Daz Does Tri

Autumn training is flying by. Race at the end of this week so time to take stock of where we are at at what's cooking under the hood. Monday Rest - day of re-grouting patio and my back and hammys are absolutely shredded! Wanted to hit gym for core but think this was better as I'm feeling it! Tuesday All day chill to help my body come back. Hit Eddington for session. Nice long warm up and cool down helps keep the volume active (2.6 & 2.4). Taper set with Jake, Andy & Matt. 2 sets of 4 x 400 and then 1200 tempo. Plan is first set at 5k and then second set at 1500. Pace is always easier at Eddy but knew from the gun of the first set we were going to be shifting today. 77,77,75,74 on the first set. Felt good. 67,66,67,66 on second set. Pushed but under control. Tempo 0.78 miles in 4.22 @ 5.36/mm was very relaxed. HR got to 166 bpm on that but most part sat at around threshold. 9 miles for the day. Decent workout, legs not feeling over done and everything under control. Feel...

It's been a strange block. 4 weeks of winter in the can now since Battersea and doesn't feel like it. To be fair it's been so stop-start that I haven't had a chance to really think about progress and it's been much more trying to maintain some kind of form. The plan from here (I'm sure I have banged on) is to slowly and surely raise the bar each week and get into a consistent routine. I'll try and use Ange to build up some shakeouts and the plan is to make sure I am hitting strength work each week properly with a focus on core and flexibility. Seem to be over holidays, nights out, illness and weird niggles now so hopefully build fairly fast from here. Monday Up and atom with Ange. 5k in 31ish mins shakeout. Loads of stretching as still have gym DOMS. I plan to focus on hitting daily stretching in the morning now. Weight down to 66.3kg this morning so holiday weight gone. Now Heinz don't do sausage & beans I need a new lunch staple. Prob beans tbf. Hi...

Week starts with a 4 day break with Ange, Vanessa and Paul to Sorrento so this is going to be damage limitation !!! Monday Up early and meet Dan for a CC loop. Nice and relaxed, legs better than expected for 8 @ 7.47/mm. Then head to Sorrento. Tuesday Nope Wednesday After a day of walking around Capri and an absolute killer of a hangover I hit the hotel treddy. No aircon, jesus this one was a grind. Really, REALLY did not fancy it. Decnide to do slightly less and slightly slower than target pace just to get my head into it. Session was 7 min [2] 5 min [2] 4 min [2] 2 min [2] 1 min [1] 1 min with 5 either side as warm up and cool down. Really short and sweet. First rep start at 17.6 kmph but after a minute I am bang in trouble. Finish up at 17 kmph and hang in and basically do each rep at that. I was absolutely dropping with sweat after that. 38 mins and I'd guess 5 miles with 20 mins at effort (and it was effort) Thursday Nope. Travel home, back at midnight. Friday Up and time for ...

Last week was all about getting back into a full routine and closing in on mileage. This week it's about starting to get on top of things. Main issue last week was starting to create and then carry larger amounts of fatigue through the week. Didn't help I had a lot on over the weekend as well as 2 tough volume sessions so finished the week incredibly knackered. Monday Wake up today and my left hip flexor is very tired and sore. Andy messaged overnight to say probably best to miss the speed work tonight and that makes sense. Rest day in order, I need to recover and feel fresh for the week ahead. Lots of rehab and a full recovery today. Good nights sleep and hopeully I be ready to go at it tomorrow. Fingers crossed if I get everything right the paces should feel slightly easier each week now and I have around a month to really relax on those paces. Again, as an older athlete listening to your body is key. When I was younger I could ride the lightening for weeks feeling exhausted,...

Back home, nice to be back but still hanging out of my arse. Time to get serious again and start to increase things and get back on pace. Monday Morning weight - 68.8kg - ouch. Met Andy & Jake up track for speed work. Calfs tight but knocked out 2 x (40m/50m/60m off 3 mins) & 4 x 120m @ 400m pace. This session is key this winter. Tuesday Track, no Eddington yet as Marks group ironed someone out last year.  1600m - 600m - 1200m - 600m - 1600m - 400m - 400m off lap jog on longer reps and 200m float on shorter ones. 5.26 - 1.57 - 4.06 - 1.56 - 5.26 - 71 - 67 Nice session. Led all the longer efforts and felt good tonight like I could push onwards. Looking forward to cracking these out on the roads rather than track tbh. Wednesday Early run as out tonight at Bingo! 7.12 miles keeping HR bellow 140 bpm. Felt tight, hammys very tight but eased in. New session is taking it out of my whilst I adapt so need to stay off the lower legs and plyos until that settles down. Thursday Nothin...

Aaaand straight into winter training mode. Serious racing is done, it's all light now up until I prep for Masters 5k on December 1st. That again will be my winter main target. Also likely to be my last v45 race! Plan this week is to train very hard up until I go away with the lads on Thursday and then just do whatever I can while I am away (it could genuinely be 0 miles lol) Monday Speed session 1. Legs ached today but I really wanted to make a start on this. Jogged to the cricket pitch and then 6 x 60m (95% effort) starting on 3 mins and then 4 x 120m (400m effort) off walk backs. Felt really good and enjoyed it. Long old session for what it is but jogged back to cool down and 5.8 miles banked. This session is a must as is the 2 sessions and hilly long run. I need speed and strength. Tuesday Took the easy route today and just rested legs up. Pretty beat up from Sunday so rest and reload this morning. Track pm. Andy & I paced Katie round for a session. Mile thresh, 4 x 400 @ 3k...

On to Battersea this week. Final race of the block and last time I race in a semi serious manor until December. Focus this week is just staying on top of current fitness and getting to Friday night ready to roll. Monday Rest day from running but did some plyos, some bodyweight mobility and upper body weights just to stay active. Tuesday Track. 6 x 400m at around 5k pace with Andy & J. Led a rep each and 200 jog in around 70 secs. Absolutely hammered down with rain, first time warming up and cooling down in leggings since about March. 77, 76, 76, 76, 76, 73 Last one felt pacier after Sunday but the others felt absolutely fine. Wednesday CC. Standard 8 @ 8.08 pace with Dan, Wayne & Rich. HR much lower this week. 125 bpm finally conditioning starting to appear. Nice run, felt relaxed. Time to recover. Thursday Golf in the morning as picked up a new driver. Rest from running, all about getting body and mind in the right place now. Friday Good nights sleep. Thoughts heading to race ...