Isn't it cheating anyway?

In a word: Cheating.

So its barely in to week two of March and i fail the task of a daily post.  I basically knew this would happen with the weekend in Scarborough and Whixley, and had planned to set up posts to publish each day i wouldn't be able to.  Well my time ran out, as did any inspiration to even get a few words written and come Sunday, here i am after missing two days.  But as i asked, isn't it cheating any way if i write them all on Thursday and just publish them on other days?

My official 18 week training plan starts tomorrow.  The TP i hope to not cheat on.  It will be flexible, i can say that.  I will miss workouts, i know that.  But will i cheat?  Hmm.  And what defines cheating if i have already stated i will miss workouts?  Well, i suppose i would say that if i can, i should. If there is a reasonable reason why i can't get the/a workout in, then that's okay, but if i just don't workout, for no other reason than i can't be bothered, then that's cheating.

Spreadsheets rule my workouts.

Pink means its a race day.  Green to designate the start of the week.  Lighter green (not shown) indicates its a recovery week.  Red days were rest days.

So i added the 18 week training plan to my spread sheet (on the right hand side).  I am going to try to stick to it.  Mostly my aim is to get the right miles and quality workouts correct but also to try to do the workouts on the right days so i have proper rest between types of exercise  It mostly works out well as i was attending spin classes on Mondays and Wednesdays and liked those days.  By the time the week day rides get longer, i will be able to move them on to the roads as it will be lighter enough after work.

After week 12 there are no rest days. I do't think that will fly with me but i will plan to have just one rest day in those weeks, never more than.  I'm sure life will get in the way at points and i'm fine with that happening.  Its my first season, i'm doing it for fun.  It has to stay fun and not a chore.

I'm pretty sure my body will change some more and that is a big motivator for me, so i'm going to track it too. I think an additional page on my spreadsheet is necessary: Page of Mecography*

*

Okay Okay, i'll plan!

Its been niggling at me that i haven't got a training plan.  I have my reasons, mainly as history has shown me that i am useless at sticking it one.  But also because i workout to feel good.  I'm racing to enjoy myself, so i want to enjoy my training.  I fear that if i am told to do say, running on a day i really feel like swimming on, then i will stop loving it.

But as i wrote out the distances for the Olympic triathlon i'm doing in July, it really hit home how far it is.  It scared me a bit and i have reconsidered a training plan.  Its easy to think you are doing enough, even that you are doing more than you think.  I tally all my workouts, on daily mile and on a spreadsheet, but its too late to look at the week and realise that i haven't run or swam enough, i need to have something to work towards to ensure i am doing the right distances.

So, i am loosely going to follow the 18 week Olympic for intermediates. I realise that i am a beginner but the plan for that would have me doing shorter distances than i do now so feels wrong.  And i say loosely as i plan to use the distances as guides as opposed to strictly follow the days to do things.

I feel that if i can at least maintain the increases in running distances, types or runs/swims and cycling miles then it will allow me to compete at the level i want to. I want to race it as well as i can, without taking all the fun out and taking it all too seriously.

Here is what February looked like for me:

You see, i didn't notice i hadn't swam in that long at the beginning of the month.  This was just before i started this spreadsheet.  Glad i did, DailyMile is great, but this is easier to track details.  Again, i need to swim, time flies and if i'm not going to the gym to spin or run, like now when i can go outside as i'm at home in the day, then swimming can easily be forgotten for a week without me even knowing.

So as i fill my succisive* hours with more and more training i will be confident that it will all be worth it in the end.  When i cross the finish line after swimming 1500m in the sea, cycling 38km of the welsh coastline and running 10km, i know i did it to the best of my ability and enjoyed the whole process that got me there.

*

Succisive : of spare or extra time

Logging

I will admit to being a total gadget freak and also a spreadsheet and graph addict when it comes to exercise.  If i couldn't track my workouts down to the minute, second, calorie and stroke, i wouldn't be half as motivated.  Not sure what it is that makes it so important, but it is, and i'll take anything to make working out easier.  If you recall, i started this blog to help with motivation, to keep me focused.

I have all the gadgets: a Garmin Forerunner 305 - wouldn't dream of running without it, a Poolmate swim watch - how did i manage to count laps before?; a odometer on my bike and a dailymile account - one of 2 digital forms i log in to, the other being on my ipod touch in a running log app.   So i can easily track what i am doing, though both have negatives.

So i decided to start a simple spread sheet.  I do love Google Docs and i have a ton of spreadsheets for all sorts of stuff on GDocs.  GF muffin recipe trials; expenses; LadyCorpus inventory (which is my label for bags i make and sell). and training plans of past.  As you can see below, its pretty simple but easily gives me monthly totals and clearly shows my rest days. I'm not so happy with this part.  I can see now that i am not working quite as hard as i would like.  My ipod app has a rest day on the calender but its been out of action for a month now: the battery is so dead it wont charge, so i haven't noticed my streak of rest days this month.

When i do work out , i work out hard, but i need to be more frequent.  February, i will make it so.

I'd definitely like to be getting higher running mileage than that, but currently i'm getting some knee pain and couldn't run on Wednesday. I did the elliptical instead and had no problems.  My colleague physio who is an avid runner immediately asked how old my shoes were.  Well, yeah, they are 500-600 miles old, over a year, they are my first pair i bought a year ago.  So i have some new ones on order - Hubby is bringing them from the States so until then, i will be doing less running and nothing for a week i think, well, at least 4 more days, then i may just have to try!

 But for sure, definitely LESS rest days in February!!

Training plan

Okay, so i think i have pretty much worked out that long term training plans and I are not the hottest couple.  We may be great lovers at first, giving it all to the relationship, even giving a bit more than necessary.  But after the honeymoon period is over, things cool off and we don't like playing by the rules any more.  We skip dates, are unmotivated to do planned tasks and simply stop caring about each other all together in the end.  For this reason i have devised the most basic of training plan.

Monday - Spin class 45-50 mins  Run 20 mins  - My weekly brick session.
Tuesday - Endurance swim session - i will go through the workouts in my book
Wednesday - Run 45 mins Intervals or hills - something gruelling.
Thursday - Rest if i want - swim if i want - run if i want - cycle if i want.
Friday - Force Swim session - i will go through the workouts in my book.
Saturday - Bike outside for one hour plus.
Sunday - Run outside - a long run, slower and at least 50 minutes.

As i am almost doing this already, but with a few skipped session, i think this could be easy to stick to.  I realise i have to increase my intensity as i get better, which is why these are times rather than distances.  And they are flexible.  Also, its only a sprint, the swim is short - 400m so i really want to get my bike skills and endurance increased.  That is where i can make up the most time.  So really, Fridays swim and Thursdays rest/anything day can be interchanged or missed and i won't feel bad.  If i miss a force swim, i will add one to another day.  I really like swimming after doing other things, its so nice to get in the pool after a sweaty session.

I change my mind more often than...

...my underwear - almost!

I can't be bothered to go back and count how many times i have said 'i have a plan' but here goes number 465th time. I have a plan!  I used the Runners World template and modified it a bit. I like what i see. Running 4 days at the most and alternating tempo and speed weekly. It seems feasible, i have good recovery time between hard runs and if i want, i can cycle or do other cross training as i feel like it. 

I did my long run this morning, 6.2 miles in 1:05:12 avg pace 10:45. The first 3 miles were tough on my calves then they eased off and didn't bother me. Not sure why but i'm glad they got better. To keep my pace slow enough, like i'm supposed to be running them-between 10:30 and 11:30-i when i thought i was speeding up i'd sing to my ipod so i kept a conversational pace. It really worked, though it also made me get some odd looks, i was running a really busy wide path round the beach, during the school holidays.

Confused

I just can't decide on a training plan for my half marathon.  there are just too many theories.  I set myself a plan for my first 5K and completely failed to stick to it. The closest i came was to mostly stick to the off days as i know i shouldn't start off too fast. But this HM is a whole different ball game.

My basic plan, and if i don't find a better option i will probably stick to this, is to do a speed work, hill work, easy run and long run per week. I just looked at a plan Runner World calculated for me using my 5K race pace and it has runs of 2 miles at 11.07 pace. That just doesn't seem worth lacing up my shoes for. It's slower than my easy pace, and only two miles! what will i get out of that.  And those runs are still in the plan in the later weeks.

But it does alternate speed and tempo runs each week, so maybe i need to do the tempo runs, they seem valuable. I like the idea. 5 miles inc warm up with 2 miles at race pace, then they get longer through the programme.  And i know we get stronger while we rest so perhaps only one hills workout every fortnight, alternating it with an additional easy run.

I have enjoyed the last week, where i have set out with a plan, so i don't understand why i can't stick to a programme, it must be that i haven't found one i like.  Well, with boredom kicking in, in this jobless world i live in, i may tackle a training plan tonight.

Yesterday i did a nice easy run, though at one point hit some uphills and then immediately a set of 40 ish steps with another hill at the top. I was thankful that i didn't do my long run, i could feel Thursday's hill workout in my calves still.  Today i had a very gentle, very short, bike ride and a very short 5 minute run. Tomorrow i'm going long. 6 miles on the calender.

P.O.A

Okay I have a plan. Every fortnight I will complete

• 2 easy runs 3-4 miles. 
• 1 tempo run 3-4 miles. 
• 2 speed - 3-4 miles of intervals or fartleks. 
• 2 long runs. Building up from 5 by about one mile per week.
• 1 hill work out
• 1 strength class - hopefully at the sports center
• Cross train cycling for an hour on off days.

That would then be running 4 days a week and cycling two and one strength class.

I have a 5K on sunday - Race for life, which I plan to run in under 30 minutes. In fact, I think i could push for 29 mins but i find it difficult to judge what i can run, having only two races under my belt and only one being a 5K.  So i'm going to run my tempo run this week on the course so i can have an idea of what is achievable. It happens to be just off my regular Olivers mount run, but he flat part that i normally leave out - coz its flat. I know that i'm going to push my self to the front of the pack to get a realistic race time from the official clock and not get stuck behind slower runners - miss spey gonzales that i am! This time i'm being selfish and will make others run around me if they need to.  That is'nt to say i'll be on the front line, but only a few rows back.

Did a 3 mile fartlek run today. Ran past my old school, nothings changed. 3.34 in 34:47 pace 10m/mi