Tom's training diary... week 5 of 32...

Overall
A good recovery week at approximately 33% of normal volume and including two complete rest days. Still managed to train all three disciplines and include two quality run sessions. It can be really hard to drop the training volume just when you're getting into the groove but I expect to feel the benefits over the next few weeks of hard training.

Swim
Tried to swim on Friday in Suffolk but the pool was full to the brim of super-slow breaststrokers with no concept of lane etiquette. Gave up after a couple of stop-start 400s. Did manage to slot in a quick 4k on the way back to Leeds by stopping off at Loughborough University Pool however. Felt OK but pretty sluggish... I don't do rest very well ;)

Bike
Nothing much top report except for a really enjoyable two hour ride to Ilkley and back with H on Christmas day

Run
Two good sessions - a pb at the Chevin Chase (see this weeks blog entry) and a tough ten miles on tired legs on Saturday in Suffolk. My running seems to be going pretty well although I definitely need to inject some speed if I'm going to go sub-80 at the Brass Monkey.

Lifestyle
A really mixed bag - Sleep has been great and I far exceeded the 56 hour goal, it's also been an extremely relaxing and stress-free week. On the flip side I've eaten chocolate for England which has caused me to feel pretty sick and tomorrow morning's 'weigh-in' could be pretty interesting as I've not stood on the scales since boxing day (72.1kg)... fingers crossed ;)

Workout of the week
Simple but to the point and so important - Saturday morning's 10 mile marathon pace run. With much of my normal focus and drive left up North for the Christmas period it would have been easy to eat sweets and watch telly all day. At times like this however it's all the more important to just get out there and do something and if you're looking for a time efficient workout then a tough 70 minute run is hard to beat. In a week where training time is at a premium quality is vital and sessions like this can't be beaten.