Kevins Training Diary 2022

I have had a bit of an up and down fortnight again.  I have been swimming enough. Not fast, but consistent. And I manage to get in a decent swim in the river. Doing my full 2k distance despite struggling with the cold on the second half, and being borderline hypothermic for the next 20 minutes.  Last weekend I was in Inverness at the North District Championships, retaining my 400m hurdles title again. Then I did the 5k and through 3k was having a great day, but then my hip decided that it was unhappy and almost like a switch it went back to the state it was before I got the injections. And it has stayed like that since. I am back to being in perpetual pain and limping everywhere. But despite that I managed another fast 5k this weekend, missing my PB by just 3 seconds, in a notable wind. But I have limped even worse since then. Then I went out and crashed my new bike, and have cracked the frame. It looks tiny, but I need to get a second opinion and a repair done on it in t...

So I was about due for another stupid injury, and this one was as close as I have been to causing a missed training day for the last 2 years. I had a collision at basketball that compressed my neck and left me with a possible concussion, and a notable neck injury. I went to the GP and the Physio and got contrasting advice, and then obviously followed the one I liked. Two weeks off all training was never going to happen, especially this close to Romania. Being careful, not doing anything risking a potential crash on the bike, avoiding tumble turns, upside-down yoga poses, anything that caused dizziness, nausea or headaches, and not doing anything that caused greater than 4 out of 10 pain in my neck, I could work with that.  I missed the whole week of swimming from that point, and gave up yoga and weights as a precaution. I only did a very short jog on the Wednesday, and I am going to have to fluff my "How little can you do and still call it a session?" down to 0.8 miles to...

I am now back in the office more regularly and have had to adjust my training times to suit. That means more early morning sessions rather than lunchtimes. I am not great in the mornings so they are a struggle and are much less beneficial, but they need to be done.  I did Aberdeen Parkrun again in the middle of this fortnight. The weather was slightly better, and as such I managed to take a huge chunk of my 5k PB, moving it to 18:39, and still feeling like there was more in the tank on a warmer day.  And then my hip has started to give me some signals that everything is not quite right throughout the second week. I woke up in the middle of Wednesday night feeling like I had been stabbed, and have been unable to sleep on that side since, but I can't tell if this is the injections wearing off or if I have done a minor injury to the area. My brain can't interpret the signals from anything in that area after 12 years of being overloaded with pain so I have tried to just ...

I have had a couple of attempts but haven't managed to beat my 5k from Inverurie, so 19 minutes is still out there waiting for me, and I missed a chance for both a PB and a sub-11 minute run at a 3k race at the beach this week. I can blame the weather a little bit for both of this weeks as it wasn't great, but I think the larger factor has been me just not getting the races right. Big picture, being disappointed with a 19:20 5k, an 11:03 3k and a 19:19 5k with a big headwind, all within 8 days, on tired legs, in the middle of a heavy training block, is a different world from where I was even at the turn of the year. I have done all my running speed targets for the year already, and even felt the need to write new ones, and have plenty more races coming to take big chunks off those times. I almost did enough mountain bike miles (63.1) to get my whole fortnight of bike miles.  I have finally booked everything for going to Romania (apart from the bus from Heathrow to Luton). I hav...

A week ago i did a Quarterly Review of my progress against my 2022 targets. And it looks like this: Targets Run 1,000 miles.  - 283.5 miles Run a 5k in under 19:30 mins or 10k in under 42 mins.  - 19:13, 39:08, 19:20. 'Run my age' for 10k.  - 39:08. Stretch Targets Run a 5k in under 19:00 or 10k in under 40 mins.  - 39:08 Run another 5k in under 19:20 or 10k in under 41:30.  - 19:13, 19:20. The one outstanding target is way ahead of schedule and since writing it I have done an 11:03 for 3k midweek and then another 19:19 for a very windy Parkrun this week. So I am going to move the goalposts.  New Run Targets Run a 5k in under 19:00 mins or 10k in under 39 mins.  New Stretch Run Targets Run a 3k in under 10:45, 5k in under 18:50 or 10k in under 38:45 mins. Run another  3k in under 10:55,   5k in under 19:00 or 10k in under 39:00.

Because I like numbers we should start with the numbers. Laps  Time Cumulative Time Avg Pace Avg HR Max HR 1 03:52.2 03:52 06:14 144 154 2 03:50.6 07:42 06:11 154 160 3 03:54.8 11:38 06:18 157 179 4 04:09.9 15:48 06:42 155 159 5 03:56.7 19:44 06:21 161 174 6 03:56.1 23:40 06:20 169 174 7 03:58.1 27:39 06:23 169 173 8 03:55.1 31:34 06:18 171 175 9 03:47.2 35:21 06:06 170 175 10 03:47.0 39:08 06:05 166 175 Summary 39:08:00 39:08 06:18 162 179 And as much as I want to focus on the bottom line, and how that is far and away my fastest 10k ever, there is the one number in the middle that jumps out. That 4:09.9 and its effect on missing 39 minutes is so ridiculously annoying.  Anyway, back to the point.  I had prepped well, and having set a 5k PB the week before, I knew I was on for a fast time. I had three targets in mind:  - Beat my PB 39:49. (3:58.9 / km).  - Beat my friend Gary's PB 39:23. (3:56.3 / km)  - Beat 39 minutes. (3:54.0 / km). I was staying at my pa...

I would normally do a Quarterly Review at this point but instead I am just going to do a very basic review of my targets. Done already On or ahead of target Just waiting for the event to happen Needs some work Targets by numbers Represent GBR age-group at an international event.  Qualify for the GBR Age-group team for a 2023 European Championships. Finish top-20 at European Aquathlon Champs. Finish top-30 at World Aquathlon Champs. Take part in a GBR age-group qualifying race for a 2023 European Champs. Take part in a GBR age-group qualifying race for a 2023 World Champs. Swim 130 miles. - 38.4 miles Swim under 6:15 minutes for 400m.  - 6:25 in training Swim under 11:45 minutes for 750m.  - 11:56 time trial in training Swim under 25:30 minutes for 1,500m. - 26:27 in training Ride 2,000 miles. - 593.8 miles MTB 500 miles - 153.3 miles Run 1,000 miles. - 283.5 miles Run a 5k in under 19:30 mins or 10k in under 42 mins. - 19:13, 39:08, 19:20. 'Run my age' for 10k.  - ...