Race Report - Westhill Duathlon

Cancelled at short notice. Went to the gym and sat on the exercise bike for 90mins. Nothing else to report really.

Aboyne next on March 3rd.

Race report - North District X-Country League - Forres

Due to Westhill duathlon being postponed this was my first race of 2013. It is also my first run-only race since July 2011.

For a cross-country race it is very hilly! I'm pretty sure I have run in actual hill races with less ascent than this. (~771ft according to garmin).

The course runs three loops up and down a hill at the back of Grant Park. Here is the route, complete with hill and speed information. http://app.strava.com/activities/40299449

Underfoot was a bit muddy and soft in patches but it was a dry, claggy sort of mud rather than anything wet and boggy so it didn't really bother me. I made a better shoe choice than a lot of those around me with my adidas swoop trail shoes giving me grip where the road trainers of my competitors wouldn't.

My only target for this race was to finish, so I started fairly calmly at the back and gradually picked people off on each lap as I felt comfortable. Probably a bit too slowly in hindsight but with another race on the Sunday (the aforementioned Westhill Duathlon) it wasn't worth pushing too hard just to pick up a couple of extra places. By the last half mile I was actually up to a sensible running speed though, and feeling comfortable.

I got round the 5.4 miles in 44mins 37. Times aren't up yet so I can't compare against the other racers. The results will be here sometime later this week. Given the surface and the gradient I reckon the shorter distance versus the route and conditions this isn't going to be far off the time I could run for 10k at the minute. This is a lot faster than I expected, despite the slow start so I am quite happy with the average being around 8:10 min/mile.

This is also the first of my major targets for the year crossed off the list already.

Training Review - Week 6 - w/e Feb 10th

So targets for last week (Week 6) were:

Swim >1.5 miles. Bike >23 miles. Run >13 miles. A race.

Actuals were:

Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,625m with lots of drills, in 55 mins

Tuesday - Gym brick. 45mins each run 5.1 miles and bike 14.3. Slightly down on last week but coming off the back of three much heavier days so still pretty happy.

Wednesday - Run around Dyce. Extended the normal loop to 3.5 miles, in 33 mins.

Thursday - Swim at Bucksburn. Lost count of laps but about 800m in 20mins.

Friday - Rest Day

Saturday - North District XC League at Forres. 5.4 hilly miles in 45mins. Race review to follow.

Sunday - Westhill Duathlon cancelled. So 90mins, 26.2 miles on the gym bike instead.

Result - Swim 1.5 miles (2,425m). Bike 40.5 miles. Run 14 miles. A race.

Another all round good week on the training front.
Forres Cross-country went a lot better than I expected. Westhill duathlon being cancelled at the last minute was a bit of a hassle but I had half expected it from the weather through the week so I had planned a trip to the gym as a back-up. That actually balances the numbers out better for the week, and gave me Sunday afternoon to myself as well.

In other news the car I crashed last week decided to die on the way to work Thursday morning. Turned out to be the alternator. Very annoying but ultimately not a huge problem as I arranged to collect my new car the same day.

Training plan - Week 7

Monday  - Swim with TPT. T20 time trial day.

Tuesday - Run at Dyce, 3.5 mile loop.

Wednesday - Gym brick 45 min run, 60 min bike. Should be somewhere around 5 miles and 19 miles.

Thursday - Swim 30mins steady, (with turns if the pool is quiet) and core.

Friday - Rest day?

Saturday - Long ride (>31 miles) or long run (>8 miles). 

Sunday - Long run or long ride from Saturday.

Target totals - Swim >1.5 miles, T20 time trial >1,100m. Bike >50 miles. Run >13 miles.

Training Review - Week 5 - w/e Feb 3rd

So targets for last week (Week 5) were:

Swim >1.5 miles. Bike >40 miles. Run >12 miles.

Actuals were:

Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,725m.

Tuesday - Treadmill 3 miles, 26 mins. Was meant to be a loop around Dyce but the weather was crappy.

Wednesday - No brick. Went to cinema instead. Movie 43 is shit!

Thursday - No swim. Went to cinema instead. The Last Stand is classic Arnie.

Friday - Postponed brick session from Wednesday. 5.1 miles treadmill and 14.5 miles gym bike in 45 mins each. Went to cinema again. Zero Dark Thirty is very dull.

Saturday - Easy Swim at Bucksburn, 700m in 35mins. Lots of traffic.
Hill run at Kirkhill, 4 miles in 40mins.

Car crash in the afternoon. Little bump. Slid on the ice doing about 5mph but hit a 4x4 with high bumpers which took out my headlight and put a dent in the front wing.

Sunday - 41.3 miles on the road bike with the Kintore Sunday ride. 3 hours (and 1 minute). Hard work in the wind and rain and cold. Made even less enjoyable by garmin deciding at 35miles to run out of memory and then refusing to stop beeping for the next 7 miles! Then home and collapsed on the sofa to find the Princess Bride and then Wrath of Khan back-to-back on TV! Not a bad day in the end

Result - Swim 1.5 miles (2,425m). Bike 55.8 miles. Run 12.1 miles.

Reshuffled the entire week to fit around real life. But still managed to fit everything into the week. Having two rest days before my brick session meant I clocked higher numbers for it than normal. And the weekend long run dropped from 6 miles to a hilly 4 miles.

Only just made the extended swim target and the extended run target, but then hammered this weeks biking target with a long Sunday ride. Swimming I will pick up even more once the weather changes and I get out to Knockburn. Need to start looking at longer single runs rather than so many short sessions, but not next week due to races.

Training plan - Week 6

Monday  - Swim with TPT, ~1mile.

Tuesday - Gym brick 45 min run, 45 min bike. (Should be somewhere around 5 miles and 14 miles).

Wednesday - Run at Dyce, 3.1 mile loop.

Thursday - Swim 30mins steady, (with turns if the pool is quiet) and core.

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - North XC league - Forres.
or
Sunday - Westhill Duathlon.


Target totals - Swim >1.5 miles. Bike >23 miles. Run >13 miles. A race.

Under my average target for bike miles (31) this week. I did think about switching Wednesday to just bike but the brick sessions are settling nicely into each week and I am well ahead of my bike target to date despite missing a lot of outdoor miles for weather. Run mile target is up by another mile again despite just sneaking last week's 12 mile target. This is a bit of a fudge though as more than half of that comes from doing either race, doing both races would see almost double the run mile target for the week again.

Training Review - Week 4 - w/e Jan 27th

So targets for last week (Week 4) were:

Swim ~1 mile. Bike >31 miles. Run >10 miles. XC Race.

Actuals were:

Monday - Swim with TPT. 1,775m with kick drills and some fins.

Tuesday - Run round Dyce 3.1 miles. 29mins. Same speed as a fortnight ago despite the snow.

Wednesday - Gym Brick  45mins each on treadmill and bike. 5 miles and 14.1 miles. Bit of a niggle in left knee. Probably from running in the snow in my adidas swoops 4 times in a week. They are too narrow for my orthotics. Also sniffle is back :(

Thursday - Swim at Bucksburn. 650m, 20mins.

Friday - 4 miles at Kirkhill in the snow with Dexter. 46mins so pretty slow, but slogging through thigh high drifts in places.

Saturday - Swim at Bucksubrn. 700m of assorted drills and a few practice turns in 35 mins.
Then 4 miles at Kirkhill again, 42 mins this time through less snow.
Dexter now knows the route better than me so thinks he can run off ahead. Which is fine till he comes back to me and I am too busy watching him charging towards me to watch where I am putting my feet. Took a bit of a slide on some packed snow and twisted my already niggly left knee.

Sunday - Rest day. Partly because I needed one, partly because of the knee.

Result - Swim ~2 miles. Bike 14 miles. Run 18 miles. XC Race.

Disappointing numbers on the bike after dropping Sunday's session rather than risking my knee. First target I have missed this year. And also disappointing to drop Saturday's race out of my plan but that was worth it to have an extra day to play with Dexter. The swim and run numbers are way ahead of plan every week and my bike miles are low this week but still averaging over 31 a week due to the big numbers from previous weeks.

In other news, my improved diet is suffering against my need for increased calorie intake. I am still eating better than I did previously but whilst I am keeping on top of the additional fruit and veg, the sheer volumes are back up and some of the junk snacks are back in. Time and laziness constraints are also meaning that the easiest thing for dinner is often sneaking in instead of the healthiest thing. Not complaining though as my weight is staying pretty stable while the veins on my arms suggest my body fat is continuing to reduce at a sensible rate. As these were the two outcomes the improved diet is aimed at, the extra snacks and treats are probably saving me from losing too much too fast.