Training Plan - Week 35 - August 28 to September 3

Alford Novice is this weekend. Because it is only a novice distance I am just going to train straight up to Thursday at least. 

Target totals - Swim 2.0 miles. Bike 56.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 

1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Training Review - Week 34 - August 21 to 27

My week started with a sniffle. It never turned into a full-on cold or flu but was annoying throughout the week. I was just on bike commutes Monday and Tuesday and Monday's swim session I did more coaching than swimming. 

Wednesday I was struggling with the cold so I decided to cut my commute and just run to the train and from the train to the office. I was in no state to swim in the evening. Thursday and Friday I felt no better and struggled through basic commutes.

Saturday I started with a ride to the pool and an easy swim. I decided to take my winter bike so that I could check it out before I actually need it for commuting. That turned in to a bit of a disaster as the real freehub appears to be knackered. The lack of a ride home after my swim meant I didn't finish any of my miles for the week. In the afternoon I did some DIY and then I went out for a jog. I was shattered and ended up just tootling around pokestops and not getting enough run miles for the week either.

Sunday I decided to catch-up with as much of a full week as I could manage. I took my mountain bike to the pool and did a mile swim alternating front crawl and breast stroke. Rode home again on 3 gears as I managed to snap a gear cable. I then went straight out for a run round the block. No DIY today, and replacing the gear cable only took 10 minutes, so I also did a yoga session and some rollering in the afternoon. In the evening I turned it into a total binge training day by finishing off weights and core sessions as well. 

Slightly better this week as I at least make the target numbers for all the main sets and manage to squeeze in the extra sessions as well. Still losing a little ground on my stretch targets but not at a rate that I can't catch back up once race season finishes.


Target totals -  Swim 2.0 miles. Bike 56.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 
1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Monday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 26 mins.
Commute ride from office 9.1 miles in 43 mins.
Swim with TPT  1,400m in 52mins.

Tuesday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 31 mins.
Commute ride from office 9.1 miles in 37 mins.

Wednesday - Commute run 2.5 miles in 29 mins.

Thursday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 29 mins.
Commute ride from office 10.3 miles in 60 mins.

Friday - Commute run 6.9 miles in 67 mins. 

Saturday - Ride to bucksburn 2.9 miles in 18 mins.
Swim 1,200m in 23 mins. 
Jog 2.7 miles in 37 mins.

Sunday - Ride to bucksburn 2.5 miles in 23 mins.
Swim 1,600m in 36 mins. 
Ride to bucksburn 2.4 miles in 12 mins.
Jog 2.7 miles in 25 mins.
Yoga session.
Stretching session.
Weights session.
Core session. 

Actuals - Swim 2.6 miles (4,200 m). Bike 57.6 miles. Run 14.8 miles. 
1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 stretching / rollering session. 30 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 94.8 (89.0) [102.4], 
B 1,533.7 (1,324.0) [1,588.8], 
R 614.9 (557.0) [629.4].

Training Plan - Week 34 - August 21 to 27

I have a relatively clear week. No races, and no obvious issues to stop me from just getting a clean week of training in. 

Target totals - Swim 2.0 miles. Bike 56.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 

1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Training Review - Week 33 - August 14 to 20

The whole week I was just commuting and swimming. The only good day was Wednesday when I commuted on the bike and then ran to and from the pool in the evening.

On Friday evening I convinced Mrs M that it was a good idea to rip up the kitchen floor so we could lay the rest of our new laminate. That then turned into a bit of a project for the weekend as we moved white goods, installed a new cupboard, fixed the flooring, laid the laminate, painted a few chips and generally upgraded the kitchen. that was probably not the best idea for our first anniversary weekend, but we did manage to get a chunk of time away on Saturday to go out for nice lunch and dinner and some drinks. And on Sunday we finished off the pieces of our wedding cake and some honeymoon Heineken that we had saved.

Missed both of my evening aquathon race options due to work. Looks like I am going to have to rely on the Scottish Champs Aquathon as my qualifying performance for the 2018 ETU Champs. 

A generally disappointing week again. I should have easily been able to fill out all the numbers and more, and to get all my extra sessions in as well. Instead working late crashed both my race options and I have reached a point where I have lost the balance. While I am working to chase numbers I am not doing any recovery activities and that means that I am struggling to get the numbers and so on round the loop.

Through 600 run miles for the year, but they are just slogging now, there is little actual running involved. My stretch targets are slipping away slightly but they are still within what I can recover by year end. 


Target totals -  Swim 2.0 miles. Bike 56.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 
1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Monday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 31 mins.
Commute ride from office 7.1 miles in 30 mins.
Swim with TPT 1,900 m in 53 mins.

Tuesday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 27 mins.
Commute ride from office 7.1 miles in 34 mins.

Wednesday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 32 mins.
Commute ride from office 7.1 miles in 30 mins.
Jog to bucksburn 2.5 miles in 26 mins.
Swim at bucksburn 1,300m in 30 mins. 
Jog from bucksburn 2.5 miles in 22 mins. 

Thursday - Commute run to office 6.9 miles in 72 mins.

Friday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 30 mins.
Commute ride from office 7.1 miles in 31 mins.

Saturday - Rest day.

Sunday - Jog 2.8 miles in 30 mins.
Stretching session.


Actuals - Swim 2.0 miles (3,200 m). Bike 56.6 miles. Run 14.7 miles. 
0 short core, 0 short light weights and 1 stretching / rollering session. 0 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 92.5 (87.0) [100.1], 
B 1,476.1 (1,268.0) [1,521.6], 
R 600.1 (543.0) [613.6].

Training Plan - Week 33 - August 14 to 20

I have two optional races this week. Ellon Aquathon on Monday evening and Fraserburgh Aquathon on Tuesday evening. Both are tight for time after work and might be difficult to travel to but I will see how things go. 

Saturday is our first wedding anniversary so I probably lose that as a training day. 


Target totals - Swim 2.0 miles. Bike 56.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 

1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Training Review - Week 32 - August 7 to 13

Monday was a completely standard cycle to work and back. In the evening I went to swimming, and so did everyone else in the world. The pool was packed out with people who have suddenly realised that Alford Novice is coming and they need to do a bit of swimming. That meant I was bumped up into the serious lane again. I managed to get my shoulder warmed up enough on Sunday that it was not a problem and managed again here. I wasn't by any means keeping up with the serious guys, but I wasn't being embarrassed or lapped by them so I am pretty happy with how I was swimming. This was the first really decent set I have done for a while.

Tuesday morning I abandoned my plan to run to the office and instead did an easy run around Dyce and then took the train in to town. My hip grumbled even at that level of abuse. After a stressful day at work I had to rush home on the train, grab my offshore kit, give Dexy a hug as he is visiting to keep Mrs M entertained while I am gone and head straight to the airport for my trip offshore.

Wednesday I was up at 5am to go to the heliport and offshore to Cygnus Alpha for an exciting day of offshore life. And Thursday it was another 5am start to get on a helicopter to head back to dry land and another chunk of the excitement that is Norwich International.

Friday I commuted on the bike and then went for a brick jog with Dexter. Then about 5 minutes of grumpy walking and sitting later I went for the rest of a run on my own. 

Saturday I did a slow jog around Dyce in the morning. In the evening I did some stretching just to make sure that I got at least one target for the week. 

Sunday I decided to take a bit of a detour on a run to the pool, and a steady swim, to at least try and get a couple more target numbers for the week crossed off. The idea behind the shorter runs is that they are meant to be faster. They are not. This one was an absolute slog. From Thursday I am going back to the morning commute runs for a while. 

The afternoon was hugely productive as we laid a new laminate floor in the dining room. 

Another disappointing week. Offshore stealing two days out of my plan, and some poor running hasn't helped. Passed 90 miles swimming, and 1,400 miles of biking. I am still way ahead of my base target but my stretch targets are starting to slip away slightly.

I have at least 2 weeks until my next real race, which is only a Novice distance. I have an opportunity to put in a more structured block of training for a couple of weeks and to ensure I get the recovery and the mobility sessions in. 



Target totals -  Swim 2.0 miles. Bike 56.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 
1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Monday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 31 mins.
Commute ride from office 9.1  miles in 45 mins.
Swim with TPT  2,000m in 45 mins.

Tuesday - Morning run 2.9 miles in 30 mins.

Wednesday - Offshore

Thursday - Offshore

Friday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 32 mins.
Commute ride from office 9.3  miles in 53 mins.
Jog without Dexter 2.2 miles in 20 mins. 

Saturday - Jog without Dexter 3.4 miles in 35 mins. 

Sunday - Jog to bucksburn 5.5 in 55 mins.
Steady swim 1,200m in 22 mins.


Actuals - Swim 2.0 miles (3,200 m). Bike 32.6 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 
0 short core, 0 short light weights and 1 stretching / rollering session. 0 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 90.5 (85.0) [97.8], 
B 1,419.3 (1,212.0) [1,454.4], 
R 585.3 (529.0) [597.8].

End of July Review

I should be at 82 swim miles, 1108 bike miles and 501 run miles. Or if I am pushing on towards the stretch targets 94.3, 1329.6 and 566.1.

I should also have logged at least 30 each of weights, core and stretching sessions and 15 hours of yoga. 

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

Swimming has been ok in July, I did 10.4 miles against a target of 9. It has felt terrible though. I have dropped from 3 miles / week to 2 since June and I expected to actually keep doing close to 3 and instead I am struggling to get 2 each week. I can still get this back up to my stretch target by the end of the year, and I am still way ahead any of previous year. 

The bike also has been just ok. Into the second half of the year I was meant to do more on the bike, and I have done a little more, but not really as much as I wanted to be doing. At 1,336 miles i am still ahead of my stretch target but only just and that is taking detours on commutes and adding races.Running I continue to post much bigger numbers than I need but only just now. As with swimming I cut the numbers slightly for the second half of the year and I am having more trouble with those smaller targets than i ever had with the larger numbers. 566.4 miles at the end of July keeps me the same 65 miles ahead of my target that I had at the end of June and scrapes over my stretch target.

24 weights and 28 core sessions and only one of each in the whole of July. 

I am at just over 20 hours of yoga. Still high for year-to-date thanks to the binge in January, but getting worse every month. 

Training Plan - Week 32 - August 7 to 13

I am going offshore this week which basically fucks my entire training plan. 

I have 3 weeks till my next race and could use a rest for my shoulder and back.


Target totals - Swim 2.0 miles. Bike 56.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 

1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Training Review - Week 31 - July 31 to August 6

Monday I started with a pair of easy commutes. I was still tired from Saturday and trying not to put too much more into my legs before TT on Tuesday night.

Swimming in the evening was a disaster. I had problems with my back from the start and by the end of the warm-up I was having problems with my shoulder as well. I forced myself to do about a third of the session by trying to work one-sided but even that was making my back worse. 

Tuesday I decided I would take my last chance to get my 10-mile TT target for the year. I headed out to Garlogie despite my back still bothering me. I managed to dodge the rain shower and headed out to warm-up but found that the gear shifting fault I had at Inverurie and thought I had fixed, was actually not fixed. Apparently it only shows up when I try to put high power in to one of the top 2 gears. After my warm-up I had another quick attempt to manually correct it just before the start. 

I lasted about 150m from the start as I worked up through the gears till the first gear jump, another 5m before the second and by the third I had already sat up and was trying to figure out how far into the field I could actually launch the bike if I gave it the full David Millar. Fortunately the part of me that had to sleep in the car at the weekend because I couldn't afford a hotel room realised that hurling two grand's worth of carbon fibre into a field was unlikely to improve my current situation and I rolled the bike back to registration in a lower gear. 

When I got home I put the bike up on my workstand to recheck the gear alignment but it looks like there is nothing wrong with it. As the issue only appears under high load there is no way for me to actually figure out what is wrong. If I can't find and fix the fault before Westhill on Sunday I may have to ride my road bike instead. This has not made me a happy bunny. Not only has it cost me the shot at my TT target but it also might be an expensive fix.

Wednesday I should have gone to Knockburn Aquathon (Dear Apple, I want to use the word Aquathon, stop fucking changing it to Equation!). After the previous two days and with an empty petrol tank that I can't afford to refill I decided instead to skip it. I did ride to work and back. Then I went out for a quick test of my realigned TT gears, and found they were no better. When I got home and had a bit of a strop, but then a bit more investigation and I identified a single bent tooth on the big chainring.

I removed the chainring and went to the internet for replacements. Having found some accessible but unreasonably priced alternatives and some imported, affordable but not going to arrive for a month alternatives, I took the existing chainring to the garage, and stuck it in the vice to try and straighten the tooth. That made absolutely no difference so I tried again a couple of times to grip the single tooth and bend it. That worked a bit better and after a couple of attempts I had it lined up. I refitted it and took it round the block. All smooth and seems to be as good as new.   

Thursday I did a jog round Dyce before getting the train to work. The idea of the shorter run rather than a full 7 mile commute is that I can run faster. Only I can't at the minute. My back and hip mean that anything more than a light jog is impossible regardless of distance. At night I tried some stretching, rollering and yoga which seemed to help.

Friday I rode to work and back and any good work on my hip and back were undone. I had planned a run at lunchtime but my hip wasn't going to approve of that. In the evening I gave up watching the farce of television coverage of the World Champs athletics in favour of more yoga.

Saturday I had a rest day with a little bit of yoga and some stretching. 

Sunday was Westhill Triathlon which will get a post to itself.

Shit week. Swimming was crap. Missed my last chance at my 10-mile TT target due to a mechanical that I noticed a fortnight ago and failed to address. Missed my last chance at my 750m swim target. Nowhere near my run or swim weekly targets and because of that now behind all of my stretch targets.



Target totals -  Swim 2.0 miles. Bike 56.0 miles. Run 14.0 miles. 
1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of yoga. 

Monday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 29 mins.
Commute ride from office 9.2 miles in 47 mins.
Swim with TPT 750m in 36 mins.

Tuesday - Warm-up 3.0miles  in 12 mins.
Mechanical 1.0 miles in 5 mins.

Wednesday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 27 mins.
Commute ride from office 7.1 miles in 33 mins.
TT repair test (fail) - 0.7 miles in 7 mins.
TT repair test (success) - 1.5 miles in 7 mins.

Thursday - Morning run 2.2 miles in 20 mins.
Stretching and rollering.
Yoga session 25 mins.

Friday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 29 mins.
Commute ride from office 9.3 miles in 42 mins.
Yoga session 7 mins.

Saturday - Yoga session 10 mins.

Sunday - Westhill Triathlon
Swim 750m in 12:42
Bike 13.1 miles in 42:26
Run 2.7 miles in 18:23.


Actuals - Swim 1.0 miles (1,550 m). Bike 66.2 miles. Run 4.9 miles. 
0 short core, 0 short light weights and 2 stretching / rollering session. 42 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 88.3 (83.0) [95.5], 
B 1,386.7 (1156.0) [1387.2], 
R 571.3 (515.0) [582.0].