Training Review - Week 3 - Jan 16 to 22

A comfortable start to the week with mountain bike commutes was followed by a crash into a really tough swim session. I was swimming really well through the session but paying the price by the end as I started to cramp up. By the time I got home it was too late to get in my yoga session before bed time. I did a bit of stretching before bed, but not enough to count as a whole session. 

I fully expected to suffer on my Tuesday morning commute having pushed the swim set on Monday evening and then not done any stretching or yoga. And for the first couple of miles I did, grinding out 9-min/miles. From there things started to smooth out and with some clear runs through traffic lights I ended up coasting in under an hour. In the evening I went on to yoga session 14 and also did last weeks core session. 

Wednesday I did a pair of fairly solid mountain bike commutes despite some issues with my drivetrain and shifting. At night I went to bucksburn to swim. Planned session was 200m reps with 60 secs recovery, and as many of those as I can manage under 3:30. I started in the same 3:20 that I did a fortnight ago but instead of losing two seconds each till a 3:33 for number 5 this time I went faster till I hit a 3:12. Number 6 was a pretty heavy reality check as I lost 15 seconds on the previous rep and went 3:34. Still a whole rep better than last time out and some ridiculous fast times in the middle of the set.

After swimming I had a second dinner but rather than do yoga before bed I decided to catch up on the missed weights session and stretching session from last week. That clears my backlog from last week.

Thursday morning's run to work started a bit gingerly as the pavements had frosted and iced up overnight, but once I got a bit more comfortable with my footing I was flying and ended up clocking my fastest commute run and averaging just under 8 min/miles. On the way home (after a trip to see the truly awful XXX: Return of Xander Cage) I noticed that the road and pavement conditions had deteriorated even further and that cycling on Friday was going to be outside my levels of risk tolerance so I decided I would plan for a run instead and pick up my bike miles on the turbo trainer over the weekend instead. 

I did about half of the next yoga session in the evening.

Friday I was right to skip the bike as the roads were a nightmare. Even running in was slippery and the extra care and tired legs put me back to a pace more reminiscent of previous runs rather than the two faster efforts from earlier in the week. 

I had to get on the roller and do some stretching before dinner just to ease off some of the worst of my tight calves. New trainers are comfortable now that I have worn them in but they do seem to be giving me some tightness on the outside of both legs. 

Saturday I jogged to the pool and did a steady swim before jogging back. After a big lunch and a nap I went through my core, weights and yoga sessions in the afternoon. 

Sunday was Westhill duathlon but even before I knew the road conditions I had decided not to race it. I planned instead to mountain bike over to watch the race, and maybe jog a lap around the course as well. The ride over took nearly an hour and I only just made it in time to see the start of the race. I took some photos of the first run and transition but they came out pretty terrible. Once all the racers were out on the bike course I changed my trainers and took a couple of steady laps around the run course while I waited for them to come back. After watching the second run I was getting a bit cold so I decided to take a slightly easier road route back.

I continue to exceed my base and stretch targets but this time I also managed to get in all of my smaller sessions and caught up on last weeks. Still struggling to fit in a faster session 


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. 20 mins of yoga.

Monday - Ride to office mtb 6.9 miles in 32 mins.
Ride from office mtb 7.0 miles in 42 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,300m in 57 mins.

Tuesday - Run commute 6.9 miles in 58 mins.
Yoga session - Yoga Revolution Day 14
Core session.

Wednesday - Ride to office mtb 7.0 miles in 33 mins.
Ride from office mtb 7.0 miles in 36 mins.
Swim at bucksburn 1,250 m in 28 mins.
Weights session.
Stretching session.

Thursday - Run commute 6.9 miles in 56 mins.
Yoga session - Yoga Revolution Day 15


Friday - Run commute 6.9 miles in 61 mins.
Rollering and stretching session.
Yoga session - Yoga Revolution Day 16

Saturday - Jog to bucksburn 2.5 miles in 23 mins.
Jog from bucksburn 2.6 miles in 24 mins.
Swim at bucksburn 1,500 m in 28 mins.
Core session.
Weights session.
Yoga session - Yoga Revolution Day 17

Sunday - Mtb to Westhill 9.6 miles in 56 mins.
Jog at Westhill 2.5 miles in 21 mins.
Mtb from Westhill 9.5 miles in 46 mins.


Actuals - Swim 3.1 miles (5,050 m). Bike 47.0 miles. Run 28.3 miles. 2 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 stretching / rollering session. 127 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 9.4 (8.0) [9.2], 
B 110.3 (80.0) [96.0], 
R 81.0 (59.0) [66.7].