Some things have changed - but not many.... I am thoroughly detrained from having been fit for Outlaw half at the start of June, 2.5months later I can still swim about 1.5k so probably could do a 1.9k... I did a 36ish mile bike yesterday - so some 20miles short of 56 and that made me quite tired... as for running... shnaffle ... it's back to a slow drag if I'm honest.
BUT STILL CHANGES and CHALLENGES are afoot!
The last 2-3 weeks I've put in a whole stonking 4hours per week (actually more like 3:58 but I'm rounding up) of training... a multitude of swim, bike, run and dare I say..... CORE... sessions.... (YES I DID SAY CORE)... I'm not nearly back in the right habit but at least I've thought about it.
I've signed up a *new* coach for the up coming winter/ maintenance and 2015 season ...I've even already entered my first race!! Someone from the tri club suggested - and we all followed like sheep - so we will be heading to Wales in May for a go at SLATEMAN ... Slateman distances don't sound too horrid, 1k swim, 50k bike and 11k run... until you realise the swim is in a tepid 13 degrees freshwater lake, the bike consists an assent (and presumably descent) of Llanberis Pass and the run seems to be 6km up out of a quarry before heading back down again.... Look at the video here .... Fun YES? My aim is not to get hypothermia in the swim, not crash coming down the pass and somehow run up out of the gravel pit.
Given I did somehow manage to got myself to the start line of one triathlon this year I thought I could benefit from the experience and guidance of a coach. As well as giving me some direction it will also be giving me someone, other then myself and the Pope, to answer to with my training, which will also help motivate me - in the past I've done well when I've been coached in terms of consistency of training and getting to the event feeling prepared. So what's to loose. I don't pay for gym membership so this is where my budget is coming from. I'm starting with the coach mid September so more to come on the experience in my next monthly post no doubt :)
In other news and since my last post one of our cats broke a leg.... well foot actually.. two metatarsals to be very precise. The cat in question was the poor stray who turned up when we got home from our holiday in March. Have you ever had to keep a semi-stray cat inside, mostly caged, and tried to stop it chewing (off) it's bandages... OH MY GOD! Hopefully never again. The poor creature - and our poor other moglets too... Mawnan (so named as that is where we had been on holiday), has decided the house is his territory and takes no pity on any other creature in his space. Caribou has been jumped on whilst asleep. Cue one big black fur ball, with one pair of wild eyes and one pair of wide scared eyes (they are both black cats).... Soros the older tabby has been belly flopped by Mawnan on more then one occasion (yes despite the collar and the splint).... Mawnan has become an indoor parcour expert, finding particular entertainment when running away from his dirt tray in an attempt at caged freedom. Not long though - in fact 1.5 days - it can't come soon enough for all of us!! He shall be free once more - and knowing the little bugger he will run into the woods and be gone for days!!!
Butter wouldn't melt in Mawnan's mouth... this is a before shot...
and the other day...
Despite the doughnut ring around his head or Victoria cone collar he still manages to gnaw at his bandages - strangely only since the vet put on the "NO CHEW" bandage though - first of he had a tiger bandage and he must have thought that one was fine as he didn't touch it!! Anyway - 4 lots of vet trips including xrays plus another 3 trips of bandage changes has made this one expensive stray kitty ... luckily he is now well and truly part of the family despite the sleepless night and kitty feuds that have been ongoing the last 6 weeks!
Well that's it for now - I've had a thoroughly lazy bank holiday (but it has been very wet out side so what do you expect)... I hope you've had a good extra day off too if you happen to be in the UK (but apparently not Scotland as it wasn't a national holiday there today - just a day when the banks were actually shut)
If you enjoyed this and want to see more scenic pictures of what the Pope and I have got up to since we got back to Blighty a year ago, well take a wander over to this blog.... I can't claim any credit for the written words here - but can for some of the beer drunk :)
