As always, time for a new blog for the new year.
http://kevinmorice2018.blogspot.co.uk
Tuesday, 2 January 2018
Monday, 1 January 2018
End of Year Review
So the most obvious place to start is with the targets I set for the year way back in January. That complete post can be found here.
The simplest way to look at them is just to cut the final block of targets and colour them accordingly, but that gives an awful lot of red. So I felt it necessary to annotate them.
Targets by numbers
Represent GBR age-group at an international event. - ETU Aquathlon Bratislava.
Take part in a GBR age-group qualifying race for the 2018 European or World Sprint Champs.
Swim 124 miles. - 134.1 miles
Swim 124 miles. - 134.1 miles
Swim under 6:15 minutes for 400m. - 6:29 at Alford.
Swim under 12:00 minutes for 750m. - 12:04 at Turriff (760m) and Loch Lomond (Open Water).
Swim under 26:00 minutes for 1,500m. - 26:26 at Huntly Standard.
Ride 2,332 miles. - 2,302 miles.
Ride a 10-mile TT in under 26 minutes. - 26:23 Drumoak.
Ride a 25-mile TT in under 1 hour 14 mins. - 1:10:58.
Ride a 25-mile TT in under 1 hour 14 mins. - 1:10:58.
Run 802 miles. - 814.5 miles.
Run a 5k in under 19:10 or 10k in under 41 mins. - 39:58 Elgin 10k.
Run another 5k in under 19:20 or 10k in under 42 mins. - 19:31 North Champs 5k.
80 Yoga sessions - 65.
80 Yoga sessions - 65.
52 & 52 Core & weights sessions. - Not even close.
Stretch Targets
Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for the 2018 European or World Sprint Championships.
Race a qualifying event for any other 2018 European or World Championship event.
Swim 142.6 miles.
Swim under 6:00 minutes for 400m.
Swim under 11:40 minutes for 750m.
Swim under 25:45 for 1,500m.
Ride 2,798 miles.
Ride a 10-mile TT in under 25 minutes.
Ride a 25-mile TT in under 72 minutes.
Ride a 25-mile TT in under 72 minutes.
Run 906 miles.
'Run my age' for 10k. - 39:58 Elgin 10k.
Run a 5k in under 19:00 or 10k in under 40 mins. - 39:58 Elgin 10k.
And so to the great long text bit where I try to make sense of all of that:
Swimming
134.1 miles this year. Over 30% more than any other year, and the effect of that, - almost nothing. My turns are now clean an consistent and I am using them all the time. I am regularly swimming 2 or 3 times each week, and yet I am not actually getting any faster against the clock.
I did miss out on outdoor swimming this year. My job in town just makes it impractical for me to get to Knockburn and I still haven't been brave enough to get suited up and get in the River Dee yet.
I missed my 750m 12:00 target, but this was even more annoying. My first swim of the year at Turriff I did 12:04 for what is a 760m swim. It is normally a slightly faster swim due to the extra turns for the short pool but I really thought I could turn that into a sub-12 through the season. I then did 12:04 again at Loch Lomond for what felt like a poor swim in open water. Those are still both PB swims though so I can't really complain.
My 400m swim time of 6:29 at Alford was slow again. I am going to blame their pool a bit for that one. It is definitely not a quick pool, and there was a bit of overtaking going on that interrupted it as well. I felt I could go faster and had planned a time trial between Xmas and New Year to see if I could sneak it.
My 1,500m swim time of 26:26 at Huntly was another disappointment. It was a pool swim PB so I shouldn't be upset by it, but I was just shattered going in to that race after a long season. Three times through the year I have gone through 1,500m splits in under 27 minutes during longer pool swims.
I am happy enough with this year in the pool. It would have been nice to have some more greens on the targets but I can live with how close I was to them and that if I had managed my races a bit better I think I could have gotten more out of 2017.
Biking
The bike is more difficult to measure this year. Almost all of my cycling has been done as commutes to work. So I have logged as many miles as recent years, and I have done almost all of those miles in short bursts which should mean I can put in a sensible amount of effort.
If I hadn't broken my leg with a week to go I would have easily managed the remaining 30 miles to meet my target for the year.
The race targets weren't great measures either. I didn't have good conditions for any of this year's TT series. I did a 10-mile PB in cold and slight showers, but it wasn't as fast as I had wanted. I did a 25-mile PB but it didn't actually feel like a particularly good ride.
Running
I don’t really know what to write about running this year. I did plenty, but didn’t really work hard at it and didn’t particularly enjoy much of it. Most of my running this year was out of habit or out of the necessity to commute.
Also almost all of my running this year had been done on my own. I haven’t actually been through every session but it wouldn’t entirely surprise me to find that outside of races and Dexter I might have been on my own for the rest of the 800 miles that I covered this year.
I was pleased enough with my run at Elgin to dip under 40 minutes again, but none of my other runs stand out. I did too many miles jogging to work and back and not enough useful training.
Triathlon
The only triathlon targets I set were around getting in to GB teams. I actually made a bit of a mess of the targets I set but have ended up being selected for both ITU and ETU Aquathlon Champs anyway. Whether I can get back to a competitive level in time for those events is another challenge.
I also went to the Scottish Aquathlon Champs at Loch Lomond and came away with a fourth place.
Others
I started the year again with lots of yoga, and binged my way through January. Then I got ridiculously lazy again.
With the weights and core sessions I was better in Q1 than in previous years but from there I basically just sopped.
----------------------
Other, Others
I was rubbish at monthly reviews. I don't think they really added anything to my planning either so I am going to drop them.
And my 2018 plan will need a total rewrite. I am not likely to do anything in January, possibly not February either if the more pessimistic of the surgeons have their way. If I have to get screws removed that might take out March as well.
Swimming
134.1 miles this year. Over 30% more than any other year, and the effect of that, - almost nothing. My turns are now clean an consistent and I am using them all the time. I am regularly swimming 2 or 3 times each week, and yet I am not actually getting any faster against the clock.
I did miss out on outdoor swimming this year. My job in town just makes it impractical for me to get to Knockburn and I still haven't been brave enough to get suited up and get in the River Dee yet.
I missed my 750m 12:00 target, but this was even more annoying. My first swim of the year at Turriff I did 12:04 for what is a 760m swim. It is normally a slightly faster swim due to the extra turns for the short pool but I really thought I could turn that into a sub-12 through the season. I then did 12:04 again at Loch Lomond for what felt like a poor swim in open water. Those are still both PB swims though so I can't really complain.
My 400m swim time of 6:29 at Alford was slow again. I am going to blame their pool a bit for that one. It is definitely not a quick pool, and there was a bit of overtaking going on that interrupted it as well. I felt I could go faster and had planned a time trial between Xmas and New Year to see if I could sneak it.
My 1,500m swim time of 26:26 at Huntly was another disappointment. It was a pool swim PB so I shouldn't be upset by it, but I was just shattered going in to that race after a long season. Three times through the year I have gone through 1,500m splits in under 27 minutes during longer pool swims.
I am happy enough with this year in the pool. It would have been nice to have some more greens on the targets but I can live with how close I was to them and that if I had managed my races a bit better I think I could have gotten more out of 2017.
Biking
The bike is more difficult to measure this year. Almost all of my cycling has been done as commutes to work. So I have logged as many miles as recent years, and I have done almost all of those miles in short bursts which should mean I can put in a sensible amount of effort.
If I hadn't broken my leg with a week to go I would have easily managed the remaining 30 miles to meet my target for the year.
The race targets weren't great measures either. I didn't have good conditions for any of this year's TT series. I did a 10-mile PB in cold and slight showers, but it wasn't as fast as I had wanted. I did a 25-mile PB but it didn't actually feel like a particularly good ride.
Running
I don’t really know what to write about running this year. I did plenty, but didn’t really work hard at it and didn’t particularly enjoy much of it. Most of my running this year was out of habit or out of the necessity to commute.
Also almost all of my running this year had been done on my own. I haven’t actually been through every session but it wouldn’t entirely surprise me to find that outside of races and Dexter I might have been on my own for the rest of the 800 miles that I covered this year.
I was pleased enough with my run at Elgin to dip under 40 minutes again, but none of my other runs stand out. I did too many miles jogging to work and back and not enough useful training.
Triathlon
The only triathlon targets I set were around getting in to GB teams. I actually made a bit of a mess of the targets I set but have ended up being selected for both ITU and ETU Aquathlon Champs anyway. Whether I can get back to a competitive level in time for those events is another challenge.
I also went to the Scottish Aquathlon Champs at Loch Lomond and came away with a fourth place.
Others
I started the year again with lots of yoga, and binged my way through January. Then I got ridiculously lazy again.
With the weights and core sessions I was better in Q1 than in previous years but from there I basically just sopped.
----------------------
Other, Others
I was rubbish at monthly reviews. I don't think they really added anything to my planning either so I am going to drop them.
And my 2018 plan will need a total rewrite. I am not likely to do anything in January, possibly not February either if the more pessimistic of the surgeons have their way. If I have to get screws removed that might take out March as well.
Training Review - Week 52 - Dec 25 to 31
Bugger!
Santa brought me lots of good triathlon stuff. Which is all going to be stuck in a box for a couple of months.
I am in for surgery on Wednesday. I may update this again during the week depending on how out-of-it I am on post-surgical medication. And whether or not my surgery goes ahead on schedule.
---------------
So the update is that the surgery is done. they have had to put a couple of screws in to secure everything and I am in a cast for at least the next 6 weeks. Here are some progress photos.
Initial break comparison of swelling and temporary cast for Xmas week.
Post surgery.
Post surgery lightweight cast.
Actuals - Swim 0 miles (0 m). Bike 0 miles. Run 0 miles.
0 short core, 0 short light weights and 0 stretching / rollering session. 0 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 134.1 (125.0) [143.8],
B 2,301.8 (2,332.0) [2,798.4],
R 814.5 (809.0) [914.2].
Santa brought me lots of good triathlon stuff. Which is all going to be stuck in a box for a couple of months.
I am in for surgery on Wednesday. I may update this again during the week depending on how out-of-it I am on post-surgical medication. And whether or not my surgery goes ahead on schedule.
---------------
So the update is that the surgery is done. they have had to put a couple of screws in to secure everything and I am in a cast for at least the next 6 weeks. Here are some progress photos.
Initial break comparison of swelling and temporary cast for Xmas week.
Post surgery.
Post surgery lightweight cast.
Actuals - Swim 0 miles (0 m). Bike 0 miles. Run 0 miles.
0 short core, 0 short light weights and 0 stretching / rollering session. 0 mins of yoga.
Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 134.1 (125.0) [143.8],
B 2,301.8 (2,332.0) [2,798.4],
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