My bike

And now for a piece of gorgeousness my Equinox :-)

Well they say red bikes are quicker - an no it is not an ex post office bike Johnners :-)

My bike

And now for a piece of gorgeousness my Equinox :-)

Well they say red bikes are quicker - an no it is not an ex post office bike Johnners :-)

Catch up from a few days

Well I have been busy over the past few days - as such I have really struggled to get this written. My last post was on Friday and Saturday was a rest day - thankfully, I was really quite tired!!

SUNDAY

Sunday was a big day - I set out for a mini Oly distance practice - the intention was to Swim for 30min, bike 2hrs, run 30mins. Below are the pictures of the day

I jumped in the pool all trisuited up with my transition area (T1) set up in the car. I managed 2000m in the pool with the first 400m at RPE7-8 (5min 50s ish) in just under 30min - managing to annoy most of the other pool occupiers!! Oh well.....

Out of the pool and into socks - wet (need talc - forgot that one) and shoes...onto the bike for a quick 1hr 46mins, below are the data and route used (the start/finish is Westonbirt school).

If you look closely on the data track you can see my speed drops significantly in the middle, twice, this was when my aero bars decided to shift sideways - quick use of allen key later and I was off again!

Again I used a circular lap based route as I really want to get use to going over the same area more than once to practice negative splitting (i.e. going quicker on the second lap than the first!). One other interesting things I remembered as I was going round the route was how hard it is to drink lots of fluid - this is important as I managed to dehydrate pretty badly - I drank 2.25L of fluids but I still needed more!!

Anyway, off the bike into Newtons and off for a 30min route which I was surprised I managed to cover 5.45km doing. A nice easy pace and I felt I could have gone on!

MONDAY

After a quick trip to Leeds in the day - really early get up...about 5am...I managed to fit in some time on the turbo in the evening - I got in 45mins of the Paris - Roublais route - using the gears to lend some effort to the session - power at over 350W :-))

TUESDAY - Long meeting in Birmingham so no training today :-(( early get up and late back

WEDNESDAY

This morning was a good swim nice and  long and relatively relaxed - focusing on stroke -reach and keeping the stroke going through to the next catch!

In total it took about 40mins for the 2300m.

200m f/s

50m kick

200m pull f/s

Downward pyramid (300m, 275m, 250m, 225m, 200m, 175m, 150, 125m, 100m)

50m c/d f/s

Then later I switched off my old Bonty aero wheels (which are now on my road bike) and put my new shiny SRAM S60s on :-))))))

Well I had to go for a blast at lunchtime - and WOW soo quick and I now know what people mean when they say good wheels spin up quickly these do - and want to keep on going. As they are 60mm deep the wind catches them every now an then but hey they are quick! See the data:

Later

I.

Catch up from a few days

Well I have been busy over the past few days - as such I have really struggled to get this written. My last post was on Friday and Saturday was a rest day - thankfully, I was really quite tired!!

SUNDAY

Sunday was a big day - I set out for a mini Oly distance practice - the intention was to Swim for 30min, bike 2hrs, run 30mins. Below are the pictures of the day

I jumped in the pool all trisuited up with my transition area (T1) set up in the car. I managed 2000m in the pool with the first 400m at RPE7-8 (5min 50s ish) in just under 30min - managing to annoy most of the other pool occupiers!! Oh well.....

Out of the pool and into socks - wet (need talc - forgot that one) and shoes...onto the bike for a quick 1hr 46mins, below are the data and route used (the start/finish is Westonbirt school).

If you look closely on the data track you can see my speed drops significantly in the middle, twice, this was when my aero bars decided to shift sideways - quick use of allen key later and I was off again!

Again I used a circular lap based route as I really want to get use to going over the same area more than once to practice negative splitting (i.e. going quicker on the second lap than the first!). One other interesting things I remembered as I was going round the route was how hard it is to drink lots of fluid - this is important as I managed to dehydrate pretty badly - I drank 2.25L of fluids but I still needed more!!

Anyway, off the bike into Newtons and off for a 30min route which I was surprised I managed to cover 5.45km doing. A nice easy pace and I felt I could have gone on!

MONDAY

After a quick trip to Leeds in the day - really early get up...about 5am...I managed to fit in some time on the turbo in the evening - I got in 45mins of the Paris - Roublais route - using the gears to lend some effort to the session - power at over 350W :-))

TUESDAY - Long meeting in Birmingham so no training today :-(( early get up and late back

WEDNESDAY

This morning was a good swim nice and  long and relatively relaxed - focusing on stroke -reach and keeping the stroke going through to the next catch!

In total it took about 40mins for the 2300m.

200m f/s

50m kick

200m pull f/s

Downward pyramid (300m, 275m, 250m, 225m, 200m, 175m, 150, 125m, 100m)

50m c/d f/s

Then later I switched off my old Bonty aero wheels (which are now on my road bike) and put my new shiny SRAM S60s on :-))))))

Well I had to go for a blast at lunchtime - and WOW soo quick and I now know what people mean when they say good wheels spin up quickly these do - and want to keep on going. As they are 60mm deep the wind catches them every now an then but hey they are quick! See the data:

Later

I.

Okay so today's exercise was in two parts - a light morning swim and a beast of a run.

The swim - a nice gentle recovery after last night:

400m f/c (with fins)

100m kick  (with fins)

400m f/c  (with fins)

100m kick  (with fins)

400m f/c

50m c/d

The run - I fitted this between work and conference calls at lunch today. A three lap route of just over 5km, I decided to do three laps rather than a long out and back as I want to build the mental side of it up (i.e. the course at Wimbleball is lap based and there is nothing more demoralising than being very tired and seeing the finish several times!!).

On the effort side it was a nice easy RPE2-3 for 75mins and then RPE5 to the finish. it took 1hr 33mins for 15.49km. No negative split today I started on lap 1 at 29min 40s and went progressively downwards with 31min 31s and 31min 17s to finish. Doing two 10%(ish) hills twice per lap was not fun though!!

Other stuff - I final decided which new wheels to buy for my bike - so I am now waiting for a pair of shiny new SRAM S60s (handmade by ZIPP for SRAM) - can't wait!!

Rest day tomorrow :-)

Later
I.

Okay so today's exercise was in two parts - a light morning swim and a beast of a run.

The swim - a nice gentle recovery after last night:

400m f/c (with fins)

100m kick  (with fins)

400m f/c  (with fins)

100m kick  (with fins)

400m f/c

50m c/d

The run - I fitted this between work and conference calls at lunch today. A three lap route of just over 5km, I decided to do three laps rather than a long out and back as I want to build the mental side of it up (i.e. the course at Wimbleball is lap based and there is nothing more demoralising than being very tired and seeing the finish several times!!).

On the effort side it was a nice easy RPE2-3 for 75mins and then RPE5 to the finish. it took 1hr 33mins for 15.49km. No negative split today I started on lap 1 at 29min 40s and went progressively downwards with 31min 31s and 31min 17s to finish. Doing two 10%(ish) hills twice per lap was not fun though!!

Other stuff - I final decided which new wheels to buy for my bike - so I am now waiting for a pair of shiny new SRAM S60s (handmade by ZIPP for SRAM) - can't wait!!

Rest day tomorrow :-)

Later
I.

Thursday

A long day yesterday not because of flights but work!! However I managed to squeeze in a good swim session. Coached by a local coach whose husband is doing the event.

Hard work but not as hard as some of the sessions in Cornwall:

300m f/c

2x200m f/c pull

400m f/c

200m f/c kick (50m with board/50m without)

400m f/c

200m (50m fly/50m f/c)

400m f/c

8x50m f/c sprints RPE7-8

100m backstroke c/d

Thursday

A long day yesterday not because of flights but work!! However I managed to squeeze in a good swim session. Coached by a local coach whose husband is doing the event.

Hard work but not as hard as some of the sessions in Cornwall:

300m f/c

2x200m f/c pull

400m f/c

200m f/c kick (50m with board/50m without)

400m f/c

200m (50m fly/50m f/c)

400m f/c

8x50m f/c sprints RPE7-8

100m backstroke c/d

Two sessions Wednesday

An early start this monring - 5.50am up and onto the bike - I had hoped for a ride on the roads this morning but when I went outside I was met by extremely thick mist with visibility below about 50m so I erred on the side of safety and went for the turbo. A solid RPE4 set on a new program "Hill repeats" which is rather evil, it starts with nice easy hills of 1-2% and ends with 6%. I did this one fasted using only Nuun for rehydration - as you can see the HRM picks up how much the HR fluctuates when fasted compared to fed (see the run data).

After taking Anja to school I went for a quick recovery run before starting work - the first 10mins or so my left shin hurt but subsequently it calmed down and the route ended up being fairly easy, RPE around 2-3.

Tomorrow I am (hopefully) going to go to the coached session at the local pool as I have to go to Blackpool and Manchester in the day so not midday training.

Later

I.

Two sessions Wednesday

An early start this monring - 5.50am up and onto the bike - I had hoped for a ride on the roads this morning but when I went outside I was met by extremely thick mist with visibility below about 50m so I erred on the side of safety and went for the turbo. A solid RPE4 set on a new program "Hill repeats" which is rather evil, it starts with nice easy hills of 1-2% and ends with 6%. I did this one fasted using only Nuun for rehydration - as you can see the HRM picks up how much the HR fluctuates when fasted compared to fed (see the run data).

After taking Anja to school I went for a quick recovery run before starting work - the first 10mins or so my left shin hurt but subsequently it calmed down and the route ended up being fairly easy, RPE around 2-3.

Tomorrow I am (hopefully) going to go to the coached session at the local pool as I have to go to Blackpool and Manchester in the day so not midday training.

Later

I.

Monday's turbo session

The data from the distance trial on Monday:

Monday's turbo session

The data from the distance trial on Monday:

Last night on the turbo

Well I had to make up for the missed time in the pool so it was a 1hr Time Trial - obviously with warm up included!! I hit 32kms at 1hr quite please - hard work though!!

Last night on the turbo

Well I had to make up for the missed time in the pool so it was a 1hr Time Trial - obviously with warm up included!! I hit 32kms at 1hr quite please - hard work though!!

My bike...only broken

This is my carbon monster - it is really quick and running off it is a dream - no jelly legs at all. The only issue I have at the moment is that I have snapped the seat post bolt - yes overenthusiastic torque wrench use!!! This is what I will be doing the course on - it is still a time trial cockpit (the bit where the drop handlebars on a road bike are) and I think I am going to see what this is like when I go down for the course intro on May 1st. The only bit I am really considering changing are the wheels as I find these a bit fragile (i.e. when I put down full power goingup a hill they flex and rub the brake blocks....

My bike...only broken

This is my carbon monster - it is really quick and running off it is a dream - no jelly legs at all. The only issue I have at the moment is that I have snapped the seat post bolt - yes overenthusiastic torque wrench use!!! This is what I will be doing the course on - it is still a time trial cockpit (the bit where the drop handlebars on a road bike are) and I think I am going to see what this is like when I go down for the course intro on May 1st. The only bit I am really considering changing are the wheels as I find these a bit fragile (i.e. when I put down full power goingup a hill they flex and rub the brake blocks....

A shortnened swim

Just a quick splash around this morning - I had hoped to do more but I had to catch a train to London for work.

2x500m RPE4-5
5x50m RPE6-7 (focusing on pulling through the stroke)
1x500m RPE3
1x50 RPE2

I think there is a bike session tonight so I will extend that to compensate for the missed 2500m this morning!
I.

A shortnened swim

Just a quick splash around this morning - I had hoped to do more but I had to catch a train to London for work.

2x500m RPE4-5
5x50m RPE6-7 (focusing on pulling through the stroke)
1x500m RPE3
1x50 RPE2

I think there is a bike session tonight so I will extend that to compensate for the missed 2500m this morning!
I.

As promised - outputs from my Garmin 405 and SportTracks

As promised - outputs from my Garmin 405 and SportTracks

10km Time Trial

Well today was my second 10km time trial, I am pleased to report that I hit 10km at 55min and 29sec - a PB by 6min 30sec! (previous time 1hr 2min!!!)

Unfortunately my shins now REALLY hurt I have aggravated my shin splints - probably need to downplay the running for a few days - when I have uploaded the GPS data I will put the data up.

I. 

10km Time Trial

Well today was my second 10km time trial, I am pleased to report that I hit 10km at 55min and 29sec - a PB by 6min 30sec! (previous time 1hr 2min!!!)

Unfortunately my shins now REALLY hurt I have aggravated my shin splints - probably need to downplay the running for a few days - when I have uploaded the GPS data I will put the data up.

I. 

Last night and today

REST DAY :-))) with a 10km race practice tomorrow...eek

Last night covered off 45mins of resonably hard work on the turbo - used the Bath Sprint route for the workout and completed about 70% of it in 45mins - all in the saddle with several spin ups to 500W. I tried to keep the HR down to 80% as advised by a fellow triathlete who is doing the Lanzarote IM - seemed to work, even on the 14% hills :-)

Only downside was I was adjusting my seat post and managed to over torque the bolt shattering it :-( time to see if I can get a replacement...

I.

Last night and today

REST DAY :-))) with a 10km race practice tomorrow...eek

Last night covered off 45mins of resonably hard work on the turbo - used the Bath Sprint route for the workout and completed about 70% of it in 45mins - all in the saddle with several spin ups to 500W. I tried to keep the HR down to 80% as advised by a fellow triathlete who is doing the Lanzarote IM - seemed to work, even on the 14% hills :-)

Only downside was I was adjusting my seat post and managed to over torque the bolt shattering it :-( time to see if I can get a replacement...

I.

Last night and this morning

How annoying - after getting myself ready, helping put the kids to bed - not having supper at a sensible time the coached swim session was cancelled with no explanation :-(((

At least I did a run at lunchtime!

To make up I fitted in an early morning dip before a meeting. A simple, nice recovery swim

300m easy (w fins)

300m kick (w fins)

300m easy

300m pull

Nice and simple - no looking at the clock! The great thing was I bumped into one of the other guys who train at the pool (he is doing Lanzarote IM) and we had quite a constructive discussion about nutrition/bikes etc so all in all quite useful!

This evening is a 45min bike (I think) - will have to see if the weather improves if it does it is a trip out on the bike rather than the turbo

I.

Last night and this morning

How annoying - after getting myself ready, helping put the kids to bed - not having supper at a sensible time the coached swim session was cancelled with no explanation :-(((

At least I did a run at lunchtime!

To make up I fitted in an early morning dip before a meeting. A simple, nice recovery swim

300m easy (w fins)

300m kick (w fins)

300m easy

300m pull

Nice and simple - no looking at the clock! The great thing was I bumped into one of the other guys who train at the pool (he is doing Lanzarote IM) and we had quite a constructive discussion about nutrition/bikes etc so all in all quite useful!

This evening is a 45min bike (I think) - will have to see if the weather improves if it does it is a trip out on the bike rather than the turbo

I.

Thursday -pt I

Just a short lunchtime run with some strides - shins still a little sore from the weekend, nothing major though.

5.15km in 29min 19sec (10min RPE2/every 5mins build to RPE9-10)

Main exercise today is the coached swim later this evening...last time nearly killed me - bring it on!!

Thursday -pt I

Just a short lunchtime run with some strides - shins still a little sore from the weekend, nothing major though.

5.15km in 29min 19sec (10min RPE2/every 5mins build to RPE9-10)

Main exercise today is the coached swim later this evening...last time nearly killed me - bring it on!!

Fitting in sessions!

Well yesterday and today were about fitting sessions around childcare! I was looking after Anja for her last two days of school holidays and that always means that no long bikes/runs are possible.

Tuesday was an early 30min bike at RPE2-3 on the turbo (just because it was easier...) and today was a couple of sets -

Early morning swim:

200m w/u (100m full/25m kick/25m pull/ 25m kick/25m pull)
1000m TT (15min 41sec)
150m c/d

Early evening bike session (on the turbo)

45mins working on hard on hills RPE 5-6 and easy 3-4 on flat (plus on last episode of season 1 24....)

moved the seat about a bit - lifted it and shifted it back - now in two minds about swapping the TT cockpit for a road setup with aero bars...need to go out and play on some hills to test it! Plus I talked to the techs at HED and they suggest a three spoke HED 3C rear wheel and a Jet 60 C2 front - around 1K in cost..hmmmmm...have to think about it...

Fitting in sessions!

Well yesterday and today were about fitting sessions around childcare! I was looking after Anja for her last two days of school holidays and that always means that no long bikes/runs are possible.

Tuesday was an early 30min bike at RPE2-3 on the turbo (just because it was easier...) and today was a couple of sets -

Early morning swim:

200m w/u (100m full/25m kick/25m pull/ 25m kick/25m pull)
1000m TT (15min 41sec)
150m c/d

Early evening bike session (on the turbo)

45mins working on hard on hills RPE 5-6 and easy 3-4 on flat (plus on last episode of season 1 24....)

moved the seat about a bit - lifted it and shifted it back - now in two minds about swapping the TT cockpit for a road setup with aero bars...need to go out and play on some hills to test it! Plus I talked to the techs at HED and they suggest a three spoke HED 3C rear wheel and a Jet 60 C2 front - around 1K in cost..hmmmmm...have to think about it...

The route and the workout!

The route and the workout!

My longest run...so far

After a simply fantastic rest day on Easter Sunday I came down to Earth with a bump to do my longest run yet - 1hr 30min (ish) and 14.5km...all fasted (well it was 6.30am....)....I really need to sort out the nutrition in the morning.

The route went from our house out towards Wooton Basset and back - linear route - not too many hills kind of nice and relaxing if very tiring - my calves don't half ache today!!

and I had a look at the bike route from Saturday on SportTracks - there was a 30% hill in the route I did plus a few 15-20%!!! No wonder it was hard.....

Not sure what is on offer tomorrow as I am Anja sitting until school starts..

I. 

My longest run...so far

After a simply fantastic rest day on Easter Sunday I came down to Earth with a bump to do my longest run yet - 1hr 30min (ish) and 14.5km...all fasted (well it was 6.30am....)....I really need to sort out the nutrition in the morning.

The route went from our house out towards Wooton Basset and back - linear route - not too many hills kind of nice and relaxing if very tiring - my calves don't half ache today!!

and I had a look at the bike route from Saturday on SportTracks - there was a 30% hill in the route I did plus a few 15-20%!!! No wonder it was hard.....

Not sure what is on offer tomorrow as I am Anja sitting until school starts..

I. 

Hills, hills and more hills!

Last night I planned out what looked on paper a fairly simple loop from Truro to St Agnes to Perranporth and back to Truro via Goonhavern and Shortlanesend.....I rode it this morning OMG the hills in Cornwall are EVIL......

Out to St Agnes was a breeze although the gears (which I thought I had fixed last night) were playing up.....more of that later.

St Agnes to Perranporth one largish hill and then the reeeeeally challenging bit Perranporth back to Truro hill after hill. I have to admit using the granny ring on my triple (my Trek is a double - much more respectable!) and the 27 on one of the hills - even with this I was out of the saddle for about half a mile - really hard work....

Everything was going well until the chain jammed in the cassette going up a hill obviously I came off (and put a four inch cut in my leg) but the biggest problem was the hill - after I had unjammed the chain I could not get enough momentum to get both feet clipped in so I trudged up hill for about half a mile until  the gradient reduced enough so I could get back on!

Anyway back home went okay in a total time/distance 1hr 54min/36.85km....

REST DAY tomorrow :-))))))))))))

Hills, hills and more hills!

Last night I planned out what looked on paper a fairly simple loop from Truro to St Agnes to Perranporth and back to Truro via Goonhavern and Shortlanesend.....I rode it this morning OMG the hills in Cornwall are EVIL......

Out to St Agnes was a breeze although the gears (which I thought I had fixed last night) were playing up.....more of that later.

St Agnes to Perranporth one largish hill and then the reeeeeally challenging bit Perranporth back to Truro hill after hill. I have to admit using the granny ring on my triple (my Trek is a double - much more respectable!) and the 27 on one of the hills - even with this I was out of the saddle for about half a mile - really hard work....

Everything was going well until the chain jammed in the cassette going up a hill obviously I came off (and put a four inch cut in my leg) but the biggest problem was the hill - after I had unjammed the chain I could not get enough momentum to get both feet clipped in so I trudged up hill for about half a mile until  the gradient reduced enough so I could get back on!

Anyway back home went okay in a total time/distance 1hr 54min/36.85km....

REST DAY tomorrow :-))))))))))))

Thursday and Friday

Thursday

Wow the hills are big around here!!! I did a 10.5km run and it took me nearly 1hr 15min - a massive difference from the other morning when I did the tempo run (5min/km). The steepest hill is around 20% (behind Treliske Hospital).

The run went from my folks house through the lanes past Coosebean, up to Treliske Hospital, from there down to the middle of Truro via Morlaix Avenue then back up Comprigney Hill (and down again) to my parents' place.

Hard work but good training for the hills of Exmoor.

Friday 

Another cheeky swimming session. I went up to Truro pool again and had a hard set:

warm up

200m freestyle (fs) /100m backstroke (bs) - 75m swim/25m drill

main set

100m IM/200m fs/100m IM/300m fs

100m fly/200m fs/100m fly/300m fs

100m bs/200m fs/100m bs/300m fs

100m breaststroke (brs)/200m fs/100m brs/300m fs

cool down

100m IM

200m (as 50s) fs

In total 3400m in around 58min (cannot tell for sure as my Timex IM watch died in the week :-( )

Tomorrow is a bike - thinking Truro - St Agnes - Perranport - Goonhavern - Truro - some REALLY big hills in that set 1.5 - 2 hrs....

I. 

Thursday and Friday

Thursday

Wow the hills are big around here!!! I did a 10.5km run and it took me nearly 1hr 15min - a massive difference from the other morning when I did the tempo run (5min/km). The steepest hill is around 20% (behind Treliske Hospital).

The run went from my folks house through the lanes past Coosebean, up to Treliske Hospital, from there down to the middle of Truro via Morlaix Avenue then back up Comprigney Hill (and down again) to my parents' place.

Hard work but good training for the hills of Exmoor.

Friday 

Another cheeky swimming session. I went up to Truro pool again and had a hard set:

warm up

200m freestyle (fs) /100m backstroke (bs) - 75m swim/25m drill

main set

100m IM/200m fs/100m IM/300m fs

100m fly/200m fs/100m fly/300m fs

100m bs/200m fs/100m bs/300m fs

100m breaststroke (brs)/200m fs/100m brs/300m fs

cool down

100m IM

200m (as 50s) fs

In total 3400m in around 58min (cannot tell for sure as my Timex IM watch died in the week :-( )

Tomorrow is a bike - thinking Truro - St Agnes - Perranport - Goonhavern - Truro - some REALLY big hills in that set 1.5 - 2 hrs....

I. 

An unexpected swimming session....

Well today was an unexpectedly hard day....I went to Truro pool for a 2x1200m distance swim and ended up doing a full coached session - these are run five out of seven days a week in Truro - what a facility! In addition I met up with one of my old swimming friends - Nick Polkinghorn (he was a couple of age groups up from me), when I used to swim competitively he was one of the best breaststroke swimmers in the UK, still damn fast!

So the session:

150m warm up (nice and gentle)
2x(200m swim/200m pull) continuous
4x100m on 1min 45s
2x(100m IM swim/100m IM pull)
4x100m on 1min 45s
2(200m swim/200m pull)
4x100m on 1min 45s
3x50m cool down

3500m all in 56mins....quite challenging - especially the IM pull....

Today was also meant to have a 30min run - not sure if that will get done...

An unexpected swimming session....

Well today was an unexpectedly hard day....I went to Truro pool for a 2x1200m distance swim and ended up doing a full coached session - these are run five out of seven days a week in Truro - what a facility! In addition I met up with one of my old swimming friends - Nick Polkinghorn (he was a couple of age groups up from me), when I used to swim competitively he was one of the best breaststroke swimmers in the UK, still damn fast!

So the session:

150m warm up (nice and gentle)
2x(200m swim/200m pull) continuous
4x100m on 1min 45s
2x(100m IM swim/100m IM pull)
4x100m on 1min 45s
2(200m swim/200m pull)
4x100m on 1min 45s
3x50m cool down

3500m all in 56mins....quite challenging - especially the IM pull....

Today was also meant to have a 30min run - not sure if that will get done...

First long run in a while....

Well finally manged to go out for a long run....I was a bit concerned about the shin splints on my right leg but they seemd okay afterwards :-) a bit sore but not too bad

I covered 10.21km in 1hr 32s which I was quite happy about, as the last time I did a 10km run it took 1hr 10m!

Today's session was quite nice (albeit with no music as unfortunately I managed to wash my Creative Zen...) a 10min warm up (RPE2) and then 5 sets of 6min at race tempo followed by 2min recovery, finished off with a 10min cool down (RPE3). An average pace of 5m 50s ish per km.

I.

First long run in a while....

Well finally manged to go out for a long run....I was a bit concerned about the shin splints on my right leg but they seemd okay afterwards :-) a bit sore but not too bad

I covered 10.21km in 1hr 32s which I was quite happy about, as the last time I did a 10km run it took 1hr 10m!

Today's session was quite nice (albeit with no music as unfortunately I managed to wash my Creative Zen...) a 10min warm up (RPE2) and then 5 sets of 6min at race tempo followed by 2min recovery, finished off with a 10min cool down (RPE3). An average pace of 5m 50s ish per km.

I.

Long bike and recovery....

Well I found a good route out from home up to Cirencester, along to Minchinhapton back to Tetbury (via Avening - with a biiiiiig hill) up to Westonbirt past our old house in Sherston and then back home.

In all it took 2hr 30m 39s to complete 65.06km - climbing a little 139m..(Wimbleball has rather a lot more climbs than that....) - I set off at about 7.15 and it was below freezing, it took the first 10km for the feeling to come back in my hands but I lost feeling in my feet for the last 10km (a mix of shoes too tight and the cold). The weather though was gorgeous (bright blue skys) at the end - a great morning bike. Just to finish off Lizzie and I took the kids for a walk in Westonbirt Arboretum - lovely.

Today was a little more sedate (sore???)

Morning swim:

400m warm up (100m swim/100m pull/100m kick/100m swim)
8x100m (25m easy/25m build/25m easy/25m hard)
3x50m cool down (each slower)

Evening bike:

Weather rubbish so onto the turbo....down to the last three episodes of Series 1 of 24 :-)

39.8km of the Paris - Roublais classic nice easy pace (av 32kph) with some spin ups (20s build to full pace - 600W+) with 5mins between - I did 5 sets (I think)

Anyway off for supper - 60min run tomorrow - hopefully the rain will stop....

I.

Long bike and recovery....

Well I found a good route out from home up to Cirencester, along to Minchinhapton back to Tetbury (via Avening - with a biiiiiig hill) up to Westonbirt past our old house in Sherston and then back home.

In all it took 2hr 30m 39s to complete 65.06km - climbing a little 139m..(Wimbleball has rather a lot more climbs than that....) - I set off at about 7.15 and it was below freezing, it took the first 10km for the feeling to come back in my hands but I lost feeling in my feet for the last 10km (a mix of shoes too tight and the cold). The weather though was gorgeous (bright blue skys) at the end - a great morning bike. Just to finish off Lizzie and I took the kids for a walk in Westonbirt Arboretum - lovely.

Today was a little more sedate (sore???)

Morning swim:

400m warm up (100m swim/100m pull/100m kick/100m swim)
8x100m (25m easy/25m build/25m easy/25m hard)
3x50m cool down (each slower)

Evening bike:

Weather rubbish so onto the turbo....down to the last three episodes of Series 1 of 24 :-)

39.8km of the Paris - Roublais classic nice easy pace (av 32kph) with some spin ups (20s build to full pace - 600W+) with 5mins between - I did 5 sets (I think)

Anyway off for supper - 60min run tomorrow - hopefully the rain will stop....

I.

Long bike

Today was a long set on the turbo - the weather in the really early morning was rubbish (mist/drizzle) so rather than risk  I decided to try out the Amstel Classic route in the Netherlands.

Wow I thought that place was flat - the race route must take in all the hills! I did the first 60km of the  258km race - took me 2hrs and three episodes of 24!

Hard work but worth it. Afterwards I did a 5km cool down run as a brick session (i.e. just throwing the trainers straight on off the bike - as it the race) in 30mins - not bad after the bike.

Tomorrow is 2.5hrs - need to find a good route

I.

Long bike

Today was a long set on the turbo - the weather in the really early morning was rubbish (mist/drizzle) so rather than risk  I decided to try out the Amstel Classic route in the Netherlands.

Wow I thought that place was flat - the race route must take in all the hills! I did the first 60km of the  258km race - took me 2hrs and three episodes of 24!

Hard work but worth it. Afterwards I did a 5km cool down run as a brick session (i.e. just throwing the trainers straight on off the bike - as it the race) in 30mins - not bad after the bike.

Tomorrow is 2.5hrs - need to find a good route

I.

Last night's swim and today

Well last night was a revalation - first coached session since I stopped doing Masters swimming about nine years ago! I think the coach relished the idea of haveing someone who could go sub 6mins for a 400m in the pool - well I hope thats what the evil smile was for.....

An hour later and having completed the hardest swim training I have done in a loooong time I finally stepped out of the pool - wow....

The program consisted of (all freestyle - except the last length fly - and where it says otherwise)

200m warmup

100m pull

100m kick

400m trime trial (5.47 :-) except I did 450m as I lost count, doh!)

100m backstroke

2x200m on 3m 15s

2x100m on 1m 30s

2x50m on 50s

2x40m on 50s

2x100m on 1m 30s

2x200m on 3m 15s

4x50m on 40s (I had a 1min break after first one as both legs cramped - ouch)

150m cool down

Really, really hard......

This morning was comparatively easy though with a short recovery session 

2x 200m

4x 100m

But I got to try out my new Orca Alpha wetsuit - it took 10s of my 100m time - 1m 15s without trying!!

I am still trying to work out whether I want to do the 1hr bike scheduled for later or whether I can miss further training until tomorrow - which is a brick session 2hrs ride/30min run

Later 

I.

Last night's swim and today

Well last night was a revalation - first coached session since I stopped doing Masters swimming about nine years ago! I think the coach relished the idea of haveing someone who could go sub 6mins for a 400m in the pool - well I hope thats what the evil smile was for.....

An hour later and having completed the hardest swim training I have done in a loooong time I finally stepped out of the pool - wow....

The program consisted of (all freestyle - except the last length fly - and where it says otherwise)

200m warmup

100m pull

100m kick

400m trime trial (5.47 :-) except I did 450m as I lost count, doh!)

100m backstroke

2x200m on 3m 15s

2x100m on 1m 30s

2x50m on 50s

2x40m on 50s

2x100m on 1m 30s

2x200m on 3m 15s

4x50m on 40s (I had a 1min break after first one as both legs cramped - ouch)

150m cool down

Really, really hard......

This morning was comparatively easy though with a short recovery session 

2x 200m

4x 100m

But I got to try out my new Orca Alpha wetsuit - it took 10s of my 100m time - 1m 15s without trying!!

I am still trying to work out whether I want to do the 1hr bike scheduled for later or whether I can miss further training until tomorrow - which is a brick session 2hrs ride/30min run

Later 

I.

Evening Swim

Well it was meant to be a rest day but there is an evening coached session at Malmesbury Pool so off to that to see what it is like....

Evening Swim

Well it was meant to be a rest day but there is an evening coached session at Malmesbury Pool so off to that to see what it is like....

A long turbo session

Can I just say 75mins on the turbo in the garage is really hard work on the mind - even with Series 1 of 24 to keep you amused.....

So today was a 75min long effort session, I decided on the turbo rather than going out as I wanted to be able to control the effort a little. I used a GPS recording of a ride I did last summer from Charlton to Luckington, Wiltshire - 38.2km. 

First 15mins was a warm up at RPE3-4 with the next 50mins at RPE6-7 (hard work!) both in and out of the saddle finished off with an RPE2 coold down for 10mins.

Legs quite sore but at least tomorrow is a day off :-)))  

A long turbo session

Can I just say 75mins on the turbo in the garage is really hard work on the mind - even with Series 1 of 24 to keep you amused.....

So today was a 75min long effort session, I decided on the turbo rather than going out as I wanted to be able to control the effort a little. I used a GPS recording of a ride I did last summer from Charlton to Luckington, Wiltshire - 38.2km. 

First 15mins was a warm up at RPE3-4 with the next 50mins at RPE6-7 (hard work!) both in and out of the saddle finished off with an RPE2 coold down for 10mins.

Legs quite sore but at least tomorrow is a day off :-)))