Thursday Morning Training

Its quite depressing when you find that you are of an age where a couple of pints the night before have such a profound effect on you the next morning that you simply don’t want to do any exercise. I hit that issue today.

Waking up at 5am to a -4C temperature outside didn’t do my enthusiasm any good whatsoever, but I found myself lethargic to say the least and the prospect of pulling on the running gear for a run to work just filled me with a certain amount of dread which didn’t dissipate when I looked out of the window to see a frosted up car and knew I was going to have to scrape the windows in order to drive to the station. So instead I just got dressed for work and decided to walk from the station to the office in London and hopefully make it to the gym later.

I’m hoping this lethargy doesn’t last all day and that my head will clear a bit – looks like I will have to start settling for orange juice at the pub in future if I am to meet the training regime I have set myself.

There are some days when getting older isn’t much joy….

 

Tuesday evenings lack of training

In true amateur style I nursed both my knee and a couple of pints at
the pub with some fellow trainee triathletes for a few hours after
work this evening. So that's it for today. Another official rest day.
Let's hope for a better performance tomorrow! I shan't hold my breath!

Wednesday Training

I am frankly struggling to train today. Real life keeps getting in the
way if you like with work starting at 7am and a sore knee I just
haven't got a run in. On top of this I now have meetings late into the
evening so even the evening ride on the trainer is looking unlikely.

Perhaps an extra rest day would do my knew some good but it makes me
nervous every time I miss a session.

Hopefully I can get a good long run in tomorrow without any snow!

Tuesday Training

Tuesday Training Plan:

4km run to work, slow pace.

Actual: 5km run in 29 mins.

I ended up working from home today - so I went for a run in the evening instead of the morning, and it was in the snow again. The pavements were covered in snow and ice - and rather than running in the trail shoes which were wet, I went out in a pair of road shoes. Wow - they were all over the place and I ended up with a sore right knee and a very sore stomach. Almost felt as if I had pulled my stomach muscles from trying to hold myself up. Core muscles working overtime.

Quite enjoyed the run - the average pace was something like 5.5 mins per km - which was very comfortable - could have carried on quite happily if my knee hadnt been so sore. The plan for running tomorrow is probably out of the window - I think I had better rest the knee.

My New Suunto t6c watch/HR monitor/Training aid!

It is all these things and more!

So - I broke my watch strap on my very expensive Polar watch which I had had for a while - and the stupid thing is - you cannot get a replacement! How can that be! Are Polar total mad or is this a ploy plain and simple to get you to buy more Polar watches? Well whatever - it backfired. After I found that my RS800D strap is unlike all other straps and Polar don't make a replacement for the moment - I decided to ditch polar in favour of some other brand.

A while ago, my wife bought me a Suunto watch that had a compass on it, an altimeter etc. Its been around for ages, still works, nothing has dropped off it, its generally bombproof - I have been in 3 bike crashes wearing it including one where it was dragged accross the tarmac - and there seems to be nothing that you can do to it that stops it - short of taking the battery out.

So - I thought this brand might fare better than the disintegrating Polar.

Wow - good call!

So - I'm not going to go into a full review of the watch - there are references below for you to look at - but I'll give my brief overall impression after using it for a few months.

1. The interface works as well as the Polar. It has 3 lines that you can interchange with what they display and cycle through one of them on the fly as well.
2. The training aids such as EPOC and Training Effect are very useful for a visual guide of how hard you are working.
3. The PC software is great - it does pretty much everything you want to do for analysis - it is missing the planning side but there are other tools for that I guess.
4. There are loads of components that fit with this watch: FootPod (works a treat and I use this in the main), GPS (actually pretty good - much quicker positioning than the Polar equivalent), A comfy chest strap for the HR functions and also a harder one with its own internal memory for use when swimming (this is great if you are Tri training as you get your proper HR in the pool and can merge it with any lap data and time data from the watch afterwards in the software), Bike Pod - speed etc and I even think there is a cadence one...

I'm quite impressed with this watch and it was especially useful in my last 5km running race where I wanted to monitor my pace to ensure I finished under a certain time. Great flexibility and it doesnt look too bad either.

Recommended.

References:
You Tube Video of this watch - well worth a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtXixXgcVpM
Suunto Home Page for this watch:
http://www.suunto.com/suunto/Worlds/main/world_article_normal_no_ATL.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198674002869

Useful tools

Since I have stopped with the personal training - I have decided that I need to keep a log of all the training I do. I have looked around at a whole load of different tools on the market - and the best and easiest I can find (as long as you don't want long technical Joe Friel type planning) is Fitness Journal: http://www.fitnessjournal.org/ - I have been ever so impressed by it - but would be happy to hear of anyone who has looked at other tools. This one is fairly inexpensive and allows you to log everything and also enter some basic training planning etc. It also allows you to track calorific intake and expenditure etc....

Worth taking a look at.

This weeks Training Plan

Monday:
Rest Day

Tuesday:
4 km run to work, slow and easy pace.

Wednesday:
5km run to work, skow and easy pace.
20km Bike ride, stationary trainer.

Thursday:
5km run to work, faster pace, some interval training for last 2 km - fast pace for 1 min followed by 2 mins slow pace, repeat until 2 miles is complete.

Friday:
Gym - core work. 45 mins.

Saturday:
10km Run - slow and easy for endurance.
Swim 1500m in the pool slow and easy. No drills.

Sunday:
Gym - core work. 45 mins.
Bike - stationary trainer - 40 mins with hills.

Wellingborough Multi-terrain 5km Race No 2.

The second in the series of 5km off road runs - and this one was in the Snow!
Yep - we still had snow on the ground and it was cold, bright and very slippery.

I set my watch to note what pace I was doing. I wanted to get inside 25 mins - so was looking for a pace of 5min/km on the watch.

The horn sounded and several hundred of us ran off in the snow into what became a very fast and hard fought race. I was very surprised to see so many people running in normal trainers - how they manager to stay standing I will never know. I managed to overtake many of these on the hills where my trail shoes had better traction, but by half way around - keeping this pace - my HR was at 170 and I was feeling worse for wear.

At the half way point - the course essentially heads back round to the start and what had been predominately uphill at this point became downhill. My HR went down (a little - it was still pretty high) and I started managing to keep my pace a little easier.


Overtaking at this point became very difficult - we were now running on almost singletrack as the field had spread out and had created a small trodden path through the drifts of snow. This was very different to the start that had wide compacted areas - see the photo of the author (left). This meant that whenever you wanted to overtake - you needed to run out into the thinker snow expending a lot more effort to overtake the person in front. I started to struggle - especially as the height started to increase again and decided to settle into my stride behind one individual who I essentially followed to the end of the race.

I managed a very respectable 24:03 - which I was very happy about in the conditions - and came 13th overall - which I was over the moon about.

This is the last of the 5km races I am running in - the next is a 10km and that actually feels like a pretty big step up to me at the moment. I'm certainly not looking forward to the up coming half marathon in March.....

More updates to follow...

End of personal training

Unfortunately, due to finances this year, I have had to stop the personal training sessions with Jesse at Virgin Active. This was such a difficult decision to make. He is blooming brilliant and frankly has made such a difference to me over the last 6 months.
Today was the last session - and I ache like hell afterwards. He may have been making a point!

Race Update - Wellingborough Multi Terrain 5km - Jan 18th

My first ever 5km race. Ok - I had done 5km in my first triathlon - but never on its own in a race - and off road as well....

It had rained the night before - and the conditions underfoot were very muddy.

HR was very high throughout the race - possibly due to the hard traning session yesterday. I had aching legs and bum all the way around (and prior to the race). My personal Trainer - Jesse - at Virgin Active had given me a full work out with single leg squats etc. so I was very sore.

I had quite a bit left in the tank at the end - but at about 3km I had pains in my left shoulder and chest - felt like I had pulled a muscle or was over doing it after the long swim yesterday (I did this after the training session with Jesse!)

I looked at the watch when passing the finish line - was sure it said 24 mins - but looking at the data it may be more like 26 mins - which is disappointing as it would be slower than the 5km after the triathlon.

Still - I could go faster - just make sure that I taper the training properly or at least do the correct build up.

Need to get the training diary out again and start filling it in.

Probably need to look at more farlek training etc for the running.

So - not to bad for the opening race of the season - and certainly plenty to improve on.

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. :-)

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.

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.

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

Phil Page and I went to Silverstone for a Caterham day on Friday last
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.

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!!!

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!

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 started 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....

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.

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.

Reflections

Just back from snowboarding in italy

LinkedIn ID

Another mad idea!

Looks like a few of us are going to try to do the Hebridean Challenge next year: http://www.hebrideanchallenge.com/index.shtml

There are 5 of us - and it looks like I am going to be the kayaker - so I need to go from Novice to 4* Sea Kayak rated in less than 12 months. Pretty sure that is a tall order! Anyone out there have any advice?

Have my first lesson on Tuesday evening - will let you know how it goes if I don't drown!