Laying down a Base ....

Incremental

Decided to start a training log in order to get more disciplined in my training. It’s always a case of 1 steps forward, 2 steps back as I have history of injuries. In hindsight I think it’s down to a combination of trying to progress too quickly, training at the wrong intensity (too high) and an ongoing problem with core strength (physio diagnosis).

Going to keep this log to try and achieve 3 months of an injury free existence, then and only then will I think about speed, goals, times etc. Currently have one race scheduled (Spiddal Olympic Tri) but signed up for this in an optimistic mood, nursing a calf strain for the past while so now the only aim is to complete this.

Once I have that completed will decide whether to keep at the tri or running. Preference is running but I think the cross training of bike and swim is very beneficial to injury prevention.

Will only be tracking sessions at a general level for the first few months, will aim for 5 run/swim/bike sessions along with 4 core sessions per week. All sessions will be of easy intensity (with the exception of swimming), leaving the watch at home.

Tues 26th April – Easy 3.5 mile run with 4 walk breaks of 20 seconds approx. Followed up with 30 mins core/stretching.
Wed 27th April AM – 1300m morning swim – 300 warm up, 4 x 100 off 2:15, 3 x 200m.
Week Goal – 2 out of 5 S/B/R sessions, 1 out of 4 core sessions

Incremental

Wed 27th April PM – 30 mins core session (lunges, planks, one legged squats etc)

Thurs 28th April – 25.3 mile cycle home in 1:26

Week Goal – 3 out of 5 S/B/R sessions, 2 out of 4 core sessions

Incremental

Fri 29th April - 30 min core session

Sat 30th April – 6.2 mile run, longest run in a while. Took an hour, took plenty of walking breaks, generally 30 secs every 5 mins. Felt easy.

Sun 1st May – Master session – Joined the local Masters club for the first time 7 weeks ago, best/hardest session tonight. Open water focused, 10 mins warmup, combined two lanes into one and did circles. Practiced mass standing starts. Combined four lanes into one and practiced drafting. Great stuff. Fitted in a 20 min core session after.

Week Goal – 5 out of 5 S/B/R sessions, 4 out of 4 core sessions

Mon 2nd May – 3.5 mile run, 32 mins with walking breaks - 30 secs every 5 mins. 30 min in the evening of the usual rolling, stretching and core/glute work

Week Goal – 1 out of 5 S/B/R sessions, 1 out of 4 core sessions

Incremental

Wed 5th May – 3 mile run, 32 mins with walking breaks. Horrible, horrible run. No energy, form or motivation. At least I go it done.

Week Goal – 2 out of 5 S/B/R sessions, 1 out of 4 core sessions

RedB

Incremental wrote: »

Wed 5th May – 3 mile run, 32 mins with walking breaks. Horrible, horrible run. No energy, form or motivation. At least I go it done.

I know the feeling. Are you getting enough sleep / rest? Are you eating properly? That's usually the underlying problem when I squeeze out one of those sessions. The weekend may have taken more out of you than anticipated as well as the cumulative effect of previous sessions.

Incremental

Thanks for the advice Redb, as I pointed out at the beginning of the log I'm trying to focus on staying injury free. I took last nights session as a sign to keep it easy, will do a core and stretching session tonight and an easy swim tomorrow and an easy bike on Sat.
The triathlon I've entered is just over 2 weeks away now, not going to make any big fitness gains between now and then so need to make sure I keep on ticking over.

Incremental

Morning Swim - Did a straight 1500 m swim, through 500 in 10:15, 1000 in 21:10 and 1500 in 33 mins. Found the middle 500 tough but final 500 was smooth and easy.
Had a good night's sleep, energy back and feeling good.

Incremental

First brick session today. 23 miles on the bike, didn't take time but took it easy. Stopped a couple of times to adjust the right foot cleats. Think this may have been contributing to to my calf problems. Feels like i had the shoe slightly pointing outwards, not sure I have it 100% yet, will do some fiddling tomorrow.

Quick change of shoes and out for a run. Legs felt great and ran the first mile in 8 minutes, took a walk break and slowed down and completed 4 miles in 34 mins.

Really happy with this, looking forward to the Spiddeal tri in 2 weeks. Not sure how fast I will be, not looking forward to the hilly bike but I shouldn't be far off the 3:05 I did in the Carna tri I did back in 2008.

Incremental

Sun 8th May - Masters Swim Session- Not sure of distance, mixture of heads up swim swimming, pull buoy works and sprinting. Tough session. Also got a cut on the base of the big toe when doing some diving starts towards the end. Nasty little cut that hopefully will only take a couple of days to heal. Right Calf is feeling as good as it has for a while so a forced couple of days of rest might bring it on further.

Week Goal – 5 out of 5 S/B/R sessions:D, 3 out of 4 core sessions:mad:

Incremental

Tues 10th May - 30 min core session
Wed 11th May – 3.5 mile run, 32 mins with walking breaks - 30 min in the evening of the usual rolling, stretching and core/glute work

Week Goal – 1 out of 5 S/B/R sessions, 2 out of 4 core sessions

Incremental

Thurs 12th May - Open Water Swim session in Lake Hackett. Was 30 mins in the water. This was only my second time in open water this year, trying to get a feel for sighting, disaster. Found it difficult to keep a rhythm going, head comes up, feet go do and slow right down. On the plus side found it easy to do small bursts of speed and recover quickly which could help if I try to draft off people.
Think I'll take a chance come the Spiddal tri, be ambitious and position myself so I can get on feet and hope that I pick the right person that can swim straight.

Incremental

Fri 13th May - Great session, 25 mile bike home from work in about 1:20, although very much wind assisted. Got the runners on and did 10k in 53 minutes, took my walking breaks slowed it down in the last mile.

Deliberately took it easy on Sat. to recover from the brick and meant to go swimming on Sunday evening but never made it. Glad I'm keeping the log, could fool myself that because Fridays session was great that I had good week but it's not about single sessions, it's the regular, consistent easy sessions that going to bring me the improvements I want.

Week Goal – 3 out of 5 S/B/R sessions, 3 out of 4 core session :mad:

Incremental

3.5 mile in the rain, really enjoyed it. Easy stretch and core session after.

Looking at weather forecasts for Saturday, not impressed with the wind forecasts. Could make the swim choppy and turn the a hilly course into something that I really struggle with. Doesn't help with the nerves!

Incremental

Wed 18th May - Quick morning swim, practiced some sighting, seems easy in the pool compared to open water. Did 2 full out 50m at the end of session and was happy to see 46 seconds, think 50 secs was my previous fastest.

Have decided to chill out and enjoy Saturdays tri, can't influence the weather so no point worrying about it and my time is going to be slow so whether its a 2:59 or a few minutes over it's no biggy.

My old hip/glute problem seems to have flared up again but seeing as this morning's swim was the last session I had planned before Sat I'd expect it to be fine.

Incremental

Thrilled with Saturday's Spiddal Triathlon. Condition were horrible, high winds and rain although the worst part of it was actually getting ready at the start, I warmed up once in the water.
Swim was cut to 750m, most of it was fine although once you moved out of the shelter of the Pier Wall the waves were high enough making it difficult to sight. Run to transition was fine although my transition was slow, must invest in tri-suit. Bike was fine, got passed by quite a lot but took it steady, cycling into the wind and driving rain was an experience. Have to admit to going over onto the wrong side of the road on the bad corner 1km from finish, the bad camber in the middle of the road caught me out on both occasion, lucky not to meet an oncoming bike.
Run was great, didn't find out my time until the evening but was delighted to see 48 mins, felt much slower than that.

Going to take a few days rest, go to a physio and try and get the persistent right calf injury sorted and make sure this flare up of my old glute problem doesn't linger. Neither injury really affected me Saturday but in order to kick on and get consistent will need them sorted.

Also need to decide on next events think I'll aim for Galway Half Marathon at the of August and another Olympic Tri in Aug or Sept.

Incremental

Had the Massage session last night, the pain that guy can inflict is unreal, have some slight bruising after it!!. Good session though, reckons the persistent calf injury is a result of tight hamstrings.
Loosened out the calf and connections from hamstring to calf along with loosing out back and glutes.
Have to push the hamstring stretch for 10 days and if there is still a problem go back to him then. Will continue the stretching and rest for the next couple of days, hopefully will get out for an easy run on Friday.

Incremental

Back from a weeks holidays where a small bit of swimming was all that was done. 2 weeks break since Spiddal Tri so it's time to get started again. Got an easy 3 mile run in last night.
Think my next race target will be Galway Half Marathon but plan on doing a 3 run, 1 bike, 1 swim so as to keep my hand in on the triathlon and spread the injury risk. Latest injury niggle is right hip flexor, hopefully stretching and easy sessions will get rid of it.

Incremental

Nice swim this morning, 600m warm up, 6 x100 off 2:15 and an easy 150 cool down. Hip flexor and back are tight still, so will nurse them over the weekend with plenty of stretching. Will hopefully get out for a bike and run.

Incremental

Not much too report in the 10 days since last post, 2 bikes and a swim and a pain session with the massage therapist.

Sat 11th - Bike of about 25 miles, took it easy but hip flexor reacted badly to it.
Mon 13th - Heavy session with therapist, loosened out the back and gave the flexor a nice bruising. Spent the rest of the week concentrating on the stretching.
Fri 17th - Swim - about 1300m in about 30 mins.
Sun 19th - Bike of 26 miles in about 1:27

Hip flexor feels good again and ready to go, will test it tonight with an easy 3 mile run

Incremental

Good 4 days

Mon 20th - 3 miles easy (10 min mile pace)

Tues 21st - 3 miles easy (10 min mile pace)

Wed 22nd - 3 miles easy (10 min mile pace)

Thurs 23rd - 1000 m swim, had planned on more but the pool was like a hottub, way too warm. Strap on googles snapped after 900 m, fixed it but for some reason ditched the plan to do 1400 m and finished early. Need to ensure that I don't let small things distract me from completing sessions. Lesson learned.

Plan on doing 6 mile run tomorrow and a bike over the weekend. Zero injury problems, hip flexor feels good. Have been doing 20 min stretching each night, need to add a bit of core work to this and hopefully this along with slow and easy running will keep me injury free.

Incremental

Hip Flexor has flared up again on Friday but I've going to try and run through for a few session and see what happens.

Friday 17th - 60 mins on treadmill, had planned 6 miles on the road but couldn't face the wind and rain. Rested the hip flexor over the weekend, tried to foam roll the hip but not sure whether this made it better or worse.

Monday 27th - 3 miles easy (30 mins)

Will try and get a couple more runs in during the week, if hip flexor is still niggling I'll try and get a massage session in before I go on holidays on Sat.

Incremental

For the past number of years I made numerous attempts at getting fitter and faster at either triathlon or road running with generally the same results, might get 2 or 3 months of good training in before getting the same sort of minor injury affecting either glutes/hip flexor etc and being unable to train for a couple of months.

Same thing has happened again, since doing the Spiddal Olympic Tri at the end of May I have been getting persistent hip flexor troubles. Only got about 12 S/B/R sessions in since and a few massage sessions. Another massage session booked tomorrow. I’ve decided I need to take a different approach if I’m ever to get over this so I now don’t plan on doing any more events for the forseeable future.

I still hope to get in a couple of S/B/R sessions over the next few months but the main focus will be on trying to strengthen this broken body of mine. Going to start the 30 day beginner Pilates program from http://pilates.about.com/od/pilatesroutines/a/Pilates-Beginner-Exercise-Program.htm and will join the local Sports Pilates course when it starts up again in Sept. Will also start a strength program incorporating simple exercises such as squats, lunges, burpees, push ups etc.

Here’s hoping that in 6 months time I have solid base to build off and can be confident that I have a body that can handle the training required to reach my goals.

Incremental

Nothing to report from the last 2 weeks, hip flexor has been driving me crazy but I think its almost clear. Had two sessions with Massage Therapist, his view is that the quad and groin are the problem areas. Since last session on Thursday I have been foam rolling both and think we are clear of it, going to start easy on the core/strength sessions this week and hopefully by the end of the week I can get a swim and bike in.

Incremental

Progress of sorts, hip flexor has calmed down. Have been foam rolling the **** out of my right quad, it still has plenty of knots but it seems to have solved the hip flexor problem.
Did 2 strength & core sessions, doing a fast paced 30 mins with no rest between exercises. Also got a 1400m swim in on Friday and an hour bike on Sat (approx 16.5 miles).
More of the same planned for this week.

Incremental

Making slow progress, the weights seem to be flaring up the glute tightness, think it's a case of doing too much, too soon so will maybe switch to lighter weights when doing the squats and lunges.
Still got in one weights and one core session along with a 1500m swim, an easy 17 mile bike (1:02) and a very slow 3 mile run (10:30 pace).
Aiming for the same again this week.

captain P

I feel your pain with the injuries,was just thinking the other day how I'd been back training about 6 weeks making great progress injury free- only to hurt myself yesterday! think taking it easy and slow is the way to go, even though it's frustrating! Good luck with the training and keep up the good work. :-)

Incremental

Cheers Captain P, just had a read of your log, like the title!! From reading it seems you have many of the same issues I have, while I've started some strength sessions I'm looking forward to trying out Pilates.
Have found the foam rolling of the quads and IT band over the past few weeks has helped injury wise so far, it's only now after (a painful!!) 3 weeks that the number of knots has reduced significantly.

Incremental

Slow but steady progress. Last week did a 1400m swim, 3 mile slow (10:30) run and an easy 45 min bike along with one weights and core session.
Will be busy with work this week but I did get a weights and core session in last night and will hopefully get another couple of sessions in.
Still don't feel that injuries are fully cleared but hopefully the slow and easy approach will slowly build things up.

Incremental

Got more in this week than I thought I would.
Thurs - 50 mins easy on the new turbo.
Fri - 1000m swim.
Sat - 3 mile run (9:55 pace)
Sun - Weight & core 30 mins session with 20 mins easy on the turbo after.

Happy out with this, plan on trying to keep this going for the next couple of months. I'm keeping the bike and run easy by keeping the HR to below 145 as per the Maffetone way. I'm aware it would be more accurate to do a HR zone test but I'm well away from being confident the injuries would tolerate a full out test. The rough HR limiter will do for the time being.

Incremental

Poor couple of weeks, was very busy work wise last week and only managed to get in a swim (1500m approx), 50 min bike on the turbo and a weights sessions.
New niggle picked up at the start of the week, top of the left hamstring I'm getting a tingling feeling, doesn't feel right, few days rest hasn't cured it, looking to book a session with the PT to get it looked at. To say I'm frustrated, annoyed, pissed off etc is an understatement, while the logs here provide great inspiration they also cause a certain amount of envy towards the strong consistent training people who are either 1) blessed with injury proof bodies or 2) have figured out what they need to do stay injury free.

Anyhow .... to that end I started my first Pilates class on Wednesday, sections of it very tough, don't know whether its the magic bullet but will certainly stick with the classes for a few weeks.

Incremental

No major progress to report, did a weights session at the weekend and a 1000m swim this morning. Have a session booked with the PT this evening to look at the niggle at the top of the left hamstring.

After being pissed over the weekend with this latest injury I decided that I need to focus on what I can control. So I plan on losing a stone in weight by November 1st (2 lbs a week). I've put on at least half a stone over the past 3 months or so and can easily afford to lose another half stone on top of that. Putting it down in the writing and tracking the progress each Tuesday should hopefully provide enough motivation to stay from the chocolate and biscuits that I binge on.