Sept 16th to Oct 6th - no sign of slowing down for winter

I've gone and done it again and left it a few weeks since my last blog, but then again it's quite nice to look back and remind yourself what you have been doing.  I warn you now though, there will be all sorts of randomnous in this weeks blog.

As a first of here's a shot of a certain Manx Missile at the Tour of Britain time trial stage 3 starting at Knowsley Safari Park.

It was quite an entertaining day watching these guys demolish the 10m TT in around 20 minutes.

There was supposed to be photo of Bradley Wiggins, but he was riding so quickly I missed him.



Sept 16th - 22nd
Looking back it would seem I am on a bit of a training streak as I hadn't had a recovery day since the 3rd September and it would the following week before I took one.  Sometimes you just feel like going on and rather than a passive day of nothing I like to at least do an easy swim or turbo session.  That is exactly where the week started with a short swim at lunchtime.  The remainder of the week was a mix of short sessions as I had a race at the end of the week so wanted to keep the intensity up but duration down so I could arrive ready to race.  Day before the event (Friday) I did a swim/run brick at the gym, much to the bemusement of the regulars in pool as I arrived in a tri suit, swam 1800m and then dashed upstairs to do 20 mins easy running on the treadmill.  I normally can't stand treadmills to be honest, but it actually passed quite quickly (note to self, remember your headphones next time).
In the evening it was a trip across the Pennines to a village called Sharow nr Ripon for an overnight B&B stay here  http://www.halfmooninn.org.uk/
Saturday was a short drive over to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal National Trust site for the Brownlee Super Sprint tri.  The event was fronted by the Brownlee brothers themselves who were there to race, though Alistair was only doing the bike leg due to the ankle injury he picked up the week before at the ITU Grand Final in Hyde Park in London.  I have to say the setting was lovely for the event and the weather thankfully good.  A short 400m open water swim in what was definitely not a warm lake was done in 7:05, a run up a steep grass bank to T1 and then onto the 2 lap 10k bike.  There were a couple of short climbs before dropping back through the park.  This section was fast, so fast in fact that I actually got told to slow down!!!!!!  Back into transition it was a short flat 2.5k run around the grounds with the finish going through the nave of the abbey, what an amazing experience.


The organisers had put on a great event, with a good quality sports bag and cap in the goodie bag and to top it off nicely Gail purchased a copy of the Brownlee's book which she then got autographed.
That should have been the end of the week, but on Sunday I still felt like training so did a steady aerobic session on the turbo.

Totals for the week
Training time - 7h22
Swim 2h50 - 7000m
Bike 3h - 68km
Run 0:50 - 9k

Sept 23rd - Sept 29th
20 days on the go it was time for a recovery day on the Monday, well deserved if I do say so myself. Tuesday it was back to the pool and the turbo in the evening, and i'm still rocking the trainerroad.com sessions, an example of one I did here  http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/406270-Stone-Mountain
Wednesday was an opportunity to go back to some of my old training grounds whilst working away and I managed to visit Ilkley Moor for a fell run http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/HX3RYXEU3ML6CZ7YXBQJA5QXQA  it was a bit grim as there was a lot of low wet cloud but great to be back there and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The rest of the week up to Saturday was a mix of swim, bike and run until Sunday where I was doing the Cheshire 10k.  It was a predominantly flat fast single lap course, as usual I started a bit to quick and coming up to 4k I thought I was going to be on for a sub 25 5k, but a slight incline knocked the pace down a bit. Nonetheless it was a good and tough race and a new pb of 50:57

                           

                  Race registration for Cheshire 10k





You would have thought this would have been enough, but when I got home I decided that I would also do a turbo session.
Totals for the week - 9h25
Swim 3h42 - 8350m
Bike 3h55 - 89k
Run 1h20 - 16k

Sept 30th - 6th Oct
I'm seriously enjoying training and was straight at it again on Monday even though I had raced the day before. I'm spending a lot of time here at the moment (my pain cave )

More turbo training on Tuesday as well as a swim session.  Wednesday was a speedwork day, in the pool but also in the evening doing hard lamp post reps and running drills.  Suffice to say I was definitely sore the next day, not from the running but the drills.  More swimming and turbo Thursday (i'm sweating just writing about it).

I was away for a wedding on Friday but sneaked in a short easy run in the morning, though it was looking like there might be a problem at first.  Thankfully my brother is the same size so I nicked a pair of his trainers (sshhh don't tell him)








Of course you would expect that would be the end, but in fact despite a day off on Saturday, I was at Oulton Park on Sunday for a sprint duathlon.  1 lap running, 5 laps cycling and a final lap on the run.  Totally traffic free and a unique experience, great day racing.  Steady run effort, but really put the effort in on the bike followed by hanging in on the second run, though my time wasn't that much slower than my first.

So that'e the previous few weeks and there is no sign of me slowing down, keep checking back for the next instalment.

Aug 19th to Sept 15th - 12 months on, mission accomplished

Ok, so first off, apologies for not updating this blog sooner.  I had made a partial start and then kept forgetting to finish it off.

So, there we are, 12 months since I re-started training and triathlon.  My original goal had been to complete a tri before I was 40, and was thus aiming to be in a fit enough state to do a sprint tri by September.   I think it is fair to say that I smashed this target and had done my first tri as early as May, indeed, I had done my first race in November last year (a super sprint duathlon).  Unlike some of my previous attempts to start training again, this was one has clearly succeeded.  I think mainly as previous attempts had foucsed solely on running which had resulted in early injury and putting me off.  The multisport nature of what I am doing now allows the body time to recover better.  It seems such a long time ago when I stepped into the gym and was a gibbering wreck within about 10 minutes of exercise.

This blog edition covers a good number of weeks so bear with me, I can't promise it will be worth the read though.

Aug19th -25th
I started the week with a couple of recovery days, and then Wednesday started the training with a long distance swim set from the they are definitely worth looking at if you want to add some variety to your swimming.  http://mastersswimworkoutsbysaramclarty.blogspot.co.uk/

400 choice/300 pull/200 kick
400 pull (build each 100)
400 (50 kick/50 drill/100 swim, repeat)
300 pull (build each 100)
300 (50 kick/50 non-free/50 free, repeat)
3x[100 FAST! swim @ 2:30
100 easy kick @ 3:00]
4×50 fins @ 1:20 (25 FAST!/25 easy)
3×100 @ 2:30 (25 kick/25 swim)
200 cool-down

In the evening I did a nice easy 5k run just to ease back into things.  On Thursday I did another swim session and in the evening knocked out a 60 min turbo session using http://www.trainerroad.com/ to re-assess my FTP.  You can view the data from the session here http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/383298 and my FTP was up from 208 to 219.  Friday saw another swim and recovery turbo session.  We went up to the caravan for the weekend and I did a mixed terrain tempo run on Saturday (beach, dunes, tarmac, grass) and then I did a nice steady ride on Sunday, keeping it nice and easy spinning in the small ring.

Totals for the week 9h 32
Swim: 4h15 - 10,200m
Bike: 4h45 - 95km
Run: 1:29 - 15km

Aug 26th - 1st Sept
Monday was an early start and a long ride from the caravan in Prestatyn back to home in Warrington (86k). Not the most scenic of rides and traffic was a bit heavy in places, but a good solid ride all the way and I'm confident coming towards the end of the season with this level of fitness in my legs.  I carried on training through the week, though the ride had taken it out of me so kept it to one session a day until the end of the week.  I finished off the week with a multiple brick session.  I like doing these; set the turbo in the garden with the trainers next to me and knock out 5k on the bike and then straight on to a run of a 1k loop of the village, I then repeat as often as I can.  I held FTP for the ride sections and pushed hard on all the runs.

Totals for the week: 11h35
Swim: 5h05 - 12,200m
Bike: 4h45 - 122.5km
Run: 1h45 - 19.29km

Sept 2nd - 8th
With a race at the end of the week and having done 12 straight days training I took a recovery day at the start of the week, but on Tuesday it was back to the training with a short swim at lunch time and then a bike/run brick in the evening.  I kept the rest of the weeks training easy with 3 swims, a short run and  easy session on the turbo.

Sunday was the North West sprint tri at Nantwich.  It was an early start as I had a start time 08:40 and unusually a split transition, with the swim about quarter mile away from the main park where the run and registration were based.  The swim was in an odd distance (30.3m)outdoor heated brine pool and the format was 4 lengths per lane.  For some reason I drifted off during the swim and lost count, and thinking I had under counted ended up doing an extra two lengths (doh).  That aside I was happy with the swim as I was passing plenty of people throughout.  Onto the bike it was a one loop affair, that was predominantly flat and quick on the way out.  On the return leg the route was a little more undulating and with the added bonus of a headwind, but I was really happy with the effort on the bike.  Main issue heading out onto the run was numb feet, a combination of the cold and cleat position (I really need to get that sorted out).  The run was 4 laps of the park and I held really consistent pace for all of them.  Final time was 1:16:55  http://www.uktriathlon.co.uk/north_west/Results/2013/Sprint_Male.pdf.

Totals for the week: 8h02
Swim: 4h04 - 10,500m
Bike: 3h45 - 87.5km
Run: 1h05 - 11.8km
Race: 1h16 - 26km

Sept 9th - 15th
I came into the week of the back of a race, but actually felt pretty good on Monday so hit the turbo in the evening for an easy session using Trainerroad. I swam long on Tuesday and ran long and easy on Wednesday.  I did a different drill session on Thursday morning  and a sub-threshold session on the turbo in the evening.  Speedwork in the pool on Friday.  Saturday was a chance to push on the run so I did a tempo session and was really pleased with how it felt.  The club swim was good in the evening, with the emphasis definitely shifting towards longer sets.  Sunday the weather was expected to be poor (and they weren't wrong) so another chance to user trainerroad - http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/398036  2 hours was what I would have done anyway and it passed quite easily whilst watching a film.  In the afternoon I did an easy run, the knees and quads were a little tired at first but soon settled in and I finished ok.

Totals for the week: 10h30
Swim: 4h45 - 12,300m
Bike: 3h45 - 87.5km
Run: 2h - 21.6km

So, we I have one tri left at the end of next week and then that will be the end of my season.  Still plenty of weight to lose and some fun training over winter to look forward to, but all in all, I'm really pleased to have achieved what I have so far of the last 12 months, hopefully others who read this will realise that you don't need to be an Alistair Brownlee to get off your backside, train hard and finish a race and size and age are no barrier at all.  Here's to another great 12 months.

August 12th to 18th - a tiring & productive week

Bouyed by the result at the Peoples Tri on the Sunday I felt I could easily of trained on Monday, but forced myself to take a recovery day.

Tuesday started with a swim session and some good times on the 400m reps.  In the evening it was over to Preston on the Hill for the Warrington Tri clubs informal 10 mile time trial.  I took the race bike and didn't leave anything in the tank pushing hard the whole way.  Final time was 28:55 which was a significant improvement over my first effort was over 32m.

Wednesday was a LSD run, nothing exciting but important to keep the distance and aerobic base up.  Thursday was back to the pool for hard intervals, concentrating on short 50m efforts (32 of them).  Spinervals in the evening with a basic threshold set http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/379185

Friday I was still training but kept the effort low with drills in the morning at the pool and a recovery and technique session on the turbo in the evening.

Saturday I went out and did my first Park Run since March.  I was trying to aim for sub 25:00 having come close in some of the 5k runs I had done earlier in the year.  I was pretty damm close  25:03 http://www.parkrun.org.uk/worsleywoods/results/weeklyresults/?runSeqNumber=77

More intervals in the pool with Warrington tri club in the evening.  Sunday was a steady ride early doors and straight off the run I put in a 20 minute brick run.  That was tough as legs still had the previous days Park Run in them, but pretty pleased with completing the run.

It was a solid week of training, nothing fancy but gets the job done.

Totals for the week:
Hours - 10:55
Swim - 5h05 - 12,000m
Bike - 4h17 - 114km
Run - 1h33 - 17k

August 5th to 11th Bad Start Good Ending

I'd had a good day of training on the Sunday so I was disappointed come Monday to come down with some bug that left me in bed and throwing up.  Whilst Tuesday I was feeling better I was not able to go to work or feel up to training.

As such it was Wednesday before I felt up to doing anything with an early morning run and a short swim at lunchtime.  Thursday I put in a tough but quality turbo session.

Sunday was the Peoples Triathlon held at Dearnford Lake on the outskirts of Whitchurch.  Suffice to say, I had a great event, putting in really good times in the swim and bike (I even got complimented by a competitor on by biking prowess after the event).  The run wasn't up there with the quickest but I expect that and I'm getting quicker so I have no complaints.


Results can be found here  http://www.uktriathlon.co.uk/peoples/2013/sprint_male.pdf

Totals for the week:
Hours training: 7h33
Swim: 4h04 - 10303m
Bike: 1h38 - 41k
Run: 0h28 - 5k
Race: 1h21

July 15th - August 4th weeks of mixed stuff

I've been a bit remiss over the last few weeks, I guess the initial enthusiasm of writing a blog has worn off.

That said, it gives me plenty to write about and a chance to look back at what I have been doing.

w/c 15th July
The Buxton Tri had been tough on the bike, but on the Monday I felt pretty good and could have trained, but we all know rest is important for recovery so I did take a day off.  The rest of the week was a solid effort in all three disciplines, particularly Saturday which included an open water swim session at Pennington Flash and in the afternoon a multiple brick session.  This consisted of 5k bike followed by a 1k run around the village;  this was repeated 4 times, all of which were consistent for time, and a great way of practising running of the bike.
Totals for the week
9:34 hours training
Swimming  4:44     12000m
Cycling      3:27     86km
Running     1:23     14.4 km

w/c 22nd July
In all honesty not a lot went on this week that is worth reporting about, there was some swimming, biking and running.  Sunday was a ride out with the Warrington tri club, it was a steady ride out and spent most of it spinning in the small ring to help with aerobic capacity.  When I got back I did a 20min run straight off the bike, which I did as 5min hard, 5 min easy and repeated.  It was a short session but good way of adding some brick work to the week.
Totals for the week
9:26 hours training
Swimming  4:00    10000m
Cycling      4:39    112km
Run           0:47    8.63km

w/c 29th July
This was a full on week, training every day.  Tuesday night was a club meet at Preston on the Hill, a nice easy potter for 5 miles, followed by 2 laps at Time Trial effort.  Final time was 32:08 min which aint great, but it's a starting point.  I also signed up for the software offered by
www.trainerroad.com  this uses the Ant+ usb stick and Garmin 910 to send live data to the computer whilst you ride and convert speed into watts through some fancy calculations.  I did one of their FTP (functional threshold power) tests which has given me a starting point of 208.  I'm going to re-do it again in a few weeks to see if things have improved.  Friday I had planned to do a recovery spin and record the wattage but only in a few minutes into the session I managed to break the left STI.  I jerry rigged a bar end shifter into aero bars for the planned weekend ride.
Saturday I did a steady 10k run, in a time of 55:43 which is only a minute off my time from the Warrington 10k so definitely improving.
Sunday was a nice long ride of 30m, all spinning and on the aero bars and in the afternoon a trip down to Boundry Water Park for an open water swim session; it's a nice body of water, though a bit on the weedy side.
Totals for the week
10:09 hours training
Swimming  4:11    11095m
Cycling      3:56    103km
Run           2:01    21.6km

Next week the plan is to start to incorporate some core work, starting with the below