This week was another good training week, not scheduling any training in the evening seems to be working pretty well at the moment, I'm still hitting the hours that I want to but am not having to miss sessions due to work. I'd ideally like to get an extra run session in but am not too fussed as the moment.
I think that my swimming is continuing to slowly improve, I feel like I am back at the pace that I was at before I changed my stroke and am now comfortable breathing to both sides, in fact so much so that breathing every two strokes feels really odd now, I can see why I was unbalanced before.
I commuted on the bike 4 days this week and ran in on the other day, Monday was a bit of a nightmare as it was pouring with rain and the traffic was nose to tail the whole way in so it took me over an hour to get in to work (usually takes about 40 mins).
The weekends training was good, legs are pretty sore (although Erika's massage has helped that out a fair bit) but after the victorious 4km run on Saturday morning I came home and got on the bike for 5.5 hours, it was dry but pretty cold, 3 degrees at first rising to a tropical 6 degrees by the time I got back. I've now got the power meter that Erika got me for my birthday installed so was interesting to see some different data whilst riding. I rode round to Dorking on the A25, lots of undulations, and then went over Box Hill before heading back.
Today's run was scheduled for 2 hours 40 mins, ans it was raining steadily as I headed out, didn't bother me too much though and I was fairly happy with the run, legs were pretty tired on the way back home so I struggled to get my heart rate up but I cracked the 30km distance for the first time. I don't ever plan to run for more than 3 hours as beyond that you don't really get much return for your training other than injuries so I'll be holding the long run at around this length of time for a while and just trying to continue to get stronger. I have a similar week of training planned for this week, then next week will be a recovery week, Erika and I are doing a 10km race on Sunday 8th.
This weeks training totals were as follows:
Swim - 7.5km (4.7 miles) - 2 hour 44 mins
Bike - 305.1km (190.7 miles) - 12 hours 23 mins
Run - 51.6km (32.3 miles) - 4 hours 25 mins
Total training time - 19 hours 32 mins
Monday, 26 January 2009
My first ever 'race' win
Ok, so not strictly a race but I did post the fastest time at the 4km time trial that I did on Saturday morning. I think I was helped by the fact that they started using two waves with anyone who hadn't done it before starting 30 seconds after those that had. That meant that as I was allowed to go I had plenty of people to chase down.
There were 44 people in the event and I set of at the front of the second group. By the 1km mark I had caught and passed all but about 5 of the other runners that started in front of me then I set about trying to catch the others. Not having done any sort of speed work for a few months it was pretty tough going and felt a bit strange to have my heart rate so high after all the long slow running and biking. I got up to 3rd and could see the two guys in front but wasn't making much of an impression. I had an extra 30 seconds and knew that I would be at least second but it would be close for first. Went as hard as I could and crossed the line in 16.09, would have liked to have been a bit quicker but overall was happy.
Checked the times with the timekeeper and luckily for me, without anyone challenging him the guy at the front came in on 16.10.
Here's the proof:
http://www.sherunsheruns.co.uk/timetrial/index.cfm?event=page.race&race_id=1618
Not a real win as looking at the other guys previous times I'm sure he would have gone quicker if I was on his shoulder but is a nice ego boost all the same!
Plus I bet he didn't then go out and do a 5.5 hour ride afterwards! I had another good week of training hitting all of my sessions, I'll post some details of my week once I've updated my training log.
There were 44 people in the event and I set of at the front of the second group. By the 1km mark I had caught and passed all but about 5 of the other runners that started in front of me then I set about trying to catch the others. Not having done any sort of speed work for a few months it was pretty tough going and felt a bit strange to have my heart rate so high after all the long slow running and biking. I got up to 3rd and could see the two guys in front but wasn't making much of an impression. I had an extra 30 seconds and knew that I would be at least second but it would be close for first. Went as hard as I could and crossed the line in 16.09, would have liked to have been a bit quicker but overall was happy.
Checked the times with the timekeeper and luckily for me, without anyone challenging him the guy at the front came in on 16.10.
Here's the proof:
http://www.sherunsheruns.co.uk/timetrial/index.cfm?event=page.race&race_id=1618
Not a real win as looking at the other guys previous times I'm sure he would have gone quicker if I was on his shoulder but is a nice ego boost all the same!
Plus I bet he didn't then go out and do a 5.5 hour ride afterwards! I had another good week of training hitting all of my sessions, I'll post some details of my week once I've updated my training log.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Erika thinks I'm a loser...
I'm clearly a bit OCD about my training and like to keep a record of exactly what I have been doing. I spent a couple of hour the other day sorting out the spreadsheet that I use to record it all and it now draws nice graphs for me, here's one showing the total hours of training per week for 2008:
I did the Geelong Half Ironman in Feb and then lost my bike whilst it was on the boat on the way back to England so whilst travelling I only did some running. The last couple of weeks of the year were low due to illness, total for the whole year was 471 hours 45 mins.
I did the Geelong Half Ironman in Feb and then lost my bike whilst it was on the boat on the way back to England so whilst travelling I only did some running. The last couple of weeks of the year were low due to illness, total for the whole year was 471 hours 45 mins.
Solid training week
Last week was a really good week training wise, back to work so getting some 'free' training by commuting in on the bike most days and running in 1 day. I'm now not scheduling any training in the evenings (apart from a recovery swim on a Monday) due to work starting to get busy so it is nice to be able to hit all of my sessions even if the total number is lower than it has been.
After a few weekends of poor weather, and poor health, I decided to bring the ride time for my long rides on a Saturday back down a bit to make sure that I am not overdoing it, plenty of time for mega rides when the weather improves.
I woke up nice and early on Saturday wanting to get going on the bike but could hear rain hammering down on the windows. The BBC reliably told me that it was going to be fine once the rain cleared so I waited for 30 minutes and headed out. Was no longer raining but wet roads needed some care. I was planning on 4 hours 45 mins of riding and set out with the intention of taking on some hills. Things were going well, enjoyed a couple of decent climbs although had to come back down the other side very carefully due to slippery roads which is no fun and the skies were nice and blue. As I was on my way down towards Tonbridge on a road that I hadn't ridden before I was greeted by a rogue cloud that decided I would like a hail storm for a bout 20 minutes not only soaking me right through but also quite painful as you are being pelted in the face by lumps of ice, was pleased when that passed although my feet never regained feeling from that point home! Erika gave me a slightly strange look when I got home, my face was covered in muck off the roads, that would explain the odd looks I was getting from people in their cars!
Sunday's long run was good, same time as last week (2.5 hours) but this time I tried to move my heart rate up a little within the zone that I was aiming for, in the end my average HR was only 1 or 2 beats higher than last week but I managed to cover an extra km so the run was 28.5km in total (17.8 miles). I was on for an even split but the last couple of km before home are uphill so I lost about 90 seconds there, was pretty tired when I got home though.
Training totals for the week were:
Swim - 7.6km (4.75 miles) - 2 hours 44 mins
Bike - 254km (158.8 miles) - 10 hours 10 mins
Run - 44.4km (27.8 miles) - 3 hours 51 mins
Strength work - 20 mins
Total training time - 17 hours 6 minutes
I'd like to get another run in during the week as I only did 2 runs but was generally happy with the structure and fitting it in around work (although the alarm clock is not currently my friend)
Erika is getting back into running again with coach Rob writing the program so we're off to do a 4km time trial this Saturday. I haven't tried to run 'fast' for ages so it will be interesting to see what I can do, we used to run that sort of distance as a time trial regularly in Melbourne (although there was a big hill in the middle of the course) but back then I was doing a lot more work on running quicker rather than purely focusing on developing the endurance. Being ultra competitive I will still give it everything, will be going for a 5 hour+ ride afterward though so that could be interesting.
After a few weekends of poor weather, and poor health, I decided to bring the ride time for my long rides on a Saturday back down a bit to make sure that I am not overdoing it, plenty of time for mega rides when the weather improves.
I woke up nice and early on Saturday wanting to get going on the bike but could hear rain hammering down on the windows. The BBC reliably told me that it was going to be fine once the rain cleared so I waited for 30 minutes and headed out. Was no longer raining but wet roads needed some care. I was planning on 4 hours 45 mins of riding and set out with the intention of taking on some hills. Things were going well, enjoyed a couple of decent climbs although had to come back down the other side very carefully due to slippery roads which is no fun and the skies were nice and blue. As I was on my way down towards Tonbridge on a road that I hadn't ridden before I was greeted by a rogue cloud that decided I would like a hail storm for a bout 20 minutes not only soaking me right through but also quite painful as you are being pelted in the face by lumps of ice, was pleased when that passed although my feet never regained feeling from that point home! Erika gave me a slightly strange look when I got home, my face was covered in muck off the roads, that would explain the odd looks I was getting from people in their cars!
Sunday's long run was good, same time as last week (2.5 hours) but this time I tried to move my heart rate up a little within the zone that I was aiming for, in the end my average HR was only 1 or 2 beats higher than last week but I managed to cover an extra km so the run was 28.5km in total (17.8 miles). I was on for an even split but the last couple of km before home are uphill so I lost about 90 seconds there, was pretty tired when I got home though.
Training totals for the week were:
Swim - 7.6km (4.75 miles) - 2 hours 44 mins
Bike - 254km (158.8 miles) - 10 hours 10 mins
Run - 44.4km (27.8 miles) - 3 hours 51 mins
Strength work - 20 mins
Total training time - 17 hours 6 minutes
I'd like to get another run in during the week as I only did 2 runs but was generally happy with the structure and fitting it in around work (although the alarm clock is not currently my friend)
Erika is getting back into running again with coach Rob writing the program so we're off to do a 4km time trial this Saturday. I haven't tried to run 'fast' for ages so it will be interesting to see what I can do, we used to run that sort of distance as a time trial regularly in Melbourne (although there was a big hill in the middle of the course) but back then I was doing a lot more work on running quicker rather than purely focusing on developing the endurance. Being ultra competitive I will still give it everything, will be going for a 5 hour+ ride afterward though so that could be interesting.
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