday - Swim at bucksburn 1,650m in 30 mins.

Sunday - Yoga session 20 mins.
Kirkhill with Dexter 4.7 miles in 55 mins.
Weights session.
Core session. 


Actuals - Swim 4.3 miles (6,950 m). Bike 44.1 miles. Run 18.5 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 stretching / rollering session. 21 mins of yoga. 

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 53.1 (47.0) [54.1], 
B 619.7 (470.0) [564.0], 
R 358.7 (293.0) [331.0].

Training Plan - Week 16 - April 17 to 23

Another slightly juggled week as I try to make up for last week's missed swims. 

I have the weekend clear so hopefully I will get a chance to do some faster running work. 

Racing Turriff has not helped.  


Target totals - Swim 3.0 miles. Bike 30.0 miles. Run 18.0 miles. 
1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Training Review - Week 15 - April 10 to 16

Monday I took my commutes on my summer road bike. This seemed like a good idea when the weather forecast was dry but while the rain had stopped in the morning the roads were still greasy. That was still better than the evening when it was a ride into a drizzly headwind.

I didn't like the evening swim set but I managed to adapt it to something more useful.

Tuesday I just took an easy jog to work and in the evening I managed to get my weights session in to give me a chance at a taper in to Sunday. 

Wednesday I rode in to work despite the wet roads. In the evening I managed to sneak in an extra run session before going on an evening walking tour of the Lost Cinemas of Aberdeen. It was pretty cold but good fun.

Thursday I jogged to work and then did a second run in the evening before going to see Fast and Furious 8. Both runs we're a struggle and too slow to be useful. I really need to drop the run commutes for faster run sessions. 

Friday was just easy cycle commutes.

Saturday I started the morning with an extra core session. Then did absolutely nothing for the rest of the morning. I finally did some stretching after lunch and then sorted out my race kit for Sunday. In the evening I did some yoga.

Sunday was Turriff Triathlon, which will get a post to itself. 


Target totals - Swim 3.0 miles. Bike 30.0 miles. Run 18.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 27 mins.
Commute ride from office 7.0 miles in 37 mins.
Swim with TPT 1,900m in 51 mins. 

Tuesday - Commute run to office 6.9 miles in 58 mins. 
Weights session.
Core session.

Wednesday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 28 mins.

Duthie run 5.0 miles in 50 mins.

Thursday - Commute run to office 6.9 miles in 64 mins. 
Duthie run 4.5 miles in 48 mins.

Friday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 28 mins.
Commute ride from office mtb 7.0 miles in 30 mins.

Saturday - Rest day.
Core session.
Stretching session.
Yoga session 20 mins.

Sunday - Yoga session 13 mins.
Turriff Sprint Triathlon.
Swim 760m in 12:04.
Bike 12.6 miles in 45:46.
Run 2.6 miles in 18:08.


Actuals - Swim 1.7 miles (2,700 m). Bike 47.9 miles. Run 25.9 miles. 2 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 stretching / rollering session. 33 mins of yoga. 

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 48.9 (44.0) [50.6], 
B 575.6 (440.0) [528.0], 
R 340.2 (275.0) [310.8].

Race Review - Turriff Triathlon

Well, that was basically a bit shit.

Here is a link to the results.

The weather was cold and I was drawn as the slowest swimmer in the fastest heat. So with 19 faster swimmers and no idea what my GB suit would be like in the cold I decided to wear my club suit and to add a jacket and gloves on the huge run between the pool and T1. 

I actually had a good swim. I should be really pleased as I PB-ed for 750m, despite it being a longer swim. I had a nice clean swim. The other four people in my lane were all very similar swimmers and we all stayed nicely in order and while the four of them bunched up a little I couldn't quite get close enough to get any real drafting benefit from them. So basically for a 760m time trial I went 30 seconds faster than last year. I am actually happy enough with that. Officially missed my target for the year by 4 seconds but no doubt that will come in any race where I can throw out those extra 10 metres. 

I had a fairly average T1 as I tried to get dressed during the long run. I decided to add socks against the cold and then actually got a decent mount and in to my shoes first time. 

About 2 miles in to the bike I used the brakes on little twisty descent and they didn't come off again. I tried a couple of squeezes of the lever and nothing happened. This wasn't the annoying rub that I have had on and off since I have had the bike but was a consistent drag on the wheel. I kept on it until I reached the marshal at the crossroads turn and did a quick dismount, unlocked the wheel, misaligned it on purpose to stop the rubbing side from contacting the wheel. I gave it a spin and the squeak was gone, hopped back on and did about two turns of the pedals before it returned.  

I had purposefully stopped next to the marshal incase the problem wasn't repairable I could just get a lift back, but then I changed my mind and decided to persist. I did about another 3 miles before I came to what should have been a fast downhill section and the lack of rear brakes was giving me control problems as the rear was locking anytime I touched the brakes. I had another stop, pulled the wheel, wiggled the brakes, got them to squeeze and release and then put the wheel back in. I tried to hop on put my hips seized and I couldn't get back on the bike. Fortunately the slight downhill was enough to roll it in to motion and get back on. The brakes were still on, maybe slightly less but not enough to actually ride it properly. 

This time there were no marshals about so the option to quit wasn't there so I carried on to the end of the bike leg. As I reached the last mile I started passing the other competitors from my heat, already halfway through their run, or in the case of the leader, actually coming in to finish. 

I then wandered through transition having decided that I would go out on the run anyway, but not being in any mood for it.

I was about 3 minutes down on last years bike time and nearly 6 minutes down on the year before. Those are bad enough stats on their own but the weather and wind direction made for fast times this year and everyone else went between 3 and 7 minutes faster than previous years. In one case I gave up 15:20 compared to one racer from last year. 

I didn't have a good run either. Nothing like the bike disaster but I just didn't care so I took it as a training run. I did put some effort in, just to get up to 4min/km pace and tick along at that. That gave me a run of 18:08 which I was quite pleased about until I uploaded it and found it was half a mile shorter than previous years. 

I finished a full 20 minutes behind the winner in 32nd place and 10th Vet. 

Swim 12:04
Bike 45:47
Run (Only 2.6 miles) 18:08

Total 1:19:58
(Last year was 1:18:31 in terrible winds with an extra half mile on the run)

Race Preview - Turriff Triathlon

2015 Race Preview
2016 Race Preview

2015 Race Report
2016 Race Report

Turriff is going to be my first triathlon again this season. And potentially my only one until June. Peterhead is only two days before I fly out to Bratislava so I doubt I will race it. That means this is the only chance I will get to try out my GB tri-suit in a race. 

I am going in to it in great swim shape and actually in pretty great shape all round. The official results for Turriff always need to come with a chunk of interpretation as there is a long run from the pool down to transition that is included in the official swim times. Also the pool itself is 20m so the race is 760m rather than 750m. My garmin swim time from last year was 12:36. I want to be out of the water under that. My target time for a 750m swim this year is 12:00. I would like to be somewhere in the 12:15 sort of range for Turriff, given the unusual pool length but as always with triathlon pool swims my time will depend as much on who else is in my lane as how I swim myself. 

On the bike the times for this course are hugely influenced by the weather. I have done 40:00 and 42:47 in consecutive years whilst in similar condition. I don't like this bike course. It starts with a climb, and goes pretty consistently uphill to half way. Then the downhill has some pretty sketchy corners and more traffic on the way back in. 

I have no idea what bike shape I am in this year. Aboyne duathlon suggests I might go quite well but I haven't done anywhere near enough real training on the bike so I can't really tell. I will take whatever I get on the bike. 

The run I am not a huge fan of either. It goes uphill to a cone, turns round and comes back. This means it is tough but also boring. I am running almost exactly the same as I was last year if you believe my Moray 10k result. But I think the weather had an effect there and I am actually running slightly faster. If I can go under 20 minutes for the run I will be pleased.

The bike is so much of an effect on the overall time that I can't even set an overall target. Somewhere in the 1:15 to 1:18 range would be good. 35 minutes plus the bike time. Last year I factored that out by aiming for a time within 120% of the overall winner.

Training Plan - Week 15 - April 10 to 16

First triathlon of the year on Sunday at Turriff. Not my favourite, the bike course is uphill on the way out and the downhill return comes with some dodgy corners. 

It is a big running week as I have extra runs on Wednesday and Thursday before evenings in town, plus a the race on Sunday. An average cycle week as Sunday's race makes up for missing Wednesday's commute. And a short swimming week as I lose both my midweek and saturday swims in favour of just 750m of racing. 


Target totals - Swim 3.0 miles. Bike 30.0 miles. Run 18.0 miles. 
1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Training Review - Week 14 - April 3 to 9

Monday was a pair of terrible commutes on the mountain bike and a detour to the bike shop to collect a new derailleur for the road bike. I got time to install it but didn't get time to align it properly and arrange the indexing. 

I did go to swimming in the evening and was working well again. A tough session but there is a definite improvement after my massage at the weekend.

That improvement translated to my run on Tuesday morning as well as I set a record time on my run commute despite feeling like I was taking it easy. 
Wednesday I had to drop the car at the Land Rover garage so I only managed a couple of short jogs to work and back to collect the car. 
In the evening I went to bucksburn for a my swim set in my new GB tri-suit. 5 x 200m reps with only 50 seconds rest instead of the normal 60 seconds. The first was 3:12 (PB), followed by 3:10 (PB), 3:09.9 (PB), 3:09.8 (PB) then a 3:14 (would have been a PB at the start of March). I am not going to credit all of the fast times to the new suit, but it certainly wasn't slowing me down any. Then I paddled a long cool down of alternating breast stroke and front crawl. 

Thursday I took a steady run to work but having had Dexter to visit for a couple of days my allergies were playing up and my lungs were struggling.

Friday I used my summer bike to commute to and from work. I got lucky with the wind in both directions so even with a detour on the return trip to extend it slightly I still put in a pair of fast times. In the evening I finally did last weeks weights session as I try to catch up. 

Saturday I jogged to the pool, did a couple of steady 750m reps and then ran home. After a busy afternoon of chores and visiting grannies I did a set of weights, core and stretching in the evening. 

Sunday morning I started with a trip to the pool and a set of 10 x 100m on 1:55. Taking 5 seconds off the rest between reps makes a significant difference. Coupled to a heavy Saturday I was flat out to make 1:35s. Faster than a well-rested January session with 2 min recoveries. 

Then I planned to go straight out on the TT bike but got distracted by the ITU Gold Coast race on the tv. I eventually went out after lunch for a lap of Dyce just to spend some time in the TT position and check out the problems I was having with the brakes rubbing at Aboyne.  The brakes were still rubbing but I think I managed to sort that once I got it home. Even with that issue it was still more than a minute faster than the road bike round the same route. 

After watching the Chinese Grand Prix and the last 50k of Paris-Roubaix I did my yoga session, this weeks core session and some time on the roller. 


With the exception of my 5k swim race week in 2013 this has been my longest swim week ever. And all of it at good pace as well. It has also been my longest bike week of this year, which is actually a bit of a concern as I still didn't break 50 miles. But Sunday's two test rides were both in record times round my home 10-mile loop despite some traffic lights and riding them back-to-back. And cleared my backlogs of weights and core sessions from previous weeks.

Through 300 run miles and 500 bike miles, and caught up to my swimming stretch target. 



Target totals - Swim 3.0 miles. Bike 30.0 miles. Run 18.0 miles. 2 short core, 2 short light weights and 3 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Commute ride to office mtb 7.1 miles in 36 mins.
Commute ride from office mtb 7.4 miles in 46 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,150m in 55 mins. 

Tuesday - Commute run to office 6.9 miles in 55 mins. 

Wednesday - Drop and collect car 3.4 miles in 44 mins. 
Swim at bucksburn 1,600m in 37 mins.

Thursday - Commute run to office 6.9 miles in 60 mins. 

Friday - Commute ride 7.1 miles in 27 mins.
Commute ride 7.3 miles in 33 mins. 
Weights session.

Saturday - Run to bucksburn 2.4 miles in 22 mins
Swim at bucksburn 1,800m in 37 mins.
Run from bucksburn 2.4 miles in 19 mins.
Core session.
Weights session.
Stretching session.

Sunday - Swim at bucksburn 1,750m in 38 mins.
TT bike 10 miles in 35 mins.
Road bike 10 miles in 36 mins. Yoga session 21 mins.
Core session.
Stretching session.


Actuals - Swim 4.5 miles (7,300 m). Bike 48.9 miles. Run 22.8 miles. 2 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 stretching / rollering session. 21 mins of yoga. 

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 47.2 (41.0) [47.2], 
B 527.7 (410.0) [492.0], 
R 314.3 (257.0) [290.4].

Training Plan - Week 14 - April 3 to 9

I have scribbled the same target numbers for this week, including some carry over from last week, but I have so many other things going on that I will take whatever I can get for the next couple of weeks. 

I lose Wednesday commutes as I have to put the car in to the garage across town. I will also likely lose other evening sessions to visiting my granny in the hospital. I am struggling for bike options as currently only the TT bike and the mountain bike are actually ride-able.



Target totals - Swim 3.0 miles. Bike 30.0 miles. Run 18.0 miles. 
2 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 42 mins of yoga. 

Training Review - Week 13 - March 27 to April 2

Monday I had to resort to the mountain bike for my commutes while I decide on how and when to fix my winter commuting bike. In the evening I went to swimming and put in another good session with accidental 6:45 and 6:55 400m reps in the middle of it.

Tuesday I took another easy run in to work in the morning and despite the DOMS from Sunday's race I clocked a fairly respectable time. Just missing out on an hour after being caught at the traffic crossing on Union Street. In the evening I caught up with last week's missed weights and core sessions.

Wednesday was the mountain bike through the drizzle and still suffering from DOMS. In the evening I just wanted to crash and have a sleep but I did drag myself to the pool. I settled on a set of 10x100m on 2 min starts. I set some good times and managed to stay more consistent through the set compared to previous attempts. Stringing them all together would get me 15:31 through 1k. Even losing a minute on that would still get me out ahead of my plan at Bratislava and I still have a wetsuit, swim cap, race adrenaline and draft effects all to add in against any lost time from the rests.

Thursday was easy mountain bike commutes and a stupid smack on the knee as I bumped the gear shifter trying to unclip from a track stand at a junction. In the evening I did a bit of stretching. I am over the DOMS from the weekend but am into a new phase of just being completely shattered. 

Friday I really struggled with my run to work. I was just empty for the entire run and had a couple of aches, pains and tight spots. I even considered dropping my reps run in the evening. 

Saturday I jogged to the pool. I did a short warm-up and then a 20-minute time trial. I felt terrible for the entire swim. Also I had planned a 200m warm-up but changed that to 100m to fit in with the other swimmers in the lane. I then promptly forgot about it and every time I did a quick distance check during my swim the calculations came out that I was going terribly slowly. Through 10 minutes thinking I had only done 475m and I almost abandoned the whole thing but decided instead that the point of the test was to find out what state I was in, even if that state was exhausted, under-fuelled and fighting some tightness. I then jogged home and plugged in my garmin to find out that I was 575 at 10 minutes and 1,150m for the full test. Not my best numbers but a lot better than I felt. 

Then after breakfast I went for a massage. First time I have been there since August and it showed. I need to get back in to regular visits and have booked in again for two weeks time. I also did some additional stretching in the evening.

Sunday I did some yoga in the morning and then since it was such a nice day I decided to take my summer road bike out for an hour. That lasted about 6 minutes until I found the jumping gears were being caused by a huge twist in the chain. I rolled it round the block to home and did what I could to straighten it but it still won't sit in gear. So now it is tucked away until I can at least replace the chain. 

In the evening I did this weeks weights and core sessions to save carrying them over to next week. 

Target totals - Swim 3.0 miles. Bike 30.0 miles. Run 18.0 miles. 2 short core, 2 short light weights and 3 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga.

Monday - Commute ride to office mtb 7.1 miles in 31 mins.
Commute ride from office mtb 7.0 miles in 38 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,300m in 51mins. 

Tuesday - Commute run 6.9 miles in 61 mins. 
Weights session.
Core session.

Wednesday - Commute ride to office mtb 7.1 miles in 31 mins.
Commute ride from office mtb 7.0 miles in 35 mins.
Swim at bucksburn 1,800m in 42 mins. 

Thursday - Commute ride to office mtb 7.1 miles in 34 mins.
Commute ride from office mtb 7.0 miles in 39 mins.
Stretching and rollering session.

Friday - Commute run 6.8 miles in 64 mins. 
Duthie park run 3.4 miles in 37 mins. 

Saturday - Run to bucksburn 2.4 miles in 23 mins.
Swim at bucksburn 1,500m in 32 mins.
Run from bucksburn 2.4 mins in 22 mins.
Massage.
Stretching session.

Sunday - Yoga session 18 mins. 
Ride 2.6 miles in 14 mins. 



Actuals - Swim 3.5 miles (3,800 m). Bike 44.9 miles. Run 21.9 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 stretching / rollering session. 18 mins of yoga. 

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 42.6 (38.0) [43.7], 
B 476.2 (380.0) [456.0], 
R 294.9 (239.0) [270.1].

Monthly (and Q1) Review - March

I should be at 38 swim miles, 380 bike miles and 235 run miles. Or if I am pushing on towards the stretch targets 43.7, 456 and 265.6.

I should also have logged at least 13 each of weights, core and stretching sessions and 6 hours of yoga. 

--------------------------------------------------------------


Swimming has mostly been a good month. I have kept up to my target and included some good individual sessions. I was a mile behind my stretch target at the end of Feb and am 2 miles behind at the end of March. I have still been comfortably over my basic target and I have been going faster which is really the point. In previous years, the earliest I have reached 40 miles is May 11th so I am at least 6 weeks ahead of any other year.

Here is the graphical version, the green line is actuals red and dotted red are target and stretch target. The flat line at the start of March was the week I had the flu.The bike continues to be way above plan as well. I was meant to be doing less on the bike in Q1 as I focus on Bratislava, but am still over even my stretch target. Destroying the derailleur on my commuting bike was an annoying dent in my plans. It only cost me 7 miles but it now means I am having to resort back to the mountain bike for commuting until the weather improves enough to start using one of my nicer bikes or I can replace the derailleur.




















The bike graph shows I am above even my stretch target and while I am behind a few previous years that is what I expected as I don't really intend to spend a lot of time on the bike until after May. 

Again the small flat section is the week with the flu. 






Running I continue to post much bigger numbers than I need but I also managed to add some speed sessions. 287.5 miles at the end of Mar puts me more than 50 miles ahead of my target and 22 ahead of my stretch target. A sub-40-min 10k and another 100-mile month is more than I could have hoped for. 


The graph shows how much I am running. The steep blue line is from marathon year and can be ignored. So I am above target, above stretch target and way above any previous year (bar one). I really couldn't hope for anything more at this stage. 









13 weights and 12 core sessions puts me back on schedule. A pair on Sunday will put me slightly ahead. 

I am at just over 13 hours of yoga. Still high for year-to-date thanks to the binge in January, but also slightly over for March. 



--------------------------------------------------------------

As it is end-of-Quarter I also am due for a check in against other targets. 


I haven't done a swim or bike race yet but have gone fairly close to some swim race targets during training. 

Running I have only done one race but that was enough to score my sub-41 10k target and also to get two of my stretch targets, running sub-40 and run-my-age.