As with previous years I am going to move to a new blog for the new year.
New blog location is http://kevinmorice2014.blogspot.co.uk
Saturday 4 January 2014
Wednesday 1 January 2014
2013 Training by Numbers
The 2012 version of this post can be found here.
And the 2011 version is here.
As much as possible I try to keep this one as just a numerical analysis with explanations of the raw data but some additional information always seeps in. More this year than normally.
Swimming [Target - 75 miles. And learn to tumble turn.]
I have managed that and a good bit more, but with a lot of the miles crammed into the last few weeks. Two 5-mile weeks in December skew the figures quite a lot. It also took a lot more swims than I had planned to get to my total. I had expected to maybe do about 55 in the pool and another 12 or so at Knockburn. Instead I have done 77 pool swims and another 17 at Knockburn for 94 swim sessions this year. This actually means averaging out each session under 1-mile.
I still need to sort out my turns as I am losing a body-length on every turn against the tumble-turners. That is about 8% each length on a short course swim. I am managing to turn sometimes, but not consistently, and not any quicker than my touch turns.
For speed, I have set new best times at every distance I raced.
400m - 6:58
750m - 13:20
1,500m - 27:22
5,000m - 1:38:03
Way over my target miles, so despite the turns still needing work, I am really happy with my year of swimming.
Biking [Target - 1612 miles]
Another huge improvement on the bike this year. Actual miles were 2130 so I was averaging over 40 miles a week. Only 500 of those were on the exercise bike this year. If you remove them and just count outdoor miles I have still hit my target for the year.
Really happy with the numbers, but also happy about how they are spread out. Regular rides at 40-50 miles, and a few crazy long ones just to prove I could go further.
Running [Target - 520 miles. And get back to regularly running outside]
Last year I covered running first in order to get the worst section out of the way. This year I have left it till last. Not on the same logic, but instead because it is the hardest one to explain.
687miles in total. 122 of those were indoors on treadmills. As with the cycling this means that even if you strip out all the time I spent in the gym I still hit my target for the year.
Session totals [Target - Do 250 Sessions.]
I actually did 315 (or so, not entirely convinced that my counter is consistent about double sessions and I know it doesn't count any of the 'short weights' sessions)
2,902 miles total. Another huge step from the 1,902 in 2012, which was a big step itself from 1,068 of 2011. I am definitely not going to add another 1,000 miles next year.
Racing [Targets - Do a Half Ironman. Run a race.]
These were both set as fairly tough targets. But I managed to get the running race in fairly early in the year by going North to do a local Cross-Country race. It was easier than I had feared it might be, but I still didn't manage to do a second one till nearly the end of the year. Hopefully I can get a few more into 2014.
Race review is here.
The Half Ironman took such a huge chunk of my year that this is why I am struggling to set a single race target for 2014. I don't want to spend another 8-9 months where everything revolves around one day. But I might be tempted to do another one, or even the same one again, if there was likely to be better weather conditions for the race.
Race review comes in 4 parts and starts here.
Weight
Started 2013 at 76 kg, and aimed to increase that towards 80 / 81 kg. Having spent the last 4 months at 81kg, I have decided I need to be back down at 76. I am carrying more swimming muscle in my 81kg, but I am also carrying a bit of a belly that I could do without when trying to bike up hills. I am missing some lower body muscle that might come back when I try and speed up for racing next year and my core needs a bit of work that could come with a similar weight penalty. So 81kg still might eventually turn out to be the right number, it maybe just needs a little bit of rearranging where it is.
Other numbers
37 trips to the cinema this year. 10 up on last year. Not as much of a spread in quality as last year. The good ones were solid but not great, the bad ones were poor, but there was nothing I hated enough to want to get up and walk out of. [Edit, I did a quick check and reminded myself of Movie 43! I probably hadn't forgotten it as much as I had tried to wipe every second of it from my mind. A serious contender for the worst movie ever made.]
On the positive sides the Marvel series continued to deliver, and the second new Star Trek did live up to the hype. Arnie and Stallone did what you expect of them, but no more. Cruise and Pitt continued to put their pay cheques ahead of their talent. Matt Damon did a slightly better job of balancing the cash cow of Elysium against a some stronger work in Behind the Candelabra, but both of those felt like they were sold slightly short of their potential. Jesse Eisenberg seems to be sticking a bit better to doing jobs where he still has to put some effort in, but not looking forward to him playing twins in his next outing.
As a basic rule the comedies did more for me than expected, and the rest underwhelmed.
And the 2011 version is here.
As much as possible I try to keep this one as just a numerical analysis with explanations of the raw data but some additional information always seeps in. More this year than normally.
Swimming [Target - 75 miles. And learn to tumble turn.]
I have managed that and a good bit more, but with a lot of the miles crammed into the last few weeks. Two 5-mile weeks in December skew the figures quite a lot. It also took a lot more swims than I had planned to get to my total. I had expected to maybe do about 55 in the pool and another 12 or so at Knockburn. Instead I have done 77 pool swims and another 17 at Knockburn for 94 swim sessions this year. This actually means averaging out each session under 1-mile.
I still need to sort out my turns as I am losing a body-length on every turn against the tumble-turners. That is about 8% each length on a short course swim. I am managing to turn sometimes, but not consistently, and not any quicker than my touch turns.
For speed, I have set new best times at every distance I raced.
400m - 6:58
750m - 13:20
1,500m - 27:22
5,000m - 1:38:03
Way over my target miles, so despite the turns still needing work, I am really happy with my year of swimming.
Biking [Target - 1612 miles]
Another huge improvement on the bike this year. Actual miles were 2130 so I was averaging over 40 miles a week. Only 500 of those were on the exercise bike this year. If you remove them and just count outdoor miles I have still hit my target for the year.
Really happy with the numbers, but also happy about how they are spread out. Regular rides at 40-50 miles, and a few crazy long ones just to prove I could go further.
Running [Target - 520 miles. And get back to regularly running outside]
Last year I covered running first in order to get the worst section out of the way. This year I have left it till last. Not on the same logic, but instead because it is the hardest one to explain.
687miles in total. 122 of those were indoors on treadmills. As with the cycling this means that even if you strip out all the time I spent in the gym I still hit my target for the year.
Session totals [Target - Do 250 Sessions.]
I actually did 315 (or so, not entirely convinced that my counter is consistent about double sessions and I know it doesn't count any of the 'short weights' sessions)
2,902 miles total. Another huge step from the 1,902 in 2012, which was a big step itself from 1,068 of 2011. I am definitely not going to add another 1,000 miles next year.
Racing [Targets - Do a Half Ironman. Run a race.]
These were both set as fairly tough targets. But I managed to get the running race in fairly early in the year by going North to do a local Cross-Country race. It was easier than I had feared it might be, but I still didn't manage to do a second one till nearly the end of the year. Hopefully I can get a few more into 2014.
Race review is here.
The Half Ironman took such a huge chunk of my year that this is why I am struggling to set a single race target for 2014. I don't want to spend another 8-9 months where everything revolves around one day. But I might be tempted to do another one, or even the same one again, if there was likely to be better weather conditions for the race.
Race review comes in 4 parts and starts here.
Weight
Started 2013 at 76 kg, and aimed to increase that towards 80 / 81 kg. Having spent the last 4 months at 81kg, I have decided I need to be back down at 76. I am carrying more swimming muscle in my 81kg, but I am also carrying a bit of a belly that I could do without when trying to bike up hills. I am missing some lower body muscle that might come back when I try and speed up for racing next year and my core needs a bit of work that could come with a similar weight penalty. So 81kg still might eventually turn out to be the right number, it maybe just needs a little bit of rearranging where it is.
Other numbers
37 trips to the cinema this year. 10 up on last year. Not as much of a spread in quality as last year. The good ones were solid but not great, the bad ones were poor, but there was nothing I hated enough to want to get up and walk out of. [Edit, I did a quick check and reminded myself of Movie 43! I probably hadn't forgotten it as much as I had tried to wipe every second of it from my mind. A serious contender for the worst movie ever made.]
On the positive sides the Marvel series continued to deliver, and the second new Star Trek did live up to the hype. Arnie and Stallone did what you expect of them, but no more. Cruise and Pitt continued to put their pay cheques ahead of their talent. Matt Damon did a slightly better job of balancing the cash cow of Elysium against a some stronger work in Behind the Candelabra, but both of those felt like they were sold slightly short of their potential. Jesse Eisenberg seems to be sticking a bit better to doing jobs where he still has to put some effort in, but not looking forward to him playing twins in his next outing.
As a basic rule the comedies did more for me than expected, and the rest underwhelmed.
Training Review - Week 52 (and a half) - Dec 23 to 31
Last week of the year. Started with a horrible run in a storm. I had my full set of waterproofs on and still got soaked through. But I did force myself to go out in it and get some miles in. They were slow and uncomfortable, but I did them. I may have to grab a few more like this if the weather forecasters are right and I still want to get my 33 miles to finish the Strava challenge.
I went to swimming with the intention of coasting through the session to try and ease off my back. But the session turned out to be full of short reps, and once I was moving my back was fine. So I decided to start a couple of weeks early on next years plan to go shorter and faster. Didn't pace it quite right though. Was working really hard for the first 1500m, and putting in some really good times. But by then I was pretty much knackered, and I knew I had to get home for Dexter getting dropped off, so called it a day early. This leaves me looking for 2,100m next Monday in order to make 85 miles for the year.
Tuesday the weather was a bit nicer, so Dex and I went for a wee jog at Kirkhill. About half way up the hill a blizzard appeared out of nowhere. We had a quick think about turning back but it was going to be as easy just to get the miles in while we were there, so we pushed on to the top. It was pretty slow fighting the weather but we kept going. Did 4.7 miles. So made up some of Sunday's missed miles and got back on track for the 33 mile challenge.
Xmas day!
I took Dexter out for a run around Elgin. We did the Xmas Sprint route, or as much of it as we could as a lot of areas are fenced off for the flood alleviation scheme that seems to have taken over the town. Technically I won the Xmas Sprint for a second year in a row, but since no-one else was there it was a hollow victory. A huge headwind also means it was probably the slowest time ever recorded. I clocked 3.3 miles which is the ordinary day plan to hit the Strava target. I am still a mile and a half behind from not running on Sunday but should make that up (and hopefully more) tomorrow.
Also Santa brought me some new biking bits and pieces that will all need to get fitted and tested before I go back to work. And plenty of warm socks so I can be even more comfy as I sit at home avoiding training and failing to do any of my core or stretching work.
Boxing Day.
Dexter and I went for a slightly longer lap at Kirkhill. Garmin took it's time to find some satellites so it is half a mile short. This is going to mean I have to get the extra half mile somewhere else in order to complete my Strava challenge. I had also planned to improve my KoM run time on one of the routes to the top, but I hadn't allowed enough for the cold weather and dog allergy affecting my breathing. I was struggling a bit and wasn't helped by it being a south-facing climb at lunchtime, so I was pretty much blinded by the sun for the whole climb. I have caught up the miles for missing Sunday now, so 'all' I need to do is 3.3 miles each day from now. If I want to bike instead on Sunday I will need to stick in another couple of 5's somewhere.
Friday was a fairly terrible weather day when we got up, but it cleared before lunch so we went out for a longer run. To get to 33 I need to do 11 miles every 3 days but I want to skip a run in favour of a ride on Sunday so I decided to squeeze 11 miles into 2 days. Did 6.1 today, but it felt more like 8 as I was dragging and anchor the whole way. Dexter was not in the mood till about 3 miles in, and he was fed up again by the time we got to 4. But we got round, and are looking at doing a similarly slow 5 miler tomorrow.
Also since it was a quiet day I did my weights session, some stretching, and 40mins of yoga.
Saturday I was a bit confused by it being the weekend. Having been on holiday for so long I am pretty much lost with what day of the week it is. I took Dexter out for a planned 5-miler. But he was being a total pain in the ass. I was having to stop and walk while he dawdled along. I planned to cut back at 3 but just before that turn he suddenly decided he was in the mood after all and picked up to my pace so I threw in an extra loop and we went on for just over 4. We did manage to recce a wee hill for hill reps next year. I then had to give Dexter back.
I have run enough miles for a marathon this week. For only the second time this year. This leaves me looking for 7 more for my Strava challenge. I am going to try and grab them all on Monday, so I can just mountain bike on Tuesday, but will see how I feel on the day.
I am now ahead on run miles so I can take a bike day. The Kintore Sunday guys want to go 57miles, starting at 9:30, which is too far and too late for me. But they plan to ride pretty much past my house. So I have decided to roll out to meet them at the start, and then group back with them, past Dyce and on for a little bit, and then finish off with a short solo back home. 40 mile target, but weather dependent, if I have to solo into the wind it might get shortened as I won't make it to the start and will jump on the back as they pass.
It turned out to be a lovely day, a bit chilly maybe, but I pedalled out to the start in plenty of time. Then rolled along in the pack for 20miles, before turning for home again for my planned 40. I was doing plenty of turns at the front and feeling fine this week. Just every time we hit any sort of climb I go straight out the back. Need to find a hill somewhere for doing cycle reps to try and sort that out next year.
Monday I planned to do 7 miles to finish off the Strava challenge. The weather was terrible and I was tempted to slip the run to Tuesday, but got an offer for a run at Kirkhill so I dragged myself out in the rain. Was a good day out, chased a few Strava segments and picked up one more KoM as well.
Obviously having done a fairly hard hill run, my swim coach's telepathic ability to punish me was as effective as always and this then meant it would turn out to be a heavy kick session at swim training. It was a nice quiet day in the pool though, so we adapted it a little to fit.
Hogmanay!
Was meant to be mountain biking at Kirkhill but the people I was going with all bailed because of the weather. I knew I was going to miss at least 2 of the next 3 days so I didn't want to miss this one. I went for a solo ride from my house just to test out the new shoes that Santa brought me and to check if the fiddling I had done to the rear suspension had helped. Both were great and I managed to roll in another 9.5 miles for the year taking me to 2,130 total. I also snuck in my first core session for a while.
Great end to the year. Full year review is mostly written and should be published about an hour after this one if I have set the timers properly.
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.
Monday - Run 3.3 miles, 31 mins.
Swim with TPT, 1,500m in 33mins.
Tuesday - Run 4.7 miles, 47 mins.
Wednesday - Run 3.3 miles, 36mins. Xmas Sprint.
Thursday - Run 5.0 miles, 54mins.
Friday - Run 6.1 miles, 1 hour.
Light weights. Stretching. 40mins of wii yoga.
Saturday - Run 4.3 miles, 44mins.
Sunday - Bike 42.3 miles, 3hrs 14mins.
Monday - Run 7.0 miles, 70mins.
Swim with TPT 2,150m, 52mins.
Tuesday - MTB 9.5, in 54mins.
Actual totals - Swim 2.3 miles (3,650m). Bike 51.8 miles. Run 33.7 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 40 mins of wii yoga.
Weight 78.5 kg.
I went to swimming with the intention of coasting through the session to try and ease off my back. But the session turned out to be full of short reps, and once I was moving my back was fine. So I decided to start a couple of weeks early on next years plan to go shorter and faster. Didn't pace it quite right though. Was working really hard for the first 1500m, and putting in some really good times. But by then I was pretty much knackered, and I knew I had to get home for Dexter getting dropped off, so called it a day early. This leaves me looking for 2,100m next Monday in order to make 85 miles for the year.
Tuesday the weather was a bit nicer, so Dex and I went for a wee jog at Kirkhill. About half way up the hill a blizzard appeared out of nowhere. We had a quick think about turning back but it was going to be as easy just to get the miles in while we were there, so we pushed on to the top. It was pretty slow fighting the weather but we kept going. Did 4.7 miles. So made up some of Sunday's missed miles and got back on track for the 33 mile challenge.
Xmas day!
I took Dexter out for a run around Elgin. We did the Xmas Sprint route, or as much of it as we could as a lot of areas are fenced off for the flood alleviation scheme that seems to have taken over the town. Technically I won the Xmas Sprint for a second year in a row, but since no-one else was there it was a hollow victory. A huge headwind also means it was probably the slowest time ever recorded. I clocked 3.3 miles which is the ordinary day plan to hit the Strava target. I am still a mile and a half behind from not running on Sunday but should make that up (and hopefully more) tomorrow.
Also Santa brought me some new biking bits and pieces that will all need to get fitted and tested before I go back to work. And plenty of warm socks so I can be even more comfy as I sit at home avoiding training and failing to do any of my core or stretching work.
Boxing Day.
Dexter and I went for a slightly longer lap at Kirkhill. Garmin took it's time to find some satellites so it is half a mile short. This is going to mean I have to get the extra half mile somewhere else in order to complete my Strava challenge. I had also planned to improve my KoM run time on one of the routes to the top, but I hadn't allowed enough for the cold weather and dog allergy affecting my breathing. I was struggling a bit and wasn't helped by it being a south-facing climb at lunchtime, so I was pretty much blinded by the sun for the whole climb. I have caught up the miles for missing Sunday now, so 'all' I need to do is 3.3 miles each day from now. If I want to bike instead on Sunday I will need to stick in another couple of 5's somewhere.
Friday was a fairly terrible weather day when we got up, but it cleared before lunch so we went out for a longer run. To get to 33 I need to do 11 miles every 3 days but I want to skip a run in favour of a ride on Sunday so I decided to squeeze 11 miles into 2 days. Did 6.1 today, but it felt more like 8 as I was dragging and anchor the whole way. Dexter was not in the mood till about 3 miles in, and he was fed up again by the time we got to 4. But we got round, and are looking at doing a similarly slow 5 miler tomorrow.
Also since it was a quiet day I did my weights session, some stretching, and 40mins of yoga.
Saturday I was a bit confused by it being the weekend. Having been on holiday for so long I am pretty much lost with what day of the week it is. I took Dexter out for a planned 5-miler. But he was being a total pain in the ass. I was having to stop and walk while he dawdled along. I planned to cut back at 3 but just before that turn he suddenly decided he was in the mood after all and picked up to my pace so I threw in an extra loop and we went on for just over 4. We did manage to recce a wee hill for hill reps next year. I then had to give Dexter back.
I have run enough miles for a marathon this week. For only the second time this year. This leaves me looking for 7 more for my Strava challenge. I am going to try and grab them all on Monday, so I can just mountain bike on Tuesday, but will see how I feel on the day.
I am now ahead on run miles so I can take a bike day. The Kintore Sunday guys want to go 57miles, starting at 9:30, which is too far and too late for me. But they plan to ride pretty much past my house. So I have decided to roll out to meet them at the start, and then group back with them, past Dyce and on for a little bit, and then finish off with a short solo back home. 40 mile target, but weather dependent, if I have to solo into the wind it might get shortened as I won't make it to the start and will jump on the back as they pass.
It turned out to be a lovely day, a bit chilly maybe, but I pedalled out to the start in plenty of time. Then rolled along in the pack for 20miles, before turning for home again for my planned 40. I was doing plenty of turns at the front and feeling fine this week. Just every time we hit any sort of climb I go straight out the back. Need to find a hill somewhere for doing cycle reps to try and sort that out next year.
Monday I planned to do 7 miles to finish off the Strava challenge. The weather was terrible and I was tempted to slip the run to Tuesday, but got an offer for a run at Kirkhill so I dragged myself out in the rain. Was a good day out, chased a few Strava segments and picked up one more KoM as well.
Obviously having done a fairly hard hill run, my swim coach's telepathic ability to punish me was as effective as always and this then meant it would turn out to be a heavy kick session at swim training. It was a nice quiet day in the pool though, so we adapted it a little to fit.
Hogmanay!
Was meant to be mountain biking at Kirkhill but the people I was going with all bailed because of the weather. I knew I was going to miss at least 2 of the next 3 days so I didn't want to miss this one. I went for a solo ride from my house just to test out the new shoes that Santa brought me and to check if the fiddling I had done to the rear suspension had helped. Both were great and I managed to roll in another 9.5 miles for the year taking me to 2,130 total. I also snuck in my first core session for a while.
Great end to the year. Full year review is mostly written and should be published about an hour after this one if I have set the timers properly.
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.
Monday - Run 3.3 miles, 31 mins.
Swim with TPT, 1,500m in 33mins.
Tuesday - Run 4.7 miles, 47 mins.
Wednesday - Run 3.3 miles, 36mins. Xmas Sprint.
Thursday - Run 5.0 miles, 54mins.
Friday - Run 6.1 miles, 1 hour.
Light weights. Stretching. 40mins of wii yoga.
Saturday - Run 4.3 miles, 44mins.
Sunday - Bike 42.3 miles, 3hrs 14mins.
Monday - Run 7.0 miles, 70mins.
Swim with TPT 2,150m, 52mins.
Tuesday - MTB 9.5, in 54mins.
Actual totals - Swim 2.3 miles (3,650m). Bike 51.8 miles. Run 33.7 miles. 1 short core, 1 short light weights and 1 short stretching sessions. 40 mins of wii yoga.
Weight 78.5 kg.
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