[Training] January 2025 Updates

Feb 04, 2025

I planned out my 2025 A, B and C events (at least for the next 6 months) and have a rough idea of the second half of 2025 as well. I will re-evaluate as the season progresses and update it based on injuries and my goals. What is an A race you ask? Here is a nice article about it.
I am doing 100 days of ankle and core prehab. I am currently on 30+ days. Check out the strength training section for the rationale behind this and links to some example exercises.
Pre and post-nutrition for my regular workouts has been a game changer. I aim to eat some carbs around 30 minutes before and also some carbs and protein within 30 minutes of finishing a workout. It helps with recovery massively.
I am starting to think of myself as an athlete more and getting over the cringe feeling associated with it. We are our own biggest mental blocks.
I am back in the optimal training load zone!! See the Intervals.icu picture below.
January Stats:
- Swim: 18km
- Bike: 253km
- Run: 83km

Swimming

Over the holidays I trained in person with my coach, Inna, who I am very grateful for.
She helped me to start fixing my swimming form. We did a lot of workouts using pool floats and paddles that help to identify issues in your swimming technique. You can see the video below.
Here is a nice article that explains a few swimming form tips.
I am currently doing two swim workouts a week, focusing on my form and also doing some intervals.
In January I set PRs in the 100m, 400m and 500m. This was relatively easy to do as I was just getting started.
Swimming currently brings me a lot of joy and it does wonders to help me recover from my running and cycling.
My favourite swim in January was one of my coaching sessions with Inna and a few others, it was fun getting to train with other Russians.

Once I got back from my holidays I got a bike fitting. This was long overdue and I learned a lot from my experience. I can highly recommend Fulcycle. Just read their team about page!
I expect that most people who read this newsletter probably aren’t in the right country to be able to visit them. Furthermore, maybe you don’t cycle, maybe you came to this newsletter for the bioinformatics PhD and have decided to stay for the training updates. Thank you so much if so.
Following the fitting, I got a new bike!! I also got an MIPS helmet to keep me safe during my longer rides.
My favourite ride in January was a 52.1km ride with my partner. I test-rode my new bike and we stopped in a cafe halfway through. It’s an absolute joy to be able to spend time with them in this way.

I still haven’t run a new timed 5km. It’s long overdue. However, I excitingly set a new PR during an interval session on the track. A focused effort would be better. There is steady progress in this discipline which is great.
I am also seeing the importance of zone 1 or zone 2 warm-up and cool-down before my interval sessions. I sometimes would skip them in 2024 and have been refocusing on being diligent about completing them.
Loved these two runs in January:
- A 15.2km run that I did while on a day trip to London where I got changed in a museum bathroom. What better mash-up than: art, run, art?
- A freezing 17.3km run with two of my friends where we ran in a triangle formation and shouted and screamed at the top of our lungs out of pure joy halfway through.

Following my struggles with my ankle in late 2024 and after attending a talk by Gerrard Hartmann, on December 25th I committed to doing 100 days of ankle and core pre-hab. I’m currently on 30+ days. It’s been tremendous. I do a minimum of 5 minutes every day, averaging about 10-15 minutes. Calf raises and balancing on a wobbly cushion is extremely boring, however it’s been a huge game changer. Unsurprisingly, Gerrard Hartmann was right when he said “core stability, flexibility and ankle and knee pre-hab are the building blocks of a winning athlete”.
Here is a UCSF protocol with pictures. I would google progressions and regressions.
Here is a YouTube video (warning, there are a lot of feet…)
The substack image generator actually does ok when you ask for “female triathlete” as “athlete” is in the name

I practised Yoga with one of my sisters most days that I was home. It was lovely. We are now back to our once-a-week or once-every-two weeks.
I spent a weekend with my friends doing a make-shift mediation retreat. On Saturday morning we all did a yoga class together. I loved assisting my friends in the poses (with their consent) which was a nice throwback to my Yoga teacher training in 2023.
Not pushing anything in this area currently. Maintenance and self-compassion are the current goals.