Nov 19 - Nov 25

Swim

1 session

Time: 1:00.00

Distance: 3000m

Run

 3 sessions

Time: 1:50.03

Distance: 15.5 miles

Run 1 -6.5 miles, 46.31
Run 2 - 7.0 miles, 50.51

Run 3 - 2.0 miles, 12.41

Cycling

 2 sessions

Time: 4:12.51

Distance:  118.9 miles

Bike 1 - 13.4 miles, 39.11
Bike 2 - 64.2 miles, 3:33.40

Week Totals

6 sessions

Time: 7:02.54

Distance: 136.4 miles

This week was one of those weeks where life got in the way a little bit.  Run down with a cold (again!) I was always going to have an easier week than last week.  But, on top of all that I had a couple of important meetings this week, Uni work deadlines and also an all day trip to Cardiff to watch Wales do what they could against the impressive All Blacks.  Still, not a bad week, 7 hours is a decent effort.

I've noticed I've been slipping too much on swim volume the last couple of weeks, only managing to get in the pool once this week.  This week the plan will be to do 3 solid sessions and get back on top of things.  I'm trying to get to a Swim Smooth workshop, most likely with Fiona Ford, to get my stroke analysed.  I know there must be some flaws in my stroke and having them pointed out seems like quite an easy way to gain time.

The bike is still coming along nicely, with some time on the tri bike again this week.  I think I'll do my normal winter training loop threshold ride this week, but will do it solo on my tri bike.  I may meet the group and try to hunt them down/stay away.  Obviously a tri bike is inappropriate in a group situation, especially a group of roadies but I like the motivation that comes with doing threshold rides as a group.

Run-wise I had a good week only missing out on my LSR, mostly due to the horrendous weather.  Next week I've got 2 races lined up - one LCL XC race on Wednesday and the ParkRun at Kingston on Saturday.  I'm really looking forward to them both, so should be a good week.  I may only do those two races and a long run next week unless my legs feel particularly good during the week.

Richmond Park in the sun was the highlight of my week....

This week while training I've mostly been singing....

ISM Adam Prologue and how it changed my life.... Or certainly blood flow

One of the races I did this season, but didn't do a report for, was the Bedford Classic. This is because Bedford was a horrible experience and I'm living in denial of the whole horrific affair.... A brief summary would be: awesome swim, felt good on the bike.... to start with, but then progressively started losing power until I was (relatively) crawling along at 18-19mph.  I tried to shrug it off and keep my chin up as I got ready to come into transition.  Then things got really bad.  Like REALLY bad.  I got my feet out the shoes just fine and dismounted like I knew what I was doing (I don't.).  I had started to jog into transition when I noticed how tight my glutes were....and hamstrings.....and everything was.  Lower back wasn't in a fun place either.  I passed my Dad and gave him a big thumbs down.  I was in a bad place.  By the time I'd stumbled to my racking spot, my glutes and hamstrings were so tight I couldn't even bend down far enough to get my shoes on.

So followed the most painful 3.3km waddle of my life.  I forced myself round one lap of the three lap run, to see if I could at least finish, but it was not to be.  Multiple attempts to stretch didn't help, giving only a very brief moment of relief before everything locked up again.  End result?  My first ever DNF.

I knew something had gone wrong - really, really wrong.  I posted some video up of my position and it was suggested that instead of rotating around the bottom bracket, maintaining all the angles, I might be stretching to get down to my low bars.  This was putting strain through my lower back and all the muscles on the back of my legs essentially (particularly glutes and hamstrings).  A new saddle was suggested as a possible cure and I had the ISM Adamo Prologue series of saddles recommended to me as being particularly good at encouraging proper rotation.

A quick Google quickly found Try Bike Store, who would allow me to demo a saddle for up to two weeks for free.  I wasn't sure which saddle I needed but ended up trying out the ISM Adamo Prologue.  This was one of the newer saddle designs to come out of ISM and was a little longer, which was supposed to allow more forward and rearward body movement.  I shuffle around quite a lot on the saddle, adapting my position to suit the terrain so thought this might be a good thing.

Before the saddle arrived, I invested some time in working out how the saddle should fit.  From my Uni course I know the anatomy pretty well, so could get a good idea of what the saddle was trying to achieve.  ISM have made some pretty good videos and other bits of media explaining the fit and by the time the saddle arrived I was pretty confident I knew what I was aiming for.

Setting up the saddle was easy.  I followed ISM's advice and allowed for the higher profile of their saddle compared to the more standard saddle I was using before and dropped the seatpost a little.  I set the bike up on the turbo and thought I had the saddle position sorted, but the only real way to tell was going to be riding out the road.

First ride out was a little disappointing.  I had way too much weight on my arms and felt like I kept sliding forward off the saddle.  Despite the position feeling OK on the turbo, it was pretty obvious I needed to adjust the saddle position as something wasn't right.  I slid the seat further forward and also tilted it up ever so slightly.  Revelation.  The seat suddenly became incredibly comfortable.  I was able to perch on my sit bones and could feel the difference in my back.  No longer did my back muscles feel like they were having to work to maintain my position - all the weight bearing was being done by bone.  It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't far off.  Even ISM admit that you need a period of adjustment to allow the tissue around your sit bones to adjust to taking your weight properly.  When I got back from the ride I was a little sore but importantly I could feel the difference in my back muscles, glutes and hamstrings.  A simple saddle change had made a world of difference.

I saw out the two week trial before ordering from Try Bike Store.  It wasn't cheap, but if it means I never have to waddle 3.3km again, it's a price I'll happily pay.

12 Nov - 18 Nov

Swim

2 sessions

Time: 2:00.00

Distance: 6000m

Run

 4 sessions

Time: 4:02.54

Distance: 11.4 miles

Run 1 -11.4 miles, 1:30.34

Run 2 - 5.5 miles, 40.27, incl 19:33 5km effort
Run 3 - 6.2 miles obstacle course, 1:12.46
Run 4 - 6.0 miles, 39.07

Cycling

 4 sessions

Time: 7:43.29

Distance:  118.9 miles
  Bike 1 - Turbo, 1:00.00

Bike 2 - 39.0 miles, 2:00.00
Bike 3 -70.2 miles, 4:06.41
Bike 4 - 9.7 miles, 36.48 (Abandoned)

Week Totals

10 sessions

Time: 13:44.56

Distance: 131.5 miles

Awesome week in all - nearly 14hours worth of good quality training!  The swimming is coming along nicely - I put a few sessions focusing on purely technique and left the speedwork out for a bit and I'm feeling the difference.  Will go back to a mix of speedwork, endurance and technique next week as per my Swim Smooth plan.  Running wise, I don't think I've ever been fitter.  I've definitely never been quicker!  I did a 5km effort for a bit of fun and surprised myself by quite comfortably doing a 19:33 (6:17min/mile).  I would have been pretty chuffed with that in a race situtation, but to do it on an open road, dodging public and slowing for junctions I'm very happy.  

I'm really enjoying running at the moment.  I've introduced long, slow runs (LSRs) into my training and I'm loving them.  I have no interest in pace on these runs really so I'm putting my Garmin in my backpocket and just using a basic stopwatch so I have a rough guide as to how much further I should go.  It's brought me back to the reasons I started training in the first place - because it's fun!  I love seeing the improvement in my performances that come with training, but I got into the sport because it's a laugh.  I did this lSR on Wednesday, which was the anniversary of the passing of a member of my family.  I had no qualms about stopping several times during the run to think about things, reminisce and remind myself of all the good times.  The weather was beautiful and for most of the run it was just me, the mud and some deer.  I've never felt happier running.

I did race this week, but it wasn't really a race.  I did the Men's Health Survival of the Fittest at Battersea Power Station with a group of 8 of my friends.  Racing off seemed a pointless exercise as not only was the course busy, but I wanted to enjoy the day with my mates.  A great day and I'll put up a little report once the pictures have been released.

Cycling wise I've had a good week.  Did a turbo session on my tri bike which was something I've been meaning to do for a while.  I'm feeling content with my position now after a turbulent few months getting it set up where at points I was distinctly hacked off with the whole process.  I now feel very comfy but also think I'm pretty aero, though almost certainly still some gains to be made.  Had a good ride out with a small group of Kingston Wheelers - the club I ride with.  There were only 3 of us but they are both very good cyclists and to be able to stick with them was awesome - if not a little surprising.  I worked out that I've actually only been properly training for triathlon for a maximum of 18months or so and I've only been part of the Kingston Wheelers for 11months.  I'm pretty pleased with the way things are going and it gives me hope that I could make a good go of this triathlon lark and do the best I can.

Only sour point this week was the abandoned bike ride on Sunday.  The armrest on my tri bike kept rattling loose, no matter how hard I tried to tighten it - I only had a multitool with me.  I think when the bike was re-cabled, the shop may have loosened some bolts and not realised how ridiculously over-tightened they need to be to stop any movement.  Never mind, lesson learnt.

Things to work on next week

1. Threadlock the bolts on tri bike and torque them up!
2. Do the Kingston Wheeler Winter Training Loop solo on tri bike.  Need to start getting some miles in on it and it'd be nice to do the course on a regular basis to assess improvement.

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

29 Oct - 4 Nov

Swim

3 sessions

Time: 2:30:00

Distance: 7100m

Run

 5 sessions

Time: 3:24:46

Distance: 25.8 miles

Run 1 - 4.0 miles, 30:13

Run 2 - 1.4 miles, 14:00
Run 3 - 4.5miles, 29:44
Run 4 - 5.6miles, 39:21
Run 5 - 10.3miles, 1:21:28

Cycling

 3 sessions

Time: 5:33:27

Distance:  118.3 miles
  Bike 1 - 37.5 miles, 1:51:09

Bike 2 - 66.8 miles, 3:42:18
Bike 3 - 14.0 miles, 57:35

Week Totals

  11 sessions

Time: 12:15:49

Distance: 148.5 miles

Good week this week.  Swimming was a little hit or miss, but I think that's just because of a little inconsistency over the past week or two.  Probably lost some technique and subsequently pace since I peaked for Bala, but hoping some good technique sessions will bring it back and I can start getting some good swims in.  Bike wise, 2 really good rides including a cheeky evening ride with Kingston Wheelers on the winter training loop.  I used to join a weekly ride on the loop last winter and rarely made it all the way round in the group, getting spat out the back after doing as many turns as I could.  Now however, I'm relatively comfy until the end and feel happy enough to push to the front to up the pace if I feel it's dropping.  It's nice to see such improvements like this and it's given me a much needed confidence boost.  Longer ride this week took in some hills which were new for me.  I still struggle when the gradient ramps up >10% and I'm not sure why.  I seem to be just fine on lesser gradients, regardless of hill length and can push the pace, but as soon as it ramps up I just seem to go backwards.  Something I still need to do is get out my tri bike a bit more.  The evening rides are done at close to threshold so I've been doing them instead of a turbo so I've not been on my tri bike in a week or so now.  Run wise, I had a pretty good week with 3 runs >4miles and a longest run ever of 10.5 miles around Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park.  Felt great all the way round and looking forward to repeating the session. 

 Whilst training this week, I've mostly been singing.....