Wednesday 31 October 2007

Training update

First day back doing stuff since last Thursday. I was supposed to have a game on Saturday but it was called off, which was a pain since I could have entered a duathlon that morning. Its pretty annoying to be honest. Was out Friday and Saturday nights so the whole weekend was pretty much a write-off, especially when I slept for most of the day on Sunday.

Can't really remember why I didn't do something on Monday night, but I was out again last night which meant no training. I really need to start getting up early in the mornings or doing stuff at lunch.

So today, I jumped straight in, starting with a game of 5-a-side at lunch. Tough going as it was really 4 v 5 and I was on the team with 4 for the most part. Was actually a bit stiff after it and my ankle was a little sore! Not good.

Went to the gym then this evening, mainly to get into the pool for a while. Before hand I done a 35 min run consisting of four sets of 8m runs followed 1m rest. Tough going, but bet my previous time around the route by just over a minute.

So thats that. I'll try to do the same drill again tomorrow at lunch time if I remember to bring my kit in.

Tuesday 30 October 2007

Weight update

Following on from my previous post, my weight loss is heading in the right direction again. Long may it continue. Didn't particularly keep an eye on what I was eating over the weekend and with zero exercise to report, its sometimes strange how these things go. Anyways, long may it continue.

Thursday 25 October 2007

Talk about restraint

We normally get a buffet in at lunch time at work as one of the perks of the job. It usually involves a massive shop at Sainsbury's, with a load of bread, meat, cheese, some fruit & veg, soft drinks, snacks, cakes, etc. Its pretty awesome and there's generally no end of stuff left over, which gets used up during the course of the week.

Well anyways, as there's so much and its all good (I love fresh bread that you've to cut yourself), it can be pretty tough to show some restraint. Half the battle is at lunch-time, where I'd generally have a sandwich or two, with a portion or two of crisps, coleslaw, etc. All good stuff. The next part of the battle would be in the afternoon, where any cup of coffee would be accompanied by a cake or bun, etc. Basically Thursdays are a disaster for me.

If you look at the graphs on the right hand side, you'll see a slightly cyclical element to the data, that look like they're almost weekly...well they more or less are. It all starts on Thursday and continues over the weekend! So, I'm good for 3 days of the week and ill-disciplined for 4! Hardly ideal. Weekends are always tough for me, generally cause I'm always up to something be it travelling, watching sport, playing sport, etc.

Well, today was not like any other Thursday...I was very, very restrained at lunch. Just one sandwich (half a baton, with beef and cheese), a handful of cherry tomato's and a handful of crisps. I then succeeded in resisting all the cakes and buns in the afternoon (there were actually more of them today, as there were a lot of people out due to half term).

So, I'm definitely giving myself a good pat on the back for that. Lets hope the weighing scales are friendly in the morning.

Saturday 20 October 2007

Sore legs

Had planned on doing a 4x8min run with 1min recovery last night but couldn't really get into it, probably due to the lunchtime cycle I'd done. So started doing 30s - 45s strides (periods of fast running, not sprinting but at a pace that I'd only be able to keep for that amount of time). Between each stride, I was talking one minutes rest.

I made it around my normal lap about a minute slower than my PB, which I was suprised at, given the amount of time I'd spent "recovering". Which then got me thinking, why not try to push the times out in future runs and try to build the running sections up to a few minutes! Seemed like an obvious idea at the time.

That was until I got up this morning. I'd felt the familiar aches in the legs that I'd become accustomed to before I got my heart rate monitor, where my training usually consisted running as fast as I could for as long as I could, recover for a while and repeat. The result of this was that I was so sore the next day that I could never train two days in a row. That had a knock-on effect that it became easier to miss days, hence a poor training regime.

So where does that leave me? The thing is that these strides are still a valid way of training and indeed, the training plan that I'm doing at the moment calls for them to be used in the next level, albeit no-where near as many as I done last night, or for no-where near the times!

I'm just going to take it easy for the next few days and let my legs recover :)

Thursday 18 October 2007

Weight

I've had a very bad trend on my weight graph since completing the rowers revenge the weekend before last. I probably took 3-4 days off after the event and eat what ever I wanted (I'd expended the guts of a days worth of calories during the event) but have been relatively good with what I've been eating since then. However, the weighing scale is showing some disturbingly high values and my moving average weight is definitely going in the wrong direction.

I've also missed a good few weigh-ins this week, mainly due to the fact that I'm on a training course all week and need to be there for 9am, which is causing my trouble.

This situation need to be rectified ASAP!

Training Update

Had a pretty productive day today. Despite my run plans going to hell due to my treadmill issues (see previous post), I done a nice handy 4k row in 17m 7s. Also got a few laps of drills in at the pool, which was good as I'd been unable to get a nice quiet session there at all this week. Still seem to be struggling slightly with my balance, but its definitely a lot better than before.

Treadmill Trouble

I made a conscious decision over a month ago to do most of my running training off the treadmill, mainly because I was suffering with road running during events as I'd only really trained on the treadmill. The result of this decision is that I haven't actually been on a treadmill in ages. So tonight, I decided to have a go doing my training run on one.

What a disaster...it was a complete and total failure! Ended up cutting the planned session way short. I just couldn't handle it. I don't really know what the problem was, given that I wasn't really doing anything that different from before, but I just couldn't keep up with the pace (a measly 10kmph), which I'm pretty sure I'm doing while out on the road (give or take).

So where does that leave me? In one way, I'm not too bothered as I've got on fine on the road the last month. However, its definitely a lot easier to go for a run on the treadmill even if you don't feel like going for a run outside! I'm going to have to have a think about this and see what happens...

Tuesday 16 October 2007

Training update

Tough enough session tonight. The GAA team were having a circuits session tonight which I'd decided to head along to. Had also planned to do a run at lunch today, but forgot to bring my runners along which stopped that idea. So decided to run down to the circuits. Managed to get 2 x 10min runs in with 3 mins recovery before the circuits.

Circuits themselves were pretty tough. Got through it ok. Max HR was 174bpm, which is just under what it gets up to on a tough run! Considering I was doing weights last night and my HR barely got above 145bpm!

Afterwards, had great intentions of running back to the house, but was pretty wrecked so only made it half way back before stopping. Still, nice evenings worth of effort.

Monday 15 October 2007

Training Update

Got back from work today, absolutely starving. Faced the usual dilemma of whether or not to eat, which would have the knock on effect on whether or not I was training. Decided to head straight to the gym, got a good weights session in. Also wanted to get into the pool but it was way too busy, especially for drills.

Running update

Done a 25min non-stop run last Wednesday night. Furthest I've gone out on the road and hadn't really intended to go that far. Was actually planning on doing 3x10 min runs with 3min recoveries, but felt pretty good so I just kept going.

Haven't been out since, but hope to get back on the running this week.

Undulating

Rising and falling like waves; resembling wave form or motion; undulatory; rolling; wavy; as, an undulating medium; undulating ground.


Doesn't really describe the first 3-4km of the rowers revenge, which was literally straight uphill on the bike leg. Must have taken me 15mins to climb it. Absolute killer. Another big hill on 20km didn't really help either...I'm amazed that I actually managed to get up it without getting off the bike!!

Overall, the day went well. I was scheduled to start at 1.35pm but got there nice and early around 9.30am. Saw a nice dedication ceremony of a boat, which was named after a young local lad that had died of meningitis earlier in the year.


I managed to get an earlier start time, so warmed up briefly before starting into the rowing. It was tough going but I certainly wasn't the last to get off, finishing the row in approx 15m 33s (beating my previous pb by about 25s). Ran into transition to pick up the bike, taking a bit of time to ensure I got a drink and headed off on the road. As I mentioned above, first few km's were tough going and I was quickly dropped by the rest of the guys in my wave. Still, soldiered on, and indeed the course was undulating as described.

Hit another massive hill at the 20km mark, at which point I was actually passed by some boys in the next wave! Boy can those lads cycle. Made it back to T2, was pretty wrecked and the last thing I wanted to do was the 7.5km run section.

My stomach had actually been growling for the last bit of the bike, so decided to chow down on a protein bar that I'd brought for after the race. Big, big mistake. It was so dry I just had to gag and spent the next two km spitting trying to get rid of it. Had to settle into a run-walk strategy early into the run, as was just dead on my feet. This got progressively worse as the race went on, eventually settling for a 1m run\30s walk routine!

Eventually made it back in 2hrs 15mins, which was about 15mins slower than I'd hoped for. The run was definitely my weakest part, but could also do with knocking a few mins of the bike section. Thankfully didn't come last in my age-group as well, which is always motivating.

Must keep the training up over the next few months and hopefully knock some time of both the bike and run legs. I've already been out on the bike once this week, which sadly almost added 30% to this years bike training!!

Saturday 6 October 2007

New PB

Knocked about 50s of my 5.57km lap tonight. Was doing the second exercise of the third phase of the Daniels Formula (4 x 8 min runs with 1 min rest), which went ok apart from the last rep which I really struggled with. Still, I suppose thats why he suggests doing each week for 4 weeks, so that its a lot easier by the time you're ready to move on.

Absolutely delighted with the PB, especially after my lack of exercise over the last two weeks due to my brief holiday. Not too tired after the run, so should hopefully be in good shape for the Rowathon on Sunday. Not doing anything tomorrow.

Friday 5 October 2007

New Gear

Ordered all the stuff I need to put cleats on my bike from Wiggle there today. Won't bother putting them on until after the rowathon, but it should be interesting to see how they go.

Rowing update

Well, set a new PB today for the 4km row in the gym. Previous best was 16m 24s but I came in at a whopping 15m 56.7s tonight. Was pretty wrecked after it though. Took me about a minute to compose myself and I tried to do a bit of running afterwards, which didn't go well. Oh well. Will have to devise a strategy before the rowathon at the weekend.

Thursday 4 October 2007

Weight Loss Goal

Right...13 odd weeks until the end of the year. Plan is to lose 9.5kg in that time, which equates to a calorie deficit of about 800kcal per day. Will be making a special effort to include weekends in this. My weight today is 116.7kg, so my target weight on New Years eve is 107.2kg which would be my off season weight about 2-3 years ago!

Also plan to keep my food diary up-to-date.

Oh dear

Went for a run tonight. Was supposed to do 4x8 mins jogging with 1 min rest in between sets. However, did nothing like this. I guess taking two weeks off is going to take its toll. Got around in 38m 26s, about 2m 30s of PB but considering the amount of walking I did, I'm suprised it wasn't more.

Ankle is quite stiff after this though...should be interesting to see how it is in the morning.

Wednesday 3 October 2007

What do you mean I've got a race at the weekend!!!

Oh cr@p. Got the Rowers Revenge Rowathon on Sunday and I've done absolutely no training of note in the last two weeks. So much for my hopeful plans for doing some training at the weekend while at home. Oh well, guess I'll just have to make the best of the next few days and see how it goes.