Training Plan - Week 1

OK so this one is slightly early for a 2013 blog because week 1 really starts in 2012.

Future weeks are going to come with more detail but this post is going to be quite lazy both in content and in structure.

Last week's training was just about dealing with my preference for round numbers to finish off 2012.
Pool was closed last week so Monday was a rest day. It was a short run with Dexter for each of Tues-Thu and a road bike ride on the Friday. Saturday I planned to go to the Grampian Endurance Session but changed at the last minute and went biking instead.

Run and bike targets for the coming week are just going to be based on 1/52nd of my targets for the year. Swim target has an allowance for my summer outdoor swimming, and the shoulder still not being right, so is slightly weighted downwards.

So:

Swim 1 mile.

Run at least 10 miles.

Ride at least 31 miles.
Half an hour of something else. (Core or yoga/stretching depending on how things feel midweek).
And the odd bit of physio exercises for the shoulder as well.

Nothing extreme for now. The run will need to be split over at least 2 sessions. Having done a mtb/short jog brick this afternoon I may be able to wrap the rest of the week into 5 sessions and potentially to start with almost a double bike week as I have a ~50-mile bike option on Sunday morning if the weather holds.

2013 Targets

So the training targets are simple for 2013. And built on the end of 2012 numbers.

Swim 75 miles. And learn to tumble turn.
50% up on last year, but should be easy enough. Prior to my bike crash I was on for 60 without pushing it too much this year. And I will need to get some slightly longer swims in if I do stick with the plan to do a Half Ironman. Just an extra lap at Knockburn on each visit this year would have been half of the extra so this should be quite an easy step.

Bike 1612 miles.
No major increase from the 1598 I did last year. 2012 was a big step up from previously but it was probably about right if I am going to double my run mileage. This is a bit of a lazy target, and I might look at shifting it to 1820 or 2080 depending on what the numbers look like by mid-year.

(n.b. The strange looking "12" is to round it up to 31 a week).


Run 520 miles. And get back to regularly running outside.
Double what I managed in 2012, but worth noting anything under 650 would still be my second lightest year ever. Have kept something of a rein on this one as I am still struggling with running outside on my own, so to start with it is at least reliant on treadmilling or other people. Also 10 miles a week is a nice round number.


Do 250 Sessions. Target here is set to just match 2012 with the aim to lengthen sessions and to swap the 30 minute gym bricks for proper length outdoor sessions rather than do more sessions.

The racing targets are tougher, but vaguer.

Do a Half Ironman. This is a stretch target for now. I need to get my running miles back up to a sensible level by March before I can decide if this is going to be realistic. Also I need to give up on a lot of other races in order to fit it in. The two standards I want to do at Knockburn and Huntly still fit in but a lot of the sprint and novice races I would like to do would need to be sacrificed for higher mileage training days.

Run a race. A few years ago I was hitting over 150 running races a year, last year, not a single one. Need to sort that out. Sooner the better as it will help with getting back to running outdoors and getting my running miles back up.

Other targets.
Weight is a tricky one, and is complicated by my improved diet. I don't need to be any lighter than I am now (76kg today). But I might get unintentionally lighter from training for a Half Ironman while eating less high-calorie junk. I would prefer to be back up over 80kg consistently, but I am going to aim more realistically to stay over 73kg. I am going to put two big notes next to this one though. First if I drop under 73kg but still feel healthy doing it then I will let it go. And second to backstop that by only allowing it for a maximum of 3 weeks. Anything over 3 weeks under 73kg and training gets cut till I get back over 75kg.

Blogging is artificially set at a minimum of 104 for weekly training plans and reviews. Not really fussed about a target beyond this. I am not going back to daily, and to be honest I could easily get fed up of the training ones and stop after next week.

New blog (again)

OK, so another new blog.

And not having learned from entitling the last one 2012 I have titled this one 2013. Slightly different plan this time. Having stolen from a friend of mine I will be posting weekly training updates and plans as a minimum and then other bits, as and when I feel like it. Any of the drafted posts from 2012 that I haven't published yet will be moved over here.