Week 10 – My first rest week of the new plan

I don’t know what is wrong with me. I seemed to have a general malaise for things training related this weekend.

I just could not be arsed. My body felt tired and I wanted to relax for the weekend. This was annoying as I had had a really good week training wise up to this.

I nailed every session of my rest week up to the weekend.

Track on Tuesday went well. I didn’t want to go but when there I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 reps of one mile. Each rep went well with me completing them in 7:46, 7:47, 8:02 and 7:58. I genuinely felt good at track. I didn’t feel like I was overreaching for the first time. Maybe it’s time I upped the pace a little? There’s something for me to think about.

On Wednesday I went to the swimming pool from work and smashed out a 1500m rep in 26:22 which considering I haven’t swum that distance since September I was really pleased with. I then went home and set to work on #Rinnie by completing a 45 minute TrainerRoad session. It felt good to be back riding Rinnie. I am still not completely happy with the saddle I have but after moving the saddle back it is a marked improvement on three weeks ago. I managed to move the saddle back to the second position on my seatpost and immediately felt the difference. After a few tweaks I managed to complete the 45 minute ride pain free.

On Thursday it was all a little bit manic as I had somewhere to be at 19:15 so just managed to cram in a 30 minute turbo session again with no pain #result. I then went to coach my swimming beginners.

Friday was a scheduled rest day but Dave Akers had been suggesting I go to his master swimming at Long Eaton so he could help my swimming improve because since I have started coaching swimming my swimming has really suffered. So despite the fact the session was 50 miles away it fits in with my training plan superbly. It’s on a Friday night so keeps me out of the pub and I can go every second Friday when I am meant to be having a rest day. The reason for these rest days was so I didn’t run too much over the weekend. Well swimming isn’t running so it works for me.

The session on Friday was 12 reps of 50m off 1:10, followed by 12 reps of 100m off 2:00, followed by 10 reps of 25m off 0:40 with these last 10 reps alternating between steady and all out.

The reps of 50m went well and I was quickly into the swing of things. The reps of 100m were a different story. I led my lane through the first 5 reps but then was exhausted. My times were 1:31, 1:35, 1:35, 1:35 and 1:38. I missed the first 50 of the next rep and then completed reps 7 and 8 on 1:35, I missed the entirety of rep 9 as I got some coaching off Dave and missed the first 50 of rep 10 but completed reps 11 and 12 in 1:35. Considering I had been doing reps of 1:40 on my own, I was thrilled with this progress. It does make a difference swimming with a squad as it brings out my competitive side. I even enjoyed the all out efforts at the end, which makes a change as I usually hate all out sprinting.

On Saturday my back was made of Velcro. I could not get out of bed. The two hour turbo session was harder than I expected. I was fine on my saddle until 1:40 in and had to tweak the position slightly. I suspect this is going to take some getting used to. The geometry feels a lot better now I have moved the saddle back. I don’t feel as cramped.

The session had me warm up, complete a 30 minute rep at 70% FTP then complete 3 sets of 10 minute under/overs as 3 minutes 95% FTP, 2 minutes 105% FTP, 3 minutes at 95% FTP and 2 minutes 105% FTP with a six minute rest at 50% FTP. ON my third under/over I made the unwise decision to do 3 minutes at 95% FTP and then 7 minutes at a minimum of 105% FTP. This was really hard work especially as it was 1:20 into my ride Then there was a 35 min rep at 70% FTP. I bonked big style during this rep and wanted to cry, the time was dragging and I just prayed for the session to be over but the worse I felt, the longer the session seemed to take to complete. I got off my bike and felt truly horrid.

The rest of Saturday was a haze of tiredness. I updated my blog (http://smoker2triathlete.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/my-swimming-tips.html) and went out for tea with my Mrs but couldn't tell you what else I did.

On Sunday I got up and perfected the art of procrastination. I could not muster the energy to go for a 90 minute run. At 12:00 I finally managed to get my head in the zone and put my run gear on and left the house. I felt good for the first mile but by mile 2 it was a different story. I was not in a good place mentally, I was tired and did not want to be running. I made the decision to cut short my 90 minute run and listen to my body. I ran for 5km and completed it in 28:22. I was annoyed with myself for not possessing the mental fortitude to complete the planned session but when I got home I noticed I had a slight pain and swelling in my left knee so deep down know I made the right decision.

Aside from my horrid training weekend I had a really good week all things considered. I’ve found comfort(ish) on #Rinnie. I am back swimming with a squad which I have missed. My weight is now below 15 stone consistently and even though I hated the weekend, it is still miles in the bank which is the important thing and I listened to my body which turned out to be the right thing to do

Thanks for reading,

Michael

Share this post