Fortnightly Review - Weeks 47 & 48

I have had a couple of shorter swim weeks, but some of the sessions I did have been really good, and I know I am not going to make any of this year's targets, so I am happy enough to give up the distance. I hurt my rib at the start of week 48 and and that impacted what I could swim. I am hoping it is just bruised but as it has got worse through the week I am suspecting now that it is possibly cracked or separated. I am not even sure where I did it. it might have been at basketball on Tuesday or it might have been doing my weights and core session after a swim on Monday.

I have managed to wear out the rear tyre on my 27.5" Orbea mountain bike by riding it so much on the roads and often leaning hard on the rear brakes. So much so that I had to switch over to my 26" Orange 5 in the second week. That was weird. It now feels like a child's bike or a bmx on the smaller wheels. But it got me where I needed to go, and took me to my flu jab, where they told me I was a week too early for my Covid booster jab which the website says I can't have until Feb. 

Their system is a mess, within 5 minutes they told me, from the same database, that I was 3 weeks, 10 days, and 5 days too early for that booster jab. Logging in to the same database today to try and book my booster it tells me I have to wait 18 more days. It is a total farce that something as simple as calculating a date based on a previous fixed date and a fixed interval using a piece of software, gives different dates!

I planned a fast run at Elgin Parkrun, then went to the pool the day before and got carried away with my swim and ended up doing a 20-min TT. While I am pleased with the 1,200m that I managed, that effort tightened up my back and hip and I paid for it when I tried to run the next day. I could only manage 20:40 at the Parkrun, but again that was fine given the conditions and my absolute failure to prep. 

Then winter arrived, and Storm Arwen brought our first proper snowfall. I was meant to be racing on the Saturday at a local cross-country but it was cancelled the day before due to the conditions. They then cleared up a lot overnight so I decided to try and grab an opportunity before the weather gets too bad and went out to run a half marathon distance for the first time in a few years. I dipped under 2 hours for a fairly easy run, and I am quite happy with that as well. 

I went back and checked my plan for the year, turns out I hadn't put as much of the ancillary sessions in as I have been putting in my targets every week so they are actually a lot closer to my original targets than I thought. I have updated them to show the end of year targets from now. 

I have so many holidays left hat I am now going to half days from work so I should be able to cram some training into all those spare afternoons from now until Xmas. 

I have also managed to get down to my weight target of 72kg. That should allow me to go back to eating a bit more, but with Xmas parties coming I still need to be a bit careful that I don't get carried away and put those 7kg back on. I have set a new target at 70kg but way out at the end of January, so I can very carefully try to lose a bit more of the spare tyre that I am still carrying (more mountain bike than a car tyre now at least) but still put on some muscles with additional training sessions.  

Actuals, (Target) - 

Swim 3.7 miles / 5,900 m. (6.9 miles).
Bike 80.4 miles. (79.2 miles). MTB 40.2 miles. (19.8 miles)
Run 48.5 miles. (29.7 miles).

2 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 stretching / rollering session. 30 mins of yoga. 

Cumulative Actual, (Cumulative Target), [Cumulative Stretch] -
S 89.1, (113.7), [119.4],
B 1,842.4, (1,814.0), [1,904.7],  MTB 541.6, (453.5), [476.2],

R 1,220.2, (929.9), [976.4].

Core         - 31, (40), [52]  * End of year targets
Weights    - 31, (40), [52]

Stretching - 50, (52), [78]
Yoga         - 49, (52), [78]. 

Fast run sessions - 25, (>48) 

Junk swim sessions  - 22, (<29).

Fortnightly Review - Weeks 45 & 46

Two complete weeks in a row, and consequently a complete fortnight as well. 

It has been a good fortnight all round. My divorce has finalised, which meant I was able to update my Will and PoA to avoid any future challenges. I also finished my last set of aligners and after 20 months my teeth look much better than when we started. I am really pleased with the outcome. All of that was a bit of a panic as my car chose that day not to start and I had to cycle to those appointments in dreadful conditions. 

But it was done, and the new battery in the car seems to have at least sorted the starting issue. Hopefully by the next post, the gear-shifting issue will also be sorted. I have had the car a long time, am quite attached to it, and would like to get another year or two out of it if I can. 

 

I have passed my mountain bike target for the year with 6 weeks to go, will pass the stretch target next week, and look to be in a good place for finishing my bike total and maybe even my stretch bike total as well. 

Actuals, (Target) - 

Swim 7.2 miles / 11,550 m. (6.9 miles).
Bike 80.2 miles. (79.2 miles). MTB 47.5 miles. (19.8 miles)
Run 37.0 miles. (29.7 miles).

2 short core, 2 short light weights and 2 stretching / rollering session. 30 mins of yoga. 

Cumulative Actual, (Cumulative Target), [Cumulative Stretch] -
S 85.4, (106.8), [112.1],
B 1,761.9, (1,734.8), [1,821.6],  MTB 501.4, (433.7), [455.4],

R 1,171.7, (900.2), [945.2].

Core         - 29, (46), [60]
Weights    - 29, (46), [60]

Stretching - 48, (46), [60]
Yoga         - 47, (46), [65]. 

Fast run sessions - 23, (>46) 

Junk swim sessions  - 18, (<27).

Fortnightly Review - Weeks 43 & 44

Having races both Saturdays meant I tried to front load both weeks and that ended up meaning I missed some sessions trying to get light days before races and recover after them. I did do a complete week the second week by cramming swimming, mountain biking, weights, and core into the Sunday. 

I raced well enough at both Aquathlons, and I am happy enough with the results, but neither were quite what I wanted. I didn't swim badly at either race, but I didn't swim particularly well either. 6:30 for a long course, snake style 400m was fine but I should be 15-25 seconds faster than that. 12:19 for a short course, anti-clockwise, sprint swim is slightly better, but still I should be looking to go under 12 minutes. 

Both times I transitioned well and got out and running fine but both came out at slower than 22 min 5k pace and I can't really explain either. The weather wasn't great, but that is expected in October. My knee and hip were bothering me, but neither affected me when I was running. 

With my hindsight turned on and having not seen the full results from the rescheduled ITU World Champs in Spain this weekend I am happy that I made the right choice not to go as I wouldn't have done myself any justice trying to race at that level.

Trying to race while intentionally losing weight probably wasn't the smartest idea. I didn't feel starved of energy during either race, but also didn't feel quite on top form. But my diet controlled weight loss is working. I have managed to drop a couple of kg, gradually, over a month whilst keeping my training load fairly steady and not affecting my power output. I haven't convinced myself yet that reducing my calorie intake is a better weight control option than my normal weight losing option of just eating normally and adding 10-15 minutes to every session. 

Actuals, (Target) - 

Swim 5.0 miles / 8,000 m. (6.9 miles).
Bike 65.7 miles. (79.2 miles). MTB 26.7 miles. (19.8 miles)
Run 32.9 miles. (29.7 miles).

1 short core, 1 short light weights and 2 stretching / rollering session. 74 mins of yoga. 

Cumulative Actual, (Cumulative Target), [Cumulative Stretch] -
S 78.2, (99.8), [104.8],
B 1,681.7, (1,655.6), [1,738.4],  MTB 457.5, (413.9), [434.6],

R 1,134.7, (870.4), [913.9].

Core         - 27, (44), [58]
Weights    - 27, (44), [58]

Stretching - 44, (44), [58]
Yoga         - 45, (44), [63]. 

Fast run sessions - 23, (>44) 

Junk swim sessions  - 16, (<25).