an evening cycle

Having spent most of the day tied up in a white van madly driving across the country and the North Circular I put the idea of all / any exercise out of my head on the grounds of insanity, exhaustion and lack of interest.

Then I watched Wimbledon, looked out the window, thought about how little I've cycled recently and while trying to distract myself with random thoughts of previous presidents of the US I grabbed the bike, trundled downstairs and joined the traffic.

I guess because I didn't give it much forethought my route was probably as bad as you can get as far as traffic and buses and traffic lights are concerned. Not great really. Then I was able to cut loose down the side streets and out towards the burbs and that felt good. I actually passed my place at one stage but was a good little alien and drive on by without so much as a groan or an Auntie Em to be heard.

After 17k I sit here now with sore knees, a mildly throbbing back and aches in places that it would not be decent to mention. I'm not going to worry about any of that though. It's a few weeks since I did a decent cycle and having spent the earlier parts of the day driving I think it's natural to have a few aches and pains now. I've got a day off tomorrow (woo hoo) and with two half hour runs, a 2000m swim and this 17k under my belt over the last three or four days I'm going to bloody well enjoy it.

mini confidence crisis, bound to happen really

I ran this morning. Approx 35 minutes. Then died. How in God's name will I manage 10k on Saturday? I mean seriously, there will need to be a proper fire up my arse to get me to move both quicker and for longer.

[not sure how exactly I got to this point]

I think tomorrow evening needs to be a decent cycle on my beautiful but under appreciated and mildy abandoned biking baby. Then take either a free day or a swim day on Wednesday before some light running on Thursday, a rest on Friday and 10k hell on Saturday. What are the chances of it raining on Saturday and giving me some hope of finishing this side of the weekend?

Miserable, eh.

stories from the shopping aisle

As far from the shadow of over training as you can imagine, this weekend I finally managed to get two consecutive training sessions done. The first was yesterday when I went for a run. I did half an hour in the glorious sunshine before breakfast and while I really enjoyed the run by the river, was totally knackered by the end of it.

[the thought of stretching to an hour next Saturday isn't filling me with joy to be honest]

Today I went to the pool and had myself a good long session. I did two full tri distances and then some sprints. My tri times were consistent, and consistently faster than last week. I was quite pleased with that I have to say.

This week I need to get some decent mileage on the bike. I believe it has suffered a bit given the emphasis on running and my trips to the pool. I still don't feel like I'm in a groove but if I can put my mind to things over the next six weeks and knuckle down hopefully things will turn out ok.

Finally, I did a quick trip to Decathlon today in search of something specific. Unfortunately they didn't have what I was looking for (and thankfully I didn't buy any "almost" substitutes). I did however come across an end of line ladies wetsuit that fits me perfectly. For the princely sum of £25. Bargain ! The thing that struck me though, was the number of ladies passing by looking for wetsuits and asking the sales assistant which ones would be ok for triathlon, but that they didn't want to spend much 'cos didn't know if they'd ever need it again.

Plus ca change ... hard to believe a year has gone by and we're back for more and having lost that virgin glow.

tired, sluggish and beginning to dread the weeks

Yesterday morning I went for a run and have to say it was just awful. I was awful. I was sluggish, had no energy, struggled from the start until that last painful shudder and just didn't enjoy it.

I managed 3k in 20 minutes before collapsing and sloping my shoulders for home.

Today I decided it was time I was back in the pool so having not been there for a week went straight into an 800m dash. Thankfully I was a little bit quicker than my previous times so that was settling.

I followed that with some sprints - all a bit new but I decided I needed to vary things up a wee bit. Think I probably need to start doing the same with the running to make sure I'm properly training and stretching myself and getting stronger than just building endurance and treading water with the distances.

Truth be told, I don't feel like I've really hit a groove yet with my training. I have managed a few odd consistent and consecutive weeks and I can see how I was able to progress but it's just so hit and miss I'm beginning to get a bit worried by it all. That being said, there are still over 6 weeks to go to the big day so hopefully if I concentrate and become alot more disciplined I can gain that confidence.

nothing but knife and fork required today

Have done nothing the last few days except eat. Eating all the wrong types of foods too. Oops.

Tomorrow I'll run, just over a week to go to the 10k and only seven weeks to go to the triathlon.

It all makes me wonder where our summer is. This weather is doing my head in.

up to 45 minutes

Instead of going swimming this morning which I probably should have I went running. I decided to do a long run to see how far I could push myself. Bearing in mind that I've been hovering around the 30 minute mark I was curious.

Anyway, on nothing but an actimel I did 45 minutes before calling it at day. It was only 6k but I'm actually delighted with it given it's only 36 hours since my big exertion on Thursday evening and that I was out boozing last night. I specifically ran slowly just to see how it felt and whether I could see myself doing it for longer spells.

I'm doing the British 10k in a few weeks time so I want to push up to the hour mark in the next two weeks so from that perspective it was a decent start.

One thing I noticed today though, and it does happen every now and then, is how disconcerting it can be when you pass someone who has a smirk on their face to the point where they have to look away. Generally they are listening to earphones so you hope they're listening to something very funny. Otherwise it's just plain mean.

Anyway, for today I've done my training so I'm off to enjoy the weekend. Tomorrow is a rest day and I do feel like I've earned it this week.

bricking myself to breaking point

This evening I did the SiS Battersea Festival of Running 5k in aid of the Great Ormonde St. Children's Hospital. Worthy cause, nice venue, friendly set up, mercifully dry weather and I managed it in just under 32 minutes which is, I believe, my fastest 5k yet. Woo hoo me.

I sit here now with a medal around my neck exhausted. Not so much because of the 5k run (don't get me wrong, it's a factor) but because of the 19k's I cycled in total either side of the race. It wasn't my intention starting off to do this but looking back that's kinda what happened.

The cycling and running had breaks in between them and I certainly wouldn't want to know how long the 19k took in total but the fact that I unwittingly gave myself a good brick workout is pretty cool actually.

A quick word on the race itself. There were a couple of hundred people there, a mixture of spectators and runners of all ages. During the day / early evening there had been many races for children (under 5's and upwards) so there was a real family feel to it. There were plenty of helpful organiser types about and the chap with the loud speaker was clear, friendly and instantly made everyone feel welcome. Well done to them all, it was a very well organised gig.

My biggest achievement this evening, aside from the time and the long cycle is the fact that I didn't get lapped by the winners. That would have gutted me I think, vanity and all that.

simmer at running temperature

I went for a run this evening. Donning the usual paraphenalia I headed out to join the other joggernauters in the SW London humidity. It was really clammy out there but I think I have to get used to it given the timing of the tri in August.

This evening I ran about 5k in more or less the same time as the Crisis 5k last week. I'm pleased with that. I then walked another wee while to cool down, as normal. I've got another 5k coming up in Battersea on Thursday evening so if I can stabilise a few 5k's each week and then walk afterwards I'll be ok with that.

I think coming for the last 4 weeks or so I will try to get greater distance in but for now 5k at a simmer works for me.

8 weeks to go, feeling ok

Just back from the pool and feeling good. I changed things around and went straight into my Sprint distance of 750 metres. Managed it in 22 minutes and 8 seconds.

Then I did the same thing all over again. 22 minutes flat.

Happy me.

I think this must be one of my good weeks because that was a decent pool session (for me anyway) given the irregularity of my swims so far and I was pleased with the 5k too. I know I need to pay a bit more attention to the biking but I'm enjoying it so know it will happen.

Key thing I think is to make sure I'm doing things regularly rather than stop start. And, that I make sure to space things out and give myself enough time to recover from the tougher sessions. There are about 8 weeks left so I think I should be reasonably pleased with where I am. I mean I can do the three distances individually - albeit some with more ease than others.

Next challenge and really what I need to focus on the next few weeks is stabalising these times and starting to mix the disciplines up. I may actually do a trial tri in a few weeks time to see how I go with the distances from last year.

Well, that's a wee while off yet. For now I'm pleased and starving. Off to have some well earned nosh. Fingers crossed my shoulders and neck don't decide to have some revenge of their own over the next few hours.

5k in the bag

Survived !

I'm thoroughly enjoying my post 5k race high as I write this. It was a good race for me and I finished in 37 minutes. It sounds alot but when you add that the race was actually 3.6 miles and that there were 3 stop starts when we all had to stop dead in our tracks and squeeze into tunnels before emerging the other side able to run again, that probably cost 3/4 minutes.

The route was from St. Paul's, up towards London Bridge, across the river and up towards Tower Bridge then around the back streets of Southwark to the Tate Modern, finishing over the Millennium Bridge. We were weaving between pedestrians and beer garden drinkers and passing restaurants with the most delicious food on view.

Cruel world.

As I was running over the Millennium Bridge, running down the throat of St. Paul's I had a moment of recognition and found myself being quite chuffed I'd entered the race and that I had landed myself a run around this city and that area.

All very cool indeed.

My final word must go to the Crisis organisers. They were superb from start to finish. I've done a few of these races now and cannot commend their attitude, support and organisation enough. It made it a pleasure to take part and they deserve major kudos.

tightening shoulders ahead of 5k, oops

5k race tomorrow. About a week too soon I think. But I don't really have a week to play with because that would have me losing time before the 10k in four weeks time.

I'm tired thinking about it. and I have a headache.

This morning I went swimming. It, unfortunately, was my first swim in about 10 days. I did 1,000 metres in a reasonable time which I'm fine with but this evening my shoulders and neck feel tight. They feel toned and boney which I'm loving given the last time that would have happened was when I was a single digit child probably but I could do without the tight feeling that comes with it.

I hope after a good night's sleep it will go away. I really don't fancy running a 5k like this.

crisis?

I ran about 3.5k this morning. More importantly I survived. Given the still present bruising I'm rather pleased. Will take things easy tomorrow (meaning I'll head to the pool tomorrow morning instead of anything else) and then try to rest up until Thursday evening.

Thursday evening = 5k. Who mentioned the word Crisis?

milestones and bruises

During the week I had a bit of an accident and it pretty much put the kibosh on planned activities for a few days. Am glad to say tho that things are now relatively back to normal (except for the massive bruising and continued swelling in my leg).

Because of my leg I decided yesterday should be just a gentle run of about 15 minutes. I've got a 5k in town on Thursday so didn't want to not do anything at all. Today I decided to take advantage of the glorious weather and go cycling.

I managed 25k in about 1.5 hours. Given that's in traffic and included a stop to buy some water I'm reasonably ok with the time. It's my expectation that I will do the tri bike leg in about an hour so I want to make sure I build up time on the bike so I'm used to the longer distances. During the trip though I passed a milestone. Over 1000 clicks since I started this triathlon journey last year.

That was pretty cool.