Stepping It Up

Training - Weeks 5-8

Things are looking up a bit here!  Training is actually going really well and is reflected in the numbers below.  

If the previous four weeks was a story of inconsistency, then this four weeks has been a model of consistency.  I’ve managed 39 sessions in 28 days with a consistent workload in each of the weeks.  No additional injury or illness to complicate matters either.

Week	Swim		Bike		Run		Other		Total
	Time	Sessions	Time	Sessions	Time	Sessions	Time	Sessions	Time	Sessions
1	2:00	3	6:00	6	0:00	0	0:00	0	8:00	9
2	2:25	3	5:25	5	0:50	2	1:00	1	9:40	11
3	2:20	3	5:25	4	1:00	2	0:00	0	8:45	9
4	2:30	3	9:45	3	3:05	3	1:00	1	16:20	10
Total	9:15	12	26:35	18	4:55	7	2:00	2	42:45	39

Although the numbers look a little low – barely managing to average more than 10 hours per week - this doesn’t tell the whole story.  It does not reflect the training I’m doing, just points to the training I’m not doing yet (if that makes any sense?) ... my weekly long ride and my long run.  Weeks 1-3 had no long bike and none of the weeks included a long run.  Even adding a conservative 4 hours into these schedules and training would look more like 12 to 14 hours per week.

As we move into March, I’m hoping that I can now start to introduce some longer sessions to the week to build some endurance.  See The Next Four Weeks below.

Comparing this four week period to the same period last year – 54+ hours last year achieved over 30 sessions.  However, the bulk of the cycling volume (and therefore total volume) was achieved with 5 rides in excess of 5 hours (including one of our LEJOG training weekends where we did 15 hours over one weekend!!).

	2011			2012
	Time	Sessions	K’s	Time	Sessions	K’s
Swim	5:00	7	15.7	9:15	12	31.4
Bike	38:25	10	906	26:35	18	770
Run	11:10	13	138	4:55	7	62
Other	0:00	0	-	2:00	2	-
Total	54:35	30	1060	42:45	39	863

Swim

12 sessions totalling 9 hours over the past 4 weeks is fantastic.  I’m delighted with that!  It’s the most swimming I’ve done in a month since I was 21!!  I think I’m reaping the benefits too.  Stroke is feeling much better, times are dropping on interval sets and the repetition times I’m using will need to be made harder next month.  All sessions have been solo sessions at David Lloyd with only the clock – and my own motivation - to push me.

Bike

18 bike sessions in four weeks is also very good – even beating last month’s total of 16.  Seventeen of the sessions were on the turbo too – including six in one week!  In fact, so far this year I’ve clocked up more than 1000k on the turbo – that’s a lot of sweaty hours in the garage!  I’m really hoping that all of this indoor bike work transfers well to outdoor riding.  The last ride of week 4 was a solid outdoor ride with MerseyTri and it was a good start to ‘proper cycling’.  I was able to hold decent pace on the flat throughout the ride, just struggled a little on the climbs (but didn’t really get dropped!), but still had lots of energy towards the end of the 7+ hour ride!

Run

Running is back!  Three weeks of running during the month - building from 2 runs per week of 30 minutes each for the first two weeks to two runs over 1 hour by week 4.  I’m really glad I stayed patient with the injury and didn’t try to rush my recovery.  The really pleasing thing is that I can feel the benefit of all of the run work I did at the back end of 2011, and all of the hard cycling work I’ve been doing since.  I’ve been able to run faster than my Ironman run goal pace (4.48min/k) whilst keeping my HR really low (for me anyway).  Returning to running has felt easy – with no obvious lack of run fitness to date.  Let’s hope this carries on!

Physio

During the month I had two physio sessions, which included some sports massage.  Despite the pain involved in the massage, I can really feel the benefit of this massage in my legs, unravelling all of the knots that I’ve built up during training.  I’ve also been doing lots (for me) of stretching on my calves.

The Next Four Weeks

The next four weeks are busy – with an event every Sunday!  We start the month with a 100k Sportive (The Winter Sprinter), then the Jodrell Bank Sportive the following weekend.  The Liverpool Half Marathon is on 18^th March and 25^th March sees me doing the Cheshire Cat sportive.

I’m really hoping for another solid block of training, building some good endurance on both the bike and the run.  Let the good times roll!

Success is the good fortune that comes from aspiration, desperation, perspiration and inspiration - Evan Esar

When Is Consistency Not Consistency?

It’s fair to say that training since the New Year hasn’t got off to a flying start.  Injury and a little illness has set me back a bit.

Week	Swim		Bike		Run		Other		Total
	Time	Sessions	Time	Sessions	Time	Sessions	Time	Sessions	Time	Sessions
1	0:00	0	8:18	5	3:40	4	0:00	0	11:58	9
2	0:45	1	5:35	3	0:40	1	0:00	0	7:00	5
3	1:30	2	4:00	5	0:00	0	0:30	1	6:00	8
4	1:50	2	3:30	3	0:00	0	0:40	1	6:20	6
Total	4:05	5	21:23	16	4:20	5	1:10	2	30:58	28

Week 1 was a great start to the year – totalling 9 sessions over 12 hours (5 bike and 4 run sessions) – including two outdoor rides, a long run and some run speedwork.

Week 2 and injury struck - twice!  First the calf pull on Tuesday - there has been no running in the month since then, followed by a sore and swollen knee on Saturday.  Fortunately, the group Sunday cycling was slow and steady!

The beginning of week 3 saw me taking two consecutive days off to nurse my swollen left knee!  Swimming started properly here and the five turbo sessions I managed that week must be my new record!  I also had some sports physio during the week.

Week 4 started with an off-colour day, followed by some physio on the Tuesday and finished the week with a no training break in Centre Parks!  In the middle of that I managed to squeeze in two swim sessions (including my epic 39x100m session on my birthday!) and three turbo sessions.

Despite seven rest days (mostly due to illness, injury or weekends away!) I still racked up 28 sessions, over 31 hours, with most of my sessions being 1 hour or less.  In the case of cycling, this is due to two reasons.  Firstly, I have only been out on two Sunday group rides, the rest of the time on the turbo, due to the weather.  Secondly, the turbo sessions in the main are short and sharp, focussing on higher intensity intervals rather than endurance work.  This is very deliberate.

Swimming sessions are almost always less than 1 hour, unless I go to the MerseyTri masters sessions – which I haven’t done this year.  Any longer than 1 hour and my technique starts to fall apart!  As we progress through the year, the sessions may increase in time and distance.

My physio confirms what I thought too - I haven't been doing enough stretching or strengthening work to keep pace with my training volume and intensity.  

Compared to last year, this month saw me do more swimming (3:25 last January) and more cycling (16 hours last January).  Last January I did a fair bit of running (14:12).  So despite the injury and pretty much 3 weeks of no running, I have done a similar number of sessions and more or less the same overall training time.  

For the next four weeks we’re looking for greater consistency in training, with fewer rest days and breaks in momentum.  I’m also looking to get outside on the bike a bit more and do some longer sessions.  February will also see the return of running (I hope!).  At the moment I'm not too worried about the impact of not running on my overall goals for the year - providing I'm able to start again this month.  Also in February my ‘20 weeks to Roth’ training plan starts (20^th February) - which I'm really excited to start!!

All in all a decent month, in terms of quantity and quality of sessions, but too many interruptions characterise the first four weeks of the year.