Training Plan - Week 17 - April 22 to 28

Monday  - Swim with TPT.

Tuesday - Run at least 5 miles.

Wednesday - Gym brick 1 hour bike, 45 min run. 

Thursday - Swim, easy 30-45mins. Do some work on turns if space but mostly just do a long swim.

Friday - Easy run or mtb.

Saturday - Long bike.

Sunday - Long run or long bike.

Target totals - Swim >2 miles. Bike >60 miles. Run >15 miles. A core or stretching session. 

Back to a longer week. Both on totals and on individual sessions. 

Race preview - Turriff Triathlon

Having beaten my previous best at Knockburn Duathlon I was also looking to take a chunk of time off my previous Turriff performances as well. This would tick off one of my new targets for Q2.

I have done Turriff twice before.

2011 the weather was too dangerous to bike so they turned it into an Aquathon. 

In 2012 I did:

Split Name	Race Time	Leg Time	Pos	Cat Pos	Gen Pos
Swim	00:16:10	00:16:10	49	26	41
T1	00:16:38	00:00:27	10	8	10
Cycle	01:05:54	00:49:16	66	28	58
T2	01:06:51	00:00:57	66	27	53
Run	01:26:31	00:19:39	43	22	37

I didn't do a race report after last year's race. But pretty sure it was a terrible race. I remember I was really struggling to even go to the race briefing and was having panic problems round most of the race.

So basically anything under 1:26 this time out and I would be happy but looking at the results from 2012 there were a load of beatable people all the way down at 1:20 and even a couple I should be racing close to at 1:17 and 1:15. 

I expect to swim about a minute faster, maybe more depending on who else is in my lane, but since Monday's time trial I think I might have declared too slow a swim time and I might get held up by slower people in the pool. Rather than fighting traffic I may just coast the swim so I can push on the bike. The official swim time includes a long run to transition but I should still go way inside 16.

I should ride quite a bit quicker. Maybe as much as 5 or 6 minutes if things go really well. 

The run I would be happy to put in the same time as last year. My fitness level is about the same, but my speed is going to struggle, this might balance out against the panic problems I was having last year. Anywhere near 20 minutes for the run and I will be pretty happy.

Diet Analysis

So taking apart the basics of my diet from last week there are a few things I expected, and a few I didn't.


Not surprises:

• Free lunches are easily abused, but still they need to give me a bigger tray so that I can pile everything on without spilling juice into my soup.

• My cooking is really lazy during the week, but a bit better at the weekend.

• When I am cooking or baking at home, I throw ridiculous amounts of calories into things. 

• I eat a lot of carbs.

• No supplements, no magic potions, no placebo pills.

• The number of calories I put in are very close to the number of calories I put out, hence the general stability in my weight as long as I am eating and training "normally". 

• The number of calories I put in, and out, are ~30% more than an average adult male needs, so no surprise that my weight moves rapidly if I don't exercise, or don't eat.

Surprises:

• Packet "portion" sizes are tiny. What is written on most packets as a "portion" is generally about half of what I would consider to be a portion. Judging by what other people put on their plates I am not alone, and I think that portion sizes that manufacturers write on packets are nonsense.

• Food labelling in general is terrible. I like to think I am smart but sometimes I had real problems trying to figure out what calories were actually in things. Sometimes the labels are really hard to find. Then labelling everything "per 100g" and "per serving (200ml)" seem sensible enough, but on a 470ml bottle are meaningless. Who drinks 42.5% of a milkshake and calls that a portion? How much bread is 100g? How many haribo are 100g? [answers are: no-one, two slices, 11 mini packets]

• I make my "5-a-day", and quite often a lot more. I expected to come up close or short there but I am way clear even before you factor in the portion sizes. I am probably closer to 8-10 on most days. I count about 53 "portions" through last weeks tracker, even allowing for their funny rules that you can only count one glass of fruit juice a day no matter how many you have, and you can't count potatoes if they are the main starch in a meal but you can if there is another (e.g. rice or bread). So averaging almost 8 portions of fruit and veg a day.

• 90% of my coffees are pre-lunch.

• Big training days do not match up with big calorie intake days. Nor are they inverted, I did wonder if I ate more on rest days, or the day after big training days. But there doesn't really seem to be any correlation.

• Not as much junk food during the week as I expected. But plenty of crisps and sweets creep in at the weekends. I think a lot of this is just because I am bored rather than really hungry.

• Not really a surprise to me, but this one will get some people. Health food is not healthy. The 9-bar I had post-ride on sunday was similar calories to a Mars bar, but is about half the size! The homemade flapjacks, are made of oats, honey, dried fruit, a bit of coconut, and some sugar, but they calorie count is huge for their weight.

Calorie Comparison

So in a week I eat about 24,000 calories. And no weight change (within 0.1kg on the scales I have) over the week so everything I put in, I also put out.

An average adult male allegedly burns 2,500 a day just breathing and pumping blood and that sort of stuff. So I score somewhere around 17,500 just for being alive.

The other 6,500 I exercise away. Mapmyrun rates my formal training from last week as 5,523. 

Somewhere through the week there is a 1,000 point mismatch. Some of this is going to come out in the estimates of calorie numbers, both in and out. Some of it is my penchant for intentionally taking stairs instead of the lift, parking at the far end of the car park and walking around to talk to people at work rather than emailing and little things like that.

Changes

So having tracked for a week and done a quick analysis, what changes am I going to make?

Well, none. 

I like what I eat, and I eat what I like. As long as I am exercising sufficiently I am controlling my weight and staying healthy then there is no real drive to change. In fact trying to change is likely to be more problematic as any change I make is likely to drop something critical out of my diet by accident. 

For example, I could cut some or all of the lattes, but at 75 calories each I could quickly end up in calorie debt and start dropping weight again.

This may get a revisit in about June though, once I start looking at what useful weight I want to carry around a half ironman and what I can afford to get rid of.

How much can one person eat?

Nearly missed the start of this as I woke up in the middle of the night and was starving so had an Alpen breakfast bar at about 3am on the Monday morning. Managed to catch myself though and put it in the tracker. And everything else from there...

All calorie values are estimates, but I have tried to give accurate weights and take the calorific values off the packets wherever I can. [these brackets] are subtotals for a particular item (these ones) are for the whole plate or course and anything with a "~" is estimated from the internet.

So here is the fine detail of what I put away in a normal week.

Monday

Alpen bars x 2 (122 calories each)

Monday lunch

Lunch - Cream of vegetable soup, and a sesame seed roll with margarine. [~200]. Mince and skirlie [490] with mash and carrots [~300]. Creme brulee with sticky ginger cake hidden in it [~500]. Glass each of diluting orange and blackcurrant juice. (~1600)

Dinner - Southern fried chicken goujons with oven chips, sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes and baby corn. (~890)

And throughout the day:

Latte with semi-skimmed milk x 5 (~75 each)

Green tea x 3 (2 each)

Fruit juice diluted 1:4 in water (25)

Total calories - 3,150 (or somewhere around that)

Tuesday

Tuesday lunch

Lunch started with highland lentil soup and a sesame seed roll with margarine [~200]. Main course was pork loin in hoisin sauce [395 calories], with roast potatoes and sweetcorn [~370]. Dessert was another dose of the creme brulee with the sticky ginger pudding in it [~500]. And the usual glass each of diluting orange and blackcurrant juice. (~1475)

Dinner was the southern fried chicken goujons again, but this time with oven chips [~200], onion rings [285] and mushy peas [230].  A couple of slices of hovis thick white bread [230], with soya margarine on the side.(~1050).

And a pack of pickled onion monster munch. (109)

And then a couple of my home-made honey, coconut and fruit flapjacks (~200 each)

And throughout the day:

Latte with semi-skimmed milk x 6 (~75 each)

Green tea x 4 (2 each)

Fruit juice (90)

Total calories - about 3,680 

Wednesday

Wednesday lunchtime

Lunch was carrot and coriander soup with a poppy seed roll and margarine [~200]. Then goulash [495 and yummy!] with boiled potatoes [~300] and grated carrots [30]. Dessert was chocolate roulade [~300]. Same diluting orange and blackcurrant juice. (~1325)

Dinner. Wednesday is beef day this week. Roast beef [320], mash [350] and baby corn [100]. (~770)

More snacking today.
Homemade flapjack (~200)
Plums x 2 (60)
Banana (45)
Maoam giant stripe (30)

And some other drinks:
Blueberry juice x 2 (45 each)
Latte x 6 (75 each)
Green tea x 4 (2 each)
Glass of water.

Total calories - about 2,815 

Thursday

Thursday Lunch

Lunch was an absolute treat. Mediterranean vegetable soup with a wholemeal roll and margarine [~150]. Lamb koftas [495 and YUMMY!], with rice, roast potatoes [~200] and broccoli [~35]. Chocolate roulade again [~300], hasn't been a great week for desserts. And the usual 2 glasses of juice. (~1150)

Through the afternoon there was a presentation at work and I loaded up on fruit skewers and a selection of mini cakes (~300).

Big coke at the cinema (~150).

Trip to Nandos for a butterfly chicken with chips, salad (691) and another coke [130].

Then home for a Vanilla Frijj (314) and a couple of home made flapjacks (~200 each).


And some other drinks through the day:
Latte x 5 (75 each)
Green tea x 4 (2 each)
Pint of water (0).

Daily total - 3,510 or thereabouts.

Friday

Friday Lunch

Couple of mini cakes in my morning meeting. (10 each)

Lunch started with yellow split pea soup and a wholemeal poppy seed roll [~150]. Then pan-fried haddock [465], (it is under there somewhere in the photo), with chips, salad and sweetcorn [~250]. And a bowl of fruit salad for dessert [~200] and the obligatory 2 glasses of diluting juice. (1065)

And a couple of chocolates in the afternoon. (10)

Two packets of haribo minis before my run. (10 each)

Then dinner I was too lazy to do any real cooking so I turned the left over roast beef into three rounds of sandwiches. Beef, cheese and tomato on hovis thick white [~410 each] with a bag of crisps [125]. And a plum for dessert (30).

And the drinks:
Latte x 6 (75 each)
Green tea x 3 (2 each)

Fruit juice x 3 (50 each)

About 3,086 calories for Friday.

Saturday

No free lunches at the weekend. But weekend training means that breakfast makes a first appearance. Two butteries with margarine and raspberry jam  and a mug of green tea. (~520).

Then a banana (~150) and a couple of flapjacks (200 each) just after training.

For lunch I had a tin of Campbells cream of chicken soup (128) with a couple of wholemeal bagels and philadelphia (~325 each).

Feeling a bit peckish by mid afternoon so I had some home made apple crumble (~360) and a vanilla frijj (315).

For dinner I made chicken and vegetable balti (with a little help from sharwoods) and basmati rice (~900). Then had some more of the apple crumble for dessert.(~360)

And a couple of packets of hula hoops. (127 each)

No coffee on the weekend. But plenty of green tea, and the odd glass of fruit juice.

Saturday about 3,939

Sunday

Two butteries with margarine and raspberry jam and a mug of green tea before going out on the bike. (~520). Bottle of fruit juice and water on the ride (~30).

Then the last two flapjacks (~200 each) just after training.

For lunch I finished off the leftover chicken and veg balti with rice (~900) with a can of cherry coke (149).

A pack of crisps (130) and a 9-bar (222) through the afternoon.

By evening I wasn't hungry, and then I was, and then I wasn't. Eventually I made a couple of tuna sandwiches (~650) and a pack of hula hoops (129).

And then before bed I had the last two servings of apple crumble (~720).

Sunday total was around 3,750

Weekly total is somewhere in the region of  ~23,930. 

As expected the amount of coffee I go through at work is frankly stupid. And the lunches are at least as big as the photos make them look. More in depth analysis to follow in a separate blog.

Training Review - Week 15 - April 8 to 14

Monday was a slightly strange session. The lane 3 and 4 swimmers were in together, swimming fast down lane 4 and then relaxed back up lane 3. Still improving and was probably about the 3rd or 4th fastest

Tuesday's run we went on a new route off-road and uphill at the back of Kirkhill. Good for a change and a nice relaxed pace, longer than a normal week.

Wednesday was my gym brick again. Furthest I have got through this session since I flipped it round to run then bike. Still a mile short of finishing it but closer than I have been.

Friday I had to switch out the mountain bike brick so I could visit the doctor. The nosebleeds I keep getting are not serious, but I do have some enlarged blood vessels in my nose which will need to be cauterised at an ENT clinic. In the meantime I have some lovely cream to rub inside my nose to try and reduce the frequency of the bleeding. I did still have time to put in an easy run. 

Saturday I was going to do an easy run. Instead I got hijacked into doing a bike/run brick. Was good for miles and better for running off the bike.

Went out for a group ride with the Kintore Sunday morning group. The route was cut in half before we started due to the winds. We did 25 miles at a slightly increased pace. Still happy enough despite the lack of miles. I already had plenty in for this week. 

Would have been nice to get a 50-miler in and to have my first 100-mile week, but no accounting for weather.

Diet tracking this week (post to follow tomorrow) has been interesting.



So targets for last week (Week 15) were:

Swim >1 mile. Bike >50 miles. Run >15 miles. A core or stretching session. 

Actuals were:
Monday - Swim with TPT, 2,125m in 55mins.

Tuesday - Run 4.7 hilly miles in 44 mins.

Wednesday - Gym brick. Bike 1 hr, 18.6 miles. Run 4 miles in 36 mins.

Thursday - Rest Day.

Friday - Easy run. 3.6 miles in 31:27. 

Saturday - Ride 13.2 miles in 55 mins. Run 4 miles in 35 mins.

Sunday - Ride 25.8 miles in 1 hour 40.

Result - 

Swim 1.3 miles (2,125m). Bike 57.6 miles. Run 16.3 miles.   core and stretching session.

Training Plan - Week 16 - April 15 to 21

Monday  - Swim with TPT. Includes a 750m time trial.

Tuesday - Run at Dyce, something more than the 3 mile loop. A stretching session. 

Wednesday - Gym brick 1 hour bike, 45 min run. 

Thursday - No plans. 

Friday - Short mtb or hill run. Or off-road brick.

Saturday - Easy swim.

Sunday - Turriff triathlon. Swim 760m, Cycle 20km, Run 5km

Target totals - Swim >1.5 mile. Bike >35 miles. Run >10 miles. A core or stretching session. 

Rearranged this week around racing Turriff triathlon. Back to the targets from the annual plan and a spare day to reshuffle if there is nothing on at the cinema.

Diet and nutrition

OK, so my diet is pretty terrible. And one of my drafted posts that I am sitting on has a dig at the difference between nutritionists and dieticians and at supplement abuse. So in the spirit of not casting stones without looking the mirror I am going to post my own diet to show you what it is like.

I have pretty much just ignored what I eat as long I like what I am eating and it was keeping me fuelled enough to train and not giving me any problems.

So this week I am keeping a diary of everything I eat (and drink cos I have huge amounts of tea and coffee). I am intentionally going to try not making any changes to my normal diet this week. Just trying to keep track of it so that I can give you an idea into what I normally eat.

Unfortunately this plan suffers a little from the Heisenberg observer effect. Simply being more aware of it and especially writing it down is going to make me more aware of what I put away and will probably nag at my conscious to change what I eat, especially when I start writing down the amount of crisps and coffee and sweets. But hopefully being aware of that effect I can minimise it and just stick to as much of my normal diet as possible.

Here are a few things that should show up if I can keep from changing.
 1. I don't have breakfast unless I am going out for a long morning training session. So the only day there should be anything in before lunchtime is if I do a long session at the weekend and squeeze in a couple of butteries or some toast.
 2. Way too much coffee.
 3. I am a carnivore. There will be no meat free meals.
 4. Really, not kidding about the coffee.
 5. There is such a thing as a free lunch, and they are easily abused!

I have set the posting date on this for Wednesday as my weekly training review posts on Monday and my race report from Knockburn Duathlon on Tuesday. I should have an idea how it is going by the time it goes live.

Weight check at 7am Monday morning was 78.5 kg.