Thought I’d give an idea of what a training weekend looks like on a full volume training week. Some people might think it’s pretty light, some might think its pretty intense. For me it’s an excellent mix of activities, that leaves me pretty tired at the end of the weekend and well set up for a good night’s sleep on Sunday. This particular schedule constitutes what I’ll be getting up to this weekend;;
FRIDAY NIGHT; 3km Time Trial. This is all over very quickly, but hurts like hell. It’s maximum effort on the treadmill for 10 minutes. My heart rate will spike to about 185 beats per minute (95% of its maximum), and lactic acid build up in the latter stages will be excruciatingly painful. I’ll sweat an awful lot, and be very close to collapse at the end of the session. A workout that’s all about speed.
After the run, it’ll be home for some food, and a bit of rest and relaxation. The only other session I’ll do is a very brief situp group, of around 50 situps. After that I’ll be taking it easy until bedtime.
SATURDAY; 2 Hour Ride. This is done from 10:00 – 12:00. The course goes over the upland Charnwood Forest, and encompasses some serious hills, with a couple of thousand feet of ascent involved. The pace will be moderate, it’s all about time in the saddle rather than speed over this distance. I’ll keep to an average speed of just over 17mph. My heart rate won’t go much above 164 (84% of maximum), and for the most part will be around 140 (72% of maximum).
After the ride, I’ll have a swift shower, get some food on board and put my feet up for a little while before heading out to the gym.
1800m Swim. This is a technique and time trial session. I’ll do a 400m warm up, then technique work, and then a time trial. I won’t go flat out in the time trial, but will push myself hard, trying to incorporate some of the technique work I’ve done earlier in the session. Not a huge swim, but my big volume swims are with the club on Wed and Thursday (3000m and 2800m respectively).
After the swim it’s a rapid turnaround, more food on board, before loading the car in readiness to depart for Wales. Just before I go I’ll work in a swift pressup set (50 all told). In my car will be a rucksack full of my mountaineering kit, some food, and a running pack. I’ll get to the Youth Hostel for 19:30, get a bit more food on board, and then hit the rack at 9.
SUNDAY; Early start at 5. I’ll (quietly hopefully) leave the bunk room, and get some breakfast in me. It’ll be then time for the first session on the day at 6.
90 Minute Run. This is a steady run, across mountainous terrain. I won’t push the pace at all, but will instead grind out the distance at a moderate speed, probably watching the terrain a bit more than usual as it’ll be icy at height. Running kit will be a bit more technical than for my weekday runs. I’ll have a running pack with a water reservoir, a map in the bag, a headtorch on, a waterproof outer jacket over my base layer, and waterproof fell running trainers on. Always a bit uncomfortable at first, these runs are made worthwhile when you get to be one of the few to see the sun rise over the mountain tops.
6 Hour Hike. After the run it’ll be back to the car to get changed into my hiking kit. Ice and crampons will be a must at 3000ft in the Snowdonia winter. I’ll cram in some more food, and then set off up the mountain. The hike will be a good 6 hours, covering three mountains in total (two of 2500ft + and one monster, Glyder Fach, at over 3200ft). Forecast isn’t good, so good navigation is a must, otherwise it gets dangerous. I’ll have a rucksack on with full safety kit, and a couple of weights tossed in for good measure. It’ll be a good low intensity high endurance workout, which will complement my earlier run nicely.
After the hike I’ll load up the car, and head back to Leicester, eating my lunch along the way and stopping for a 30 minute kip along the way if needed. Once back in Leicester I’ll unload, unpack, and have another snack, before cracking out 50 situps and working through some Takewondo patterns. After a long shower, I’ll put my feet up, crack open a beer and put a film on, a good weekend of training in the bag.
That’s the plan anyway…
25/02/2010
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Monday, 22 February 2010
Birthday weekend
Excellent weekend, seemed to fit a lot in! It was a rest weekend, though I still got a fair bit of exercise in. Headed into the Lakes on Saturday morning to do a few mountains with Sarah. We did the first part of the Kentmere Horseshoe, eight miles in total, with three 2500ft-ish mountains into the mix. Stunning views of Windemere and the Eastern Lake District, and plenty of snow on the top. We ascended from Kentmere up the Gaburn pass, then followed the ridge route across the summits of Yoke, Ill Bell and Froswick. The only problem with the day was the descent from the final mountain, Froswick. It was a very steep descent into Kentmere valley, and Sarah ended up coming down it far too fast, through no fault of her own. She hammered into me, but I couldn’t break the fall much, and we eventually came to a rest about 200 metres down the slope, with Sarah having taken a hell of a knock on her arm from a rock. Fortunately a trip to A&E subsequently confirmed it was just bad bruising as opposed to a break. Still, quite a hairy moment, especially once a rock had jarred by ice axe from my hand as I tried to self arrest us both.
I got some great photographs from the day, and will load a few of the best up when I get a moment. Leicester seems more than usually ugly when you’ve recently spent a day staring at views from over 2000ft up in the sky. Didn’t do a big run on Sunday as it was my rest week, though I did go for a short 30 minute steady run through the snow in York at just over 7 minute mile pace. Felt fine, probably due to the slow pace.
This week is much more of an epic. The weekend in particular should be a good test. 2 hours of cycling in the Charnwood Hills on Saturday morning, followed by a 1800m swim in the afternoon. In the evening I’m heading to Capel Curig in Snowdonia for a kip at the youth hostel. Up bright and early (5 o’clock) on Sunday morning for a 90:00 fell run, and a 6 hour hike up the 3200ft+ Glyder Fach (with a couple of 2500+ peaks thrown in for good measure), before returning back to Leicester for food and a huge, huge sleep. All good.
22/02/2010
I got some great photographs from the day, and will load a few of the best up when I get a moment. Leicester seems more than usually ugly when you’ve recently spent a day staring at views from over 2000ft up in the sky. Didn’t do a big run on Sunday as it was my rest week, though I did go for a short 30 minute steady run through the snow in York at just over 7 minute mile pace. Felt fine, probably due to the slow pace.
This week is much more of an epic. The weekend in particular should be a good test. 2 hours of cycling in the Charnwood Hills on Saturday morning, followed by a 1800m swim in the afternoon. In the evening I’m heading to Capel Curig in Snowdonia for a kip at the youth hostel. Up bright and early (5 o’clock) on Sunday morning for a 90:00 fell run, and a 6 hour hike up the 3200ft+ Glyder Fach (with a couple of 2500+ peaks thrown in for good measure), before returning back to Leicester for food and a huge, huge sleep. All good.
22/02/2010
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Rest Week
Time for a rest week again. It's been a good three weeks of tough training, and my endurance is definitely where it needs to be, though I could use a little top end speed on all three disciplines. That should come over the course of March / beginning of April as I tune up for race season.
Good few sessions at the weekend. I did a 2 hour bike ride from York, heading towards Helmsley, including one leg sapping climb for about 5km up to the village of Brandsby. Felt fine other than the usual numb backside that afflicts anyone stupid enough to hop on a road bike for over fifteen minutes. 1800m swim on Saturday afternoon went well too, a decent 5:33 for a 400m (obviously not flat out), which followed some 800m of technique work. An 80 minute run on Sunday morning rounded the weekend out training wise, and this felt good too (a multi terrain flattish x country route), though of course it should have done since the pace was laid back (7:15/mile).
Spent the rest of the weekend watching the Winter Olympics with Sarah. Which idiot/brave soul looked at a giant cliff and thought it would be a good idea to jump off it with a pair of skis (thus inventing ski jump). Similar questions could be asked in relation to skeleton, bobsleigh, luge, curling...in fact, most of the sports there.
16/02/2010
Good few sessions at the weekend. I did a 2 hour bike ride from York, heading towards Helmsley, including one leg sapping climb for about 5km up to the village of Brandsby. Felt fine other than the usual numb backside that afflicts anyone stupid enough to hop on a road bike for over fifteen minutes. 1800m swim on Saturday afternoon went well too, a decent 5:33 for a 400m (obviously not flat out), which followed some 800m of technique work. An 80 minute run on Sunday morning rounded the weekend out training wise, and this felt good too (a multi terrain flattish x country route), though of course it should have done since the pace was laid back (7:15/mile).
Spent the rest of the weekend watching the Winter Olympics with Sarah. Which idiot/brave soul looked at a giant cliff and thought it would be a good idea to jump off it with a pair of skis (thus inventing ski jump). Similar questions could be asked in relation to skeleton, bobsleigh, luge, curling...in fact, most of the sports there.
16/02/2010
Friday, 12 February 2010
X-Country - Mud and Hills
In a huge shock, I now have a tidy flat. Genuinely tidy, not ‘everything crammed into areas where I don’t usually look’ tidy. It’s quite a novel feeling, and almost certainly won’t last more than a week, but in the interim I intend to enjoy the feeling of not thinking I’m going to trip over and fall every time I head to the loo in the night.
Last weekend was good, even if it was spent mainly in Leicester, a place which becomes more and more aesthetically displeasing the longer you stay here. I had a solid ten hours sleep on Saturday, more because I wanted a lie in than because I needed all of it. It was a bit of a struggle to get on the bike if truth be told, and at thirty minutes in to my steady, very hilly ride, I was not feeling remotely enthusiastic. As time went on the situation improved, and by the end I averaged 17 mph for the two hours I spent in the saddle of my heavy(ish) training bike. Obviously this is pretty slow going, but the terrain was serious (a couple of thousand feet of ascent), and it was an endurance ride, not a time trial.
Had a good swim on Saturday afternoon too, though the presence of a one length wonder in the lane next to me got on my nerves. He’d wait until I was midway through a 100m pull buoy set, then storm out a length, finish at the same time as me and brag to his girlfriend that he’d done something impressive. Any moron can crash out 25 metres in 20 seconds, but it’s keeping it up, length in length out for long periods that counts. I took it easy on my 8 x 100m Pull Buoy set, concentrating on technique alone, and not going for any kind of speed. I averaged 1:21/100m, which was pretty tidy. The 500m time trial followed, and I felt good, despite the kilometre and a bit of swimming I’d already done. I timed in with a very pleasing 6:54. Would be quite interesting to know what I could get going absolutely full tilt, but there’s little point in a triathlete doing that – we need something left in the tank for the bike and run.
Race day on Sunday morning. Decent weather – an overcast five degrees, good running conditions. The course was very hilly, with thick mud in places. A proper multi-terrain cross country. Ten miles was the nominal distance, though the GPS equipped runners reported 10.35, so that’s the time I’ll use for stats. I set off at a comfortable pace, with about 40 of the 400 strong field in front of me. Every time I race I’m amazed by how many people, decent club runners included, over estimate their own speed. Very strong field, and a lot of people clearly thought they were Olympic beaters, as they went off at a rate of knots only to be hammered by better club runners. I settled quickly, and made up a lot of places. Eventually finished 17th, not a bad day at the office for a triathlete taking part in a run race. Averaged about 6:52/mile, pedestrian on the flat, but for a very hilly, muddy x-country ten miler, I was happy.
It’s been a decent week too, with a personal set over a hilly 9k tempo run, and the usual disgusting sweat fest on the turbo trainer. Swimming has been tough, as I’ve lead the fast lane out on Wednesday and Thursday night – always more tiring than sitting on someone’s heels. I’m getting in just under 10km of swimming a week at the moment, together with about 100km cycling (not including the 30km of work commute) and about 30km of running, so endurance wise I’m in OK shape. It’ll soon be time to start upping the speed though, which’ll be a pain fest.
Leaving Leicester for York this evening, so it’s from the sublime to the ridiculous in terms of aesthetics.
12/02/2010
Last weekend was good, even if it was spent mainly in Leicester, a place which becomes more and more aesthetically displeasing the longer you stay here. I had a solid ten hours sleep on Saturday, more because I wanted a lie in than because I needed all of it. It was a bit of a struggle to get on the bike if truth be told, and at thirty minutes in to my steady, very hilly ride, I was not feeling remotely enthusiastic. As time went on the situation improved, and by the end I averaged 17 mph for the two hours I spent in the saddle of my heavy(ish) training bike. Obviously this is pretty slow going, but the terrain was serious (a couple of thousand feet of ascent), and it was an endurance ride, not a time trial.
Had a good swim on Saturday afternoon too, though the presence of a one length wonder in the lane next to me got on my nerves. He’d wait until I was midway through a 100m pull buoy set, then storm out a length, finish at the same time as me and brag to his girlfriend that he’d done something impressive. Any moron can crash out 25 metres in 20 seconds, but it’s keeping it up, length in length out for long periods that counts. I took it easy on my 8 x 100m Pull Buoy set, concentrating on technique alone, and not going for any kind of speed. I averaged 1:21/100m, which was pretty tidy. The 500m time trial followed, and I felt good, despite the kilometre and a bit of swimming I’d already done. I timed in with a very pleasing 6:54. Would be quite interesting to know what I could get going absolutely full tilt, but there’s little point in a triathlete doing that – we need something left in the tank for the bike and run.
Race day on Sunday morning. Decent weather – an overcast five degrees, good running conditions. The course was very hilly, with thick mud in places. A proper multi-terrain cross country. Ten miles was the nominal distance, though the GPS equipped runners reported 10.35, so that’s the time I’ll use for stats. I set off at a comfortable pace, with about 40 of the 400 strong field in front of me. Every time I race I’m amazed by how many people, decent club runners included, over estimate their own speed. Very strong field, and a lot of people clearly thought they were Olympic beaters, as they went off at a rate of knots only to be hammered by better club runners. I settled quickly, and made up a lot of places. Eventually finished 17th, not a bad day at the office for a triathlete taking part in a run race. Averaged about 6:52/mile, pedestrian on the flat, but for a very hilly, muddy x-country ten miler, I was happy.
It’s been a decent week too, with a personal set over a hilly 9k tempo run, and the usual disgusting sweat fest on the turbo trainer. Swimming has been tough, as I’ve lead the fast lane out on Wednesday and Thursday night – always more tiring than sitting on someone’s heels. I’m getting in just under 10km of swimming a week at the moment, together with about 100km cycling (not including the 30km of work commute) and about 30km of running, so endurance wise I’m in OK shape. It’ll soon be time to start upping the speed though, which’ll be a pain fest.
Leaving Leicester for York this evening, so it’s from the sublime to the ridiculous in terms of aesthetics.
12/02/2010
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Feeling better
What a difference a day can make. Or a night in this case. I slept
really well, and got over nine hours, and it's flooded my enthusiasm
back. Actually looked forward to my run this morning, a fartlek
(different bursts of speed randomly interspersed) 9km. It showed too, I
finished only 8 seconds off a PB, and felt like I had stuff left in the
tank. Hopefully when I do my tempo (constant relatively high speed
running) session over this distance next week, I'll set a new PB.
Provided, of course, that I get my sleep the night before. Hopefully my
enthusiasm will translate into a good swim session with the club tonight
(3000m and more I hope, I'm at a work event tomorrow night so can't make
the Thursday night session, and as such want a punishing one tonight!).
I was doing some statistic work on my mountaineering earlier, and
realised something. Raise, the final mountain I did on my hike on
Sunday, was the 100th mountain I've ever climbed. Admittedly, I've
visited peaks far more than 100 times, but sometimes that includes
redoing a peak I've already bagged. Raise was the 100th individual and
separate summit. So a fairly big moment, and one that I didn't realise I
was doing. If I had to decide on my favourite hikes, I'd probably list
my top five, in no particular order, as;
- Skiddaw in winter, from Longside Edge, including Ullock Pick,
Longside, Carlside and Bakestall (see photograph). A good number of
peaks, brilliant views of Skiddaw Forest, and some decent winter
mountaineering work.
- Mount Warning in the Great Dividing Range in spring, Australia. One of
the most unique looking peaks I've climbed, with amazing views from the
top and lush sub tropical rainforest on the way up. Big too, by UK
standards (3800ft).
- The Yorkshire Three Peaks in winter. Clear views in the main, and a
long and demanding hike across three very different mountains, finishing
up with a great pint of Theakston's Old Peculiar in a local pub in
Horton in Ribblesdale.
- Rannerdale Knotts in winter. A long time ago, but a good family outing
in thick snow up a small but attractive mountain on the shore of
Crummock.
- Catstycam in winter. A proper mountain, pyramidcal in shape with steep
drop on it's north side. This one require ice axe and crampons skills,
as did the ridge of Swirral Edge linking it to Helvellyn. A good
challenge.
03/02/2010
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Danger in the mountains
Morning all,
I need to be careful. Whilst the weekend was a fantastic endurance challenge, it’s taken quite a lot out of me. I got about nine and half hours sleep on Sunday night, and another nine last night, yet still feel very tired. I’m going to try and get another nine and half tonight after my turbo session, which will hopefully put me back on an even keel in preparation for the run up to next weekend’s race (more on that later).
The reason why I suddenly raise the issue of being tired is one because I was yawning none stop this morning and two because my first session of the week, a swift 1700m swim, yielded disappointing times. The main set was 5 x 250m on 4:00, and I really struggled to get my times down. I was feeling the water OK, and to be fair not going too slowly, but I was a long way off (maybe 8 seconds per set) where I should be. Disappointing. I was beginning to speed up to where I would expect to be by the final set, but that was too little, too late.
The race at the weekend is the Stourbridge Stagger, a cross country ten miler in the West Midlands. Last year there was 400 entrants, and a lot of those were pretty high calibre athletes from the looks of last year’s results. The winner last year is a multiple marathon victor, who won the undulating Shakespeare Marathon in 2009 in a fearsome 2 hours and 39. His time in the 10 mile stagger was 1:03:19. If I can finish within 10 minutes of him, I’ll consider it a very strong race for me. So that’s my target – 1:13:19 (provided of course it’s the same course as last year!). On last year’s results that’d place me in the top 25, which I’d be satisfied with. Anything more than that would be a big bonus, of course, but only race day will tell what sort of shape I’m in.
Right now I’m not actually very enthusiastic about the race – I’d rather be heading up to York to see Sarah and spending the weekend there. Unfortunately, that’s not the way things have panned out, so to Stourbridge I must go. I think a bit of overtraining hasn’t helped my enthusiasm levels, so hopefully I’ll feel better after a good rest.
I think I’m feeling a bit sober too because I found out that a young lad my age who was climbing exactly the same mountain as me in the Lakes on Sunday (Catsycam) fell 600ft and smashed his leg up - http://www.mountainrescue.org.uk/news/2010_004/
It’s definitely dangerous out in the snow and ice, but always a bit of a shock when something like that happens right next to you. I never saw the fall, but he must have ascended from the Keppel Cove side about two hours after I was on the top, judging from the time I saw the Sea King rescue helicopter. I would have been coming down Raise at the time, less than a KM away, and I didn’t hear a damn thing. If I’d be looking in the right direction, I would have seen the fall. Unfortunately it’s a compound fracture, meaning it went through the skin. I suppose after falling 200 metres, the plus side is he’s lucky to be alive. Must have been terrifying. I never even thought about falling when I was on Swirral Edge, but there’s always a danger. Someone died on Great Gable in the Western fells on Sunday too, and another guy was seriously injured. Not a good day for safety.
02/02/2010
I need to be careful. Whilst the weekend was a fantastic endurance challenge, it’s taken quite a lot out of me. I got about nine and half hours sleep on Sunday night, and another nine last night, yet still feel very tired. I’m going to try and get another nine and half tonight after my turbo session, which will hopefully put me back on an even keel in preparation for the run up to next weekend’s race (more on that later).
The reason why I suddenly raise the issue of being tired is one because I was yawning none stop this morning and two because my first session of the week, a swift 1700m swim, yielded disappointing times. The main set was 5 x 250m on 4:00, and I really struggled to get my times down. I was feeling the water OK, and to be fair not going too slowly, but I was a long way off (maybe 8 seconds per set) where I should be. Disappointing. I was beginning to speed up to where I would expect to be by the final set, but that was too little, too late.
The race at the weekend is the Stourbridge Stagger, a cross country ten miler in the West Midlands. Last year there was 400 entrants, and a lot of those were pretty high calibre athletes from the looks of last year’s results. The winner last year is a multiple marathon victor, who won the undulating Shakespeare Marathon in 2009 in a fearsome 2 hours and 39. His time in the 10 mile stagger was 1:03:19. If I can finish within 10 minutes of him, I’ll consider it a very strong race for me. So that’s my target – 1:13:19 (provided of course it’s the same course as last year!). On last year’s results that’d place me in the top 25, which I’d be satisfied with. Anything more than that would be a big bonus, of course, but only race day will tell what sort of shape I’m in.
Right now I’m not actually very enthusiastic about the race – I’d rather be heading up to York to see Sarah and spending the weekend there. Unfortunately, that’s not the way things have panned out, so to Stourbridge I must go. I think a bit of overtraining hasn’t helped my enthusiasm levels, so hopefully I’ll feel better after a good rest.
I think I’m feeling a bit sober too because I found out that a young lad my age who was climbing exactly the same mountain as me in the Lakes on Sunday (Catsycam) fell 600ft and smashed his leg up - http://www.mountainrescue.org.uk/news/2010_004/
It’s definitely dangerous out in the snow and ice, but always a bit of a shock when something like that happens right next to you. I never saw the fall, but he must have ascended from the Keppel Cove side about two hours after I was on the top, judging from the time I saw the Sea King rescue helicopter. I would have been coming down Raise at the time, less than a KM away, and I didn’t hear a damn thing. If I’d be looking in the right direction, I would have seen the fall. Unfortunately it’s a compound fracture, meaning it went through the skin. I suppose after falling 200 metres, the plus side is he’s lucky to be alive. Must have been terrifying. I never even thought about falling when I was on Swirral Edge, but there’s always a danger. Someone died on Great Gable in the Western fells on Sunday too, and another guy was seriously injured. Not a good day for safety.
02/02/2010
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Busy weekend
It's been a hectic weekend (maybe epic is the word), though I'm safely back in my flat (and exhausted with it) now. Headed up North to my parent's house on Friday evening, getting there at 11. A swift bite to eat and bed, in preparation for a comfortable 2 hour bike ride on Saturday. Perfect.
Or not. Saturday morning comes, and there's snow eveyrwhere. The road outside my parents house looks impassable, but I pop on my cycling kit (not snow-specification) and head out. 30 minutes later and I'm dying. Every part of me is cold - my hands and feet especially. I struggle on for another 45 minutes, reaching Stokesley, before I call it a day, for the sake of my fingers if nothing else. Still a good 40k ride in total, at a very slow pace (ice everywhere); I was in the saddle for 90 minutes, so it's decent endurance work despite the problems.
Back home, and its a quick changearound, a slice of chocolate cake (another winner from mum) before heading to the pool. 1800m is the session - a 400m warm up, 6 x 100m technique work on 1:50 second intervals, finishing with a 750m TT and a 50m warm down. Didn't have any energy - due to the lack of a real meal between cycling and swimming. So I was relying on technique alone. Enough to get semi decent times, but nothing to write home about. My 750m TT was 15 seconds off a PB mind, so hardly a shocker.
Back home again, and a proper meal (chicke and ostrich - it works, trust me, and potatos). I stuffed myself - say one thing for my parent's house, say I'm never underfed! I went to town on the carbohydrate, knowing I'd be burning a lot of calories on Sunday morning...
At 6pm I loaded my car and headed across the North Pennines to the Lake District. A clear and cold night hinted at good conditions for hiking the next morning - running on the ice would be less fun. The Youth Hostel was decent, though the room was a little onthe warm side, and my sleep patterns weren't helped by a front runner for the year's loudest snorer awards. I woke at four, and slipped out of the bedroom and into my running gear. A quick breakfast went down well, and then I stepped out into the night. And boy was it cold. Well into minus figures even at 900ft, and dropping faster the higher I ran. I did a steady 75 minutes, and felt pretty comfortable, although some of the steeper sections towards Red Tarn at 2000ft were punishing. Back to the Youth Hostel, and there were a couple of climbers heading up Helvellyn's gully's, so I gave them a condition report based on what I'd seen. Then it was out into the hills. Long story short - four mountains, two over 2800ft, one over 2900ft and one over 3000ft. All of them were completed without too much trouble - navigation was absolutely fine, even in cloud cover. Great views. The picture above is of Catsycam - first peak up, taken from the flank of the fourth peak, Raise.
Good weekend - time to catch my breath now.
31/01/2010
Friday, 29 January 2010
Chlorine Poisoning
I don't care how many babies have widdled in a pool, there is no need to dose it up with the level of Chlorine that was present last night. It was ridiculous. Nearly half the pool got out before the end, and those of that struggled on probably left the building with severe toxic poisoning. Which was a shame, because the session, 3000m in total, was a good one. Main sets were 100m's on 1:45's and 50m's on 50, and the 100's were coming comfortably in under the 1:20 mark without too much effort.
On the plus side I had an excellent sleep - I was totally exhausted on my return from the pool, and slept solidly through till about 7:30, a dreamless and refreshing sleep. Now, of course I could do with more (another hour a day please!), but getting over 8 hours seems to keep me the right side of alert. I'm heading back to my parent's house tonight, and will hopefully get a comfortable 9 hours + of snoozetime there, before a hectic weekend!
Just finished reading the first two books in Joe Abercrombie's 'the First Law' series. It's a fantasy book, but marks quite a distinct departure from the usual sword and stone epic themes. The characters aren't easily classified into 'good' or 'evil'. They're shades of grey, and more realistic for it - funny too. An excellent read - highly recomennded. Unless you don't like fantasy books in the least. In which case stay well away. Obviously.
On the plus side I had an excellent sleep - I was totally exhausted on my return from the pool, and slept solidly through till about 7:30, a dreamless and refreshing sleep. Now, of course I could do with more (another hour a day please!), but getting over 8 hours seems to keep me the right side of alert. I'm heading back to my parent's house tonight, and will hopefully get a comfortable 9 hours + of snoozetime there, before a hectic weekend!
Just finished reading the first two books in Joe Abercrombie's 'the First Law' series. It's a fantasy book, but marks quite a distinct departure from the usual sword and stone epic themes. The characters aren't easily classified into 'good' or 'evil'. They're shades of grey, and more realistic for it - funny too. An excellent read - highly recomennded. Unless you don't like fantasy books in the least. In which case stay well away. Obviously.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Good times
An excellent session in the swimming pool last night. Properly excellent, not just 'felt good' or 'tried hard'. Fewer people than usual in the fast lane, which opened up the opportunity of putting in the longer sets. Ian, our swim coach, duly obliged. After a 500m warm up (done in 7:01), we did 8 x 50m drills, before a main set of 8 x 250m on 4:00 intervals. I led out, and felt damn good doing it. My slowest time was 3:28, and my fastest (my first and last) was 3:21. I felt totally comfortable, and could have shortened the intervals if I had to. My stroke per length rate rarely went above 18, meaning my stroke was pretty efficient. Better still, Ian told me I had an excellent smooth stroke, with a great high elbows, as well as giving me a few pointers on how to improve. Pointers which I'll use to go faster and faster. All in all a great CV workout - it was good to be used as an example by Ian when he was showing other lanes how to properly do a swim stroke - proof I'm doing something right at least! Plenty of stuff to improve upon though - by top class swimmers standards, I'm still very poor! Quite how poor? Well, the current worl record for 400m is 3:40, held by Paul Biedermann of Germany. My best effort? 5:28.
Have been recruiting for the Welsh 3000s again. I have Dan and Huw onboard, and will broach the subject with John in the coming weeks. I don't like having tried and faied to do the challenge - it hangs over me like a spectre. Plenty of things went wrong on our last attempt. There wasn't much daylight, and we squandered a lot of it by starting up from Pen Y Pass after daybreak. Navigationally we were OK, but it became very difficult and eventually untenable in thick mist and total darkness on the rocky summits of Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach. Some of the group probably lacked a little in mountain fitness. This time we're going to deal with all of those problems. We'll camp on Snowdon the night before, unpack the tents in the dark and hit summit number 1, Snowdon, at the stroke of dawn (or maybe even just before). I'll have scouted the route on the Glyders and the first part of the Carneddau beforehand on a couple of spare weekends, and we'll be doing Fawer and Fach in daylight, so the boulder fields will be less of a problem. I'll also be making sure the entire team is fit enough - I'll be checking up on peoples progress and chivvying them along. We will succeed.
Have been recruiting for the Welsh 3000s again. I have Dan and Huw onboard, and will broach the subject with John in the coming weeks. I don't like having tried and faied to do the challenge - it hangs over me like a spectre. Plenty of things went wrong on our last attempt. There wasn't much daylight, and we squandered a lot of it by starting up from Pen Y Pass after daybreak. Navigationally we were OK, but it became very difficult and eventually untenable in thick mist and total darkness on the rocky summits of Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach. Some of the group probably lacked a little in mountain fitness. This time we're going to deal with all of those problems. We'll camp on Snowdon the night before, unpack the tents in the dark and hit summit number 1, Snowdon, at the stroke of dawn (or maybe even just before). I'll have scouted the route on the Glyders and the first part of the Carneddau beforehand on a couple of spare weekends, and we'll be doing Fawer and Fach in daylight, so the boulder fields will be less of a problem. I'll also be making sure the entire team is fit enough - I'll be checking up on peoples progress and chivvying them along. We will succeed.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Rest and Relaxation
Back from an excellent holiday in Wales. The journey to Snowdonia wasn't half bad - some nice country roads to wind down in the car, much more interesting than the usual motorway fare that I'm confronted with! The cottage Sarah and I stayed in was superb - three bedroomed, log fire and pool table equipped and possessed of a generous kitchen. It was a little chilly, but we remedied that by having log fires burning strongly each night!
Snowdonia is a stunning area - every time I come I'm impressed by the peaks in the area. They're more aesthetically pleasing than many in the Lake District or Highlands - especially Snowdon, with its pyramid of a summit. They're also big - fifteen in the region top the magical 3000ft mark. Given it was meant to be a relaxing holiday, we shyed away from the really big ones, and instead went up Yr Afan, a 2500fter in the Snowdon range, on Saturday. The walk started at about 140ft above sea level, so there was plenty of feet of ascent involved (and a bit of scrambling to keep things interesting). Navigationally it was pretty easy, even if we did take to X-Country on a couple of occasions. No visibility at the very top, but apart from that the views were pretty impressive. Another mountain to add to the list. We pub-grubbed it following the climb, and fish, chips and garlic bread rarely tasted so good!
The next day it was off to Conwy Castle. This is a proper, slab sided brute of a fortification. No fancy Gothic crenellations here, just thick walls and strong defenes. Very impressive! A trip into Llanberis rounded out the day, before returning to the cottage for our final evening. An excellent trip, with plenty fitted in (including an epic snooker match that went down to the wire).
It's a full (and tough) training week this week. It's started well though - a 1700m swim on Tuesday morning with a main set of 4 x 300m on 5:00 intervals yielded pleasing results (in the 4:15 region) without too much in the way of effort, whilst a turbo on Tuesday evening brought with it goo 15:00 minutes at 150BPM or above, and another 20 minutes at 133BPM or above (zones 2 and 1 respectively). Running this morning, and it was a hilly 9k interval session - 30 seconds sprinting with 4:30 easy running. Sounds like masses of recovery, but it was damn draining. A good session - roll on the club swim tonight.
26/01/2010
Snowdonia is a stunning area - every time I come I'm impressed by the peaks in the area. They're more aesthetically pleasing than many in the Lake District or Highlands - especially Snowdon, with its pyramid of a summit. They're also big - fifteen in the region top the magical 3000ft mark. Given it was meant to be a relaxing holiday, we shyed away from the really big ones, and instead went up Yr Afan, a 2500fter in the Snowdon range, on Saturday. The walk started at about 140ft above sea level, so there was plenty of feet of ascent involved (and a bit of scrambling to keep things interesting). Navigationally it was pretty easy, even if we did take to X-Country on a couple of occasions. No visibility at the very top, but apart from that the views were pretty impressive. Another mountain to add to the list. We pub-grubbed it following the climb, and fish, chips and garlic bread rarely tasted so good!
The next day it was off to Conwy Castle. This is a proper, slab sided brute of a fortification. No fancy Gothic crenellations here, just thick walls and strong defenes. Very impressive! A trip into Llanberis rounded out the day, before returning to the cottage for our final evening. An excellent trip, with plenty fitted in (including an epic snooker match that went down to the wire).
It's a full (and tough) training week this week. It's started well though - a 1700m swim on Tuesday morning with a main set of 4 x 300m on 5:00 intervals yielded pleasing results (in the 4:15 region) without too much in the way of effort, whilst a turbo on Tuesday evening brought with it goo 15:00 minutes at 150BPM or above, and another 20 minutes at 133BPM or above (zones 2 and 1 respectively). Running this morning, and it was a hilly 9k interval session - 30 seconds sprinting with 4:30 easy running. Sounds like masses of recovery, but it was damn draining. A good session - roll on the club swim tonight.
26/01/2010
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Time to recharge
It was a good swim last night. The lane was a little busy, but Adam, probably the fastest swimmer in the club apart from the coach, was firing strongly, and the two of us carved out some pretty good times at the front of the fast lane. He had the edge on me in terms of speed until near the end, where my endurance strength started to tell. Main set was a one sided pyramid - 3 x 100m on 1:45, 3 x 75m on 1:15, 3 x 50m on 50 and 3 x 25m on 25m, then 2x, then 1x. Not too tough, but good enough to get the heart rate up. The 100m's were all under the 1:20 barrier, with the final effort timing in at 1:15. Ideally I'd prefer longer sets - more 200m's and 400m's, but there's too many in the lane at the moment and we'd catch up with the back markers after about 200m. Hopefully that'll change as people's new year's resolutions wear off!
Had a lie in this morning. Couldn't make it out of bed for my 30:00 turbo. I think I'll fit it in this evening prior to my club swim, but its a definite indication that I need some proper rest. Which is what I'll get at the weekend fortunately. 3 days in Wales with no cycling, running or swimming will do me a hell of a lot of good - I'll be raring to go by Tuesday of next week, which is when full training starts again! Will be good just to spend some time with Sarah without having to worry about getting in training. There's a log fire at the cottage we're staying at, so I have my mission - don't set fire to the place. Last time I was in a cottage in a national park it was in a little stone farmhouse in the lakes. Surprise surprise, 5 minutes tinkering with the fire and the whole place was filling with smoke. It's clearly a talent I have!
I've promised the club's running coach that I'll do one of the winter league run races for the club. Unfortunately (fortunately), I'm booked up until March, so my first winter league race will be on 7 March at Stilton. Yup, it's not just a cheese...it's a place too! It's 7 miles, so an excellent distance for me. I'll be in good endurance running shape by then (with the Stafford HM looming), so hopefully won't embarass myself...
21/01/2010
Had a lie in this morning. Couldn't make it out of bed for my 30:00 turbo. I think I'll fit it in this evening prior to my club swim, but its a definite indication that I need some proper rest. Which is what I'll get at the weekend fortunately. 3 days in Wales with no cycling, running or swimming will do me a hell of a lot of good - I'll be raring to go by Tuesday of next week, which is when full training starts again! Will be good just to spend some time with Sarah without having to worry about getting in training. There's a log fire at the cottage we're staying at, so I have my mission - don't set fire to the place. Last time I was in a cottage in a national park it was in a little stone farmhouse in the lakes. Surprise surprise, 5 minutes tinkering with the fire and the whole place was filling with smoke. It's clearly a talent I have!
I've promised the club's running coach that I'll do one of the winter league run races for the club. Unfortunately (fortunately), I'm booked up until March, so my first winter league race will be on 7 March at Stilton. Yup, it's not just a cheese...it's a place too! It's 7 miles, so an excellent distance for me. I'll be in good endurance running shape by then (with the Stafford HM looming), so hopefully won't embarass myself...
21/01/2010
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Rest week
It's a rest week this week. That doesn't mean I simply down tools and do no exercise. What it means is that I don't train for as long I would on a full week - the intensity remains the same, the distance doesn't. For instance, this morning it was a 5km tempo run as opposed to a 9km. Reduced distance, but still plenty of hills. It took a while to get going - I went off too fast, and then slowed down to much, before finally reaching equilibrium after about 2km. I set a new PB though, 17:51, so I was pretty content.
The turbo session the night before was a short but sweet 40 minutes. 15 warm up, before 10 minutes at 133-149 BPM (Zone 1), 10 minutes at 149-164 BPM (Zone 2), and 5 minutes at 141-149 (Zone 1 High) before a 5 minute warm down. Felt good - seems a tiny effort, but rest weeks exist for a reason. BPM is heart rate beats per minute - the higher the figure, the more the effort. Zone 4 is very hard, whereas Z1 is low intensity base endurane work. Many people have more complicate ways of working HR, but I stick to a four zone method for biking and running.
I also got a cheeky 9 hours sleep. No surprises, I still felt tired in the morning. I've got used to that, but it's always, always unpleasant to leave a warm bed for some cold weather training.
Club swim tonight - hopefully crack out about 3000m of good endurance work.
20/01/2010
The turbo session the night before was a short but sweet 40 minutes. 15 warm up, before 10 minutes at 133-149 BPM (Zone 1), 10 minutes at 149-164 BPM (Zone 2), and 5 minutes at 141-149 (Zone 1 High) before a 5 minute warm down. Felt good - seems a tiny effort, but rest weeks exist for a reason. BPM is heart rate beats per minute - the higher the figure, the more the effort. Zone 4 is very hard, whereas Z1 is low intensity base endurane work. Many people have more complicate ways of working HR, but I stick to a four zone method for biking and running.
I also got a cheeky 9 hours sleep. No surprises, I still felt tired in the morning. I've got used to that, but it's always, always unpleasant to leave a warm bed for some cold weather training.
Club swim tonight - hopefully crack out about 3000m of good endurance work.
20/01/2010
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
New Year
It’s been a long time since my last post so I thought I’d remedy the situation. Training has been going very well, despite the beautiful (sub zero) winter we’ve been subjected too.
I had a race in Delamere Forest, a 10k X-Country job, at New Year. Was feeling strong, and sitting comfortably in 6th position (out of about 300), with the leader about 1 minute up, at the 6k point. Then we got sent the wrong way. Race ruined. It’s impossible to convey to someone who doesn’t race at this level quite how genuinely upsetting this is. As a serious athlete, I, and others like me, spend huge portions of our life alone and in the dark, putting in winter miles, so that we can do ourselves justice on race day. Friendships, relationships and family ties all get strained because of what we do, so race day is one of the few times we really get to reap some reward for our hard work. To see that thrown away because an event can’t properly organise is sickening. But, like my dad said afterwards, to be in 6th was a pleasing indictment of my fitness. I’ll just make sure I ace the next race I do. I was less rational at the time. Furious doesn’t even come close.
Swimming is coming on leaps and bounds. I frequently lead out in the club sessions, and it’s good to push the pace and see the fitness of other people improving as a result of tough sessions. The guys I train with are all good laughs, which makes it more fun when the sessions, as they invariably do, become hard. I’m miles off being a truly good swimmer, but as long as I keep on getting stronger it’s OK.
Riding outside has been near impossible in the ice, and last weekend in York was the first time out on the roads in a while. I did a 60k ride towards Helmsley, which included a nice 5k hill (length, not height!) up through Brandsby. Averaged just under 19mph for the two hour ride – relatively laid back but then that’s the point of a base session like that. Jargon buster – base sessions are ones we use to basically improve our endurance, not our speed. It was a good weekend in York, spent the evening on Saturday with a pub dinner and a film night at two of her friends’ house (I get on with them too, I hasten to add!). Always relaxing in York, even if Sarah does have to endure what must be one of the coldest houses in the entire world.
It’s also been 18 days since my last taste of booze. 5 o’clock on the morning of the 1st January saw my last drink for the next five months (until a post world qualification tipple in May), and 11 o’clock on the morning of 1st January saw my last hangover.
Looking forward to a holiday in Wales at the end of this week. Hopefully get a bit of walking in some of the smaller hills in as well, provided the weather isn’t too atrocious. At the opposite end of the spectrum, I hike up Pen Y Fan in the Brecon Beacons the other weekend. Absolutely horrendous conditions – whiteout, sub zero with a serious windchill, and thick snow and ice the whole way up. Awesome conditions to hike in – I was the only person on my choice of ascent, a northern spur, and I didn’t meet anyone until the top (where some soldiers and ice climbers had also arrived). Tough work, but I love things like that. It’s one of the rewards open to people who really train hard – they can go out and explore the wilds when most people wouldn’t make it half way up without succumbing to the cold, the lack of visibility or their lack of fitness. Some might call that arrogance, but it isn’t. I work hard, and I’m proud of the goals that hard work lets me achieve.
Happy new year!
19/01/2010
I had a race in Delamere Forest, a 10k X-Country job, at New Year. Was feeling strong, and sitting comfortably in 6th position (out of about 300), with the leader about 1 minute up, at the 6k point. Then we got sent the wrong way. Race ruined. It’s impossible to convey to someone who doesn’t race at this level quite how genuinely upsetting this is. As a serious athlete, I, and others like me, spend huge portions of our life alone and in the dark, putting in winter miles, so that we can do ourselves justice on race day. Friendships, relationships and family ties all get strained because of what we do, so race day is one of the few times we really get to reap some reward for our hard work. To see that thrown away because an event can’t properly organise is sickening. But, like my dad said afterwards, to be in 6th was a pleasing indictment of my fitness. I’ll just make sure I ace the next race I do. I was less rational at the time. Furious doesn’t even come close.
Swimming is coming on leaps and bounds. I frequently lead out in the club sessions, and it’s good to push the pace and see the fitness of other people improving as a result of tough sessions. The guys I train with are all good laughs, which makes it more fun when the sessions, as they invariably do, become hard. I’m miles off being a truly good swimmer, but as long as I keep on getting stronger it’s OK.
Riding outside has been near impossible in the ice, and last weekend in York was the first time out on the roads in a while. I did a 60k ride towards Helmsley, which included a nice 5k hill (length, not height!) up through Brandsby. Averaged just under 19mph for the two hour ride – relatively laid back but then that’s the point of a base session like that. Jargon buster – base sessions are ones we use to basically improve our endurance, not our speed. It was a good weekend in York, spent the evening on Saturday with a pub dinner and a film night at two of her friends’ house (I get on with them too, I hasten to add!). Always relaxing in York, even if Sarah does have to endure what must be one of the coldest houses in the entire world.
It’s also been 18 days since my last taste of booze. 5 o’clock on the morning of the 1st January saw my last drink for the next five months (until a post world qualification tipple in May), and 11 o’clock on the morning of 1st January saw my last hangover.
Looking forward to a holiday in Wales at the end of this week. Hopefully get a bit of walking in some of the smaller hills in as well, provided the weather isn’t too atrocious. At the opposite end of the spectrum, I hike up Pen Y Fan in the Brecon Beacons the other weekend. Absolutely horrendous conditions – whiteout, sub zero with a serious windchill, and thick snow and ice the whole way up. Awesome conditions to hike in – I was the only person on my choice of ascent, a northern spur, and I didn’t meet anyone until the top (where some soldiers and ice climbers had also arrived). Tough work, but I love things like that. It’s one of the rewards open to people who really train hard – they can go out and explore the wilds when most people wouldn’t make it half way up without succumbing to the cold, the lack of visibility or their lack of fitness. Some might call that arrogance, but it isn’t. I work hard, and I’m proud of the goals that hard work lets me achieve.
Happy new year!
19/01/2010
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