Almost two months into this training block now, although I have completed six weeks of “training”, so far the running side of things has all been about a sensible, steady injury recovery, by the end of week 7 of my plan we will be 14 weeks out from the marathon, typically I would like to spend 12 weeks building up for a marathon, that time frame gives me a further four to continue the gradual increase in the running distance and intensity before starting “proper training”.

In my NEW YORK CITY MARATHON TRAINING UPDATE: WEEK 5 & 6 post I dropped my swimming from three to two swims per week and was aiming for around 150 miles on the bike each week. The plan is to continue this certainly for these next two weeks and then make a call around the bike distance from week 9. Ultimately, the plan is to lower the bike work alongside an increase in the running.

Week 7:

• Running:  21.7 Miles – 2hr 55mins
• Bike:  131.4 Miles – 6hrs 42min
• Swimming: 5,769 yrds – 1hrs 47min

As with my last update, these weeks aren’t changing much but I will give a breakdown of each day to give a clear picture of what I am doing and hopefully what I am trying to achieve.

This week has been quite tough despite mostly being easy paced rides and runs. It has been really warm and humid, peaking on Thursday which was the hottest day ever here in the UK. Thankfully my tempo runs were towards the end of the week where it cooled down to more normal temperatures. That said, I have seen people posting their training updates on WordPress, Instagram, and YouTube, where they are training in Europe and the US east coast where it has been hotter and more humid than here. It does look like we are all having a tough time getting these quality training sessions done. What makes me laugh is we are training in 100’f heat for a winter marathon in New York.

Monday:

• Rest Day!
• 2 x 1 min calf stretches (30 secs per leg) + 10 bodyweight calf raises.
• 10 min foam roll.

I took Monday as a rest day, I am well aware that each of the last six weeks has been between 12 – 18 hours of training with no rest days. During the Cheshire 100 sportive yesterday my legs felt tired towards the end, so I take that as a sign that my body needs a little extra rest. Besides, I have another 100 mile sportive next Sunday so I need to rest up ready for that one.

Tuesday:

• Technique Swim:-
  • 100m Warm Up
  • 150m Full doggy up/ swim down
  • 200m Catch Up up/ swim down – easy
  • 100m Scull 1 Up / Swim Down
  • 100m Scull 2 Up / Swim Down
  • 300m Catch Up up/ swim down – fast
  • 100m Kick on front with board
  • 400m Hard Swim
  • 100m Scull 3
  • 1000m Swim with Pull Buoy
  • 100m Cool Down

Just like last week, I beat my 750m & 1,000m PB’s during the pull buoy set. This time taking off 32 & 42 seconds respectively.

• 90 min recovery ride covering just under 25 miles.
• 3 mile easy paced run.
• 14 mile tempo ride at 20mph
• 2 x 1 min calf stretches (30 secs per leg) + 10 bodyweight calf raises.

Today felt great, I did really well in the swim and 2nd bike of the day. The easy-paced run and ride felt comfortable both with nice low heart rates.

Wednesday:

• 60 min recovery ride on Zwift, all at 185 watts.

I was in the office today which meant I could only fit in the one training session, this fitted well with the plan having done four yesterday. An easier day today in readiness for a bigger end to the week.

Thursday:

• 4 mile easy paced run with 4 x 10sec strides.
• 22.6 mile easy ride.

So the plan for this ride was 30 miles at lunchtime, however, twice in the first mile the front tyre started to lose pressure and spray sealant out. In the end, I returned home, I’m not sure whether the hot weather was stopping the sealant from sealing the hole. I left the bike in the garage and went out again in the evening, the hole seems to have sealed now and I managed to get in 22 miles, 8 down on the plan but not a total loss.

• 2 x 1 min calf stretches (30 secs per leg) + 10 bodyweight calf raises.

Today was really hot, I did the run at 7:30am to avoid the higher temps but even at that time, it was hot. This resulted in my heart rate averaging around 10bpm more than Tuesday’s easy run.

Friday:

• Distance Swim:
  • 600m Warm Up
  • Repeat 4 Times:
    • 200m Hard
    • 50m Easy
  • 100m Kick on front with float
  • 1,000m Steady
  • 100m Cool Down
• 3 mile easy ride

The plan for this one was a 35-mile lunchtime ride to make up some of the missed miles yesterday and keep building to my weekly target of 150 miles. This time I got 1.5 miles into the ride before the front tyre went again, the same issue as yesterday, leaking from the same knick, yet it was fine for the 22 miles last night. I went back home and had to take the tyre off to patch it up, then couldn’t get it to pop back on the rim, one of the joys of having tubeless tyres.

I gave up on the ride today and will now have to make up the remaining 66 miles over Saturday & Sunday.

• Tempo Run:
  • 1 Mile Warm Up @ 9:00 pace
  • 10 min Stretching
  • 4 x 1 Mile starting at 7:40 pace, increasing by 10 secs per rep with 2 min recovery jog.
  • 3 Min Recovery Jog
  • 1 Mile Cool Down @ 9:00 pace
• 10 Min Foam Roll
• 2 x 1 min calf stretches (30 secs per leg) + 10 bodyweight calf raises.
• The swim felt a drag today, my energy levels were low from the start and I just felt sluggish. I didn’t sleep well last night which didn’t help the early morning swim.

Saturday:

• 30 min legs, hips & glutes strengthening, see week 3 & 4 for a breakdown of this set but 3 reps this time.
• 20 min core strengthening, again you can see a breakdown of this set in week 3 & 4
• 10 Min Foam Roll
• 2 x 1 min calf stretches (30 secs per leg) + 10 bodyweight calf raises.

I was going to fit in a 100 min hard ride on Zwift today to “make up” the missed miles of the last two failed bikes. I decided against this in the end and will just settle for a shorter bike week. There is no need to hit 150 miles just for the sake of making up the miles. It may look good on my stats but a day off will help the body rest up.

Sunday:

• 7 Mile Long Run at 7:30 pace.

Not the longest long run in the world but running 7 miles non-stop was a nice feeling and being able to hold a good pace in my fast training run shoes was such a good feeling after months of short easy paced running.

• 2 hour Hard Bike with Sprints on Zwift:
  • 10 Min Warm Up @ 112w – 170w
  • 20 Min @ 240w
  • 5 Min Recovery @ 170w
  • Repeat 10 Times:
    • 3 Min @ 240w
    • 1 Min @ 330w
    • 1 Min @ 170w
  • 5 Min Recovery @ 170w
  • 20 Min @ 240w
  • 10 Min Cool Down @ 170w

44 miles in total but what a brute of a session that was. During the 10th 1 min blast at 330w I was convinced I was going to be seeing my lunch again, really pleased to have held on and battled through the final 20 minutes to get it done. One big bike session done for the week.

• 30 min legs, hips & glutes strengthening, see week 3 & 4 for a breakdown of this set but 3 reps this time.
• 10 Min Foam Roll
• 2 x 1 min calf stretches (30 secs per leg) + 10 bodyweight calf raises.

A decent week all in all, slightly less mileage on the bike but that will be a good mini taper ready for next weeks Ride 100. Running went really well, at 21 miles that was my biggest week since the end of April, not just a big week of miles but also a longer run and a good tempo session in the bag. I think my coaches would rather I had held the pace back more on the long run, but I just got into a rhythm and kept picking up pace as I went.

On to the next one.

Week 8:

• Running:  20.3 Miles – 2hr 58mins
• Bike:  188.5 Miles – 9hrs 55min
• Swimming: 5,523 yrds – 1hr 41min

More of the same this week. Some running, biking and a bit of swimming. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Monday:

• 60 Min Recovery Ride on Zwift all at 200w
• 4 Mile Easy Paced run @ 9:00min/mile
• 2 x 1 min calf stretches (30 secs per leg) + 10 bodyweight calf raises.

Tuesday:

• Rest Day

I had a long day in the office followed by a Microsoft Azure user group in the evening so I was “working” 07:00 – 22:00 leaving no time for the fun training stuff today. One of the key elements of any training plan is being adaptable and flexible so you can move things around. I swapped my original planned Monday rest day to Tuesday and Tuesday’s easy run & ride to Monday. Being an easy day it was no big deal but sometimes you just have to fit things in where you can.

Wednesday:

• Technique Swim:-
  • 100m Warm Up
  • 150m Full doggy up/ swim down
  • 200m Catch Up up/ swim down – easy
  • 100m Scull 1 Up / Swim Down
  • 100m Scull 2 Up / Swim Down
  • 300m Catch Up up/ swim down – fast
  • 100m Kick on front with board
  • 400m Hard Swim
  • 100m Scull 3
  • 1000m Swim with Pull Buoy
  • 100m Cool Down
• 60 Min Easy Ride on Zwift at 200w
• Base Interval Run Session:
  • 1 Mile Warm Up @ 9:00
  • 10 Min Stretching & 3 x 10sec Strides
  • Repeat 5 Times:
    • 1km @ 7:15 pace
    • 2 Min Recovery @ 9:00
  • 3 Min @ 9:00
  • 1 Mile Cool Down @ 9:00
• 10 Min Foam Roll
• 2 x 1 min calf stretches (30 secs per leg) + 10 bodyweight calf raises.
• 20 min core strengthening

Thursday:

• Speed Interval Swim Set:
  • 100m Warm Up
  • 6 x 25m 100% Effort
  • 50m Kick on Side
  • 8 x 50m 100% Effort
  • 100m Kick on Side
  • 10 x 100m 100% Effort
  • 400m Steady with Paddles
  • 400m Steady
  • 100m Cool Down
• 60 Min Easy Ride on Zwift at 200w
• 2 x 1 min calf stretches (30 secs per leg) + 12 bodyweight calf raises.
• 10 Min Foam Roll
• 30 Min Legs, Hips, and Glute Strengthening

Friday:

• Short high cadence ride on Zwift:
  • 5 min warm up @ 112 – 196w
  • Repeat 8 Times:
    • 2 min @ 225w
    • 1:30 min @ 310w
    • 1 min @ 170w
  • 5 min @ 170w
  • 10 min @ 270w
  • 5 min cool down 112 – 170w
• 5 Mile Easy Paced Run @ 9:00min/mile
• 2 x 1 min calf stretches (30 secs per leg) + 12 bodyweight calf raises.
• 10 Min Foam Roll

Saturday:

• 8.5 Mile Easy ride to the Stoke on Trent train station.
• 3.5 Mile from Euston train station to hotel in London.
• 4.5 Mile Easy Paced run @ 9:00min/mile
• 2 x 1 min calf stretches (30 secs per leg) + 12 bodyweight calf raises.

Sunday:

• 4.8 Mile easy ride from hotel to Olympic Park
• PRUDENTIAL RIDE LONDON:SURREY 100 2019
• 1.2 Mile Ride from Ride London finish to Euston Station
• 9.3 Mile Ride from Stoke on Trent station back home

This week has gone really well. The Ride 100 beat all of my expectations, swimming has been on par for this month and another 20 mile week of running. All good progress towards New York and the injury recovery is continuing to go better than I first thought.