Daz Does Tri

Easing between finishing base and starting track work for indoors this week. Plan is to arrive on Saturday morning Park Run feeling pinging. Monday - rest - first in 10 days. Didn't actually feel like I needed it but good to let the legs recover at my age. Tuesday - am) speed work - treadmill. 2 x (4 x 60 / 60). Done as 2 sets are changed trainers half way through. Calf started tweaking in Takumi Sen so work the Metas and no issues. Done at 21 kmph. Felt very comfortable by the end - good sign of progress. Probably up there as fastest session I have done which is a great sign. pm) 4 miles recovery @ 8.25/mm. Legs pretty battered Wednesday - 9.7 miles coke club. Felt very easy, relaxed at a slow pace and great time on feet. Cold and wet. Thursday - am) low tempo. 5 @ 6.12/mm feeling very comfortable and easy. These sessions are great for confidence. HR max 159 bpm and 150 avge which is really low at this pace. Strength has improved for these to feel so casual. Took an easier sessio...

10 days of base all finished. OK, so that's not entirely true, I've actually had a pretty decent build up since I returned from holiday and aside from the odd week that's been hampered I've hovered around 50 miles per week. Volumes were thus ... 51,62,34,57,60,45,55,40,58,42,53,51,57,21,12,45,44,45,50,60,39,60 That's actually 22 weeks of base training !! Blimey it's almost half a year just to get ready to start racing !! Avge of 47 miles per week which with 2/3 low weeks is pretty darn good for 5km fitness. Last run of BASE today and it was the best run of the entire block. Aim was to run 5 miles steady (just under threshold) and around 6.25/mm ish pace with a mile easy at the end. Outcome was 6 miles at 6.17/mm with mile splits at 6.37, 6.09, 6.07, 6.07, 5.53 and 6.43 cool down. HR maxed at 159 and was 149 bpm for the 6 which is incredibly low. Off of that I know I am in really good shape easpecially off tired legs. In fact it's up there with one of my best...

Last long run of the block done on very tired legs. The hilly and soul destroying Alconbury Loop ! Good news is it all went well. Pace got better as we went on and legs although tired were responsive enough. This run brings up 54 for the week (70 rolling 7 day average) and 93 miles for 10 days with 1 to go. Added 6 points to my CTL from 53 to 59 too so almost back to where it was in late November. Plan for tomorrow is a solid 5 miles at just under threshold pace - top end of steady as a confidence builder (if my legs hold out over night !!). Really feeling fitter at the minute and first 70 mile week for nearly 11 years. It's all for shit though if I'm not getting faster so the plan next week is to ease in to a ParkRun on Saturday. Not sure where as it'll be weather dependent but most likely bet is Stories although Ferry Meadows or Bedford could be done if it's slippery out. Right now I am bang where my target paces are when I am fit but I really need to move those on a ...

11th day in a row, currently on around 65 mpw avg and just 3 1/2 more days to get through. Decent block of training this and really happy with where I am. Session today plan was 12 x 75 / 45 on treadmill (would have been 400s on track but it's so cold and icy out). Aim is 19.3 kmph - 5/mm pace or target 3k. Warmed up, feeling tired from recent volume but actually legs were not feeling too bad. First rep always feels too hard but 2nd, 3rd & 4th were all a struggle. Was starting to consider dropping to 10 reps or having a break at half way but started to feel more relaxed and by 7th rep was finding it OK. Tough session but pretty comfortable by the end. This is the last strength session now as I'll move towards the faster stuff next week and hope to build leg turnover. Really can't wait to start racing again and get some decent times under my belt. Will likely double tonight as feel OK now then the plan is very easy tomorrow, easy and strides Saturday and long Sunday and ...

I am a big believer that race day always feels easier than training and I know the numbers I hit in training indicate a faster race. That said, it's good for those paces to feel comfortable in training to give you that confidence! I know the following paces / sessions should be my target to approach over the coming months... Longer reps - 5/mm I think 4-6 mins of effort at 5/mm for 20-25 mins would indicate a very high probability of going under 16 mins. I am currently more like 5.20 I would say but this is a hard peaking type session and with races approaching it's unlikely I would push that hard right now. It's currently fairly close to 1500m effort so hopefully if I can get below 4.30 shape then I am in the right ball park. Tempo Efforts - 5.20/mm 3-4 miles at low 5.20s I would say is exactly where it should be to be able to hit the above session. Tough solo but will likely be a Park Run when I am really fit and keeping the HR to max of 167 so just north of threshold. I...

After last week's little speed bump it's full steam ahead this week. Training camp mode. Plan is batter the legs and build enough conditioning to move on to the next stage. Hope to get the CTL back up to 61 by end of the week. Next week ease back and pick a race at the weekend. Monday - double easy runs. 6 & 3 over the trails nice and easy and felt pretty good. Plenty tired by the end of the day. Even got an S&C session in with glutes and calf focus. Tuesday - Up early and struggled to get my legs awake. They were pretty battered from 5 days of heavy training load (well, for me anyway - 48 miles). Out to Eddington do do volume reps. Really would have loved to run these indoors on the treadmill as it was -3 but need to get confidence that this session was designed for. Session plan - 3 miles progressive tempo (6.15, 6.00, 5.45) [3 recovery] 1 mile at 10k (5.3x) [2 recovery] 1 mile 5k (5.25) The aim of the session is to run faster than 5.50s at the end of a progressive. S...

3 rest days at the start of the week. Sore throat and taking no risks. Got back on it Thursday and managed to get some productivity done so all in all not a bad result from what could have been dire straights! Mon & Tuesday did some S&C work just to stop myself going mad. No cardio with lungs being affected so strength is fine. 5 & 4 on Thursday all nice and easy and started to get to sub 7.30 by the end of the day. Intervals on track Friday were very laboured in the wind. Leg speed still missing but the work is getting done. Added a shakeout at the end of the day - lovely 9s. Easy run and strides on Saturday and turned the corner. low 7s felt like 8s. Legs were trashed but the pace is finally arriving. It's been a second since that pace felt that slow. Finally getting on the right train. Long easy on Sunday. Shade under 16 feeling easy at 7.42/mm. Not ideal - 38.6 miles but CTL back to 56 and feeling pretty fresh again. Panic over. Plan now is to have a big week (that ...

Fucksake !! Monday started with a tickle in the thoat so decided to take time off until feeling better as I don't want a repeat of December! Good chance to reflect, recent training has moved in the right direction. I'm fairly happy with where I am. From here though the plan is to just keep pushing the track sessions - ideally I'll get one in this week and a decent long run (16 last week) and a fairly relaxed volume session (it's been a while!) I've lifted the S&C recently and the plan is to run tired through January. If I can get on top of the speed sessions I really think that things will gel together. I'll hopefully be back running tomorrow - an easy / steady one then do my fast session on Friday. Sunday long run and hopefully with those in the bag I should be able to get a solid week in next week. I've got some focus on S&C - 1 functional power session, 1 hurdle specific session and 1 plyo specific session. They're not that hard but the DOMS h...

So, boring January is well underway. Another 9 1/2 miles today. The key right now is just hitting some volume to build base and conditioning. The runs, I'm just plodding with no eye on the Garmin. It'll get better as I get fitter I guess but it all feels OK right now. Kind of feel very 'marathon training'. At some stage I'll feel beyond tired and need a day off but I'll manage that as it happens! The main thing I am considering is what sessions and when. From a 5k and 800m in short order I have some great data to work with. The 5k was much better, indicating that shorter speed is limiting right now so the focus will be the shorter stuff and getting my legs running quicker BUT under control. It needs to feel very natural and not full our rep efforts. Volume reps I still need however I can't go more than 2 sessions per week in this phase so patience is key. This week I'll take a gentle introduction of 2 x 9 x 200m off 30. An old classic! It's a great w...

Early doors, in fact I think it's the earliest I've ever raced in a year !! First up, I had zero expectations here. I've done very little 5k speedwork so anything remotely quick is waaaayyyy off !! OK, so I wanted to go sub 2.20 and hoped sub 2.15 might be on the cards but in all honesty I didn't expect anything big. January is boring January so no easing up for races and no rest days (even I can't crack by the 2nd).  Arrived early in time to register for Sawyers 300m which annoyingly he doesn't need much warm up for so at the venue by 10.55am. Sawyer race was off at around 12.10 and he got a 40.25 in with a pretty bad fade but off little training I think that's still 3 (?) club records! Waited around for the 800m to start at 12.53 and races seeded in order fastest to slowest I was in race 10 (2.18-2.20 est). Myself, Colin (a V60) and 4 young girls (u13-u15 I reckon). Bang, off in lane 6. Get overtaken instantly and on the break settle in to 5th of 6 runners...