Well, after 2020 shook things up a bit, I think it’s safe to safe 01/01/2021 was a date we were all excited to see. January may not have felt too different to December 2020, but more hope has definitely been brought in with the start of a new calendar year!
I thought it was about time I jumped back on here to give a training update as we come to the end of January….
I’m also going to start just before January, with the Festive500 between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day – this is despite it feeling a long time ago! I’ve never ridden it before and – full disclosure – I didn’t ride it all outside this year. However, for the first time I did cover the 500km in 8 days, with about 350km of it being out in the fresh winter air. It was wonderful. The weather was almost exclusively beautiful, and better than we’ve had this month, so I am really glad I took the time (and suffered the cold toes!) to get outside. However, that week I also had 50km of running to get through to finish off my yearly target, and we made the most of the pools being open to get in plenty of swimming. So, all in all, Christmas week made for a great training camp!
Unfortunately, this has been the extent of my outside riding, amount to none so far in 2021.
Work started back up again on January 4th so it was back into my usual routine; 12-14 hours of cycling with the majority being on the turbo trainer and 5 hours of running a week. The pools had closed again with another national lockdown so swimming wasn’t on the cards. I have worked through sessions that I know work for me and my goals and have a big impact on my fitness, mental state and fatigue levels (although small impact on fatigue levels with big impact on fitness is ideal!). I generally do a mix of low cadence strength work on the bike at 70.3/mid distance tri pace, a good chunk of sweet spot, plenty of steady state and I’ve been trying to through in some vo2 max and sprint work as well. My running is largely steady with hills (of which there are plenty) and long rae pace intervals at the weekends.
Something that has definitely spiced things up is the Zwift Racing League that takes place every Monday night. This is a pro-am race series on Zwift and has some of the best female indoor cyclists racing week-on-week. I found a team towards the back end of last year and they selected me for their Season 2 squad, and it has been absolutely amazing getting some racing in! I’m relatively new to Zwift racing so I still have plenty to learn regarding race tactics, but it’s been great having a team to push for and getting in some big efforts. I’m already seeing big benefits in key sessions throughout the rest of the week and it’s given me some weaknesses to work on *cough* sprinting.
I have also put in a big run focus over the last couple of weeks. In fact, this focus started in the summer of last year. I hated running when I first started and at times it’s felt like a big slog to nowhere, but following a September half marathon pb when my fitness wasn’t 100% was the boost I needed. We’ve moved to a hilly area that has done absolute wonders for my leg strength and I am putting together back-to-back 5 hour run weeks – something I wouldn’t have dreamed of a couple of months ago. My patience has clearly paid off and, while I still have a way to go to feel as though I’ll be competitive at the top end of the field, I am definitely getting there. The plan now is to get some intensity back in (ice has stopped play on more than one occasion) to get race ready.
January has also brought the news that race #1 for the season – Challenge Portugal – has been postponed until September. Having a target for the end of March was proving really valuable so while I am gutted that it won’t be a triathlon that I am on the startline for, I am hoping to run a half marathon that weekend instead. It probably won’t be an event (I am fed up of things being cancelled) but so long as travel restrictions are loosened, I’ll head to somewhere in the UK that is flat and get in a fast 21.1km. My current pb is a 1:38 on a hilly local route from September, so I’m intrigued to see how the hills and increased running mileage will have impacted my legs on a flat course!
Heading into February I am envisaging much the same as January – keeping my head down and making strides in training. My w/kg has increased massively over the last few months on the bike and I’m excited to see this continue to progress, and likewise my speed out on the road both running and cycling. Lets also hope that there is a bit more time spent outside on two wheels and a little bit less time on Zwift… I’m also continuing my TT bike build ready for the first race back – it’ll be fast!
Stay tuned…
P.S. This was my biggest running month EVER and I am so stoked at how I’ve built this up over the last 2 years and the progress I’ve made.
Scores on the doors
Running: 232km/21h5
Cycling: 1,932km/56h3
Swimming: 4,500m/1hr3
Steph's Great Adventures 