Kevin's Training Blog of 2019

No races this weekend again.  The run speed target is starting to get towards something more realistic to be sure I am putting effort in. It is now faster than either of my Banff runs or my second run at Westhill. The snow and ice is likely to be a significant obstacle this week. I am going to try the mountain bike for commuting again and hope that the conditions improve soon.    Targ ets -  Swim 3.0 miles,  Bike 36.0 miles,  Run 17.0 miles. Stretching session x1, Core session x1, Weights session x1. Physio sessions x1.  Yoga session x2. Fast run target 7:45 / mile.

Monday I woke up to the first real snowfall of the year. That meant a quick change of bike and adding some clothes for commuting, but the mountain bike coped fine on the fresh snow. I got delayed at work and that moved my return commute back into the dark, and apparently into that point in the evening where everyone has forgotten how to drive. Aberdeen rush hour seems to be entirely populated with drivers who think it is more important that they be 10 ft further forward in a stationary queue than the cyclist next to them should be alive.  In the evening I went to club swimming but I was still recovering from racing and had no energy left. I got through the session, but more by stubbornness than skill. Tuesday I am not going to recount the myriad disasters afforded me by Scotrail, but I between getting to and from work I racked up 3.7 miles in a collection of smaller runs.  I went to swimming in the evening and despite the increasing fatigue I managed a set of 15x100m reps...

No races this weekend or next so plenty of chance to spread things out rather than compressing them to try and free up the weekend. That has somehow resulted in me planning two morning run commutes. That might not be the smartest decision since I have bailed on quite a few of those for the train or bus already this year. I might lose Thursday's swim session to another work night out and I am on a course on Friday so no commutes.  Targ ets -  Swim 3.0 miles,  Bike 36.0 miles,  Run 17.0 miles. Stretching session x1, Core session x1, Weights session x1. Physio sessions x1.  Yoga session x2. Fast run target 7:50 / mile.

Monday I started with easy commutes on the bike. The temperature has dropped again since last week and even 5 layers and winter gloves was barely sufficient. In the evening I went to TPT swim session and made it through the full set, and an additional cool down, but at no sort of sensible pace.  Tuesday I rode in to work, without losing any fingers to the cold. In the evening I ran home, taking another 3 minutes off the time I did last week. In just two weeks I have cut more than 10% off that run, and it felt a lot easier even at that pace.  In the evening I went to bucksburn to do my fast swim session. I did a set of 50m efforts on 1 min starts. When I did the same session a fortnight ago I managed 6 reps before I started missing 50 secs. This time I got to 23 before dropping to a 50.12. Clear improvement, but doing a quick bit of maths afterwards, I would have to string the first 20 reps back-to-back just to sneak under 16 minutes for 1,000m. There is some way to go befo...

At the weekend I have racing options on both days. On Saturday it is the North District Cross-Country League in Forres. On Sunday it is the Duathlon at Westhill. These both give me options to put my fast run in the weekend. As long as I race 'fast'. I don't have it in my legs to do both, it will probably come down to the ankle, the weather, or being able to use it to go to Elgin.  The rest of the week will be similar to last week as that worked well. Some slight changes to accommodate a works leaving party on Thursday evening. I need to cut that tight to keep the Thursday swim if I am going to race again at the weekend.  I started the year with a plan to only count sub-8:00 mile runs as fast, but knowing I would have to move that to something more serious. Rather than suddenly hack time off it each month I am going to move it every week. From now I am going to trim 5 seconds a week until I get to something more serious.  Targ ets -  Swim 3.0 miles,  Bik...

I started the week already ahead of my bike target so I am purposefully looking to drop some bike commutes this week and use the train to try and get a rest day.  Monday I rode in and almost froze to death in the morning. Then I added all the extra clothes I had and almost melted on the way home. In the evening I went to Club swimming to find that everyone's New Year Resolutions have already worn off and I got a lane to myself. I got through the session but with 400m reps at 7:14, 7:24 and 7:28 the fatigue from racing the day before and not having a rest day since before Xmas  In the evening I ran home at a much better pace than last week. Racing at the weekend has helped me to understand how hard I can push my ankle without making it worse and I felt more confident about pushing it a bit harder, nearly 4 minutes harder, than last week.  I went to the pool in the evening and did my fast reps session. It wasn't what I would have counted as fast this time last ye...