My full-on training plan for 2013!

After all my various blog posts about what I want to achieve in 2013 and how I am going to try and do it, I finally put together a training plan. So this is it:

Its a 2 week plan, to allow all the different types of training that I want to include. The plan is that I will do the same type of training on each of the days of the two-week plan, but the general trend is that I will increase distance and intensity as my fitness and pace improves (hopefully!) over the coming weeks and months.

The initial aim is to lose the excessive Christmas weight gained, which was 5lbs in the space of a week!

So to the plan:

Week A:

Day	Training
MON	Core Training
TUE	Hill session, Yoga, 40 min easy cycle
WED	30 min Hard cycle
THU	Club interval training
FRI	Short easy run, 20 min easy cycle, Yoga
SAT	Hard parkrun
SUN	Long slow run

Week B:

Day	Training
MON	60 minute easy cycle
TUE	Intervals sesssion, 40 min easy cycle
WED	30 min Hard cycle
THU	Club tempo run
FRI	Tempo run, 20 min easy cycle
SAT	Easy parkrun
SUN	Long slow run

Wherever possible I will also try to include some basic hamstring, calf, quad and hip flexor stretches and strengthening each day. To start with this should see my weekly mileage around 30 miles a week and my cycling alternating between 90 and 150 minutes each week. You will probably notice that there are no out and out rest days. I will take days off when I feel they are necessary. In essence, I see Wednesday as a day off as it is a quick hard burst of cycling and no running. Where possible I am trying to follow a hard session with an easy/recovery session within 24 hours. This is after reading about that current science tells us that the true benefit of a recovery run is that you are training in a pre-fatigued state. I think most of us know that training in a fatigued state is where our body learns to improve and build extra muscle where needed.

Having started the year last week part way into a Week B, I have since done an A and am currently back on a Week B.

Only time will tell if this helps me reach my aims, but on the weight loss side, things are already working well with 1 lb lost in the first week and an impressive 5 lbs in the second. This could just be a blip, but the early signs are good that I might have lost the Christmas weight.

To be included in my training plan

So I have decided that I want to get PBs in 2013. I have considered this and believe that it is still realistic that I am capable of a PB. I have thought about the factors that influence achieving a PB. I have thought about how to fit training in and not annoy the family.

So now it is time to work out what types of training I need to include.

I'll start with the obvious and work on from there:
1. Running - If running is my target, then it is pretty obvious that running is going to have to be the mainstay of my training. I will need to do long runs,
short runs, fast runs, slow runs, intervals and hill sessions. Finding the right balance of all of these will be key. The sheer quantity of different types of
runs required suggests to me that I either concentrate on different types for periods at a time, or I adopt a 2 week rotation, rather than one week.
2. Cycling - Sometimes this may be proper cycling, but for convenience it will generally be indoor cycling on my static bike.
3. Yoga - On and off over the past 2 years I have used a short yoga routine of 6 different running related exercises, which takes roughly 10-15 minutes
to work through. These exercises are great for strength, balance and flexibility and should I find a way to do them regularly I am certain I will see the
benefits.
4. Stretching - I have never been very flexible and with age this is only getting worse. Finding a good set of stretches and ensuring that I do them
regularly will help no end.
5. Core strength - This is an area that I have never really concentrated on, so in theory it is an area where I can probably improve most significantly.

So those are the types of training I want to fit in. Now on to the ways that I will use to fit those sessions into my life:
- On occasions in the past I have got up before work and done some time on my static bike. I'll need to do that again.
- I work from home a couple of times a week and will need to continue to use those days to fit in decent lunchtime runs. Often I haven't run on  my
Friday lunchtime at home, saving myself for parkrun on Saturday. But I think this needs to change, apart from before any parkrun that I decide to go
fast.
- I probably need to use one of my work from home days for another static cycle session too.
- I must make sure I attend parkrun each week.
- I must also make sure I attend my club training on a Thursday, which I have been hit and miss with over the last few months.
- I should probably also consider the club Monday night core training session and the track session that follows. This hasn't been convenient for me up
to now, but perhaps I should try to attend once a fortnight.
- I also need to find a way to tag stretching, strengthening and some yoga onto the start or end of many of these sessions.