Monday:
Today should have been my Dad's 71st birthday. So I wasn't in the best of mental health places to start the day. Then after a terrifically boring day of work, I had a phone call from Carpetright. I assumed to confirm that they were coming to fit my final carpet tomorrow and that I would finally be finished with my building work and able to move in to the upstairs rooms. Instead they were calling to say that they have screwed up for a fourth time and the wrong carpet had arrived, again. Week 29 of a 12 week project and I have had more than enough of the whole building process, and still some basic things that I am planning to do myself aren't arriving for another 2 months.
That meant that by the time I got to club swimming I already didn't care. I managed 800m of intermittent paddling before I gave up and went home. I can't keep justifying the cost and inconvenience of that session when I am not getting anything out of it. The silliness of the Covid restrictions has taken any remaining social interaction out of that session and out of my club membership in general. I am paying ~£8 a time between swimming and petrol costs, for a session that I could just write myself and do any time during the week at Bucksburn anyway.
Tuesday:
I had a struggle at swimming in the morning again. And another immensely boring day at work. Then I spent about 40 minutes stretching before going to do my first cycling Time Trial in about 3 years. It was just 5 miles but I learned some good lessons. I can still put out similar power to 3 years ago (~203W on Strava estimate), but being 7kg heavier does not help with the speed, even on the downhill section. Somehow I have replaced all of last weeks overnight weight loss, and more. I am now over 78.5kg. The last time I went as fast was June 2017, but I managed to hold that speed for 25 miles instead of 5. The last time I was that heavy was April 2018.
Then I went to the pool and did a set of 4x200m, and managed to get one of them down to 3:10. That is the fastest I have gone since getting back in the pool, so at least some progress.
So a couple of days and I have realised that having had almost a rest day and done some stretching I am in a much better place. So I need to start getting back to structured training and putting in all those ancillary sessions. I am going to start that from next week. Why next week? Because this week I am going to carry on to finish off my 10% TdF challenge, and try and lose some of this excess weight.
Wednesday:
My alarm went off and I decided that 45 more sleep were more important than my swim session. My weight loss plan went totally upside down when I got back from a short run in the evening and was absolutely starving. 2 bananas, a cereal bar, a snickers, a pint of orange juice and a bowl of muesli was enough to get me to a point where I could go out on my bike, but then as soon as I was back I had to have a full dinner as well.
Thursday:
I had yet another completely boring, and ultimately unproductive, day at work. I did manage to get out for a short run before doing my 10%TdF ride on the way to the pool. 4 swims into a week and I am not yet at 2 miles. My diet was all over the place again. I managed to eat healthier things, but my meal times were completely random so it probably wasn't any better.
Friday:
I had yet another completely boring, and ultimately unproductive, day at work. I didn't manage to get out for a short run after doing my 10%TdF ride on the way from the pool. 5 swims into a week and I am not yet at 4km.
Saturday:
Jogged to the pool, hip was stiff. Did a proper swim set, albeit slowly having slipped on the steps before getting in. Jogged from the pool, hip was still stiff. Went to my granny's house to get rid of the last of her furniture to the skip. Did a load of DIY jobs. Went for a very short mountain bike ride to do 10% of the TT difference.
Sunday:
Finished off my 10% Tour on the way to the pool. I had to quit my swim after just 300m as the bruises from falling down the steps at the pool yesterday were too sore. My shift at work was cancelled, which was probably for the best given how sore my back was.
My weight loss plan for the week has gone fantastically well. I am another 1kg heavier.
And that is what a week in my life looks like at the minute. Half-arsed training, missed targets, no organisation, generally a total mess.
I managed to come dead last at a Hill Climb TT. I had a quick look at what the numbers would have been if I had put out the same power at my 'normal' weight. Still would have been dead last. I did average 250W for the full 7 minutes, and 293 for the first 4 minutes on the steep section, so I am not totally appalled, just not happy.
I didn't structure my second week properly, but I did manage to start putting more structured individual sessions in. I did slightly less in the water, but I did useful things with all my swim sessions by adding reps or doing a 20-minute test. I did reps on the road bike (first time in years) and a technical session on the mountain bike. I did a cross triathlon practice by setting swim, bike and run sessions back-to-back. And I did a proper attempt at a faster run. I didn't have a rest day or fit in my smaller sessions, but it was definitely better than what I have been doing the last few months.
Scottish Aquathlon Champs is next weekend and I have yet to decide if I am going.
Actuals, (Target) -
Swim 6.0 miles / 9,550m. (6.3 miles).
Bike 79.4 miles. (79.2 miles). MTB 30.8 miles. (19.8 miles)
Run 30.5 miles. (29.7 miles).
0 short core, 0 short light weights and 3 stretching / rollering session. 10 mins of yoga.
S 45.8, (53.0), [55.7],
B 1,224.4, (1,101.3), [1,156.3], MTB 300.3, (275.3), [289.1],
Weights - 23, (30), [42]
Yoga - 32, (30), [47].
