First off its a good time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas (not a Happy Christmas as seems to be the trend these days)
I've been plugging away at mud in Delamere Forest for a good few weeks now and thoroughly enjoying getting down and dirty on a Saturday morning.
Since passing my Level 1 coaching I have been taking on some of the swim sessions for Warrington Tri club, the feedback so far seems to be positive.
And for additional punishment I have signed up to the Level 2 course starting in Jan.
The year will end for me with a race on Boxing Day. The Chester Round the Wall 5 miler, a great way to see out the year I think.
So, thank you for reading the blog if you have been following me this year, it's been eventful and I hope that 2015 is successful for us all.
See you out there.
Chris.
Tuesday, 23 December 2014
Friday, 14 November 2014
End of season ramblings and musings
I finished off the tri season with two events, the Sandman Triathlon on Angelsey in September and the 1485 No Frills Sprint Duathlon in October.
Both were good events for their own different reasons. Sandman, is a cracking location and we were blessed with good weather, flat calm sea and lumpy but scenic bike course and a lovely off road run to finish (well, lovely apart from that sand dune).
The duathlon by contrast was a typical autumn morning, with fog covering the course. I had a very good and amazing bike ride (6th fastest) and only lost a couple of places on the second run, probably one of my better performances all year.
So how to sum up 2014.
It was my first year under full coaching and overall I believe a great success thanks to the work of Lady Laura Grady and her ever watchful eye keeping me in check and stopping me from doing to much. I felt I could have performed better at the Rubicon Middle, more work to do on making me run quicker off the bike.
I started in the world of coaching myself and on the 8th November passed my Level 1 coaching badge with Triathlon England.
Circuit classes have started with Warrington Tri, with Carl Loftus giving us a weekly beasting with various strength exercises designed to make us stronger but make us cry at the same time.
There is plenty left to do this year, with a few cross country races to do and and race around Chester's walls on Boxing Day.
Planning for 2015 is under way (well it has been for a while to be honest and much to Laura's amusement I have events for 2016 in mind already as well). But for now, 2015 will include the Four Villages Half Marathon in Jan, Slateman in May, Outlaw Half in June, a/another middle distance tri in August, Sandman in September and finally Challenge Paguera Mallorca in October.
Yes, that is three middle distance tris next year, this could be a disaster, but whatever happens it will be an adventure and one worth being part of. Bring it on.
Both were good events for their own different reasons. Sandman, is a cracking location and we were blessed with good weather, flat calm sea and lumpy but scenic bike course and a lovely off road run to finish (well, lovely apart from that sand dune).
The duathlon by contrast was a typical autumn morning, with fog covering the course. I had a very good and amazing bike ride (6th fastest) and only lost a couple of places on the second run, probably one of my better performances all year.
So how to sum up 2014.
It was my first year under full coaching and overall I believe a great success thanks to the work of Lady Laura Grady and her ever watchful eye keeping me in check and stopping me from doing to much. I felt I could have performed better at the Rubicon Middle, more work to do on making me run quicker off the bike.
I started in the world of coaching myself and on the 8th November passed my Level 1 coaching badge with Triathlon England.
Circuit classes have started with Warrington Tri, with Carl Loftus giving us a weekly beasting with various strength exercises designed to make us stronger but make us cry at the same time.
There is plenty left to do this year, with a few cross country races to do and and race around Chester's walls on Boxing Day.
Planning for 2015 is under way (well it has been for a while to be honest and much to Laura's amusement I have events for 2016 in mind already as well). But for now, 2015 will include the Four Villages Half Marathon in Jan, Slateman in May, Outlaw Half in June, a/another middle distance tri in August, Sandman in September and finally Challenge Paguera Mallorca in October.
Yes, that is three middle distance tris next year, this could be a disaster, but whatever happens it will be an adventure and one worth being part of. Bring it on.
Tuesday, 7 October 2014
Rubicon Middle Distance 31st August - hard day at the office
The second of my middle distance races this year and my last A race.
I travelled up on Saturday afternoon, about hour 3/4 but thankfully no dramas on the roads for a change. I was on my own for this one as Gail has not been well. This also meant I was more relaxed as I didn't have Jasper to contend with either.
Registration was a simple affair so I was able to pitch up the tent and my new folding bed and then have a good look around the transition area and also the run up from the swim exit to T1 (quite a long one as it happened). A dip of the hand in the water and the temperature wasn't too bad, certainly no colder than Pennington has been the last few weeks. I also took a drive through to the village nearby where the 3 bike laps would split so I could get an idea of that part of the course that the organiser was keen to make sure we all understood to save any confusion on race day.There was a catering van on site so dinner was tuna pasta bake whilst I sat and watched a film on the tablet, it was then off to bed. Alarm was set for 5 and I slept through till about 4ish before stirring, but felt like I had slept well.
Next stop was the catering van for porridge and a coffee and then had to go and collect the timing chip from registration. I prepared drinks and loaded the transition bag and wandered down to rack the bike. Bike on the rack I then went and checked the swim in/bike out/bike in/run out so I was clear where I was. It was at one end of the racking so easy to find. The racking was very tight on space and it was a common comment I could hear all around from many competitors, but fortunately I don't have a lot of gear. Bike was popped into a high gear and shoes and lacky bands readied for flying bike mount. We had a briefing with all the usual standard stuff, then we had a 15 minute walk down to the swim start further up the river.
I got in the water quickly and kept moving, it was ok temperature wise, but it did take a long time for all athletes to get in the water which was a pain, and due to the flow those of us at the front kept drifting. I seeded myself slap bang in the middle of the river for best flow and on the front line. Eventually we got set off and it was into the 10 hard strokes before breathing, a few more hard strokes and then settled into a steady pace. I tried to draft as much as possible, but found it hard to drop on a pair of feet that didn't then disappear due to questionable navigational skills. Probably about half way through the swim I took a kick to the goggles by one of the drifting swimmers, but aside from me turning the air blue with some inappropriate language the goggles stayed on and I settled back in with only a small amount of water in the left lens. You actually pass the finish on this swim and continue downstream before turning and heading back up 200m against the flow. Turn at the buoy was fine and I stayed towards the bank as much as possible to mitigate the flow. It was a deep water exit onto a wooden platform, though there were helpers and I was out with no issues. It was then a ~400m run to T1, it was sligtly uphill and towards Newby Hall itself through the gardens before turning off through the bushes. I could see a girl in front of me struggling to find her wetsuit cord, so caught up with her and pulled it down (she was grateful). Thankfully they have carpeted the route as one of the paths we ran on was pea gravel.
Into T1 and wetsuit off, helmet on and then ran out with the bike to the mount line. Flying mount went a little wayward and nearly drifted into a guy next to me, but got it back under control and then I was off, eventually getting feet into shoes with no problems once I was rolling. I was carrying 4 gels (one in reserve) and the bottle mounted in between the tri bars. The course was a 2 big loops of 40k and 1 small loop of 7k.
Initially it was through country lanes before a small climb through Kirby Hill and then out onto the A roads. These were fast flowing wide A roads with good surface and it was easy to get down on the bars. The first loop went without incident and I was passed but also passed plenty of people myself, keeping it in zone 3 and sipping from the bottle (Hi 5 energy). The bike course loops back through Newby Hall and it is there they have the bike aid station. I grabbed a bottle of energy drink and as I road back out of the Hall ground I topped up my main bottle. Somewhere along the way into Lap 2 for some unknown reason the arm rest of the clip on tri-bars sheared off (too much power being applied I guess (lol)). As such all I had to balance my arm on was the two bolts that hold the arm rest in place.
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This was extremely uncomfortable for the remainder of the bike and in the end I was balancing my left elbow on the pad and crossing my hand over to rest on top of my other hand. Lap 2 also saw an increase in the wind speed and the once fast flowing sections became in some cases a bit of a battle of wills against the headwinds. Once back into the lanes it was a little more sheltered and it was then through the Hall for the end of Lap 2. I ignored the feed station as there was only a 7k lap to do and this was quickly despatched. My flying dismount on the other hand was less than successful, and couldn't lever my leg round for some reason, so just came to a halt and stepped off the bike. The run into T2 felt fine, no obvious issues. Bike racked, helmet off and I sat down to don socks and shoes, grabbed my cap and away I went.
This was extremely uncomfortable for the remainder of the bike and in the end I was balancing my left elbow on the pad and crossing my hand over to rest on top of my other hand. Lap 2 also saw an increase in the wind speed and the once fast flowing sections became in some cases a bit of a battle of wills against the headwinds. Once back into the lanes it was a little more sheltered and it was then through the Hall for the end of Lap 2. I ignored the feed station as there was only a 7k lap to do and this was quickly despatched. My flying dismount on the other hand was less than successful, and couldn't lever my leg round for some reason, so just came to a halt and stepped off the bike. The run into T2 felt fine, no obvious issues. Bike racked, helmet off and I sat down to don socks and shoes, grabbed my cap and away I went.
There was some water on the way out which I grabbed a cup for cooling me off rather than drinking and settled into zone 2 as instructed. The run is 4 loops all passing through Newby Hall and of 5k in length. the run starts flat and then there is a small dip and rise up to the first kilometre marker. It was as I approached the top of the rise and the 1k board that I started to feel a cramping sensation in my left quad. This was odd and not something I had experienced in racing before. I stopped briefly, crouched down with my feet under me to stretch it out. I stood and started off again and this seemed to have worked. There was a slight twinge as I neared km2 but it didn't flair up as it had before and was fine for the remainder of the run. What did become apparent during the 1st lap was that increasing the pace was almost going to be a non starter. Even level 2 felt like a hard slog and I began to wonder if I would even be capable of finishing the event. Eventually I reached the aid station back at Newby Hall and took a bottle of water for cooling purposes along with a gel. I walked through the aid station and out the other side I drifted into a run, but the required lift to level 3 just wasn't happening, I just didn't feel that there was anything there to give beyond where I was at.
I think this pic sums up my run quite well
The km's ticked by slowly and I occasionally took a short walking break and slowly I at least started to feel a little more alive, but the pace remained the same. At the aid station for the second time I took on some coke, gel and water for cooling and proceeded to lap 3. The heat on the run had been quite hard and the car temperature gauge later had shown 25 degrees. Around 3k into lap 3 I started to get some camps in the stomach, nothing severe and certainly manageable. I guessed at either the gel or coke causing this. Reaching the aid station at the end of Lap 3 I knew it was 1 lap of 5k left and no matter what I was finishing this. I took on 2 cups of coke and again some water for cooling and then set about the last lap, also determined that I would not walk any of the last lap. I was ever hopeful that I would feel like I had enough to up the pace, but it just never came and whilst the last 400m might have been a bit more energetic as far as I can tell, the whole run was done in level 2.
I think this pic sums up my run quite well
The km's ticked by slowly and I occasionally took a short walking break and slowly I at least started to feel a little more alive, but the pace remained the same. At the aid station for the second time I took on some coke, gel and water for cooling and proceeded to lap 3. The heat on the run had been quite hard and the car temperature gauge later had shown 25 degrees. Around 3k into lap 3 I started to get some camps in the stomach, nothing severe and certainly manageable. I guessed at either the gel or coke causing this. Reaching the aid station at the end of Lap 3 I knew it was 1 lap of 5k left and no matter what I was finishing this. I took on 2 cups of coke and again some water for cooling and then set about the last lap, also determined that I would not walk any of the last lap. I was ever hopeful that I would feel like I had enough to up the pace, but it just never came and whilst the last 400m might have been a bit more energetic as far as I can tell, the whole run was done in level 2.
I was a bit of a mess across the line and it took a good hour and half before I started to feel normal again.
Tuesday, 26 August 2014
Oooops that wasn't on the plan
Fortunately I was most of the way through the fourth and last interval when then was a sudden bang and the back of the bike began wobbling rather precariously.
The bang indicated a sudden blow out, the cause was somewhat surprising, a long strip of the rim had broken away completely.
With the bead of the tyre now free there was not point changing the tube so I had to ride the remaining 7k back to the car on a totally flat tyre. Quite how I managed to do this without falling off was most surprising
23rd August - Withington Wheelers 10M TT
Saturday afternoon was my second and final time trial of the year om the J2/1 course near Macclesfield. It's a simple course with a couple of roundabouts to negotiate, but not necessarily the quickest either. I did plenty of warm up and then lined up ready. It was basically a hard effort for the whole thing, though the head wind on the way out didn't make it the easiest of rides either.
By the time if crossed the finish line, my lungs were ready to burst through my chest and the quads were burning, so I was certainly glad it was over.
Finishing time was 25:49, so whilst not the slowest there is definitely room for improvement and I will be looking to do a few more TT's next year as part of the build up for my events.
This coming weekend on the 31st will be my second middle distance race of the year and since my comeback. I think I am ready, I'm not putting any expectations on myself other than to finish as well as I can. It will also represent 2 years since I started back in triathlon so keep an eye on the blog for my race report and review of the last 2 years.
Monday, 25 August 2014
August 9th - Eirias Standard + Triathlon
I'll start by saying that this is a good, well run event and sadly was impacted in numbers due to the Championship race at Liverpool that was on the day after.
My weekend started with a ridiculous 4 hour drive to get to our caravan in Prestatyn. A lorry had downed some power cables across a dual carriageway just off the M56 and the subsequent diversion was a bloody nightmare. I had intended to register the night before and go for a bus tour of the bike route, but was that tired and stressed from the drive I knocked that on the head and just relaxed.
So it was an early start on Saturday morning, but there was little stress on arrival as registration was quick and easy housed in the Eiris watersports centre. I should state that in the Standard + (the + being a longer than normal bike course) had only 30 entrants and by the end several had dropped out so it was a small field. The Middle Distance had about 85 entries.
The swim was a simple out and back 2 lap affair following a line of bouys out into the bay and an angle from the beach. It was choppy, but not to severe and generally I enjoyed the swim, mind you there were a couple of occasions that I nearly hit the bouys I was holding such a tight line. I managed to find a pair of feet to draft and it worked well for a change. Time to the timing mat was 28:50 so pretty happy and subsequent
check of data I had the swim as 1800m on the Garmin so there is a good chance that it was long.
Through to T1 and I was moving quickly, sadly I made an error that even now I am somewhat dumbfounded by. It wasn't a case of not doing the helmet up before I removed the bike. I didn't actually put the helmet at all!!!! Being stopped at the exit of transition it didn't even register at first that I hadn't got a helmet on. I can only surmise that because it had been knocked off my handlebars and was on the floor along with other peoples gear that I hadn't seen it. So it was that I had to run back to get it and then set off properly. Over the mount line I was doing the flying start again and it went well. I exited the car park before thinking about putting my feet in the shoes properly.
The first 10k of the course basically climbs it's way up and whilst not steep is a good slog.
I'd passed a couple of guys early on and then sat in and span my way as best I could up the climb.
Once to the top of the ridge the course evened out and it was a nice ride across the ridge line before dropping nicely down into the valley below for a nice fast section of riding.
There were a couple more climbs on the course though nothing to serious, the major issue on the back end of the course was the headwinds that were whipping in from the Irish Sea. The only annoying aspect to the ride was coming back into the centre for transition to find several cars trying to park that were effectively blocking the route to the dismount line. Safely negotiated it was a good flying exit from the bike and I surprisingly felt good running into T2. Bike time 1:51:14
Again a nice quick transition and a sprightly jump off a set of steps onto the promenade and the run course I was feeling bouyant. It's fair to say that at this stage I had no idea where I was with regard to the others in the race so as I trundled down the run course it was around 2.5k in that the 1st place triathlete passed me on his way to the finish, I clapped him past in recognition of his efforts. The heat of the day was building but I kept slogging away, becoming more bemused why no one else was in sight behind 1st place. It was some time before 2nd and 3rd appeared and it also at this point became apparent to me that I was actually a reasonable way up the field. It was inevitable that I would be passed on the run at some point and indeed not far out from the turnaround point I was passed by a guy I had taken on the bike. What I subsequently worked out was that as he came passed following the turnaround was that I was in 6th place!!!
Could I possibly hold onto my place? It was 5k back the heat was up, there was a head wind and a couple of small climbs to negotiate. The heart rate was gradually climbing as the average pace went down and the last 1k was a hard effort.
I think the pic shows how hard I had been working and I was across the line in 53:08 and a final time of 3:15:20.
It was a great event and I will highly recommend it to anyone.
Next year they intend to move the date to September to try and boost numbers and all being well there is a good chance I will be back.
The most disappointing thing....................I won my age group and wasn't there to claim my prize. It never occurred to me that I would have won a prize. What a doughnut.
Results can be found here :- http://www.xtramileevents.com/files/9414/0774/9560/Eirias_Triathlon_Results_2014_Provisional.xls
Next up is a 10M TT and then the Rubicon Middle Distance at the end of August (in what will be 2 years since I started back on my triathlon journey).
My weekend started with a ridiculous 4 hour drive to get to our caravan in Prestatyn. A lorry had downed some power cables across a dual carriageway just off the M56 and the subsequent diversion was a bloody nightmare. I had intended to register the night before and go for a bus tour of the bike route, but was that tired and stressed from the drive I knocked that on the head and just relaxed.
So it was an early start on Saturday morning, but there was little stress on arrival as registration was quick and easy housed in the Eiris watersports centre. I should state that in the Standard + (the + being a longer than normal bike course) had only 30 entrants and by the end several had dropped out so it was a small field. The Middle Distance had about 85 entries.
The swim was a simple out and back 2 lap affair following a line of bouys out into the bay and an angle from the beach. It was choppy, but not to severe and generally I enjoyed the swim, mind you there were a couple of occasions that I nearly hit the bouys I was holding such a tight line. I managed to find a pair of feet to draft and it worked well for a change. Time to the timing mat was 28:50 so pretty happy and subsequent
Through to T1 and I was moving quickly, sadly I made an error that even now I am somewhat dumbfounded by. It wasn't a case of not doing the helmet up before I removed the bike. I didn't actually put the helmet at all!!!! Being stopped at the exit of transition it didn't even register at first that I hadn't got a helmet on. I can only surmise that because it had been knocked off my handlebars and was on the floor along with other peoples gear that I hadn't seen it. So it was that I had to run back to get it and then set off properly. Over the mount line I was doing the flying start again and it went well. I exited the car park before thinking about putting my feet in the shoes properly.
The first 10k of the course basically climbs it's way up and whilst not steep is a good slog.
I'd passed a couple of guys early on and then sat in and span my way as best I could up the climb.
There were a couple more climbs on the course though nothing to serious, the major issue on the back end of the course was the headwinds that were whipping in from the Irish Sea. The only annoying aspect to the ride was coming back into the centre for transition to find several cars trying to park that were effectively blocking the route to the dismount line. Safely negotiated it was a good flying exit from the bike and I surprisingly felt good running into T2. Bike time 1:51:14
Again a nice quick transition and a sprightly jump off a set of steps onto the promenade and the run course I was feeling bouyant. It's fair to say that at this stage I had no idea where I was with regard to the others in the race so as I trundled down the run course it was around 2.5k in that the 1st place triathlete passed me on his way to the finish, I clapped him past in recognition of his efforts. The heat of the day was building but I kept slogging away, becoming more bemused why no one else was in sight behind 1st place. It was some time before 2nd and 3rd appeared and it also at this point became apparent to me that I was actually a reasonable way up the field. It was inevitable that I would be passed on the run at some point and indeed not far out from the turnaround point I was passed by a guy I had taken on the bike. What I subsequently worked out was that as he came passed following the turnaround was that I was in 6th place!!!
I think the pic shows how hard I had been working and I was across the line in 53:08 and a final time of 3:15:20.
It was a great event and I will highly recommend it to anyone.
Next year they intend to move the date to September to try and boost numbers and all being well there is a good chance I will be back.
The most disappointing thing....................I won my age group and wasn't there to claim my prize. It never occurred to me that I would have won a prize. What a doughnut.
Results can be found here :- http://www.xtramileevents.com/files/9414/0774/9560/Eirias_Triathlon_Results_2014_Provisional.xls
Next up is a 10M TT and then the Rubicon Middle Distance at the end of August (in what will be 2 years since I started back on my triathlon journey).
Sunday, 10 August 2014
April 21st - August 8th about time I updated this blog
I have been extremely remiss in not updating the blog this year, and at this rate the season will be over so time to get things up to date. Rather than go into full detail, I'll give just a small breakdown of what I have been up to.
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Slateman Tri and has an reputation for being a tough event.The 1k swim went without incident, it was a little choppy on the return leg but nothing that wasn't un-managable. Swim to T1 entry was 20:47 a very satisfactory result indeed, especially as it was my first open water race since 2002.
The bike course has one major climb early on up he Llanberis Pass, but other than than it was a fairly fast affair 1:39:12.
Its the run that everyone talks about at the Slateman and with good reason, it's an 11k effort with a nasty section through an old slate quarry and some more nasty climbs in the Padarn country Park. The final climb in the park and my legs had gone completely, thankfully it was downhill to the finish from there. Run times was 1:04:36 and a total time of 3:08:07 for my first tri of the year.
The swim went well, navigation was easy, drafting less so as the only set of feet in front of me were possessed by someone who couldn't swim in a straight line. Really pleased to be out of the water and into T1 in 31:34.
The bike is a predominantly fast course, some undulations and one small climb but generally fast and this was reflected in my bike time of 2:34:35 - I was blown away by that performance. Onto the run and initially I felt good, but whilst the wheels didn't fall off, in the heat of the day I found it a real slog. Walking the aid stations it was a slow procession to a 2:03:08 half marathon, but...................my overall time was an astounding 5h13m14s. I never imagined I was going to go that quick so my overall result for the day was a true surprise. I would be lying if I said I didn't get emotional on a couple of occasions after I had crossed the line, especially when I thought about where I had been physically in 2012.
A few weeks later on the 21st June it was the Dee Mile mile swim in Chester, my first ever swim only race. Although it is called the Dee Mile it is in fact 2k long so more like 1.25 miles. This race has been going for over 90 years now, and is currently organised by Chester Tri Club. Year on year times vary according to the flow on the river, this year there wasn't much flow at all, so it was a solid effort with no assistance and a time of 32:22.
A few weeks break until the next event on 13th July - Boundary Breeze Sprint Triathlon. A local event and the Warrington Tri Club fielded a large number of 23 athletes on the day with some great performances all round. Especially the ladies who recorded the team win.
The main concern of the day was the amount of weed in the lake which had steadily been increasing each week (this is my normal open water training venue). In the end it wasn't really an issue at all except for a small section at the start.It was also the first time that I attempted to do a flying start on the bike with the shoes already attached. I'd been practising with Laura earlier in the week and it went without a hitch. Good ride no dramas and it was a good exit from the bike. T2 was a bit of a drama as despite efforts to make sure I knew where my shoes were, I went straight past them and lost at least 30 seconds in T2
Onto the run and I actually felt pretty good and kept the pace up right through to the end and recorded a 5k pb of 23:25. Overall race time of 1:17:18.
A week later and I was entered in my first time trial of the year and I think the first one since about 2001. Organised by the Warrington Road Club and round 13 of the Cheshire Points Series. The course was J2/9, starting near Goosetry and Jodrell Bank. The route is a one and half laps, it's not a pancake flat course and the headwinds were fun at times. I had a bit of a disaster at the start when I took my jacket off and managed to pull all bar one of the pins holding my number on, off. So there I was with the number flapping around behind me like Supermans cape. It was a hard effort but thoroughly enjoyable to push on the bike with no run to follow. Final time was 1:04:01.
So that's what I have been up to this year so far, in between times I have of course been putting in the hours training. Loving the running at Delamere Forest and especially enjoying a latte at Costa afterwards in Frodsham. Other news is that I have signed up with a nutritionist to try and achieve some further weight loss and get back down to my old race weight.
http://www.fitnaturally.co.uk/
Monday, 21 April 2014
Dec 23rd - Apr 20th I'm still alive and I'm still training
Where does the time go. Can't believe it was December when I last posted something on this blog. So I guess as the tri season approaches I ought to give an update on what I have been doing and where things are. This does mean that rather than the detailed breakdown of a weeks training I will focus on the highlights to bring us all up to speed (no pun intended).
I'm still being coached by Laura, and things are going really well on that front. I can feel myself getting stronger and faster in all areas, so whatever she is doing it's working.
I've done a number of races since the start of the year.
Essar Four Villages Half Marathon - 19/01/14
This would be my first half marathon in about 10 years so I was a little nervous to say the least, but the only aim was to try an do under 2:00 hours. Conditions on the day were as good as you could have asked for. Laura had given me a race plan to start me out steady and then build through the latter stages. Tracy Hampson ran with me for the first 5.5 miles to keep me under control and on HR pace and she did a great job before leaving me to run the rest of the race at her own level for a well deserved 1:44:45. I had a hard patch around 7-8 miles but when the last gel kicked in I felt strong and the climb that everyone had gone on about turned out to be a bit of an anti climax and no where near as difficult as expected. The final push gave me a very surprising time of 1:52:31
Fearless MTB Duathlon - 23/2/14.
This was a tough event held in Llandegla Forest near Wrexham. Weather conditions were pretty poor all day with a constant drizzle, but the main issue was gusting and strong winds. The first run started with a steady 2 mile climb on hard packed service track, but once we had cleared the trees into the exposed areas the wind was awful, almost bringing you to a standstill. It was great to finally turn back into the trees and head downhill for some shelter. The evil organisers stuck in a nasty bank to climb part way through the run as well, the worst part being you knew you would have to dot it again later.
Onto the bike and it was a 19km route that wound its way across a mix of the MTB centres trails, most of it on Red Routes.
I maintained a steady pace, and whilst losing a few places on the more technical stages, I was able to make this up on some of the steady long climbs spinning past people. I'm also pleased to say that I managed to stay on the bike throughout and no injuries were sustained (though there were a couple of hairy moments).
Onto the final run and it was a shortened version of the first, but I was quite surprised to find myself catching and passing people throughout. It took a while for the legs to get going but once into my stride I was pushing all the way. I even managed to pip someone on the line who stopped about 5 metres before the actual finish line. Final time was 2:25:13 http://www.uberfitevents.com/assets/results_fearless_2014.pdf Overall it was a good starter event for the year and will hopefully be back to do it again.
Oulton Park Duathlon - 16/03/14
A few weeks later and it was a return to Oulton Park for the duathlon, only this time it was for the standard distance event, comprising of multiple laps of the racing circuit, 2 run laps, 9 on the bike and a final run lap. The sprint event went early in the morning and gave me chance to cheer on a few of the Warrington Tri Club members.
It had been blowing all morning and it didn't let up later in the day either and it remained a fairly chilly day so I had opted to go with a long sleeve compression top under the tri suit.
The race plan was to work hard throughout, but the first 2 lap run was held to top level 3 to ensure that I had enough left for the rest of the event. The run felt good and it was sometimes hard not to push harder. I even went through 5k in a pb time so I knew it was going to be a good day.
With the final run lap complete it was into transition and out for 9 laps on the bike.
As you would expect with a race circuit the surface is pretty good so no pot hole dodging required at all. You exit the pit lane before hopping on the bike and then its straight into the first right hand bend that seeps downhill into a left hander. The wind was quite noticeable at this point and on several of the laps you could feel it make the front wheel twitch; I was only on 50mm rims so anyone running deep sections would need all their wits about them. After the left hand it was a long straight to the hairpin and a wind the wind behind the fastest section of the course. Exiting the hairpin however brought you straight into the headwind and a small climb, normally not to bad to tackle, but that wind was really slowing us down. Dropping it into the 39 I was able to spin nicely up the climb and in doing so passing a lot of folks trying to grind it out. A nice straight downhill section follows into a right hander and the sharpest climb on the course. Decide your gearing before you hit the bottom and then go for it. Most of the laps I stuck with the 39, but did try the big ring as well. In all cases I was passing people strongly up the climb, but found spinning the better option. Once at the top it was flat then back round to the pit lane. I had no dramas on any of the laps and the constant lap nature of the event meant you were always passing people so felt like you were going a lot quicker than you were.
I had a nice quick transition, but can't say that my legs felt fantastic running off the bike. I grabbed to some water for a mouthful and a splash over the head then it was time to work hard on that final run. I knew somewhere behind me Warrington Tri member Tracy Hampson, would be hunting me down as she was a quick runner, I just didn't know how much of a gap I had after the bike. By the time we had reached the hairpin the legs felt more normal again and I was holding level 4 HR comfortably, exiting the hairpin I caught a glimpse of Tracy and knew she was closing in.
On reaching the steep climb shouts from Gail, Andy other club members spurred me on and I pressed hard up the climb and maintained the effort once I got to the top moving into zone 5.
With about 300m to go Tracy caught up with me and a gentle tap on the elbow to let me know she was there as she came past, looking strong as always.
I tried to push a bit harder but was already at max level so there wasn't anything left to offer and crossed the line happy that I had given everything to that race. Link to my Training Peaks log for the event http://tpks.ws/UlAl
The even better news at the finish was that Tracy had picked up 3rd female overall.
Results - http://www.xtramileevents.com/files/3113/9532/6013/OP_Spring_2014_results_final.xls
Bolesworth Beast MTB Duathlon - 30/03/14
Organised by Chester Tri Club, this was a small event held in what can only be described as the "hilly" bit of Cheshire. The weather was very pleasant, if anything erring on a bit to warm at times.
The event was based at a mountain boarding centre (basically off road snowboarding with wheels) a sport that requires gravity to help you along. As such the first run began at the top of a steep bank about 250m long. We proceeded downhill round a tree and then started the steep climb back up to the start point, this wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact that we got send back down and up again. After the second ascent it was into the woods and following a path out into some fields and then into more woods that climbed up to the top of a sandstone ridge. Once up top we followed the ridge for a while before dropping down a steep descent (playing into my hands as a descender and allowing me to pass a few people. Onto fire tracks we then dropped onto tarmac road that led us back into the village and transition.
Out onto the bike it was a very mixed course, with tarmac roads, fields, bridleways and some sections through private woodland of the Bolesworth estate. I had a steady ride overall, not pushing the pace to hard, but certainly making good time as I was passing people who were doing the shorter sprint event and had done a much shorter run course that didn't include the climbs at the start.
Once back in transition it was a repeat of the first run, so back up and down that bloody hill again, up to the ridge and back down. I found the climbs hard going and did have to resort to walking sections, but surprisingly only came in 1 minute slower than the first run. I also found that I was able to press on quite hard once all the climbing was dealt with.
Overall a really pleasant event, nice little goodie bag and a nice challenging course, certainly one I would recommend to others as the bike isn't to challenging or tricky.
There have been some good weeks of training along the way.
The work at the track continues each Monday and there have been several occasions where I have been the most consistent runner of the week. We have also done a couple of time trials, the most recent being 3000m (13:34).
I've also done a 400m TT in the pool, but despite all the improvements in my technique I was dissapointed to record exactly the same as when I did my first one in December (7:12); I put this down to fatigue from racing at the weekend before and also having done a hard swim session the night before. I certainly hope to be under 7:00 very soon.
March also saw a group of us head up to the Lake District for a training weekend. One thing that didn't disappoint was the reliability of the weather, it basically pee'd it down the whole weekend. That didn't stop us enjoying this great place though. Saturday the group headed up Helvellyn, though conditions were poor and when we got to the point of Striding Edge the decision was made to head back down, this for me was the fun part, engaged in fell running at it's best. Though we did stop for a photo call.
On Sunday after being joined by a few more hardy athletes we headed off on the bikes in yet more rain. It was a lovely ride however and whilst challenging in the conditions all had a good time. It was actually surprisingly warm (a good job as I had forgotten my leggings).
The only bad point for me was the right hand STI working loose and therefore leaving me with no brakes on a fast wet descent. I thankfully managed to bring it to a stop using the back and with shaking hands re-tightened the the STI and carried on. It was a brown stain moment to say the least, but I survived.
So there we have it, an update on where I am at the moment and hopefully I will be a bit more concientious in keeping it up to date as we come to the start of the tri season
I'm still being coached by Laura, and things are going really well on that front. I can feel myself getting stronger and faster in all areas, so whatever she is doing it's working.
I've done a number of races since the start of the year.
Essar Four Villages Half Marathon - 19/01/14
This would be my first half marathon in about 10 years so I was a little nervous to say the least, but the only aim was to try an do under 2:00 hours. Conditions on the day were as good as you could have asked for. Laura had given me a race plan to start me out steady and then build through the latter stages. Tracy Hampson ran with me for the first 5.5 miles to keep me under control and on HR pace and she did a great job before leaving me to run the rest of the race at her own level for a well deserved 1:44:45. I had a hard patch around 7-8 miles but when the last gel kicked in I felt strong and the climb that everyone had gone on about turned out to be a bit of an anti climax and no where near as difficult as expected. The final push gave me a very surprising time of 1:52:31
This was a tough event held in Llandegla Forest near Wrexham. Weather conditions were pretty poor all day with a constant drizzle, but the main issue was gusting and strong winds. The first run started with a steady 2 mile climb on hard packed service track, but once we had cleared the trees into the exposed areas the wind was awful, almost bringing you to a standstill. It was great to finally turn back into the trees and head downhill for some shelter. The evil organisers stuck in a nasty bank to climb part way through the run as well, the worst part being you knew you would have to dot it again later.
Onto the bike and it was a 19km route that wound its way across a mix of the MTB centres trails, most of it on Red Routes.
I maintained a steady pace, and whilst losing a few places on the more technical stages, I was able to make this up on some of the steady long climbs spinning past people. I'm also pleased to say that I managed to stay on the bike throughout and no injuries were sustained (though there were a couple of hairy moments).
Onto the final run and it was a shortened version of the first, but I was quite surprised to find myself catching and passing people throughout. It took a while for the legs to get going but once into my stride I was pushing all the way. I even managed to pip someone on the line who stopped about 5 metres before the actual finish line. Final time was 2:25:13 http://www.uberfitevents.com/assets/results_fearless_2014.pdf Overall it was a good starter event for the year and will hopefully be back to do it again.
Oulton Park Duathlon - 16/03/14
A few weeks later and it was a return to Oulton Park for the duathlon, only this time it was for the standard distance event, comprising of multiple laps of the racing circuit, 2 run laps, 9 on the bike and a final run lap. The sprint event went early in the morning and gave me chance to cheer on a few of the Warrington Tri Club members.
It had been blowing all morning and it didn't let up later in the day either and it remained a fairly chilly day so I had opted to go with a long sleeve compression top under the tri suit.
The race plan was to work hard throughout, but the first 2 lap run was held to top level 3 to ensure that I had enough left for the rest of the event. The run felt good and it was sometimes hard not to push harder. I even went through 5k in a pb time so I knew it was going to be a good day.
As you would expect with a race circuit the surface is pretty good so no pot hole dodging required at all. You exit the pit lane before hopping on the bike and then its straight into the first right hand bend that seeps downhill into a left hander. The wind was quite noticeable at this point and on several of the laps you could feel it make the front wheel twitch; I was only on 50mm rims so anyone running deep sections would need all their wits about them. After the left hand it was a long straight to the hairpin and a wind the wind behind the fastest section of the course. Exiting the hairpin however brought you straight into the headwind and a small climb, normally not to bad to tackle, but that wind was really slowing us down. Dropping it into the 39 I was able to spin nicely up the climb and in doing so passing a lot of folks trying to grind it out. A nice straight downhill section follows into a right hander and the sharpest climb on the course. Decide your gearing before you hit the bottom and then go for it. Most of the laps I stuck with the 39, but did try the big ring as well. In all cases I was passing people strongly up the climb, but found spinning the better option. Once at the top it was flat then back round to the pit lane. I had no dramas on any of the laps and the constant lap nature of the event meant you were always passing people so felt like you were going a lot quicker than you were.
On reaching the steep climb shouts from Gail, Andy other club members spurred me on and I pressed hard up the climb and maintained the effort once I got to the top moving into zone 5.
With about 300m to go Tracy caught up with me and a gentle tap on the elbow to let me know she was there as she came past, looking strong as always.
I tried to push a bit harder but was already at max level so there wasn't anything left to offer and crossed the line happy that I had given everything to that race. Link to my Training Peaks log for the event http://tpks.ws/UlAl
The even better news at the finish was that Tracy had picked up 3rd female overall.
Results - http://www.xtramileevents.com/files/3113/9532/6013/OP_Spring_2014_results_final.xls
Bolesworth Beast MTB Duathlon - 30/03/14
Organised by Chester Tri Club, this was a small event held in what can only be described as the "hilly" bit of Cheshire. The weather was very pleasant, if anything erring on a bit to warm at times.
The event was based at a mountain boarding centre (basically off road snowboarding with wheels) a sport that requires gravity to help you along. As such the first run began at the top of a steep bank about 250m long. We proceeded downhill round a tree and then started the steep climb back up to the start point, this wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact that we got send back down and up again. After the second ascent it was into the woods and following a path out into some fields and then into more woods that climbed up to the top of a sandstone ridge. Once up top we followed the ridge for a while before dropping down a steep descent (playing into my hands as a descender and allowing me to pass a few people. Onto fire tracks we then dropped onto tarmac road that led us back into the village and transition.
Out onto the bike it was a very mixed course, with tarmac roads, fields, bridleways and some sections through private woodland of the Bolesworth estate. I had a steady ride overall, not pushing the pace to hard, but certainly making good time as I was passing people who were doing the shorter sprint event and had done a much shorter run course that didn't include the climbs at the start.
Once back in transition it was a repeat of the first run, so back up and down that bloody hill again, up to the ridge and back down. I found the climbs hard going and did have to resort to walking sections, but surprisingly only came in 1 minute slower than the first run. I also found that I was able to press on quite hard once all the climbing was dealt with.
Overall a really pleasant event, nice little goodie bag and a nice challenging course, certainly one I would recommend to others as the bike isn't to challenging or tricky.
There have been some good weeks of training along the way.
The work at the track continues each Monday and there have been several occasions where I have been the most consistent runner of the week. We have also done a couple of time trials, the most recent being 3000m (13:34).
I've also done a 400m TT in the pool, but despite all the improvements in my technique I was dissapointed to record exactly the same as when I did my first one in December (7:12); I put this down to fatigue from racing at the weekend before and also having done a hard swim session the night before. I certainly hope to be under 7:00 very soon.
March also saw a group of us head up to the Lake District for a training weekend. One thing that didn't disappoint was the reliability of the weather, it basically pee'd it down the whole weekend. That didn't stop us enjoying this great place though. Saturday the group headed up Helvellyn, though conditions were poor and when we got to the point of Striding Edge the decision was made to head back down, this for me was the fun part, engaged in fell running at it's best. Though we did stop for a photo call.
 |
| spot the short arse |
On Sunday after being joined by a few more hardy athletes we headed off on the bikes in yet more rain. It was a lovely ride however and whilst challenging in the conditions all had a good time. It was actually surprisingly warm (a good job as I had forgotten my leggings).
The only bad point for me was the right hand STI working loose and therefore leaving me with no brakes on a fast wet descent. I thankfully managed to bring it to a stop using the back and with shaking hands re-tightened the the STI and carried on. It was a brown stain moment to say the least, but I survived.
So there we have it, an update on where I am at the moment and hopefully I will be a bit more concientious in keeping it up to date as we come to the start of the tri season
Sunday, 22 December 2013
16th - 22nd December - erm which way was I supposed to go??
Monday started early with a swim session, the aim was 200's using my T1000 pace plus 5 secs, which equates to 1:59/100 avg. For whatever reason I can't explain I really struggled with getting the timings right and finished the session a bit frustrated. In the evening it was over to the track for 3x600, 4x200, 4x100. I went out a little to quick for the 600's but the 200's were spot on and all within 1 second as were the 100's so getting better at pacing slowly but surely. Coach Andy did note that I was starting to heel strike a bit, but he put this down to fatigue from the SnC and long sessions at the weekend.
Tuesday was a well earned rest day and I was certainly grateful for it.
Wednesday morning was a chance to hit the turbo for some interval work. I'd normally say that turbo mornings aren't my cup of tea but it was actually really good and I watched coverage from the Sandman and Snowman tris for some additional motivation.
In the evening it was over to Runcorn for the coached swim session. I was there a little early so was changed and stood at the poolside when all of a sudden the building was plunged into darkness......power cut.
This was followed by 20 minutes of standing around wrapped in a blanket in the foyer whilst we waited for the power to come back on and for the building to be checked. I was expecting the session to be cancelled, but decided to make the most of the time left and knocked out what I felt was actually a really good set. The main part was 8x100's on 10s rest, but considering how I swam on Monday this was on a different level, times were quick and solidly consistent throughout despite the pace.
I was working in Bradford on Thursday so was only able to train in the evening and it was the last circuits session of the year. Carl had some interesting sets for us, splitting the group into two and pitting us head to head. The final part was a "Total Wipeout" style game where we had to jump a large knotted rope until there was one person left standing. Great end to the year for the circuits and I'm looking forward to re-starting in Jan.
Friday morning back in the pool, and I don't know what was in my coffee, but it was a bloody great session, I was exceeding the required times on the ladder down set, but at the same effort level I had swum the week before. I've no idea what's changed but something has clicked that's for certain.
Saturday I needed to do a steady Lvl 1-2 run, so decided to head down to my new favourite place Delamere Forest. The instruction was to stay off the main paths, so I did just that and took just about every side path I could find and it was awesome muddy fun. Well it was until about 15 minutes before the end as I had found myself back near the car so decided to go further down and do a loop around, only something went a bit awry with my sense of direction and ended up adding another 35 minutes onto the run due to some dubious route choices. Despite that it was a great run in a lovely setting.
Sunday's bike was the final session of the week, I rode with Warrington Tri club as they were ending the year with a nice easy social ride. Conditions weren't to bad, it was a bit windy and chilly, but dry so a nice way to end the week with a 3 hour ride.
I'm 3 weeks into being coached now and have to say that the difference is noticable in the quality of the sessions being done. The week to come is an easier recovery week, which nicely coincides with Christmas week.
Totals for the week: 10h16
Swim 7250m - 2h25
Bike 92km - 3h57
Run 23km - 2h56
Tuesday was a well earned rest day and I was certainly grateful for it.
Wednesday morning was a chance to hit the turbo for some interval work. I'd normally say that turbo mornings aren't my cup of tea but it was actually really good and I watched coverage from the Sandman and Snowman tris for some additional motivation.
In the evening it was over to Runcorn for the coached swim session. I was there a little early so was changed and stood at the poolside when all of a sudden the building was plunged into darkness......power cut.
This was followed by 20 minutes of standing around wrapped in a blanket in the foyer whilst we waited for the power to come back on and for the building to be checked. I was expecting the session to be cancelled, but decided to make the most of the time left and knocked out what I felt was actually a really good set. The main part was 8x100's on 10s rest, but considering how I swam on Monday this was on a different level, times were quick and solidly consistent throughout despite the pace.
I was working in Bradford on Thursday so was only able to train in the evening and it was the last circuits session of the year. Carl had some interesting sets for us, splitting the group into two and pitting us head to head. The final part was a "Total Wipeout" style game where we had to jump a large knotted rope until there was one person left standing. Great end to the year for the circuits and I'm looking forward to re-starting in Jan.
Friday morning back in the pool, and I don't know what was in my coffee, but it was a bloody great session, I was exceeding the required times on the ladder down set, but at the same effort level I had swum the week before. I've no idea what's changed but something has clicked that's for certain.
Saturday I needed to do a steady Lvl 1-2 run, so decided to head down to my new favourite place Delamere Forest. The instruction was to stay off the main paths, so I did just that and took just about every side path I could find and it was awesome muddy fun. Well it was until about 15 minutes before the end as I had found myself back near the car so decided to go further down and do a loop around, only something went a bit awry with my sense of direction and ended up adding another 35 minutes onto the run due to some dubious route choices. Despite that it was a great run in a lovely setting.
Sunday's bike was the final session of the week, I rode with Warrington Tri club as they were ending the year with a nice easy social ride. Conditions weren't to bad, it was a bit windy and chilly, but dry so a nice way to end the week with a 3 hour ride.
I'm 3 weeks into being coached now and have to say that the difference is noticable in the quality of the sessions being done. The week to come is an easier recovery week, which nicely coincides with Christmas week.
Totals for the week: 10h16
Swim 7250m - 2h25
Bike 92km - 3h57
Run 23km - 2h56
Sunday, 15 December 2013
9th to 15 December - Getting into the coaching groove
The first session of this week was a swim, but instead of the usual stuff that I make up I was given a proper structured workout by Laura. Main emphasis was on utilising the 1k TT pace set in the previous week. I was a bit off the mark on a couple of the reps but it was a good workout nonetheless. In the evening it was over to the track, the main change was moving up from 4x400's to 3x600, it was then the usual 4x200, 4x100. The 600s were tough but I was able to remain on target with the times.
Tuesday was a session I don't want to repeat too frequently, I was over at coach Andy's place to do a CP30 test on the turbo. For the technical description on what this means you can have a look here http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2009/11/quick-guide-to-setting-zones.html for the athletes version, its 30mins of pain as you ride as hard as you can maintain, only to find the coach changing the gear and making it harder still near the end. It was a really tough thing to do, but we got a good base for my threshold and I can now start to work to this in my future workouts. We also sat down an looked at my HR from the 2.4k track run to use that as a base for running thresholds.
Wednesday morning was a short an easy zone 1 run. I can't recall ever running at such an easy pace before, which shows that I clearly wasn't recovering when I thought I was, this is why a coach is such a good idea.
Wednesday evening was a swim session with Andy and his coaching partner Chris Standidge ( a very accomplished age grouper). We focussed on a few areas to determine aspects of our stroke that need correction. For me I need to straighten my arm more on entry as my elbow is dropping.
Thursday mornings swim was a declining distance ladder set interspersed with 50m kicks. Idea was to swim these as 1000T pace, but I was trying to focus on stroke correction so I was missing on a few of the reps, but effort level was on the nail so happy overall with the session.
In the evening was circuits, and thankfully it wasn't as bad as the previous weeks, though still tough enough.
I was certainly glad of the day off on Friday.
Saturday evening was the Petzl Nightrunner 10k race at Delamere forest. This is run in the dark around the forest with a headtorch. I ran within myself for about the first 7k, pushing but not at threshold, saving this for the final 3k which included an ascent of Pale Hill, which I am pleased to say I managed to run in its entirety, followed by a fast descent to the finish. Overall time was 55:24 http://www.thenightrunner.com/downloads/delamerenightrun.pdf
Tuesday was a session I don't want to repeat too frequently, I was over at coach Andy's place to do a CP30 test on the turbo. For the technical description on what this means you can have a look here http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2009/11/quick-guide-to-setting-zones.html for the athletes version, its 30mins of pain as you ride as hard as you can maintain, only to find the coach changing the gear and making it harder still near the end. It was a really tough thing to do, but we got a good base for my threshold and I can now start to work to this in my future workouts. We also sat down an looked at my HR from the 2.4k track run to use that as a base for running thresholds.
Wednesday morning was a short an easy zone 1 run. I can't recall ever running at such an easy pace before, which shows that I clearly wasn't recovering when I thought I was, this is why a coach is such a good idea.
Wednesday evening was a swim session with Andy and his coaching partner Chris Standidge ( a very accomplished age grouper). We focussed on a few areas to determine aspects of our stroke that need correction. For me I need to straighten my arm more on entry as my elbow is dropping.
Thursday mornings swim was a declining distance ladder set interspersed with 50m kicks. Idea was to swim these as 1000T pace, but I was trying to focus on stroke correction so I was missing on a few of the reps, but effort level was on the nail so happy overall with the session.
In the evening was circuits, and thankfully it wasn't as bad as the previous weeks, though still tough enough.
I was certainly glad of the day off on Friday.
Saturday evening was the Petzl Nightrunner 10k race at Delamere forest. This is run in the dark around the forest with a headtorch. I ran within myself for about the first 7k, pushing but not at threshold, saving this for the final 3k which included an ascent of Pale Hill, which I am pleased to say I managed to run in its entirety, followed by a fast descent to the finish. Overall time was 55:24 http://www.thenightrunner.com/downloads/delamerenightrun.pdf
It was a good event and it was great running around the mere and looking back to see all the little lights in a line.
Sunday was a long steady ride zones 1 - 2. I managed to cover just over 40 miles in 2:43 which was slightly over the required 2:30 I had been tasked with. It was at least dry, but quite windy and at times you could feel yourself drifting as the wind whipped across the fields. There were plenty of cyclists out making the most of the dry conditions. I was also doing the ride in a 'fasted' state by only drinking water and not eating before I went out so I could maximise fat burn and to teach my body to rely more on fat as a fuel. Overall a good ride.
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Dec 2nd to 8th - a new beginning
I'd ended up with the previous week turning into a recovery week, which it seems was fortuitous as it marked the end of the beginning and the opening of a new chapter in my tri career. So what is this big change, well quite simply I have taken away the uncertainty of planning my training and handed this over to a coach. So let me welcome on board Laura Grady. I would also add that she is an excellent massage therapist.
It's very easy to get trapped into the routine of just doing more and more without any consideration for the quality of what you are doing, I guess after a couple of chats with Laura that this was the way things had been going. So what was week one under a coach like. Pretty good actually, some quality sessions and even a rest day; in Laura's own words, " you only take a day off every four weeks, that's rubbish".
Monday night was track time, 4x400, 4x200 and 6x100, slightly reduced rest on the 400's made this a slightly tougher session. I was also finding that I was running the 400's about 10 secs to quick but fininshing within myself so definitely getting quicker.
Part of the coaching process involves setting base times from which to work, so on Tuesday morning it was a 1000m time trial in the pool. An easy warm up and some drills, then into 40 lengths as hard as you can go. Final time was 18:59 which is a T Pace of 1:54 per 100. It was definitely an eye opener pushing that hard in the pool. Wednesday was a 60 minute turbo session, nothing to testing, easy w/u then 4x5 minute race pace efforts and a couple of minutes recovery, finishing nice and relaxed.
Thursday was another time trial in the pool, this time a 400m flat out effort after a warm up and some fast 50's. This was a hard 16 lengths but a pleasing 7:12 and 1:48/100 pace. This is just a couple of second shy of my best in a race so really pleased. Circuits in the evening were a whole new world of pain that made it feel like I had gone back to week one of the circuits. The warm up and shuttle runs were fine, but everything after that was a nightmare of screaming muscle pain. It wasn't a great night at all.
Friday was a day off training and also off work as I loaded my 205 Gti race car onto the trailer for the last time to take to Spoox Motorsport who were buying it back off me. A bit of a sad day and the end of an era, but can say that I did enjoy my years in motorsport. Saturday Jasper and I went running around Hartshill Hayes, a nice steady pace and really enjoyable morning in the woods. The last session of the week was an easy 100 minute bike ride exploring some of the roads I used to train on many years ago. The only issue came when I rode through Atherstone and lost the back wheel on a greasy corner and planted myself on the deck.
Totals for the week: 6h58
Swim 1h - 3800m
Bike 2h42 - 65km
Run 2h02 - 16.1km
It's very easy to get trapped into the routine of just doing more and more without any consideration for the quality of what you are doing, I guess after a couple of chats with Laura that this was the way things had been going. So what was week one under a coach like. Pretty good actually, some quality sessions and even a rest day; in Laura's own words, " you only take a day off every four weeks, that's rubbish".
Monday night was track time, 4x400, 4x200 and 6x100, slightly reduced rest on the 400's made this a slightly tougher session. I was also finding that I was running the 400's about 10 secs to quick but fininshing within myself so definitely getting quicker.
Part of the coaching process involves setting base times from which to work, so on Tuesday morning it was a 1000m time trial in the pool. An easy warm up and some drills, then into 40 lengths as hard as you can go. Final time was 18:59 which is a T Pace of 1:54 per 100. It was definitely an eye opener pushing that hard in the pool. Wednesday was a 60 minute turbo session, nothing to testing, easy w/u then 4x5 minute race pace efforts and a couple of minutes recovery, finishing nice and relaxed.
Thursday was another time trial in the pool, this time a 400m flat out effort after a warm up and some fast 50's. This was a hard 16 lengths but a pleasing 7:12 and 1:48/100 pace. This is just a couple of second shy of my best in a race so really pleased. Circuits in the evening were a whole new world of pain that made it feel like I had gone back to week one of the circuits. The warm up and shuttle runs were fine, but everything after that was a nightmare of screaming muscle pain. It wasn't a great night at all.
Friday was a day off training and also off work as I loaded my 205 Gti race car onto the trailer for the last time to take to Spoox Motorsport who were buying it back off me. A bit of a sad day and the end of an era, but can say that I did enjoy my years in motorsport. Saturday Jasper and I went running around Hartshill Hayes, a nice steady pace and really enjoyable morning in the woods. The last session of the week was an easy 100 minute bike ride exploring some of the roads I used to train on many years ago. The only issue came when I rode through Atherstone and lost the back wheel on a greasy corner and planted myself on the deck.
Totals for the week: 6h58
Swim 1h - 3800m
Bike 2h42 - 65km
Run 2h02 - 16.1km
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Nov 4th to Dec 1st - A nice consistent block of training
Nov 4th - 10th
The Hellrunner was still in the legs come Monday evening, but there was no letting up as we were finished with the drills based weeks and it was time to start the intervals on the track. As a base from which you measure progress the main part of the session was a 2.4k time trial. The instruction from Andy the coach was simple "don't leave anything out there, I don't want to see anyone sprinting in the last 100, you give it everything". It was without a doubt 6 extremely hard laps at an effort level I'm not looking forward to repeating to often. My time for the 2.4k was 11:51. The coughing fit as a result of the cold evening and the effort level lasted for a couple of days. Tuesday was a return to the turbo trainer for an hours session http://tpks.ws/ceBn
I was in London on Wednesday and had a meal booked in the evening, so after 31 days of training I finally took a well deserved recovery day.
Thursday was a return to circuits with Carl, another strength and sweatfest usually involving far many burpees.
Finally got back in to the pool on Friday morning; it definitely makes a difference if you take a break of a few days from swimming as you can tell the lack of feel for the water. In the evening it was another hour on the turbo. Saturday I went down to Delamere Forest and met with coach Andy, Ray Tighe and Caroline for an early run. A nice mix of easy trails, hill reps and single track muddy fun. A nice way to start the day for certain. In the evening it was the Warrington Tri swim session. Sunday morning I hit the pool again for a drill session, and then went straight up to the gym to knock out a 5k on the treadmill. I've said it before that I'm not a mad fan of the treadmill, but once in a while it's a novelty. To finish the day of it was 90 mins on the turbo trainer http://tpks.ws/EtzG
Totals for the week - 9h26
Swim - 8757m - 2h36
Bike - 82km - 3h30
Run - 19.8km - 2h21
Nov 11th - 17th
Back to the track on Monday evening, this time was an 800m time trial, this would set the basis for all the work to follow. Time was a 3:20, once established we then ran 2x400, 2x200 and 2x100. It was definitely a tough session.
On Tuesday I travelled down to Leicestershire to visit and old friend from my triathlon past who now runs a great bike fitting company. http://www.speedhub.co.uk/ the day was spent chatting about old and new times whilst sat astride the Retul bike trying to work out my fit for the bike. One thing that we did discover and a reason for my numb feet was that I have a shorter left leg but also wide hips. With a variety of recommendations in hand I have a few changes I now need to make to my bike (£££££). I may also need to look for another tri frame as the road frame is going to get nowhere near close enough to simulate the position for training on. Wednesday was a chance to run in my favourite place, Hartshill Hayes. I just love running there, so many paths, terrain and routes to choose from. Even Jasper ran with me without causing me any problems. In the afternoon I set my turbo up in the parents garage for a 60min sweatfest. When I finished it was cold enough that I was actually steaming.
Back up t'north on Thursday and it was circuits in the evening. The weeks swimming was all knocked out over the next three days starting on Friday with a paddles session, club swim Saturday and then long sets on Sunday. There was also a couple of turbo sessions and a 10k run to round off the week.
Totals for the week - 10h52
Swim 8750m -3h50
Bike 86km - 3h30
Run 23k - 2h41
Nov 18th - 24th
Monday night is track night, and using the previous weeks base 800m time, 4x400, 4x200, 4x100. First lesson learnt was I have no idea about pacing. The second was how hard running on the track is.
The rest of the week was a mix of swim, bike and run, the only session worth noting was a nice trail run on Saturday at Delamere Forest with Ray and Andy. Included a run up a hill and some great trails.
Totals for the week - 11h44
Swim 11910m - 4h55
Bike 82km - 3h30
Run 20.8km - 2h29
Nov 25th - Dec 1st
Track on Monday night and a repeat of the previous weeks session. It was a cold evening though and it was actually quite slippery with a thin layer of ice on the top end of the track. A tough workout as always, but feeling the benefit.
A good solid swim on Tuesday, followed by a short run on Wednesday morning. Wednesday evening I did the trainerroad FTP test to see what improvements the 6 week sweetspot program had brought. At the start I had tested at 214 watts, but I had left it set at 219 watts from the previous test as felt lowering it was a step back. The new test gave me 221 watts so a 7 watt improvement over the last test and a good result.
I was in Bradford on Thursday so couldn't train in the morning but was able to get to circuits in the evening for another good session. Swim Friday morning was a drills session and in the evening was supposed to be turbo session. I managed 2 minutes before deciding that I couldn't be arsed. This carried over into Saturday and I actually ended up taking an unscheduled rest day which involved not a lot except eating. I did manage to do a 2 hour session on the turbo on Sunday at a nice easy pace, so the week actually ended more of a recovery week than anything.
Totals for the week- 8h07
Swim 6600m - 2h35
Bike 69km - 3h
Run 12.8k - 1h35
The Hellrunner was still in the legs come Monday evening, but there was no letting up as we were finished with the drills based weeks and it was time to start the intervals on the track. As a base from which you measure progress the main part of the session was a 2.4k time trial. The instruction from Andy the coach was simple "don't leave anything out there, I don't want to see anyone sprinting in the last 100, you give it everything". It was without a doubt 6 extremely hard laps at an effort level I'm not looking forward to repeating to often. My time for the 2.4k was 11:51. The coughing fit as a result of the cold evening and the effort level lasted for a couple of days. Tuesday was a return to the turbo trainer for an hours session http://tpks.ws/ceBn
I was in London on Wednesday and had a meal booked in the evening, so after 31 days of training I finally took a well deserved recovery day.
Thursday was a return to circuits with Carl, another strength and sweatfest usually involving far many burpees.
Finally got back in to the pool on Friday morning; it definitely makes a difference if you take a break of a few days from swimming as you can tell the lack of feel for the water. In the evening it was another hour on the turbo. Saturday I went down to Delamere Forest and met with coach Andy, Ray Tighe and Caroline for an early run. A nice mix of easy trails, hill reps and single track muddy fun. A nice way to start the day for certain. In the evening it was the Warrington Tri swim session. Sunday morning I hit the pool again for a drill session, and then went straight up to the gym to knock out a 5k on the treadmill. I've said it before that I'm not a mad fan of the treadmill, but once in a while it's a novelty. To finish the day of it was 90 mins on the turbo trainer http://tpks.ws/EtzG
Totals for the week - 9h26
Swim - 8757m - 2h36
Bike - 82km - 3h30
Run - 19.8km - 2h21
Nov 11th - 17th
Back to the track on Monday evening, this time was an 800m time trial, this would set the basis for all the work to follow. Time was a 3:20, once established we then ran 2x400, 2x200 and 2x100. It was definitely a tough session.
On Tuesday I travelled down to Leicestershire to visit and old friend from my triathlon past who now runs a great bike fitting company. http://www.speedhub.co.uk/ the day was spent chatting about old and new times whilst sat astride the Retul bike trying to work out my fit for the bike. One thing that we did discover and a reason for my numb feet was that I have a shorter left leg but also wide hips. With a variety of recommendations in hand I have a few changes I now need to make to my bike (£££££). I may also need to look for another tri frame as the road frame is going to get nowhere near close enough to simulate the position for training on. Wednesday was a chance to run in my favourite place, Hartshill Hayes. I just love running there, so many paths, terrain and routes to choose from. Even Jasper ran with me without causing me any problems. In the afternoon I set my turbo up in the parents garage for a 60min sweatfest. When I finished it was cold enough that I was actually steaming.
Back up t'north on Thursday and it was circuits in the evening. The weeks swimming was all knocked out over the next three days starting on Friday with a paddles session, club swim Saturday and then long sets on Sunday. There was also a couple of turbo sessions and a 10k run to round off the week.
Totals for the week - 10h52
Swim 8750m -3h50
Bike 86km - 3h30
Run 23k - 2h41
Nov 18th - 24th
Monday night is track night, and using the previous weeks base 800m time, 4x400, 4x200, 4x100. First lesson learnt was I have no idea about pacing. The second was how hard running on the track is.
The rest of the week was a mix of swim, bike and run, the only session worth noting was a nice trail run on Saturday at Delamere Forest with Ray and Andy. Included a run up a hill and some great trails.
Totals for the week - 11h44
Swim 11910m - 4h55
Bike 82km - 3h30
Run 20.8km - 2h29
Nov 25th - Dec 1st
Track on Monday night and a repeat of the previous weeks session. It was a cold evening though and it was actually quite slippery with a thin layer of ice on the top end of the track. A tough workout as always, but feeling the benefit.
A good solid swim on Tuesday, followed by a short run on Wednesday morning. Wednesday evening I did the trainerroad FTP test to see what improvements the 6 week sweetspot program had brought. At the start I had tested at 214 watts, but I had left it set at 219 watts from the previous test as felt lowering it was a step back. The new test gave me 221 watts so a 7 watt improvement over the last test and a good result.
I was in Bradford on Thursday so couldn't train in the morning but was able to get to circuits in the evening for another good session. Swim Friday morning was a drills session and in the evening was supposed to be turbo session. I managed 2 minutes before deciding that I couldn't be arsed. This carried over into Saturday and I actually ended up taking an unscheduled rest day which involved not a lot except eating. I did manage to do a 2 hour session on the turbo on Sunday at a nice easy pace, so the week actually ended more of a recovery week than anything.
Totals for the week- 8h07
Swim 6600m - 2h35
Bike 69km - 3h
Run 12.8k - 1h35
Sunday, 3 November 2013
Oct 7th to Nov 3rd - some new stuff, some old and a few bumps along the way
7th - 13th Oct
Despite the day before being the Outlton Park Duathlon the legs felt fine so that evening I went along to Sutton Lesiure Centre for the first attempt at track work. The session is run by Andy Rawley a BTA Level 3 coach and also the North West Regional Acadaemy coach for the junior Elites. Suffice to say, he's knows his onions and if you are looking for a coach you could do no worse than getting in touch with him http://www.sticktotricoaching.co.uk/
I had joined on what was week 2 of drill and technique work, the emphasis of the session not on running laps but lots of drills designed to re-programme our technique to shift from heel strikers to more efficient mid to fore foot runners. That first night was an interesting insight, though I can safely say I won't be worring Mo Farah or Ali Brownlee any time soon and it was fairly clear that balance and coordination were not two of my strong points.
Tuesday and Wednesday were a return to the normal patten of swims, turbos and a run. In fact I even threw in an unscheduled turbo on Wednesday, nothing hard but I just fancied doing something. Thursday evening was a chance for something else new, Circuits. Run out of school gym hall at Lymm Grammar. There is no equipment involved, it's lots of bounding around and traditional type squats, burpees, press up and all manner of other pain inducing exercises. I survived (just) but it's certainly an eye opener and a totally different type of fitness to the CV based work that I normally do. Swim on Friday, then Saturday I managed one of each with a short but testing turbo followed by a 5k run and then the club swim in the evening with the tri club. Sunday was an opportunity to get out on the road for a ride with the tri club, there were times where the pace was a little hard but its good to get out and just spin and chat.
Totals for the week - 11h05
Swim - 9000m - 3h40
Bike - 112km - 4h38
Run - 12.5km - 1h53
14th - 20th Oct
It was straight back into things on Monday evening with a return to the track and more drill/technique work. A swim Tuesday morning and then in the evening I started a 12 week sweet spot programme on the turbo with the 8 min FTP (functional threshold power) test to establish a baseline. It was down to 214 watts, but i'm not sure if that's as a result of tiredness or genuine. So I decided to leave my settings at 219 from the previous test.
Wednesday was just a short easy 5km run, Thursday was a swim and then circuits in the evening, which at least felt a little easier than before. A swim Friday morning and then the second of the turbo sessions in the afternoon before packing the car for a trip up to North Wales.
The Warrington Tri Club had organised an end of season weekend away staying in a great bunkhouse http://www.logcabinswales.co.uk/accommodation/rhiw-goch-bunkhouse/ a total of 9 of us plus a few of their kids arrived on a wet evening. The Hobson's had brought food including a hotpot and chilli and LOTS of salty snacks.
Saturday a group of four headed out onto the roads around North Wales, the rest of us headed just down the road to Coed Y Brenin, one of the UK's best mountain biking centres. http://www.mbwales.com/en/content/cms/Centres/Coed_y_Brenin/Coed_y_Brenin.aspx
There is a huge choices of routes you can ride or mix n match with varying degrees of difficulty. The first ride out all of us headed out on the blue rated Minotaur course, a generally sweeping and easy paced route, with a series of climbs, and descents on wide trails. After this I went back out on part of the blue route again whilst we waited for some of the others to catch up. The men of the group then headed off onto a more challenging red run Cyflym Coch (I have no idea what that means). It was a great ride, incorporating some of the easy wide trails to link sections of rocky and routed single track. It's been a while since I've ridden something like this, but it was great but tiring fun. A spot of lunch was consumed and the ladies of the group past the kids over to the dads and I was persuaded to go out on the red run again. I will now proceed to advise a cautionery note, if you are riding a bike, WEAR A HELMET.
The large split in the helmet is what happens when you get some air and don't get the landing right and your head hits the ground with a bang.
I'm grateful that I was wearing it and as a result I was able to remount the bike (after straightening the stem) and complete the ride. Though I wasn't unscathed.
The road group were back when we returned from the forest and they decided to head off to Coed Y Brenin for a run. I was tired from 4.5 hours of riding the MTB so skipped the run.
Directly opposite the bunkhouse is an inn, and the evening was spent there partaking of some good beer and tasty food.
Sunday it was back down to Coed Y Brenin for a hilly 5 mile trail run, which despite the rain was a pleasant run through some really nice terrain and views.
Totals for the week - 14h09
Swim - 10650m - 4h14
Bike - 97km - 6h40
Run - 15.5km - 2h17
21st - 27th Oct
Despite being a little sore from my fall I still managed to get to the track Monday evening for further drill/technique work. Tuesday I jumped on the turbo continuing the work on improving my FTP. Wednesday I swam and also threw in an extra easy turbo session for good measure. I know many don't advocate "junk" mileage but when you want to shift a few more stone, the extra exercise doesn't seem like such a waste. Thursday was another of Carl's circuit classes, I'm definitely getting stronger as a result, but it's still a sweatfest and hard work. Swim and turbo on Friday went smoothly into Saturday's run. I decided to take Jasper with me along the Trans Pennine Trail for an easy 10k. It was easier than intended as he decided that stopping to sniff was more important than running, I don't think I will be taking him with me again. Sunday was a steady swim session and a long turbo in the afternoon to finish the week off.
Totals for the week - 11h30
Swim - 10200m - 4h15
Bike - 101km - 4h15
Run - 13.2km - 1h59
28th Oct - 3rd Nov
Back to the track again on Monday evening, though there was only a small amount of drill work, the rest of the time was easy laps whilst Andy and other assessed our forefoot technique and how we had improved over the weeks. The conclusion for me was whilst I had shown some improvement through strength gains he didn't want to focus on specific elements but just to continue building strength and maintain the gains I had made so far. Next week it's a time trial before we start the interval work. Tuesday morning I had planned to swim but I'd been battling a niggly cold so decided to stay in bed instead. I jumped on the turbo in the evening but it was noticeable that I was struggling to hold the desired power, I just didn't quite feel right. I was ok on Wednesday morning so swam and then did an east 5k in the evening, though it was wet and windy. Thursday morning I went on the turbo and again struggled to hold the power levels required, I can only assume that the cold was having an impact. It was certainly felt at the evening circuits session, I was a jibbering wreck afterwards. I felt OK in the morning though and this was reflected in the swim session, times were consistent. Saturday was the Hellrunner at Delamere Forest, a varied cross country adventure which had everything you could think of in terms of mud, trails, ditches, water (very cold water) bogs, tree roots, climbs, descents the list is extensive. It was a tiring event, and the longest run I have done since I started training, but a thoroughly enjoyable event and I will definitely be signing up for next year.
T
Despite the day before being the Outlton Park Duathlon the legs felt fine so that evening I went along to Sutton Lesiure Centre for the first attempt at track work. The session is run by Andy Rawley a BTA Level 3 coach and also the North West Regional Acadaemy coach for the junior Elites. Suffice to say, he's knows his onions and if you are looking for a coach you could do no worse than getting in touch with him http://www.sticktotricoaching.co.uk/
I had joined on what was week 2 of drill and technique work, the emphasis of the session not on running laps but lots of drills designed to re-programme our technique to shift from heel strikers to more efficient mid to fore foot runners. That first night was an interesting insight, though I can safely say I won't be worring Mo Farah or Ali Brownlee any time soon and it was fairly clear that balance and coordination were not two of my strong points.
Tuesday and Wednesday were a return to the normal patten of swims, turbos and a run. In fact I even threw in an unscheduled turbo on Wednesday, nothing hard but I just fancied doing something. Thursday evening was a chance for something else new, Circuits. Run out of school gym hall at Lymm Grammar. There is no equipment involved, it's lots of bounding around and traditional type squats, burpees, press up and all manner of other pain inducing exercises. I survived (just) but it's certainly an eye opener and a totally different type of fitness to the CV based work that I normally do. Swim on Friday, then Saturday I managed one of each with a short but testing turbo followed by a 5k run and then the club swim in the evening with the tri club. Sunday was an opportunity to get out on the road for a ride with the tri club, there were times where the pace was a little hard but its good to get out and just spin and chat.
Totals for the week - 11h05
Swim - 9000m - 3h40
Bike - 112km - 4h38
Run - 12.5km - 1h53
14th - 20th Oct
It was straight back into things on Monday evening with a return to the track and more drill/technique work. A swim Tuesday morning and then in the evening I started a 12 week sweet spot programme on the turbo with the 8 min FTP (functional threshold power) test to establish a baseline. It was down to 214 watts, but i'm not sure if that's as a result of tiredness or genuine. So I decided to leave my settings at 219 from the previous test.
Wednesday was just a short easy 5km run, Thursday was a swim and then circuits in the evening, which at least felt a little easier than before. A swim Friday morning and then the second of the turbo sessions in the afternoon before packing the car for a trip up to North Wales.
The Warrington Tri Club had organised an end of season weekend away staying in a great bunkhouse http://www.logcabinswales.co.uk/accommodation/rhiw-goch-bunkhouse/ a total of 9 of us plus a few of their kids arrived on a wet evening. The Hobson's had brought food including a hotpot and chilli and LOTS of salty snacks.
Saturday a group of four headed out onto the roads around North Wales, the rest of us headed just down the road to Coed Y Brenin, one of the UK's best mountain biking centres. http://www.mbwales.com/en/content/cms/Centres/Coed_y_Brenin/Coed_y_Brenin.aspx
There is a huge choices of routes you can ride or mix n match with varying degrees of difficulty. The first ride out all of us headed out on the blue rated Minotaur course, a generally sweeping and easy paced route, with a series of climbs, and descents on wide trails. After this I went back out on part of the blue route again whilst we waited for some of the others to catch up. The men of the group then headed off onto a more challenging red run Cyflym Coch (I have no idea what that means). It was a great ride, incorporating some of the easy wide trails to link sections of rocky and routed single track. It's been a while since I've ridden something like this, but it was great but tiring fun. A spot of lunch was consumed and the ladies of the group past the kids over to the dads and I was persuaded to go out on the red run again. I will now proceed to advise a cautionery note, if you are riding a bike, WEAR A HELMET.
The large split in the helmet is what happens when you get some air and don't get the landing right and your head hits the ground with a bang.
I'm grateful that I was wearing it and as a result I was able to remount the bike (after straightening the stem) and complete the ride. Though I wasn't unscathed.
Directly opposite the bunkhouse is an inn, and the evening was spent there partaking of some good beer and tasty food.
Sunday it was back down to Coed Y Brenin for a hilly 5 mile trail run, which despite the rain was a pleasant run through some really nice terrain and views.
Totals for the week - 14h09
Swim - 10650m - 4h14
Bike - 97km - 6h40
Run - 15.5km - 2h17
21st - 27th Oct
Despite being a little sore from my fall I still managed to get to the track Monday evening for further drill/technique work. Tuesday I jumped on the turbo continuing the work on improving my FTP. Wednesday I swam and also threw in an extra easy turbo session for good measure. I know many don't advocate "junk" mileage but when you want to shift a few more stone, the extra exercise doesn't seem like such a waste. Thursday was another of Carl's circuit classes, I'm definitely getting stronger as a result, but it's still a sweatfest and hard work. Swim and turbo on Friday went smoothly into Saturday's run. I decided to take Jasper with me along the Trans Pennine Trail for an easy 10k. It was easier than intended as he decided that stopping to sniff was more important than running, I don't think I will be taking him with me again. Sunday was a steady swim session and a long turbo in the afternoon to finish the week off.
Totals for the week - 11h30
Swim - 10200m - 4h15
Bike - 101km - 4h15
Run - 13.2km - 1h59
28th Oct - 3rd Nov
Back to the track again on Monday evening, though there was only a small amount of drill work, the rest of the time was easy laps whilst Andy and other assessed our forefoot technique and how we had improved over the weeks. The conclusion for me was whilst I had shown some improvement through strength gains he didn't want to focus on specific elements but just to continue building strength and maintain the gains I had made so far. Next week it's a time trial before we start the interval work. Tuesday morning I had planned to swim but I'd been battling a niggly cold so decided to stay in bed instead. I jumped on the turbo in the evening but it was noticeable that I was struggling to hold the desired power, I just didn't quite feel right. I was ok on Wednesday morning so swam and then did an east 5k in the evening, though it was wet and windy. Thursday morning I went on the turbo and again struggled to hold the power levels required, I can only assume that the cold was having an impact. It was certainly felt at the evening circuits session, I was a jibbering wreck afterwards. I felt OK in the morning though and this was reflected in the swim session, times were consistent. Saturday was the Hellrunner at Delamere Forest, a varied cross country adventure which had everything you could think of in terms of mud, trails, ditches, water (very cold water) bogs, tree roots, climbs, descents the list is extensive. It was a tiring event, and the longest run I have done since I started training, but a thoroughly enjoyable event and I will definitely be signing up for next year.
T
Saturday evening I went to the club swim, but I just didn't have the energy to swim the hard intervals so just kept the pace easy. Sunday I just did a long turbo session but at easy pace as the legs were still tired.
Totals for the week - 11h41
Swim - 8300m - 3h07
Bike - 79km - 3h30
Run - 28k - 4h08
Friday, 18 October 2013
Results this year
I thought it may be worth detailing the results from the races I have done this year so they are all in one list. I can certainly say that I have enjoyed my return to the sport and planning for next year is well under way, with several events already entered and the training plan coming together nicely, so keep checking back for details on this later in the year.
| Event | Distance | Month | Time |
| 1485 Duathlon | Sprint | April | 1:46:06 |
| Wilmslow Tri | Sprint | May | 1:38:21 |
| Darwen sprint | Sprint | Jun | 2:02:08 |
| Buxton Tri | Sprint | Jul | 1:38:52 |
| Peoples Tri | Sprint (o/w) | Aug | 1:21:48 |
| North West Tri | Sprint | Sep | 1:16:55 |
| Brownlee Tri | Super Sprint | Sep | 0:46:04 |
| Outlon Park Duathlon | Sprint | Oct | 01:23:47 |
Saturday, 12 October 2013
Sept 16th to Oct 6th - no sign of slowing down for winter
I've gone and done it again and left it a few weeks since my last blog, but then again it's quite nice to look back and remind yourself what you have been doing. I warn you now though, there will be all sorts of randomnous in this weeks blog.
As a first of here's a shot of a certain Manx Missile at the Tour of Britain time trial stage 3 starting at Knowsley Safari Park.
It was quite an entertaining day watching these guys demolish the 10m TT in around 20 minutes.
There was supposed to be photo of Bradley Wiggins, but he was riding so quickly I missed him.
Sept 16th - 22nd
Looking back it would seem I am on a bit of a training streak as I hadn't had a recovery day since the 3rd September and it would the following week before I took one. Sometimes you just feel like going on and rather than a passive day of nothing I like to at least do an easy swim or turbo session. That is exactly where the week started with a short swim at lunchtime. The remainder of the week was a mix of short sessions as I had a race at the end of the week so wanted to keep the intensity up but duration down so I could arrive ready to race. Day before the event (Friday) I did a swim/run brick at the gym, much to the bemusement of the regulars in pool as I arrived in a tri suit, swam 1800m and then dashed upstairs to do 20 mins easy running on the treadmill. I normally can't stand treadmills to be honest, but it actually passed quite quickly (note to self, remember your headphones next time).
In the evening it was a trip across the Pennines to a village called Sharow nr Ripon for an overnight B&B stay here http://www.halfmooninn.org.uk/
Saturday was a short drive over to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal National Trust site for the Brownlee Super Sprint tri. The event was fronted by the Brownlee brothers themselves who were there to race, though Alistair was only doing the bike leg due to the ankle injury he picked up the week before at the ITU Grand Final in Hyde Park in London. I have to say the setting was lovely for the event and the weather thankfully good. A short 400m open water swim in what was definitely not a warm lake was done in 7:05, a run up a steep grass bank to T1 and then onto the 2 lap 10k bike. There were a couple of short climbs before dropping back through the park. This section was fast, so fast in fact that I actually got told to slow down!!!!!! Back into transition it was a short flat 2.5k run around the grounds with the finish going through the nave of the abbey, what an amazing experience.
The organisers had put on a great event, with a good quality sports bag and cap in the goodie bag and to top it off nicely Gail purchased a copy of the Brownlee's book which she then got autographed.
That should have been the end of the week, but on Sunday I still felt like training so did a steady aerobic session on the turbo.
Totals for the week
Training time - 7h22
Swim 2h50 - 7000m
Bike 3h - 68km
Run 0:50 - 9k
Sept 23rd - Sept 29th
20 days on the go it was time for a recovery day on the Monday, well deserved if I do say so myself. Tuesday it was back to the pool and the turbo in the evening, and i'm still rocking the trainerroad.com sessions, an example of one I did here http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/406270-Stone-Mountain
Wednesday was an opportunity to go back to some of my old training grounds whilst working away and I managed to visit Ilkley Moor for a fell run http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/HX3RYXEU3ML6CZ7YXBQJA5QXQA it was a bit grim as there was a lot of low wet cloud but great to be back there and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The rest of the week up to Saturday was a mix of swim, bike and run until Sunday where I was doing the Cheshire 10k. It was a predominantly flat fast single lap course, as usual I started a bit to quick and coming up to 4k I thought I was going to be on for a sub 25 5k, but a slight incline knocked the pace down a bit. Nonetheless it was a good and tough race and a new pb of 50:57
Race registration for Cheshire 10k
You would have thought this would have been enough, but when I got home I decided that I would also do a turbo session.
Totals for the week - 9h25
Swim 3h42 - 8350m
Bike 3h55 - 89k
Run 1h20 - 16k
Sept 30th - 6th Oct
I'm seriously enjoying training and was straight at it again on Monday even though I had raced the day before. I'm spending a lot of time here at the moment (my pain cave )
More turbo training on Tuesday as well as a swim session. Wednesday was a speedwork day, in the pool but also in the evening doing hard lamp post reps and running drills. Suffice to say I was definitely sore the next day, not from the running but the drills. More swimming and turbo Thursday (i'm sweating just writing about it).
I was away for a wedding on Friday but sneaked in a short easy run in the morning, though it was looking like there might be a problem at first. Thankfully my brother is the same size so I nicked a pair of his trainers (sshhh don't tell him)
Of course you would expect that would be the end, but in fact despite a day off on Saturday, I was at Oulton Park on Sunday for a sprint duathlon. 1 lap running, 5 laps cycling and a final lap on the run. Totally traffic free and a unique experience, great day racing. Steady run effort, but really put the effort in on the bike followed by hanging in on the second run, though my time wasn't that much slower than my first.
So that'e the previous few weeks and there is no sign of me slowing down, keep checking back for the next instalment.
There was supposed to be photo of Bradley Wiggins, but he was riding so quickly I missed him.
Sept 16th - 22nd
Looking back it would seem I am on a bit of a training streak as I hadn't had a recovery day since the 3rd September and it would the following week before I took one. Sometimes you just feel like going on and rather than a passive day of nothing I like to at least do an easy swim or turbo session. That is exactly where the week started with a short swim at lunchtime. The remainder of the week was a mix of short sessions as I had a race at the end of the week so wanted to keep the intensity up but duration down so I could arrive ready to race. Day before the event (Friday) I did a swim/run brick at the gym, much to the bemusement of the regulars in pool as I arrived in a tri suit, swam 1800m and then dashed upstairs to do 20 mins easy running on the treadmill. I normally can't stand treadmills to be honest, but it actually passed quite quickly (note to self, remember your headphones next time).
In the evening it was a trip across the Pennines to a village called Sharow nr Ripon for an overnight B&B stay here http://www.halfmooninn.org.uk/
Saturday was a short drive over to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal National Trust site for the Brownlee Super Sprint tri. The event was fronted by the Brownlee brothers themselves who were there to race, though Alistair was only doing the bike leg due to the ankle injury he picked up the week before at the ITU Grand Final in Hyde Park in London. I have to say the setting was lovely for the event and the weather thankfully good. A short 400m open water swim in what was definitely not a warm lake was done in 7:05, a run up a steep grass bank to T1 and then onto the 2 lap 10k bike. There were a couple of short climbs before dropping back through the park. This section was fast, so fast in fact that I actually got told to slow down!!!!!! Back into transition it was a short flat 2.5k run around the grounds with the finish going through the nave of the abbey, what an amazing experience.
The organisers had put on a great event, with a good quality sports bag and cap in the goodie bag and to top it off nicely Gail purchased a copy of the Brownlee's book which she then got autographed.
That should have been the end of the week, but on Sunday I still felt like training so did a steady aerobic session on the turbo.
Totals for the week
Training time - 7h22
Swim 2h50 - 7000m
Bike 3h - 68km
Run 0:50 - 9k
Sept 23rd - Sept 29th
20 days on the go it was time for a recovery day on the Monday, well deserved if I do say so myself. Tuesday it was back to the pool and the turbo in the evening, and i'm still rocking the trainerroad.com sessions, an example of one I did here http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/406270-Stone-Mountain
Wednesday was an opportunity to go back to some of my old training grounds whilst working away and I managed to visit Ilkley Moor for a fell run http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/HX3RYXEU3ML6CZ7YXBQJA5QXQA it was a bit grim as there was a lot of low wet cloud but great to be back there and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The rest of the week up to Saturday was a mix of swim, bike and run until Sunday where I was doing the Cheshire 10k. It was a predominantly flat fast single lap course, as usual I started a bit to quick and coming up to 4k I thought I was going to be on for a sub 25 5k, but a slight incline knocked the pace down a bit. Nonetheless it was a good and tough race and a new pb of 50:57
Race registration for Cheshire 10k
You would have thought this would have been enough, but when I got home I decided that I would also do a turbo session.
Totals for the week - 9h25
Swim 3h42 - 8350m
Bike 3h55 - 89k
Run 1h20 - 16k
Sept 30th - 6th Oct
I'm seriously enjoying training and was straight at it again on Monday even though I had raced the day before. I'm spending a lot of time here at the moment (my pain cave )
I was away for a wedding on Friday but sneaked in a short easy run in the morning, though it was looking like there might be a problem at first. Thankfully my brother is the same size so I nicked a pair of his trainers (sshhh don't tell him)
Of course you would expect that would be the end, but in fact despite a day off on Saturday, I was at Oulton Park on Sunday for a sprint duathlon. 1 lap running, 5 laps cycling and a final lap on the run. Totally traffic free and a unique experience, great day racing. Steady run effort, but really put the effort in on the bike followed by hanging in on the second run, though my time wasn't that much slower than my first.
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