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.
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