Week 4 - have I really earned a rest?

Week 4 of the plan is a "rest and absorb" week. However, as parts of week 5 and 6 will be something of an enforced rest for me due to a work trip, and since I didn't really do week 1 justice, I'm going to keep up the effort this week as much as I can, and repeat last week's sets. Easter's coming up and it's supposed to get cold and nasty, so we'll see what happens particularly with regard to the bike, but that's my aim!

Mon: swim 1400m inc. 4 x 100m fast as main set, plus drills, kick, warm up and cool down; run 45min steady
Tue: bike 50min inc 6x30s efforts
Wed: swim 1400m inc. 4 x 100m mixed as main set, plus drills, kick, warm up and cool down; run 35min inc. 8x30s efforts
Thu: gym, core strength
Fri: swim 1700m inc. 1200m moderate; run 40 steady
Sat: rest
Sun: steady bike, 2h - 2h30


Photo: Resting by RaGardner4, on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Tracking week 3

 

  
Another daily-update progress post as it worked well last week and saves me finding a photo every day :)

Swim 1400m inc. 4 x 100m fast as main set, plus drills, kick, warm up and cool down
Monday lunchtime. Cramming the session in between meetings meant I had just 30 mins pool time so I cut the drills and kick. Total session was 1200m inc. 4 x 100m (8:40 including 30s total rest). Would have preferred to be under 8:00 for the swimming time but hopefully that will improve.
Run 45min steady
Monday night. 10:13/mile but I was slow at the start and got quicker as I warmed up. Really a recovery run I think.
Bike 50min inc 6x30s efforts
Tuesday lunchtime. Same course as last Tuesday but 4 mins quicker thanks to doing it on the road bike not the commuter bike. Started the efforts in the same place and finished 1-200m sooner, although fudged them a bit in the middle to avoid meeting a right turn mid effort. Can't decide whether I should be more pleased that I was 4 mins quicker today or only 4 mins slower on the heavy bike :)
Swim 1400m inc. 4 x 100m mixed as main set, plus drills, kick, warm up and cool down
Wednesday lunchtime. Got the whole lot in this time, drills, kicks and all! Spurred on by being slightly narked at a lady who was significantly slower than me but got in my lane (so far, so good - I don't have a problem sharing) but then refused to give way even once, despite me being on her toes at the end of a length several times. Grrr.
Run 35min inc. 8x30s efforts
Wednesday morning. I did the 35 mins but failed on the efforts. I fitted this in as a run to work, i.e. before breakfast, and there was quite literally nothing in the tank for even dinky sprints. I'll know better next time. However, the average speed was quicker than Monday night!
Run 40 steady
Friday afternoon - took it easy and made it 50 mins instead. Garmin was out of battery but it was around 4.9 miles in 51 minutes. A lovely easy run, all the better for 45 minutes catching up with Lizzie on the way out.
Bike, 2h - 2h30 steady
Sunday morning, 2:25 / 38 miles (15.9mph) down to Sibton for a pub lunch. And a lift home :) Cycling solo actually felt quite tough, and once into Suffolk there were a few more ups and downs to contend with, but the miles trundled past quickly enough. I stopped at 20 miles to consume a hot cross bun, and again at the top of a hill around 30 miles to take on my emergency gel. But a nice stretch of Roman road with a downhill slant finished things off nicely!

To do:
Gym, core strength work killed this one - bah.
Swim 1700m inc. 1200m moderate guess who forgot the pool closes for 50m/25m changeover from 9am-9.40 on Fridays? d'oh.


Photo: First Place Step By Step by Evalia England, on Flickr

Coming up in Week 3...

 

Week 2 is done, and I'm feeling positive :)  This is a quick post just to get the plan in place for week 3...

Mon: swim 1400m inc. 4 x 100m fast as main set, plus drills, kick, warm up and cool down; run 45min steady
Tue: bike 50min inc 6x30s efforts
Wed: swim 1400m inc. 4 x 100m mixed as main set, plus drills, kick, warm up and cool down; run 35min inc. 8x30s efforts
Thu: gym, core strength
Fri: swim 1700m inc. 1200m moderate; run 40 steady
Sat: rest
Sun: steady bike, 2h - 2h30

Photo: The road ahead by Piero Sierra, on Flickr

Progress so far...

 

(This post is being updated as I tick off my sessions. We'll see if this way helps focus/motivation!)

Swim intervals, target 1400m: done, Monday lunchtime.
200m warmup, 150m drills, 8 x (25m fast, 25m slow, 25m fast, 25m slow, 10s rest), 150m kick, 200m cooldown. Total 1500m, time 38 minutes.
Main set: 2:03, 2:12, 2:09, 2:10, 2:09, 2:09, 2:09, 2:09   
Really pleased with the consistency of the later ones, and the speed of the first one! The session felt good - nothing like drills and kick sets to make 'normal' swimming feel swift and smooth!
Steady run, target 40 min @ 10 min miles: done, Monday evening.
Waterworks Road, 50 mins, 5 miles.
Claudia's last run before leaving the UK for her new job in Germany - we will miss her!
Bike 'power intervals': done, Tuesday lunchtime.
A loop out to Barford, just shy of 14 miles in 55 minutes. Moderate pace, with 6 x (30s sprint, 2:00 recovery) in the middle (4-8mi).  
Really enjoyable ride with Alice in the sunshine - a good route with just about the right amount of up and down to be a bit challenging when it coincides with the efforts.
Fartlek run, target 40 min @ 10 min miles, inc. sprints @ 7-8 min miles: done, Wednesday lunchtime.
Waitrose loop, but the short version, down the hill and over the metal bridge to cut back as early as possible. Cheese-pop efforts along Colney Lane (up the pace for the chorus of a cheesy pop song, recover during the verse). Steady pace largely 10 min mi or above, max effort pace 6:09/mi :)
It was a squeeze workwise but I did it in 28 mins in the blazing sun (OK, about 14°C).
Swim long intervals, target 1500m: done, Friday morning.
200m warmup, 1200m steady (27:02), 200m cooldown, total 1600m. Good session, during which bizarrely I felt strongest about two thirds of the way through the main set. A few pauses for goggle/noseclip faffing and to let my lane-mate overtake means I should be under 27:00 on a clear run.
Parkrun, target 29 minutes: done, Saturday morning (when else?!)
Official time 28:15, watch time 28:00 on the nose. Average 9 min mile. 
I'm really pleased with this. It was tough at times given I had pretty tired legs from this week's other training, but I kept going and even managed a sprint finish. Listening to music really helped get me round.
Long bike, target 30-40 miles @ 12-13mph: done, Sunday afternoon.
Went out with Clare and did 34 miles at 14.4mph.
Not the 50-60 planned at the start of the week, as unexpected social plans came up and I got to catch up with friends I don't see very often. But we made the most of the later daylight and headed out at 4.30, and achieved the 30-40 I had revised my plans to. A slightly hilly (for Norfolk) route, I think we did pretty well overall. It dropped decidedly chilly towards the end but it really was another glorious spring ride.

Still to do:
Swim moderate intervals, target 1500m - cutting this one this week; didn't think I had time for both a swim and a run on Weds, and it was a lovely day so Going Outside won.
Gym: target 40 min weights/core. Please miss, I forgot my kit. Totally failed to appreciate I used my "work" set of kit for running the day before. What a berk. Went for a walk instead!

Photo: Step by step by markb120, on Flickr

Let's try that again, shall we?

 

OK, I admit it - a bit of a false start last week. Work stuff ate my lunchtimes :( And then it all just unravelled, although I take the blame for letting it go to such an extent.

I managed:

1. A 50-minute run on Monday evening
2. A 30-minute swim squeezed in on Wednesday
3. A 3h+ bike ride on Sunday (which was excellent, considering it was only my second this year)

It's significantly better than nothing, but nowhere near what I planned. I feel like I am in a better place mentally this week, though. It's time to get aspirational again, and this week I WILL be ticking off a LOT more (i.e. at least 2 of each discipline) of the following:

Mon: Swim mixed intervals (1400m total) and steady run (40 min)
Tue: Bike 'power intervals' (short sharp speed bursts, within 60 min ride)
Wed: Swim moderate intervals (1500m total) and fartlek run 40 min inc. sprints
Thurs: Gym: weights/core
Fri: Swim long intervals (1500m total)
Sat: Steady parkrun
Sun: Long bike (aiming for 50-60 miles)

I would write more, but I need to get to the pool :)

Photo: Moncton 2010 IAAF World Jr Championships - Day 3 by Stephen Downes, on Flickr

The Plan starts here

 

And good grief, it's looking like quite some plan. Still, start as you mean to go on and all. It's based on rate of perceived exertion (RPE), i.e. things like "moderate" and "speed" rather than a specific pace, so I can ease into it if needed. But all the half-Ironman plans in the book are based on nine sessions a week - I haven't been doing that many lately so I will see how it goes and if necessary start from 2 sessions in each discipline and work up to 3 over the first few weeks.

The thing that's really tricky to fit in is weekday bike rides before the clocks go forward. The bikes in the gym are hugely uncomfortable. Heading out before work means I meet people rat-running on the country lanes. I could go in to work on my road bike and then head out at lunchtime but then it's hard to carry things to the office. But if it's for intervals and building up speed/strength then I reckon training on my everyday bike won't hurt, for one session a week. It may also work out that I just do these sessions on my one day off a week, on my road bike, from home. The second (steady) weekday bike session I will convert to a gym session for core strength.

Anyway, one step at a time. This week's plan looks like this:

Mon: Swim mixed intervals (1300m total) and steady run (35 min)
Tue: Bike 'power intervals' (short sharp speed bursts, within 50 min ride)
Wed: Swim moderate intervals (1400m total) and fartlek run (35 min inc. sprints) / or rest
Thurs: Gym
Fri: Swim long intervals (1500m total) and steady run (45 min)
Sat: rest
Sun: Steady bike (1h15)

Let's see what happens...

Photo: Feb 20 (Day 51): To Do List by dmachiavello, on Flickr

Base building

 

One week left of base-building and then the plan starts. After crisis week the other week, annoyingly things have got more pressured work-wise and lunchtime sport has slipped. I have, however, returned to running club sessions even if Thursday was 'effortless efforts' with fellow returnees from injury, Hannah and Hugh. After next week my schedule at work should get better, but I will be putting my training plan into my diary as more or less immovable fixtures just to make sure.

So where's my base? I'm running reasonably comfortably at about 9:30 per mile for up to 45-50 minutes, and can happily throw in a fartlek session including (if my Garmin is to be believed) under 7 min miling for very short bursts. I'm swimming comfortably, not doing any more than 40 minutes at a time but again playing about with speed and effort. I haven't been out on my road bike yet this year (oops) but am looking to rectify that very soon! And despite the chaos I'm back to 3 exercise sessions per week as a minimum, and even better my ankle is healing up nicely - pretty much healed, I would say.

Nearly time to start building upwards... bring it on :)

Photo: foundation by paul goyette, on Flickr

Un-lost property

 

I found it! My Garmin wasn't lost, it had fallen off my desk on to a little ledge where I couldn't see it. I'm so glad to know I am not stupid enough to leave it in the shower room...

In other news, my manic weekend did allow me time for a walk (!) to work with my camera in hand, capturing the snow we got dumped overnight. My determination not to derail is so far still intact, although I am feeling the pressure. Five days to go. With a repeated thaw-freeze cycle forecast for the week, I think there might be heavy use made of my Sportspark card this week for swimming and gymming - since I'm not keen on the idea of respraining my ankle. 

Photos: 215/365 - Tan Lines by aithom2, on Flickr; UEA sledgers 2 by ermintrude75 (me!), on Flickr

Staying on track

Potential distraction ahoy - a bit of an issue with a work deadline coming up. No point in dwelling on the whats or the whys, just a staement: I'm not going to let this derail me so early on. A week or so and it will all be over (it's a bit of a concentrated crisis, this one), but a lot of damage could be done in a week, mentally if nothing else. If I stick with the plan and keep running, biking and gymming this week as planned, I'll get some important mental space and energy to get me through the deadline. And as an aside, I'm not going to get through it by eating crap either.

The last week's been pretty good and I look forward to building on it. Another mile swum (broken into 4 fast, 4 slow x 8), a good gym session, and two runs - the last one at 9:29/mile for 3.6 miles and feeling pretty good. On the downside, I managed to lose my Garmin :( - think I left it in the shower room at work, so here's hoping Lost Property can help...

Staying on track.. by etgeek (Eric), on Flickr

What a difference...

...new goggles make. Barely knew they were there. So refreshing not to be emptying them every 4 lengths, or have them digging into my face.

I was so happy, I did a mile! Except I didn't. My counting skills failed me and I did 62 lengths. I was hitting the lap button on my watch after each 100m, but either I got super-fast around 500m or I only did 50m that time. D'oh. Multiplied up I would have done the mile in about 38:15, or just under 36s per length. There was a pretty straight fade from 32s/25m to 37s/25m over the session. Anyway, it's not pretty, but it's a baseline.

Right, I'm off to watch Sesame Street now and practice my counting for next time.

Photo: skydiving by dollie_mixtures, on Flickr

Take aim...

Pondering is done. I have a monster in my sights. This one. So, a middle distance/half ironman it is - let's see if I can NOT get a puncture, and beat 7hrs this time. The course is flat, so no hills to slow me down, but on a windy day cycling in the Fens will be a b*gger... but the swim is downstream at least!

I've also signed up to Norwich Tri (aiming again for sub 3hrs, this time I'll remember to refuel on the bike). The 20-week plans I am looking at have an Olympic distance tri at 16 weeks - this one's a bit early but there is wiggle room as I'm starting early. R(ace) minus 20 weeks makes April 2nd for the start of The Plan, or 12th March if I want to hit the oly at 16w and have an extra 3w between then and the full (half) monty, which sounds better.

I've got 6 weeks between now and 12th March to get myself running, swimming and biking to a level that's ready to go. Sounds good. Bring it on.


Hanako! by sally_monster, on Flickr

New year...

OK, so last year kind of went out with a feeble whimper, as evidenced by this blog. Some issues turned up and squashed a lot of things (like enthusiasm and motivation for a start), and winter has been cold and dark so far in more ways than one. What I have learned, though, is that these things do not magically resolve themselves, and happy endings don't just appear because you think you don't deserve any more crap. At some point you have to lend a helping hand to make good things happen - like going looking for them.

If I hesitate to make full-on resolutions, I can at least take stock. 2011 was a mixed year, some good times, but overshadowed in the end by things outside my control - including work trips, neverending colds, back pain, and finally a badly sprained ankle which has me laid off running for a week or two yet, to be followed by a slow comeback. Taking a long, hard look at what I did with the year, I could certainly have done better - both Waveneys were lacklustre, to say the least, and while my 5k time got better within the year, I'm a way off my best. The adventure race weekend was the real shining highlight, though, and if nothing else I am glad I did that. But compared to a year ago I'm less fit, more fat, and I sure as hell don't want to be sitting here next year thinking "could have done better" all over again. I need to train - even if I don't make the start line for whatever reason, time spent training is never wasted, right?

So I'm looking for a race to focus on. Nothing too big, but just the right amount of pressure to keep me motivated. No big trip abroad (i.e. flying) tied up with it, and nothing any longer than I've done before. Ironman 70.3 Ireland (Galway) is a contender, but I'm still checking out options closer to home like the Ely Monster middle distance. Another adventure race is massively tempting, although the only Questar weekenders are Exmoor or the South Downs - not quite as handy as one on my back doorstep in Thetford. A side adventure that's looking good is the ~120 mile overnight Dunwich Dynamo, and I hope I'll be up to running a selection of local races just for fun, but for my main focus I really want something multisport. I'll find out what my buddies are doing, but my main goal will be for me.

Hmm... time to sit down with a cuppa, a laptop, and the training bible, and have a good old think...

Happy New Year 2012! by Creativity103, on Flickr

A shout out!

I've just seen that I got a shout in the Blogger News section of my favourite podcast, Two Fit Chicks And A Microphone! That's made my day, especially as I can now download the new episode to listen to as I fly to Vancouver tomorrow... thanks, Fit Chicks! But how embarrassing to be caught out being a blogging slackarse... *blush*

Photo: a.k.a. Flow by lars_in_japan, on Flickr

Getting adventurous

Something a little different - a Questars three-discipline adventure race weekend, comprising kayaking, trail running and mountain biking. I took part in this along with Clare and Rosie (as Tri-Girls Cubed), and Trish, Debbie and Debbie's friend Birgit (as Adventure Girls), making up two teams of three in the Novice Ladies category. The overall event consists of a number of rounds combining kayak, run and/or bike with a few other activities. In each round you have a map and notes for number of checkpoints for each activity; CPs have a points value attached and you 'dib' an electronic widget to get the points. The route and the number of CPs you do are totally up to you, but there's a bonus for completing a colour set and a penalty for coming back late.

The weekend went like this:

Friday evening: arrived and set up camp. The campsite (ok, field - this was not glamping!) was gently buzzing and the friendly atmosphere was one of the things that really made the whole weekend. Clare, Trish and I got our tents up in the dark, tucked into nachos (pre-race fuel of champions) from the catering tent, enjoyed a fabulous view of the stars in the absence of light pollution, and then retreated for the night as the cold and damp drew in. Well, Trish retreated to her four solid walls at home, while Clare and I toughed it out under canvas...

Saturday morning: a dewy and misty start (and early, with trains whooshing past from 0630), but the temperature soon rose as the sun appeared just in time for breakfast. Our team mates arrived and we prepped the bikes and enjoyed the campsite banter before heading off for the race briefing - thankfully pretty comprehensive, which allayed some of our novice nerves. An hour later it was time for round 1: up to 50 minutes' kayak, followed by running to make a total time allocation of 200 minutes. Paddling straight in a two-person kayak was the most difficult of the weekend's activities, and must have provided much entertainment for those watching. Still, we got a few CPs, returned the kayak on time, and headed out on the run. By now (~11am) the sun was blazing but thankfully the trails included many shady forest paths. We completed about 7 miles of running plus the teambuilding type activity (a compulsory check-in, even if you chose not to complete it) to finish in around 150 minutes - strategic thinking having suggested that finishing early and saving our legs for the bike was better than breaking our necks to try and get to and from just one more CP. Our score of 185 put us in third place for our class, with Adventure Girls ahead on 195.

After a couple of hours' break and it was on to round 2, a 150 minute mountain bike course with the challenge activity being a sample of the High Lodge orienteering course. We found this tough going after a morning on foot, but with 40 points on offer (as much as the highest-value CP) for a couple of miles, we decided to go for it at the start of the round. After that we clocked up around 13 miles on the bike trails around Brandon Country Park, and a rather nice fast stretch of the High Lodge exit road, pausing to help out when we stumbled over Trish dealing with a puncture, but clocking up 190 points to come top of our class in that event.


Another change of kit, some dinner (curry was on offer from the caterers, not ideal but it was that or nachos again!), and round 3 saw a night trail run of up to 75 minutes and the surreal experience of scampering around the forest with a bunch of other people wearing head torches. Feeling pretty weary by now, and mindful of the big final round in the morning, we took it easy and stayed close to home while the Adventure Girls ventured a little further and picked up 20 more points. We weren't the only ones run-walking, with some people obviously limping or otherwise suffering a bit. I managed to twist my ankle on an uneven track, and Clare's knee was also becoming painful, but we both held up well to complete the round and pick up 15 bonus points for coming in under 60 minutes. We sat around for a little while to wind down, but again it was getting chilly so we called it a night pretty early.

Sunday's round was all three disciplines, 240 minutes for novices, with a fixed 60 minute slot for the kayak and then the split between run and bike up to each team. With a couple of injuries between us and some impressive blisters that I seemed to develop overnight, Tri-Girls opted to play to our strengths and maximise bike time.We still had to hit one run CP to avoid a 100-point penalty, but with one about half a mile from transition that requirement was taken care of quickly to leave us three hours for the bike and the challenge activity (a brain teaser this time). We followed our previous successful strategy of heading for the distant, high-value CPs and covered around 18 miles in total, with just one "where the hell is it?" moment and one particularly slow trudge up a tortuous sandy hill (Harling Drove, which some may remember as the old off-road section of RNR stage 13). We came in with 15 minutes to spare and 335 points gained, second in our class just ahead of Aventure Girls with 300. We celebrated our finish with a dip in the river (some dipping more than others...)

All told, we amassed 800 points in just over 9:30 total time, coming second in Novice Ladies, with Adventure Girls hot on our heels in third, getting 753 points in 10:30. Nice job, ladies!

Overall verdict: absolutely fantastic! Of course, the incredible weather helped, and I'm not sure what I'd be saying if it had been pouring all weekend, but we had the most amazing time. We came home tired, sore, sunburned, blistered and bruised but with very big grins! The best thing was that the whole weekend was really friendly with lots of hellos and smiles when you passed other competitors on the trails, and a good buzz to the campsite. The team aspect was also a nice contrast to the often solitary nature of triathlons.

The season's over now, but I would really recommend these races to anyone looking for something different for next year. Entries open soon, and you can enter solo as well as in a team of 2, 3 or 4, and you can do a Duo event if you don't want to kayak. This particular one's right on our doorstep (and uncovers some glorious bits of Thetford forest to boot), but there are others, mostly down south, and including one-day events as well as weekends. The challenge is pitched just right so that you can push yourself a bit whatever fitness/experience level you start from - it needs a bit of thought and strategy as well as speed and endurance, and of course you can have your own little competition going if you're with friends! Here's hoping for more next year...