The start of 2018 marks the start of a 20 week training block which takes me up to my first "A race" of the 2018 season. Barcelona 70.3, 20th May 2018.
Initially, the training I undertook for my first Triathlon (London AJ Bell) started as a 12 week programme and once I signed up for IRONMAN Wales I extended that.
Therefore, 20 weeks will be the longest I have trained with an event/goal at the end. I have decided to complete this training in 4 week blocks. I have done this for several reasons;
- Planning 20 weeks of training and sessions at once is time consuming and as you naturally flex the programme throughout is also a waste of time
- This will allow me to set short term goals throughout my programme for each block to monitor and track progress.
2017
|
2018
| |
Swim
|
84,000m
|
160,000m
|
Cycle
|
4,350km
|
10,000km
|
Run
|
450km
|
1,600km
|
As you can see I have rather crudely based these off doubling my 2017 figures...
Now I'm a big believer in setting objectives and for those of you who know me, if I set an objective I will do everything I can to achieve it.
What I'm also a big believer in is setting realistic objectives. Based on the fact I did very little through Jan-May 2017 and I wanted to focus solely on triathlon as my sport of choice for 2018 I thought these figures were achievable, without a serious injury etc.
I don't anticipate the same approach at the end of 2018 for 2019 goals.
For my 20 weeks leading into Barcelona I intend to write up a 4 week summary in terms of distance covered, number of hours spent training, what my main focus was in each discipline and any achievements or lessons learnt throughout.
So as for the first 4 weeks, (1st - 28th Jan) this is the distance covered for each discipline.
Distance
| |
Swim
|
24,700m
|
Cycle
|
810km
|
Run
|
7km
|
Total hours - 42:43
Weekly average of - 10:40
Objectives week 1 - 4
- Increase FTP
- Consistently swim 3 times a week
- Be religious in my S&C work
Swimming
Pre IRONMAN swimming was my least favorite discipline to train, when learning to swim it was relatively fun as I was making progress almost every session. However, once I could swim 1500m comfortably I didn't make much progress on pace/distance/technique and it became a chore.In Nov-Dec I forced myself to get back in the pool once a week and by the time the new year came around I shocked myself as I was excited about having to aim to swim 3 times a week!!
In December I was starting to see some improvements in speed and technique, this translated into January.
This excitement even lead to an outdoor session at Hampton Pool on a cold Saturday morning with Jennie, where even she commented on how much I had improved in the 2 degree weather.
I'm not entirely sure how I managed to get better.... I have put it down to motivation and the fact that a break from swimming gave me the opportunity when getting back into the pool to unconsciously re train some technique.
With my confidence at an all time high, in week 2 I made my first booking to a Clapham Chasers Swim session. Which if I can get a slot on a weekly basis is going to become a stable part to my ongoing training plan.
Honestly, before that first session I was quite nervous, I had never swam with a club, never done any drills and I was worried about not being in control of how far/how much rest I got between sets.
Almost instantly though these nerves disappeared, Tim the instructor was very approachable and the rest of the group were happy to demonstrate drills to me. The first session was 2500m which was the furthest I had ever swam without being in a wetsuit and with no swimming aids!!
I'm very excited to how my swimming improves with the motivation of swimming with others and tips/drills from a coach.
One swim of note was getting up to Stratford and swimming in the Olympic pool!!
Cycling
As mentioned above, cycling was the discipline I focused on most for the first 4 weeks. I had a new Wahoo Kickr and subscription to Zwift to exploit and as mentioned in my previous posts cycling is my favorite activity.Due to the fact that I was on an enforced running ban for most of the month I focussed on racking up some miles on my new turbo. In late December I took an FTP test on Zwift, this gave me the opportunity to focus on how much could I increase in my FTP in January.
On the 27th of January i completed an FTP test and managed to increase my FTP by 40+ watts.
I managed two rides outdoors in Jan, one with two friends out in the Surrey hills, it was evident that the miles on the turbo had paid off.
The second was the intro ride to Clapham Chasers, this was a character building exercise as I have never been so cold or wet while out on a bike!! Exactly why I invested in turbo!!
Running
I last went for a 'run' on the 23rd of December and as I still experienced some pain I decided to get my knee assessed again and start a new course of physio.
Over the 4 weeks I have had 3 physio sessions @ Four Sides where dry needling was being used to release tension deep in focussed areas.
In week 3 I was able to start the return to run programme which I was on in December. I have managed to complete level 1 and 2 (8 in total).
Touch wood this is the start of me feeling more like a triathlete...
Gym
Towards the end of 2017 due to injury I had to focus strength and conditioning work.
Ultimately I needed to work towards being in the gym 2-3 times a week and having targeted pre-hab exercises to do.
At the back end of 2017 I was going to an S&C class at @ FourSides London every week. Due to time commitments I have now taken this down to every other week. However, i'm still doing the work each week but just flexing my training plan around class times.
This class is taught by James Vickers or Emma Wrath, I highly recommend them for S&C/physiotherapy if you're based in SW London!!
On top of a focussed S&C class I have also included 2 gym sessions which I have broken down below;
I last went for a 'run' on the 23rd of December and as I still experienced some pain I decided to get my knee assessed again and start a new course of physio.
Over the 4 weeks I have had 3 physio sessions @ Four Sides where dry needling was being used to release tension deep in focussed areas.
In week 3 I was able to start the return to run programme which I was on in December. I have managed to complete level 1 and 2 (8 in total).
Touch wood this is the start of me feeling more like a triathlete...
Gym
Towards the end of 2017 due to injury I had to focus strength and conditioning work.
Ultimately I needed to work towards being in the gym 2-3 times a week and having targeted pre-hab exercises to do.
At the back end of 2017 I was going to an S&C class at @ FourSides London every week. Due to time commitments I have now taken this down to every other week. However, i'm still doing the work each week but just flexing my training plan around class times.
This class is taught by James Vickers or Emma Wrath, I highly recommend them for S&C/physiotherapy if you're based in SW London!!
On top of a focussed S&C class I have also included 2 gym sessions which I have broken down below;
- Gym 1 - Lower body - Squats 3x10 body weight, Deadlifts 3x5 increase weight, Calf raises 4x50 2-2.5 body weight
- Gym 2 - Upper body - Bench press 3x10 body weight, Lat pull down 3x10, Shoulder circuit
I had been tasked by my physio to spend about 3-4 hours over each week (mainly before a gym session) foam rolling my lower body; calves, ITB, TFL, hamstrings and quads.
Overall
So with the first 4 weeks in the books and looking at just the high level numbers it's been my biggest block since starting this journey.I'm really happy that I have managed to stick to my plan and most importantly I have become consistent in all my activities.
The big achievement has to be increasing my FTP by such a large margin. This is certainly going to pay off over the next 4-8 weeks with having focussed sessions to work on calculating what I could potentially use as a target race wattage in May.
Objectives for next 4 weeks
- Run - pain free & complete the return to run programme
- Cycle - hit 200km average/week
- Swim - 400m pace - target sub 6:30
Thanks for taking the time to read this post.