Sunday 15 September 2013

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.