Training Plan - Week 41 - October 9 to 15

Back to work and back to the numbers this week. On the back of my cold means this week could be a disaster but we will see what happens. 

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 40 - October 2 to 8

Monday I started with a gentle jog with Dexter. We did a bit of exploring from our cottage starting with some farm tracks and then a bit of off-roading through the forest. In the afternoon I went to try out the pool. I did a bit of front crawl, then a bit of breast stroke, and even a bit of butterfly. Garmin doesn’t like the idea of an 11m pool. It doesn’t like anything shorter than 20m. I set it to 22m so that I could just cut the distance in half but the small pool and regular turns really confused the lap counter.

Tuesday my cunning plan to enjoy the week ran into a brick wall as I caught a savage cold. We went for a walk to Dog Falls in the morning when it was just a sniffle but by the time we got to lunch I was struggling. We bailed on doing anything else useful but we did take the opportunity to catch up on the first couple of episodes of Star Trek Discovery.

Wednesday we took a day trip through to Beauly for lunch and back through Drumandrochit to try and take it easy. In the afternoon we decided to take a short walk to Plodda Falls.  As well as being a much shorter walk, which I thought I could manage with a couple of Lemsips, it also comes with some amazing views. Mrs M described it as ‘probably the most amazing view in Scotland’. I am not convinced it is out on its own but it certainly come in as a contender, and in terms of the view you get for minimal physical effort it is definitely somewhere near the top of the list.

After that I felt a bit more human again so I decided to be ambitious and headed back to the pool in the evening. I managed an easy 20 minutes, half each of front crawl and breast stroke. Then I spent a while in the games room, trying to teach Mrs M the basics of pool, fussball, table tennis and air hockey.

Thursday I took Dexter out for a jog in the morning. My cold still hasn’t cleared but I was able to jog along comfortably with him. I even managed to add a core session when I got back to the cottage. Before lunch we went to visit the Corrimony cairn and standing stones. But that was enough for all three of us. Mrs M and I were struggling to fight off the cold and Dex just ran out of gas for the week. 

Friday we started the trip home with an extended stop in Inverness for the day and then Elgin in the evening.

Saturday was meant to be a detour via Keith Cross-Country on the way home but when I woke up in the morning I was struggling against the cold again and decided to just be sensible and head home.

Sunday was no better so I took the last day of holiday as another total rest day to try and recover. In the afternoon I went to see Bladerunner 2049 on my own as Mrs M was too sick, and correspondingly grumpy, to leave the house. Her loss, it was amazing.

So basically I have done very little this week, much of that I can blame on the cold that I have been fighting and the rest I can blame on my holiday. 

Targets - Have fun. 

Monday – Jog with Dexter 2.3 miles in 32 mins.

Swim 30 minutes ~1,160m.

Tuesday – Cold.

Wednesday – Cold.

Swim 20 minutes ~930m.

Thursday – Cold
Jog with Dexter 2.9 miles in 38 mins.

Friday - Cold.
Travel day.

Saturday – Travel day.

Sunday - Rest day.

Actuals - Swim 1.3 miles (2,100m). Bike 0.0 miles. Run 5.2 miles. 
1 short core, 0 short light weights and 0 stretching / rollering session. 0 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 107.6 (101.0) [116.2], 
B 1,891.2 (1,644.0) [1,972.8], 
R 678.1 (637.0) [719.8].

Training Plan - Week 40 - October 2 to 8

This week I have a completely new plan. To just enjoy myself for a week. We are on holiday in Tomich this week. I brought a Dexter, a wetsuit, two pairs of running shoes and my mountain bike and there is a small pool and a big loch here so I can train if I want, but I plan to just enjoy myself without worrying about the numbers. I am not even going to write the numbers in my training plan this week.

I do have an option to race at Keith XC on Saturday if I feel like it.

Training Review - Week 39 - Sept 25 to Oct 1

Off on holiday. The place we are going has minimal wifi so unlikely that I will get a chance to fill this in before it posts. And even less chance of writing next week's plan, which currently doesn't exist. 

Edit from here.

Most of my week was commutes as I try to get back in to winter training. I had my mountain bike with the new wheel fitted and that is running well. I also tried out my winter training bike but the rear wheel still needs more work. I think I have to add more grease to the new bearings and then true the rim properly.

Saturday night we were in Elgin and Sunday morning I managed to tag along for half of a Moray Roadrunners training session. I had a great time, despite pushing the pace faster than many of my races this year. It is so much more fun to run with a friendly group. It is also much easier. We were pushing along faster than I ran at Huntly last weekend but I was comfortably chatting away and enjoying it instead of slogging every step. Even when I turned back, and realised I would be uphill into a wind for the return trip, I was still managing to hold a good pace. I finished 10k in just outside 45 minutes. My second fastest 10k distance of the year, only my sub-40 race at Moray coming in quicker.

As with every trip we take to Elgin, I left again with a reminder that Aberdeen is a horrible place full of horrible people. The friendly atmosphere and sense of community as you travel North along the A96 simply doesn’t exist in the larger city. If I could find a job that would even keep us in a vaguely comparable lifestyle I would move tomorrow.

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 34 mins.
Commute ride from office 7.1 miles in 35 mins.
Winter bike test 1.1 miles in 9 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,300m in 51 mins. 

Tuesday - Commute run (via train) 3.1 miles in 35 mins.

Wednesday - Commute ride to office mtb 7.1 miles in 42 mins.
Commute ride from office mtb 7.1 miles in 42 mins.

Thursday - Commute run (via train) 3.2 miles in 32 mins.

Friday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 37 mins.
Commute ride from office 7.1 miles in 37 mins.

Saturday - Swim at bucksburn 1,100m
Jog with Dexter 2.4 miles in 35 mins.

Sunday - MRR Club run 10k in 46 mins.
Warm-up / Cool Down 1.4 miles in 12 mins.

Actuals - Swim 2.1 miles (3,400m). Bike 43.7 miles. Run 16.3 miles. 
0 short core, 0 short light weights and 0 stretching / rollering session. 0 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 106.4 (99.0) [113.9], 
B 1,877.0 (1,604.0) [1,924.8], 
R 672.9 (627.0) [708.5].

Training Review - Week 38 - Sept 18 to 24

Most of the week was just commuting and a bit of swimming. 

Saturday my Shutdown finished so I am clear of work so I can go back to a more balanced programme. I did manage to do some work on my winter bike to get it back in to use. Then I decided to replace the missing spokes on my mtb wheel only to find that the skewer was jammed. So that turned into a shopping trip for a new wheel. I then did some more yoga and stretching to try and ease off as much as possible for Sunday's race. 

Sunday was Huntly Standard Triathlon, which will get a post to itself once I catch up with the other race reports that I haven't finished yet. 

Longest swim year ever. My previous best was the 101.6 miles that I did last year. So I have already clearly passed that with 14 weeks left.

Through 1,800 miles on the bike. Another big bike week at 90 miles. 

Shortage of run miles again this week with none before race day. 

Missed my 1,500m swim target, because I was stupid mid race and decided to save energy with a bit of drafting rather than push on and tow two people.


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 mtb to office 7.1 miles in 29 mins.
Commute ride mtb from office 9.2 miles in 54 mins.
Swim with TPT 2,300m in 50 mins. 

Tuesday - Commute ride to office 7.0 miles in 32 mins.
Commute ride from office 9.1 miles in 41 mins.
Swim at bucksburn 650m in 18 mins.

Wednesday - Commute ride mtb to office 7.1 miles in 33 mins.
Commute ride mtb from office 7.0 miles in 46 mins.
Yoga session 45 mins.

Thursday - Commute ride mtb to office 7.1 miles in 33 mins.
Commute ride mtb from office 7.1 miles in 43 mins.
Yoga session 

Friday - Commute ride to office 7.1 miles in 32 mins.

Saturday - Stretching and rollering.
Yoga 12 mins.

Sunday - Huntly Standard Triathlon
Swim 1,500m in 26:28.
Bike 22.5 miles in 1:13:38.
Run 6.3 miles in 47:58.

Actuals - Swim 2.8 miles (4,600m). Bike 90.2 miles. Run 6.3 miles. 
0 short core, 0 short light weights and 2 stretching / rollering session. 57 mins of yoga.

Cumulative (Cumulative target) [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 104.2 (97.0) [111.6], 
B 1,847.5 (1,548.0) [1,857.6], 
R 656.6 (613.0) [692.7].

Training Plan - Week 39 - 25 Sept to 1 Oct

With my race season effectively finished I should take a break. However we are going away on holiday next week and I still have to get too and from work this week so I still have a week of commuting and swimming.  

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. 

Race Preview - Huntly Standard Triathlon

I have been lazy about race previews this year, and this one is going to be no different. 

Here are some links to previous.

                           2016 Review
2015 Preview     2015 Review
2014 Preview     2014 Review

2013 Preview     2013 Review                           2012 Review


Basically I would like to swim under 26 minutes. 
I would like to bike under 70 minutes, (65 would be better) I am in good bike shape, but this is all up to the weather.
And I would like to run under 48 minutes, which seems slow but it is a tough run course. 

Total of 2:25 I would be stunned. 
Total of 2:28 I would be happy. 
Total of 2:31 and nothing hurting the following week would be acceptable.