So far so good as far as winter training goes, had another solid week, legs felt heavy at the start of the week but eased up by the middle of the week.
Monday did the River hundred ride with the Sam's at 6 group about 29 miles at an easy pace although threw in a few efforts just to get the heart pumping.
Tuesday I went for a short run round the block, 2.8 miles in 20.24 mins. reasonably easy pace legs didn't feel good so didn't push hard.
Wednesday was a rest day as had to work late.
Thursday we were planning to do a ride then 400m reps but National middle distance champion Joe Skipper turned up for a beasting rock estate style, we reverted back to the usual 21.5 mile ride on mtb's then round the 5.9 mile 2 bridges run, Liam was out to keep give Joe a run for his money on the bikes as we were well aware that he was going to leave us for dead on the run, after an average speed of just over 21mph even Joe was blowing hard, onto the run and he disappeared into the distance after only a mile, but then when I thought I wasn't going to see Joe again he came running past again, it would seem he took a wrong turn and got lost.
Friday had another rest day.
Saturday I went to the Gym for the first time this winter, did a session on the treadmill started at 8.5mph for the first mile as a warm up, then increased to 9mph for the next mile then 3/4 of a mile at 10mph then the last 1/4 of a mile at 12 mph, all felt good and was good to get my cadence up.
Then onto the bike and did a hard 5 miles although did get a bit of cramp inside my right thigh.
Sunday I did a 7 mile X country run at a steady pace, then in the afternoon went to the gym did an interval session on the bike for a total of 30 mins then a quick swim for about 15 mins.
another solid week in the bank, ankles seem to be holding up to the running, another enjoyable week and still no sign of the winter!!!
My biggest concern at the moment is the volume and quality of some of the other boy's training I may need to up my game to stay with them.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Beaten up by an 11 year old.
Another week goes by Christmas will soon be here, which will also mean the shortest day has been and gone and summer is on the way again!!
Last week was another solid weeks training although I didn't get out as much as usual, Monday night I went out with the Sam's at 6 crew and Rode round Breydon in the dark again, this is good fun, another 30 miles at a steady pace although did a few short efforts along the tracks.
Tuesday night I had to go to parents evening and Wednesday had to work late, a welcome 2 days rest, On Tuesday Night I was mucking about with Joe and he managed to Kick me and give me a dead leg, obviously being a rough, tough type of guy I didn't cry until I had got out of the room, I didn't think much more of it until Thursday night when I was half way round the 6 mile 2 bridges run and my thigh started to tighten up and felt as though the dead leg was returning, managed to run through and keep up with Gentry and post a time 2 seconds quicker than last week, I often have the urge to go and play a game of rugby to unleash my awesome power and speed down the centre of the park and flatten some mouthy forward with a crunching tackle as I used to do at school a couple of years ago!! After suffering a dead leg from an 11 year old I am beginning to realise that my swim, bike, run training may not prepare me to well for a battering on a rugby field, I am reasonably fit at what I do but take me away from any of these areas and I am useless, I should have realised this when I went on the waltzer round the park a couple of years ago and felt sick after being spun round a couple of times, must be getting old.
Anyway Friday night I had planned to either swim or run but instead put my slippers on and drank a bottle of wine.
Saturday was feeling much better and managed to get out of the zimmer frame and go for a bike ride round the island with a few of the boys, a nice steady ride, and then Sunday managed to do a slow 6 mile run although my legs felt like lead and the heart was only firing on 2 cylinders after another night out and more wine.
Next week the healthy eating and serious weight loss programme kick in, am now seriously planning next seasons racing which is looking like an attempt at a iron distance event, more on that to follow shortly.
Last week was another solid weeks training although I didn't get out as much as usual, Monday night I went out with the Sam's at 6 crew and Rode round Breydon in the dark again, this is good fun, another 30 miles at a steady pace although did a few short efforts along the tracks.
Tuesday night I had to go to parents evening and Wednesday had to work late, a welcome 2 days rest, On Tuesday Night I was mucking about with Joe and he managed to Kick me and give me a dead leg, obviously being a rough, tough type of guy I didn't cry until I had got out of the room, I didn't think much more of it until Thursday night when I was half way round the 6 mile 2 bridges run and my thigh started to tighten up and felt as though the dead leg was returning, managed to run through and keep up with Gentry and post a time 2 seconds quicker than last week, I often have the urge to go and play a game of rugby to unleash my awesome power and speed down the centre of the park and flatten some mouthy forward with a crunching tackle as I used to do at school a couple of years ago!! After suffering a dead leg from an 11 year old I am beginning to realise that my swim, bike, run training may not prepare me to well for a battering on a rugby field, I am reasonably fit at what I do but take me away from any of these areas and I am useless, I should have realised this when I went on the waltzer round the park a couple of years ago and felt sick after being spun round a couple of times, must be getting old.
Anyway Friday night I had planned to either swim or run but instead put my slippers on and drank a bottle of wine.
Saturday was feeling much better and managed to get out of the zimmer frame and go for a bike ride round the island with a few of the boys, a nice steady ride, and then Sunday managed to do a slow 6 mile run although my legs felt like lead and the heart was only firing on 2 cylinders after another night out and more wine.
Next week the healthy eating and serious weight loss programme kick in, am now seriously planning next seasons racing which is looking like an attempt at a iron distance event, more on that to follow shortly.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Back into winter training.
The routine is starting to take shape for the winter, so far the weather is being kind. I have started running more often, so far so good ankles are holding up, a few longer gentle cross country runs hopefully have put a bit of run strength back in my legs, have just had a good week of training which went as follows:
Monday 7th- did the Monday night ride, Breydon in the dark, this was great fun a bit of off road riding in the dark is really enjoyable, concentration levels need to be maintained, we did 29.21 miles in 1 hr 50 mins averaging 15.9 mph
Tuesday - 30 min swim at bhv reasonably easy just trying to keep a little bit of swimming up at the moment before I get myself into proper swim sessions, then a 20 min run with Joe which was nice and easy, I thought it would be a good idea to try a couple of mile reps after that which gave me a bit of a shock, I think I must have gone off a bit to fast, I was aiming for 6 min miles but when I got to 3/4 of a mile had run out of steam and had to slow down, will need more practice on fast sessions.
Wed- had to work late.
Thursday - The weekly Rock Estate brick session, 21.5 miles round the town on Mtb's this is done at a reasonably hard pace, certainly the second lap the speed goes up, this week we averaged 21 mph which isn't to bad when you take into consideration stopping for traffic lights etc. then into a 5.9 mile 2 bridges run, last week I went off far to quickly and slowed down by about 10 seconds every mile. this week I went off slower and tried to speed up as I went round, Running with Liam is always going to turn into a race and push the pace on, we did a steady first mile at 6.45 pace and then 3 miles at 6.42, 6.40, 6.41, Liam had pulled out a gap on me of about 200m with about 2 miles to go, I set myself a target of trying to catch Liam and stay with him, I pushed hard down Normanston drive and caught him at the bottom, we then had about 3/4 of a mile to go and the pace didn't fall away we were pushing as hard as I could for sure, surge after surge didn't break him but on the last little incline in the road I managed to get a couple of yards and then pushed on for the last 500m we did the last mile at about 6 min mile pace which was a good feeling, I wouldn't have run that hard without someone to push me. We are getting a reasonable turnout for these sessions with all the boys doing well.
Friday- A nice easy day with a 30 min swim at bhv with Anna.
Saturday I did a 20 min run with Joe and then went round the block as hard as I could, this was 2.8 miles at an average 6.27 pace each mile was progressively faster.
Sunday - I went for a ride on the road bike 32 miles at 20mph average speed, a steady ride with a few efforts thrown in to get the heart rate going.
I need to get to a couple of proper swim sessions per week this is my weakest discipline and the one I am neglecting at the moment, It's looking like I may need to get out of bed on a Sunday morning. Not a bad week for this time of year and I enjoyed it to which is a bonus, motivated to push harder and do better next season, if my running is not back below 40 mins for a 10k next season I will not be happy.
Monday 7th- did the Monday night ride, Breydon in the dark, this was great fun a bit of off road riding in the dark is really enjoyable, concentration levels need to be maintained, we did 29.21 miles in 1 hr 50 mins averaging 15.9 mph
Tuesday - 30 min swim at bhv reasonably easy just trying to keep a little bit of swimming up at the moment before I get myself into proper swim sessions, then a 20 min run with Joe which was nice and easy, I thought it would be a good idea to try a couple of mile reps after that which gave me a bit of a shock, I think I must have gone off a bit to fast, I was aiming for 6 min miles but when I got to 3/4 of a mile had run out of steam and had to slow down, will need more practice on fast sessions.
Wed- had to work late.
Thursday - The weekly Rock Estate brick session, 21.5 miles round the town on Mtb's this is done at a reasonably hard pace, certainly the second lap the speed goes up, this week we averaged 21 mph which isn't to bad when you take into consideration stopping for traffic lights etc. then into a 5.9 mile 2 bridges run, last week I went off far to quickly and slowed down by about 10 seconds every mile. this week I went off slower and tried to speed up as I went round, Running with Liam is always going to turn into a race and push the pace on, we did a steady first mile at 6.45 pace and then 3 miles at 6.42, 6.40, 6.41, Liam had pulled out a gap on me of about 200m with about 2 miles to go, I set myself a target of trying to catch Liam and stay with him, I pushed hard down Normanston drive and caught him at the bottom, we then had about 3/4 of a mile to go and the pace didn't fall away we were pushing as hard as I could for sure, surge after surge didn't break him but on the last little incline in the road I managed to get a couple of yards and then pushed on for the last 500m we did the last mile at about 6 min mile pace which was a good feeling, I wouldn't have run that hard without someone to push me. We are getting a reasonable turnout for these sessions with all the boys doing well.
Friday- A nice easy day with a 30 min swim at bhv with Anna.
Saturday I did a 20 min run with Joe and then went round the block as hard as I could, this was 2.8 miles at an average 6.27 pace each mile was progressively faster.
Sunday - I went for a ride on the road bike 32 miles at 20mph average speed, a steady ride with a few efforts thrown in to get the heart rate going.
I need to get to a couple of proper swim sessions per week this is my weakest discipline and the one I am neglecting at the moment, It's looking like I may need to get out of bed on a Sunday morning. Not a bad week for this time of year and I enjoyed it to which is a bonus, motivated to push harder and do better next season, if my running is not back below 40 mins for a 10k next season I will not be happy.
Monday, November 7, 2011
The end of season review.
Ah the last blog stated that I was back, unfortunately this was a lie I didn't get back into the habit of writing a whole load of guff on a weekly basis, not even monthly!! but with the clocks changing and evenings at home arguing with the family about what crap we are going to stare at on the TV now may be a good time to waffle some more.
The season has ended for me, my analysis of the season has taken some time and I think is still ongoing as talking to different people throws another argument forward, I am now happy in some respects and not so happy in others, Race times this year were better so overall I can't complain to much, but the area that was my strongest discipline, running, I feel let me down this season, not one race have I felt that I ran well and run times were down to prove it sometimes by up to 1-2 minutes for a 10k. After a solid winters training this was disappointing and will form the basis for changing this winters training, My bike times this year were good and probably the reason for a slower run, I need to build more power on the bike and develop leg speed for the run, endurance is pretty good, completing the Fritton Viking tri with no specific training was very encouraging,( although I did Die several times in the last 6 miles of the run) I need to do more fast paced brick sessions, to maintain speed on the run.
This winter I will maintain the Rock estate sessions but every 4 -6 weeks do speed work off the bike rather than a tempo run, hopefully this will help with running off the bike next season. I also plan to do more X country runs and would like to do a few races.
Next year my main target is to be fighting for pole position in my age group, no mean feat as Lot's of people are getting faster in this category, failing that I will have to speak to Bircham and target my races more carefully to ensure nobody else is racing!!
I plan to do more Time trials at the start of the season to get more strength and speed on the bike, My TT bike is currently set up in the turbo trainer to help me get used to the position and feel more comfortable, brick sessions off the turbo will also feature if I loose the argument with the choice of channel on the TV, If I ever find myself watching Eastenders or Coronation street I'll punish myself by starting renovation of the last bathroom at home.
If things start well next season I would like to enter a bigger event to see how I fare against even tougher competition and more people on the start line, perhaps the London Tri or a middle distance event.
I need to try and keep going as hard as possible now to stay ahead of my son in triathlon and Daughter in open water swimming, I have a feeling next season may see a few more of the Rock Estate boys turning their cycling talents towards having a go at Triathlon, Shiny new TT bikes with top spec equipment are already being purchased, so more humiliation could be heaped onto anybody being beaten by a newby.
The first winter Thursday night session took place last week to give a benchmark time to work from, My Bike time was 1hr 05 mins for the 22.48mile route which is an average of 20.7 mph, pretty good for mountain bikes and getting caught by just about every set of traffic lights on the first lap.
This was followed by 40mins 12 seconds for the 5.9 mile run which is an average of 6.49 mins/ mile, started with a 6.25 min mile then got progressively slower so need to reverse that, starting at that pace and getting quicker.
We had a good and diverse group of people out training last week so anybody wanting to come and have a go will find somebody to ride and run with at varying pace and distances.
The season has ended for me, my analysis of the season has taken some time and I think is still ongoing as talking to different people throws another argument forward, I am now happy in some respects and not so happy in others, Race times this year were better so overall I can't complain to much, but the area that was my strongest discipline, running, I feel let me down this season, not one race have I felt that I ran well and run times were down to prove it sometimes by up to 1-2 minutes for a 10k. After a solid winters training this was disappointing and will form the basis for changing this winters training, My bike times this year were good and probably the reason for a slower run, I need to build more power on the bike and develop leg speed for the run, endurance is pretty good, completing the Fritton Viking tri with no specific training was very encouraging,( although I did Die several times in the last 6 miles of the run) I need to do more fast paced brick sessions, to maintain speed on the run.
This winter I will maintain the Rock estate sessions but every 4 -6 weeks do speed work off the bike rather than a tempo run, hopefully this will help with running off the bike next season. I also plan to do more X country runs and would like to do a few races.
Next year my main target is to be fighting for pole position in my age group, no mean feat as Lot's of people are getting faster in this category, failing that I will have to speak to Bircham and target my races more carefully to ensure nobody else is racing!!
I plan to do more Time trials at the start of the season to get more strength and speed on the bike, My TT bike is currently set up in the turbo trainer to help me get used to the position and feel more comfortable, brick sessions off the turbo will also feature if I loose the argument with the choice of channel on the TV, If I ever find myself watching Eastenders or Coronation street I'll punish myself by starting renovation of the last bathroom at home.
If things start well next season I would like to enter a bigger event to see how I fare against even tougher competition and more people on the start line, perhaps the London Tri or a middle distance event.
I need to try and keep going as hard as possible now to stay ahead of my son in triathlon and Daughter in open water swimming, I have a feeling next season may see a few more of the Rock Estate boys turning their cycling talents towards having a go at Triathlon, Shiny new TT bikes with top spec equipment are already being purchased, so more humiliation could be heaped onto anybody being beaten by a newby.
The first winter Thursday night session took place last week to give a benchmark time to work from, My Bike time was 1hr 05 mins for the 22.48mile route which is an average of 20.7 mph, pretty good for mountain bikes and getting caught by just about every set of traffic lights on the first lap.
This was followed by 40mins 12 seconds for the 5.9 mile run which is an average of 6.49 mins/ mile, started with a 6.25 min mile then got progressively slower so need to reverse that, starting at that pace and getting quicker.
We had a good and diverse group of people out training last week so anybody wanting to come and have a go will find somebody to ride and run with at varying pace and distances.
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