Daz Does Tri

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 ...

Wow, 14 weeks after pinning a number on its finally time to race! Have to say, very nervous and I hate being in a position to question what sort of shape I am in with no real idea of what to expect. Peterborough threw my confidence last time I came in untested and expected better. This time I am cagey.  I've been chasing fitness so much this summer I have forgotten what it feels like to roll. Monday Rest. Chill and keep on top of the body. Feels better after an easier finish last weekend. Tuesday Hit track with J and joined group warm up / cool down and just did 4 x 200m strides in spikes. 39, 37, 36, 30. 39 felt like 3k pace - ouch. 37 was OK but felt much faster than 3k pace. First 2 in Dragonfly. Switched to Victories for last 2. Felt much faster. 36 was good then pushed the last 200 in 30 but was surprised how relaxed that was. Can run a 28 I reckon in these spikes which is amazing. Achilles was slightly sore so decided to wear the Dragons tomorrow and stay safe. Wednesday Shak...

Week before the race block starts. Plan for this week is to dig in early and then start to relax towards racing. Monday Plyos - started back at week 1. Bascially need to focus on these so loop back and re-do properly. On seated jumps I got Sawyer to do some and he got to the top of the chair! I am basically half way. This is a big reason behind my lack of explosive sprint speed.  Tuesday Busy morning then track. Point to note - I was tired all day, didn't sleep great and routine was way out of whack with golf and a house viewing. Track. From now on assume warm up / cool down is standard 2 miles each! 4 x 600m (3k) 4 x 300 (1500m) 4 x 200m (800m). Target paces 1.54 / 52 / 33 Reality - [1.55, 1.54, 1.55, 1.56] - [52, 52, 54, 52] - [32, 33, 32, 31] So basically 1.55 on the 600s, Just outside 52 on the 300s, 32 on the 200s. Felt far too tough, there wasn't much relaxing going on. Disappointing. Was dropped for 2/3 secs per rep BUT closing the gap. The build into this made it tough ...

A bit of a waffle waffle post. Mainly downloading and I'll probably never read again but always good to take stock of where you are. I'm 3 weeks in to the consistent training so roughly heading abouts where I was (time wise) coming in to Watford last time. I feel like I am going to be around 9.30 shape - 76 per lap. I certainly don't think outside of a terrible day at the office I would blow up from there. I'm a little less confident about the 1500 as it's likely to be solo but again, start with a plan to run 70s and anything south of 4.25 would be acceptable at this stage. It's a short hop to Battersea for the 5k. I definitely feel that a sub 16.30 is on the cards there as it's just hanging in at the start and just trying to hold form. At this stage those time would be about right. I'm not sure how it looks after that as the biggest target of winter will again be the masters 5k and for the 1st time in 3 years trying to avoid cold/flu/covid. The plan tra...

Week 3 - time to start moving! This week is transitional and should see me go from getting it done to knocking on the door! Both calf muscles are tight and need attention. Ideally this week I will at least get into spikes at some stage. The rough plan is - Sesh Tuesday & Thursday. Longer CC on Wednesday (I have been shattered last 2 weeks so this will be interesting. Parkrun tempo + intervals on Saturday (5am airport drop off beforehand aaahhh) and proper long run on Sunday.  Not too fussed aboput leg weights or plyos this week. Coming off sore calfs and achilies I'll just be happy to get faster with less pain. 50 miles (0/8/10/8/0/8/16) Mentally I need to start dialling in to race effort, start to get psyched up to toe the line. Diet needs to improve some. Not at panic stations yet but look to race at 10 st 3. Hoping to feel healthy so plenty of sleep required. Monday Rest day (standard). No weights or plyos just full stretch, gun and normatec with some ROM stuff. Ideally wake...

Hard top say where I am at. It's all been a blur since early June when I picked up the knock. I'm really just trying to get back into a good routine and feel quicker again. I don't think the last however many weeks (I did a 70 mile week recently) are worthless. I'm feeling that under the surface there is some fitness and pace that just needs some tlc !! I have races in the diary! This is positive and I actually feel good about them. Watford on the 4th September over 3000m and this should see me back to seasons best territory. From there I'll make the hop to 5k at Battersea and hopefully back into sub 16.30 land and then a 10k blast at Cambridge Town & Gown. It's a nice progression in distance! I'll keep the weekly Parkrun / session in there too as that's beneficial if anything to getting me used to lining up and running uncomfortably tempo for longer. Once that is out of the way it's basic winter training with an eye on improving strength & p...