Statistics

This morning was a strength training session followed by 6+ miles fartlek. Next week I'll only run two thirds of my usual miles [a recovery week] but this will include a long run of 31 - 32 miles on Wednesday.

Not sure of the route yet but utilising the Leeds Liverpool Canal is a distinct possibility.

Only seven weeks to go until my next 24 hour race [in case you've forgotten, it's at Tooting Bec in London - training ground of Olympic gold medalist Christine Ohuruogu].

Time to look in depth at how my training has been progressing recently. Below are some training comparisons between now and seven weeks before the Hull 24 hr race. The figures in red relate to an average week during the period 4 Aug - 31 Aug 2008 and the figures in black relate to an average week during the period 28 Apr - 25 May 2008.

running miles per week ... 52.36 ... 53.17
running time per week ... 7h 38:16 ... 7h 23:40
running sessions per week ... 4.25 ... 4.50

cycling time per week ... 1h 30:36 ... 1h 31:38
cycling sessions per week ... 2.00 ... 2.00

stretching time per week ... 1h 14:15 ... 1h 16:16
stretching sessions per week ... 5.50 ... 5.75

strength training time per week ... 1h 26:10 ... 1h 48:53
strength training sessions per week ... 2.75 ... 3.50

eccentric ankle stretches time per week ... 1h 52:50 ... 24:45
eccentric ankle stretches sessions per week ... 8.50 ... 2.25

ankle massage time per week ... 40:41 ... 36:24
ankle massage sessions per week ... 7.75 ... 7.00

wobble board time per week ... none ... 1h 11:36
wobble board sessions per week ... none ... 14.00

total training time per week ... 11h 49:17 ... 12h 00:27
total rehab time per week ... 2h 33:31 ... 2h 12:46

grand total time per week ... 14h 22:48 ... 14h 13:13
grand total sessions per week ... 25.25 ... 25.00

pulse on waking ... 47.9 ... 46.0
weight ... 60.0 kg ... 58.3 kg

NOTES:

• running - more miles per week in less time means faster training
• cycling - increased average speed not shown above
• stretching - very slight change for the better
• strength training - more sessions per week with bigger weights and for longer
• eccentric ankle stretches - now down to maintenance levels after achilles tendinosis late last year and early this year
• ankle massage - very similar
• wobble board - began using late July for an ankle problem which began in mid May
• total training time - increased by 1.5%
• total rehab time - decreased by 13.5% as my injuries heal
• grand total time - decreased but training time/rehab time gives a better picture
• grand total sessions - very similar. A training session is often composed of more than one element, eg I often do some stretching followed immediately by ankle massage followed immediately by wobble board work.

Overall, it appears that things are improving, which I'm pleased about. Perhaps this movement could be a bit faster though.

I'll repeat this statistics exercise in four weeks time.