Underachievers Please Try Harder

RJM85

Not a great week. Bruised rib as well as shoulder so swimming didn't happen. Strung a couple of runs together and then we all came down with a fairly horrible cold.

Seem to be okish for swimming this morning and managed a run so we'll start again!

RJM85

Monday
Swim - 20 mins 1k
Run - 30 mins 6k

Tuesday
Swim - 20 mins 1k
Run - 30 mins 6k

Wednesday
Swim - 20 mins 1k

Thursday
Run - 30 mins 6k

Friday
Nothing

Saturday
Tri club session - 1hr 2.5k

Sunday
Club spin 3.5 hrs / 110k

6hrs 46 total. Building a bit of routine, feeling good, and based on todays club spin, I'm not as unfit as I might be, but definitely fat. Onwards and upwards!

joey100

Where are you swimming these days rjm? Did you use to swim in Tara street pool? Just cos I'm looking to swim somewhere for the next few weeks but think I seen they were working on that pool.

RJM85

joey100 wrote: »

Where are you swimming these days rjm? Did you use to swim in Tara street pool? Just cos I'm looking to swim somewhere for the next few weeks but think I seen they were working on that pool.

I normally swim in the Markievicz but they're closed for renovations. They've organised access to the pool on Sean macdermott street for us in the interim. It's a bit old fashioned, but it's better than nothing.

MojoMaker

Joey, try Belvedere, I'm sure I heard there's an drop-in PAYG session in the mornings I think 6-7am every day of the week, Interested will know more.

RJM85

365 days of training

RJM85

Met with the coach on Friday. He's very much of the opinion that this time of year is for recharging, indulging a little, and building up brownie points for when I need to be out training. Good chat - we're both on the same page more or less, and he's fairly confident I can meet all of my goals for next year.

No swimming last week due to a bruised rib - trying to make sure I'm healed before pushing myself again but it's taking time. Couple of easy runs and a 2.5 hr cycle on Sunday. I'm definitely not as wildly unfit as I feared, but I do need to keep check on my weight.

RJM85

Toddlers with bronchitis are not condusive to achieving much of anything. On the mend.

pgibbo

Nasty. Once they're on the mend that's the main thing. They bounce back so quickly. It's amazing

RJM85

I'm fatter than I intended and more unfit than I intended, but we have a plan and for the first time in ages I'm feeling ready to go. It all starts Monday!

rodneyr1981

Good to see this log up and running again.
Any goals or targets for 2016?

RJM85

rodneyr1981 wrote: »

Good to see this log up and running again.
Any goals or targets for 2016?

A 70.3 - hopefully Dublin, and Dublin marathon. Looking for an AG podium and a sub 3hr

Kurt_Godel

Best of luck RJM. Make sure you do a January 400TT with all that extra buoyancy!

RJM85

Kurt_Godel wrote: »

Best of luck RJM. Make sure you do a January 400TT with all that extra buoyancy!

There's one in the plan for next week. I'm dreading it! If I'm within a minute of October I'll probably be doing well!

RJM85

Food diaries and heart rate caps are a total buzzkill.

RJM85

Two bad:

- I’m fat

- I’m slow



Two good:

- We have a plan

- I’m motivated



Monday

30 min Weights session. This is new to me – the S&C stuff I’ve done before was more in the way of stretching, core exercises etc. This was mainly body weight stuff. I’ve lots to work on and I was pretty sore for both Tuesday & Wednesday after.



(also had 30 minutes of easy running to and from the gym)



1hr bike including FTP test.

Started the test too ambitious and faded badly. FTP @ 304w down from 338 in the summer. I need to learn to hurt better again.





Tuesday

45mins Aerobic run with HR in Z2. Slow. Really felt like I was plodding along for this.



1hr Easy bike 140 HR cap with 15 minutes easy running after.



Wednesday

40mins run session – with a few short efforts. I misunderstood the description and made this harder on myself than needed. The run felt good though, and form was there.



40 mins – Swim TT. 6.21 for 400m, 3.09 for 200m. That 400m time is down from 5:46 in September so there’s plenty of work to be done.



Thursday

30 minutes weights session. Barbell stuff. Hamstrings in bits afterwards. I’m really REALLY weak.

(also had 30 minutes of easy running to and from the gym)



45 min Easy bike 120 HR cap.



Friday

Run TT. So slow. 20 minutes flat out came out at roughly half marathon pace when I’m fit. Again, loads of work to do.



I’m taking the view that ‘I am where I am’ at the minute. The main thing is that I actually want to get out and train again and I’m consistently making those little boxes on TP turn green. Diet has been good all week – it’s something I wanted to focus on this year after letting things slip last year so coach is reviewing my food log at the end of the week also. I don’t think it’s necessarily a case that I don’t know what I should and shouldn’t be eating, its more likely that I just need that extra motivation that well it I’m going to write THAT in the food log I’d better have earned it.



Looking ahead. There’s a definite change in approach from what I’ve been used to, and I can see definite differences just from looking at the first two weeks of the plan. I’m sure it will take a bit of getting used to, and it will be interesting to see how my body reacts to a different approach.



Onwards and upwards!

pgibbo

Great to see you back at it. Best of luck with the year ahead.

What's the thinking behind a HR cap on the bike if you're training off power? How are the HR limits determined?

RJM85

pgibbo wrote: »

Great to see you back at it. Best of luck with the year ahead.

What's the thinking behind a HR cap on the bike if you're training off power? How are the HR limits determined?

That's something I need to understand a bit more about myself tbh. The main purpose seems to be to ensure I'm in the right zones be it recovery, endurance etc. And that I'm not over doing it.

In terms of power I'd be fairly hopeful that my power numbers should move relatively quickly in the first month or two training as I go from messing around 4 hrs a week to specifically training 14-15 hours a week. That's a hopeful guess more than anything though.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

Surely power and hr should be used combined? Its always the first sign of an improvement or the need of a retest if you see power creeping up a zone with effort and hr remaining easy in Z2 (as an example).

Just back into the swing of it myself this week and quickly realised i have been avoiding the hard stuff for nearly a year or so:) not to mention the additional recovery required after a quality session.

RJM85

Atticus Famous Salt wrote: »

Surely power and hr should be used combined? Its always the first sign of an improvement or the need of a retest if you see power creeping up a zone with effort and hr remaining easy in Z2 (as an example).

Just back into the swing of it myself this week and quickly realised i have been avoiding the hard stuff for nearly a year or so:) not to mention the additional recovery required after a quality session.

Yeah, I don't think it's a case that power is being ignored or anything, just that HR is being used to set the sessions. Over time I should see the power for bike or pace for run go up for the same HR. Previously my sessions would have been set by pace or power, but you'd obviously see the improvement through HR dropping at the same power/pacr.

The focus at the minute is to build the base fitness and even just get into the routine of training (and to get to know the new coach and him me). I know the plan is to use power more when the TTs start, so I assume power and pace will become a bigger part of the plan later on when we need to be more specific.

Have you picked races you're aiming for yet? Are you still going to be doing the road stuff?

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

RJM85 wrote: »

Have you picked races you're aiming for yet? Are you still going to be doing the road stuff?

HIM Lough Cutra
Ironman Mont Tremblant
Ironman Barcelona
And if i come away from both IMs in good knick i might give sub 3 a rattle in DCM if i think i am in good run shape.
A few other smaller races also, league bike racing only as i have lost my bottle on the bike completely after 2 crashes last year (one which did not leave me right for a few months after)

RJM85

Atticus Famous Salt wrote: »

HIM Lough Cutra
Ironman Mont Tremblant
Ironman Barcelona
And if i come away from both IMs in good knick i might give sub 3 a rattle in DCM if i think i am in good run shape.
A few other smaller races also, league bike racing only as i have lost my bottle on the bike completely after 2 crashes last year (one which did not leave me right for a few months after)

Ah, now that you say it I did read some of this in your log. You'll be busy!

The propensity for crashes in road racing is something that puts me off tbh. There's always some eejit that thinks it's more important to get up for the Sprint than it is to make it home in one piece.

Dory Dory

Hi RJM! Which race(s) will you be targeting this year??

RJM85

Dory Dory wrote: »

Hi RJM! Which race(s) will you be targeting this year??

Dublin 70.3 if it's going ahead and Dublin Marathon are the 2 big things for the year. I'll have to have a rethink if Dublin doesn't go ahead.

RJM85

Friday PM

Swim – 2.5k – nothing fancy, all aerobic. Felt ok overall. Will take a bit to get the feel back for the water I think.



Saturday

Swim – 3.3k. Straight swim for an hour and note distance. Quite happy how this felt got into a good steady rhythm and just knocked out the lengths.



Bike – 1hr easy, spinning. This wasn’t in the plan, but herself was out for the evening and the little guy was in bed early – I couldn’t come up with anything better to do so asked coaches permission and it was left up to me.



Sunday

Long bike. Disaster. 3hrs planned, got about 45mins in before getting a puncture – no worries. Had the tyre pumped up, and when I took the nozzle off the valve half the valve stem came with it – it had literally snapped in two. Had only the one spare tube with me so had to ring for a lift. Ended up being on the side of the road for the best part of 90 minutes. By the time I got back to the gym there wasn’t a whole lot I could do as I was on a schedule. 30 minutes easy swimming (which was supposed to be for recovery, but was probably pointless given the actual length of the cycle).

RJM85

Totals for the week:

Swim: 2:45
Bike: 4:21
Run: 3:44
Strength: 1:00

Total 11:50

RJM85

Monday

Swim – 3k – bloody cold pool.

Bike 1hr easy recovery.



Tuesday

S&C – weights (and 30 minutes easy running to and from the gym) – better than last week.

Bike – 80 minutes – threshold intervals. Tougher than it looked on paper.

Run – 15 minutes easy off the bike.



Wednesday

Swim – 3k – 100’s done badly due to no sleep. Got through it.

Run – 45mins moderate effort.



Thursday

Swim – 3.2k – good swim. Longer intervals used this to focus on form and correct a few things.

Bike – 80 minutes – BG session. Enjoyed this – Gojira in the headphones and properly mashed the pedals for a while.

Run – 15 minutes easy off the bike. Actually felt like I was running as opposed to that shuffle / jog that I’ve been perpetually doing lately to stay within HR caps.



Friday

S&C – barbell stuff (and 30 minutes easy running to and from the gym) – again, better than last week. Will be adding more weight next week.

Run – 45 minutes. Short sharp efforts. Lovely.



All going well so far this week.

RJM85

Saturday

Long run - 1:15 - HR cap 155. Comfortable and moving better than I expected even if the pace was still a little slower than I'd like at this stage.

Sunday

Long bike - 3 hrs - HR cap 150. Good spin.

I'm dosed with a cold at the minute. It was inevitable that I would succumb given broken sleep, being mad busy at work and training. Yesterday evening seems to be the worst of it and we've had two nights full sleep the last two nights so hopefully I'll be over it quick enough. It's just a head cold though, so it's just a case of sucking it up and getting on with things.

Weekly totals:
Swim: 2:25
Bike: 6:43
Run: 4:23
Strength: 1:20
Total: ~ 15hrs

Hopefully getting into the swing of things now.

RJM85

Monday

S&C – 45 minutes body weight, lunges etc.

30 minutes easy running to and from the gym.

Bike – 1hr easy recovery spinning.



Tuesday

S&C – 40 minutes – barbell stuff. I think I’m getting the hang of this a bit now, and actually enjoyed the session.

30 minutes easy running to and from the gym.

Run – 40 minutes – easy recovery with walking.

Bike – 1hr 25 – nasty intervals went pretty well.



Wednesday

Swim – 3k – blew up 2/3 of the way through the main set, but otherwise felt like it was a good session. I don’t think I’m fighting the water just as much.

Run – 45 minutes. Threshold intervals. Went well – seeing pace a little closer to where I’d like.



Thursday

Swim – 2k – Vo2 intervals.

Bike – 1hr 25 – BG intervals. I’m really enjoying these at the minute. I’m also enjoying the accompanying heavy metal music.

Run – 20 minutes w/ HR cap off the bike. Had a tail wind on the way out and thought I was flying. I wasn’t.



Friday

Long run – 90mins with backpack. Down in the plan for off road but wasn’t possible, so I’ll be doing these with a weighted back pack as a compromise. Good (slow) run. Running along Sandymount as the sun came up. Lovely.



All going well this will be the biggest training week since I started back. It’s early days yet but I feel like I’m starting to see little indications of my fitness improving. Diet has also been pretty good (said while polishing off my Friday morning sticky bun and milky coffee) and while I’m still avoiding the scales, my belt, clothes, and the mirror are telling me I’m on the right track. Easy / recovery / test week next week.

RJM85

Saturday
Swim - 1hr, 3k. Main set 15 * 100 off 1.45. Hit every one relatively comfortable. Happy - that's the first set where I've hit all the times and felt like I was properly swimming as opposed to fighting the water.

Run - 40 mins - hill reps. Drove out to a hill close by, did my warm up and repeats and then walked back to the car. In theory I was being terribly efficient. In reality, I got stopped by the guards shortly before I got to the hill and was done for speeding. My fault entirely, I was Speeding and shouldn't have been etc. But that doesn't mean I didn't spend the rest of the evening a bit pissed off! Good session otherwise.

Sunday
Long bike - 3.5 hrs. Done with the club.good spin started feeling it the last 30-45 mins but very happy overall.

Swim - 2.5 hrs
Bike - 7 hrs
Run - 5 hrs
S&C - 1.5 hrs
Total ~ 16 hrs