Whilst I may have slipped off the radar slightly with my blogging over the past 3 weeks, I'm glad to say that the same can't be said for my training! It's been a great 3 weeks. After gradually easing back into training at the start of January, I'm now in the thick of a solid block in preparation for the Abu Dhabi Triathlon. Here's a breakdown of the last 3 weeks:
Swim - 52,750m
Bike - 43h52' (2980 TSS)
Run - 151.6 miles
Total - 79h55'
The biggest change in recent weeks has been the increase in total volume. Before this training block, my biggest ever training week was just 24.5 hours, with typical weeks ranging from 12-15 hours. Whilst that may surprise a few readers, that's proof - if you needed any - that you can have success on limited training hours. With that being said, continued improvement requires an increase in training volume. There's no getting around that. It's fair to say that my new coach, Brian Stover, has freshened up my training, reigniting (as if it needed any!) my enjoyment of the sport.
With the higher volume also comes a fair amount of intensity across the board. Other than the 25m sprints, it's the individual medley sets that have me gasping for air! Having always avoided doing any stroke other than front crawl, doing butterfly has been a shock to the system. I've been introduced to the fact that there are intensity levels above threshold, and vo2 intervals and 30s sprints on the bike have become a weekly routine. The lions share of running volume has been at a steady effort - simply a case of getting the miles in, with some structured intervals for good measure. For the swim, bike and run, all training numbers are looking good, especially considering the time of year. It's far too early to speculate about what times or results are possible this season, but I'm confident in saying that I'll be fitter, stronger and better prepared than ever. Racing in 3 weeks time will be a good benchmark to see exactly where my fitness is.
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