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.....

15 Oct - 21 Oct

Swim

2sessions

Time: 2:00:00

Distance: 6200m

Run

 3 sessions

Time: 2:15:31

Distance: 19.6miles

Run 1 - 5.5miles, 40:02

Run 2 - 5.0miles, 35:00

Run 3 - 9.1miles, 1:13:29

Cycling

Nothing.

Week Totals

  5 sessions

Time: 4:15:31

Distance: 23.5miles

What a disaster of a week.

Since the LCL race at Parliament Hill, I felt fatigued and generally a bit rubbish.  Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, but coupled with the return of a large dose of man-flu and a really important deadline for Uni work I ended up missing 2 planned days of training completely and only doing half of 1 days planned sessions.  I was a bit lax at the start of the week, leaving all my double days until the end of the week and it really came back to haunt me.  Lesson learnt.  Next week, I'll plan my week and stick to it.  I'm far too liable to re-arrange my training because I feel a bit lazy that night and it leaves me trying to cram too much training into not enough days.

What I've been singing whilst training this week...

LCL Parliament Hill

On Wednesday, I did the London Cross Country League (LCL) race at Parliament Hill.  I hadn't done anything resembling cross country since I was at Primary School and to say I'd forgotten it's joys is an understatement.  I wasn't feeling great going in to the race, as I sit here typing this I have a dose of man flu that has never before been survived, but I still thought it'd be good training and I needed to go for a run that day anyway.

Warming up, I jogged half a lap and knew I was in for a tough time.  Slippery underfoot, an ever present gradient of some sort and a field of far more experience X-Country runners meant just finishing in a respectable time became the goal of the day.  The course was a 2.5mile loop which the men did twice, so a total of around 5miles.  Given my 10km pace is around 6:20min/mile, I thought something approaching 7min/miles would be achievable, given the course and how I was feeling.

The first lap was misery.  Unfortunately, my HR belt died on Monday so I have no HR data from the run, but it must have been seriously high.  It felt like threshold and above the whole time.  I thought I wanted to quit.  I hated the mud.  I questioned why on earth I was doing this to myself.

The second lap was worse.

Now I just wanted it to be over.  I thought about just jogging it in, but I couldn't do it.  I kept telling myself the last little rise was the one before the dip to the finish line.  Eventually, it was.  I came bumbling down that last hill, grateful for it to be over.  Then I heard it.  Someone was sat just behind me, waiting for their chance to out-sprint me at the finish and steal a precious place back.  Well, I'm not going to lie, I didn't like that idea.  If I wasn't competitive, I wouldn't be in sport.  So I waited until I heard him slightly pick up his cadence, then went for it.  He tried to keep with me, but I have a decent finishing kick on me and he was history.  I think he vomited.

Then I vomited.

Official time was bang on 35:00 giving me average mile splits of 7min/miles.

In the middle is me.  Pain face on.

Cross-country is awesome.  There's no doubt, it's way outside my training and my abilities at the minute.  I've just not trained for that style of running.  But that's not going to stop me turning up each week to get covered in mud.  I think it'll bring my running strength on no end - something I perhaps lack.  It's also an excellent hard run once a fortnight, in race conditions.  Something I know I lacked experience of last winter.  So I'll be back to try again.  The courses apparently get easier from now on, which is just fine by me.

Lesson learnt:

• Pacing.  I should have listened to a friend who said that the good guys take the first lap as a tempo run, then nail the second lap.  The adrenaline got to me and I did it the other way around.
• My Salomon Speedcross' were awesome.  I almost didn't wear them, but the grip they provide is just biblical and I was very grateful for it.
• Garmin in the back pocket was a great call - I can't remember the last time I did a stand alone running race at 7min/miles and I think I would have found it demoralising to have seen it mid-race.

Garmin was messed around a bit by all the tree cover I guess and only recorded 4.85miles. 

8 Oct - 14 Oct

Swim

3 sessions

Time: 3:00:00

Distance: 9200m

Run

5 sessions

Time: 2:55:43

Distance: 23.2miles

Run 1 - 3miles, 22:58

Run 2 - 5.1miles, 36:16

Run 3 - 8.0miles, 1:03:25

Run 4 - 4.9,iles, 0:39:00

Brick - 2.2miles, 0:14:04

Cycling

3 sessions

Time: 5:11:28

Distance: 75.3miles

Bike 1 - 61.0miles, 3:30:48

Bike 2 - Turbo, 0:50:00

Brick - 14.3miles, 0:50:40

Week Totals:

10 sessions

Time: 11:07:11

Distance: 104.5miles

Pretty good week all in all.  Bike 1 got cut short by a duet of punctures and the bike part of my brick workout was abandoned due to the truly horrendous traffic clogging up Richmond Park.  I won't be going back there on the weekend on the bike any time soon!  Swims felt good.  Re-calculated my CSS with times of 5:42 for 400m and 2:51 for 200m - a little slower than I did at the end of summer, but that may have been due to a lack of tumble turns (I seemed to have lost the knack!) and a fairly crowded public pool.  Nice to see a >20mile run week - going to try to build on that this week with a 10% increase, so around 25miles.  I'd like to build up to around 30miles/week which, as long as I introduce real quality at a later date, should see me make some gains next year.

What I've been singing whilst training this week.....

Motivation

Motivation is fickle.  Some days I can't wait to jump out of bed at 0600 to go swim in a too warm, overcrowded, hairy pool with bits floating in it (not just the frankly impressive number of plasters, but also the old boys who like to come down in the morning for a paddle).  Others, I have to drag myself out of bed after a minimum of 25mins snoozing my alarm and grumble about how unfair life is and wondering why on earth I think this triathlon lark is a good idea.

It's not surprising motivation is so variable.  As anyone who trains regularly in any sport, it's tough.  It physically drains you, leaving you with that persistent ache in your legs that never, ever, ever seems to go, no matter how much you'd like it to.  Thankfully, I've never been struck down much by injury.  Injury is something I live in fear of.  I know that I would a be a miserable, irritable mess if I was forced to sit and watch my fitness disappear in a blur of biscuits, the sofa and poor quality day time television.  Injury is something which would break me.  I don't know whether I would come back from an injury fighting to get back on track, clawing back those lost days and weeks.  I don't know if I'd be so appalled by how sloth-like I had become, I'd struggle to get the sessions in.

The mental fatigue is also huge.  When every session you do seems to leave you a broken mess, stumbling back into the house, it's not surprising the idea of repeating the experience becomes less and less appealing.  When you throw in a demanding University course, it seems all your life consists of is sleeping, lectures and training.  Television becomes something other people do.  Going out?  I don't drink sorry and I have training at 0700 tomorrow.  Dinner happens when everyone else is about to go to bed.  Sunday lie-ins?  Ha.

But despite all that, when it's good, it's oh so good.  Looking back at your week and noting that you did every session planned, smashed every interval and got your hours in you cannot help but be proud of that.  The look on people's faces when I tell then I tend to get between 9 and 11 sessions a week of training in is frankly priceless.

I'm looking forward to Winter.  I'm only 3 days in to my winter training, after a lovely fortnight of "off season" but I'm loving it.  I'm genuinely excited to see what happens after this winter.  I'm undoubtedly stronger than ever and with a winter of training behind me, next year is promising.  I'm nervous to set goals, but I have ideas of what I'd like to achieve next season.  I'm going to keep them to myself for now, as they will undoubtedly be influenced by how successful this winter is.  Things can only get better.

We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.

I still have a plan....just a slightly different plan...

So after getting some great feedback on my proposed winter training plan, I've slightly altered my plan to this....

                                       AM                                                 PM
Monday                           Swim                                            Run #1
Tuesday                                                                              Run #2
Wednesday                      Swim                                        Bike Ride # 1
Thursday                                                                             Run #3
Friday                             Swim                                            
Saturday                         Run #4                                     Turbo Session
Sunday                        Bike Ride #2                             Stretching/Massage


Run #1 = Longer sets of intervals (100m, 1200m, 1600m)
Run #2 = LSR of up to 11-12miles, done at a "comfortable" pace which will allow me to build time on my feet
Run #3 = Tempo run of 5-7miles
Run #4 = Threshold run, along the lines of 1mile WU, 3miles at threshold, 1mile WD

Swim sessions will be following the Swim Smooth Level 3 Olympic plan (approx 3100m a session, mix of technique, endurance and speed work)

Turbo session will be concentrating on VO2Max sort of efforts, done on TT bike.
Bike Ride #1 is a threshold session with the Club I ride with (Kingston Wheelers)
Bike Ride #2 will be a solo ride on my TT bike done at pace, but a touch easier than #1.

Days aren't fixed at all, week by week my run and bike schedule will change dependent on when rides are going out, the weather forecast, my Uni timetable etc. etc.  The swims are pretty much set.

This plan has a lot more intensity, but should bring my fitness along nicely.  I'll be following this plan until Jan/Feb when I'll lose the longer run.  It'll probably be replaced with a threshold bike session of some sort - either another turbo session or a session such as 2x20min on the road.

The season that was....

My first season of triathlon is over.  Unfortunately, unable to race at Hever this weekend due to a persistent chest infection, I have no more races left this year.  Looking back on my season I think I can take away lots of good points and a couple of things I would really like to work on.....

Positives

- I qualified for GB Age Group, which I was pretty convinced would not happen. 

- Went sub 40mins for a 10km for the first time.

- Developed my cycling so that I am much stronger over longer distances now. I also feel like my 5 and 10min power has improved considerably. 

- With help from Swim Smooth I've managed to get my 400m time down from 6min40 to 5min37 and my 1500m time down from 27min-ish to doing a 23:0x at Bedford.  

- Snuck onto the podium for the first time with a cheeky 3rd place at the Thorpe Sprint Triathlon (1st race of series).

- Sorted out all the bike bling I will ever need and got a pretty good position sorted too.

 Negatives

 - A big, fat DNF at Bedford.    

 - Not nearly enough racing across all disciplines. I need to race more without a doubt.  

 - Still no real PBs over straight TT distances (though mostly due to only doing a couple all year).  

 Looking back over this list, I realise I actually had a fantastic season and it is all to easy to be too critical. On the other hand, who knows what sort of time I could do in Turkey if I correct all these little bits? The racing can be quite easily sorted. I have several ParkRuns very close to me so could race over 5km every week without too much hassle. There's a great little lake near to me too which hold swim races and aquathlons when it's warm enough. I've also begun to get quick enough to join the quick boys in the Club on their rides - they are considerably stronger than me at the moment, but it gives me something to aim for and will undoubtedly really help my cycle leg.

It's at this time where I also need to start planning for winter base training.  I know I need to keep working on all 3 disciplines but it's my running in particular that would seem to hold the most gains.  My swim and bike legs are of a good level, but I always lose time on the run.  I'm going to be putting together some sort of a plan over the next few weeks which will then make it's way up to this blog.

J

Swimming Smooth.....

Swimming is something I do not have a huge amount of talent for.  I surfed for the best part of 8 years before I moved to London for University and that has undoubtedly set me up quite well in terms of muscle development but I have never had any swim lessons past the absolute basics, let alone been part of a swim squad.  This complete lack of knowledge left me at a loss as to what my swim training should consist of.  There is information out there, but I had no real idea as to how to put it together.  This made itself obvious by my fairly average swim split of 28min at my first triathlon (London).  I didn't really know what I needed to do to really improve until on the recommendation of another swimmer I had a look at the Swim Smooth plans.

There are 3 different levels of plans, the Swim Smooth website describes them as:

Level 1 is for swimmers who swim around 7:45 to 12:00 for 400m or faster swimmers returning to fitness after a long layoff. A typical session is around 2300m. Don't be put off if you're quite new to freestyle swimming, these plans are just what you need to improve your swimming - and motivate you too!

* Level 2 is for swimmers around the 6:00 to 7:40 mark for 400m swam hard. Each session in the plan is 2500 to 3000m in length. This plan will direct you and challenge you - giving you the perfect mix of training and technique to get you into top shape for your triathlon season.

* Level 3 is for strong swimmers who swim sub 6 minutes for 400m. Each session is 3000+m in length. As an advanced swimmer you may feel your need to swim further than this but these sessions are highly focused and avoid 'junk yardage'. Exactly what you need to keep you motivated and gap the field.

I opted for the level 2 plan as fitness tests for work showed that my base level of fitness had me splashing my way through 400m in 6min37 - not exactly what I was hoping for.  Best will in the world this was going to give me a 1500m time of 26-27min, which is way off what I really needed to do if I had hopes of qualifying.  I only got round to ordering the plan just before the Easter holidays began giving me just enough time to complete the 11 week plan before my first 'A' race of the year and my first chance to qualify at the Bedford Triathlon.

So, the plan began.  3 mornings a week I dragged my weary body to the local pool and did around 2700m of swimming.  This was either a long swim (concentrating on endurance), a "fresh and fruity" set working on speed or a technique set.  Some of the techniques and drills seemed very odd to me and I couldn't really see their purpose.  Then, as I read some more articles about the Swim Smooth technique, I began to see what they were targeting and were hoping to improve.  I knew I was beginning to actually swim and not just power (read splash) my way down the pool.  I felt fluid and I felt as if the rhythm that was noticeably absent before was beginning to develop.  However, I was not prepared for the result of my session #14 (4th week of the plan) which called for me to repeat the 400m and 200m time trials that I used to set my CSS* pace.

I needed to check my watch again.

5:57.  5min 57 secs.  I couldn't believe it and a little squeak let everyone around me know I was pleased with the result.  In just over 4 weeks of training I had gone for 6:3x to 5:57 for 400m

These improvements just kept coming.  Understandably the improvements were smaller, but nevertheless, by the end of the 11week program, I was down to 5min36 for 400m.  This improvement was reflected in my swim split at Bala where I came out the water at 23:0x (can't be specific, timing mat was on entry to transition).

For winter, I'm going to be moving up a level to level 3 plan and I hope to get down to close to 5min for 400m by the time I go to turkey and a 1500m split of 21:xx and I truly feel that following this plan will see me achieve this.

If your swimming is stuck in a rut and you can't even comprehend how to swim faster - then check out Swim Smooth.  If you like the idea of structured sessions and not having to trawl Google results to piece together a patchwork session - then check out Swim Smooth.  If you like nicely bound books full of techniques and words like "fresh" and "fruity" you can check out these guys too.

James

* estimated pace which is lactate threshold pace

Swim Smooth Website

Swim Smooth Training Plans

Bala Standard Distance Race Report

So that's that.  My first full season of triathlon is over, culminating with the Bala Standard Distance and my last chance at GB Age Group qualification.  I won't spoil the surprise by telling you the outcome now.....oooh the tension.

After a fairly horrific journey up to Bala, I got registered and checked in at the hostel I had booked for the night. A fairly eventless evening, punctuated with several small bowls of pasta and other carby snacks, more than several trips to check my bike hadn't decided to un-assemble itself and a fair amount of nervous leg jiggling before settling in for an early night at 2200.  Bala is one of the few events which starts at a more civilised time, with my wave going off at 0930, meant I almost had a lie in!

The morning after the night before and I was racked, lubed and suited, ready for the off.  A little warm up swim confirmed that the lake really is face achingly cold, but I felt I had my breathing under control.  I've had problems with the dive reflex causing me to catch my breath, causing real problems for 5-10mins before I can settle down, so I was pleased to have sorted this out before the race started properly.  I lined up a little way down the line, to try and give myself some clear water, but as soon as the horn went, it was carnage.  By far and away the most chaotic swim start I've ever been in, with arms, legs, ears, elbows and other assorted anatomy flying around in all directions.  After 300m or so though, everything settled down and I found myself following a nice set of feet (didn't notice the nail varnish colour, but well cared for they definitely were).  The swim exit at Bala involves hobbling over some rocks to the jetty which definitely lost me some time, but a solid swim performance.  Not as fast as Bedford, but quite pleased.  Swim Split: 24:55


T1 was uneventful, did what needed to be done and got out on the bike.  T2: 1:08  

The elastic bands did their job and I got into the saddle no problems.  Then the fun began.  My feet, numbed by the cold Welsh lake did a pretty good job of shutting the straps on my shoes.  However, some awkward wibbling, some frustrated wobbling and I finally got them on and I could start getting on with it!  By now, the calm lake was heavily ripped by a strong wind and I was working hard to average barely 20mph and was worrying my bike split would be way off what I had planned.  However, at the turn around I realised that that wind was easily going to pay back that effort as I easily cruised back at 30mph+ for large chunks of the return leg of the out and back course.  The course is quick, but definitely got some lumps and curves to it.  However, I think this played to my advantage as I see my climbing in the the aero position as one of my strengths, evident by the ground I made up on competitors and several I passed on the two climbs on each leg of the course.  My Rudy Project Wingspan was awesome and kept my head well ventilated in the muggy and warm conditions.  Bike Split: 01:02:15 

T2 was one of my best to date - re-racking the bike by hanging it off the brakes was a great move in the end and I'm really pleased.  T2: 0:41

The run felt tough to begin with as my left quad kept pinging as if it was trying to cramp.  I passed my dad who was sat at the side of the course on the way out, who shouted that a 45min 10km would get me a 2:15 - my realistic goal for the event.  Knowing this, I checked my wristwatch and started counting off the 7min miles.  The course ran alongside the bike course and had a good lump in it - definitely not a PB 10km course.  With 1mile to go I knew I was going to go under 2:15 and I started targeting 2:13:xx.  The last 200m was a weaving little funnel, over some rough ground and my tired legs kept causing me to catch my feet on the pot-holed ground, but I made it across the line.  Somehow, I had the energy to pull out this frankly fantastic finish line photo.  Run Split: 44:29.  Overall Time: 2:13:30.

However, a nasty little surprise was in store as I found out I had received a 2min penalty for drafting.  I honestly have no idea how, when or where I did something that was worthy of a penalty, but I am not one to argue with race officials - their job is hard enough as it is without people arguing the toss.  All I can do is learn from it and be even more careful than I was at Bala.  My official time therefore became 2:15:30. 

And now for the really big news.....I qualified!  Q2 at Bala and I'm off to Turkey in June for the European Championships as a GB Age Grouper!

Who'da thunk it....

James



Full Race Results

Officially a triathlete...

So after some fairly exhaustive packing, re-packing, last minute panicking and swearing the only thing left to do was head to London on Saturday to rack the bikes in preparation for Sunday's race.  Traffic in central London caused further swearing, followed by a little more panicking as the deadline for racking crept ever nearer.  However, even with central doing its very best car park impression, we arrived with an hour to spare.

With bikes racked, transition boxes ready, bellys full of carbs and butterflies an early night was called for.  After some discussion it was decided that a glass of red wine would help with pre-race nerves, ensure a good nights sleep and since the pros on the TdF do it, why can't we!?


The Race

The swim was as hectic as I anticipated, with limbs flying everywhere.  Luckily I kept my goggles, but definitely got caught in the slower traffic, despite starting in the supposedly quicker half of my wave. Definitely lost a minute or two at the start. just trying to find clear water.  Some people definitely over estimating their abilities as I passed one guy who had STARTED the race breast stroking - all fart, no poo.  Sighting was pretty poor, not helped by zero visibility in the water preventing me from using the line of buoys marking the course as a guide.  Despite this got out the water feeling OK and got my suit off pretty sharpish with the aid of copious lubrication of ankles and wrists.

Swim - 27:53

Grabbed my bike and ran out of the Excel Centre, necking a gel in the process and slipping one up the leg of my trisuit.  An interesting bike out, weaving through a part of the car park but soon out onto the course proper.  Not quite as flat as I had been led to believe with a constant gradient of one sort or another., but managing to maintain a decent speed of about 23mph.  Not sure exactly what my average was as my Garmin was being thrown off by all the time it was spending underground in tunnels!  Bike was fairly uneventful.  Managed to get into a bit of a duel with a lad on a nice Specialized, chasing each other down the course (without drafting of course), which helped keep me motivated on the fairly ugly course. Think the course came up just short of a full Olympic distance at 38.7km.

T1 - 3:41
Bike Lap 1 - 30:48
Bike Lap 2 - 29:23
Total Bike - 1:00:11

T2 was also smooth as you like, which I'm definitely pleased about.  Out onto the run and within 30 paces, I get a horrendous stitch down my left side.  Breathing control didn't seem to help, but eventually the stitch eased a little somewhere around the 2nd lap!  Definitely a weak run though, not helped by a seriously crowded, uninspiring course on an extraordinarily hot day.  Hydration was definitely a problem, as I've not yet learned how to drink and run without choking!

T2 - 2:09
Run Lap 1 - 13:12 (8:44min/mile)
Run Lap 2 - 12:37 (8:24min/mile)
Run Lap 3 - 12: 19 (8:12min/mile)
Run Lap 4 - 12:10 (8:06min/mile)

Total time.......2:24:08

Ecstatic to get under 2:30, especially with a few minutes to spare.  Need to sort my run out for the Hever Castle Triathlon at the end of September!

To do for next tri...

1. Start nearer the front on the swim, no point getting stuck in with the all fart, no poo swimmers.
2. Try drinking while on the run
3. Don't fill water bottles until I know how hot the day is going to be!  Definitely would have appreciated double the amount I had but at lower concentrations.  May have helped stop the stitch I got on the run too.

James out.