Training Plan - Week 37 - Sept 9 to 15

Two racing options for this weekend. Could take both, either or none. Will decide late depending on the weather forecasts and how my legs feel. Either one would be good prep for Huntly the week after. Alternatively, actually going to Huntly and riding the course would be better preparation. I think trying to do all three over the weekend would be too much though. Huntly on an evening through the week might be an option but would have to be early as the nights are closing in a bit.

Monday - Swim with TPT.

Tuesday -  Easy run. Over 6 miles or fast. 

Wednesday - Run and swim at Knockburn. (Possibly the last time for this year, depending on the cold?).

Thursday - Mountain bike (or TT bike if the weather looks good for the weekend).

Friday - Easy something.

Saturday - Long ride. Or KT bike run.

Sunday -  Long run. Or Moray Sprint Triathlon.

Target totals - Swim >2 miles. Bike >50 miles. Run >12 miles. 2 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions.

Training Review - Week 35 - Aug 26 to Sept 1

Started the week with an easy double session on Monday. Easy run around Dyce, then a lazy trip to the pool. Did some core and very light weights.

Tuesday I went for my first bike ride since Aberfeldy. Knee didn't like it much. I think the position of my cleats might be the cause of my knee problem. Felt pretty easy ticking over the pedals though and put in a very comfortable 30 miles. Had an option to go further but it was pretty overcast and it was getting a bit dark to be out without lights. Did some core and very light weights.

Wednesday I was planning to go out to Knockburn but aggravating my knee on the bike made that a risky idea so I decided to play safe and rest it till the weekend. Have fiddled a bit with my cleats in the hope that next time out will be less painful. 

Thursday, still resting. Did some core and very light weights and stretching.

Friday, still resting. Did some core and very light weights.

Saturday did an easy 10k run. I say easy because of the speed. It nearly took me an hour, but there was nothing easy about it. I am still really stiff in bottom of my back and my knee. I have dropped Sunday's long group ride because I don't think I would survive it. going to go for a swim early in the morning instead and maybe roll some easier bike miles on my own in the afternoon if it is a nice day.

Sunday, started with an early morning swim. Felt really sluggish at the start but worked my way into it. Had planned to do 6 x 400m doing something slightly different on each one. I started with normal breathing, then did bilateral breathing for the next one, breathing every 4th stroke for the next one, then a random mixture for the fourth one. Was feeling really tired by this point and still planned to go on the bike so decided to drop the last two and just did a 200m warm down with some practice turns.

Took the bike out for an easy roll before lunch. Decided to try a completely new route. Went out the back road to Bridge of Don, along the beach and then back up through Bridge of Don and home. Had to throw in an extra little half-mile loop at the end to get to the 20 miles I needed for the week.

Pretty good week all round. Knee problem is definitely improving. Was always going to struggle to get my swim miles when I cancelled my Knockburn trip.  

So targets for last week (Week 35) were: 

Swim >2 miles. Bike >50 miles. Run >10 miles. 2 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions.

Actuals were:

Monday - Easy run 4 miles in 36 mins. Swim 800m, 33 mins. And an easy core session.

Tuesday - Road bike 30 miles, 1 hour 55 mins. And an easy core session.

Wednesday - Rest day. 

Thursday - Rest day. Core and light weights and a bit of stretching.

Friday - Rest day. Core and light weights.

Saturday - Run 6.2 miles in 58 mins. Core and light weights.

Sunday - Swim 1,800m, in 44 mins. Bike 20.1 miles in 1 hours 18mins.

Result - 

Swim 1.6 miles (2,600 m). Bike 50.1 miles. Run 10.2 miles. 5 core, 2 short light weights and 1 stretching sessions.

Training Plan - Week 36 - Sept 2 to 8

Monday - Back to swimming if Inverurie pool is open.

Tuesday -  Easy run. Going to Offshore Europe so may not get this in.

Wednesday - Run and swim at Knockburn. (Possibly the last time for this year, depending on the cold?)

Thursday - Rest day.

Friday - Easy something.

Saturday - Short fast run.

Sunday -  Long ride. End of Season celebration dinner!

Target totals - Swim >2 miles. Bike >50 miles. Run >12 miles. 2 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions.

Training Review - Week 34 - August 19 to 25

Monday, I went for an easy swim. My knee / calf problem is improving but it is still far from normal. Forgot my watch so took a rough time off the wall clock.

Tuesday, it was an easy jog around Dyce. Knee and back are improving pretty quickly. Don't think there is any serious damage, just seems to tighten up and ache a bit.

Wednesday, I took a trip out to Knockburn. Was paddling away comfortably. Nothing too energetic and knee was holding up nicely. Forgot my watch again but times aren't really an issue this week anyway. Back and shoulder were getting a bit tight by the end of lap 2 so I decided to call it a day rather than go round a third or fourth lap. The aches and tension were more stress related from work rather than tiredness from the weekend.

Thursday, I had a rest day. I am getting Dexter for the weekend which will mean lots of jogging offroad, so my knee needs a precautionary rest.

Friday, me and Dex were both tired so we just went for a walk round the park.

Saturday we went for an easy run up Kirkhill. 

Sunday we went out to marshal at Alford Try-A-Tri. 

I have now swum over 52 miles this year. That is the most I have ever swum in a year. Progress numbers there might slow down a bit over the next month. Inverurie pool is closed for a month and the temperature at Knockburn is dropping.

I have passed 500 miles running for the year. Next week I should pass my target for the year of 520.

So targets for last week (Week 34) were:  None. Just do what I can after Aberfeldy.

Actuals were:

Monday - Swim 800m, 30mins. Bit of easy stretching.

Tuesday - Easy run. 4.4 miles in 41mins.

Wednesday - Swim at Knockburn, 1,200m, 30mins. 

Thursday - Rest day. Easy core and stretching.

Friday - Rest day.

Saturday - Easy run, 3.9 miles 44 mins. 

Sunday - Rest day. Marshalling at Alford.

Result - 

Swim 1.25 miles (2,000 m). Bike 0 miles. Run 8.3 miles. 1 core and 1 stretching sessions.

Training Plan - Week 35 - August 26 to Sept 1

Still no detailed plan.

But the targets are back this week to try and make me get out and do something and to force me onto the bike. Also the swim target is up so that I make sure I stay ahead of my annual target. Having made the other targets already, anything I run or bike from now is a bonus.

I have managed to get a place in Huntly Standard so my season isn't over yet. Can't stop for another month. 

Target totals - Swim >2 miles. Bike >50 miles. Run >10 miles. 2 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 short stretching sessions.

Race Review - Aberfeldy Half (Part 4 - Post race analysis)

Part 3 is here

So, things didn't go all that well in the end. But, what could I have done differently?

Clothes
Would a different choice of clothes have helped? 
This is a bit of a tough one. I had additional gear at T1 and I gambled on not taking it. In the same situation at T1 I would still make the same decision. Without knowing how much the weather was going to change I couldn't have prepared any better than I did. If I had worn less I might have dried out before the rain, and I might not have been so affected by the cold. 

I could have worn overshoes, but I would never have thought of that before the race. I barely consider them as an option for winter races, certainly not for a summer / autumn race. I should have worn toe covers but I tore them last year when I had my crash and broke my collar bone and I still haven't replaced them. Ordered a new pair now. Might have helped a bit during the cold section.


Training
Another toughy. Could I have trained more?
Probably not. I pretty much don't have a social life, so it is work, train, sleep or TV. And I did way more than I had planned to. If I had put in more I think it would have become counter-productive.

But...Could I have trained differently?
Maybe. I could have run more instead of biking and swimming. I could have swapped out a lot of short runs for fewer longer runs. These might have helped a little, but they might have done as much damage elsewhere. So no, I think I got it just about right.


Race start
If I had been out into the water and had made the start line before they started it might have made 5 minutes difference to my swim time. This in turn would have put me in with a different set of racers on the bike. I would probably have still had to stop for the cold, but that would have put me amongst familiar faces during the section of the ride where I wanted to jack it in. It would also have meant I skipped my good samaratin bit. Could have been out and running 10-15 minutes sooner. 

Course
OK, I couldn't change that, but I could have picked another race. I doubt that would have made much of a difference though. The Aberfeldy course would be fine on a warmer, and drier day. I would always have struggled on the hills but I would have made a lot of it back on the flats and descents if I had been warm enough. I also would have spent a lot more time in my TT position if I had been warmer.

I could have recced the course earlier in the year. I think that might have helped as I would have decided to take a second look at it pre-race. A few rides over that course and I think I could go faster just from knowing which corners closed in and which opened up.

Weather
OK, I couldn't change that, but I could have picked another race. I could have gone for a different time of year, or a different location to try and get better weather. Central Scotland in August was always a heavy chance of rain at least some point during the day.

Weight
Could I have been in better shape?
There was more of me than I initially planned to carry over the mountain. I was 78kg on race day. It wouldn't have hurt me any to be carrying 3 or 4kg less. But doubt it would have helped enough to make that difference either. 

Fuelling
No, I got that pretty much perfect. I would have need more to drink on warmer day, but I would have taken more care not to lose my second bottle and/or I would have taken a replacement at the feeding station.

Hotel
Having to drive 40 minutes after the briefing on the Friday night and back again on the Saturday morning before the race cost me an hour that would have been better spent asleep. More importantly it was an hour or so of sitting in the car which probably contributed to my back and hip problems. That one I could have done better, would it have been enough to make a difference, hard to tell, possibly not.

Physio and Massage
This is probably the one thing I could have done much better. Stretching and rollering wasn't doing enough to clean up the niggles. It was getting me between sessions but I should have noticed they were coming back too quickly and known they were going to bite me on big days. 

Overall
There wasn't much I could have done differently. Certainly not much I could have done to make a big difference. Maybe the physio and massage but when I started this year neither of those was an option for me and by the time I would have been able to go see them I was already settled into my routine.

Race Review - Aberfeldy Half (Part 3 - Run)

Part 2 is here

T2

Ok, it doesn't deserve a write up. Flew through pretty slick. The only real mention is for the cheering crowds and helpful marshalls. Oh and not thinking to remove my arm/leg warmers or dump my jacket now that the sun was out.

2 mins 36. Including packing my helmet and gear back into the bag and handing it to the marshall.

Run

The first quarter mile of the run is still massively supported. Lots of cheering supporters to get you started. I felt that I was doing fine for fuel and drinks to that point, but I let my brain take over and spent the first half mile working my way through a flapjack.

The course is out and back and within the first mile I started passing runners coming in to the finish. They looked to be going quite strongly and I recognised the third athlete I passed as a guy from Shetland who is pretty good, but it wasn't till I passed the fifth runner and realised that he was from one of the strong teams that I realised I had probably seen the winner. This gave me a big boost. I had expected the top handful to be in before I was off the bike, and with my bad bike I expected that number to be into the twenties. To be a mile into the run before anyone finished really made my day.

I knew it was going to be tough though and my back and right hip weren't feeling great. I was already trying to figure out how to get to the end, but it was fairly simple. It is an out and back course, so make it to half way and then you are done. It is as easy to walk to the end as anything else. So all I had to do was make it to half way and I knew I would finish.

I was going quite well to start with. Nice comfortable pace for the first 5k. But I was dying for a pee and I had to take a quick stop. Shetland girl and one other went past while I was watering the bushes. I got back on the road and back into my running quite easily. I was doing 9 minute miles and feeling fine. 

As it was an out and back run I was recognising plenty of people passing the other way, and watching out for the ones I thought I might catch if I could keep my pace going. My right hip was bugging me and the niggle in my left calf and knee was getting worse but neither were slowing me down any. I was taking on water at every opportunity and taking a gel every 3 miles or so, and was finally feeling that I might actually be able to get round in under 6 hours. 

Then at the far end of the course there is a little dip. Maybe 10 or 15 meters long with a downhill slope. And that was it. The calf niggle and my back together decided the down slope wasn't for them and they had enough. 

From that point it was walk, jog , walk jog, to the finish. It was agony. It was really frustrating as swarms of people passed me (from the results I figure about 60 people passed me in the remaining 6 miles). I also got overtaken by the last Threepeaker with about 2 miles to go. It was agony when I tried to run, and it was frustrating when I just walked. I wasn't tired. I hadn't paced it wrong. I had plenty of energy and fluids. The weather was finally good for running in. If I had managed to just keep going at the pace of the first 6 miles I would have been really close to 6 hours. It took me 18 minutes longer to come back than it took me to go out.

When I did finally reach the end I got a step over the line and needed help from the officials to sit down. They kept offering me water and gel but I wasn't in need of either. After a few minutes of sitting down my back felt much better and I was able to get up and walk around. I was hobbling a bit (I still am 2 days later) but not suffering anything like the tiredness or exhaustion I expected. 

Was really gutted with my time, and with how much I lost on the run, but happy to have finished.

Run time 2 hours 12mins 09.

Total time 6 hours 20mins 07.

Part 4 is here