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.