{"id":17168,"date":"2014-07-03T12:14:22","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T11:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=17168"},"modified":"2014-07-03T12:14:22","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T11:14:22","slug":"new-training-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2014\/07\/new-training-schedule\/","title":{"rendered":"New Training Schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been lucky enough to have Pete Jenkins writing a training schedule for me each month over the past couple of years. It’s nice to have and I tend to follow such a plan if someone else has written it. For a start I don’t have to spend time coming up with a plan myself and secondly I kind of feel accountable to someone else and thirdly, the fat that I’m paying for it makes me tend to follow it.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately though it’s a luxury I can no longer afford so I’m back to writing my own training schedules\u00a0for a while. Hopefully it will go well and who knows, a slightly different approach might even benefit me as it’s always good to mix things up now and then,\u00a0 generate new stresses and hopefully new training responses too. They do say that a change is as good as a rest.<\/p>\n

I’ve had a good think about what I should be doing and have now come up with a plan. These are the basic concepts behind it:<\/p>\n

Swim<\/h1>\n

I can’t gain \/ lose much time here so it’ll be a case of keeping things pretty much as they are and maybe even cutting back a bit so as to leave more time for the bike.
\nAim<\/strong> – Maintain swim speed.
\nPlan<\/strong> -Make sure I do at least two interval based pool swims each week, hopefully at least one with other people so as to push myself a bit. Also a longer open water swim if the weather allows.<\/p>\n

Bike<\/h1>\n

This is where I can gain the most time and what with the JOGLE ride looming I thought I could use the preparation for it and the ride itself to kick start a more bike-based training phase. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep this up over the winter as well so that I can start 2015 quite a bit stronger on the bike.
\nAim<\/strong> – Improve biking and stay strong on the bike for 2015
\nPlan<\/strong> – 3 or 4 bike sessions per week. One long ride in preparation for JOGLE, One hill reps or speed intervals (depending on proximity toa \u00a0race), One Chain Gang or TT effort. Also do some MTBing to improve pedalling efficiency. If I can get under 25 mins for a 10 mile TT maybe treat myself to a TT bike for Xmas!<\/p>\n

Run<\/h1>\n

I could do with some improvement here, but strength and injury prevention are most important
\nAim<\/strong> – Improve speed but maintain form and resilience
\nPlan<\/strong> – 2 run sessions per week ONLY and none on consecutive days. However, also do one Aquajogging session per week whether I’m injured or not. Run on softer surfaces more often.<\/p>\n

The 10 days of JOGLE will obviously be nothing but cycling and won’t do anything for speed but should improve general biking efficiency and handling skills. I’ll probably have a few days holiday after that as well, but might manage to get the odd easy (recovery) swim in after the ride on some of the shorter days (facilities permitting). After JOGLE the emphasis will be on speed work ready for my next race at \u00a0Bala, so the plan will involve speed intervals for biking rather than hill reps along with TT efforts and a longer ride each week. I might try to do a track session each week for the run as well and of course a brick session just to keep my legs used to running off the bike.<\/p>\n

All of this will be based a round a 3 week cyclical plan with a medium volume week followed by a high volume week \u00a0and then\u00a0a recovery week every 3rd week which will have reduced intensity and volume. I will also\u00a0aim for a recovery day each week as well. I’ve been looking back through my plans it seems as though injuries start creeping in when I don’t have at least one full days recovery each week\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. I must be getting old!<\/p>\n

I’ve started on my new training schedule\u00a0this week, and I’m already beginning to regret it – I haven’t trained this hard or been this sore for a while – maybe I’m being too hard on myself! So much for a change being as good as a rest, I think I need a new pair of legs!<\/p>\n

But then again that is the whole point, a new training regime and slight change of focus should make me suffer a little bit. As long as I get the recovery in as well, this soreness and muscle fatigue is all part of the improvement process. Yesterdays hard run and then hard bike session was quite tough though. The run was a Strength and Endurance Interval session:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • 5 mins warm up<\/li>\n
  • 4 mins fairly hard at 6:15-6:25 mins\/mile pace – 4 mins easy run recovery<\/li>\n
  • 4 mins fairly hard at 6:15-6:25 mins\/mile pace – 3 mins easy run recovery<\/li>\n
  • 4 mins fairly hard at 6:15-6:25 mins\/mile pace – 2 mins easy run recovery<\/li>\n
  • 4 mins fairly hard at 6:15-6:25 mins\/mile pace – 2 mins easy run recovery<\/li>\n
  • 4 mins fairly hard at 6:15-6:25 mins\/mile pace – 30 secs easy run recovery<\/li>\n
  • 4 mins fairly hard at 6:15-6:25 mins\/mile pace<\/li>\n
  • Cool Down<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n