Last Update; 27th January 2014
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| Leicester Sprint Tri 2013 |
Purpose
The point to this post will be to keep a record of what I am doing in my bid to get fit enough to both do reasonably well in next years triathlons and maintain a decent base level of climbing fitness.
It will be getting updated straight from my phone so sorry for any typos or bad punctuation.
The events I am doing are;
05/05/14 - Leicester Sprint Tri (400 meter Swim, 20 Kilometer Bike, 5 Kilometer Run)
01/06/14 - Outlaw Half Triathlon (1.2 mile Swim, 56 Mile Bike, 13.1 Mile Run)
21/06/14 - Dambusters Triathlon (1.5 Kilometer Swim, 42 Kilometer Bike, 10 Kilometer Run)
06/07/14 - National Sprint Championships (750 Meter Swim, 20 Kilometers Bike, 5 Kilometer Run)
14/09/14 - IronMan Wales (2.4 Mile Swim, 112 Mile Bike, 26.2 Mile Run)
Quite scary really when you see it written down!!
Anyway, here is my diary and what I get up to!
29th December 2013
Training for next years events officially started today although I have spent the last 5 weeks getting for enough to start training, getting my body used to both getting up early and learning how to use TRX kit properly as this will make up the majority of my training for climbing.
0545
Up and out of bed, pint of high5 Zero and a homemade MyProtein Cereal Bar (if anyone wants to know how to make them let me know, they are scrummy!)
0600
Hit the home gym, jogging on the spot & dynamic warmup for 15 min followed by 45min of TRX
0705
3 x 50 15kg dumbbell curls
3 x 50 sit-ups on the incline bench
3 x 10 full drop slow pull-ups, locking at the top and dropping all the way down holding for 3 seconds top and bottom
3 x 10 full set tricep dips, holding for 3 seconds at both the top and the bottom
0735
Bike work on the turbo trainer 10 minutes easy warm up, 30 minutes easy spinning focusing on making smooth circular pedal strokes at 90 rotations per minute (rpm), 5 minutes of cool down
0820
Cycle to swimming pool then 10 minutes easy warm up, 45 minutes doing sets of 50 meters arm swim drills, resting 15-20 seconds between each, 5 minutes of cool down
0935
Finish
30th December 2013
Having realised I am supposed to be training on New Year's Day and today should be a rest day I have brought my sessions forward and will be taking NYD off!
Due to time I have split it into a morning and an afternoon session.
0545
Up and out of bed, pint of high5 Zero and a homemade MyProtein cereal bar.
0600
Hit the home gym, jogging on the spot & dynamic warmup for 15 min followed by 20min of TRX, today is my arms and shoulders day, this is the workout;
0640
3 x 50 15kg dumbbell curls
3 x 50 sit-ups on the incline bench
3 x 10 full drop slow pull-ups, locking at the top and dropping all the way down holding for 3 seconds top and bottom
3 x 10 full set tricep dips, holding for 3 seconds at both the top and the bottom
0710
Cycle to swimming pool then 10 minutes easy warm up, 45 minutes constant lengths with little or no rest between lengths, managed 68 lengths which is roughly 1700 meters, 5 minutes of cool down
1600
A 30 minute get out there run round the village covering 6.5k (done in a time if 27.32) with my neighbour, didn't feel too bad considering it was my first run out in 6 weeks!
31st December 2013 (Hogmanay)
I posted this on Facebook & Twitter;
@Iain_McKenzie: Eat. Sleep. Train. Repeat.. Not today baby!! 5:30 am & up for 3hrs graft in gym & pool then it's play time till Thurs! Happy #Hogmanay all!!
Yes... Last day of 2013 and tomorrow all the events I am training for are "this year"!!
I started the day a bit earlier today as I need to be done by 8:30am.
0515
Up and out of bed, pint of high5 Zero and a homemade MyProtein cereal bar, I need to make some more of these in the new year!
0530
Hit the home gym, jogging on the spot & dynamic warmup for 15 min followed by 40min of TRX, today I did the core session and then the chest & back sessions, they are;
Both sessions went really well and I am getting better at the pike!
0620
3 x 20 15kg dumbbell lockoffs
3 x 50 sit-ups on the incline bench
3 x 10 full drop slow pull-ups, locking at the top and dropping all the way down holding for 3 seconds top and bottom
3 x 10 full set tricep dips, holding for 3 seconds at both the top and the bottom
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| TL; Slow Pull Up Locking off. BL; Slow Tricep Dip. TR; TRX Work. BL; Locking off the Dumbells |
I found the this set hard after the TRX today but not as hard as it was 4 weeks ago when I was putting this session together!
0655
Cycle to swimming pool then 45 min of base building - workouts done at an easy to easy-moderate intensity with periods of recovery or rest as needed, so I broke this up into sets of 4 lengths with 1 minute between sets.
4 x pool buoy between legs with hands in the paddles.
4 x pool buoy between legs no paddles
4 x fast swim.
4 x legs only, holding float with head out of water.
4 x legs only, holding float with head under water breathing to alternate sides.
4 x fast swim.
2 x cool down swim
Repeat
So 4 x means I did 4 lengths of 25 meters and when I say fast I mean as fast as I can which to be honest is not very fast or graceful!! I did this twice.
Finish
That's it for 2013!
1st January 2014
Following a late night which involved staying up till gone 5:45am and far too much alcohol, today was taken as a rest day! Happy New Year All!
2nd January 2014
So all the training I am now doing is for events that are happening this, yes... this year!!
I have decided to climb on a weekly basis with Sophie and today was going to be a bench marking session. The boys at work have been busy resetting the Tower Area at work so the plan was to get in there and do a pyramid session till I fall off and use that as a starting point for all my climbing.
I have decided to climb on a weekly basis with Sophie and today was going to be a bench marking session. The boys at work have been busy resetting the Tower Area at work so the plan was to get in there and do a pyramid session till I fall off and use that as a starting point for all my climbing.
0900
Today is a bike day so I got the bike of the Turbo Trainer and blasted into work on one of my long circuits, I will at somepoint gmap them and link to them, this consisted of a 31.8 mile cycle in covering quite a few hills and country road, it is the first time I have been out on the bike for quite a while so it was a bit of an eyeopener, magaged the distance in 1:18.32.
1030
Routes in the wall with Sophie, this was just a climb till you drop benchmark session. I have not climbed indoors for ages, by ages I mean a good 2 months so it was always going to be interesting.
Rich, Orrin and James have totally reset the Tower (15 meter lead wall) so it was a good get on stuff I had not seen anyone else on.
I managed to do; 4+, 5+, 6a+, 6b+ and then I fell off the last move of a 6c. As I said, I have not climbed in a while, the fingers didn't feel too bad with minimal swelling after. So from this point I will up the starting grade and work on some conditioning, stamina and endurance.
1130
todays aim was to spend 45 minutes running at a reasonable pace, I know I had a decent 10k in me although after the amount of alcohol consumed on Hogmanay I was doubtful.
With that in mind I did a 10 minute dynamic warm up followed by a slow loosening up jog and was very pleased to do a 41:28 10k.
3rd January 2014
1030
Routes in the wall with Sophie, this was just a climb till you drop benchmark session. I have not climbed indoors for ages, by ages I mean a good 2 months so it was always going to be interesting.
Rich, Orrin and James have totally reset the Tower (15 meter lead wall) so it was a good get on stuff I had not seen anyone else on.
I managed to do; 4+, 5+, 6a+, 6b+ and then I fell off the last move of a 6c. As I said, I have not climbed in a while, the fingers didn't feel too bad with minimal swelling after. So from this point I will up the starting grade and work on some conditioning, stamina and endurance.
1130
todays aim was to spend 45 minutes running at a reasonable pace, I know I had a decent 10k in me although after the amount of alcohol consumed on Hogmanay I was doubtful.
With that in mind I did a 10 minute dynamic warm up followed by a slow loosening up jog and was very pleased to do a 41:28 10k.
3rd January 2014
The main aim of today is a distance run but because I am in full on training mode and trying to maintain my climbing fitness I decided to throw in a TRX & weights session.
0545
Up and out of bed, pint of high5 Zero and a homemade MyProtein Cereal Bar, the morning routines are becoming easy(ish)
0600
Hit the home gym, jogging on the spot and dynamic warmup for 15 min followed by 45min of TRX, today I did the Core session followed by Arms & Shoulders.
Both sessions went well although I was getting a tad pumped by the time I got to the Clutch Curl and Triceps Press.
Following in from the last post where I mentioned my Pike was there I had a few questions about it so here is a pike;
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| The TRX Pike set |
I still need to get over more but it is 100% better than it was!!
0705
3 x 50 15kg dumbbell curls
3 x 50 sit-ups on the incline bench
3 x 10 full drop slow pull-ups, locking at the top and dropping all the way down holding for 3 seconds top and bottom
3 x 10 full set tricep dips, holding for 3 seconds at both the top and the bottom
0900
Run to work, today's plan is all about distance work, I have a number of different rout options to work so I opted for a very steady 13.24 mile run in at a moderate and comfortable pace, this was done in a time of 1:32.15 which in all honesty I am very pleased with.
1035
Finish
4th January 2014
Today was going to be simple, a steady 50 minute ride at medium intensity, all set up and sorted I planned to get out at 7am until I saw the weather! It was mingin' !!
Now contrary to rule 9 (as pointed out by Matt Barker) which states;
I cycle or run to work every day come rain, snow, wind... Whatever the weather, but on my days off work I would rather I had a quality training session so I opted for the Turbo Trainer, luckily my neighbour was up for doing some TRX work so that was my company sorted while I beasted myself on the Turbo. The result was;
50 minutes
Average speed of 34-37 Kph
Average RPM of 90-100
Average Heart Rate of 189bpm
All in all a very good hard session and big thanks to Andy Yip for the company!
5th January 2014
Today is an easy bike session that consists of lots of spinning.
I combined this with needing to go into work so I cycled the most direct route in and out, 9.6 miles.
In to work
Low gear ave 110rpm
Ave speed 28 - 33 Kph
Time 24:34
Out of work
Low gear Ave 105rpm
Ave speed 27-31 Kph
Time 26:45
Nice easy session.
Loving this and it is so true at the moment;
6th January 2014
Today is supposed to be a rest day, as above states, this is something I find hard although part of it is simple, I still have to commute to work on my bike and I have a meeting on Thursday which means I won't get to train on a training day.
0645
Up and out of bed, eat a banana whilst cycling to swimming pool.
Easy pool session based on technique - 10 minutes easy warm up, 30 minutes doing sets of swim drills, resting 15-20 seconds between each, 5 minutes of cool down
4 x 50m pool buoy between legs with hands in the paddles.
4 x 50m pool buoy between legs with hands in the paddles.
4 x 50m pool buoy between legs no paddles
4 x 50m fast swim.
2 x 50m legs only, holding float with head out of water.
2 x 50m legs only, holding float with head under water breathing to alternate sides.
4 x 50m fast swim.
4 x 50m cool down swim
0930
Cycle to work over 45 minutes, concentrating on technique - 10 minutes easy warm up, 30 minutes easy spinning focusing on making smooth circular pedal strokes at 90 rotations per minute (rpm), 5 minutes of cool down
2000
Cycle home, the weather was mingin' it was wet and wild!! I cycled the direct 9.6 miles, into a head wind, took 34 minutes.
I saw this on Facebook, it's an art installation in Leicestershire, sums up my feeling on Ironman Wales!!
7th January 2014
Today, apart from the cycle to and from work was mostly about tests.
0600
Up and out of bed, pint of high5 Zero and a homemade MyProtein cereal bar.
0615
Hit the home gym, jogging on the spot & dynamic warmup for 15 min followed by 20min of TRX, today I just did the core session.
0655
Cycle to the pool then a 400 meter time trial, 16 lengths as fast as I can, this is the same distance as pool based Sprint Triathlons.
After a 10 minute warm up I took stock and went for it, I thought I would be faster but I managed the distance in 8 minutes 23 seconds which in about where I was when I finished the Sprint Triathlons last year.
1020
Cycle to work direct and fast, 9.2 miles, 22.34, the roads were a lot quieter than I expected!
1345
Second test of the day, a 12 minute run at max intensity and see how far I could do.
I set off at a fairly steady pace, possibly a little too fast, of 16.5 kph I managed to maintain it, dropped it slightly but then ramped it back up. I managed to do a total distance of 3.49 kilometers with the treadmill set at a 1 degree incline in the 12 minute time frame.
Since it was the first time I have done this we will use it as a benchmark, it has to be faster and longer going forward!
1515
Third test of the day, Bench Pressing.
I have never done a bench press before, I have always concentrated on the pull muscles and just done pressups, dips and the TRX, the latter only recently, to work the push muscles.
I am lucky enough to have a gym at work so after consultation with Rana, one of the member of Gym staff, he said he would take me through it and spot me.
After demonstrating we started with just the Olympic Bar, this alone weighs in at 20kg and was an ideal tool for getting the technique nailed.
My idea of nailed technique is something that resembles a Bench Press or there abouts!
With the aim if this to do 3 clean reps at max weight ability we needed to add some weight! So with that in mind Rana added 20kg to each side, total weight now 60kg.
With weight added it was a different kettle of fish, firstly you now have to breathe and secondly you have to use your legs to stabilise yourself, on the first attempt I did neither!!
Breathe out as you lower, in as you push up. Legs and feet stable and pressing on the ground and the bar should come down to and be in line with your nipples.
Second go at this weight was a lot more controlled, I managed 5 clean reps comfortably.
Rana added another 5kg to each side, total bar weight 70kg, 2kg heavier than my body weight.... Dispatched with relative ease.
With another 5kg on each side being added, total weight 80kg and the incentive from Rana that "you'll manage about 2" I went for it... It was not pretty, relatively controlled with a bit of stability being added with Rana's careful spotting, but I managed (just) 3 clean reps at 80kg.
At that I called it a day!
1630
Again the weather had gone pants, the cycle home was direct, wet and windy... Oh... and busy, 28 minutes.
8th January 2014
"life's only limitations are the ones we create"
Today is the last day before a rest day, with meetings planned tomorrow there is no chance I will get an opportunity to train so I have done some jigging and it's now the rest day!
Today's plan consisted of some TRX work, climbing and a long run.
0545
Up and out of bed, the usual routine of High5 and a MyProtein cereal bar to get me going!
0600
With today also being a climbing day I didn't want to do too much on the TRX so I spent about 45 minutes experimenting with different exercises to try to make them ice/climbing specific, I think I could possibly string together about 15-20 different exercises, watch this space!
0745
Long run to work, I needed to run for 1:30.00 so I opted to take one of my longer country/track runs to work, the weather was lovely, no rain and not too strong a wing so I covered the 13.24 route in a decent time if 1:28.48. Seeing progress in the run which I am really pleased with.
0950
And for the fun bit, this weeks climbing session!
We were a bit pushed for time so we selected 4 routes each and did some 1&1's to start building a bit of stamina with the last route climbing to failure. When I did my pyramid last week I failed on the final move on a 6c so the plan today was to go no higher than 6b+.
1and1's are where you climb a route, pull the rope and go straight back up it.
Today I managed a 5+, 6a+, 6b & the 6b + then on the third go up to failure I got just over half way, so 8.5 routes done in 45 minutes between 2 of us was good going, including a touch of the DOMS after yesterday's Bench Press and the run into work!
Rest day tomorrow :)
9th January 2014
Meetings and planned rest day has ensured today is a day of "rest"
10th January 2014
Today is a bit of a mix it up day.
0515
Up and out of bed, High5 Gel Shot, pint of water and out for a run.
0530
My run was planned for later but this was the first morning that it was still, cold and calm so it was too good an opportunity to miss.
On the cards was a good steady run for 45 minutes, I warmed up well and did a steady 10k finishing with some sprints, the first I have done since tearing my calf!
0630
TRX and weights session.
The TRX session was the 'Total Body Workout' the first time I did this I really struggled, today I added an additional 5 reps to every set!
My weights session consisted of;3 x 50 biceps curls
Between each set I did 3 x 50 sit ups on the incline bench
After this double set I did 3 x 18 sets of tricep dips.
All in all today was a good day!!
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| This is my new bike from Frog Island Triathlon |
11th January 2014
Today's plan is just a run, and the added bonus was getting to stay in bed longer!!
0800
Today is a distance running day, to be done at a easy and comfortable pace.
I paced myself at about 12kph and managed to do a 15.06 mile run in 2:05.34
If felt pretty easy, no niggles or pains, this is also the furthest I have run in about 8 months so all in all pretty pleased, again, a bar has now been set and I have something to compare against.
12th January 2014
12th January 2014
Today is a active recovery bike day. After yesterdays long run my legs were feeling a bit heavy so I was glad of the run out on the bike.
0800
The roads were very frosty, but it was sunny and calm so I headed out towards Desford and made a decision that at the fork I would either do the Desford Sprint Triathlon loop making my total distance 35.56 Kilometres or I would do the Leicester Forest Loop which would keep it to just 20.02 Kilometres.
I opted for the Desford Triathlon loop. The route is fairly hilly with some decent descents and some sharp hills and the legs didn't feel too bad.
13th January 2014
Technically today is a rest day, so with no meetings planned this week the only exercise I will be doing is the direct route to and from work!
I cycled the most direct route in and out, 9.6 miles.
0800
The roads were very frosty, but it was sunny and calm so I headed out towards Desford and made a decision that at the fork I would either do the Desford Sprint Triathlon loop making my total distance 35.56 Kilometres or I would do the Leicester Forest Loop which would keep it to just 20.02 Kilometres.
I opted for the Desford Triathlon loop. The route is fairly hilly with some decent descents and some sharp hills and the legs didn't feel too bad.
Average speed of 33-35 Kph
Average RPM of 90-100
Total Time 1:18.45
Average RPM of 90-100
Total Time 1:18.45
13th January 2014
Technically today is a rest day, so with no meetings planned this week the only exercise I will be doing is the direct route to and from work!
I cycled the most direct route in and out, 9.6 miles.
In to work
Low gear ave 110rpm
Ave speed 28 - 33 Kph
Time 27:34
14th January 2014
At the start of this post I said I was just trying to keep my general fitness up for climbing aswell, things changed slightly last night. I got a message from Mark Bullock asking if I fancied a trip to Riglos! BOOM! Hell Yesssssss!!
At the start of this post I said I was just trying to keep my general fitness up for climbing aswell, things changed slightly last night. I got a message from Mark Bullock asking if I fancied a trip to Riglos! BOOM! Hell Yesssssss!!
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| Los Mallos De Riglos UKC Articles, Apr 2012 © Paul Bennett |
The plan is to head out to do;
La Fiesta de los Biceps 7a, La Visera, 270m (6c+, 6b/A0, 15 QDs) – Surprisingly the crux is low down and technical (a groove), above this things get steep, pumpy and outrageously fun!
La Fiesta de los Biceps 7a, La Visera, 270m (6c+, 6b/A0, 15 QDs) – Surprisingly the crux is low down and technical (a groove), above this things get steep, pumpy and outrageously fun!
Full article on UK Climbing here
Now all my TRX training and sessions at the wall with Sophie have a purpose!!
So with this psych and purpose to my climbing training todays session went a little something like this;
0530
Up and out of bed, pint of high5 Zero and some muesli.
0600
Hit the home gym, jogging on the spot & dynamic warmup for 15 min followed by 20min of TRX, I have upped all the reps in the sets to 15 reps each, this is the workout;
0640
3 x 50 15kg dumbbell curls
3 x 50 sit-ups on the incline bench
3 x 10 full drop slow pull-ups, locking at the top and dropping all the way down holding for 3 seconds top and bottom
3 x 10 full set tricep dips, holding for 3 seconds at both the top and the bottom
0900
10k steady run done in 42 minutes.
15th January 2014
Today was a bike day working on distance, luckily I can combine this with going to work.
I opted for one of the longer loops, 42 miles, done at a good steady speed taking in some of the hills around Bradgate Park and Charnwood, 1:58.34. all in all it felt good.
1345
Bench Press time with Rana, he is aiming to up my weight I am pushing, last week was my first session and I managed 80kg. After a good warm up I easily did 3 x 80Kg which surprised me. He stacked another 1.25kg on each side taking the total weight to 82.5kgs.
The first two reps were steady, the final one however was a battle... much in the same way 80kg was last week!! progress :-)
Fast steady 13.2 mile cycle home after work.
16th January
Today is climbing day... so I cycled the most direct route in and out, 9.6 miles.
With the climbing I have a steady plan that I am following, this week is still working on 1 and 1's (climb up the route, straight down and back up the same route with as little rest as possible) but raising the starting grade, last week I started with 5+ so toady it is 6a.Started with a 6a then 6a+ followed by a 6b, the final route today was the 6c that I fell of the last move on, so off I went, feeling a tad pumped but not too bad, surprisingly I found myself topping it and had enough in the tank to fall off two moves from where I fell off last time... so big progress made! although I do have one thing to keep me going.... REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGLOS!!!! (Riglos!) below is the route we are planning to do... Steeeep!
17th January 2014
Busy day today so lots to pack in it means an easly start!
0500
0900
10k steady run done in 42 minutes.
15th January 2014
Today was a bike day working on distance, luckily I can combine this with going to work.
I opted for one of the longer loops, 42 miles, done at a good steady speed taking in some of the hills around Bradgate Park and Charnwood, 1:58.34. all in all it felt good.
1345
Bench Press time with Rana, he is aiming to up my weight I am pushing, last week was my first session and I managed 80kg. After a good warm up I easily did 3 x 80Kg which surprised me. He stacked another 1.25kg on each side taking the total weight to 82.5kgs.
The first two reps were steady, the final one however was a battle... much in the same way 80kg was last week!! progress :-)
Fast steady 13.2 mile cycle home after work.
16th January
Today is climbing day... so I cycled the most direct route in and out, 9.6 miles.
In to work
Low gear ave 110rpm
Ave speed 28 - 33 Kph
Time 23:44
With the climbing I have a steady plan that I am following, this week is still working on 1 and 1's (climb up the route, straight down and back up the same route with as little rest as possible) but raising the starting grade, last week I started with 5+ so toady it is 6a.Started with a 6a then 6a+ followed by a 6b, the final route today was the 6c that I fell of the last move on, so off I went, feeling a tad pumped but not too bad, surprisingly I found myself topping it and had enough in the tank to fall off two moves from where I fell off last time... so big progress made! although I do have one thing to keep me going.... REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGLOS!!!! (Riglos!) below is the route we are planning to do... Steeeep!
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| 'Fiesta de los biceps' (F7a), Riglos © ali k, Oct 2010 |
Cycle Home
Low gear ave 110rpm
Ave speed 28 - 33 Kph
Time 26:15
17th January 2014
Busy day today so lots to pack in it means an easly start!
0500
0530
5k fast run. It was a clear morning, dark but the sky was clear and it was dry. I ran my usual 5 k circuit since I am not in work today I wasn't going to get on the treadmill. 5k done in 18.54.
0600
Hit the home gym, jogging on the spot and dynamic warmup for 15 min followed by 30min of TRX, today I did the Core session followed by Arms & Shoulders.
following the TRX session I used the gym;
3 x 30 Dumbell Curls
3 x 30 Situps on the incline
5 x 10 Chest Press with the weight 60Kgs
3 x 15 slow Pullups.
0715
3 x 30 Dumbell Curls
3 x 30 Situps on the incline
5 x 10 Chest Press with the weight 60Kgs
3 x 15 slow Pullups.
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| My Home Gym - room of pain!! |
Cycle to swimming pool then 45 min of base building - workouts done at an easy to easy-moderate intensity with periods of recovery or rest as needed, this was broken up into sets of 4 lengths with 1 minute between sets.
4 x pool buoy between legs with hands in the paddles.
4 x pool buoy between legs no paddles
4 x fast swim.
4 x legs only, holding float with head out of water.
4 x legs only, holding float with head under water breathing to alternate sides.
4 x fast swim.
2 x cool down swim
Repeat
(4 x means I did 4 lengths of 25 meters)
A bit of inspiration; Rise & Shine
18th January 2014
My life is currently summed up in 5 words; Eat... Sleep... Train... Work... Repeat
Today is a long run day, I also need to get to work! I will tie the two together!
0500
up and out of bed, High5 Drink, Kiwi Fruit and Banana.
A bit of inspiration; Rise & Shine
18th January 2014
My life is currently summed up in 5 words; Eat... Sleep... Train... Work... Repeat
Today is a long run day, I also need to get to work! I will tie the two together!
0500
up and out of bed, High5 Drink, Kiwi Fruit and Banana.
0530
30 minutes on the turbo trainer, easy spinning focusing on making smooth circular pedal strokes at 90 rotations per minute (rpm), 5 minutes of cool down.
0615
TRX and weights session.
The TRX session was the 'Total Body Workout' 
My weights session consisted of; 3 x 30 biceps curls
Between each set I did 3 x 30 sit ups on the incline bench
After this double set I did 3 x 20 sets of tricep dips.
0730
Run 13.2 miles to work, felt a tad heavy after the turbo session but I guess that's good training for the events I am doing!! Done in a time of 1:39.12
19th January 2014
Recovery ride day, and working so it was the long senic 30.4 mile route through Charnwood Forest passing Bradgate Park, 1:28.07.
20th January 2014
Today should be my rest day, but I am working in London tomorrow so I have swapped days.
My legs and bum are feeling it after a few days of pretty hard leg work but I need to stick to the plan.
0600Up and out of bed, High5 drink and banana.
0620It was s super cold and frosty morning, the moon was massive and there were no clouds in the sky, totally serein.
After quite a long warm up I went out for a 10k run, I opted to keep it simple and do the 5k loop twice, that way if my legs were shot after the last few days of training I could bail. The first loop was good and went well, with about 3k to go my legs were feeling tight but not too bad. Finished the 10k in a time of 42.33
0715
Blast in the gym;
5 x 10 sets of Chest Press @ 70kgs
5 x 30 Dumbell Curls
5 x 30 Situps on the incline bench
0920
My legs were feeling it!! so instead of blasting into work, the weather is stunning, the muddy paths are frozen solid, I decided to cycle the 16.7 mile cross country route to work, there is no time involved or cycling hard, it was just a pleasant cycle I in on a nice sunny day in January!
Followed by an easy ride home after work.
21st January 2014
Rest day
22nd January 2014
plan is just a run although I feel like I have a cold coming! not good!
0800
Today is a distance running day, to be done at a easy and comfortable pace.
I paced myself at about average 12kph and managed to run into work on the 13.2 mile run in 1:36.34
If felt pretty steady although breathing was a problem...
I have a cold!! no gym or swim this morning, I feel like I have neglected the swimming of late, but today is climbing day and it is my 4x4 set!
After a steady cycle in on the mountain bike I hit the wall with Sophie.
A 4x4 set is basically doing 4 routes in succession with little or as far as possible, no rest between them and repeating that 4 times.
It is an endurance set so it needs to be as close to my onsight grade as possible, on the first week pyramid I failed on the 6c so today I was aiming for 4x4's on 6a+ upto 6b+
Started with a 6a+ set of 4 to get warmed up on a steep overhanging panel. The second set was a mixed set in succession on the scoop of 6a+/6b+/6a+/6b+. The third set was another mixed set back on the steep overhanging panel of 6a/6b+/6a/6b+ and the final set was just a straight set of 6a+ that I warmed up on.
Easy steady cycle home!
23rd January 2014
I have a cold!! no gym or swim this morning, I feel like I have neglected the swimming of late, but today is climbing day and it is my 4x4 set!
After a steady cycle in on the mountain bike I hit the wall with Sophie.
A 4x4 set is basically doing 4 routes in succession with little or as far as possible, no rest between them and repeating that 4 times.
It is an endurance set so it needs to be as close to my onsight grade as possible, on the first week pyramid I failed on the 6c so today I was aiming for 4x4's on 6a+ upto 6b+
Started with a 6a+ set of 4 to get warmed up on a steep overhanging panel. The second set was a mixed set in succession on the scoop of 6a+/6b+/6a+/6b+. The third set was another mixed set back on the steep overhanging panel of 6a/6b+/6a/6b+ and the final set was just a straight set of 6a+ that I warmed up on.
24th January - 26th January 2014
Forced rest and recovery... I am ill!!
27th January 2014
I have a manic week coming up and I have had 3 days rest almost feeling 100% again. I had this great plan of getting up and 4:45am starting with a run, gym, swim then cycle to work....
The alarm went off and I thought I hit snooze... then I woke up at 7:10am ... #trainingfail
So I opted to hit the pool after the rush and did a 45 minute base building set, I feel like I have let the swimming slide a bit and was very surprised to have a excellent session!!
0900
Base building - workouts done at an easy to easy-moderate intensity with periods of recovery or rest as needed, so I broke this up into sets of 4 lengths with 1 minute between sets.
Base building - workouts done at an easy to easy-moderate intensity with periods of recovery or rest as needed, so I broke this up into sets of 4 lengths with 1 minute between sets.
4 x pool buoy between legs with hands in the paddles.
4 x pool buoy between legs no paddles
4 x fast swim.
4 x legs only, holding float with head out of water.
4 x legs only, holding float with head under water breathing to alternate sides.
4 x fast swim.
2 x cool down swim
Repeat
(4 x means I did 4 lengths of 25 meters)
1000
Since I have a messed up week and going to be lacking in the CV department I went for a run to work option!
13.2 miles in 1:34.22
