21 Jan - 27 Jan

Swim

 3 sessions

Time: 2:00.00

Distance: 6, 100 m

Run

 3 sessions

Time: 1:34.27

Distance: 11.5 miles

Run 1 - 4.5 miles, 30.09
Run 2 - 2.2 miles, 14.18

Run 3 - 7 miles, 50.11

Run 4 - miles, 0.00

Cycling

6 sessions

Time: 10:01.11

Distance: 123.9 miles

Bike 1 - 14 miles, 1:00.00
Bike 2 -  Turbo, 1:00.00 

Bike 3 - 14 miles, 1:00.00
Bike 4 - 14 miles, 1:00.00
Bike 5 - Turbo, 40.00
Bike 6 - 14 miles, 1:00:00
Bike 7 - 67.9 miles, 4:20:11

Week Totals

 12 sessions

Time: 13:34.38

Distance: 135.5 miles

Awesome week this week.  Every session I felt strong and was enjoying every minute.  A minor hiccup with swimming (lanes were always ridiculously busy), but more than made up for that with commuting in to Uni 4 times on the bike and getting a very solid race pace brick session in.  I don't think this is the sort of volume I can maintain, so will be toning it down a little, but it's nice to be feeling the benefit of the winter's training so far.  On Saturday, the weather here in South London was absolutely glorious and I couldn't resist a bike ride.  I'd been hearing from clubmates about the Hell of the Ashdown sportive and I thought I'd go out and do the short version of the route.  It seemed like such a good idea at the time, but 70miles of hard hills by yourself is pretty tough!  It's all good miles though and I felt strong which was great.

Next week, now that it's a bit warmer, I'm planning on getting out on my tri bike.  I'd also like to build on my rediscovered love of the turbo.

Saturday's ride out to the Hell of the Ashdown route was quite muddy.....

14 Jan - 21 Jan

Swim

 2 sessions

Time: 1:45.00

Distance: 5,000 m

Run

  4 sessions

Time: 2:04.00

Distance: 6.6 miles

Run 1 - 4.4 miles, 29.35
Run 2 - 2 miles, 13.56 
Run 3 - 2.2 miles, 13.40

Run 4 - 11.2 miles, 1:22.45

Cycling

 0 sessions

Week Totals

 6 sessions

Time: 03:49.00

Distance: 23.1 miles

Like most people, my training this week was pretty badly affected by the snow - especially bike training.  My turbo setup is out of action at the moment, so I did no bike training this week, a little frustrating.  However, I had two good swim sessions and a good run week.  In particular, my long run this week was a success.  I tucked my Garmin into a back pocket and just ran around a route I knew to be around 11miles.  I kept the pace conversational and didn't go too hard on any of the hills, but managed a comfortable 7:20min/mile pace for the whole thing.  It's a good sign for the half-marathon I've signed up for at the end of March - I hope to go under 1hr30.  

If the snow eases off, next week I'd really like to get out on the bike properly.  I also need to start putting some more miles in on my Tri bike - something I've said before!

This week I've been reminiscing a little and listening to...

Sometimes it's best to just walk away....

When I signed up to do my first triathlon at London, the idea of qualifying as a Team GB Age Group-er seemed as distant as possible.  I'd never ridden clipless pedals, I could swim but it wasn't pretty and running was something I did once a fortnight.  Since then, I've worked hard and achieved things which seemed impossible back then.  A sub-40min 10km was laughable, but now I would do that comfortably in training.   I can keep up with guys and girls on the bike who I used to perceive as these untouchable super cyclists, vastly more experienced than me, but I now know as a great group of people, whose company I enjoy.  My swimming has come on leaps and bounds - I'm now a full minute quicker over 400m than when I started and am feel like I understand swimming more and more every day.  I also achieved what I thought was impossible and qualified for a spot on Team GB Age Group at the European Championships in Turkey.

But it's a spot I won't be filling.  I've come to the conclusion that although I am very proud that I qualified for Team GB AG, it's just not right for me this year.  My exams will be just just days before I would due to be racing and its just not possible for me to do the training I need to do, whilst also revising for my iBSc exams. 

This is the first time my triathlon goals and my University goals have been entirely incompatible.  Until now, I've juggled the two and although there this has meant times when going for a run at 2200 was the only way I could fit my training in, it has been possible.  To say I'm disappointed is entirely inadequate, but I need and must move on. I fear that disappointment is all too prolific the more involved in a sport you become, from not placing as you'd hoped in a race, to a lacklustre performance in training and I need to learn to not let these stumbles lead to a greater fall.

If it was easy, everyone would do it.

Wrote this post listening to...

7 Jan - 13 Jan

Swim

 2 sessions

Time: 2:00.00

Distance: 5, 400 m

Run

 3 sessions

Time: 2:08.50

Distance: 18.8 miles

Run 1 - 6 miles, 38.55
Run 2 - 4.1 miles, 28.23

Run 3 - 8.7 miles, 1:00.32

Cycling

2 sessions

Time: 5:35.56

Distance: 101.7 miles

Bike 1 - 19.6 miles, 1:12.47
Bike 2 - 81.1 miles, 4:23.09

Week Totals

7 sessions

Time: 9:53.46

Distance: 120.8 miles

 Another solid week for me this this week.  Beginning to string together some good weeks and I'm starting to settle into a routine of training.  One of the things I've previously struggled with is, not having come from a sporting performance background, is knowing how much I can subject my body to before it just decides enough is enough.  There's a fine line between pushing yourself to do a session you don't really fancy and forcing yourself to do something because that's what the plan says, but to your own detriment.  Toeing this line is something I believe comes with experience (possibly the experience of getting it wrong!) and, without wanting to get too touchy-feely about the whole thing, knowing and understanding what your body is trying to tell you.  Those heavy legs may just be the result of a hard session catching up to you, or is it the nag of an imminent injury?  So far, I've not had any real problems with injury and I'd like it to stay that way, so for once, I'm all ears.

This week saw me bite the financial bullet and enter all my races for this year.  I'd spent a fair amount of time putting together a plan for this year, so I decided rather than wait around and try to spread the cost, I would get it over and done with and guarantee myself an entry to the races.  I'm still toying with the idea of a late season triathlon, but it may be a little difficult to fit it around my commitments with Uni and with work.  It's something I'll readdress as the season progresses.

I also booked myself a swim stroke evaluation with Fiona Ford of SwimSmooth.  I'm hoping to find some 'free' speed in the swim leg as I've never had anyone assess my stroke in anyway as I am self-coached and taught.  In an odd way I'd like Fiona to tell me I'm doing a number of things wrong, because by correcting them I may gain a decent chunk of time!

This week also saw me go out on a training ride with my club, the Kingston Wheelers.  The training ride is the quickest ride that goes out, although this week was a little diluted due to the absence of a couple of the quicker guys.  The pace was quite conversational until the final 1/3 when things ramped up, just as the stomach cramps which had been bugging me for the past 30miles decided enough was enough.  I'd tried a new drink for this ride and it obviously didn't agree with me.  I was disappointed to end up dropping off the group and solo'ing home, but it is what it is.  The ride also showed me that although my cycling has come on quite well - I've only been cycling with the club for a year - I still have a very long way to go.

So far, so good for me in 2013.

31 Dec - 6 Jan

Swim

2  sessions

Time: 2:00.00

Distance: 5, 500m

Run

3 sessions

Time: 1:28.50

Distance: 12.85 miles

Run 1 - 1.8 miles, 11.36
Run 2 - 4.1 miles, 30.57

Run 3 - 6.95 miles, 46.17

Cycling

 3 sessions

Time: 4:34.59

Distance: 68.3 miles

Bike 1 - Turbo, 45.00
Bike 2 - 18.9 miles, 1:01.26

Bike 3 - 49.4 miles, 2:48.33

Week Totals

8 sessions

Time: 8:03.49

Distance: 84.45 miles

A nice easy week before training kicks off again properly.  I've got my training plan all sorted for this year and I'm looking forward to seeing the products of some properly focused training.  Bring on 2013.

This week while training, I've mostly been humming....

2013.

So this year I decided I needed to be a little more organised with my training.  The 2013 season will only be my second season of triathlon and I'm hoping to continue improving across all three disciplines by introducing better structure and discipline.  The first big step in achieving this is the training plan I've put together (link here)  The races I'm targeting this year are:

1. C Race - Two of the Regent's Park 10km Series
2. C Race - Kingston Wheelers Sporting 14 TT
3. B Race - Richmond Park Half Marathon
4. A Race - TATA Steel Man Standard Distance Triathlon
5. B Race - Pembrokeshire Coast Triathlon
6. A Race - Lake Logic Standard Triathlon

I've also set some goals I'd like to achieve this year.  Some of the goals are ambitious but I think they're feasible.

• Sub-23:30 10mile TT.
• Sub-60min 25mile TT. 
• Ride 100miles - somehow I've not done this one yet! 
• Sub-39min 10km, at a stretch 38:30.
• Sub-18:30 5km.
• Sub-90min Half Marathon.
• Sub-5:15 400m.
• Sub-22:30 1500m.
• Sub-2:10 Olympic Tri, at a stretch get close to 2:05.
• 1,000 run miles in 2013.
• 4,500 bike miles in 2013.
• 300,000m swimming in 2013.
• Race weight of close to 70kg.
• Sub-60min solo on the Kingston Wheeler winter loop
• Do the 'fast' rides with Kingston Wheelers and hopefully hold my own
• Lead a Kingston Wheelers ride and also volunteer to marshal/set up for the Club 10mile TT
• Do a proper FTP test and repeat at least twice during the year.

 Genuinely excited to see what 2013 will bring.