Kevins Training Diary 2026

Life got in the way again and I have missed two of these updates.  Students being back from their summer break means that my training timetable is completely revamped to fit around coaching so everything is a bit weird. I have also been fighting a bug (or bugs) for 5 weeks now. It seemed like it was ‘just’ something bacterial from drinking too much of Loch Morlich, and was almost gone a week ago, and then in the last week I have basically had daily nose bleeds and have been wiped out in a way that seems to be flu, but not quite. The suggestion is that I probably have been on the verge of beating the first bug and then caught the flu, but probably one of the strains that I have been vaccinated against, or something similar enough for my immune system to not quite handle, so I am only getting a fraction of the effect.    My plan to run 100-miles/month through Q4 has taken a bit of a dent having missed 15 miles this week. I also missed Dundee Uni Aquathlon, which should have...

This fortnight started with a week of holiday in Aviemore to prep and recce for the British Cross Tri Champs. The prep week and the recces went fine. I even managed to get in the water a couple of times. I didn't manage to do any useful swimming but I did at least get some time being cold enough to get used to it.  My actual race was a disaster, which started with me getting vaseline on my goggles so I couldn't see where I was going and had to take them off and breast-stroke. And finished with me walking round most of the run. The bike wasn't a total disaster, but it was slow as I was wading through traffic from being so far out of position after the swim.  It also turned out that I had a cold of some sort which I honestly didnt notice during the race, but was evident before we even managed to drive home in the afternoon.  We did have a good week away though. So at least that was worth it.  Then it was back to work for a week with the cold and a messed up week of tra...

With all of my late posts, I have completely lost track of the weeks. Google tells me that Weeks 35 & 36 were 24/08 - 06/09. So I am over a week late again.  That window basically took me through a two-week run in to the Scottish Standard Triathlon Champs. Knowing how little I have ridden my TT bike in the last few years I purposefully took it outside for a ride, and then set it up on the turbo trainer for a week to try and get some feel for the position. I think this helped a bit, but not enough to make me competent at riding it in a race.  I raced the last of the Krunce hill race series, and after some jiggery-pokery from the officials to account for me changing age-groups mid series, I was awarded second place in the 40-49 category, despite being 50 for half the series.  As per my previous post, I didn't really want to race the Scottish Standard at Knockburn, but I had paid my entry fee so I went along to take part. My swim was poor, but given the cold water and my...

No surprises, a week late again. And I am only writing this one because I can't sleep.  My left hip is giving me persistent problems now and I am struggling to run anything beyond 4k, yet I have signed up for two races that I don't even want to do.  Next weekend is the Scottish Standard Champs at Knockburn. It is too late in the year. Too cold (BBC says 15 degC air temp) and it will likely be wet roads that aren't suitable for time trial riding (BBC currently says 78% chance of rain at race time). I only signed up because it is local to me and it is included in my internal Club Championships events.  The weekend after that is the Brirsh and Scottish Cross Triathlon Championships at Aviemore. Even later in the year. Even colder (BBC doesn't go that far but has 11 degC air temp at race time the day before and Loch Morlich is guaranteed to be colder still). I had to sign up to this one because the qualifying race I wanted to use for next year's World and Euro Cross Tri...

And... no explanation was forthcoming as everything continued to stay on top of my time and I just didn't get to it. And this is almost a week late again. 4 months after moving house we are still doing unpacking and basic DIY (and more complex DIY in terms of building the hugely over-complicated greenhouse). And the new dog eats up huge chunks of time, as well as affecting my training as my Thursday and Friday runs have basically turned in to walk / jog with him. My hip injections have not lasted as long this year, or my maintenance of them has been poor, as my hip and back are no giving me fairly major problems when I run. I did Krunce hill race number 5 last week and had to walk most of the last mile.  Swimming is going well. I am doing productive time on the turbo. But running is not going well and I have almost no time outside on the mountain bike.  I also never got round to writing about my second and third races in Banyoles, or the Scottish Champs at Loch Lomond.  T...

  And here are the numbers only for Week 29 and 30, with hopefully some explanation coming this weekend. Actuals, (T arget) -  Swim  4.6   miles / 7,400  m.  (2.5 miles). Bike  83.2   miles. (59.0 miles) .   MTB  10.5   miles. (19.0 miles). Run  40.7   miles. (31.7  miles).   2 short core,  2   short light weights   and  1  stretching / rollering session.   0   mins of yoga.   Cumulative Actual, (Cumulative Target), [Cumulative Stretch] - S  72.9 , (71.7 ),   [77.1] , B  1,108.6 , (1,144) ,   [1,229.8] ,     MTB  265.2 , (411.8) , R  580.4 , (628.1),   [675.2] Core         -  21 , (14),   [28 ] ,  Weights    -  23 , (14),   [28], Stretching -  3 , (14),   [28], Yoga          -  18 ,   [28].   Fast run sessions -  30 , (28...