Tuesday 30 July 2013

Race Report - Inverurie Triathlon

Preview

I have done the sprint race at Inverurie Triathlon the past 3 years. Results for all three are here.

For this year:

I want to swim under 14 minutes. This should be easy enough. I haven't been in a pool for a month so my turns might be even more untidy than usual, but I still haven't done enough work to be tumble turning anyway. My basic swimming is going really well though, so barring traffic problems I should easily be out of the water in under 14.

The bike course was slightly different in 2010 so it isn't really comparable. And due to some road works and cable laying this year's route is going to be different again. Assuming it is a similar distance my aim is to not get caught by the guys from the fast heat by the time I get off the bike. That may be optimistic depending on how my breathing is. Still a bit affected by the cold on my run on saturday.

Also, it would be good to run under 20 minutes, but not really expecting that I have the basic speed in my legs. I have gone from 20:24 to 21:19 to 22:23 over the last 3 years. As long as I don't get another minute slower I will take it.

Race day

Woke up to an awful lot of noise. Was raining cats and dogs and occasional elephants by the sound of it. After the storms and flooding earlier in the week I had a good idea what that would mean for road conditions. 

A quick look out the window and the drains on my street were failing to handle the volume of water and were flooding the road. Wasn't going to risk the TT bike and the pointy hat on roads like that so rushed around packing my road bike and digging out my rain gear. 

By the time I got to registration it was fairly obvious that the bike was going to get cancelled. There was a bit of grumping from the bike specialists when it was announced and a good few of them took their refunds and went home in a sulk. Suited me though. Don't want to be taking risks on having a slide in bad road conditions this close to Knockburn and Aberfeldy. 

I had a nice clean swim. Because of all the late withdrawals there were only 3 of us in the swim lane. The first guy off was exactly my pace, so I could never get close enough to draft him, but he never got in my way. The other swimmer started behind me and we both caught her twice, but each time she was in a nice space between us and we each caught her near the turns so didn't hold either of us up.

Because of the single transition it was moved into the changing rooms. This meant that shoes would be nice and dry to start the run in, but changing time would go into the official swim time. This gave me an official swim time of 13:56. For a better comparison though, Garmin swim clocks me out of the water at 13:12.

The run was still pretty wet. Because I transitioned indoors, instead of outside where the normal transition is, the run was slightly longer than normal, and I started my garmin at that point. It clocks me as covering the run through the unused transition area and then the race as 3 miles exactly in 20 mins 58. Under 7 minute miles (just).

The official time check was taken at the same place as the normal triathlon T2 exit. So my official run time for just the run route is 19:41 to compare against the previous times above. Really happy with that. Even though it is based on having fresh legs from not biking, it wasn't as nice running conditions as any of the previous years. I have done no speed work at all this year. Bodes well for having a decent race at Knockburn next week.

14th out of 43 finishers in the Sprint race. 5th Senior Male. Pretty happy.


Monday 29 July 2013

Training Review - Week 30 - July 22 to 28


Monday, (and Tuesday) I still have a cold. I could train over it but it wouldn't do me any good so going to follow the advice I give everyone else and rest till I am healthy.

Wednesday, OK, so I am just going to ignore the cold. It is improving but I was still sniffling most of the day. So I decided to run/swim at Knockburn anyway. Took it very easy. Jogged round most of the race route for the standard triathlon next weekend. Then did 2 and a half laps in the water. Planned 3 but was testing out different goggles and the third set the green colour makes the orange buoys practically invisible and I got lost and ended up cutting across the middle of the loch. Still a good day out for being under the weather so happy enough.

Thursday, I did an easy brick. Tested out the TT bike since I got it back. Having to fiddle with the position again as the bike shop moved it all to test ride it. Bike is definitely running much more smoothly though. Did an easy couple of mile jog in the middle. Then biked home.

Friday, I was really tired after work and stuck to my plan rather than trying to catch up on the miles from earlier in the week. Stuck with the planned rest day and did some easy stretching instead.

Saturday, I spent most of the day packing for Inverurie triathlon and my holiday next week. I did go out for a short jog in the morning. Just round Dyce to give my legs a bit of a clear out and make sure I could breathe after the cold. 

Sunday I went to Inverurie Triathlon. Separate race report for it to follow. I thought about riding there and back to get some more bike miles for the week but decided against it.

Missed all my totals targets for this week due to the cold at the start of the week and the triathlon being changed to an aquathon. 


So targets for last week (Week 30) were:

Target totals - Swim >2 miles. Bike >60 miles. Run >20 miles. 1 run over 10 miles. 1 short core and 1 short stretching session.

Actuals were:

Monday - Still sick.

Tuesday - Still sniffly.

Wednesday - Jog 5.5 miles in 51mins. Swim 1,500m in 50mins.

Thursday - Bike 14.5 miles in 62mins. Run 2 miles in 18 mins. Bike 6.9 miles in 23 mins.

Friday - Rest Day. 

Saturday - Easy run 3.5 miles in 30mins.

Sunday -  Inverurie Triathlon Aquathon. Swim 750m, 13mins 32. Run 3.0 miles 20mins 58. And a core session.

Result - 
Swim 1.3 miles (2,250m). Bike 21.4 miles. Run 14 miles. 0 runs over 10 miles. 1 core and 1 stretching sessions.

Sunday 28 July 2013

Training Plan - Week 31 - July 29 to Aug 4

Bit of a strange week.

I should be taking it easy at the start of my taper and so I can race Knockburn Standard on Sunday, but I have an opportunity to take a few days off work and go on holiday to see an old friend. She is over visiting from Germany and touring round Scotland with her mum. I have arranged to go and see them when they are near Aberfeldy, so I am going to take the opportunity to recce the bike course at least. If I get a chance I may also take a look at some of the run course or test out the water temperature.


Monday - Core and stretching session.

Tuesday -  Holiday - Aberfeldy Bike course recce.

Wednesday - Holiday - Short run or swim.

Thursday - Holiday - Short run or swim.

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - Easy short run. Stretching.

Sunday -  Knockburn Standard Triathlon.

Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >75 miles. Run >10 miles. 2 short core and 2 short stretching sessions. 

Monday 22 July 2013

Training Review - Week 29 - July 15 to 21


Monday I took a nice easy ride out to Portlethen to see Dexter, and then back again. More lumps on that route than I expected but I barely notice them now. Cairn O Mount showed me where my limit was. If I have a hard week in my legs, on a really hot day, without my hayfever prep I can still pedal most of the way up the meanest hill I have ever seen. Anything smaller or when I am better prepared is not going to bother me any more.

Tuesday I really struggled with my run. Was much too hot at 26 degrees. Also in need of a rest day, as I am still paying for Cairn O Mount on Sunday. Had to cut my run at 4 miles to stop for a drink. And then struggled make it to an hour. Tomorrow is my only chance to swim this week so keeping that but reshuffling the rest of the week. Will drop tomorrows run and move my rest day to Thursday.

Three cans of coke, 2 pints of juice, an ice lolly and two cups of green tea later and I am still too hot and massively thirsty. Suspect tomorrows swim at Knockburn might be non-wetsuit.

Wednesday I stuck to my revised plan just to swim. Did 4 laps at Knockburn. 3 in the wetsuit at 12:20 a lap, and then one without it in 14:30. Furthest I have swum in a single session, didn't even realise that until afterwards.

Thursday my legs felt much better, but I decided to stick with the rest day. I did my stretching session and my core session.

That left me still looking for both my 10 mile runs, about 65 on the bike, and a brick. So the only way I could do the runs was to split them to Friday evening and Sunday. My nice 22 mile bike loop could go in before the run on Sunday, making that a pretty heavy, but survivable brick. That leaves me looking for 43 on the bike on Saturday. 

So having sorted that out I did my first 10 mile run on Friday evening. It was pretty hot, and felt really slow, but I got round in under 90 minutes. A few tight spots still showing up from last weekend's efforts so it will be onto the roller once I put the keyboard down.

Saturday morning I woke up with a sore throat. At first I thought it was hayfever so I took an anti-histamine and then made breakfast. But it still wasn't any better by the time I was ready to go out on the bike. So I added a couple of squirts of the nose spray and sat down for 20 minutes to let breakfast settle and for the spray to work. Woke up three hours later. So now I think it might be a bug or something, but it is still just a sore throat and no other obvious symptoms so I gave it a spray of chloraseptic to kill the pain and went out on the bike anyway. 

Then I looked out the window and it was a bit cloudy, so I packed my magic raincoat and thermal sleeves and hit the road. Did an easy 3 hours solo ride. The magic raincoat worked it's usual wonder and the clouds disappeared after less than 5 miles. This means that I am now typing this in between layering on coats of after sun.


Sunday, I got up feeling worse. The sore throat has graduated to a proper cold. Tried the same trick as yesterday of breakfast then having a nap but it didn't help this time as I couldnt get to sleep. The chloraseptic might have covered the sore throat but it wouldn't have done anything about the coughing and the blocked nose. So the new plan for today is to try and get out in the sun and do some gardening and wash the car. And if I feel a bit better late in the afternoon I might try and roll the bike for an hour.

Didn't get any better. Got significantly worse. Crashed on the sofa for a few hours in the afternoon.  Been on the lemsip and strepsils between naps. Managed to clean and service the road bike in the afternoon but was in no state to take it out on the road.

That is the last of the real big weeks out of the way now. And despite missing sunday it still comes out as a fairly big week. The next two weeks are just ticking over and getting some race practice, and doing a recce of the bike course. Then into my 2 week taper from there.


So targets for last week (Week 29) were:

Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >90 miles. Run >25 miles. 2 runs over 10 miles. 1 short core and 1 short stretching session

Actuals were:


Monday - Road bike 25.3 miles in 1hr 43mins. 

Tuesday - Easy run 6.6 miles in 59 mins.

Wednesday - Swim 4 laps of Knockburn. 2,400m in 56mins. 

Thursday - Rest Day.

Friday - Long run 10.2 miles in 90mins.

Saturday - Easy ride 42.5 miles in 2 hours 59mins.

Sunday -  Sick day.

Result - 
Swim 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Bike 67.8 miles. Run 16.8 miles. 1 runs over 10 miles. 1 core and 1 stretching sessions.

Sunday 21 July 2013

Training Plan - Week 30 - July 22 to 28

This week will finish off with Inverurie triathlon. Only heavy session is the long run on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday I might try and turn the pace up a little, depending on how my legs feel. Sunday's race is going to be more about the transitions and race prep than the actual race. 


Monday - Bike 25 miles.

Tuesday - Long run >10 miles. 

Wednesday - Swim and run at Knockburn.

Thursday - Bike / run brick, with TT bike if it is back.

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - Easy short ride or run.

Sunday -  Inverurie Sprint Triathlon.

Target totals - Swim >2 miles. Bike >60 miles. Run >20 miles. 1 run over 10 miles. 1 short core and 1 short stretching session.

Monday 15 July 2013

Training Review - Week 28 - July 8 to 14


Monday, I stuck to my plan to skip swimming. Even though the session looked like it had been rewritten specifically to minimise risk to my shoulder. I also stuck to my plan to ride 25 miles. Before leaving I dug out every trick in my anti-allergy bag; from having a shower, through taking the pills, and the nose spray, to hanging my training clothes in the shower, wearing my wraparound sunglasses, covering the inside of my nose in vaseline, ... . I rode out to Inverurie and then back again, chasing some Strava segments on the way back. Split into 2 rides, with a 10 minute stop in the middle. But covered the 25 miles in 90 minutes, averaging over 17 miles per hour on a pretty lumpy route. Was in "the red zone" for a couple of sprint sections but generally felt pretty good and could comfortably have gone round again in something similar. 

Tuesday, was a long run. Had a hassle beforehand as last week's dead computer was the one with all my music and which my iPhone is synced to. Meant I had to spend about an hour  trying to repair my phone before I could go. Probably for the best as it is meant to be less hayfever-y later in the evening. Started fairly slow, legs were heavy from pushing the bike on Monday night. But from about 5 miles in things started to click and I was going really well on the way back. Plan was 10 miles in about 90-95 minutes, did 10.7 in 90 mins. This run also took me to over 400 run miles for the year.

Wednesday I did a triple session. Started with an easy 4 mile run to try and get my legs moving. they were a bit stiff from the previous 2 days but still got round a really hilly course in 44 mins. Then I went in for a swim. Plan was 3 laps but was feeling pretty empty after 2 and wasn't enjoying fighting my way through the reeds that have shot up over the last couple of weeks. Took 27 mins for 2 laps which is pretty slow compared to how I have been going. This is fair enough for how tired I felt, and second lap was a minute quicker than the first so probably a bit of an effect from being off swimming for a while and needing to get the feel back. I had planned to then do a quick transition and straight onto a bike ride. I decided instead to take the time to dry off a bit and get some food and a drink. then took the TT bike round the Knockburn sprint route, 11 miles in 39 mins. 

Thursday, I did what was meant to be an easy brick. Nice gentle 20 mile ride and a 3 mile run. I took my road bike so that it would be nice and gentle. As I rolled out of my driveway I figured my legs were pretty empty from the previous 3 weeks but I would manage to get round if I took it nice and carefully. That lasted for the first mile, then I had to do a bit of weaving in and out of the traffic jam and realised that I actually felt good. Decided to pick it up a bit for a long Strava segment on my route and from there all the way home I was flying along. Averaged out at over 17 mph again for the third day this week. This ride also took me to over 1300 miles for the year. 1 hour 18 mins for 22.6 miles.

Did a quick transition and went out for my run, again planning to take it easy. Got to the first mile in 8 mins and decided to slow down. Did the second mile in 7:40, so tried to slow down again. Did the third mile in 7:03. 5k in 23 mins, second fastest I have ever done for that loop, and have never tried it off the back of a week like this, or straight off the bike. Really pleased.

Friday I was scheduled for a rest day but went for an easy swim just to finish off my miles for the week and ease everything off. 

Saturday I went out for a group run. Was pretty warm despite being overcast but we were chugging along at quite a comfortable pace. Averaging 9 minute miles and covered 13 miles. This is my full Aberfeldy run distance (ok about 160m short but who is counting that?) in under 2 hours, which is about what I would like to do on race day. Really pleased to get that in, especially after quite a heavy week.

Sunday I went out with a friend and a couple of her workmates for a long ride. First trip over the notorious Cairn O Mount. I can understand now why it has it's reputation. It is an evil climb, which I couldn't manage without a stop and a bit of bike pushing. Think that it is partly because I forgot all my hayfever tricks in the morning and partly because it came after nearly 95 ride miles and 30 run miles, but not sure if I would have been able on fresh legs either. Another attempt will have to wait till after race season though.

In the evening, between coats of after sun, I did my stretching and core sessions to round out the week.
For all the grumpiness and disappointment of last week this has been completely the opposite. Everything has been easy, despite going faster and farther. Maybe should have tried nostrils full of vaseline sooner.

So my aim for the week was to either hit all my targets or confirm my withdrawal from Aberfeldy. Hit all the targets, despite them being massive.




So targets for last week (Week 28) were:

Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >100 miles. Run >30 miles. 1 run over 10 miles. 1 short core and 1 short stretching session. 

Actuals were:


Monday - TT bike 13.4 miles in 48 mins and 12.1 miles in 43 mins.


Tuesday - Long run 10.7 miles, 90 minutes. 


Wednesday - Run 4 miles in 33mins. Swim 1,200m in 27mins. Bike 11.2 miles in 39mins.

Thursday - Road bike 22.6 miles in 1hr 18mins. Run 3.1 miles in 24mins.


Friday - Swim 800m in 19 mins.


Saturday - Run 13 miles in 1hr 59mins.


Sunday -  Bike 48.5 in 3hrs 53mins. 1 core session. 1 stretching session.


Result - 
Swim 1.25 miles (2,000 m). Bike 107.7 miles. Run 30.8 miles. 2 runs over 10 miles. 1 core and 1 stretching sessions.

Sunday 14 July 2013

Training Plan - Week 29 - July 15 to 21

This week was meant to finish off with Westhill triathlon but that has been moved to 11th August, which means I will miss it as it is too close to Aberfeldy. This does give me an opportunity for another fairly heavy week instead.



Monday - Bike 25 miles.

Tuesday - Long run >10 miles. TT bike goes in for repairs.

Wednesday - Swim and run at Knockburn.

Thursday - Bike / run brick with TT bike if it is back.

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - Long run or long bike.

Sunday -  Long bike or long run.

Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >90 miles. Run >25 miles. 2 runs over 10 miles. 1 short core and 1 short stretching session. 

Tuesday 9 July 2013

Good men don't do nothing


Someone posted this picture on facebook today and it reminded me of this post that I wrote a while back and never got round to posting.




I was going to build this post out of the Isaac Asimov short story - Little Lost Robot. The risk of using the fiction, and the abstraction of Asimov’s laws of robotics representing idealised human behaviour detract too much from the theme. It left me feeling there was slightly too much risk of the point I am trying to make also seeming equally fictional. So instead I am going to stick with a common quote that most people would recognise and many of those would consider to be accurate:
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." 

As with the Abe Lincoln picture above, the quote itself probably deserves a thread just on it's origins. It regularly wins polls as the most popular quote of modern times. It is often heard in the famous voice of JFK, who in turn attributed it to Edmund Burke, probably incorrectly if you believe Wikipedia. But the source doesn't really matter as much as the idea. My own opinion is that regardless of the source of the quote, and the general opinion that it is a great quote, it is actually fundamentally stupid.

But in order to get to why it is so stupid, I need to take a bit of a detour first:

I work in an industry where they have very clearly defined rights and responsibilities. Within that is the idea that they insist on terming a “no blame” culture. It isn’t quite as cut and dried as that, and should probably be more a “no blame, unless you purposefully do something outside the procedures, guidance and good engineering practice; or that you can’t justify was a good decision based on the information you had available at the time" culture. That doesn't make for quite such a snappy soundbite though and the closest I have heard to reality is a "Just Culture" but that one is discouraged as it implies the hammer of managerial justice is waiting for you to make a mistake so they can blame you for it.

Anyway, more important to me is the flip-side of the no-blame coin. You never get into trouble for highlighting a problem, because that is the first step required in correcting it.  My current workplace’s version of this is the soundbite friendly: “You see it, you own it”.  To give an extreme example, if you find a hole in the floor it is up to you to report it an make sure someone does something to make it safe. And if don’t report it, then when the next person comes along and falls through the hole then his harm is your fault just as much as if you pushed him in the hole yourself. Turning a blind eye makes you complicit. To steal one last time from the HSE soundbites at work, you gave “silent consent” to that situation and that puts you in the wrong.

Which brings me back to the reason for this post and to what I believe is the fundamental error in the original quote. If you know something is wrong, and you actively choose to do nothing, then surely by the very definition you are not a “good man”.

If you walk past that hole and do nothing, you are not a good man.


But this doesn't just apply at work, it applies to life. If you don't stand up when you see something wrong it is your fault.

Monday 8 July 2013

Training Review - Week 27 - July 1 to 7



Monday was my usual swim session with TPT. Decided to ride there and back. Seemed like a good plan on the way out as we easily rolled the 13 miles there in 48 minutes. However, I had to bail on the swim session again as it messed up my shoulder and back. I have had enough of quitting swim sessions, so I am not going to go back for a while now. The tension in my shoulder and back that stopped me swimming then pulled my hip and back out of line and riding home was agony and took over an hour. That was the final straw for Aberfeldy. If I turned up and had that sort of problem during the swim then I would be in real trouble. Loch Tay is much bigger and more exposed than my normal outdoor swims and the course means everyone gets more spread out and further from the rescue boats. Also there is also no way that I could ride or run if my back or shoulder gave me problems on the day. On top of that the fight I am now having to go through with Wiggle for getting my TT bike repaired, or replaced, or refunded means I would have to use my old road bike for it.

Tuesday I was still not able to run as my back and hip were still a mess from Monday night. Monday and Tuesday it took left over post-surgery painkillers to eventually get me some sleep.

Wednesday I still felt crap but had to go and collect my car from it's MOT so ran the 3 miles to get it. Mile splits were 9:40, 8:41, 7:42. Which looks like I was getting faster and more comfortable as I was going, but is skewed by traffic lights and hills and still at the end I was left with the feeling that someone is stabbing me in the hip every 5th step or so.

Thursday, I got distracted from training by selling my car. In other good news, Wiggle have let common sense take over and will let the local bike shop fix the TT bike and they will foot the bill. This potentially puts me back on for Aberfeldy if I can get my back and hip sorted.

Friday, life got in the way again as I went to another job interview and I wasn't home till late. I did a stretching session and as much rollering as I could handle. 

Saturday I planned to go for a long run but got called in to work in the morning and had a lot of chores and gardening to do in the afternoon. Did do some more stretching and rollering in the evening. And it was my birthday, I am now 37.

Sunday was another nightmare day. Pretty much sums up my whole week. I arranged to go out for 60 miles on the bike with some people, but got stuck in traffic on the way there and was a couple of minutes late. Thought about chasing them down but decided that wasn't possible. So decided to just ride the route on my own. 10 minutes and a wrong turn later and I was back at the start and already feeling crap. So I changed plans to do a shorter route just into Inverurie and then round the Inverurie triathlon course. Hated every minute of the 5 miles into Inverurie and was almost in tears when I got there. Was all I could do to turn round and pedal back to the car.

I cant understand why I am so empty, especially this week. The pain and painkillers I have had to take for my hip and my hayfever are all minor parts of this, but they don't get anywhere near explaining how physically empty I have been this week. I have a long week planned for next week but can't see how I will get through any single day of it if I feel like this. So that is going to be my go / no-go check. If I don't make all of next week's end-of-week targets then I am going to withdraw from Aberfeldy. 

Also, in case it isn't obvious. I am having real problems with depression and mood swings again. 

And just to round off my week my pc has just died. I had most of the important stuff backed up on either my portable hard drive or my laptop and I have managed to cable the internals to my spare pc as a slave and looks like I am successfully pulling the rest off the master drive of the crashed pc, but with 8 hours of file transferring to go. Still need to get a replacement and set it up, which is a hassle I could do without.

Also as this is the second to die this year and both are younger than my parents machine I will need to look at upgrading theirs before they have a similar crash.


So targets for last week (Week 27) were:

Target totals - Swim >2 miles. Bike >50 miles. Run >25 miles. One run over 9 miles. 2 short core and 2 short stretching sessions.

Actuals were:

Monday - Bike 13.4 miles in 48mins. Swim 850m in 30 mins. Bike 13.4 miles in 61 mins.

Tuesday - Nothing.

Wednesday - Run 3.1 miles in 26 mins.

Thursday - Nothing.

Friday - Nothing. Stretching and rollering.

Saturday - Gardening. Stretching and rollering.

Sunday -  Bike 12.6 miles in 56 mins.


Result - 
Swim 0.5 miles (850 m). Bike 39.4 miles. Run 3.1 miles. 0 runs over 9 miles. 0 core and 1 stretching sessions.

Sunday 7 July 2013

Training Plan - Week 28 - July 8 to 14


Not planning to go to swimming this Monday. Easier and less mentally damaging to plan to skip it now rather than to drag myself out there and then quit half way through or potentially aggravate my back again.

Aberfeldy is possibly back on the plan after Wiggle agreed to let the local bike shop fix everything on my TT bike and they will pay the bill.

I have races the 3 weekends coming and then into a taper for Aberfeldy so this should be my last week for really big miles. After almost a rest week last week I plan to make the most of the weather this week and get plenty of miles in.

Somehow I have managed to get up to 83kg, which I think is the heaviest I have ever been in my life. Need to lose some of that as well and a big mileage week should start to put a dent in it.



Monday - Bike ~25 miles.

Tuesday - Run ~10 miles.

Wednesday - Short run ~4 miles. Open water swim >1 mile, transition practice, short bike ~ 11miles.

Thursday - Brick. Bike ~22 miles, transition practice, run ~3 miles

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - Long ride ~55 miles or long run ~13 miles.

Sunday -  Long run ~13 miles or long ride ~55 miles. 

Target totals - Swim >1 miles. Bike >100 miles. Run >30 miles. 1 run over 10 miles. 1 short core and 1 short stretching session. 

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Annual Target Review - End of Q2


Half way through the year so time for another review.

So here comes all the dry numbery bit again:

2013 Annual Targets are:
Swim 75 miles and learn to tumble turn.
Bike 1612 miles. - Updated at Q1
Run 520 miles.
Do 250 sessions.
Do a Half Ironman (August).
Run a running race. - Completed in Q1
Keep weight over 73kg and aim for 80kg.
Bike target revised up to 1820 miles.
PBs for 2 of 3, out of Knockburn Duathlon, Turriff Triathlon & Forres Triathlon.
Two runs over 15 miles.
Two rides over 60 miles.
Two bricks over 3 hours.

That means at of the way through the year I should have done somewhere in the region of:
Swim 38 miles and be doing some turns.
Bike 910 miles.
Run 260 miles.
Keep weight over 73kg.
And 2 PB races out of those three.

Two runs over 15 miles.
Two rides over 60 miles.
Two bricks over 3 hours.

And the actuals to date are:
Swum 42 miles and trying to do some turns.
Biked 1207 miles.
Run 388 miles.
Kept my weight over 76kg and now up to 79kg. 
Big PBs at all three of Turriff, Knockburn and Forres.


Two runs over 15 miles.
Two rides over 60 miles.
Two bricks over 3 hours.

Despite a week off with a bug in June I still racked up my highest monthly run mileage since I ran my marathon back in May 2011. Running fitness is definitely starting to come back, despite the massive style changes in how I run. Not making a 15 mile run yet is bugging me but I did do a 14 as part of a duathlon race and I am increasing my midweek run distances.

I started writing this last week and should have stuck with it then instead of coming back to it. Had a really shit day on the TT bike Sunday and am now at the point where I am considering quitting Aberfeldy altogether, or alternatively riding it on my road bike, which would make it pretty pointless anyway.

Changes to targets

So what changes to make at this point?

None. Even if I was in a better mood there is no point in trying to set targets when I have no idea if I am going to be racing or not. If I decide not to do Aberfeldy then there is no need to do anything like my current mileage. And whether I do it or not there is no reason to keep these levels up beyond August.

Monday 1 July 2013

Training Review - Week 26 - June 24 to 30


Monday was my usual swim session with TPT. Had to cheat the session as my shoulder wouldn't let me do big chunks of it. I have never liked sessions using hand paddles, so this may be partly psychosomatic, but my shoulder and back were aching after a single rep with them so I abandoned them and just did the whole session without. Still made the same distance as everyone else in lane 3. This looked to be just because any time I lost on the rep was made up by everyone else putting on or taking off the paddles but I eventually got round to the front of the queue and even bare-handed against the paddlers I was still matching their pace.

Tuesday was a tough 9-mile run. Shouldn't have been tough as it was flat and slow, but I am seriously short on proper rest days recently and racing twice last week coupled to a load of other short fast sessions and the mtb seat being set low has really taken it's toll on my legs.  

Wednesday I went to Knockburn for just a swim. Did 3 laps in 36 minutes. Last year a good one-off lap took me about 13 minutes, and I never did more than two laps in a session. Now I am putting 3 in, back-to-back, all under 12. As long as the water temperature at Aberfeldy is in double figures I am pretty confident that I can be out of the water under 40 minutes and be completely fresh, or out in 35 minutes having done some work.  

Social life decided to intervene on Thursday and Friday, but both days I still had space to squeeze in good gym brick sessions. 

Saturday I went out for my second long run of the week. Left the house thinking I need to do 9.5 miles to finish my week but was doing the maths in my head as I ran and worked out I only needed 8.5. I stuck with the plan to do 9.5 though. I have decided to try and do two long runs a week from now, stepping up half a mile with each run. The run is definitely going to be the toughest part for me, but it is also the part I know best how to fix. 

Sunday I went out planning to do a group ride of 50 miles on my TT bike. Jacked it in after 5. Yet another fault. This time the bottom bracket is making a noise, and it feels like pedalling with the brakes on all the time. It is definitely a pedal/drive problem as it the wheels are rolling fine and there is no issue when it is just coasting along without pedalling. 

This is the 18th fault I have found since I got the bike, but this is by far the worst one and it is beyond what I can diagnose or fix myself. This one has been the final straw and I have sent a complaint to Wiggle that I want a refund or a replacement. This is going to screw up my entire season and my Aberfeldy race plan, but there isn't any alternative. The bike is not completely unridable as it is, but it is much worse than my three year old £600 road bike. And it is mentally tough to ride when I know I spent over £4,000 and I am basically wasting masses of my energy trying to pedal over the faults. Just about every time I ride it I get upset about it.



So targets for last week (Week 26) were:

Swim >2 miles. Bike >50 miles. Run >25 miles. One run over 9 miles. 2 short core and 2 short stretching sessions

Actuals were:


Monday - 2,100m in 55 mins.


Tuesday - 9.1 miles in 1 hr 17.


Wednesday - Knockburn 3 laps, 1,800m, 36 mins.

Thursday - Gym brick, bike 10.2 in 30 mins, treadmill 3.6 in 30 mins.


Friday - Gym brick, bike 10.2 in 30 mins, treadmill 3.8 in 30 mins.


Saturday - Long run, 9.5 miles in 1 hour 22. Core and stretching.


Sunday - Abandoned TT ride. 15.2, 1 hr.


Result - 
Swim 2.4 miles (3,900 m). Bike 35.6 miles. Run 26 miles. 2 runs over 9 miles. 1 core and 1 stretching sessions.