It's time to TAPER!!!
Well kind of... I have some events/racing to do first.
As ever I will start with the high level numbers....
Week 1 - 4
|
Week 5 - 8
|
Week 9 - 12
|
Week 13 - 16
|
|
Swim
|
24.7
|
26
|
32.3
|
28.3
|
Bike
|
810
|
970
|
838
|
687
|
Run
|
7
|
80
|
143
|
15
|
Average of 12:30 hours a week spent training
I also completed my first triathlon of the year a short race report can be found HERE
Swimming
This month has seen me keep the consistency I have grown to love with swimming. Three times a week on the same days at the same times. Wednesday & Friday mornings and Sunday evenings.
I did add a few extra swims in on a Monday evening. This was purely to see how my body reacted to using swimming for active recovery, these tended to be short 1500m swims where I had no goal other than to just swim easy.
I also managed to dig the wetsuit out and head to the London Docks one Saturday morning. This was without question the coldest I have been swimming. Let’s hope the water temp in south of Spain is a bit warmer!!
Dom and I at the London Docks after a very cold swim
Cycling
I will be honest, when I typed 687km in the table above I panicked a little. I then reassured myself that based on my TT ride, another increase to my FTP and my ride within the Big Goat Triathlon I had proved that just covering distance isn't the productive way to measure success.
So in week 2 I had what became my first unofficial event of the year. This was a 10mile TT hosted by Cranleigh Cycling Club. Although, I would consider myself an experienced cyclist, I had never competed in any pure cycling event which was on the road.
Due to the cancellation of the Woking Sprint this became my first event. It was also now my first chance to use my Canyon TT bike in anger.
Apart from making a wrong turn the event went very well. I clocked the fastest time split for the day earning me a mug, water bottle and a £20 Amazon voucher.
My main take away from the event was how "easy" it was to hold speeds in excess of 30kph. I really can't wait to race over a longer distance and see an improvement in my results.
Post TT ride
In week 3 I decided I would complete an FTP test. This wasn't a planned weeks in advance like the previous two and although FTP tests are bloody hard I didn't want to be in a position where I feared them.
With that in mind I had no formal target. All I set out to achieve was to prove to myself that I could still produce a similar performance to the last result (284FTP). I won't go into the test it's self, as i'm sure most of you will have done one. However, I managed to squeeze a couple more watts and hit a new FTP of 292. ON reflection I put this increase down to me actually having my average watts displayed in front of me as this provided some extra motivation.
A side from that I had one really long down to Brighton on the Bank Holiday which proved to me how wet and cold you can get on two wheels. I am hoping all these snowy/wet miles do produce the results I want in the summer months.
Running
Running is continuing to tick along nicely.
I have three highlights of this 4 week block, a sub 40min 10km, 1/2 marathon distance long run and 3 Park Runs completed.
In week 1 I was meant to race in Woking, one of the objectives was to set a new 5km PB. As that race didn't go ahead I set out on the Sunday morning determined to hammer a 5km PB out around Wandsworth Common. The objective was completed and I managed to get 5km done in 18:55 (previous PB was 19:20), although I was reasonably pleased to dip under 19 mins I was shocked at how hard it was.
Later in this block I entered a 10km RunThough UK event at the Olympic Park, the objective here was to run 10km under 40mins, something which I had never officially done to date.
The event it's self was as ever well run. When the announcer asked for all sub 40 minute runners to the front, I found myself right at the front....
From the start I went out hard. Although running under 40mins was the objective I actually set my watch to HR view only and aimed to target above 160bpm throughout the run. During the event my watch would vibrate each km and I could see I was well ahead of pace. I'm convinced that if I had pace visible throughout this run I would of slowed down. Lesson learnt for the future run to HR and feel :)
Upon crossing the line I knew I had gone well under 40 mins, but my watch had clocked 9.8km. This saw me do a mad dash past the finish line until my watch vibrated to signify 10km.
Final time on my watch was 37:47. I still when writing this post can't believe how quick (for me) that is!! In fact, I mentioned my 5km PB attempt above as in the last 5km of this 10km race I set a new 5km PB of 18:53!!!!
I have and will probably say this again. I'm not a runner, I have clocked about 850km of recorded running in the last 12 months and I have been battling running injuries from day one of this journey. I'm motivated more then ever running wise and I can't wait to start knocking time off my other running PB's.
On the 3rd weekend of the block I set out with an ambitious plan to run 21km with 2x3km around race pace. I set off on my normal long route to Battersea Park and the plan was to use the lap (which is bang on 3km) as the place to complete the efforts.
This long run went well, I wasn't as quick as I thought I would be for my race pace efforts. However, as I had done a 10km/5km PB 4 days before and on the 6km home my legs really started to come to me I was very much encouraged by what I achieved. In fact the 21km took me 1hr 40mins, which isn't slow and funnily enough is only 5 mins slower then my PB.
Lastly, I completed 3 Park Runs in this block. The best one being at the Trelissick Gardens down in sunny Cornwall. I managed to convince my sister that it would be a good idea.
Recap of objectives from weeks 12- 16
Running is continuing to tick along nicely.
I have three highlights of this 4 week block, a sub 40min 10km, 1/2 marathon distance long run and 3 Park Runs completed.
In week 1 I was meant to race in Woking, one of the objectives was to set a new 5km PB. As that race didn't go ahead I set out on the Sunday morning determined to hammer a 5km PB out around Wandsworth Common. The objective was completed and I managed to get 5km done in 18:55 (previous PB was 19:20), although I was reasonably pleased to dip under 19 mins I was shocked at how hard it was.
Later in this block I entered a 10km RunThough UK event at the Olympic Park, the objective here was to run 10km under 40mins, something which I had never officially done to date.
The event it's self was as ever well run. When the announcer asked for all sub 40 minute runners to the front, I found myself right at the front....
From the start I went out hard. Although running under 40mins was the objective I actually set my watch to HR view only and aimed to target above 160bpm throughout the run. During the event my watch would vibrate each km and I could see I was well ahead of pace. I'm convinced that if I had pace visible throughout this run I would of slowed down. Lesson learnt for the future run to HR and feel :)
Upon crossing the line I knew I had gone well under 40 mins, but my watch had clocked 9.8km. This saw me do a mad dash past the finish line until my watch vibrated to signify 10km.
Final time on my watch was 37:47. I still when writing this post can't believe how quick (for me) that is!! In fact, I mentioned my 5km PB attempt above as in the last 5km of this 10km race I set a new 5km PB of 18:53!!!!
I have and will probably say this again. I'm not a runner, I have clocked about 850km of recorded running in the last 12 months and I have been battling running injuries from day one of this journey. I'm motivated more then ever running wise and I can't wait to start knocking time off my other running PB's.
Left is April 2018 - Olympic Park Park 10km 37:47 - Right is June 2017 - Olympic Park 10km 42:30
On the 3rd weekend of the block I set out with an ambitious plan to run 21km with 2x3km around race pace. I set off on my normal long route to Battersea Park and the plan was to use the lap (which is bang on 3km) as the place to complete the efforts.
This long run went well, I wasn't as quick as I thought I would be for my race pace efforts. However, as I had done a 10km/5km PB 4 days before and on the 6km home my legs really started to come to me I was very much encouraged by what I achieved. In fact the 21km took me 1hr 40mins, which isn't slow and funnily enough is only 5 mins slower then my PB.
Lastly, I completed 3 Park Runs in this block. The best one being at the Trelissick Gardens down in sunny Cornwall. I managed to convince my sister that it would be a good idea.
Dom and I after our first Park Run - Clapham Common April 2018
I'm probably going to get it in the neck big time for posting the photo below. BUT I have to take this moment to recognise my sister's achievements in 2018. She has lost a lot of weight since January all by changing simple things in her diet and increasing the amount of steps she takes, this Park Run will be the first of many and I can't wait to see how she continues to progress!!!
I'm just filling out her ballot form for the London Marathon....
Trelissick Park Run April 2018
Recap of objectives from weeks 12- 16
- Race Woking Sprint - Race Cancelled (Have I mentioned that?)
- 10 mile TT - under 25 mins - Official time of 26:11 - Deduct the wrong turn and wet weather and I may have achieved this
- Sub 20min 5km - DONE
- Brick session 3 minimum - DONE
- Yasso's 10 reps - DONE (thanks Dom)
So objectives for the next 4 weeks…..
There is only one tbh..... GO HARD @ IRONMAN BARCELONA 70.3
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Get in touch via Instagram if you have any questions.
Thanks
@Triathlon_Ross