2019 Targets
ITU Pontevedra is in Week 18. So Q1 is entirely built around getting from my current fitness level to being competitive at a World Championship.
After that I don't really have a plan so I have blocked out some numbers based on a 'standard' season.
---------------------
As race targets: I already have the ITU Aquathlon Champs in Pontevedra, Spain in May, and hopefully the ETU Aquathlon Champs in Targa Mures, Romania in July. As with last year these races are probably coming too soon in the season for me since I am still trying to rehab after my second surgery. Also they are too close together this time to take a serious reboot between them so it is a case of picking one to target and accepting the impact it will have on the other.
As with last year I have set my stretch targets so they are 10% of the normal target. Last year that didn't matter as I wasn't making the base targets in the first place.
Swimming
I had a ridiculous swim mileage year in 2017, and cleaned up my tumble turns, but it didn't really convert to faster swim times. In the first half of 2018 I was managing to do similar distance once I was back in the pool, but also managing to do fast sessions that were translating to faster swim times. Then about mid-year I lost my way a bit and started just ticking off lots of lazy miles instead.
I missed my 750m target by not even attempting a 750m race in the year. I did do a 12:20 in the middle of a 20-minute time-trial in an open lane session so I still think that a 12-minute swim is possible.
I didn't race a 1,500m in the year either. But against a target of 26 mins, I also did a 26:25 just in an open lane session. Just adding the suit and swim hat should be enough to make that. So the 26-minutes goes in again this year.
For stretch swim race targets I just want to go another 2% faster, that seems tiny but they come out as and 5:53, 11:46 and 25:30 and those are all tough gaps to bridge.
Biking
I have purposefully gone soft on the bike number, knowing that 3 commutes a week and nothing else would give me 2,184 miles. I am willing to give up rides for train or driving commutes in order to get some rest days and let me focus harder on working in the pool and having fresh enough legs to do harder running sessions.
I am not going to set TT targets this year as I am not sure I will do any. I still need to decide if I want to sign up as a Deeside Thistle member again, or if I just find some open races to take part in, or just have a year off.
Target 1,850 miles
Stretch target 2,035 miles.
Running
I have put together a plan based on commuting twice a week out of race season, but only once during. Then I added in a faster run or reps session to every week. And then fiddled a bit around that. This came out at 745 which seemed ridiculous after just scraping over 500 this year. But compared against previous years it actually looks fairly sensible. If I take an average of the 10 real years since I have been keeping my tracking spreadsheet they come out at 699. If I discard the 2018 number for the lost injury time that average goes to 720.
My stretch target of 10% over comes out at 819.5 miles.
My 24thconsecutive year defending as North District Champion will depend almost entirely on when they hold the event. There is a risk that it will be when we are out in Spain.
I want to get back to running my age for 10k as an absolute minimum. I also want to get back under 20 minutes for 5k. On top of those I have set some faster stretch targets. The biggest problem here is going to be finding the races to take part in.
Triathlon
I have been 3rd, 4th and 5th at consecutive Scottish Aquathon Champs. I should be in or around those medals every year so I have kept that medal as my stretch target for this year.
I have also qualified for the 2019 World Champs in Pontevedra already. After finishing 23rd last year my target has to be to get in the top-20 this year.
As other targets for the year I want to at least get back to racing triathlons after losing a whole season last year.
Others
Yoga.
Stretching and rollering.
Weights and Core.
Represent GBR age-group at an international event.
Swim 141.5 miles.
Swim under 6:15 minutes for 400m.
Ride 1,850 miles.
Run 745 miles.
Run a 5k in under 20 mins or 10k in under 43 mins.
>52 Yoga sessions
>50 Run reps or ‘fast’ sessions.
Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a 2020 European Championships.
Swim 155.7 miles.
Swim under 5:53 minutes for 400m.
Ride 2,035 miles.
Ride a 10-mile TT in under 26:00.
Run 819.5 miles.
'Run my age' for 10k.
Run a 5k in under 19:20 or 10k in under 41 mins.
>78 Yoga sessions
ITU Pontevedra is in Week 18. So Q1 is entirely built around getting from my current fitness level to being competitive at a World Championship.
After that I don't really have a plan so I have blocked out some numbers based on a 'standard' season.
---------------------
As race targets: I already have the ITU Aquathlon Champs in Pontevedra, Spain in May, and hopefully the ETU Aquathlon Champs in Targa Mures, Romania in July. As with last year these races are probably coming too soon in the season for me since I am still trying to rehab after my second surgery. Also they are too close together this time to take a serious reboot between them so it is a case of picking one to target and accepting the impact it will have on the other.
As with last year I have set my stretch targets so they are 10% of the normal target. Last year that didn't matter as I wasn't making the base targets in the first place.
Swimming
I had a ridiculous swim mileage year in 2017, and cleaned up my tumble turns, but it didn't really convert to faster swim times. In the first half of 2018 I was managing to do similar distance once I was back in the pool, but also managing to do fast sessions that were translating to faster swim times. Then about mid-year I lost my way a bit and started just ticking off lots of lazy miles instead.
This year I am going to specifically focus on eliminating the 'junk' swim sessions. I am going to have planned sessions set at the start of the week. I am even going to make that a target. I would rather not go to the pool and just paddle 20 minutes. I would benefit more from the rest instead and come back later in the week and do a real session.
The numbers I have pencilled in for each week total out at 141.5 for the year. And the stretch 10% on top of that comes to 155.7 miles. Those both look like big numbers given that my previous biggest year is 134, but how it is built up is sensible, and even includes some slack
On the racing front the 6-minute 400m target has proven too tough in 2015 and 6:15 too tough in 2016 and 2017 and 2018. That was getting frustrating in 2017, but I can't really argue about not managing it in a massive rehab year. The clock still makes it look like I am not progressing in races but counting 2018 in here is a bit of a fudge.
I missed my 750m target by not even attempting a 750m race in the year. I did do a 12:20 in the middle of a 20-minute time-trial in an open lane session so I still think that a 12-minute swim is possible.
I didn't race a 1,500m in the year either. But against a target of 26 mins, I also did a 26:25 just in an open lane session. Just adding the suit and swim hat should be enough to make that. So the 26-minutes goes in again this year.
For stretch swim race targets I just want to go another 2% faster, that seems tiny but they come out as and 5:53, 11:46 and 25:30 and those are all tough gaps to bridge.
Biking
I have purposefully gone soft on the bike number, knowing that 3 commutes a week and nothing else would give me 2,184 miles. I am willing to give up rides for train or driving commutes in order to get some rest days and let me focus harder on working in the pool and having fresh enough legs to do harder running sessions.
I am not going to set TT targets this year as I am not sure I will do any. I still need to decide if I want to sign up as a Deeside Thistle member again, or if I just find some open races to take part in, or just have a year off.
Target 1,850 miles
Stretch target 2,035 miles.
Running
I have put together a plan based on commuting twice a week out of race season, but only once during. Then I added in a faster run or reps session to every week. And then fiddled a bit around that. This came out at 745 which seemed ridiculous after just scraping over 500 this year. But compared against previous years it actually looks fairly sensible. If I take an average of the 10 real years since I have been keeping my tracking spreadsheet they come out at 699. If I discard the 2018 number for the lost injury time that average goes to 720.
My stretch target of 10% over comes out at 819.5 miles.
My 24thconsecutive year defending as North District Champion will depend almost entirely on when they hold the event. There is a risk that it will be when we are out in Spain.
I want to get back to running my age for 10k as an absolute minimum. I also want to get back under 20 minutes for 5k. On top of those I have set some faster stretch targets. The biggest problem here is going to be finding the races to take part in.
Triathlon
I have been 3rd, 4th and 5th at consecutive Scottish Aquathon Champs. I should be in or around those medals every year so I have kept that medal as my stretch target for this year.
I have also qualified for the 2019 World Champs in Pontevedra already. After finishing 23rd last year my target has to be to get in the top-20 this year.
As other targets for the year I want to at least get back to racing triathlons after losing a whole season last year.
Others
Yoga.
I am going to start January again by signing up to 31 consecutive days of Yoga www.yogawithadriene.com, but I know I am not going to stick to that schedule. My base target is to do one session per week for the full year. My stretch target is to to purposefully stretch the yogawithadriene sessions out over Q1, so one every ~3 days. Then for the rest of the year, just one session per week. That gets me to a stretch total of 78 sessions for the year.
Stretching and rollering.
I am terrible at tracking the cumulatives on these. So the first target is to write them down every week. Then to follow the above plan, but with the more intense period being through summer when I am racing.
Weights and Core.
I did really well at the start of last year and then faded off as the year progressed. I want to do 52 of each but I recognise that historically that has been unrealistic. I am going to set that as the stretch target, then assume that I will do 12 races through the year and not attempt these sessions in race weeks. So a base target of 40 of each.
Targets by numbers
Represent GBR age-group at an international event.
Take part in a GBR age-group qualifying race for a 2020 European Champs.
Take part in a GBR age-group qualifying race for a 2020 World Champs.
Swim 141.5 miles.
Swim under 6:15 minutes for 400m.
Swim under 12:00 minutes for 750m.
Swim under 26:00 minutes for 1,500m.
Ride 1,850 miles.
Run 745 miles.
Run a 5k in under 20 mins or 10k in under 43 mins.
>52 Yoga sessions
>52 Stretching and rollering sessions.
>40 Core sessions.
>40 Weights sessions.
>50 Run reps or ‘fast’ sessions.
<50 ‘Junk’ swim session.
Stretch Targets
Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a 2020 European Championships.
Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a 2020 World Championships.
Medal at the Scottish Aquathlon Champs.
Finish top-20 at World Aquathlon Champs.
Swim 155.7 miles.
Swim under 5:53 minutes for 400m.
Swim under 11:46 minutes for 750m.
Swim under 25:30 for 1,500m.
Ride 2,035 miles.
Ride a 10-mile TT in under 26:00.
Ride a 25-mile TT in under 1 hour 12 mins.
Run 819.5 miles.
'Run my age' for 10k.
Run a 5k in under 19:20 or 10k in under 41 mins.
Run another 5k in under 19:40 or 10k in under 42 mins.
>78 Yoga sessions
>78 Stretching and rollering sessions.
>52 Core sessions.
>52 Weights sessions.
Comments
Post a Comment