Prep and Base 1

OK Prep and Base 1 done. You'll notice that this year I'm going 2 up 1 down. I've found that by switching from the traditional 3 up 1 down I'm far more consistent with my training. Im reasonably happy with the foundations I've started laying.

Swim.

I'm feeling good in the water at the moment and managed to average 3 swims per week over this period. I'm also encourage that following a swim assessment Dan Bullock's opinion was that come July my goal of a 63min swim was a little 'conservative'. First 20x100 test gave me an an average of 1:28/100yrds (off 1:40). I was disappointed with this as I feel like I'm swimming better than times suggest. Although I was certainly conservative with the effort. Training objective for swim is to get down to under 1:25/100yrds (or 1:35/100m) I don't 'feel' I'm far off this now, lets wait and see what next test throws up with better pacing and a little more effort :-/

Bike.

Feeling like I'm only just getting into things on the bike. I've managed to get a power meter and finding that really interesting during turbos and long rides. Last week I did my first CP30 test to determine FTPw starting point. I didn't really pace the test very well and I'm sure practice will contribute to better results. I recored 286w average for the 30min test so going by the widely accepted assumption that power will fall by 5% if duration is doubled that gives me FTPw starting point of 272w (target 300w+) A little disappointing to be honest, but lets see what some consistent turbo strength building sessions will do over the next 6 weeks or so.

Run

Run is just ticking over at the moment really. First real test to see where Im am with LT will be at TCR 10k this weekend (10feb). Im hopeing to come in just under 36mins. Long steady aerobic run are in the low 4:40's /km right now. I still need to set some specific training objectives for the run.

Training / Family / Work balance?

Being honest over this period I've applied my time and energy in just that order. I hope that now I'm back into what I call 'the groove' of training, I can shift more of my time and energy to family. Katie has been putting in more hours recently which has also contributed to this. Work, well I still have little interest unfortunately, the recent dispute has changed my attitude, I've definitely fallen out of love with the job and continue to do what's required and nothing more, not healthy I know. Maybe things will change now things have settled down a bit.

And so into Base 2 (3wks)