Kevins Training Diary 2026

I am still swimming plenty and that is showing on the clock now. A CSS test this week came out at 1:37. Not my best, but a lot better than the 1:42 I did at the end of last race season.  I am way under on bike miles again as weather and life keep interfering, but I did at least get out on the mountain bike today. Only my second mtb ride of the year but the new brake lever works (although the angle needs adjusting a bit and I didn't have my multi-tool with me). I still haven't fitted the electronic shifters that I ordered at Xmas. Running has been up and down. My back/hip are giving me problems some days that are reducing me to an old man shuffle, but then other days I seem to be fine.  I did a parkrun at Hazelhead yesterday and put in a more solid performance than I expected. 21:21 is still not fast, and even given the hill in that course it is still far from what I want to be doing. But it is a step improvement on where I have been.  Monikie Duathlon was postponed for ic...

I had planned for my S-curves to lighten up slightly after January as I should have had a solid 30 miles/week run block in Nov-Jan to build my fitness. However, the weather and my calf issues scuppered that and I have gone over run miles in this fortnight trying to cover that gap.  Life, and the extended period of hideous weather that looks to continue well in to next week, have been getting in the way of the bike. And I haven't been in a place to make it up on the turbo or spinning bike. I did manage some commuting, but I bailed on trying to take the mountain bike out at the weekends in persistent driving rain and temperatures in the 0-5deg C ranges. I did get as far as swinging my leg over the bike today then realised that somehow I had bent, and then snapped my rear brake lever. Swimming, I have taken advantage of being so far ahead of my mileage target to do a little less in this block. I am still struggling with inconsistency between sessions that isn't explained away by f...

I am still racking up swim miles to stay well ahead of my targets, and have been consistent about core, yoga and weights sessions, even to the point of going to an organised yoga class this week.  The weather, and my unwillingness to get out of bed at 6am to fight against it for my commute, is still impacting on run and bike progress though. And especially mountain bike progress as I have only had that bike out of the garage once so far this year. I am happy enough with the block I have put in to start the year given the weather constraints. My run miles target on my S-curve comes down slightly this week as I was expecting to be further in to a big block. I will take this week as it comes and see whetehr I actually drop those number or put in another couple of 28+ mile weeks instead.  Actuals, (T arget) -  Swim 8.4  miles / 13,500  m.  (7.0 miles). Bike 85.3  miles. (98.0 miles).   MTB 8.2  miles. (35.3 miles). Run 56.1   miles. (56.0 ...

I purposefully left swimming out of my first 2 weeks, and biking out of my week 1 plan, based on assumed weather and limited pool access, so anything I might get would be a bonus. Turns out that with the snow we have had, it was running I should have abandoned instead. I am now almost a marathon behind my run target so would have to add half a mile to every week for the rest of the year to get back on track.  Hopefully the weather improving over the next fortnight, and getting back in to a work / training / coaching routine and things will smooth out from here.  Actuals, (T arget) -  Swim 1.9  miles / 3,000  m. (0.0 miles). Bike 72.7  miles. (42.0 miles).   MTB 0.0  miles. (15.1miles). Run 18.6  miles. (44.0  miles).   3 short core,  2   short light weights   and  1  stretching / rollering session.  129   mins of yoga.   Cumulative Actual, (Cumulative Target), [Cumulative Stretch] - S 1.9 , (0...

Same start to every year, set some targets.  A lot of these haven't changed from last year, or haven't changed much. Swim   I did almost no outdoor swimming again in 2025, just 6 swims, all but one in races, and that remaining one in a tiny hotel pool. So there is an easy upside to be had there by being more organised and getting to outdoor swims.    The rumours that Bucksburn pool might re-open in Q3-4 2025 were much too optimistic and the new date is supposedly ‘Spring 2026’. That might just about match up with us moving house and me not using it anyway.   I have done 117 miles each for the last two years but in my review of last year I realised that again too many of those are short sessions that are not adding anything. Last year’s target was impacted by my change of job and as soon as a light July lost me a few miles it was never recoverable. I have taken the 2024 & 25 actuals added a mile a month to next year’s plan, and come out with exactly the same ...