Monday started early with a swim session, the aim was 200's using my T1000 pace plus 5 secs, which equates to 1:59/100 avg. For whatever reason I can't explain I really struggled with getting the timings right and finished the session a bit frustrated. In the evening it was over to the track for 3x600, 4x200, 4x100. I went out a little to quick for the 600's but the 200's were spot on and all within 1 second as were the 100's so getting better at pacing slowly but surely. Coach Andy did note that I was starting to heel strike a bit, but he put this down to fatigue from the SnC and long sessions at the weekend.
Tuesday was a well earned rest day and I was certainly grateful for it.
Wednesday morning was a chance to hit the turbo for some interval work. I'd normally say that turbo mornings aren't my cup of tea but it was actually really good and I watched coverage from the Sandman and Snowman tris for some additional motivation.
In the evening it was over to Runcorn for the coached swim session. I was there a little early so was changed and stood at the poolside when all of a sudden the building was plunged into darkness......power cut.
This was followed by 20 minutes of standing around wrapped in a blanket in the foyer whilst we waited for the power to come back on and for the building to be checked. I was expecting the session to be cancelled, but decided to make the most of the time left and knocked out what I felt was actually a really good set. The main part was 8x100's on 10s rest, but considering how I swam on Monday this was on a different level, times were quick and solidly consistent throughout despite the pace.
I was working in Bradford on Thursday so was only able to train in the evening and it was the last circuits session of the year. Carl had some interesting sets for us, splitting the group into two and pitting us head to head. The final part was a "Total Wipeout" style game where we had to jump a large knotted rope until there was one person left standing. Great end to the year for the circuits and I'm looking forward to re-starting in Jan.
Friday morning back in the pool, and I don't know what was in my coffee, but it was a bloody great session, I was exceeding the required times on the ladder down set, but at the same effort level I had swum the week before. I've no idea what's changed but something has clicked that's for certain.
Saturday I needed to do a steady Lvl 1-2 run, so decided to head down to my new favourite place Delamere Forest. The instruction was to stay off the main paths, so I did just that and took just about every side path I could find and it was awesome muddy fun. Well it was until about 15 minutes before the end as I had found myself back near the car so decided to go further down and do a loop around, only something went a bit awry with my sense of direction and ended up adding another 35 minutes onto the run due to some dubious route choices. Despite that it was a great run in a lovely setting.
Sunday's bike was the final session of the week, I rode with Warrington Tri club as they were ending the year with a nice easy social ride. Conditions weren't to bad, it was a bit windy and chilly, but dry so a nice way to end the week with a 3 hour ride.
I'm 3 weeks into being coached now and have to say that the difference is noticable in the quality of the sessions being done. The week to come is an easier recovery week, which nicely coincides with Christmas week.
Totals for the week: 10h16
Swim 7250m - 2h25
Bike 92km - 3h57
Run 23km - 2h56
Sunday 22 December 2013
Sunday 15 December 2013
9th to 15 December - Getting into the coaching groove
The first session of this week was a swim, but instead of the usual stuff that I make up I was given a proper structured workout by Laura. Main emphasis was on utilising the 1k TT pace set in the previous week. I was a bit off the mark on a couple of the reps but it was a good workout nonetheless. In the evening it was over to the track, the main change was moving up from 4x400's to 3x600, it was then the usual 4x200, 4x100. The 600s were tough but I was able to remain on target with the times.
Tuesday was a session I don't want to repeat too frequently, I was over at coach Andy's place to do a CP30 test on the turbo. For the technical description on what this means you can have a look here http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2009/11/quick-guide-to-setting-zones.html for the athletes version, its 30mins of pain as you ride as hard as you can maintain, only to find the coach changing the gear and making it harder still near the end. It was a really tough thing to do, but we got a good base for my threshold and I can now start to work to this in my future workouts. We also sat down an looked at my HR from the 2.4k track run to use that as a base for running thresholds.
Wednesday morning was a short an easy zone 1 run. I can't recall ever running at such an easy pace before, which shows that I clearly wasn't recovering when I thought I was, this is why a coach is such a good idea.
Wednesday evening was a swim session with Andy and his coaching partner Chris Standidge ( a very accomplished age grouper). We focussed on a few areas to determine aspects of our stroke that need correction. For me I need to straighten my arm more on entry as my elbow is dropping.
Thursday mornings swim was a declining distance ladder set interspersed with 50m kicks. Idea was to swim these as 1000T pace, but I was trying to focus on stroke correction so I was missing on a few of the reps, but effort level was on the nail so happy overall with the session.
In the evening was circuits, and thankfully it wasn't as bad as the previous weeks, though still tough enough.
I was certainly glad of the day off on Friday.
Saturday evening was the Petzl Nightrunner 10k race at Delamere forest. This is run in the dark around the forest with a headtorch. I ran within myself for about the first 7k, pushing but not at threshold, saving this for the final 3k which included an ascent of Pale Hill, which I am pleased to say I managed to run in its entirety, followed by a fast descent to the finish. Overall time was 55:24 http://www.thenightrunner.com/downloads/delamerenightrun.pdf
Tuesday was a session I don't want to repeat too frequently, I was over at coach Andy's place to do a CP30 test on the turbo. For the technical description on what this means you can have a look here http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2009/11/quick-guide-to-setting-zones.html for the athletes version, its 30mins of pain as you ride as hard as you can maintain, only to find the coach changing the gear and making it harder still near the end. It was a really tough thing to do, but we got a good base for my threshold and I can now start to work to this in my future workouts. We also sat down an looked at my HR from the 2.4k track run to use that as a base for running thresholds.
Wednesday morning was a short an easy zone 1 run. I can't recall ever running at such an easy pace before, which shows that I clearly wasn't recovering when I thought I was, this is why a coach is such a good idea.
Wednesday evening was a swim session with Andy and his coaching partner Chris Standidge ( a very accomplished age grouper). We focussed on a few areas to determine aspects of our stroke that need correction. For me I need to straighten my arm more on entry as my elbow is dropping.
Thursday mornings swim was a declining distance ladder set interspersed with 50m kicks. Idea was to swim these as 1000T pace, but I was trying to focus on stroke correction so I was missing on a few of the reps, but effort level was on the nail so happy overall with the session.
In the evening was circuits, and thankfully it wasn't as bad as the previous weeks, though still tough enough.
I was certainly glad of the day off on Friday.
Saturday evening was the Petzl Nightrunner 10k race at Delamere forest. This is run in the dark around the forest with a headtorch. I ran within myself for about the first 7k, pushing but not at threshold, saving this for the final 3k which included an ascent of Pale Hill, which I am pleased to say I managed to run in its entirety, followed by a fast descent to the finish. Overall time was 55:24 http://www.thenightrunner.com/downloads/delamerenightrun.pdf
It was a good event and it was great running around the mere and looking back to see all the little lights in a line.
Sunday was a long steady ride zones 1 - 2. I managed to cover just over 40 miles in 2:43 which was slightly over the required 2:30 I had been tasked with. It was at least dry, but quite windy and at times you could feel yourself drifting as the wind whipped across the fields. There were plenty of cyclists out making the most of the dry conditions. I was also doing the ride in a 'fasted' state by only drinking water and not eating before I went out so I could maximise fat burn and to teach my body to rely more on fat as a fuel. Overall a good ride.
Thursday 12 December 2013
Dec 2nd to 8th - a new beginning
I'd ended up with the previous week turning into a recovery week, which it seems was fortuitous as it marked the end of the beginning and the opening of a new chapter in my tri career. So what is this big change, well quite simply I have taken away the uncertainty of planning my training and handed this over to a coach. So let me welcome on board Laura Grady. I would also add that she is an excellent massage therapist.
It's very easy to get trapped into the routine of just doing more and more without any consideration for the quality of what you are doing, I guess after a couple of chats with Laura that this was the way things had been going. So what was week one under a coach like. Pretty good actually, some quality sessions and even a rest day; in Laura's own words, " you only take a day off every four weeks, that's rubbish".
Monday night was track time, 4x400, 4x200 and 6x100, slightly reduced rest on the 400's made this a slightly tougher session. I was also finding that I was running the 400's about 10 secs to quick but fininshing within myself so definitely getting quicker.
Part of the coaching process involves setting base times from which to work, so on Tuesday morning it was a 1000m time trial in the pool. An easy warm up and some drills, then into 40 lengths as hard as you can go. Final time was 18:59 which is a T Pace of 1:54 per 100. It was definitely an eye opener pushing that hard in the pool. Wednesday was a 60 minute turbo session, nothing to testing, easy w/u then 4x5 minute race pace efforts and a couple of minutes recovery, finishing nice and relaxed.
Thursday was another time trial in the pool, this time a 400m flat out effort after a warm up and some fast 50's. This was a hard 16 lengths but a pleasing 7:12 and 1:48/100 pace. This is just a couple of second shy of my best in a race so really pleased. Circuits in the evening were a whole new world of pain that made it feel like I had gone back to week one of the circuits. The warm up and shuttle runs were fine, but everything after that was a nightmare of screaming muscle pain. It wasn't a great night at all.
Friday was a day off training and also off work as I loaded my 205 Gti race car onto the trailer for the last time to take to Spoox Motorsport who were buying it back off me. A bit of a sad day and the end of an era, but can say that I did enjoy my years in motorsport. Saturday Jasper and I went running around Hartshill Hayes, a nice steady pace and really enjoyable morning in the woods. The last session of the week was an easy 100 minute bike ride exploring some of the roads I used to train on many years ago. The only issue came when I rode through Atherstone and lost the back wheel on a greasy corner and planted myself on the deck.
Totals for the week: 6h58
Swim 1h - 3800m
Bike 2h42 - 65km
Run 2h02 - 16.1km
It's very easy to get trapped into the routine of just doing more and more without any consideration for the quality of what you are doing, I guess after a couple of chats with Laura that this was the way things had been going. So what was week one under a coach like. Pretty good actually, some quality sessions and even a rest day; in Laura's own words, " you only take a day off every four weeks, that's rubbish".
Monday night was track time, 4x400, 4x200 and 6x100, slightly reduced rest on the 400's made this a slightly tougher session. I was also finding that I was running the 400's about 10 secs to quick but fininshing within myself so definitely getting quicker.
Part of the coaching process involves setting base times from which to work, so on Tuesday morning it was a 1000m time trial in the pool. An easy warm up and some drills, then into 40 lengths as hard as you can go. Final time was 18:59 which is a T Pace of 1:54 per 100. It was definitely an eye opener pushing that hard in the pool. Wednesday was a 60 minute turbo session, nothing to testing, easy w/u then 4x5 minute race pace efforts and a couple of minutes recovery, finishing nice and relaxed.
Thursday was another time trial in the pool, this time a 400m flat out effort after a warm up and some fast 50's. This was a hard 16 lengths but a pleasing 7:12 and 1:48/100 pace. This is just a couple of second shy of my best in a race so really pleased. Circuits in the evening were a whole new world of pain that made it feel like I had gone back to week one of the circuits. The warm up and shuttle runs were fine, but everything after that was a nightmare of screaming muscle pain. It wasn't a great night at all.
Friday was a day off training and also off work as I loaded my 205 Gti race car onto the trailer for the last time to take to Spoox Motorsport who were buying it back off me. A bit of a sad day and the end of an era, but can say that I did enjoy my years in motorsport. Saturday Jasper and I went running around Hartshill Hayes, a nice steady pace and really enjoyable morning in the woods. The last session of the week was an easy 100 minute bike ride exploring some of the roads I used to train on many years ago. The only issue came when I rode through Atherstone and lost the back wheel on a greasy corner and planted myself on the deck.
Totals for the week: 6h58
Swim 1h - 3800m
Bike 2h42 - 65km
Run 2h02 - 16.1km
Tuesday 3 December 2013
Nov 4th to Dec 1st - A nice consistent block of training
Nov 4th - 10th
The Hellrunner was still in the legs come Monday evening, but there was no letting up as we were finished with the drills based weeks and it was time to start the intervals on the track. As a base from which you measure progress the main part of the session was a 2.4k time trial. The instruction from Andy the coach was simple "don't leave anything out there, I don't want to see anyone sprinting in the last 100, you give it everything". It was without a doubt 6 extremely hard laps at an effort level I'm not looking forward to repeating to often. My time for the 2.4k was 11:51. The coughing fit as a result of the cold evening and the effort level lasted for a couple of days. Tuesday was a return to the turbo trainer for an hours session http://tpks.ws/ceBn
I was in London on Wednesday and had a meal booked in the evening, so after 31 days of training I finally took a well deserved recovery day.
Thursday was a return to circuits with Carl, another strength and sweatfest usually involving far many burpees.
Finally got back in to the pool on Friday morning; it definitely makes a difference if you take a break of a few days from swimming as you can tell the lack of feel for the water. In the evening it was another hour on the turbo. Saturday I went down to Delamere Forest and met with coach Andy, Ray Tighe and Caroline for an early run. A nice mix of easy trails, hill reps and single track muddy fun. A nice way to start the day for certain. In the evening it was the Warrington Tri swim session. Sunday morning I hit the pool again for a drill session, and then went straight up to the gym to knock out a 5k on the treadmill. I've said it before that I'm not a mad fan of the treadmill, but once in a while it's a novelty. To finish the day of it was 90 mins on the turbo trainer http://tpks.ws/EtzG
Totals for the week - 9h26
Swim - 8757m - 2h36
Bike - 82km - 3h30
Run - 19.8km - 2h21
Nov 11th - 17th
Back to the track on Monday evening, this time was an 800m time trial, this would set the basis for all the work to follow. Time was a 3:20, once established we then ran 2x400, 2x200 and 2x100. It was definitely a tough session.
On Tuesday I travelled down to Leicestershire to visit and old friend from my triathlon past who now runs a great bike fitting company. http://www.speedhub.co.uk/ the day was spent chatting about old and new times whilst sat astride the Retul bike trying to work out my fit for the bike. One thing that we did discover and a reason for my numb feet was that I have a shorter left leg but also wide hips. With a variety of recommendations in hand I have a few changes I now need to make to my bike (£££££). I may also need to look for another tri frame as the road frame is going to get nowhere near close enough to simulate the position for training on. Wednesday was a chance to run in my favourite place, Hartshill Hayes. I just love running there, so many paths, terrain and routes to choose from. Even Jasper ran with me without causing me any problems. In the afternoon I set my turbo up in the parents garage for a 60min sweatfest. When I finished it was cold enough that I was actually steaming.
Back up t'north on Thursday and it was circuits in the evening. The weeks swimming was all knocked out over the next three days starting on Friday with a paddles session, club swim Saturday and then long sets on Sunday. There was also a couple of turbo sessions and a 10k run to round off the week.
Totals for the week - 10h52
Swim 8750m -3h50
Bike 86km - 3h30
Run 23k - 2h41
Nov 18th - 24th
Monday night is track night, and using the previous weeks base 800m time, 4x400, 4x200, 4x100. First lesson learnt was I have no idea about pacing. The second was how hard running on the track is.
The rest of the week was a mix of swim, bike and run, the only session worth noting was a nice trail run on Saturday at Delamere Forest with Ray and Andy. Included a run up a hill and some great trails.
Totals for the week - 11h44
Swim 11910m - 4h55
Bike 82km - 3h30
Run 20.8km - 2h29
Nov 25th - Dec 1st
Track on Monday night and a repeat of the previous weeks session. It was a cold evening though and it was actually quite slippery with a thin layer of ice on the top end of the track. A tough workout as always, but feeling the benefit.
A good solid swim on Tuesday, followed by a short run on Wednesday morning. Wednesday evening I did the trainerroad FTP test to see what improvements the 6 week sweetspot program had brought. At the start I had tested at 214 watts, but I had left it set at 219 watts from the previous test as felt lowering it was a step back. The new test gave me 221 watts so a 7 watt improvement over the last test and a good result.
I was in Bradford on Thursday so couldn't train in the morning but was able to get to circuits in the evening for another good session. Swim Friday morning was a drills session and in the evening was supposed to be turbo session. I managed 2 minutes before deciding that I couldn't be arsed. This carried over into Saturday and I actually ended up taking an unscheduled rest day which involved not a lot except eating. I did manage to do a 2 hour session on the turbo on Sunday at a nice easy pace, so the week actually ended more of a recovery week than anything.
Totals for the week- 8h07
Swim 6600m - 2h35
Bike 69km - 3h
Run 12.8k - 1h35
The Hellrunner was still in the legs come Monday evening, but there was no letting up as we were finished with the drills based weeks and it was time to start the intervals on the track. As a base from which you measure progress the main part of the session was a 2.4k time trial. The instruction from Andy the coach was simple "don't leave anything out there, I don't want to see anyone sprinting in the last 100, you give it everything". It was without a doubt 6 extremely hard laps at an effort level I'm not looking forward to repeating to often. My time for the 2.4k was 11:51. The coughing fit as a result of the cold evening and the effort level lasted for a couple of days. Tuesday was a return to the turbo trainer for an hours session http://tpks.ws/ceBn
I was in London on Wednesday and had a meal booked in the evening, so after 31 days of training I finally took a well deserved recovery day.
Thursday was a return to circuits with Carl, another strength and sweatfest usually involving far many burpees.
Finally got back in to the pool on Friday morning; it definitely makes a difference if you take a break of a few days from swimming as you can tell the lack of feel for the water. In the evening it was another hour on the turbo. Saturday I went down to Delamere Forest and met with coach Andy, Ray Tighe and Caroline for an early run. A nice mix of easy trails, hill reps and single track muddy fun. A nice way to start the day for certain. In the evening it was the Warrington Tri swim session. Sunday morning I hit the pool again for a drill session, and then went straight up to the gym to knock out a 5k on the treadmill. I've said it before that I'm not a mad fan of the treadmill, but once in a while it's a novelty. To finish the day of it was 90 mins on the turbo trainer http://tpks.ws/EtzG
Totals for the week - 9h26
Swim - 8757m - 2h36
Bike - 82km - 3h30
Run - 19.8km - 2h21
Nov 11th - 17th
Back to the track on Monday evening, this time was an 800m time trial, this would set the basis for all the work to follow. Time was a 3:20, once established we then ran 2x400, 2x200 and 2x100. It was definitely a tough session.
On Tuesday I travelled down to Leicestershire to visit and old friend from my triathlon past who now runs a great bike fitting company. http://www.speedhub.co.uk/ the day was spent chatting about old and new times whilst sat astride the Retul bike trying to work out my fit for the bike. One thing that we did discover and a reason for my numb feet was that I have a shorter left leg but also wide hips. With a variety of recommendations in hand I have a few changes I now need to make to my bike (£££££). I may also need to look for another tri frame as the road frame is going to get nowhere near close enough to simulate the position for training on. Wednesday was a chance to run in my favourite place, Hartshill Hayes. I just love running there, so many paths, terrain and routes to choose from. Even Jasper ran with me without causing me any problems. In the afternoon I set my turbo up in the parents garage for a 60min sweatfest. When I finished it was cold enough that I was actually steaming.
Back up t'north on Thursday and it was circuits in the evening. The weeks swimming was all knocked out over the next three days starting on Friday with a paddles session, club swim Saturday and then long sets on Sunday. There was also a couple of turbo sessions and a 10k run to round off the week.
Totals for the week - 10h52
Swim 8750m -3h50
Bike 86km - 3h30
Run 23k - 2h41
Nov 18th - 24th
Monday night is track night, and using the previous weeks base 800m time, 4x400, 4x200, 4x100. First lesson learnt was I have no idea about pacing. The second was how hard running on the track is.
The rest of the week was a mix of swim, bike and run, the only session worth noting was a nice trail run on Saturday at Delamere Forest with Ray and Andy. Included a run up a hill and some great trails.
Totals for the week - 11h44
Swim 11910m - 4h55
Bike 82km - 3h30
Run 20.8km - 2h29
Nov 25th - Dec 1st
Track on Monday night and a repeat of the previous weeks session. It was a cold evening though and it was actually quite slippery with a thin layer of ice on the top end of the track. A tough workout as always, but feeling the benefit.
A good solid swim on Tuesday, followed by a short run on Wednesday morning. Wednesday evening I did the trainerroad FTP test to see what improvements the 6 week sweetspot program had brought. At the start I had tested at 214 watts, but I had left it set at 219 watts from the previous test as felt lowering it was a step back. The new test gave me 221 watts so a 7 watt improvement over the last test and a good result.
I was in Bradford on Thursday so couldn't train in the morning but was able to get to circuits in the evening for another good session. Swim Friday morning was a drills session and in the evening was supposed to be turbo session. I managed 2 minutes before deciding that I couldn't be arsed. This carried over into Saturday and I actually ended up taking an unscheduled rest day which involved not a lot except eating. I did manage to do a 2 hour session on the turbo on Sunday at a nice easy pace, so the week actually ended more of a recovery week than anything.
Totals for the week- 8h07
Swim 6600m - 2h35
Bike 69km - 3h
Run 12.8k - 1h35
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