All in all not the greatest in volume this week and no road cycling, but everything felt solid and well within my means.
Monday - rest
Tuesday - First swim for a couple of weeks in the morning - just sets of 300 and a bit more to make up to a mile - actually wasn't too bad considering. Went and joined in rugby training in the evening as I was down that way - as usual no problems and fitness shows.
Wednesday - 8.4 mile run in the evening - legs a bit sore but no issues with tiredness or anything kept it nice and steady all the way round.
Thursday - 1 hour on the turbo in the evening - 2*18min efforts - all felt fine and usual jelly legs afterwards - doing as much in the aero position as possible to get used to it.
Friday - big plans - zero result - didn't run at lunch and didn't swim in the evening as what later than expected - big fail!
Saturday - up early doors for a 12 miler with rucksack full of clothes & shoes - despite just a yoghurt 10 mins before and rubbish sleep this was fine - kept the intensity down by power walking on the steep hill sections which meant cruising on the downhill/flat sections was a good steady pace!
Sunday - after big boozing on saturday night I had planned a gentle hour or two on the bike in the afternoon but the weather was appalling with strong winds and literally non-stop rain...so when the offer of pub lunch came in I couldn't resist! Rest day a day early even if not really needed!
So nothing special this week, just solid sessions albeit too few of them! Looking forward to plenty more this week!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
February Wk 1
Overall a steady 8 hours this week - not breaking any records with that but the upside is I feel really fresh and ready to carry on, whilst seeing big improvements generally!
Monday: - rest day, still not quite 100%
Tuesday: - nice 10k run with a friend, we took it steady as he is building back up but it was perfect for me too, just nice and steady without any intensity, HR was right down and never felt pushed
Wednesday: - similiar 6.5 mile route, again keeping steady, though it was faster as I was on my own, again no issues and nice to get some consecutive training in
Thursday: - joined the lads down on the astro for 90 mins of hurtling around a faux pitch - try to run as much as possible and its good to get some fun faster work in - I don't include all of this as its not proper training
Friday: - Nothing, six nations started so that was that evening nicely wrapped up!
Saturday: - had two hours run planned and so thats what I did, weather was pretty windy and wild but not cold so it was a good run around some paths/trails and roads I'd not been on before. I had a dead leg from Thursday but this wasn't too much of an issue although I couldn't find any speed in the legs so I only covered 12.4 miles in 1 hr 57 minutes, but there were lots of hills and I never felt uncomfortable in running terms, thought about carrying on but decided to stick to the plan!
Sunday: - 3 hour ride, I was meeting with a group 12 miles away from home, so I had a good ride down to meet them, although the head wind was pretty beastly, a good loop with them, I stayed up the front for a lot of the time so got plenty of work in and the final 12 miles on my own were nice and quick with the tailwind scooting me home! Enjoyed a nice tea stop midway through as well! No real issues again and maintaining a 17.5 average in that wind is pleasing, although faster than I had planned! That would be a steady summer ride but at this time of year in that wind I am happy! Felt a bit tired at one point but my homemade flapjack and a gel set me right!
So leaves me feeling pretty good, in other news the confirmation came through for the London Marathon so I am focussing quite heavily on my running and cycling at this time, the extra sleep from less swimming is a definite bonus! Weight continues to fall as well!
My new trainers, K-Swiss Blade Light Run just seem to get better and better regardless of how slow or fast I am running - there are light and comfortable - I took the elastic laces back out and the original ones back in and that stopped the toungue on the left show scruching up (my lacing not the shoe)!
As for my compression tights...I am undecided as yet - they do work but they aren't worth £50 thats for sure! The week ahead is going to be mostly running with a turbo session thrown in for luck - the weekend will be a write-off really as having a big drinking session on Saturday, I hope to be able to have an hour or the bike on sunday though as a hangover recovery!
Monday: - rest day, still not quite 100%
Tuesday: - nice 10k run with a friend, we took it steady as he is building back up but it was perfect for me too, just nice and steady without any intensity, HR was right down and never felt pushed
Wednesday: - similiar 6.5 mile route, again keeping steady, though it was faster as I was on my own, again no issues and nice to get some consecutive training in
Thursday: - joined the lads down on the astro for 90 mins of hurtling around a faux pitch - try to run as much as possible and its good to get some fun faster work in - I don't include all of this as its not proper training
Friday: - Nothing, six nations started so that was that evening nicely wrapped up!
Saturday: - had two hours run planned and so thats what I did, weather was pretty windy and wild but not cold so it was a good run around some paths/trails and roads I'd not been on before. I had a dead leg from Thursday but this wasn't too much of an issue although I couldn't find any speed in the legs so I only covered 12.4 miles in 1 hr 57 minutes, but there were lots of hills and I never felt uncomfortable in running terms, thought about carrying on but decided to stick to the plan!
Sunday: - 3 hour ride, I was meeting with a group 12 miles away from home, so I had a good ride down to meet them, although the head wind was pretty beastly, a good loop with them, I stayed up the front for a lot of the time so got plenty of work in and the final 12 miles on my own were nice and quick with the tailwind scooting me home! Enjoyed a nice tea stop midway through as well! No real issues again and maintaining a 17.5 average in that wind is pleasing, although faster than I had planned! That would be a steady summer ride but at this time of year in that wind I am happy! Felt a bit tired at one point but my homemade flapjack and a gel set me right!
So leaves me feeling pretty good, in other news the confirmation came through for the London Marathon so I am focussing quite heavily on my running and cycling at this time, the extra sleep from less swimming is a definite bonus! Weight continues to fall as well!
My new trainers, K-Swiss Blade Light Run just seem to get better and better regardless of how slow or fast I am running - there are light and comfortable - I took the elastic laces back out and the original ones back in and that stopped the toungue on the left show scruching up (my lacing not the shoe)!
As for my compression tights...I am undecided as yet - they do work but they aren't worth £50 thats for sure! The week ahead is going to be mostly running with a turbo session thrown in for luck - the weekend will be a write-off really as having a big drinking session on Saturday, I hope to be able to have an hour or the bike on sunday though as a hangover recovery!
Friday, February 4, 2011
This weekend and other animals..
I'm really looking forward to this weekend....and I feel I need to share it with everyone!
Tonight is the start of the Six Nations...the greatest Rugby tournament on the planet! Before all the Southern Hempishere people get shirty I don't mean in terms of quality necessarily but in terms of atmosphere, tradition and passion - it makes the hairs stand on end! Even if you don't like rugby watch the teams run out tonight at the Millenium Stadium and the national anthems....it is a pretty awesome spectacle! So that is tonight taken of, preceeded by a beer in the local in memory of the late great T O'C!
Tomorrow I am planning a long run of at least 2 hours/13 ish miles - nice and steady to pull me along - I only hope my dead leg from last night clears away in time! I may push it on a bit if I am feeling strong and see where I end up - I am mindful of my 20 mile race coming up and having not run further than 14.5 before!
Sunday will be a bike ride, I am planning a nice steady 3 hours but it will depend on the wind, its blowing pretty strong all weekend so may dictate what the conditions are like! I am planning on putting the tri bars back on my road bike just in case any headwinds pop up!
The two runs I have done this week have felt really good, beasting myself through January has really paid dividends (now that I am over my massive slump) and my cruising speed is about 30 secs per mile faster than at christmas! So that is definitely a good thing! I still haven't swam in almost two weeks but will get back in to it next week...I promise !
Anyway weather (geddit) or not the weekend turns out as planned remains to be seen! In the meantime enjoy your weekend!!
Tonight is the start of the Six Nations...the greatest Rugby tournament on the planet! Before all the Southern Hempishere people get shirty I don't mean in terms of quality necessarily but in terms of atmosphere, tradition and passion - it makes the hairs stand on end! Even if you don't like rugby watch the teams run out tonight at the Millenium Stadium and the national anthems....it is a pretty awesome spectacle! So that is tonight taken of, preceeded by a beer in the local in memory of the late great T O'C!
Tomorrow I am planning a long run of at least 2 hours/13 ish miles - nice and steady to pull me along - I only hope my dead leg from last night clears away in time! I may push it on a bit if I am feeling strong and see where I end up - I am mindful of my 20 mile race coming up and having not run further than 14.5 before!
Sunday will be a bike ride, I am planning a nice steady 3 hours but it will depend on the wind, its blowing pretty strong all weekend so may dictate what the conditions are like! I am planning on putting the tri bars back on my road bike just in case any headwinds pop up!
The two runs I have done this week have felt really good, beasting myself through January has really paid dividends (now that I am over my massive slump) and my cruising speed is about 30 secs per mile faster than at christmas! So that is definitely a good thing! I still haven't swam in almost two weeks but will get back in to it next week...I promise !
Anyway weather (geddit) or not the weekend turns out as planned remains to be seen! In the meantime enjoy your weekend!!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
VLM and other stuff...
So I have just had it confirmed that I am in for the London Marathon on April 17th....cue mass panic and monster motivation! Thankfully panic works as a great motivator for me, although regardless of this I was feeling better anyway and looking forward to some more training!
I did a slow 6 miler with a friend last night and reminded its nice to just run rather than push to go faster all the time - this is what I need at the moment in my training so lots less intensity is the name of the game right now! This also works well for meeting up with other groups who ride slower than me - I can just tack on more miles either end!
As for running - well this can continue as is - a few short runs during the week and a long one at the weekend (although this will change to the week later on)! I have a half marathon on the 27th Feb which is a tough and hilly course, I then have a 20 mile flat race the week after which will be a real test for me - I have never ran more than 14 miles before! Still I am looking forward to it much more than before!
As for the marathon itself - this will be a purely training jog round the course - I can't see myself doing it again for a year or three at least so I would really like to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy it - an average of 10 min/miles all the way round should be plenty to see my healthy round with no fatiguing but we'll see how that goes in training!
I've been eating more over the last few days and have lost weight obviously (?!) which is a bonus but its now back in to training so we'll see how that goes! Just 8 hours planned this week which is nice!
Ciao
I did a slow 6 miler with a friend last night and reminded its nice to just run rather than push to go faster all the time - this is what I need at the moment in my training so lots less intensity is the name of the game right now! This also works well for meeting up with other groups who ride slower than me - I can just tack on more miles either end!
As for running - well this can continue as is - a few short runs during the week and a long one at the weekend (although this will change to the week later on)! I have a half marathon on the 27th Feb which is a tough and hilly course, I then have a 20 mile flat race the week after which will be a real test for me - I have never ran more than 14 miles before! Still I am looking forward to it much more than before!
As for the marathon itself - this will be a purely training jog round the course - I can't see myself doing it again for a year or three at least so I would really like to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy it - an average of 10 min/miles all the way round should be plenty to see my healthy round with no fatiguing but we'll see how that goes in training!
I've been eating more over the last few days and have lost weight obviously (?!) which is a bonus but its now back in to training so we'll see how that goes! Just 8 hours planned this week which is nice!
Ciao
Monday, January 31, 2011
January 2011...
Big month this month as planned, 6 month count down well underway and time to really see if I had prepared myself for a big push mentally as well physically, the final picture looks something like this : -
Swim - 15.1 miles, 9.7 hours
Bike - 313.7 miles, 19.4 hours
Run - 60.8 miles, 10.4 hours
Crosstrain - 4 miles, 1.5 hours
Total 393.62 miles and 41.01 hours - well over double that of January 2010
Swim - loads of swimming this month, new personal best over 100m (1.22) , 400m (5.58) and a mile (26.47) - but most importantly big improvements in technique and consistent speed which are the most important things. I am going to cut down slightly on the swimming in the coming months in order to focus more on the other aspects.
Bike - Couple of bigger rides of 55 & 65 miles interspersed with a lot of turbo trainer (indoor) cycling time and shorter outdoor rides - obviously weather and temperature dictate the amount of outdoor cycling that can be done but it hasn't been too bad - just one crash, when 5 of us all came off in a row on some ice.....note to self - don't ride through fords when it's below freezing!
Its quite difficult to gauge bike fitness at the moment, with so many layers on and dodgy road surfaces, any kind of speed is difficult to come by but as long as the hours in the saddle are maintained then speed will come later on!
Run - One race which was the rough 'n' tumble 10 on 16th January went very well and was good fun (albeit very muddy and wet) and a couple of long runs have been fine only a few shorter runs though as I have been carrying an injury to my hip/glute area - its nothing much but needs rest after long runs! My endurance is fine - it would appear I can run the last 4-5 miles of a 13.5 mile run faster than I can run them straight off...who knew!
So overall its been positive....however as always there has been some downs as well as ups....this last week I have been exhausted, the dizziness that I get came back and I've been pretty wiped out, the video shows a bit about what is like
This isn't actually what causes the problem (so I am told) but the symptoms are the same! As for what sets it off...I don't know and nor the doctors! However during the last week I have been properly tired and have therefore been resting and getting plenty of food in me!
I am adjusting my training going forward to back off the intensity, its too early to be trying to run/ride/swim as fast as possible all the time so hopefully this will prevent me from falling under the weather again, low intensity base endurance is the key so that will be the plan moving on with 5 months to go!
In all honesty I was/am on the edge of giving up, doing a half ironman and returning the money raised to the sponsors myself (from my own pocket, the charity will keep it).....but I am going to see how I am at the end of February - if I can put some solid training behind me and not make myself ill then I will carry on hopefully lowering the intensity will allow me to continue.
So let's see what happens....
Swim - 15.1 miles, 9.7 hours
Bike - 313.7 miles, 19.4 hours
Run - 60.8 miles, 10.4 hours
Crosstrain - 4 miles, 1.5 hours
Total 393.62 miles and 41.01 hours - well over double that of January 2010
Swim - loads of swimming this month, new personal best over 100m (1.22) , 400m (5.58) and a mile (26.47) - but most importantly big improvements in technique and consistent speed which are the most important things. I am going to cut down slightly on the swimming in the coming months in order to focus more on the other aspects.
Bike - Couple of bigger rides of 55 & 65 miles interspersed with a lot of turbo trainer (indoor) cycling time and shorter outdoor rides - obviously weather and temperature dictate the amount of outdoor cycling that can be done but it hasn't been too bad - just one crash, when 5 of us all came off in a row on some ice.....note to self - don't ride through fords when it's below freezing!
Its quite difficult to gauge bike fitness at the moment, with so many layers on and dodgy road surfaces, any kind of speed is difficult to come by but as long as the hours in the saddle are maintained then speed will come later on!
Run - One race which was the rough 'n' tumble 10 on 16th January went very well and was good fun (albeit very muddy and wet) and a couple of long runs have been fine only a few shorter runs though as I have been carrying an injury to my hip/glute area - its nothing much but needs rest after long runs! My endurance is fine - it would appear I can run the last 4-5 miles of a 13.5 mile run faster than I can run them straight off...who knew!
So overall its been positive....however as always there has been some downs as well as ups....this last week I have been exhausted, the dizziness that I get came back and I've been pretty wiped out, the video shows a bit about what is like
This isn't actually what causes the problem (so I am told) but the symptoms are the same! As for what sets it off...I don't know and nor the doctors! However during the last week I have been properly tired and have therefore been resting and getting plenty of food in me!
I am adjusting my training going forward to back off the intensity, its too early to be trying to run/ride/swim as fast as possible all the time so hopefully this will prevent me from falling under the weather again, low intensity base endurance is the key so that will be the plan moving on with 5 months to go!
In all honesty I was/am on the edge of giving up, doing a half ironman and returning the money raised to the sponsors myself (from my own pocket, the charity will keep it).....but I am going to see how I am at the end of February - if I can put some solid training behind me and not make myself ill then I will carry on hopefully lowering the intensity will allow me to continue.
So let's see what happens....
Friday, January 28, 2011
Structure, focus and moving on...
After my mental break down of mid week and aggravating my hip injury that evening I took a complete day off - actually it will be over 48 hours till I train again tonight! I was at the SAQ session on Wednesday night and couldn't get my HR anywhere near the level it should be so guessing I was just uber tired! Took yesterday off and took on loads of water, porridge, salads etc - felt much better last night and though I slept badly last night I do feel fresher today - hopefully tonights swim class will be very technique focussed and not intense so I can settle back in to it, its fair to see that a quiet week is required every 3 weeks!
My training plan is totally devised myself and while it would be good, I think more structure is required so I have picked up an online guide from one the magazines which starts 12 weeks out - I am going to stick to this to the letter and it should get me through! Its fair to say my training regime pushes me too hard in terms of intensity - this plan will slow me down and therefore hopefully not tire me out too much!
As for my hip - its not actually my hip - its my right glute, plenty of tennis ball massage and no running this weekend should see it right again and I will get back to running next week! There is a slim chance I may have a spot in the London Marathon (hopefully confirmed later) not ideal on the 17th April but I will treat it as training and just bimble round and soak up the experience! Anyway we'll see if that works out!
So to answer my previous questions: -
My training plan is totally devised myself and while it would be good, I think more structure is required so I have picked up an online guide from one the magazines which starts 12 weeks out - I am going to stick to this to the letter and it should get me through! Its fair to say my training regime pushes me too hard in terms of intensity - this plan will slow me down and therefore hopefully not tire me out too much!
As for my hip - its not actually my hip - its my right glute, plenty of tennis ball massage and no running this weekend should see it right again and I will get back to running next week! There is a slim chance I may have a spot in the London Marathon (hopefully confirmed later) not ideal on the 17th April but I will treat it as training and just bimble round and soak up the experience! Anyway we'll see if that works out!
So to answer my previous questions: -
- Can I really be bothered with the next 5 months of training? Nope, but I am going to do it anyway and be determined to enjoy it - I am lucky I can do it!
- Am I pretending to be something I'm not? (a triathlete) Yes...but who cares
- Is this really what I want to spend much more of my life doing? ...its less than 5 months timmy...you're gonna live forever!
- I train hard and the gains aren't that big..... don't be such a plank
- I'm losing a lot of the fun from my life yeah but it will be worth it
- Have I made a massive mistake?? I'll let you know in less than 5 months time
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
funny five minutes...
I'm having a properly bad case of the CBAs.....
Have I made a massive mistake??
- Can I really be bothered with the next 5 months of training?
- Am I pretending to be something I'm not? (a triathlete)
- Is this really what I want to spend much more of my life doing?
- I train hard and the gains aren't that big.....
- I'm losing a lot of the fun from my life
- This is for charity...its not for me
- I already owe people a lot for the support they have given me
Have I made a massive mistake??
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