Phew! Sunday at last and summer seems to be here 3 months early... with temperatures in the mid 20s (infact the weather man just said 26.5 which is 80 in old money) my run today was hotter then I expected! Long may it last as it's gorgeous outside.
Following on from my swim success of Friday I can happily report I've finally got back on the bike (literally), and managed a 23k road session yesterday afternoon. I must confess it took a while to build up to it. Got my bike into Bettie (the car) and took her up to the hockey club to watch a couple of games then got on, clipped in and off I went. Planned pretty much to go straight up the road to a roundabout and back again. Lucky for me I didn't have to stop at any of the roundabouts I went over - lucky really given knowing my track record I would have unclipped one leg and gone and tried to put the other one down thus landing in the road..... so yes lucky I could just cruise to the roundabout and get straight over - phew ;o) Went up 11.2k in 27mins, took a quick water stop then flew back 11.6k in 24k - so it must have been down hill on the way back ;o) Really happy I got back on the road without breaking anything, but am still really nervous about being clipped in with so much traffic around. Still it's a start and the more I get out there the better it'll get :o)
Today I did a 10k run/ walk similar to last Sunday. Would have liked to have been out longer but bad planning on my part meant I had to get back so I could go and meet some friends for a late dinner. I enjoyed the run though although think my HR rates were set too low given how hot it was. Probably could have got away with something a bit higher at the top and low end. Will look to continue this to increase my distance whilst increasing my other straight through weekly runs.
Overall I've now finished my 3rd week of Base 1 training. The problem with week 4 (next week) which should strictly speaking me a slightly easier week (adaptation or something like that it's called), is that it's not likely to be easy given I'm going on my Tri Camp this Thursday! So plan to get my club swim in tomorrow and a run on Tuesday with a day off again this Wednesday. Looking forward to the Beginners Tri Camp - will be good to get some idea what I'm doing after all ;o)
Well I can't finish my blog with confessing my unfortunate incident yesterday... and I'm not sure I should admit to what I did. But anyhow.... so to cut a very long story short... I got up yesterday morning and needing to blow my nose I reached in to my dressing gown pocket for a tissue. Just as I was breathing in through my mouth to blow I saw in the tissue a big piece of Muffin (the cat) fur dusty stuff ... now obviously that shouldn't have been there, and I can only assume he dropped a tuft of hair on the floor, which rather then putting in the bin I tidied into my pocket. Anyhow, saw the fur too late and inhaled the blinkin thing! Scarey moments ensued as I coughed and heaved for some time. Not knowing what to do I did the obvious thing and phoned my Mum, who first thought it was some sort of crank call as I tried to speak in between coughs and heavy breathing! So to cut a longer story short. I didn't get an ambulance sent to me (despite being offered it by those nice people in NHS direct), and depending on where the hair ball ended up, will either swallow it, heave it up or cough it up. Nice! So now I know how my cat feels! Luckily I have some good neighbours who also have a wicked sense of humour - when I got back from my bike ride in the afternoon I found a packet of cat food on my front porch - especially for cats prone to hairballs ! Nice touch ;o).... could have been a lot worse really - just hope the ball of fluff/ fur clears itself before holiday!
3 more days to go before I jet off - HURRAH!
Oh better just recap the weekly stats then - all up from last week although still need to be in the pool more!
SWIM 68mins 2.4k (Mon, Fri)
BIKE 138mins 59.8k (Mon, Thur, Sat)
RUN 146mins 22.3k (Mon, Tue, Fri, Sun)
As usual of late no strength work, but do feel I should be doing something on my legs (squats, lunges that sort of thing), some core work and probably some tri/bi/ shoulder stuff.
Right as normal I'm writing this last thing so am now off for some zzzzzz's..... Love it!
Happy days everyone
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
"It's me" or so said Lord Braveheart....
I'm back. Twice in a week. Something must be up.... or maybe I'm actually on my training schedule this week..... HURRAH! :o)
Haven't got the pitures of Bettie yet (the car) or blue-seventy - will charge my bats at the weekend for the old camara and see if I can get something on here before my *holiday* next Thursday!
Yes *holiday* is coming around fast - less then a week to go before I jet off with some friends to Lanzarote for my "Beginners Tri" camp. Looking forward to the break from the place they call work and a change of scene. Also looking forward to getting a bit of coaching on all three disciplines too. Hopefully will get plenty of time to train and plenty of time to sleep - perfect!
I should give a recap of training this week but something exciting happened today so I'll start off with that and work back to Monday....
So had arranged to meet a friend after w**k for a bite to eat, but keen not to spoil my action packed training week I cunningly arranged to meet up to give me sufficient time for a bit of a run and a bit of a swim. So off I set for the gym for a 4k run (500m intervals at 8.5km pace then 11.5 (1 at 12.5) km/hr pace)... that was good and felt better then last time a few weeks ago - good then as feel I'm getting stronger! Then quickly changed and got in the pool as figured I could get another 30-40mins in. Have to say felt really heavy in the water, both arms were aching (why was that?? bizarre) and my legs didn't have much in them after the run. So did a warm up then did a few laps of drills... then decided as I've been doing some good 100m laps recently that I'd try a 400m test to see if I could actually get under the magical 9min barrier....
Yep - I cracked my magical 9mins and got in on 8min 36secs! Nearly a full minute faster then I was capable off before my first sprint tri last summer. WOW. So given I've only been swimming for a month after my 8 weeks enforced break I'm not only surprised but really really pleased. Did a nice steady cruise and tried to keep some good form. I know I know so I'm not setting any world records but a personal triumph none the less... hurrah! Wonder if I could do it again?!?!
So today was good.
I'll do a brief recap then (in reverse order) of the week gone by;
Thursday - good 15km 40min turbo session with Episode 1 of Series 2 of "Alias" - yes I've got the 2nd series, borrowed from a friend. So that'll keep me and the turbo occupied for a while to come :o)
Wednesday - Was up in the big smoke so planned to have a day off from training. Needed a bit of a rest anyhow so that worked out well :o)
Tuesday - Well, wanted to go out for a nice easy run, easy pace, easy breathing etc etc. I actually didn't intend to do much more then 4k however got a bit carried away with it being such a lovely evening.. so I trotted out for oh that would be 7.5k instead. But a lovely evening so I did really enjoy it. Which brings me to a point - now this may be the effect of spring time, but I'm trying to go out and enjoy my running. Rather then going out to train hard and not enjoy it, given I'm building back up again I decided the best way to get the most of my training in was to do it in a way that I could both relax, not worry about times, but just try and chip away a slightly longer distance or time. I will get to some faster running and I do actually enjoy intervals but right now I'm just loving being back out in the open air, feeling the breeze and spying on the wildlife as a jog on by. Lovely.
Back to Monday then. So it was Easter Monday and thus a day off work. This should have inspired me to have planned my training and had a good day. Got to 4.30 and realised I still hadn't done anything - gulp! Quick check with the gym to find there was a spin class at 6.15 so reckoned if I got a wriggle on I could whiz out the door to the pool have 45mins to an hour in that then straight to the spin class....... great idea... well if I had remembered my clothes! So got out of the pool (luckily early enough), toweled myself down to find I had my towel, some legging things and a jumper but no bike shorts, no bra and no top! Doh! So my quick transition stalled as I legged it to my car to whiz home grab the rest of my kit (which I had cunningly left behind on my bed), change and get back to the club just in time for the spin class! Worked myself really hard in that - figure I work harder in spin classes then I tend to on my turbo. So yes a good spin class then to make sure I was completely shattered I jumped on the treadmill for a quick 1k! Phew... slept well that night! and hence I needed the wednesday rest after my monday then tuesday long easy run!
So that's it so far for the week. Am at 3hrs 55mins and 51.8k. My plan for tomorrow is to get on my roadie actually on the road (yes I'm still being a bit of a chicken and not got back on my bike outdoors). Then, given I really enjoyed by 10k run/walk last weekend I think I'll do the same Sunday maybe for slightly longer, but will wait out on that.
Right it's way past bedtime - or so the cat seems to be telling me with that stare.
I may break another record before the training week is out - a third blog in a week!!
Haven't got the pitures of Bettie yet (the car) or blue-seventy - will charge my bats at the weekend for the old camara and see if I can get something on here before my *holiday* next Thursday!
Yes *holiday* is coming around fast - less then a week to go before I jet off with some friends to Lanzarote for my "Beginners Tri" camp. Looking forward to the break from the place they call work and a change of scene. Also looking forward to getting a bit of coaching on all three disciplines too. Hopefully will get plenty of time to train and plenty of time to sleep - perfect!
I should give a recap of training this week but something exciting happened today so I'll start off with that and work back to Monday....
So had arranged to meet a friend after w**k for a bite to eat, but keen not to spoil my action packed training week I cunningly arranged to meet up to give me sufficient time for a bit of a run and a bit of a swim. So off I set for the gym for a 4k run (500m intervals at 8.5km pace then 11.5 (1 at 12.5) km/hr pace)... that was good and felt better then last time a few weeks ago - good then as feel I'm getting stronger! Then quickly changed and got in the pool as figured I could get another 30-40mins in. Have to say felt really heavy in the water, both arms were aching (why was that?? bizarre) and my legs didn't have much in them after the run. So did a warm up then did a few laps of drills... then decided as I've been doing some good 100m laps recently that I'd try a 400m test to see if I could actually get under the magical 9min barrier....
I SPANKED IT!
Yep - I cracked my magical 9mins and got in on 8min 36secs! Nearly a full minute faster then I was capable off before my first sprint tri last summer. WOW. So given I've only been swimming for a month after my 8 weeks enforced break I'm not only surprised but really really pleased. Did a nice steady cruise and tried to keep some good form. I know I know so I'm not setting any world records but a personal triumph none the less... hurrah! Wonder if I could do it again?!?!
So today was good.
I'll do a brief recap then (in reverse order) of the week gone by;
Thursday - good 15km 40min turbo session with Episode 1 of Series 2 of "Alias" - yes I've got the 2nd series, borrowed from a friend. So that'll keep me and the turbo occupied for a while to come :o)
Wednesday - Was up in the big smoke so planned to have a day off from training. Needed a bit of a rest anyhow so that worked out well :o)
Tuesday - Well, wanted to go out for a nice easy run, easy pace, easy breathing etc etc. I actually didn't intend to do much more then 4k however got a bit carried away with it being such a lovely evening.. so I trotted out for oh that would be 7.5k instead. But a lovely evening so I did really enjoy it. Which brings me to a point - now this may be the effect of spring time, but I'm trying to go out and enjoy my running. Rather then going out to train hard and not enjoy it, given I'm building back up again I decided the best way to get the most of my training in was to do it in a way that I could both relax, not worry about times, but just try and chip away a slightly longer distance or time. I will get to some faster running and I do actually enjoy intervals but right now I'm just loving being back out in the open air, feeling the breeze and spying on the wildlife as a jog on by. Lovely.
Back to Monday then. So it was Easter Monday and thus a day off work. This should have inspired me to have planned my training and had a good day. Got to 4.30 and realised I still hadn't done anything - gulp! Quick check with the gym to find there was a spin class at 6.15 so reckoned if I got a wriggle on I could whiz out the door to the pool have 45mins to an hour in that then straight to the spin class....... great idea... well if I had remembered my clothes! So got out of the pool (luckily early enough), toweled myself down to find I had my towel, some legging things and a jumper but no bike shorts, no bra and no top! Doh! So my quick transition stalled as I legged it to my car to whiz home grab the rest of my kit (which I had cunningly left behind on my bed), change and get back to the club just in time for the spin class! Worked myself really hard in that - figure I work harder in spin classes then I tend to on my turbo. So yes a good spin class then to make sure I was completely shattered I jumped on the treadmill for a quick 1k! Phew... slept well that night! and hence I needed the wednesday rest after my monday then tuesday long easy run!
So that's it so far for the week. Am at 3hrs 55mins and 51.8k. My plan for tomorrow is to get on my roadie actually on the road (yes I'm still being a bit of a chicken and not got back on my bike outdoors). Then, given I really enjoyed by 10k run/walk last weekend I think I'll do the same Sunday maybe for slightly longer, but will wait out on that.
Right it's way past bedtime - or so the cat seems to be telling me with that stare.
I may break another record before the training week is out - a third blog in a week!!
Monday, April 09, 2007
Naughty!
Naughty 1: I haven't blogged for over a week
Naughty 2: Lent was over yesterday and boy have I eaten a whole heap of chocolate
Naughty 3: Spend spend spend.... In the last week I've now got some additions to my household... Bettie Blue - this is the name for my new car :o) Nice shiney new Audi A4 estate - and yes... it's blue
Blue Seventy - my new wetsuit! Not only am I venturing into my first full Tri season but I'm venturing into open swims too - so got the wetsuit, I wonder if it'll make me go faster!??!
Well, I'll post some pictures of my new things later for now I'd better get on and summarise the last week and March - my first month back on the proverbial tri treadmill! Good news is rightie is going from strength to strength - even managed a hour of so of weeding on saturday morning!
OK so last week, ending Sunday 08 April - comes to it, did I summarise the week before...humm.. hey ho.... will carry on with some stats;
SWIM: Not a good swim week. Missed club night as was travelling with work last Monday. Finally got to the pool on Good Friday, which turned out to be good. After a fairly intensive warm-up and then drills and speed work I embarked on 3*300m time trials with 30secs off between each 300m. Was really pleased to not only have survived 3 reps of 300m with hardly drawing a breath in between but also my times were pretty consistent (although not fast!), at 6:46, 6:58, 6:56. Totalled 2.2k for the session - alas this was the only session of the week. Oops!
BIKE: Slightly better then the swim (well that's not hard). Did get outside on the bike - ok so only in my garden so that doesn't really count! Two turbo sessions of around the hour mark each. Some easy spinning, pretend hills and sprints were the names of the games. Have finished series 1 of alias so had to watch some films instead! Total biked was 45km. Still need to get over the getting back out on the road thing and need to start getting good 1.5-3hr road bike sessions under my belt. Not sure if rightie would be up to that long on the bike, but there's only one way to find out!
RUN: Again not a great week although I did make two longer runs. First one 7.5k started at a really (really) easy pace for the first half then turned it up a bit. Think I did this in around 45mins which isn't going to break any records - apart from perhaps the record of "how many squirrels did you see on your run today" as I did see quite a lot of those bushy tailed rats running around the forest ;o). Also really pleased and did a 10.2km run/ walk on Sunday. Set my HR to do intervals up to 155BPM then down to 132BPM, so pleased I managed the distance (again v slowly) in 71mins. Given I was running some and walking some I'm actually surprised I wasn't out longer.
So overall I managed about 5hrs for the week. I do really need to step this up a bit and stop being distracted with work - although someone says this pays my mortgage so I'd better pay it some attention ;o)
This is beginning to be an epic blog isn't it - well then what should I expect haven't not blogged yet this month ;o)
Summary for March
SWIM: 04:27:0 7.2km
BIKE: 05:32:0 119.0km
RUN: 06:33.0 59.5km
Total: 16:32 185.7km
OK Let's just do a quick summary of March then. Looking at the totals I am actually quite pleased given this was my "prepare to train" phase (again), being the restart of training post broken bones. I feel where I am now is probably where I was mid-December. So quite pleased with how quickly I'm feeling like getting back into it.
Average time/ distance per day is a mere 32mins and 6km!!!??? Is that right - so actually that sounds more then I thought it may be! Rightie is weak but getting stronger - as am I. Am in slight fear that Blenheim in coming around quickly, in fact I think I may have to look at how many weeks it's out as have a suspicion I could count the weeks on two hands now.. ek!
Right - I am going to blog again this week but right now I'm going to bed. It's been a fantastic break from work over the Easter holiday. Managed to see my family and some friends, get some chores done, get some retail therapy in and even better get in some quality training. Great!
I will be back - sooner then before! x
Naughty 2: Lent was over yesterday and boy have I eaten a whole heap of chocolate
Naughty 3: Spend spend spend.... In the last week I've now got some additions to my household... Bettie Blue - this is the name for my new car :o) Nice shiney new Audi A4 estate - and yes... it's blue
Blue Seventy - my new wetsuit! Not only am I venturing into my first full Tri season but I'm venturing into open swims too - so got the wetsuit, I wonder if it'll make me go faster!??!
Well, I'll post some pictures of my new things later for now I'd better get on and summarise the last week and March - my first month back on the proverbial tri treadmill! Good news is rightie is going from strength to strength - even managed a hour of so of weeding on saturday morning!
OK so last week, ending Sunday 08 April - comes to it, did I summarise the week before...humm.. hey ho.... will carry on with some stats;
SWIM: Not a good swim week. Missed club night as was travelling with work last Monday. Finally got to the pool on Good Friday, which turned out to be good. After a fairly intensive warm-up and then drills and speed work I embarked on 3*300m time trials with 30secs off between each 300m. Was really pleased to not only have survived 3 reps of 300m with hardly drawing a breath in between but also my times were pretty consistent (although not fast!), at 6:46, 6:58, 6:56. Totalled 2.2k for the session - alas this was the only session of the week. Oops!
BIKE: Slightly better then the swim (well that's not hard). Did get outside on the bike - ok so only in my garden so that doesn't really count! Two turbo sessions of around the hour mark each. Some easy spinning, pretend hills and sprints were the names of the games. Have finished series 1 of alias so had to watch some films instead! Total biked was 45km. Still need to get over the getting back out on the road thing and need to start getting good 1.5-3hr road bike sessions under my belt. Not sure if rightie would be up to that long on the bike, but there's only one way to find out!
RUN: Again not a great week although I did make two longer runs. First one 7.5k started at a really (really) easy pace for the first half then turned it up a bit. Think I did this in around 45mins which isn't going to break any records - apart from perhaps the record of "how many squirrels did you see on your run today" as I did see quite a lot of those bushy tailed rats running around the forest ;o). Also really pleased and did a 10.2km run/ walk on Sunday. Set my HR to do intervals up to 155BPM then down to 132BPM, so pleased I managed the distance (again v slowly) in 71mins. Given I was running some and walking some I'm actually surprised I wasn't out longer.
So overall I managed about 5hrs for the week. I do really need to step this up a bit and stop being distracted with work - although someone says this pays my mortgage so I'd better pay it some attention ;o)
This is beginning to be an epic blog isn't it - well then what should I expect haven't not blogged yet this month ;o)
Summary for March
SWIM: 04:27:0 7.2km
BIKE: 05:32:0 119.0km
RUN: 06:33.0 59.5km
Total: 16:32 185.7km
OK Let's just do a quick summary of March then. Looking at the totals I am actually quite pleased given this was my "prepare to train" phase (again), being the restart of training post broken bones. I feel where I am now is probably where I was mid-December. So quite pleased with how quickly I'm feeling like getting back into it.
Average time/ distance per day is a mere 32mins and 6km!!!??? Is that right - so actually that sounds more then I thought it may be! Rightie is weak but getting stronger - as am I. Am in slight fear that Blenheim in coming around quickly, in fact I think I may have to look at how many weeks it's out as have a suspicion I could count the weeks on two hands now.. ek!
Right - I am going to blog again this week but right now I'm going to bed. It's been a fantastic break from work over the Easter holiday. Managed to see my family and some friends, get some chores done, get some retail therapy in and even better get in some quality training. Great!
I will be back - sooner then before! x
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