Breakthrough Swim Session

Tonight I had a breakthrough swim session. As I tried breathing on every fourth stroke instead if every second stroke like I had been doing. I did twice as far as I normally swim and at the same pace but I did not feel as out of breath or tired at the end of it. I will need to practice this more but this should hopefully help with my endurance training.

This one session already is the most swimming per week that I have for a number of months.

The next swim technique to learn will be bilateral breathing (breathing on both sides).

Weeks Training

This week I did 9 hours of training!!!

I still need to work on getting a better ratio of the three disciplines, as approximately 50% was cycling, 45% running and only 5% swimming. I have also yet to do an early morning pool swim.

Actually Cycled Outside!!!

I actually cycled outside for the first time in at least 4 months since my last triathlon. It was cool at about 9c (from one of my cycle computers) but I used the cycling kit I got for Christmas which kept me nice and warm.
It was a 30 mile route and was done at an easy pace but I gave a bit more effort on the hills. I also was able to get my cadence sensor working again, this helped with the pacing and gear to be in as I also had my heart rate information as well.

Training this Week - Part 1

I have done the first part of my running sessions for the week.

Earlier in the week I did a speed hill work session, when it was 2c but the wind chill made it 0c. This is not great when doing a hard effort with my heart rate and near my upper zone limit and then rapidly breathing in freezing cold air. Then yesterday I did an 8 mile run out in the countryside, it was like the blair witch project with no lights on most of the country lanes apart for the few runners head lamps and the few cars using these roads. I ended up doing it fairly fast for me and even managed a negative split.

The running I have planned to do as a cross country on Sunday morning, forgoing the cakes available afterwards and then driving to a football match (at local county youth level) and referee the game. As it is a cup game you can almost guarantee that it will go to extra time just because I did a race earlier in the day.

I have done a couple of short swims and bicycle sessions but I plan to do more of these sessions in the next few days.

The Weekly Weigh in

This week I have put on 0.75 lb (0.4kg) but my % body fat has remained the same.

I came across this interesting web page which shows what 200 calories of a number of different food and drinks look like including how much weight or volume they are.

Mmm Marmite Porridge

For breakfast this morning I had marmite porridge with added banana, raisins and some whey protein. Even people who like marmite (also known as yeast extract or similar to vegemite), go urrh to when I tell them what I had without even trying it for themselves.
It fairly nutritious as the only thing I can see is the increased salt from the marmite. There is the fibre from the porridge oats, calcium and protein from the skimmed milk used to make it, two of the recommended 5-a-day portions of fruit providing vitamins and minerals with bananas also having reported mood boosting properties.

I took this picture of the marmite porridge, the marmite can be mixed in more or you could add even more marmite.

Training Update

Last week I did nearly an hour more training than the previous week. However this still needs to be gradually increased over the next few weeks during ironman base training phase.

The training ratio was better as about 60% of this time was cycling, 30% was running and about 10% was swimming. Next week I will need to get some more swimming sessions including a long swim.

Weekly Weigh in

This week I have lost 1lb (0.5 kg) but my waist and % body fat has slightly increased. However % body fat is still within the average range. Yet I am still in the BMI overweight category by about 8lb (4 kg).

Good start to the week’s training

I have had a good start to this week’s training as I have already done more swimming then what I did for the complete last week. I got some additional benefit of practice for the ironman swim.

As the lanes where fairly narrow just about wide enough for one person going in either direction depending on their swimming stroke. So you get a bit of a wave as people went by so you had to alter your breathing/stroke pattern. It did not help that smacked my elbow on the plastic lane makers and then later pushed of an end and kicked a bit too early and some how managed to hit the wall. Luckily these where not serious but I was more annoyed with myself about. I then did a fairly fast 5 mile run and none of the swimming related issues caused any discomfort.

Last Week’s Training

For the first week of training this year I did about 4 hours of training. Over two thirds of this was running, about an hour for cycling and a quarter of an hour for swimming.

Over the next few weeks I need to gradually increase the total exercise time and increase the percentage of the training in cycling and swimming. Changing the ratio of the training I should be able to increase the total exercise time as the disciplines use different sets of muscles.

All this theory is great but it means I have to get up early!!!

Hot Cross Bun

Christmas is only a few weeks ago and the shops have already got Easter stuff in. Yesterday I even had my first hot cross bun in the year and it is still 3 months away from Easter.

Back in Training

I am back training now :-)

Today I did a 4.7 mile (7.6 km) run at an easy pace keeping my heart rate within the recovery run phase. It felt great to be back training again despite it only being 2 weeks rest.

I also tried out some new kit I got for Christmas, a running jacket and matching shorts. Despite their being a little drizzle of rain occasionally and a cool breeze I was quite warm and had to put my gloves in my jacket pocket soon in to the run and occasionally take my hat off!!!

Rest Weeks Finished

I had two rest weeks over the Christmas and New Year holidays before start back training. I gained over 5lbs (2.5Kg) during this time.

I started to easy back in to the training mindset by going to a local tri club meeting and chatting to other members about what they are planning to do this year. Also today I helped marshal my club’s league cross country event. I was glad I was marshalling as it looked a bit to muddy and wet for my liking. I walked instead of driving from the registration area to the start which was over 0.5 mile (0.8km) each way and then helped “tidy” up the post race sandwiches.

I think in the next week I will plan what races I will be doing this year, I have already booked 3 events (2 triathlons and a cycle event).