TriathlonMike «

Well Sunday saw me complete the Bedford Half marathon in a personal best chip time of 1h43:52! Yippee!

The day started off badly with me not getting up at 0645 like I had planned but only dragging myself out of bed at 0715. I had planned to leave home by 0730, but was clearly running late before I had even managed a shower. I was very tempted not to go. I was out the door at around 0745 only to be called by work (I was on call) about some problem that turned out to be due to planned changes. Anyway I only left home at 0810. 40 mins late. Long story short I eventually got to the bag drop area (after missing my motorway junction- don’t ask…) about 1 min before the race start. The race had started once I got back to the start line.

Anyway I managed to make up a good number of places in the first mile and even stayed on my 8 min mile target. Race was going well for the first few miles until the wind picked up and brought some drizzle. Not too bad I thought… until the rain came. And boy did it pour down. Combined with the wind the rain drops were stinging my face. Anyway having had a training session in these conditions I figured I’d cope and just head onwards. Shoes squelching and shirt clinging I trundled on.

I felt quite strong going up the hill leading to the final descent from around mile 8 or 9. I was going quite well for most of the race and feeling ok even though a number of the runners I passed were puffing and panting heavily.

The last mile did me in though. Up until mile marker 12 I was feeling comfortable (albeit very cold and wet) and relatively pain free. Past mile maker 12 however, my hamstrings started to give up and my pace dropped off. The last mile was closer to a 9 min mile, compared to a steady 8 min for most of the other apart from mile 10 which I managed a 7 min mile, unfortunately. I did finish and eventually hobbled back to the car.

I was cold and my legs were sore and I was tired. Not a good combination. Anyway car heater on with dry clothes did help but my lunch at a motor way services with a coke and a coffee definitely got me on the mend.

Right now my legs are still sore. More so than from Palma and Nottingham. I do wonder if the cold weather played a part in my legs not feeling so good, or maybe it was the lack of a warm up prior to the race. Either way, I’m pleased with my time but am surprised by the pain!

Well the last two weeks have been fairly quiet on the training front. Have just been missing the motivation and dedication. Maybe a tad tired?

Anyway, here are the sessions. 25th Nov- swim training, 28th 30min swim, 45 min cycling machine and 45 min treadmill. 29th 45 min swim, 1 hour Z1 on cycling machine. 30th 35 min run before work.

3 Dec, last of 8 swim lessons. 6 Dec 30 min swim with 45 min cycling machine, 10 min elliptical and 5 min on treadmill.

As I said, two weeks of relatively little training 🙁

Hmm, well a not perfect week of training this week. Monday was my swimming course. Tuesday had an hour run scheduled, but I actually did 30 mins on the cross trainer and 30 mins on the treadmill. Wednesday was 45 mins on the cycling machine and 15 mins on the treadmill. Thursday and Friday didnt have any training done. Sigh.

Saturday I managed 2h30 on the cycling machine and then 12 mins on the treadmill. The 12 mins on the treadmill were not too back in terms of lead-legs but I was quite tired after the cycle. The cycle was tiring and borning sitting in one place for the whole time.

yes sleet- tonight I went for my hour run outside in the rain… along the way I wondered what the sharp stings were- I worked it out pretty quick though! SLEET. Anyway the run was pretty good overall. Seems I have the layering thing right, apart from my gloves which are quite clearly not water proof. They got wet and cool quite quickly in the rain, but were still warmer than not having them. Two of my Canary Wharf laps and I was done and heading for the warmth of my shower!

Thursday got an hour’s spinning session at 65-75% MHR after a enjoyable and productive swim session. Think I may have been getting the catch and pull correct along with maybe getting the hang of better rolling. Managed to fit in an hours run before work on Friday!

Fingers crossed I manage to get a full week of training in this week!!

This morning’s session didn’t start off well… turns out I had forgotten my towel and my HRM… sigh. I figure I need to start of list of lists that I need. IE: things for gym, things for swimming, things for tri’s etc etc…

This morning I did a 45 minute session on the cycling machine (around an estimated 75-80% MHR) and then a 20 minute run (again, around 75-80% MHR).

Anyway, yesterday afternoon I did a swim session after work. Wasn’t brilliant but better than nothing.

Might try pop out for a quick swim if I can, otherwise that will have to be tomorrow before work…

Well tonight is another swim lesson. Hopefully more improvement too 🙂

Did a swim yesterday of about 35 minutes and then an hour run. A slightly easier pace twice around my Canary Wharf route taking roughly 57 minutes as opposed to the 50-ish minutes when I push the pace; this equates to around a 6min/km as opposed to 5min/km. I really need to be able to get my “fast” or speed sessions down to 4:30/km (or even better…)

Well this week, like last week, has been far too light in terms of training. Mostly this was due to work having a mega-crisis that I got dragged into and also a friend’s birthday which resulted in a trip to the pub ruling out training for the day…

Monday was the swim lesson. Slow progress is being made. Not sure how to best progress my lack of swimming expertise. Thursday afternoon included a short swim session, but I just didn’t feel in the groove – and the pool was full of people mucking around irritating me 🙂 I did manage to fit in a hour’s run in the evening after work. It was chilly in the evening and I ran with a long sleeve top on. I might need to start running with something more than just shorts on my legs. My legs were cold and I had twinges in my calves and achiles (both of which I don’t normally experience) that I suspect could be due to the cold… anyone know if this might be the case?

Today I managed a 15 or so minute swim session and a 1h45 session on the cycle machine. Swim was cut short to get the full cycle session in before the gym closed. Tomorrow I will, hopefully, manage to do a swim and weights session in the morning and then an hour or so run in the afternoon.

I’ve been thinking of ways to avoid “life” delaying training sessions and I figure that swim/gym/running sessions before work is the answer. Of course that means getting up and out in the cold winter mornings… well the do say “no pain no gain”… wish me luck!

Well this week hasn’t been good training-wise. Did not manage to get as much training done as planned – busy week in so many ways. Basically the swim lesson on Monday was enjoyable and educational, did a run of about 35 minutes before work on Tuesday, a swim sesson on Wednesday, a weights session Thursday morning, two laps of my 5.1km Canary Wharf route (managing a negative split!!) and then Friday morning was a swim session before work. Saturday afternoon consisted of a 1h30 cycle session and a 15 min treadmill run during which my legs were not wanting to run…. gotta do more brick sessions!!!

Today has been a lazy day so this coming week will have to be a full training load…

Well this morning’s Jekyll and Hyde Duathlon went well. It was a chilly start with a few spots of drizzle. 142 people started and 137 finished.

The first run leg set off with a blistering pace and I was quickly relegated to the rear half of the field, finishing ranked 98th. Run1 consisted of two laps around the Serpentine for a total distance of 8km. My HR was around 90-94% max the whole way.

The bike kicked off well – it was 6 (that’s 1 2 3 4 5 6!!!) laps totalling 19.5km. I managed to keep up a good pace along the way, and overtaking more people than were overtaking me, while counting the laps. I got to lap 6 or was it only lap 5? So I wasn’t sure if I skipped lap 5. So not wanting to be disqualified I threw in another lap. Based on the splits and the fact I dropped to 120th rank in the bike section I’m convinced I did 7 laps 🙁 What an idiot!! (If I remove roughly 1/7th of the bike leg – about 6 mins I’d have ranked about 80th in the bike and then I’d have jumped to around 87th or so over all). The only really scary moment of the bike was on lap 1 went I went into the turn into North Carriage Drive slightly fast and nearly lost it… The front tyre started skidding out from under me, but somehow managed to pull it back under control- that corner got much respect after that! Again HR was up at around 90% of max.

Anyway the second run leg was painful with a couple of twinges of cramp in the calves which I managed to trundle through and was ranked 95th on the run2 time . HR was again hovering around 90% of max, but I did see it dip down to 88%.

Overall I posted a time of 1h41:27 with an overall rank of 109. My max HR was high, very high, and I’m surprised I could sustain it for as long as I did… Anyway, my legs are achy now and I’m feeling a lot more knackered than last weekend!

Run 1 (8km) : 36:01 (Ranked 98th) (4:30/km)
T1 + Bike + T2 (19.5km) : 47:24 (Ranked 120th) (24.6km/h)
Run 2 (4.2km) : 18:02 (Ranked 95th) (4:18/km)
Total: 1h41:27 (Ranked 109th)

Lessons learnt:

learn to count and concentrate on the lap counting
take corners with less pace in the wet
practice tri-shoes and transitions
sort out the HRM/foot pod/bike speedo. GPS? *
Incorporate some anaerobic (HR at around 90% max) training for these shorter distance events

* The foot pod pace was totally off. The bike speedo didn’t work or didn’t link with the bike. I bumped the stop watch so don’t have any HR data past the first lap

Well yesterday’s weights session before work and a 45 minute gym based bike/run brick session at lunch has left me somewhat achy today. Oh well, no pain no gain eh? Today should consist of a swim session and a spinning session of 45 mins – not sure if Ill get to do the swim at lunch time, but I hope I do – less time needed after work!

Sunday is going to be an early start – and chilly! The race route has been changed and the longer run is now before the bike session. It’s going to be interesting as the bike course is quite technical – lots of dead turns and speed bumps along the way. Not quite sure what time to expect, but the times from last year’s race are very fast!!

TriathlonMike

Bedford half – new PB!

quick roundup

Hmmm

rain, shine or sleet…

I need a list of lists…

swim like a fish…

And life gets in the way, AGAIN!

week update…

If only I could count

Aches