Race Review - 5k swim race

This was going to be my first swim-only race since I was about 12. Nothing like pushing the boundaries of common sense and starting with a 5,000m race. 200 lengths of the Cults Academy 25m pool. I did a couple of long swim tests last week and I figured if everything went well I would do somewhere around 1hr 42 mins.

I turned up in plenty of time and was helping out with lap counting for the first (faster) heat. It was great watching the 'fish' coast up and down the pool, seeming fairly effortless. As the 2 leaders passed through the 1-mile mark in just outside 20 minutes I realised that this was about the time I expected to be going through the 1km mark. As I followed their race, and got occasionally splashed, it was interesting to see the variation in their times. I expected them to tick out every one the same but they were pretty inconsistent. They all started much too quick, and even when they settled it was into a bit of a surge and relax pattern. It didn't look to be intentional, and I didn't get a chance to ask any of them afterwards if it had been planned or was just by feel, or if they didn't even notice. I had been consciously taking on fluids throughout the first heat and as the leaders approached the hour mark I made sure I was took in the two gels that I had brought with me.

For the second heat there were 8 of us to fit in the 6 lanes, so the two outside lanes were paired up. As the outside lanes were slightly wider we had plenty of space to go up and down without impeding each other, and I was drawn in with another triathlete that I knew well. I knew he would go a bit quicker than me, but I didn't think by much too so I expected I would be able to pace myself off him a little bit.

Everyone started quickly. I lost a body length or more to everyone else within the first length, and another body length coming out of the first turn. I want to sit here smugly and claim that I had paced it right and sensibly and that everyone else went much too fast, but the truth is I was going much too fast as well. I took my first 100m inside my 400m race pace, but I felt comfortable, and I knew to back off to something more comfortable. 

So I backed off a bit, but no-one else seemed to. And the gaps got big, fast. My lane buddy should have been (and turned out was to be) the next slowest person in the race, and he was taking lengths out of me long before we got to 1,000m. 

I was through 2,000m in under 39minutes. this is a bit quicker than I had planned but I still felt quite good so I kept ticking it over. I had a thought in the back of my mind that I might struggle later if I kept that pace, but going by feel I decided I was ok and stuck with it. This as the toughest part. From 2k through half way seemed to take forever, and then to 3k took even longer. I had a couple of shots at upping the pace to get a bit of a draft whenever someone on either side passed me, but wasn't making much and didn't want to push too hard.

Then 3k-4k seemed to disappear. I think I was daydreaming a bit but I couldn't tell you what about. And it seemed to make no difference to my pace. (Still waiting for the official breakdown rather than just my garmin track to be sure).

At 4k I was still feeling ok and I knew I had a bit left in the tank I tried to turn up the pace as much as I could. As the faster swimmers were finishing I was able to see more of the pool and in the farthest lane I could see that my two other main rivals were still ticking along. Now that I had turned up the pace I was just about holding them level. I couldn't tell how much I had lost to them earlier on in the race though.

Turned out to be less than 300m. As I came through the 4,700m mark I had a look round and I think from that point I was the last one swimming. I knew I still had a little bit more to give, despite my calves starting to cramp a bit so I turned up as much of the pace as I felt I still could. With 50m to go I was really suffering and the last sprint was a real struggle. But I finished in 1:38:03. Almost 4 minutes under what I had hoped to do.

Despite being dead last I am really pleased with my race. I think I paced it about as well as I could. If I had gone harder earlier, I think I would have cramped earlier and suffered too much towards the end. 

Training Review - Week 51 - December 16 to 22

Another fairly easy start to the week. Still suffering a bit from the long Sunday ride. Went for a lunchtime run with a friend, and then completely rewrote my plan based on her plans for the week. Looks like I am going to double up on sessions for the Mon-Wed and lose my rest day to an easy pedal, also the lengths on runs are going to go up as I jog to her work and back on top of my already planned runs. So the planned easy 3 mile run on Monday turned into a slightly less easy 6.5. Then doubled up with a swim session. Was a split drills and pace session, totalled out at 2,100m. 

Tuesday I planned to bike in the morning and then run with a friend at lunchtime. But the morning got filled up with christmas shopping and then my friend couldn't make it at lunchtime. I had already set off for my run planning to meet her half way, so I carried on and managed a steady 5 miles. Another uninspiring, but solid session. The weather was too cold and windy to go out on the bike so I skipped it. 

Wednesday was meant to be another double session but really struggled with my swim. Cut it to just a 1,000m at 5k pace. Shoulders and back were really stiff, so just ticked through it to try and ease them off. Again it was much too windy to ride, so stuck to the single session again.

Holiday boredom finally reached a serious level today. Was awake at 8, then went back to sleep till after 10. There is just no point in getting up, as I have nothing to do. I am still short of one Xmas present, but not particularly bothered about it. This is all a recipe for depression. I have managed to fill out the time till now by doing little jobs for other people. I have some DIY jobs that I could do to fill in bits of time, but I can't find the motivation to start any of them. I have now been awake for less than 8 hours and all I want to do now is go back to bed. 

Thursday, as predicted things are continuing to slide. My body clock is now way out of line. I didn't get to sleep till after 3 and then slept through till 10. When I did get up I couldn't find any motivation to go for today's run. I tried to convinced myself it was better to have two rest days going into saturdays swim race. And that the weather was too nasty to go out in. And that my knee could use the rest. None of those are true, they are all just lame excuses to cover my lack of motivation.

Friday I was being equally lazy. But this time resting up for racing is a more valid reason. I did manage to get up in the morning and get on with some other small things. And I did a bit of stretching in the evening to try and loosen off some of the worst bits before racing tomorrow.

Saturday. Race day. Still struggled to get out of bed in the morning. But by 11am I was in gear and having to manage my time. I decided to sacrifice my lag hair in the chase for a few seconds of swim time, and my chest hair since tri-suits were not allowed. I started with the razor, but took a chunk out of my shin on the first stroke, and decided to switch to the magic cream instead. Note to self; do not get Veet cream anywhere near your nipples in future! After that it was lunch and then off to the venue. Separate blog for that coming on Tuesday.

Sunday I decided I wasn't going to manage the long ride so went for a short mtb ride instead. Not short enough as it turns out. About 6 miles in I thought I had a mechanical on an uphill section. Felt like the brakes had jammed on and I assumed the QR on the rear wheel had slipped. I stepped off the bike, gave everything a check, seemed ok, got back on, and then fell off in a heap of exhaustion. I tried a couple of times to get up and walk, but had to sit and wait for about 8 minutes till I was able to get up and pedal on, slowly. I might just have been out of energy from the race on Saturday, but it certainly didn't feel like that. Will see how things go the next couple of days.

Overall it looks like a terrible week against plan, but the 5k swim race covers everything. Second huge swim week in a row, and a much better time than I had hoped for.

Snuck my weight in just under the 80kg mark.


Target totals - Swim >4 miles. Bike >50 miles. Run >12 >18 miles. 2 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 90mins of wii yoga. 

Keep weight under 80kg.

Monday - Run round Dyce 6.5 miles, in 59 mins. 
Swim with TPT, 2,100m in 48 mins. Stretching session.

Tuesday - Run around Dyce 5.0 miles, in 45 mins.

Wednesday - Easy swim 1,000m in 20 mins.

Thursday -  Nothing.

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - 5k swim race. 1hr 38:03. Separate blog to follow.

Sunday - MTB, 8miles in 1hr 20mins.


Actual totals - Swim 5.1 miles (8,150m). Bike 8.0 miles. Run 11.5 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of wii yoga.

Weight 79.8kg.

Training Plan - Week 52 - December 23 to 31

A nine-day week, just to confuse things. The last two days will drift into next year's first blog, but they are in here for now.

I have signed up to a Strava challenge to run 33 miles in the last 10 days of the year, so it is a short run eery day to try and claim all of them. Plenty of other things to fit in as well. I have Dexter to keep me company for most of the week, so there will be plenty of hill runs at Kirkhill


Monday - Easy run. Swim with TPT.

Tuesday -  Easy hill run with Dex. And maybe a quick pedal somewhere.

Wednesday - Easy run. Xmas Sprint. (Ok it will just be me and Dexter so it won't really be the Xmas sprint in anything more than basic spirit).

Thursday -  Hill run with Dex.

Friday - Hill run with Dex. Stretching.

Saturday -  Hill run with Dex.

Sunday - Long ride. Very short easy run.

Monday - Easy run. Swim with TPT.

Tuesday -  Easy run. Maybe a Hogmanay trip on the mountain bike like the last 2 years.


Target totals - Swim >2 miles. Bike >40 miles. Run >33 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 60mins of wii yoga.

Keep weight under 80kg.

Training Review - Week 50 - Dec 9 to 15

Should get nearly 4 weeks of heavy training in from here before I go back to work in January. 

Plan was to start fairly easy on Monday with a short run in the morning. First mile was good, second mile was ok, third mile was a horrible staggering mess. But I got round, which was the target for the day. Swimming, I expected to struggle with the session as it was very shoulder biased, including pushups between sets. 

Tuesday was meant to be an easy short bike ride. 10 miles, no problem. But plans change. After a puncture and a tube change at 4 miles I thought I was sorted. Tyres didn't look in the best shape as I was doing the change but they weren't going to fail any time soon. So on I went only to snap my rear gear cable at mile 9. Fortunately stuck in a ride-able gear and was able to roll home. A trip to Halfords later and I had the cable replaced, and new tyres waiting to go on before my next wet ride. So just clicking through the gears to check everything and decide to check the brakes as well. Brakes on, stops dead, brakes off… not happening. The spring that is meant to release them is jammed. Looks like a whole new set of callipers needed. 

Wednesday I went for a wee swim. Plan was to see how far I could swim in the 12-1:30 lunchtime lane session, with a view to deciding about doing the 5k swim race next weekend.  First into the pool, I avoided the really fast lane on the assumption that some fish would want to come in and do a sprint session. Jumped in the next lane and started ticking away. Was right about the fish, about 6 of them turned up and started churning up the fast lane, causing a lot of wash for me to deal with. But I just ignored it and ticked on, and on, and on. Turns out that in the 81mins from getting in the water to being thrown out I can cover 4,000m. That puts me on course for 1:42 for 5k. That is my longest ever single swim session, in time and distance. Also makes this my longest ever swim week, with still another planned session on Friday. I am going to try the same, but without my tri-suit this time to test the difference, since I am not allowed to race in it. Also realised I couldn't fit my light weights session into anywhere else in the week so did them late in the afternoon.

Thursday was out for another Xmas lunch, but managed to squeeze a run in to the morning. Started with my normal 3 mile loop but then half way round I realised that was going to leave me looking for 9 on Saturday and then trying to bike 56 on Sunday, which might be a bit much. So I slowed it down a little and stretched it to just over 4.7 miles. 

Friday I went for another wee swim. Only 2,500m this time. Was suffering a bit from Tuesday's long effort. It is definitely slower without the tri-suit as well. Think my pacing is going to be about right for 5k though. I can steadily tick along at 21mins per km comfortably, 20mins/km at a push and 19mins/km starts to cause problems. Just have to make sure that I go at my pace and try not to get sucked into someone else's.

Saturday I planned a longer run but wasn't really in the mood for it and a nasty headwind wasn't helping. Did my short loop instead. 

Sunday was a ride with the Kintore Sunday group. Was a really nasty day. Very windy and cold. I purposefully got myself into the slow group, which didn't really help. The fast group rolled past us within the first 10 miles and they kept stopping to wait for us, but every time we arrived at their rest spot they rolled on so I never got a proper recovery stop or change to eat. This eventually resulted in me running too low on energy and really struggling. The last 20 miles I would go fine for 5 minutes then run out of gas and get spat out the back again. I tried to eat a cereal bar on the move and ended up dropping it because my fingers were too cold. it was not an enjoyable day. even the few bits where I was enjoying ticking along at a decent pace, that meant more cold.

For the week as a whole it has been pretty good. Got back under my current weight target, back to 79.5kg. Managed to get out and do something every day. Managed a massive swim total, by far my longest week in the pool ever. Could have done to stretch each of my runs a little but they were all tough as they were, maybe a case for going a little slower and further next week. 



Target totals - Swim >2.5 miles. Bike >60 miles. Run >15 miles. 2 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 90mins of wii yoga. 

Get weight back under 80kg!

Monday - Run round Dyce 3.1 miles 27mins. Swim with TPT, 2,100m in 56 mins.

Tuesday -  Easy road bike 10 miles in 66 mins.

Wednesday - Long swim. 4,000m in 1hr 21. Light weights.

Thursday -  Short run 4.7 miles in 40mins. Works Xmas lunch (Another one of many). Date night - Frozen, yet another solid Disney film that won't win best animation.

Friday - Long swim. 2,500m in 51mins.

Saturday - Short run 3.5 miles in 29 mins. Xmas Jumper Party. Stretching.

Sunday - Long ride 56.1 miles in 4 hrs 15. Light weights.


Actual totals - Swim 5.3 miles. Bike 66.1 miles. Run 11.3 miles. 0 short core, 2 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of wii yoga.

Weight 79.5kg.

Training Plan - Week 51 - December 16 to 21 - REVISED

Strange week this week trying to fit in a 5k swim race on Saturday but still being on holiday all week. Will hopefully manage to fit in a whole week by cramming more earlier in the week and still making it out on the bike on Sunday as well.

May throw in a load of other sessions to suit other people's training as they start to drop off work for Xmas.

Updated for new plans.


Monday - Easy run. Swim with TPT.

Tuesday -  Easy road bike. And easy run.

Wednesday - Easy run or mtb. And swim.

Thursday -  Short run. Date night.

Friday - Rest Day. Stretching.

Saturday - 5k swim race.

Sunday - Long ride.


Target totals - Swim >4 miles. Bike >50 miles. Run >12 >18 miles. 2 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 90mins of wii yoga. 

Keep weight under 80kg.

Training Review - Week 49 - December 2 to 8

Monday was a crap day at swimming. Was struggling with my collar bone during the warm up. Was aching before I had even gone 100m. Hoped it would ease off so kept going, but instead it just started pulling my back out of line. Both hamstrings started cramping up and my style got so bad that I was getting mouthfuls of water on every stroke. Bailed on the session at about half way. That leaves me short of the swim miles I need to make my end of year target. Will now have to try and fit in an extra swim somewhere before the end of the year. 

Tuesday, light weights and a bit of stretching.

Wednesday,  light weights and a bit of stretching.

Thursday, date night and a trip to The Family. Not great but not terrible. 

Friday, was cold and wet and I fell asleep after I got home form work. 

Saturday, was another Xmas dinner. 

Sunday, I had a massage, which helped my back a lot. Then got a headache and did nothing. 

No wonder I am still as fat this week. Virtually no exercise and too many fancy dinners. Fortunately on holiday now, so no excuse not to train during the day. 

So targets for last week (Week 49) were: 

Swim >1 miles. Bike >30 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga. 
Get weight under 80kg.

Actuals were:

Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,300m in 39mins.

Tuesday - Light weights and stretching.

Wednesday - Light weights and stretching.

Thursday -  Date night / cinema day - The Family.

Friday - Day off.

Saturday - Day off. TPT Xmas Dinner.

Sunday - Day off.

Result - Swim 0.8 miles (1,300m). Bike 0 miles. Run 0 miles. 0 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of wii yoga. 
Weight 81.5 kg

Training Plan - Week 50 - Dec 9 to 15

After last week's laziness I need to get back into gear before it turns into a long gap and gets harder to start back. I am not at work for the rest of the year so I can go out and do something every day. 

I am going to try and get 2 extra swims into the week, and to go long on both of them. This is with a view to possibly doing a 5k swim race on the 21st.

May be limited by the weather in terms of long rides. the long range forecast looks fairly tame for the week, but will see how accurate it is.


Monday - Easy run. Swim with TPT.

Tuesday -  Easy road bike. Or mountain bike and run brick.

Wednesday - Long swim.

Thursday -  Short run. Works Xmas lunch (Another one of many). Date night.

Friday - Long swim.

Saturday - Long run. Xmas Jumper Party

Sunday - Long ride.


Target totals - Swim >2.5 miles. Bike >60 miles. Run >15 miles. 2 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 90mins of wii yoga. 

Get weight back under 80kg!

Training Review - Week 48 - Nov 25 to Dec 1

Easy start to the week with Monday's swim session. Sets of 100m reps at increasing speeds. Managed to accidentally put in my fastest ever 100m at the end in 1:37 without feeling particularly quick. Will try and sneak a faster 100m time trial in somewhere in the next few weeks. 

Tuesday, I was knackered from not sleeping, and a bit sniffly. Still can't tell if I have a bug or not as it still hasn't come to anything. Did a full stretching session.

Wednesday was running in the dark at Kirkhill. New route, bit shorter and wetter than I would have liked, but still good. Finally got a tour of the infamous standing stones. Tried to garmin them but they are too close together and garmin isn't sensitive enough.


Thursday was date night again. Went to see Hunger Games 2. Better than the first one. Still shot full of holes in the story that make no sense.

Friday, I had a friend round testing my TT bike for size. I put it on the turbo trainer for him, and should really have gotten on it myself after he left, but to be honest, I just hate the turbo, so I didn't bother. The weather outside was much too nasty even to go for a run.

Saturday was the last day of movember. Here is the last of the photos. The full set and the place to leave your donations are here.

Didn't want to do anything too severe in the exercise front as I had my work Xmas ball at night. Went for an easy run in the morning, just round the block of Dyce for 3.6 miles. My running style at the minute is still a terrible shuffling mess. Started to do some work on it during this run. Going to try and makes some changes to it through December. 

Sunday, was a bit of a hangover. Nothing too severe though, so I did manage to go out for an afternoon run. Just another short and slow effort though. Just under 4 miles. Takes me over 10 miles for the week, which at least makes the running numbers sensible. I did stick in some light weights in the evening. 

Not been on the bike all week though. And done nothing on core or flexibility.  

Weight is a problem this week. I have managed to put on 5 lbs through the week. Partly a low exercise week, partly enjoying too many pre-xmas treats. All you can eat buffets twice in a low mileage week is not a good idea. 

So targets for last week (Week 48) were: 

Swim >1 miles. Bike >30 miles. Run >6 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga. 
Keep weight under 80kg.

Actuals were:

Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,700m in 51 mins.

Tuesday - Rest Day.

Wednesday - Run at Kirkhill. 3.3 miles in 38 minutes.

Thursday -  Cinema day - Hunger Games 2. Better than Hunger Games at least.

Friday - Day off. Weather.

Saturday - Works Xmas Ball. Easy run, 3.6 miles, 29 mins.

Sunday - Easy run, 3.8 miles in 32 mins.

Result - Swim 1.1 miles (1,700m). Bike 0 miles. Run 10.7 miles. 0 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of wii yoga. 
Weight 81.5 kg

Training Plan - Week 49 - December 2 to 8

Still didn't make my 2,000 bike miles after not biking at all last week. So should cross that off this week. Doubt I will do the Turkey Trot on Sunday, but it is there if I change my mind. On holiday from Friday until January.

Also need to do something about my weight. As well as putting on a chunk last week I have added over 2 inches to my waist measurement since the start of October. 


Monday - Swim with TPT.

Tuesday -  Easy run or mountain bike.

Wednesday - Night run at Kirkhill.

Thursday -  Date night. Works Xmas lunch (one of many).

Friday - Rest day. - Last day of work for 2013.

Saturday - Long ride or run. TPT Xmas dinner.

Sunday - Long run or ride. Or Lossiemouth Turkey Trot?


Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >30 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga. 

Get weight back under 80kg!

Training Review - Week 47 - November 18 to 24

Monday, basic swim with TPT. Lots of breathing work this week. Still can't breathe properly to the left.  Also did a few turns. They are gradually improving but still not usable for races.

Tuesday, I had a bit of a sore throat and it was very icy out, so I decided to play safe and take the night off. 

Wednesday was a run in rain. It was pretty stormy and I am still not feeling 100%. Not sure if I have the very edge of a cold or if it is just my immune system reacting to the flu jab. Had a really sore throat in the morning, but a days worth of strepsils and the odd paracetamol were covering it up enough to run.

Thursday night is date night. So another trip to the cinema. Went to see Frankenstein again. But this time with Johnny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch in the opposite roles to three weeks ago. I thought it was better this way round. Johnny was equally good as the monster, but Benedict was a better doctor frankenstein.

Friday was mountain biking in the dark at Kirkhill. This was confirmation that I am not quite fully healthy. Purposefully tried to chase a couple of Strava sections, but despite working harder, I couldn't even match my own times from a week ago. 

I did a big write up for saturday, but then saved over it. So here we go again with a shortened version.

I went out with Deeside for their long Saturday ride. Plan was for 60 miles. First hill we got to and I went straight out the back of the pack. I thought initially that it was the rest of the group being too ambitious with their early pace while I was being sensible, but every time we got near an uphill the same thing was happening. And on the downhills and flats where I can normally chase back on, absolutely nothing was happening. Made it to the toilet stop at 27 miles, but I knew before then that I wasn't going to survive 60. 

At this point I should have bailed and taken the main road solo and gone for 50. Instead I decided to stick with them for the next section. They blew me out the back again on the climb out of town and I lost sight of the whole group, and didn't know where the next turn was. I stuck with going straight on the assumption that they would stop and wait for me if they turned off the main road. They didn't. However, they did spot that I was missing and sent someone back to chase me down and a couple of them then paced me back to the group. Put about an extra half mile or so onto the route.

I was still really struggling back in the group. So the next time we got back to the main road I bailed on them. I stopped in Aboyne to get some soup and a sandwich and defrost my toes. Then I took the main road and solo-ed the last 12 miles back to Banchory. Totalled out at 58.4 miles for the day. This is my fourth longest day ever. Takes me to 1998 bike miles for the year so far.

Sunday was an easy run just to finish out the miles for the week. I say easy but my legs were really suffering from Saturday so it was a bit of a struggle to drag round. Got my miles in for the week though. 

It has been a while since I had a week where I have done decent swim, run and bike miles. Definitely suffering for it on Sunday evening. Did miss my chance for a race today, but not really bothered by it. Roads weren't great for riding on this weekend so wouldn't have felt comfortable pushing the TT bike, and still not sure if I am sick or not. Coughing and sore throat and a bit of a headache this morning.

Weight is back under target. But I have been eating junk all week so not sure how I have managed that.

So targets for last week (Week 47) were: 

Swim >1 miles. Bike >40 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga. 
Get weight back under 80kg.

Actuals were:

Monday - Swim with TPT. 2,000m in 56 mins.

Tuesday - Rest day.

Wednesday - 7.2 miles, 64 mins.

Thursday -  Cinema day - Frankenstein.

Friday - MTB at Kirkhill, 5.5 miles in 55mins.

Saturday - Ride with DTCC 45.8 miles in 3 hours 06mins. Solo ride from Aboyne to Banchory 12.6 miles in 47 mins.

Sunday - Run 5.8 miles in 52 mins. 10 mins of yoga.

Result - Swim 1.3 miles (2,000m). Bike 63.9 miles. Run 13.0 miles. 0 short core, 0 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 10 mins of wii yoga. 
Weight 79.5 kg

Training Plan - Week 48 - Nov 25 to Dec 1 - Updated

Short week this week as a couple of things are going to get in the way. Have adjusted what I can to fit in with other people. After this week I am looking at starting to increase the numbers fairly massively as I have most of December off work. Failure to use my holidays through the year means I have to use them all now.

I should pass through 2,000 bike miles some time this week. Currently at 1,998.
I should also pass through 623 run miles. Currently at 619. That may seem like an arbitrary number but it is the total from 2010, which was the lowest mileage I have on record other than last year's non-efforts. Still on course for 700 which would be a really good year.


Monday - Swim with TPT.

Tuesday -  Easy run or mountain bike.

Wednesday - Night run at Kirkhill.

Thursday -  Date night.

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - Long-ish ride. Xmas Ball.

Sunday - Rest day (Probable hangover from works Xmas ball).


Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >30 miles. Run >6 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga. 

Get weight back under 80kg.

Race Review - North District Cross-Country League, Elgin

Despite it being about half a mile from my parents house I have never actually raced on this course before. The North League race in Elgin has been held on several courses over the last 20 years. It has been on this course for a few years now. Last year it was all I could manage to go there and do a bit of marshalling. For the two years before I couldn't even have managed that much. 

This year I went for a haircut in the morning. Then parked my car at my parents house and mountain biked up to the start line. It is a mile uphill, nice easy 12 minute pedal, gave me a good warm-up. Then I had about 45 minutes to change and warm-up for the race start.

The race is 3 laps around a 2-mile course. The weather was crisp, but dry and not windy.

First lap started with a mass charge downhill and a quarter mile of land rover track in there is a sharp left turn and then it turns gently uphill, still on the land rover track. It climbs back up to level with the start then turns onto smaller rooted tracks and drops downhill again. This was more like what I have been used to at Kirkhill so I was pretty comfortable dealing with it. The rougher surface started to sort out some of the track and road runners and the field settled down a bit. Then the end of the lap the last quarter mile is uphill back to the start of the loop again. Total ascent on each lap is about 200ft, so it is by no means a hill race, but it isn't flat either. First lap done in 15 minutes. 

Second lap I was having a couple of problems. The major one being that I was getting a bit dizzy. I am going to put this down to the cold air, although I also wonder if Thursday's flu-jab might not have contributed a bit as well. This lap took 16 minutes 09 and I lost a couple of places. I wasn't really struggling with the pace or the course, I think I just wasn't working hard enough or wasn't breathing properly in the cold air.

By lap 3, I was able to get going again and I managed to start picking off a few places. There were a group of 5 runners ahead as I came to the end of the land rover track and I set my sights on catching them before the finish. I was gaining on them and I was still picking up the pace mile on mile, even going faster up the last hill. I got three of them but a couple of them had obviously kept a bit in the tank for the last lap as well and managed to hold off my attack. I finished uphill with my fastest mile of the day, and with a last 50 meter sprint to steal one more place on the line. 

Looking at the results I am a bit disappointed. 45:52 for a 6 mile cross country course, on a rough surface, and quite an up and down course is actually an ok time, but I was 56th in a race with only 71 finishers. The top-20 were 'proper' runners, no danger of getting near them. 20-40 were either decent club level cross-coutry runners or ex-'proper' runners, maybe back in the day I would have been in the mix with them but not nowadays. But from 40 down it was into the sort of people that I really should be able to easily compete with, being half way back through them was a bit disappointing. 

Also I had a bit too much left when I finished. I was just finished changing back into my biking gear as the heavens opened. Rather than go to the hall for tea and cakes I decided to just head straight back to my parents. Clocked the downhill mile in 4 minutes. Showing I definitely left too much in the tank.

Good to be able to go to a run-only race and not struggle with anxiety problems. Need to get along to some more of these this year. And at least get into the top two-thirds if not the top-half. 

Next race might be Inverurie Duathlon next weekend. Although it would have to be perfect weather for me to take the TT bike out and I don't want to race it on my road bike.

Training Review - Week 46 - Nov 11 to 17

Started Monday with what should have been an easy swim session. Turned out to be some pretty heavy sprint work. Good for a change though. 

Tuesday was a nice easy road run around Dyce. Nice steady 9 min/mile pace. Was struggling a bit with the cold air, but legs were fine. This session has become pretty much an easy recovery run after heavier weekend sessions. But it is keeping my running miles ticking over for the year. 

Wednesday I went for a run up Kirkhill in the dark again. Was a bit breezy, but good fun. Did my same 4 mile loop. Missed the Strava King of the Mountain on the long climb by less than a second! Slightly frustrated, but also I know that I can definitely have that one in the daylight.  I am definitely running as well off-road as I have done for a long time. It will be interesting to see how I go at the XC league on the weekend.

Thursday was Bikefitting. Then a cinema trip to Thor: The Dark World. Much better than the first Thor movie, and very inkeeping with the whole Marvel Avengers series.

Friday, took a rest day before racing. Did a bit of stretching, but not enough to constitute a session. 

Saturday, I went to Elgin to run the North District Cross-Country League. Parked at my parents house and mountain biked the mile to the course. Ran the race. Separate blog post to follow, probably about Tuesday. Then road a nice downhill mile home, in a sudden torrential storm.

Sunday, I was still a bit stiff from racing. Had a lie in. Then played some wii. Did do my core session and light weights to finish off the week. 

I also stuffed myself full of a massive thai take-out, which put me back over my weight target for the week. Back to the wrong side of the 80kg mark. 

So targets for last week (Week 45) were: 

Swim >1 miles. Bike >40 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga. 
Keep weight under 80kg.

Actuals were:

Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,900m in 55 mins.

Tuesday - Run 6 miles in 54mins.

Wednesday - Run 4 miles in 33 mins.

Thursday - Bikefit. Cinema day - Thor 2.

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - North District Cross-Country League - Elgin. Race Review to follow.

Sunday - Rest day.

Result - Swim 1.2 miles (1,900m). Bike 7.6 miles. Run 16.0 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of wii yoga. 
Weight 80.5 kg

Training Plan - Week 47 - November 18 to 24

Sunday could be Inverurie Duathlon. That will be entirely based on the weather forecast though. Don't want to take my fast bike out unless the weather is pretty much perfect, and not into racing on the training bike these days.

Everything else is just ticking over for the week.


Monday - Swim with TPT.

Tuesday -  Easy run or mountain bike.

Wednesday - Easy run or bike.

Thursday -  Cinema - Frankenstein.

Friday - Rest day. Or try to get saturday's session if Sunday's race looks likely.

Saturday - Long run or ride.

Sunday - Long ride or run. Or Inverurie Duathlon.


Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >40 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga. 

Get weight back under 80kg.

Training Review - Week 45 - November 4 to 10

Monday, I went back to swimming with TPT. Session didn't really suit me. Too much single arm work and kicking. Adapted a lot of the session to suit myself. Did 2,250m and a few turns as well. Kick drills don't seem to have done my adductor problems any harm. If anything the workout has loosened it off a bit.

Tuesday I was planning to go for a short hill run, but decided to give the adductor pain another day of rest. It isn't affecting my walking any more but no sense in damaging it further. Went to visit my granny instead.
Movember is still going well.

Wednesday, I arranged to go mountain biking in the dark. Arrived much too early, so decided to sneak in a quick run first. Garmin says 2 miles, but it was out and back and it says 0.8 out and 1.2 back so something is amiss there. Anyway, it was a good 20 minute warm-up before biking. Then biking was good too. Was mostly just a tootle around the fire tracks on Kirkhill but a couple of quick blasts on the way back down were great fun. 

Thursday, cinema trip. Gravity. Hard one to assess. It is very predictable, but quite well done. No way it its the oscar qulaity performance that the papers are raving about, but it is worth sitting a couple of hours to watch.

Friday, I was planning to do some of my run miles but the traffic home took nearly 2 hours instead of the usual 20 minutes.

Saturday, no sporting as such, but I did borrow Dexter for the afternoon and we went for a trip to the top of Scolty hill. Claiming it against my run mileage as chasing Dexter up and down a hill is hard enough to be equivalent.

Sunday, the Kintore sunday ride group has restarted for winter. Big turnout this week with 21 bodies at the start. We split into 2 groups and set off. plan was 12 miles as easy groups, then 10 miles of team time trial practice, then 18 miles of group riding back to Kintore. Was a bit chilly to start but was actually a nice day once we were moving. Good starter to longer winter training.

Weight was at 79.5 kg on Sunday. Only just under target, but another success. Good week all in. 

So targets for last week (Week 45) were: 

Swim >1 miles. Bike >40 miles. Run >10 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga. Keep weight under 80kg.

Actuals were:

Monday - Swim with TPT. 2,250m in 55 mins.

Tuesday - Rest day.

Wednesday - Easy hill run 2(-ish) miles in 22 mins. MTB 6.3 miles in 54mins.

Thursday - Cinema day - Gravity.

Friday - Day off.

Saturday - Scolty walk, 2.6 miles. And some wii-ing.

Sunday - Kintore Sunday ride 42 miles, in 2 hours 58mins. And the light weights and stretching.

Result - Swim 1.4 miles (2,250m). Bike 48.3 miles. Run 4.6 miles. 0 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 0 mins of wii yoga. 

Weight 79.5 kg

Training Plan - Week 46 - Nov 11 to 17

Forgot to write a plan again this week.

Monday - Swim with TPT.

Tuesday -  Easy run or mountain bike.

Wednesday - Easy run or bike.

Thursday - Bike fitting. Cinema - Thor, The Dark World. (Well it is Thorsday!).

Friday - Rest day. Bit of stretching.

Saturday - North District Cross-Country League - Elgin. Also a bit of mountain biking involved in getting to and from the race.

Sunday - Long ride or mtb.


Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >40 miles. Run >12 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga. 

Keep weight under 80kg.

Race Review - Kings Aquathon

I decided that I wanted to get at least some of my bike miles for the week so I decided to ride to and from the race to get a few miles in. This seemed like an ambitious idea in the cold but I got wrapped up a bit and off I went. About half way to the race the heavens opened and it seemed even more like a bad idea. I kept the pedal in fairly calm, saving my legs for racing.

I got signed in. Feeling like everyone's grandad as all the other competitors were students, and most of them were still giving their ages as x-teen. I packed away my biking kit and checked my run and swim gear. I realised I had forgotten my race belt but I let my engineering skills loose on the contents of my bag and pockets and constructed a new one.

Briefing started with an announcement that I hadn't expected (but should have if I had thought about it). This was to be the last ever Kings Aquathon. They are going to be moving across to the new aquatic centre in future. THe name of the race will change, and the run route will have to change as well. They think this is a good thing. I am not convinced that it will improve what has always been a good little race.

I got seeded in Heat 7 of 9. But more than half the field had declared times between 6:45 and 7:15 so it wasn't really a clear cut signal of where I was in the field. I still haven't seen the final results so I can't really tell how I went in terms of the general field. But I had the watches running so I know how I went as compared to me. 

My swim was pretty solid. Nothing spectacular, but well paced and clean. The other guy in my lane was off like a shot and I never got near him, but there were guys in the lanes either side that were only just sneaking away for the first few lengths and from about half way I was reeling both of them back in. 6:59 is not quite my fastest ever 400m swim, but it is within a few seconds, and without anyone to tow behind.

I had a bit of a faff in transition. I had purposefully set up near the door so I could make a last minute decision on clothes. Looking outside the rain was back on and I knew it was going to be cold so I put my cycling jacket on.

I came out of transition behind a few of the swimmers from my heat. But we were all quite close so it was a bit difficult to tell who was where. The first 400m or so is on grass and we had sorted out into a more likely race order. Last year's Aberdeen uni tri club captain was in front of me and pulling away. An Edinburgher was just behind me and tucked in close. 

It is three laps around the University campus. At the end of lap 1 I was starting to gain on the Aberdeen Uni guy in front as he was struggling with a stitch. I figured he had mistimed his run the same as his swim and pushed too early. Made the mistake of cheering/cajoling him to get a move on. He recognised it was me and put in a bit of a push, and once that got him moving again he warmed up and eased off and started to pull back out to about 100m of a lead. On the last lap my shadow from Edinburgh also decided that he fancied his chances. With about half a mile to go he passed me and started to ease out to a bit of a gap. I did up the pace to try and chase the pair of them but couldn't make much of an impression on the gaps. I ran about 22mins 30 according to my watch. 

I was pretty happy with my race. Swim was pretty close to what I am capable of. Run time was better than I expected. Run was more comfortable than I expected. And to top all that I coped with the crowds of strangers much better than I have done over the last couple of years.

Riding home from the race was the toughest part of the day. The weather had gotten really terrible. The drivers in Aberdeen are pretty terrible when it gets wet and grey and it was probably the most dangerous 6 miles I have done in the past few years. Survived it, with a bit of waving and swearing at some of the cars. 

Training Review - Week 44 - October 28 to November 3

Expect this to be a short week with hardly any free time. Going to be tough to find the bike miles especially.

Monday, the TPT swim session really didn't suit me this week, but Bucksburn have sorted out their lifeguards and gone back to their normal timetable. Went down and did a quick warm up and then 3 x 400m reps. Did attempts at tumble turns for the first two and touch turns for the last one. So it looks like at the minute my tumble turns are about 1 - 1.3 seconds slower than my touch turns. But even the slower version with the tumble turns would have been PB swims for 400m races last year.

Tuesday, I had another dull day at work and almost binned my evening run. So glad I didn't! Put my headtorch on and went for a short run at Kirkhill. Trying to rack up some elevation as part of the Strava 'Demand More Vertical' Challenge I decided to run from the main car park to the top of the tower and back. This is usually the loop I do with Dexter, so I figure I know it well enough to run it in the dark. It was still just about daylight when I started and I went off quite quickly, hoping to get most of the way round before having to resort to the torchlight. About a mile in I turned into an avenue through the trees and had to turn on the light. And about 25 metres further on a pair of deer ran across the path just in front of me. Not unusual to see big wildlife in the places I train, but two together is a bit out of the ordinary. And having them trot along just in front of me for about half a mile was absolutely unique and really amazing.

Wednesday I went back to Kirkhill with a couple of other people for another torchlit run. Was nearly as much fun. One of them made the mistake of pointing out a Strava segment that he was KoM on. He isn't any more. Even in the dark I can steal short KoM stages when I am feeling good. Just have to try and turn the good days into consistent days. 

Thursday, day off and a trip to the cinema. Went to se the National theatre production of Frankenstein with Johnny Lee miller as the Doctor and Benedict Cumberbatch as the monster. It is a strange experience to watch a play in the cinema but it was pretty good. Interestingly the same play but with the two leads in the opposite roles is on in 3 weeks time.

Friday was November 1st. I am signed up to do Movember this year. Donations welcome at: mobro.co/kevinmorice . I don't EVER ask for sponsorship for doing sporty things, otherwise I would bankrupt you all. So this is my alternative way of being charitable. And being honest it is entirely selfish. Cancer took my one of my grandad's and had a go at my dad a couple of years back, so the chances are it is coming for me at some point, and the more money spent on fighting men's health problems, the better for me. I will be adding daily photo updates to my movember page at mobro.co/kevinmorice. Here are the first few:

 Oct 31 Nov 1Nov 2  Nov 3


I did do a bit of wii yoga and some stretching to try and loosen off for racing.

Saturday, was Kings Aquathon. (Aquathon! I refuse to use Aquathlon, the added 'l' that is increasingly becoming the norm is ugly and unnecessary). Separate race review post for it. I decided to ride there and back as well. The way there was a bit cold but not too bad. The way back was a torrential storm. Aberdeen drivers are pretty terrible most days but they are even worse in the wet on a grey and dark day.

Sunday, the weather was terrible so road biking was out. Had a think about doing a run or some mountain biking. Legs weren't really having any of it though. Went into town and wandered round the shops for a bit. Was pretty much limping by the time I got home. Tried to stretch it out a bit in the evening but with pretty minimal success. Technically a good sign as it showed that I did race hard yesterday, but could do without that sort of reminder.


Weight at the end of this week is 80 kg. Right on my limit again this week. 

So targets for last week (Week 44) were: 

Swim >1 miles. Bike >50 miles. Run >8 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga. Keep weight under 80kg.

Actuals were:

Monday - Swim at Bucksburn. 1,200m in 25mins. (400m in 7mins 04)

Tuesday - Run 3.9 miles, 33mins.

Wednesday - Run 4 miles, 45mins.

Thursday - Rest day. Cinema - Frankenstein.

Friday - Rest day. Wii yoga and stretching.

Saturday - Bike to race 5.4 miles in 24mins. Kings Aquathon, swim 400m in 6mins 55 (need to get results to confirm), run 3.33 miles in 22mins 32. Bike home 5. miles in 25mins.

Sunday -  Rest day. Light weights and stretching.

Result - Swim 1 miles (1,650 m). Bike 10.8 miles. Run 11.2 miles. 0 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions. 30 mins of wii yoga. 

Training Plan - Week 45 - Nov 4 to 10

The weather is already starting to interfere with training plans so from now everything will get fuzzy depending on how crappy the weather gets each day.

I have laid out my usual plan but will see how it goes each day. I am not riding enough at the minute, but the weather is unlikely to help that any time soon. If it doesn't get too severe I can still run and mountain bike in most conditions. 

Monday - Swim with TPT.

Tuesday -  Easy run or mountain bike.

Wednesday - Easy run.

Thursday - Rest day. Or catch up with a missed session from earlier in the week.

Friday - Cinema day?

Saturday - Long run or ride.

Sunday - Long ride or run.


Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >40 miles. Run >10 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 30mins of wii yoga. Keep weight under 80kg.

Training Review - Week 43 - October 21 to 27

I expect work to screw up this week, but let us see what happens.

Monday, I had to be home for Tesco delivery so I couldn't go to my normal swim session. Did try to go to the pool at Bucksburn for a while though. Arrived to find they had made a last minute change to their timetable and cancelled the evening session. Very annoying. So we went to McDonalds instead. Good idea at the time but not helping my weight target.

Tuesday, as predicted, got screwed by work. Didn't get home till 7 and was flat out exhausted. 

Wednesday, as predicted, worked screwed me again. Was after 7 before I got home and after 8 by the time I was fed.

Thursday, went mountain biking at Scolty... in the dark. That was an interesting experience. Especially on a load of routes that I didn't know. Were 10 of us to start with but we quickly split into two groups. Even then I was dragging along at the back of the slow group. It was a bit stop-start as I tried to cope with the mud and the dark and the roots. Was pretty good fun but hard work. Did whack my shoulder of a tree in one of the medium speed bits, but it was just a glancing blow on the way past. Good confirmation that my pinned shoulder can take as much abuse as the normal one now.

Friday, Another day off and a trip to the cinema. Ender's Game is wholly predictable and pretty poor. If Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley weren't in it, it wouldn't have been made.

Saturday, I did manage to drag myself out of bed for an early swim. Was pretty terrible though. Back and shoulders were tight from not sleeping well and thursday's mountain biking. Once I got them loosened off a bit I did a few 200m efforts, but couldn't even get up to my 800m pace. 

Sunday, I went out for an easy run. Under 4 miles and pretty slow, and my knee still didn't like it much. But then when I got home I also threw in nearly an hour of wii yoga and aerobic games, and a light weights session.


Diet has been slightly healthier than normal this week. By accident more than design. But the end result is my weight is back down to 79kg. Biking for the week was under target miles but it was over 2 hours of hard work mountain biking, which is about equivalent to 30 miles of road biking effort, so I am actually going to claim that as complete. So my only real miss for this week was lack of running miles and resting the knee probably isn't a bad idea.

So targets for last week (Week 43) were: 

Swim something. Bike >30 miles. Run >10 miles. Weight under 80kg

Actuals were:

Monday - Nothing

Tuesday - Nothing

Wednesday - Nothing

Thursday - MTB at Scolty. 10.6 miles in 2 hours 14mins.

Friday - Rest Day. Cinema - Enders Game.

Saturday - Swim. 1,000m.

Sunday -  Jog 3.8 miles in 34mins.

Result - Swim 0.6 miles (1,000 m). Bike 10.6 miles. Run 3.8 miles. 0 short core, 1 short light weights and 0 short stretching sessions. 66 mins of wii yoga. 
Weight - 79 kg.