Daz Does Tri

Can't remember where we are now. Either way, I'm a lot closer to it (12 secs) than I was when I started this block (52 secs) !! Really getting into a good training rhythm last week, plan is close replication this week. In theory it a faster course so just need to match execution and it could happen. You never know what legs are going to show up in running - guess that's what makes it so exciting! Monday - Rest. Long walk with Tomasz around Wimpole. Felt tired today, not surprising. Get calories in and eat clean, make sure I get some good stretching and Normateccing in! Refreshing PO10 all day. Looking forward to seeing this one go live! Tuesday - legs a little heavy still. Quads feel lazy. Head to track. Mile warm up easy and legs still not a million %. Loads of drill and strides and into the session. Feel heavy on rep one but strong if that make sense. In fact, through the card I just feel heavy and unresponsive but manage to hit the paces absolutely fine. 3.15, 3.13, 3.14...

So I bought myself a Timex Ironman and decided to drop the Garmin. I go 'naked' on tech fairly regularly just to get a reset but this time feels a little different. I had a moment on a tram in Gothenburg where I realised that my watch is really starting to tell me how I am feeling. I had a great block of training Mon - Weds, rested Thurs and Fri and Sat my 2 runs in G'burg were horrible. It is very, VERY hilly and I ran early (plus -1 hour time diff) but I started to feel groggy, kept checking my watch and rather than just run and enjoy the hills and trails I was thinking about pace constantly. Hand up, if I were going long then power meter, hrm, Garmin, all the tools and it's like colour by numbers. BUT for shorter stuff sometimes you just have to have a feel for pace. All my better sessions and runs are pretty much done without checking my watch anyway (just for lap splits on track).  I think binning the Garmin, at least for a bit will help me get back to my old (old)...

One of my favorite races on the calendar. Well worth the journey. So the build up and morning is in my training blog - usual stuff. Definitely took this a little more seriously and eased back a lot this week as I wanted to see how really fresh legs felt. Train from Royston to Kings X was full of gooners (fucksake). Got to Sloan Square and jogged to Battersea Park (about a mile to the band stand). Jesus I felt absolutely pinging, to the point I had to ease back as it was 1hr 20 before kick off. Few wees, got my number and sat around. Did a good warm up, lots of drills and some stretching (didn't need much, rest day yesterday so legs were feeling good). In 2nd race of the night (the slowest). Line up on row 3/4 and start. Fuck, it's like Ferry Meadows. 500m in I'm barely in the top 10 of women. Ease through. Nearly take out womens leader on first bend but quickly catch and settle behind my pre race target pacemaker - Andy Leach. He battered me on the 10k at Thorney so I know ...

OK ... new week, new me !! Pretty annoyed with how last week panned out BUT having a chance to review the positives it's not all doom and gloom. I still split 17.25 and 28.30 for 5k and 5 miles. I managed a session of 5 miles volume in 5.28/mm avge. I ran 7 miles comfortably at 6.05/mm. IT.IS.NOT.ALL.BAD OK so fair point I haven't progressed in a while but my start point is strong. Still think I could crack out a quick 5k in good conditions. I have 3 weeks to prepare for Battersea and a week to ease in. Then it is 3 really good 5k chances in a row on quick courses. I have to think one of those days will be flat wind and warm(ish) !!! I have got back into some bad habbits so the plan this week is to address the simple stuff and get myself healthy again and in a good mental place. No races this week so 7 days of focus. Plan is to start tracking food again and get my diet under control. It had slowly started to go back to how it used to be. I'm not overly concerned with weight...