IM Training Log w/c 02.03.20

No body comp stats this week as Sunday morning is my check in and we were in Devon.

Mon: 12:15pm Total Body Conditioning

Simple yet effective work… the shit that gets yo fit (if you hit it hard enough); 35 minutes of Row, Bike, Ski – 40 secs on, 20 secs off.

Mon: 1pm Upper Body Strength Work

5 x Negative Pull Ups, 10 min EMOM of 3 Strict Banded Pull Ups and 10 min EMOM of 3 Strict, chest and thighs to the ground, tricep Push Ups. Working hard for bullet proof shoulders 🙂

Mon: 1.30pm Strong Leg Programming

After a chat with Kerry a couple of weeks ago where we agreed I was missing weekly leg strengthening sessions, she wrote me a Strong Leg programme and today was day 1.
Build to a heavy set of 3 Front Squats followed by 5 sets of 5 at 80%.
I was also supposed to do 5 x 5 Barbell Split Squats but ran out of time and the gym was shutting.

Mon: 6:30pm Indoor Cycle Class + 2 mile Run

I got asked to cover a Monday night class which meant a bit of extra bike work 🙂 I chose a favourite playlist, which I put together specifically for cover classes as it showcases most of the key elements that go into making my periodised programme. Gary and the husband did the class with me so we all turned it into a brick session and added the usual post class 2 mile run.

Tue: 1:30pm Pool Swim

This was one of those sessions were everything leading up to it went wrong so I was just not in the mood! I had to hunt around for change for the parking meter only to lose the ticket down the front of my dashboard. I then went to pay for my session and realised I’d left my debit card at home. Once changed I found I didn’t have the right hairband, only my Tough Mudder headband which is too big for my swim cap meaning I couldn’t put my hair up and wear my cap. No cap meant my dreadlocks getting wet which gets heavy fast. In the pool the space was really busy, which in turn meant the lane was busy and given my foul mood I got my head down, did 400m and got out.

Wed: 6:45am Indoor Cycle Class and 2 mile Run

One more go at coaching my Le Tour session. Definitely my favourite session of my programme and given the feedback I got, a lot of the class seemed to feel the same way.
The post class run was bloody cold and both Gary and I felt it in the legs.

Wed: 12:15pm Total Body Conditioning

3 workouts split by a 2 minute rest.
1) 10 min partner AMRAP. 1 = 12 cal Assault Bike. 2 = Max Effort Ski Erg
2) 10 min EOMOM. Max Effort Row
3) 10 min AMRAP of something that I didn’t write down and cannot remember! Seriously, I cannot remember what it was so maybe it was so awful I wiped it from memory!

Thu: 9:30am Indoor Cycle Class

Split the sessions today so that I’m doing the same thing in the morning and the evening. This morning we did an old session I created in 2018 all focussed on endurance. 40 minutes split over 6 tracks meaning 3 long ass climbs broken up by some varied sprint work.

Thu: 1pm Pool Swim

I took my time today, made sure I had everything I needed and arrived at the leisure centre in a much better mood than Tuesday. I felt in the mood to swim and was determined to have a positive experience.
The aim was to swim an easy mile and I achieved that goal, leaving with a smile on my face 🙂

Thu: 6:30pm Coach By Colour Indoor Cycle Class

Week 10 of the programme. Just two more weeks before FTP test week and tonights offering is a pure interval session. Each track offers a different type of interval with strict RPM and Watt guidance. I was extremely pleased with how this session went as it was way better than I had hoped it would be. Everyone was moaning at the end, so job done I guess.
No brick session tonight as on Sunday the husband and I are running The Grizzly and I have a running interval session planned for tomorrow courtesy of Head Coach Toby, and his coach Matt.

Fri: Unplanned Rest Day

So, as just mentioned I had planned to do a running interval session today but I went to Big Crocodile HQ straight from coaching my classes at Nuffield Chichester and ended up staying longer than planned. It was a productive visit with Pam (owner of Big Croc) and not just because I had stopped at Marks and Spencer on the way so that we could try some of their weirdly flavoured Jaffa Cakes (note: the raspberry are much nicer than the peach and passion fruit). We sorted out quite a few things so it was worth missing my run session for.

Sat: Rest Day

Sun: 10.30am The Grizzly

If you’ve never heard of The Grizzly Race it is a brilliant but brutal 20 mile run across the beaches, fields, swamps, hills and cliffs in and around Seaton, Devon. Carl and I ran the race in 2017 but that year the weather was very much on our side and it was a different, nicer beast. This year it truly was a mental and physical slog. I said to Carl at about mile 15 that if I say in August that we should enter the ballot again he had permission to punch me in the face! However, even on the way home I was already thinking that actually, we may just be doing it again. I left my Garmin watch at home charging and it was quite nice to run ‘naked’ as it’s sometimes called and not worry about heart rate, pace etc.