Monday, 29 January 2018
(Training) Plan - Week 5 - Jan 29 to Feb 4
Still no running or biking, possibly for another 5 weeks. But I am still allowed to do weights core and swimming. I have still left the numbers as a gradual progression but actually I plan to spend as much time as possible in the pool, so the numbers could turn out to be meaningless. I have drafted my plan for the whole year but I am still sitting on it until I get a real date to get out of the boot and at least walking.
I have been reading again. Probably too much. There are a lot of studies of rugby players with syndesmosis injuries coming back within 2-3 months of original injury. Not just to walking, but back on the pitch in that time. There is a preferred surgical repair technique rather than screws which counts for about a week of the deviation in the reported statistics. I don't have the option to go back for that, should probably have done more research in the week between break and surgery and asked more about it. Even allowing for that week they are still much more advanced than my current prognosis which is 3 months from original injury to walking and 5-6 months to sport. I am going to stick with my instructions for the two weeks till my next fracture clinic appointment as the bone is still healing. I will ask again at that point about changing to more aggressive recovery and physio programmes.
Targets - Run 0 miles, Bike 0 miles, Swim 1.9 miles.
Stretching session x0, Core session x2, Weights session x2.
(Training) Review - Week 4 - Jan 22 to 28
I have put the training block back in to the bottom of my weekly review as I have written some, admittedly very light, targets for this week, and I want to start tracking progress against those targets.
Monday I went to my return-to-work medical in the afternoon. As expected he agreed with the Orthopaedic Consultant that I should do a phased return with 4 hours per day for the first couple of weeks and take it from there. I decided to do a core session in the evening. Since it was my last day off, I should really have taken the opportunity to do a weights session as well, but I didn't want to risk exhausting myself when I expect Tuesday to be pretty tough going.
Five weeks ago a 10-minute core session followed by 15-minutes of weights exhausting me would have been a funny joke. Today that is pretty much my limit. The mile walking to Asda and back on Sunday wiped me out. In addition to stripping all the muscles to repair the bones, making them much less efficient, my body is clearly also using up everything I am eating on the repair job instead of as energy storage.
Tuesday was my first half-day back at work. I got home at 1pm after 4 hours in the office. I was shattered and crashed out on the sofa for an afternoon nap.
Wednesday was back to the fracture clinic for my 5-week update. I got a different Consultant this week and he has backed off on my current level of weight bearing to try and protect the healing of my syndesmosis joint. So I am back on the crutches for another fortnight, but I am allowed to get back in the pool. I am not allowed to start aqua-jogging due to the loading direction. Only arm work, no turns or pushing off, and lots of pull buoy support were clear instructions. He also said I am still 6 weeks from walking without the boot, which was very disappointing. In trade for that and the crutches he did move me on to an elite athlete recovery plan, with an rehab accelerated timetable and additional physiotherapy.
And I finally got copies of a couple of my x-rays.
These are from 5 weeks post fracture and 4 weeks post surgery.
This is the front view where you can see the two screws through the fibula and into the tibia.
Apparently the break in the tibia is in that thick bit at the bottom (I can't see it, even zoomed in, so I am taking their word for it) but as it was clean, transverse and has has 5 weeks, 4 of those bolted together, it looks fairly solid already.
You can also see how much the screw heads stick out from the bone and are close to the surface. They are now visible through the skin as the swelling reduces.
In this photo (you might have to zoom) you can see the fibula break about half way to my knee. It is surprisingly clean for an oblique compression fracture. There is a large bone callous formed around it, which isn't too clear in the x-ray but is large enough to feel through the skin, and it is likely to leave a long-term deformation in my fibula.
Thursday I got back in the pool for the first time in 5 weeks. I did a steady 20 minutes with a pull buoy and no tumble turns. I managed a surprising 950m. Pretty pleased with that for being out of shape and being very limited in what I could do.
Friday I got up early to go and swim again, only to find a private booking meant the pool was closed. After work I did my weights and core sessions to make up for it.
Saturday and Sunday I managed to swim both mornings before crashing out on the sofa for the rest of the day. Each swim I went 25 further through the 20 minute mark as my feel for the water comes back. Hopefully my timing won't be affected when I add my kick back in.
First week back in the pool and I am already a week ahead of my rehab plan. I had expected it would be difficult to get back in to the water, but using the pull buoy and doing careful one-legged push-off from touch turns is working out quite well. It is just volume for the sake of it but it is better than nothing.
I am static on steps instead of the increase I expected. This is down to being told to reign it in by the Consultant. Most of this weeks are crutches instead of hobbling.
The muscle loss from my quads seems to have stabilised a bit. My left is down to 55 cm but my right has stayed at 48 cm.
Targets - Run 0 miles, Bike 0 miles, Swim 0.6 miles. Stretching session x1, Core session x2, Weights session x2.
Aqua-jogging x some. Possibly some physio prescribed rehab exercises.
Monday - Core session.
Tuesday - Back to work.
Wednesday - Fracture clinic.
Thursday - Swim at bucksburn 950m arms-only in 20 mins.
Friday - Weights and core session.
Saturday - Swim at bucksburn 950m arms-only in 20 mins.
Sunday - Swim at bucksburn 1,350m arms-only in 28 mins.
Weights session.
Stretching session.
Actuals - Swim 2.0 miles (3,250 m). Bike 0 miles. Run 0 miles.
Aqua-jogging and physio - cancelled by Consultant.
2 short core, 2 short light weights and 1 stretching / rollering session. 0 mins of yoga.
Cumulative actual, (Cumulative target), [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 2.0, (0.6), [0.7],
B 0.0, (0.0), [0.0],
R 0.0, (0.0), [0.0].
Core - 5, (2)
Weights - 5, (2)
Yoga - 0, (0)
Monday I went to my return-to-work medical in the afternoon. As expected he agreed with the Orthopaedic Consultant that I should do a phased return with 4 hours per day for the first couple of weeks and take it from there. I decided to do a core session in the evening. Since it was my last day off, I should really have taken the opportunity to do a weights session as well, but I didn't want to risk exhausting myself when I expect Tuesday to be pretty tough going.
Five weeks ago a 10-minute core session followed by 15-minutes of weights exhausting me would have been a funny joke. Today that is pretty much my limit. The mile walking to Asda and back on Sunday wiped me out. In addition to stripping all the muscles to repair the bones, making them much less efficient, my body is clearly also using up everything I am eating on the repair job instead of as energy storage.
Tuesday was my first half-day back at work. I got home at 1pm after 4 hours in the office. I was shattered and crashed out on the sofa for an afternoon nap.
Wednesday was back to the fracture clinic for my 5-week update. I got a different Consultant this week and he has backed off on my current level of weight bearing to try and protect the healing of my syndesmosis joint. So I am back on the crutches for another fortnight, but I am allowed to get back in the pool. I am not allowed to start aqua-jogging due to the loading direction. Only arm work, no turns or pushing off, and lots of pull buoy support were clear instructions. He also said I am still 6 weeks from walking without the boot, which was very disappointing. In trade for that and the crutches he did move me on to an elite athlete recovery plan, with an rehab accelerated timetable and additional physiotherapy.
And I finally got copies of a couple of my x-rays.
These are from 5 weeks post fracture and 4 weeks post surgery.This is the front view where you can see the two screws through the fibula and into the tibia.
Apparently the break in the tibia is in that thick bit at the bottom (I can't see it, even zoomed in, so I am taking their word for it) but as it was clean, transverse and has has 5 weeks, 4 of those bolted together, it looks fairly solid already.
You can also see how much the screw heads stick out from the bone and are close to the surface. They are now visible through the skin as the swelling reduces.
In this photo (you might have to zoom) you can see the fibula break about half way to my knee. It is surprisingly clean for an oblique compression fracture. There is a large bone callous formed around it, which isn't too clear in the x-ray but is large enough to feel through the skin, and it is likely to leave a long-term deformation in my fibula.
Thursday I got back in the pool for the first time in 5 weeks. I did a steady 20 minutes with a pull buoy and no tumble turns. I managed a surprising 950m. Pretty pleased with that for being out of shape and being very limited in what I could do.
Friday I got up early to go and swim again, only to find a private booking meant the pool was closed. After work I did my weights and core sessions to make up for it.
Saturday and Sunday I managed to swim both mornings before crashing out on the sofa for the rest of the day. Each swim I went 25 further through the 20 minute mark as my feel for the water comes back. Hopefully my timing won't be affected when I add my kick back in.
First week back in the pool and I am already a week ahead of my rehab plan. I had expected it would be difficult to get back in to the water, but using the pull buoy and doing careful one-legged push-off from touch turns is working out quite well. It is just volume for the sake of it but it is better than nothing.
I am static on steps instead of the increase I expected. This is down to being told to reign it in by the Consultant. Most of this weeks are crutches instead of hobbling.
The muscle loss from my quads seems to have stabilised a bit. My left is down to 55 cm but my right has stayed at 48 cm.
Targets - Run 0 miles, Bike 0 miles, Swim 0.6 miles. Stretching session x1, Core session x2, Weights session x2.
Aqua-jogging x some. Possibly some physio prescribed rehab exercises.
Monday - Core session.
Tuesday - Back to work.
Wednesday - Fracture clinic.
Thursday - Swim at bucksburn 950m arms-only in 20 mins.
Friday - Weights and core session.
Saturday - Swim at bucksburn 950m arms-only in 20 mins.
Sunday - Swim at bucksburn 1,350m arms-only in 28 mins.
Weights session.
Stretching session.
Actuals - Swim 2.0 miles (3,250 m). Bike 0 miles. Run 0 miles.
Aqua-jogging and physio - cancelled by Consultant.
2 short core, 2 short light weights and 1 stretching / rollering session. 0 mins of yoga.
Cumulative actual, (Cumulative target), [Cumulative Stretch target]
S 2.0, (0.6), [0.7],
B 0.0, (0.0), [0.0],
R 0.0, (0.0), [0.0].
Core - 5, (2)
Weights - 5, (2)
Yoga - 0, (0)
Monday, 22 January 2018
Training Plan - Week 4 - Jan 22 to 28
I have a medical on Monday to clear me to go back in to the office. And I have a trip to the fracture clinic on Wednesday.
I expect to get official clearance to go back to work, probably on a part-time basis for a couple of weeks. Sitting at a desk for a few hours a day is going to slow the recovery but at least save me from the boredom and frustration of sitting at home. Commuting is actually the problematic part. While I can drive on quiet open roads, rush hour traffic is a different matter and I don't expect either medic to officially clear me to drive yet. Running and bike commutes are still at least a month away. That leaves the train, but the distance of hobbling at either end makes it impractical. And as a last resort, using Mrs M as a taxi service when she isn't busy, or paying #60/day in actual taxis.
After Wednesday I intend to at least get back in the pool to start my rehab. Barring a direct instruction, and a good explanation, from the Consultant I will be back in the pool from Thursday evening. I plan to do a bit of swimming and some aqua-jogging and take it from there. I may also get a bit of rehab work to do from the physio.
I should also be taking the weights and core sessions properly from now so I have decided to add the little Targets section at the bottom with some basic targets for the week. I have also used these numbers and started building a revised plan for the year which I will hopefully be able to get started on soon.
Targets - Run 0 miles, Bike 0 miles, Swim 0.6 miles.
Stretching session x1, Core session x2, Weights session x2.
Aqua-jogging x some.
Possibly some physio prescribed rehab exercises.
I expect to get official clearance to go back to work, probably on a part-time basis for a couple of weeks. Sitting at a desk for a few hours a day is going to slow the recovery but at least save me from the boredom and frustration of sitting at home. Commuting is actually the problematic part. While I can drive on quiet open roads, rush hour traffic is a different matter and I don't expect either medic to officially clear me to drive yet. Running and bike commutes are still at least a month away. That leaves the train, but the distance of hobbling at either end makes it impractical. And as a last resort, using Mrs M as a taxi service when she isn't busy, or paying #60/day in actual taxis.
After Wednesday I intend to at least get back in the pool to start my rehab. Barring a direct instruction, and a good explanation, from the Consultant I will be back in the pool from Thursday evening. I plan to do a bit of swimming and some aqua-jogging and take it from there. I may also get a bit of rehab work to do from the physio.
I should also be taking the weights and core sessions properly from now so I have decided to add the little Targets section at the bottom with some basic targets for the week. I have also used these numbers and started building a revised plan for the year which I will hopefully be able to get started on soon.
Targets - Run 0 miles, Bike 0 miles, Swim 0.6 miles.
Stretching session x1, Core session x2, Weights session x2.
Aqua-jogging x some.
Possibly some physio prescribed rehab exercises.
Review - Week 3 - Jan 15 to 21
Work have arranged a medical so I can go back in to the office, but it isn't until next Monday so I still have this week at home. That did at least give me time to do some rehab work. I am now able to walk / hobble from the bathroom to the kitchen and back without the boot or the crutches. If I want to go more than 20ft or take some stairs I am still using the boot and a walking stick.
I should be back swimming by now. I am sticking with the consultants advice (and Mrs M telling me off whenever I ignore or bend that advice) to give it more time. And by 'more time' I mean until my fracture clinic appointment on Wednesday. My new aqua-jogging belt has arrived and I have resisted the urge just to go straight to the pool with it.
I am back on light weights and core work on alternate days so at least I am doing something.
I am up to about 3,000 steps a day. Not exactly charging about the place but still double what I was covering in previous weeks. I have gone from 6,000, to 10k, 16k and now 24k steps a week. That should put me to about 34,000 next week if I keep that progress but I actually expect to see a bit of a jump once I return to work. Even if I keep that as lazy as possible I run up against practicalities like the toilet will be ~100 steps away from my desk rather than the ~10 from my sofa, and no-one is going to fetch me tea like Mrs M has been doing for the last month.
I am back to burning over 2,000 calories a day. That is still a long way from the 3,000 I would normally do and, despite my diet changes, that is starting to show a bit. While the scales only show a 0.4kg increase, the muscle loss is now visibly trading for belly fat.
My right quad circumference is down to about 48cm as it continues to sacrifice muscle to build bone. For comparison my left quad is down to 56cm just from lack of use. I don't know exactly what they started at, but judging by rate of loss on the left, they were somewhere around 60-61 cm pre-fracture.
Some simple maths and some very broad assumptions of bone size, veins etc, suggests that works out to about 34% muscle loss. For which I could have completely skipped the time I spent reading 3 scientific papers on lower limb physiology to figure out how volumes of bone vs muscle vs other tissues compare, and I could have avoided the maths of converting circumferences to radii and then subtracting volumes of estimated concentric cylinders and I could have just gone with Mrs M's eyeball guess of "about a third".
Target totals - Nothing.
Actual totals - Weights sessions 3, Core sessions 2.
I should be back swimming by now. I am sticking with the consultants advice (and Mrs M telling me off whenever I ignore or bend that advice) to give it more time. And by 'more time' I mean until my fracture clinic appointment on Wednesday. My new aqua-jogging belt has arrived and I have resisted the urge just to go straight to the pool with it.
I am back on light weights and core work on alternate days so at least I am doing something.
I am up to about 3,000 steps a day. Not exactly charging about the place but still double what I was covering in previous weeks. I have gone from 6,000, to 10k, 16k and now 24k steps a week. That should put me to about 34,000 next week if I keep that progress but I actually expect to see a bit of a jump once I return to work. Even if I keep that as lazy as possible I run up against practicalities like the toilet will be ~100 steps away from my desk rather than the ~10 from my sofa, and no-one is going to fetch me tea like Mrs M has been doing for the last month.
I am back to burning over 2,000 calories a day. That is still a long way from the 3,000 I would normally do and, despite my diet changes, that is starting to show a bit. While the scales only show a 0.4kg increase, the muscle loss is now visibly trading for belly fat.
My right quad circumference is down to about 48cm as it continues to sacrifice muscle to build bone. For comparison my left quad is down to 56cm just from lack of use. I don't know exactly what they started at, but judging by rate of loss on the left, they were somewhere around 60-61 cm pre-fracture.
Some simple maths and some very broad assumptions of bone size, veins etc, suggests that works out to about 34% muscle loss. For which I could have completely skipped the time I spent reading 3 scientific papers on lower limb physiology to figure out how volumes of bone vs muscle vs other tissues compare, and I could have avoided the maths of converting circumferences to radii and then subtracting volumes of estimated concentric cylinders and I could have just gone with Mrs M's eyeball guess of "about a third".
Target totals - Nothing.
Actual totals - Weights sessions 3, Core sessions 2.
Monday, 15 January 2018
Plan - Week 3 - Jan 15 to 21
So I am going to start into at least some regular core and weights work this week. While my bone regeneration keeps eating the surrounding proteins and ripping through the muscle of that leg there is no real reason for letting all the rest just waste away. I will need to adapt everything to suit, basically selecting exercises that I can do whilst seated or lying.
I am also waiting for clearance to return to work.
I am also waiting for clearance to return to work.
Review - Week 2 - Jan 8 to 14
Wednesday was a trip to the fracture clinic. I had my cast removed and a couple of new X-rays of the screws. Everything seems to be progressing nicely so they have upgraded me from the cast to a removable supportive boot. I am still not allowed to go in the pool, but I am allowed to start on some core and upper-body work.
They have also decided to leave the screws in. The consultant actually seems happy enough to leave them forever and didn't even seem bothered about the potential to break them.
Thursday marks 26 weeks to the World Champs in Denmark. I am going to start counting that down from here. Partly because it gives me a target, but also because my rehab plan is going to be built on cutting that into even sections.
Sunday was my first day of training this year. I did some light upper body weights and a bit of core work. I had to adapt a little to balance for the weights work and be selective with exercises for the core session.
Monday, 8 January 2018
Plan - Week 2 - Jan 8 to 14
Trip to the fracture clinic this week for an update on progress. Stitches should come out and hopefully I should finally get a look at some of my x-rays.
Then it should just be a case of a short progress assessment and then a new cast fitted. There may be some discussion about screw removal surgery as well depending on the outcome of the assessment.
I also need to start considering how and when I can get back to work. For all that missing training is frustrating, it is just as likely that financial pressure from not earning properly while I am on sick leave is going to affect my summer plans.
Then it should just be a case of a short progress assessment and then a new cast fitted. There may be some discussion about screw removal surgery as well depending on the outcome of the assessment.
I also need to start considering how and when I can get back to work. For all that missing training is frustrating, it is just as likely that financial pressure from not earning properly while I am on sick leave is going to affect my summer plans.
Review - Week 1 - Jan 1 to 7
Not really a training review and since I have had to completely abandon my plan, the first couple of months of this year are instead going to be about progress, rehab, planning and the like.
I am now well past fed-up. I have plenty of films to watch and books to read but I would trade them all for a 20-minute walk round the park. I would even quite happily go back in to work for a few hours just to get off the sofa.
I am surprised at quite how good my mental health is. After nearly 3 weeks sitting around I am getting a bit bored but so far no serious signs of frustration or depression.
I am also surprised at how well I am managing my weight. Sitting on the sofa for 23 hours a day means I am expending about 60% of my normal calorie output, but I have managed to keep my weight basically static at 75kg. Some of this is down to loss of muscle that is already evident on my right quadricep. The muscle loss might be more evident elsewhere once I get back to training. From watching some rehab videos online and feeling the amount of space there is in my cast now I suspect my right calf might be almost non-existent. I think the greater stability is coming from being a bit more careful about how much I eat than I normally would. Snacks are almost completely gone, small breakfasts are in, lunch and dinner are smaller and I am not having a second dinner.
I am now well past fed-up. I have plenty of films to watch and books to read but I would trade them all for a 20-minute walk round the park. I would even quite happily go back in to work for a few hours just to get off the sofa.
I am surprised at quite how good my mental health is. After nearly 3 weeks sitting around I am getting a bit bored but so far no serious signs of frustration or depression.
I am also surprised at how well I am managing my weight. Sitting on the sofa for 23 hours a day means I am expending about 60% of my normal calorie output, but I have managed to keep my weight basically static at 75kg. Some of this is down to loss of muscle that is already evident on my right quadricep. The muscle loss might be more evident elsewhere once I get back to training. From watching some rehab videos online and feeling the amount of space there is in my cast now I suspect my right calf might be almost non-existent. I think the greater stability is coming from being a bit more careful about how much I eat than I normally would. Snacks are almost completely gone, small breakfasts are in, lunch and dinner are smaller and I am not having a second dinner.
Monday, 1 January 2018
Plan - Week 1 - Jan 1 to 7
No plans for this week.
My whole week revolves around:
- Sitting with my leg elevated.
- Sleeping with my leg elevated.
- Occasionally hobbling to the toilet.
- Treating painkillers like smarties.
- Wishing it was 6 weeks further on.
My whole week revolves around:
- Sitting with my leg elevated.
- Sleeping with my leg elevated.
- Occasionally hobbling to the toilet.
- Treating painkillers like smarties.
- Wishing it was 6 weeks further on.
2018 Targets
I wrote this version before breaking my leg. I have left it here purely
out of interest. I will post an alternative version instead once I get my head
around rehab timetables.
I am going to stick with setting
mileage targets as usual. ITU Aquathlon Champs in Fyn, Denmark in July, and
potentially the ETU Aquathlon Champs in Ibiza in October. That makes for a very
long season. I am purposefully going to start racing later to hit July and then
look to take a break and refocus for October.
I have done multi-periodised seasons before when I was racing track and field
so this isn't a new concept for me. The real challenge will be ignoring races
in several races during that mid-season break.
In order to make that work this year I have a much more developed month-by-month
plan as well as the Annual plan.
I have also changed my stretch targets so they are 10% of the normal target.
This is to try and keep me in a tighter window rather than the 15-20%
over-target that I often get carried away chasing. Hopefully the side effect of
that is that I will do more fast work and less just piling on miles for the
sake of it.
Swimming
I had a ridiculous swim mileage year
in 2017, and cleaned up my tumble turns but it didn't really convert to faster
swim times. I want to stay at the similar volume but be smarter about it. In
order to fit my two big races the plan is heavy miles until April and then 10
weeks of faster work. Then a compressed 6 weeks and 6 weeks of the same again.
On the racing front the 6 minute 400m target has proven too tough in 2015 and
6:15 too tough in 2016 and 2017. That is getting frustrating now. The clock
makes it look like I am making no progress. 3 seconds faster over those years,
but 4 seconds slower if I go back to 2014. Those figures are skewed by race
formats, dates, seasons, and any number of other complications. I am going
to aim at 6:15 again but this time I am going to chase it in a solo trial in
June or July rather than wait for a race to fit.
I missed my 750m target but I still think that a sub-12 is possible. Despite
missing last year's target I am going to take 10 seconds off this. That is half
a second a length faster than this year.
Last year I wrote: "Twelve
minutes through 750m would give me nearly 2 minutes of slack to make 1,500m in
26 minutes. If I clock a 12 minute 750 then something would have to go
drastically wrong to then swim outside 14-minutes for the second half of a
1,500m." and then I swam two 12:04s but only 26:26. Even more
annoying I was through 1500m point in the same 26:26 in March during a steady
30 minute swim. Once again I was well out of gas by the time I got to racing a
Standard distance this year, and again I only did one of them. 26 minutes is a
sensible target, but I am only going to write it on the stretch list this year
as I am not convinced I will even race a standard distance this year. The local
races never really fit my race season and I just do them out of habit.
Biking
I haven't entirely given up on the
bike, but with two International Aquathlon races this year I have to focus
differently. I have set the numbers based on 3 cycle commutes a week and
nothing else. If I can get out some weekends, take the longer route on my
commutes, do a bit of mountain biking or turbo, or race consistently at the
Evening League then so much the better. But as much as possible I should use
those gains as reasons to free me from commute rides and let me do more intense
run sessions instead.
I still think a sub-26 minute 10-mile TT is possible, I just need to find
a day to do it. It would be nice to go faster again over 25-mile TT as well but
that is purely dependent on whether the Evening League race fits in with the
rest of my summer schedule so I have dropped it into the stretch list.
Running
I have set even bigger target numbers for this year than ever before. I had a
good year on miles but too many of them were just slogging back and forward to
work. By setting a higher number and dropping the cycling targets I hope to
find a better running balance with some faster sessions fitted in.
I have kept the racing targets the same. Another sub-40 10k at the very least
but also I should be aiming towards the 19-minute mark for 5k.
Triathlon
First up is my plan to try and qualify for another GB age-group team.
I have been 3rd and 4th at consecutive Scottish Aquathon Champs. I should be in
or around those medals every year so I have added a medal as my stretch target
for this year.
I would also like to be back on some Vet podiums for local races this year. After a good year when I turned 40 I then missed every podium this year.
Others
Yoga. I am going to start January
again by signing up to 31 consecutive days of Yoga www.yogawithadriene.com. I
have also changed my target system so that any week where I fail to do a yoga
session that will carry over in to the following week. That gives me a planned
total of 78 sessions and I will round that off to 80 again this year.
Weights and Core. I have been terrible at these for years and hopefully the
similar change to carry over missed sessions will push me to do more. I have
also changed the target from 80 of both to 52 of each.
Represent GBR age-group at an international event.
Swim 137.4 miles.
Swim under 6:15 minutes for 400m.
Ride 2,064 miles.
Ride a 10-mile TT in under 26 minutes.
Run 841 miles.
'Run my age' for 10k.
80 Yoga sessions
Qualify for the GBR Age-group team
for the 2019 European or World Championships.
Swim 151.1 miles.
Swim under 6:00 minutes for 400m.
Ride 2,270 miles.
Ride a 10-mile TT in under 25:30.
Run 925 miles.
Run a 5k in under 19:00 or 10k in
under 40 mins.
I have done multi-periodised seasons before when I was racing track and field so this isn't a new concept for me. The real challenge will be ignoring races in several races during that mid-season break.
In order to make that work this year I have a much more developed month-by-month plan as well as the Annual plan.
I have also changed my stretch targets so they are 10% of the normal target. This is to try and keep me in a tighter window rather than the 15-20% over-target that I often get carried away chasing. Hopefully the side effect of that is that I will do more fast work and less just piling on miles for the sake of it.
On the racing front the 6 minute 400m target has proven too tough in 2015 and 6:15 too tough in 2016 and 2017. That is getting frustrating now. The clock makes it look like I am making no progress. 3 seconds faster over those years, but 4 seconds slower if I go back to 2014. Those figures are skewed by race formats, dates, seasons, and any number of other complications. I am going to aim at 6:15 again but this time I am going to chase it in a solo trial in June or July rather than wait for a race to fit.
I missed my 750m target but I still think that a sub-12 is possible. Despite missing last year's target I am going to take 10 seconds off this. That is half a second a length faster than this year.
Last year I wrote: "Twelve minutes through 750m would give me nearly 2 minutes of slack to make 1,500m in 26 minutes. If I clock a 12 minute 750 then something would have to go drastically wrong to then swim outside 14-minutes for the second half of a 1,500m." and then I swam two 12:04s but only 26:26. Even more annoying I was through 1500m point in the same 26:26 in March during a steady 30 minute swim. Once again I was well out of gas by the time I got to racing a Standard distance this year, and again I only did one of them. 26 minutes is a sensible target, but I am only going to write it on the stretch list this year as I am not convinced I will even race a standard distance this year. The local races never really fit my race season and I just do them out of habit.
I still think a sub-26 minute 10-mile TT is possible, I just need to find a day to do it. It would be nice to go faster again over 25-mile TT as well but that is purely dependent on whether the Evening League race fits in with the rest of my summer schedule so I have dropped it into the stretch list.
Running
I have set even bigger target numbers for this year than ever before. I had a good year on miles but too many of them were just slogging back and forward to work. By setting a higher number and dropping the cycling targets I hope to find a better running balance with some faster sessions fitted in.
I have kept the racing targets the same. Another sub-40 10k at the very least but also I should be aiming towards the 19-minute mark for 5k.
First up is my plan to try and qualify for another GB age-group team.
I have been 3rd and 4th at consecutive Scottish Aquathon Champs. I should be in or around those medals every year so I have added a medal as my stretch target for this year.
Weights and Core. I have been terrible at these for years and hopefully the similar change to carry over missed sessions will push me to do more. I have also changed the target from 80 of both to 52 of each.
Represent GBR age-group at an international event.
Swim 137.4 miles.
Ride 2,064 miles.
Run 841 miles.
'Run my age' for 10k.
80 Yoga sessions
Ride 2,270 miles.
Run 925 miles.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)