A few more runs this week including a nice fast 4km on the way to work yesterday which was a major enjoyment as I ran through a bit of London I never had before. Exploring new places is definately one of the joys of running.
Friday, October 17, 2008
My best swim
Back to training and managed a nice 7km on Saturday. Nothing special as I was still washed out - but I was glad to get back to it. On Sunday I managed to swim a kilometer and on top of this it had three of my all time best 50m splits in it of 50 seconds which I am seriously chuffed with. :-)
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Training on hold due to illness
I have spent the last few days in bed feeling very sorry for myself
alternating from hot to cold. Bit of a shame as I wanted to try to get
to 10km this week, don't think I am going to manage it now. This will
teach me to go running in the damp without a waterproof.
alternating from hot to cold. Bit of a shame as I wanted to try to get
to 10km this week, don't think I am going to manage it now. This will
teach me to go running in the damp without a waterproof.
In the meantime I have been Reading Joe Friel's book - "The
Triathlete's Training Bible" which is pretty good. A great insight
into the sporting mind. Hoping to use it to keep a training diary
going forward.
Caterham Experience
week. These little things are mental. I could hardly stop it from
spinning out of control it was so fast. Didn't get out of first gear
all day and stank of burned rubber by the end. Amazing experience to
be recomended to anyone.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
So - what is next?
Well - as I have made such an effort to get fit - it seems a shame to waste it now doesn't it? So - I may as well enter a few more races and see if I can't improve my times.
So - here is the list so far and if any of you out there are at the same race - feel free to say Hi...
2008
November 8th - Wedgnock 10km off road run.
2009
January 18th - Wellingborough 5km
February 8th - Wellingborough 5km
March 1st - Wellingborough 10km
March 15th - Adidas Half Marathon at Silverstone
April 4th - Coastal Trail Series - Cornwall 10km
May 10th - Stratford 220 Sprint Triathlon
June 6th and 7th - Blenheim Sprint Triathlon
June 28th - Northampton Sprint Triathlon
July 26th - Trentham Sprint Triathlon
September 27th - Roade Sprint Triathlon
Might add or take away a few - but all these are entered. What the hell was I thinking entering a half marathon!!!
So - here is the list so far and if any of you out there are at the same race - feel free to say Hi...
2008
November 8th - Wedgnock 10km off road run.
2009
January 18th - Wellingborough 5km
February 8th - Wellingborough 5km
March 1st - Wellingborough 10km
March 15th - Adidas Half Marathon at Silverstone
April 4th - Coastal Trail Series - Cornwall 10km
May 10th - Stratford 220 Sprint Triathlon
June 6th and 7th - Blenheim Sprint Triathlon
June 28th - Northampton Sprint Triathlon
July 26th - Trentham Sprint Triathlon
September 27th - Roade Sprint Triathlon
Might add or take away a few - but all these are entered. What the hell was I thinking entering a half marathon!!!
Roade Triathlon Times
Finishing position - 267
Overall time - 01:19:20
Swim - 08:59
Swim Position - 246
Bike - 45:05
Bike Position - 257
Run - 25:19
Run Position - 295
Spring Triathlon:
Swim 400m, Bike 40km, Run 5km
Odd that the swim - my worse discipline - turned out to be my best!
Overall time - 01:19:20
Swim - 08:59
Swim Position - 246
Bike - 45:05
Bike Position - 257
Run - 25:19
Run Position - 295
Spring Triathlon:
Swim 400m, Bike 40km, Run 5km
Odd that the swim - my worse discipline - turned out to be my best!
Roade Triathlon - the fat lad CAN run!
After a fair amount of training this year - and reducing my weight from 15 stone to 12, and my waist from 38 inches to 32 - I found myself at my first Triathlon race in Roade.
But I jump ahead of myself, let me start where this all began, a February just like all the others, but I was heading towards my 40th Birthday and I was finding myself fairly ill a lot of the time. My blood pressure was pushing 190 over 90 some days and frankly I was a heart attack waiting to happen.
Just like many of you I am sure - I was a fully paid up member of an expensive gym and lots of good intentions - but I very rarely went, having no goal or purpose. When I did go - I wasn't sure what I was training for or how to even train.
And so it was that my darling wife decided that she also needed to be a member of a gym - so we joined one at home rather than the one near my work and after introduction sessions decided that we needed a personal trainer. And so it was I met Jesse Martyne at the Virgin Active in Northampton, a better personal trainer you could not want for.
And so it started - the fat lad started to learn to run again, and we set some goals - one of which was a Triathlon towards the end of the year. And so the swimming started as well. A new bike followed and a trainer at home to sit it on and unlike the other times when I went to the gym and had an idea to get fit - this time it stuck - mainly down to a bit of stubbornness and a lot to do with Jesse.
I ran my first 5km race - the Chase Challenge and had a 5km time of 29min and 20 seconds - which was a surprise - I was expecting about 40 mins for the first one. My swimming wasn't going quite so well - 12mins for 400m was my best time - but I could only manage one training session per week - so that was hardly a surprise. The cycling was coming on - but Northamptonshire is a flat place at the best of times and I just wasn't getting enough hill training outside, so I switched to the bike on the trainer and set up the hills on that. Not nearly as much fun as being outside - but good for the legs.
Soon the day of the race came upon me....
The event started early on the Sunday morning, a misty cold and damp morning - with the dark edging in to the mornings these days it was worryingly oppressive. However - the mood lightened as I bumped into a few fellow competitors - those of us turning up this early had put down for a slow swim - my best had previously been a grand 12 minutes - so thats what had been entered on the online form and I joined quite a few others with slow times, many of whom were planning on swimming breaststroke.
The start was delayed - poor visibility due to the heavy mist meant that the course was considered dangerous for the cycling stage. I switched on my iPod and desperately tried to find a quiet place. I'd told myself that the aim was just to finish this - my first race - but the nerves I was feeling showed that I wanted to get under my target time of 1 hour 30 mins. A little Coldplay soon calmed the nerves and it wasn't before long that the start was called and I was taking off my cold weather clothes to strip down to my tri suit,
The pool swim started well - I felt strong - pulling along quite nicely with minimum use of my legs. This part had been the piece of the race I had truly feared. It was however - bloody good fun! So much in fact that I lost count of the lengths and ended up doing an extra two lengths. Getting out of the pool I pressed the lap counter of my watch and glanced down - amazed to find the time under 9 mins - where had that come from?
So - the bike. This should be better - its the bit I enjoy. So I thought. A two lap race circuit on the roads - mixing it up carefully with the other road users. Well - off I went - far too fast of course and soon my legs were on fire. Luckily I had put a bottle of water and a bottle of carb drink on the bike - so I started sipping the carb drink. I'd drank this many a time - made sure that I was used to it - so that there shouldn't be any surprises in the race. Oops. Looks like I made this too strong - as my stomach started cramping up. Quick - drink some water as well, so I starte
d drinking the carb drink followed by the water to make sure the cramps didn't come again. Will have to remember that for next time and be more careful in my morning preparation in future.
I came up to the hill at the end of the first circuit - and saw a long line of riders out of their saddles riding up it. I'm not sure what happened - but my 'just get round and enjoy yourself' attitude just vanished and the red mist descended. I sat in the saddle and pushed as hard as I could up the hill - overtaking all those I could see in front of me. Getting to the top I was almost sick, coughing and retching I carried on along the flat to the start of the second lap. Spotted the photographer - stuck my tongue out as I went past and started feeling better. More carb drink and more water - began to recover from the stupid massive effort up that hill. I heard someone behind me and was soon overtaken by the first person to go past me of the day - there were only to be two more during the rest of the race which was fairly gratifying.
Reaching the last hill of the circuit - I have no idea what happened again - but there I was retching at the top again after powering up and overtaking anyone I could see. Bloomin idiot - but hell, it was great fun. If only I was a bit fitter!
Into transition and onto the run. I could hear people cheering me on - the support at this race was brilliant, the best advert for these races. The best I had previously managed on a 5km run was 29:20 - and certainly not after a swim and a bike ride - so I wasn't hoping for too much and as I turned onto the off road bit I wasn't too hopeful as this course went along the side of a farmers field. It was rough, rutted, muddy and completely uneven. To be honest it was fantastic! Its odd - but the lack of a constant gait favored me I think - it stopped me from thinking about how fast I was running and let me just think about retaining my footing. I spotted one of the guys from near me running in the opposite direction and waved - "Good luck" - he shouted - marvelous atmosphere.
Sprinting into the end of the race - and yes - I really did manage a sprint finish - I found myself bettering my target time by over 10 minutes. Brilliant. Now - when is the next one - I'm hooked....
But I jump ahead of myself, let me start where this all began, a February just like all the others, but I was heading towards my 40th Birthday and I was finding myself fairly ill a lot of the time. My blood pressure was pushing 190 over 90 some days and frankly I was a heart attack waiting to happen.
Just like many of you I am sure - I was a fully paid up member of an expensive gym and lots of good intentions - but I very rarely went, having no goal or purpose. When I did go - I wasn't sure what I was training for or how to even train.
And so it was that my darling wife decided that she also needed to be a member of a gym - so we joined one at home rather than the one near my work and after introduction sessions decided that we needed a personal trainer. And so it was I met Jesse Martyne at the Virgin Active in Northampton, a better personal trainer you could not want for.
And so it started - the fat lad started to learn to run again, and we set some goals - one of which was a Triathlon towards the end of the year. And so the swimming started as well. A new bike followed and a trainer at home to sit it on and unlike the other times when I went to the gym and had an idea to get fit - this time it stuck - mainly down to a bit of stubbornness and a lot to do with Jesse.
I ran my first 5km race - the Chase Challenge and had a 5km time of 29min and 20 seconds - which was a surprise - I was expecting about 40 mins for the first one. My swimming wasn't going quite so well - 12mins for 400m was my best time - but I could only manage one training session per week - so that was hardly a surprise. The cycling was coming on - but Northamptonshire is a flat place at the best of times and I just wasn't getting enough hill training outside, so I switched to the bike on the trainer and set up the hills on that. Not nearly as much fun as being outside - but good for the legs.
Soon the day of the race came upon me....
The event started early on the Sunday morning, a misty cold and damp morning - with the dark edging in to the mornings these days it was worryingly oppressive. However - the mood lightened as I bumped into a few fellow competitors - those of us turning up this early had put down for a slow swim - my best had previously been a grand 12 minutes - so thats what had been entered on the online form and I joined quite a few others with slow times, many of whom were planning on swimming breaststroke.
The start was delayed - poor visibility due to the heavy mist meant that the course was considered dangerous for the cycling stage. I switched on my iPod and desperately tried to find a quiet place. I'd told myself that the aim was just to finish this - my first race - but the nerves I was feeling showed that I wanted to get under my target time of 1 hour 30 mins. A little Coldplay soon calmed the nerves and it wasn't before long that the start was called and I was taking off my cold weather clothes to strip down to my tri suit,
The pool swim started well - I felt strong - pulling along quite nicely with minimum use of my legs. This part had been the piece of the race I had truly feared. It was however - bloody good fun! So much in fact that I lost count of the lengths and ended up doing an extra two lengths. Getting out of the pool I pressed the lap counter of my watch and glanced down - amazed to find the time under 9 mins - where had that come from?
So - the bike. This should be better - its the bit I enjoy. So I thought. A two lap race circuit on the roads - mixing it up carefully with the other road users. Well - off I went - far too fast of course and soon my legs were on fire. Luckily I had put a bottle of water and a bottle of carb drink on the bike - so I started sipping the carb drink. I'd drank this many a time - made sure that I was used to it - so that there shouldn't be any surprises in the race. Oops. Looks like I made this too strong - as my stomach started cramping up. Quick - drink some water as well, so I starte
d drinking the carb drink followed by the water to make sure the cramps didn't come again. Will have to remember that for next time and be more careful in my morning preparation in future.I came up to the hill at the end of the first circuit - and saw a long line of riders out of their saddles riding up it. I'm not sure what happened - but my 'just get round and enjoy yourself' attitude just vanished and the red mist descended. I sat in the saddle and pushed as hard as I could up the hill - overtaking all those I could see in front of me. Getting to the top I was almost sick, coughing and retching I carried on along the flat to the start of the second lap. Spotted the photographer - stuck my tongue out as I went past and started feeling better. More carb drink and more water - began to recover from the stupid massive effort up that hill. I heard someone behind me and was soon overtaken by the first person to go past me of the day - there were only to be two more during the rest of the race which was fairly gratifying.
Reaching the last hill of the circuit - I have no idea what happened again - but there I was retching at the top again after powering up and overtaking anyone I could see. Bloomin idiot - but hell, it was great fun. If only I was a bit fitter!
Into transition and onto the run. I could hear people cheering me on - the support at this race was brilliant, the best advert for these races. The best I had previously managed on a 5km run was 29:20 - and certainly not after a swim and a bike ride - so I wasn't hoping for too much and as I turned onto the off road bit I wasn't too hopeful as this course went along the side of a farmers field. It was rough, rutted, muddy and completely uneven. To be honest it was fantastic! Its odd - but the lack of a constant gait favored me I think - it stopped me from thinking about how fast I was running and let me just think about retaining my footing. I spotted one of the guys from near me running in the opposite direction and waved - "Good luck" - he shouted - marvelous atmosphere.
Sprinting into the end of the race - and yes - I really did manage a sprint finish - I found myself bettering my target time by over 10 minutes. Brilliant. Now - when is the next one - I'm hooked....
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Amazing trip to Italy - Cervinia
Snowboarding in Cervinia last weekend was amazing. Great weather - was 24 degrees on the Friday. Very cold at the top - got a touch of frostbite on my nose - but got sunburn on the 
Friday. Did my first blackrun on the new Ride board. Awsome.
The snow was great - there was a snowfall of about 20 cm on the two days prior to us arriving - then a further 10cm on the Saturday evening. This combined with the sun made for t-shirt type conditions on the Friday.
Friday. Did my first blackrun on the new Ride board. Awsome.The snow was great - there was a snowfall of about 20 cm on the two days prior to us arriving - then a further 10cm on the Saturday evening. This combined with the sun made for t-shirt type conditions on the Friday.
The company was great fun as well - with Ty's mates all turning out to be bloody funny - and everyone made a concerted effort.
The scenery was great too - as you can see from the photos - the visibility was pretty clear. These are all from the Saturday - Friday I didnt take the camera with me - but I'll try to get some off the phone at some stage.
The Matterhorn looked impressive from both sides - and we boarded down to Zermat from the top - down wide open red runs followed by a steep and narrow black - which the buggers didnt tell me about apart from at the bottom a "So - how was your first black run?" question.
The buggers.
The piste was incredibly good - and the wide runs on the Swiss side were really amazing - highly recommended.
And then there were the cafes/bars littering the mountainside. Wow! The food in these was, frankly, some of the best food I have had. Equivalent to some of the nicest London restaurants, but without the pomp and unpleasantries. So friendly and forthcoming. Good beer too - and the warm mulled wine was great.
All together a great weekend.
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