Week 13

Woke up on Monday morning feeling better but still not right. Due a family wedding on the weekend my training week needs to be shuffled around and the planned run for today was cancelled.

Following on from being hit with this virus, I've leaned that it can cause a considerable groin pain, I got the following passage from Buzzle

Enlarged Lymph Glands: The lymph nodes are a very important part of our immune system, and help fight infections and other foreign substances. Enlarged or swollen lymph glands actually refers to the enlargement of one or more lymph nodes in the groin area, which may occur due to different bacterial or viral infections. In rare cases, these may be painful.

Moving forward, I'll treat unexpected groin pain with a little bit more respect and be wary that it might be the onset of a virus. Because with hindsight I started feeling this on Saturday morning.

I still wasn't feeling 100% on Tuesday morning, so I decided to give the swim session a miss. As the day progressed I was becoming more and more certain that another full day's rest would be beneficial, so that is what I did.

Wednesday morning, and I'm back on it. Obviously my training week has already been disrupted, so I'm going to wing it for the rest of the week. I felt the best way to ease back into it would be a session in the pool. Very happy to get another 3km set under my belt; the main set being 4 x 200m, 6 x 100m, 3 x 50m.

What better way to spend a Wednesday evening than with an hour of the turbo (with a couple of 5 minute Z4 efforts), I tell you how it's better: by adding going out with the lads for some mid-week drinking and a curry. 

The alarm on Thursday morning seemed to go off far to early, thankfully I wasn't too late going to bed. But the swim session really seemed to drag; main set being 16 x 25m, 600m pull buoy, 16 x 25m.

We had some atrocious weather in the afternoon, with torrential rain and gusts over 70mph. Definitely not training weather, thankfully by the time I went out for my run in the evening it had somewhat relented. This was my first run for over a week and it wasn't too much of a shock to the system.

Back in the pool for the third day running, the main set was 10 x 50m, 5 x 100m, 8 x 50m. All pretty much went to plan

After what has already been a momentous season for Swansea City, it looks like they'll be part of another piece of history. As well as being part of the award of the Premier League trophy, it will also be the last home game for Sir Alex Ferguson. British football will certainly be different without his presence, I really admire what he has achieved in his 26 years at United, but having read his biography and watching his antics over the years, I'm pretty sure I don't like him.

I did my longest ever turbo session on Friday evening, 180 minutes of sweaty turbo action. And it really was sweaty. The worst bit was the fact the Sky+ box hadn't recorded the Giro. The turbo session was followed by a 30 minute hilly run

We had a lovely day at the wedding on Saturday. We were up and on the road by 8 o'clock, so any early morning session wasn't on the cards. But there was an added bonus when we got to the hotel, as there was a very nice gym there and I managed to get a strength and core session ticked off.

Well done to Wigan in winning the FA Cup! 

Despite having a reasonably late night and a few pink pints, I set the alarm for 7 o'clock to get my run in before we set off home. Unfortunately I fell back off to sleep after switching off the alarm. But as the saying goes "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions". I've had some poor sleeps this week so I probably needed the extra sleep.

I finished off the week with a gentle 30 minute spin on the turbo. Even though it's an easy session I was pleased to get it done as it could have been very easy to have not bothered.

Unfortunately, Swansea City couldn't hold out to spoil Sir Alex's farewell party, but they put in a great performance and pushed the champions all the way.

Summary of Week 13

Activity	Actual Time	Planned Time	Variance +/-	Percentage
Swim	3:57	3:00	+0:57	37%
Bike	4:30	5:15	-0:45	42%
Run	1:30	3:45	-2:15	14%
Other	0:41	0:45	-0:04	6%
Total	10:38	12:45	-2:07

A week where I missed off sessions to start with due to injury and missed one off at the end due to to life just getting in the way.

Cumulative Summary

Activity	Actual Time	Planned Time	Variance +/-	Percentage
Swim	32:42	29:00	+3:42	25%
Bike	48:59	49:15	-0.16	37%
Run	37:01	41:30	-4:29	28%
Other	13:06	9:45	+3:21	10%
Total	131:48	129:30	+2:18

After two weeks of not hitting my training targets, I'm determined that week 14 will be back on plan.

Week 12

Monday's recovery day was a necessary rest for my calf, it was very tight when I got up in the morning and needed strapping for the rest of the day

Another satisfying swim session on Tuesday morning. The main set was 200m, 300m, 400m, 500m. My feel for the water continues to gather momentum. It'll be interesting to see how Friday's 3,000m time trial goes.

As this is a recovery week, the run on Tuesday evening was only 45 minutes. so I managed to squeeze this in whilst James was at rugby training. Ran up and down the cycle path, and also included a 5 minute Z4 burst. I found out when I got home that I must have tasty skin as I had been bitten to high heaven on all exposed parts.

Wednesday morning means gym work, I didn't feel the love for it this morning.

Woo hoo! There's exciting as goodies turned up this morning, it my new Compressport calf guards. And anybody who says that my legs are so skinny that I need to use arm warmers on my legs is just being mean.

Hopefully they will help sort out my calf issues. And they're bound to look better than the tube grip bandages I've been using in the meantime.

Sweating like a good un in the warmth of the conservatory whist on the turbo. The 5 minutes of Z4 making it even more so.

Back in the pool for Thursday morning's swim set, the main set being 7 x 125m and 7 x 75m.

Really enjoyed the brick session on Thursday evening, I'm not sure I should be using the word enjoy when it comes to being on the turbo and then some hilly running. 

Friday's swim set was a 3,000m time trial; it was quite boring but with a time of 1:01:49, I was very pleased with the progress being made.

After 12 weeks and 134 training sessions, on Friday night I missed my first workout. 

Woke up on Saturday morning to wind and rain, so I decided to do my long bike session on the turbo. Much to my disappointment within 30 minutes the sun was out and had regretted the decision. I'd also woken up with a soreness to my lower shin and a tightness in my groin, this didn't affect the turbo session but I was not comfortable running so I left out the brick run.

I felt out of sorts when I woke up on Sunday, so I decided to give my long run a miss. Following a family lunch I really wasn't with it and by 6pm I was in bed, feeling sorry for myself. I spent the next 14 hours in bed sweating like I was on the turbo

Summary of Week 12

Activity	Actual Time	Planned Time	Variance +/-	Percentage
Swim	3:30	3:00	+0:30	36%
Bike	4:15	4:45	-0.30	44%
Run	1:00	3:15	-2:15	10%
Other	0:54	0:45	+0:09	9%
Total	9:39	11:45	-2:06

Disappointed to have missed my first planned sessions, but needs must as I need to recover and get well.

Cumulative Summary

Activity	Actual Time	Planned Time	Variance +/-	Percentage
Swim	28:45	26:00	+2:45	23%
Bike	44:29	44:00	+0.29	36%
Run	35:31	37:45	-2:13	31%
Other	12:25	9:00	+3:25	10%
Total	121:10	116:45	+4:25

Despite being behind on my running plan I'm determined not to chase the numbers down and risk overtraining and becoming injured 

Week 11

Week 11 of the 30 week plan means the commencement of the Build phase. Longer training hours and the introduction of some bursts of intensity.

Monday's rest day involved packing up and getting back from New Quay, thankful that I didn't have another day on the beer.

The swim sessions are a bit longer (now at approximately 3km each), the main set was 4 x 200m, 6 x 100m, 3 x 50m. All in all the swim set felt really good.

Tuesday evening's run should have involved 5 x 1 minute Z4 efforts, but due to still feeling a tightness in my calf I decided to keep the run at Z2 for the duration.

There's a slight change to the weights session as this now consists of 3 sets of 10 reps. All pretty good really, and as this is my least favourite session, I surprisingly still enjoying it.

Stepped up the bike session on Wednesday night, 75 minutes of zone 2 with 5 x 1 minute intervals. Managed to build up a nice sweat.

Really felt the gains on Thursday's swim, really had a good feel for the water. The main set was 16 x 25m, 600m pull buoy, 16 x 25m.

Tested my calf with Thursday's 45/15 brick session and on the whole it held up. Had a bit of soreness, but all in all pretty, pretty, good.

Third swim session of the week on Friday, and could really feel it across my shoulders. Last week swimming was 5km, this week I'm up to 9km; so obviously I'm going to feel it. The main set consisted of 10 x 50m, 5 x 100m, 8 x 50m.

Another interval run session was planned for Friday night and I strapped up my calf and decided to see how it went. Whilst I could feel a tightness, I was more than comfortable with the 5 one minute efforts.

Last week for the long ride, I had please of taking in the beautiful Cardigan coastline, unfortunately this week it was two and a half hours on the turbo. But as a special treat as I'm now in the build phase, there was a cheeky 15 minute brick run tagged on.

Woke up on Sunday morning with the other calf feeling tight, However, I had a lovely 75 minute run with @NAGabriel we were ticking along nicely with some 8 minute miling. A beautiful morning for a run, really enjoyed especially nice with a bit of company. This was capped off with a nice Z1 turbo session on Sunday afternoon.

Summary of Week 11

Activity	Actual Time	Planned Time	Variance +/-	Percentage
Swim	3:45	3:00	+0:45	28%
Bike	5:00	5:00	+0.00	38%
Run	3:41	3:45	-0:04	28%
Other	0:53	0:45	+0:09	7%
Total	13:19	12:30	+0:49

A very satisfactory week's training, but this calf issue is causing me some concern though.

Cumulative Summary

Activity	Actual Time	Planned Time	Variance +/-	Percentage
Swim	25:15	23:00	+2:15	23%
Bike	40:14	39:15	+0.59	36%
Run	34:31	34:30	+0:01	31%
Other	11:31	8:15	+3:16	10%
Total	111:31	105:00	+6:31

 

Speedo Keep Going Swim After Swim Challenge

I recently received an email that stated thus

Speedo^® wants you to take the Keep Going Swim After Swim Challenge and test our long lasting Endurance_®⁺ swimwear!

Well as I'm doing plenty of swimming a the moment, I thought I'd give this a bash. So, I said yes and waited with baited breath for my package.

Following on from receiving my package from Speedo, I've been swimming exclusively in my new Endurance+ jammers. I believe I've racked up about 12 hours of swimming in that time.

The challenge posed a series of points that need addressing, the first point is

Endurance+ fabric is longer lasting with 20 times more fade resistance than conventional elastane swimwear, with improved snag resistance. Did you find the swimwear to be more resilient?

Over the challenge the shorts have been in out of the pool, chucked in the spin drier, crumpled up in my kit bag and put through the wash. Over the period the shorts have kept their shape and form with no loss of the elastic around the waist and legs, and neither has the material snagged in any way over the test.

Endurance+ fabric is 100% chlorine resistant and contains no elastane, so it will not degrade in chlorinated water. Did you find the fabric retained its colour / quality compared to your normal swimwear?

These shorts have not lost any colour over the challenge, the striking blue colour is as vibrant now as it was when I received them.

Endurance+ fabric is quick drying as it has a lower level of moisture absorption. Did your Speedo Endurance+ swimsuit dry quicker than your normal swimsuit?  

As the gym I use has a spin drier, the length of drying time really isn't identifiable. But the Speedo shorts expel more moisture during the spin and are noticeably drier when I unpack my kit at the end of the day.

All said and done, I really like these shorts, they hold their shape and are very comfortable. At the end of the swim, the shorts have neither risen up my legs not rolled down on my waist. 

Yes these are a great pair of shorts, if I could sneak in a subtle outboard motor they'd be perfect

Week 10

This is the final week of the base phase, one third of the training plan has been ticked off. Or, to look at it the other way, two thirds left.

Monday's rest day was a bit of anti-climax following on from the great time we had on the weekend. but at least it's a short week as we're going away on rugby tour this weekend. Yes, under 7s rugby tour; it's gonna be all about overdosing on Ribena.

The scenes from the Boston Marathon are horrific, my thoughts and wishes go to all those that have been affected. It's a sad day, a sad day indeed. At the time of writing there have been 3 reported deaths. No-one should ever leave their house in the morning to go to a race and not come back.

Tuesday's swim felt good, the main set was 1 x 300m, 3 x 200m, 1 x 300m. I felt strong through the set, I'd even go as far as saying I enjoyed it.

It was great to run in the sun on Tuesday evening, I'm really happy in the way my running is progressing; running at sub 5 minute kilometres on this 60 minute lumpy run.

Wednesday morning was back to the gym with a row followed by a strength and core session. All felt good, particularly in the leg work, which seems to be making some gains.

Despite it being an easy Z1 spin, I really didn't feel the love for Wednesday's turbo session. It really seemed to drag, I was so please when it was all done and dusted and i could get off my bike.

I did a 2,500m swim time trail on Thursday morning, the time was 53:25. This is 21 seconds down on my last time trial; whilst I accept this is a marginal difference, I'm disappointed that the perceived gains do not appear to be materialising.

The disappointment of this morning's swim was wiped away with the pace achieved on the post turbo run. 45 minutes on the turbo was followed by 30 minutes of hilly running.

The weekend started on Friday, as I'd taken the day off in readiness for the rugby tour. But that didn't mean my training would be interrupted.

I packed the boys off to school and went for a great 13km 66 minute run. Then it was back home to pack the car, pick up the boys and head west.

The great thing about West Wales, when I say great I mean unfortunate. But the terrain was perfect preparation for the hills at Ironman Wales. The ride on Saturday consisted of 1,244m of climbing over 72.5km. Despite the ride having 8 category 4 climbs, I didn't find it arduous; even with the additional hydration on Friday night.

I fair quantity of re-hydration followed the ride and the evening consisted of fancy dress (obligatory photo shown below)

An all day session meant that I was not looking forward to getting up for Sunday's 90 minute run. But i was determined to be back for the rugby on the beach. So I was up and out by 8am, and once again climbing those damn hills. 

A good hard session, but the injury to my calf re-occurred. I am convinced that it is now time I invested in some calf guards.

Of course the rest of the day involved a beer or two, this was a rugby tour after all.

Summary of Week 10

Activity	Actual Time	Planned Time	Variance +/-	Percentage
Swim	1:54	2:00	-0:06	15%
Bike	5:26	5:00	+0.26	43%
Run	4:06	4:00	+0:06	33%
Other	1:06	0:45	+0:21	9%
Total	12:32	11:45	+0:47

A very good week's training, capped off with a great ride in a beautiful part of the country.

Cumulative Summary

Activity	Actual Time	Planned Time	Variance +/-	Percentage
Swim	21:30	20:00	+1:30	22%
Bike	35:14	34:15	+0.59	36%
Run	30:50	30:45	+0:05	31%
Other	10:38	7:30	+3:08	11%
Total	98:12	92:30	+5:42

Base training is now finished, and job done. I feel ready to take it up a level 

Week 9

My ever so beautiful wife is celebrating a landmark birthday this week, and we'll be having a birthday party for her. I won't be so crass as to mention her age, that would only be rude of me

I took full advantage of Monday's rest day. I could still feel the tightness in my calf, but at least I was moving freely. how it responds over the next day or so will determine my training for the rest of the week.

Tuesday's swim was a bit of a long one again (3,000m) with the main set of 4 x 125m; 4 x 175m; 4 x 125m. I cramped a bit towards the end, which may possibly be due to the calf strain.

I ummed and ahhed all day whether I should risk causing damage to my calf by running (or training at all on Tuesday evening); my final decision was to run in Z1 along the prom. It was a great night for a run and I had no ill effects after the run, in fact it felt a little better than before.

A row followed by a strength and core session was the order of the day for Wednesday morning, with the proviso of omitting calf raises. Despite there being no after effects from the training this week I felt that this exercise could cause some damage.

The recovery of my calf goes from strength to strength, the Z1 spin on the turbo on Wednesday evening went without any repercussions.

Thursday's swim consisted of a main set of 16 x 25m, 1 x 400m, 16 x 25m. It's amazing what thoughts go through your mind when you spend an hour looking at little blue tiles. Thankfully for everyone reading this I'll keep those thoughts to myself.

Thursday's brick session was the first Z2 effort since I'd tweaked my calf, bike element went without a hitch. I could still feel the area whilst running but I would not classify it as pain. Pleasingly, there was not a deterioration in pace.

Back on course for Friday's Z2 run, however, just to be safe I strapped up my calf. Ran at my usual pace of approximately 5:10kms.

I brought Saturday's long ride forward to Friday night, so that involved 2 hours and 45 minutes on the turbo. This meant that today was a heavy load, but at least I'll be free for all of Saturday's festivities.

Ang had a great day on her birthday, not having to get out there and do a training session meant that I wasn't dictating any of the proceedings.

Despite having a late night, James still played rugby on Sunday morning, and played well scoring two tries and the boys winning their last game of the season. 

My plan was to run home from the rugby ground at Hendy. I estimated it to be about 8 miles, I was about 2 miles out as I ended up running over 16km.

  
Despite the run being a bit longer than expected, it was nice and flat. This meant that I ticked along nicely despite running into a head wind for most of the way

Summary of Week 9

Activity	Actual Time	Planned Time	Variance +/-	Percentage
Swim	2:23	2:00	+0:23	20%
Bike	4:30	4:30	+0.00	38%
Run	3:43	3:30	+0:13	32%
Other	1:08	0:45	+0:23	10%
Total	11:44	10:45	+0:59

Despite starting the week tentatively due to my calf strain, it was all fine and dandy by the time I got to the end of the week. 

Cumulative Summary

Activity	Actual Time	Planned Time	Variance +/-	Percentage
Swim	19:36	18:00	+1:36	23%
Bike	29:48	29:15	+0.33	35%
Run	26:44	26:45	-0:01	31%
Other	9:32	6:45	+2:47	11%
Total	85:40	80:45	+4:55

Week 8

As this is the last recovery week in the base stage, this will be the easiest (in terms of volume and intensity) week's training I'll have for a while.

As usual Monday is a rest day, but the added bonus of it being a Bank Holiday means I get the chance just to lounge about and watch a film with Ang and the boys.

Tuesday's swim set was a 2,500m time trial; I posted a time of 53:04 which is a bit slower than last time. Understandably, with the progress I felt I'd made recently with my swims, I'm a bit disappointed by this.

Summer is on its way! I actually ran in shorts on Tuesday night; a 60 minute Z2 session which ticked along nicely.

Back in the gym Wednesday morning for a row and a strength and core session.

Tough brick on Wednesday evening, it was hot in the conservatory on the turbo, and the run after was far from comfortable. 

Thursday's swim felt like I'm still making progress, the main set was 12 x 100m.

Easy Z1 spin on the turbo on Thursday night, the only disappointing thing was that I couldn't hear Game of Thrones coz the turbo was too loud.

Do you get the feeling that it's never going to get warm? It was so cold out on my run on Friday morning; it must have taken nearly 30 minutes for my hands to warm up.

Took the opportunity that some friends were camping at Port Eynon, to encompass my Saturday ride that it ended up at the camp site.

I went out for the ride later than usual, and enjoyed the fact that the ride didn't end up with a climb up Mortgage Mountain

Very pleasing to average out at 25kmh, and even took time out to take this lovely shot of Worms Head (with some filtering help from Instagram)

Another later session for my run on Sunday, 60 minutes at Z2. I felt that I was going at a good pace and at sub 5 minute kilometres I clearly was. However, I paid the price, as a tightness felt in my calf at 45 minutes was quite sore for the rest of the evening and required some attention on the foam roller

Summary of Week 8

Activity	Actual Time	Planned Time	Variance +/-	Percentage
Swim	1:56	2:00	-0:04	19%
Bike	3:47	3:45	+0.02	37%
Run	3:15	3:15	+0:00	32%
Other	1:12	0:45	+0:27	12%
Total	10:10	9:45	+0:25

Another good week's training, but I am slightly concerned about the soreness in my calf. 

Cumulative Summary

Activity	Actual Time	Planned Time	Variance +/-	Percentage
Swim	17:13	16:00	+1:13	23%
Bike	25:18	24:45	+0.33	34%
Run	23:01	23:15	-0:14	31%
Other	8:24	6:00	+2:24	11%
Total	73:56	70:00	+3:56