Off to Salt Lake City

Heading out to Salt Lake city for the next couple of weeks - going into the office and also taking a good look around the city and surrounding areas - meet up with a "realtor" or two and see where is the best place for us to live.

I'm taking my snowboard as well - why not - Snowbird is only 20 miles away and I've got a weekend out there - so seems a shame not to go and try it!

It was quite nice turning up to American Airlines express checkout for First and Business Class with a snowboard. And it would seem that AA have upgraded their cabins - the Business class is pretty close to the First Class that I was on a few years ago only not quite as shabby! The seats even turn into flat beds and the food wasn't at all bad.

Have changed my watch already to 6 hours ahead - and we still have seven hours left - and then another flight....So expect to be very tired once I get to the hotel. Hope I am OK to drive when I get to the airport finally.

Have passed Reykjavik and now heading towards Greenland - we take a very northern arched route - presume this due to airflows etc - but frankly I haven't a clue. This is probably the nicest AA flight I have been on - although its a 2-3-2 formation - not so great for the 3 - but at least I have an isle seat and I can plug the Mac in to the power port and watch pretty much any of my films - although there is a fairly decent on demand service on here.

The only problem is that the lights have been turned off - quite a few people want to sleep - and I'd rather not - so must remember to get the seat by the window on the next trip out so that I can have the blinds open. The kids are going to love this when they get to fly out Business class - however I am sure they will be bored after a few hours even with all the available TV, games and food....

Moving to Salt Lake City

Well - for those of you that heard on the rumour mill that I might be moving jobs - its all true. The firm have offered me a new role out in the USA - in Utah, Salt Lake City - and I snapped it up. Myself and the wife along with our two kids and three cats will be moving out there sometime around June time this year. There is no end date to the role - so if we like it - we will quite probably stay there for good.

Its a massive move for us - but it is one of those rare opportunities - quite possibly a once in a lifetime chance - and we felt that it was the right thing to do for both us and the kids.

Everyone is excited - although it is obviously a little stressful - my list of things to do grows by the day and not many of them are getting crossed off yet!

To all my friends and family that we are leaving behind - we love you all - and in no way does this reflect on you. We will miss you all and you are more than welcome to come and visit once we have settled in - I should expect that we will have plenty of room. To all my US based friends - well - snowboarding/skiing trips just got a little cheeper for you all!!! No hotel to pay for now - so please pop over and see us when we are in - especially during the winter season!!!

None of us are looking forward to all the organising and packing - but we both hope it will be worth it.

I am looking forward to be able to go running in the mountains and all the bike trails that span Utah - some of the best tracks in the world lie within that state - so it should be great fun.

Mark & Kerys.

22 Miles of swimming leads to sore arms - shock, horror!

Well - we managed it - 22 miles of swimming - the equivalent to the length of the channel. In total - it took about 8 hours of swimming each - although I may have done a few more lengths that the wife. I never ever ever want to do that again - my shoulders are knackered, all I want to do is sleep now and I think my arms are falling off!

We raised over £470 for Aspire - so thanks to everyone who sponsored us - we really appreciate it.

I'm now off to sleep - so any further updates will need to wait until I have woken up and my arms work again....

A lot of swimming and a long bike…

Have been doing loads of swimming recently – especially with some new paddles that were given to me by a friend – Tom. These are awesome – they really make you concentrate on your technique and seriously tire your shoulders and elbows! I’m knackered from using them – and after completing about 5.5km in total over 3 sessions I’m going to give them a rest for a bit to let the muscles recover.

Went for a nice 20 mile bike ride with another TriChi team member the other day – Ben – who is shall we say – slightly fitter that I!!! When he turned up in his “Ironman Finisher” cycling top – I thought that perhaps I had bitten off more than I could chew – but in reality – he was great company to cycle with and while I probably slowed him down a bit – it made me push a lot harder than I would have done on my own – so I’ll be happy to do it again and hopefully I’ll get better.

Managed a gym session as well today after the swim – loads of weighted squats etc – my legs are on fire now as well as the arms and shoulders – so tomorrow is definitely a rest day – especially as I went running this morning as well!

If you cant tell from the sudden flurry of activity – I’m on holiday this week – so trying to kick start the training schedule again and loose a little weight for Christmas – aiming to do a few cross country events after the holiday period in the new year again.

A Summer of slacking....

Well – its coming towards the end of the summer now and in 2 weeks, the kids go back to school. I haven’t exactly been active on this blog recently – and that’s mainly down to the fact that I have been slacking and not doing any exercise! I cant remember the last time I went to the gym, or had a swim, or was on my bike! I have done some running – with notable achievements of running up and back down Dovedale in the Lakes, all the way up to Hart Crag at 822m and another run up to Hartsop above How from the bottom of Brotherswater. However, apart from a couple of smaller runs, that has been it.

 

I dare not weigh myself – for I know I have piled on the pounds from the lack of exercise – and I went for a small run this morning to find my Heart Rate incredibly high on such an easy run. So – back to it – we have a race at the end of September – Roade sprint Triathlon – which I need to get in shape for, plus I intend to start the marathon training now as well – I am to complete at least two next year and a number of half marathons as well.

 

I am back off to the Lakes in a few weekends – but not for running this time – but walking with a group of friends with whom I climbed Benn More in Scotland a couple of years back. We are just taking bivvy bags and will be sleeping rough – so should be a hoot!

Distinct lack of directed training!

Well – I haven’t written much for a while – but I have been busy in other ways. I’ve done a lot of running – but not a lot related to my sprint triathlon distance – I’ve even been in a race – the Chase Challenge – or whatever it is know as this year – where I had a terrible race and finished with a time of something over 28 mins – my boss beat me (although I have to say – he was a bit of a dark horse and fair play – he could bloody well run) and so did quite a few others.

5km just doesn't seem to be enough these days and I crave further distances. I actually ran to the station and back repeatedly one week – a total daily distance of 28-30km – clocking up 4 days of this and over 100km in a week. It was amazing. But my legs started to really hurt.

Went running with a friend this morning and did 10km – and I really enjoyed it. I know I said I would never do a half marathon again – but I am going to – in fact I intend to do a few marathons!

In fact – I intent to run the Atacama desert race in 2011 – have a couple of people interested and will see how it goes. Lots to organise as it is a massive undertaking – but what is life for if not challenges?

Along with a few other friends we also set up a Triathlon club – www.trichi.co.uk – which all and sundry are welcome to join – no under 18s is the only rule I am afraid. No charge and we are affiliated with the BTF.

So – after this season of Triathlons – looks like I will do a couple next year – but I’ll also be doing a lot of marathons and off road half marathons etc in training for 2011….

I can see why people hire a coach....

It’s a few months into the season now, I’ve finished a number of running races and three Triathlons and the thing I have noticed most is that my enthusiasm is definitely on the wane. The amount of training sessions is down and the will to get on the bike or go for a swim is pretty much non existent. The only thing I am managing to do is run reasonably regularly and I am having to force myself to do that. So – why is there this mid season slump for me? Well – I can put it down to a few things – but up there in the lists top five are, no training partner, no variation of training and boredom. You can see immediately how you would benefit from a coach who you report to and who is able to vary your training without you having to find time to plan that out for yourself.

Perhaps there are ways of increasing the motivation without this kind of support – I wonder if the online forum communities help at all – but I very much doubt that they are any substitute for someone screaming at you to do that extra push up or sarcastically asking why you failed to swim today, or someone who simply tells you to do 50m * 4 and rest 30 secs rather than just going for a 5km run. There are training programs you can get for free, buy or make yourself – but I am sure the simple act of having to report to your coach what you did this week must make motivation less of an issue.

Perhaps next season….

Two weeks until Northampton Tri – looking forward to that. And I will be joined by a few of my friends from Blenheim at the Roade Tri in September – so here’s hoping they have also caught the bug….