Thursday 3 September 2009

well prepared

Well, today is the first day since my crash training week that I've not felt tired.  The worst day for tiredness was yesterday ... five days after crash training finished.  I've still been training - about half my normal load, but that's OK as I'm now in tapering mode anyway.  The big race is only two weeks away ...

I've also had a headache for the past couple of days (it is slowly getting better now though) which I reckon is due to my switch from normal to decaffeinated coffee in preparation for the Commonwealth Championships. Caffeine withdrawal sucks.

Now, lets have a look at some statistics.  These figures refer to an 'average' week between 1 Aug 2009 and 28 Aug 2009.  I've included for comparison, in red, figures relating to an 'average' week between 31 Aug 2008 and 28 Sep 2008 which was just before my last 24 hr race (when I set my pb).

miles per week ... 104.34 ... 87.68

running time ... 15h 11:16 ... 12h 54:34
cycling time ... 2h 19:25 ... 2h 05:24
stretching time ... 1h 47:13 ... 1h 25:09
strength/conditioning time ... 1h 15:52 ... 1h 41:42
eccentric achilles stretches time ... 30:01 ... 27:21

total time ... 21h 03:46 ... 18h 34:10

running sessions ... 8 ... 5.75
cycling sessions ... 2.75 ... 2.5
stretching sessions ... 8 ... 6
strength/conditioning sessions ... 2.25 ... 3
eccentric achilles stretches sessions ... 2.25 ... 2.5

resting heart rate ... 43.4 ... 45.5
weight ... 57.2 kg (126.0 lb) ... 57.7 kg (127.1 lb)



The upshot of all this is that I appear to be quite a bit fitter and healthier than I was 12 months ago.  I'm in good shape to do well at the Commonwealth Championships in a couple of weeks time - I'm looking forward to it.  Seven days intensive training inevitably took it's toll but I'm feeling much better now and tapering hard.

Although as a non-driver it isn't going to be easy getting there on public transport, especially as Keir wants £200 to £300 in the next fortnight as a deposit for a school trip to Russia as part of his A level History course. Is anyone out there driving from (or through) West Yorkshire to Keswick on Wednesday 16 September and can give me a lift ?

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