Lousy Swim :o(

Discipline: Swim
Distance: one mile (1600m)

Got to dash to work so can't write much - just had a naff swim - think I ate too close to it. Kept going for 64 lengths but really didn't feel like it :o(

Four More!

Discipline: Running
Distance: 4.1 miles
Time: 35:56
Av Speed: 8:47 min/mile

Did the same route as ten days ago - but for some reason slower by about a minute overall. Maybe it was the swim this morning, maybe it was just I was being a bit cautious because last time my knee flared up a bit for a few days after.

All in all a very comfortable run - the right ITB ached a bit in a dull sort of way, and occasionally the inside left knee twinged, particularly when the camber of the road sloped to tilt it that way.

I'm icing the knee now to try to make sure it doesn't flare up, but fingers crossed it'll be fine and I can try a longer run later in the week.

Good day today - swim and a run, plus got my sleeping bag sorted :o). Plus I tried a recovery bar and a carb gel, both of which were pretty tasty and far better than the usual icky muck!

Back in the Swim

Discipline: Swimming
Distance: 2500 metres

Bqck to the pool for the first time in ages, this time armed with anti-histamine, in the hope that it'll stop the horrible after-swim sneezing and snottiness. Well, the good news is that it's definitely helped, the bad news is that it hasn't stopped completely :o(


I got up later than intended and was half expecting the pool to be chocka, but it was actually relatively quiet - maybe everyone has gone out for the day? I did four easy lengths to warm up, and then went straight into timing myself over 800m. I'm pleased to relate that I knocked over ten seconds off my PB, registering:

800m PB - 18:15.53

which was great. I swam a few more lengths and then went for a 200m, time and did

200m PB - 4:08.7

the thing I worked on today was lengthening my stroke so that I was "pulling" all the way back with my hand until it touched my thigh, rather than bringing it over into recovery earlier, thus losing some of the power of the pull.

Strange "hopping on one leg man" was at the pool again - not quite sure what he's up to, I suspect recovering from an injury, but I really don't get why he has to do his practice in something called the swimming lane. The clue's in the name - duh!

Does My Bum Look Big...

Forum social tonight :oD

And time to try on the lycra. I arrived, not having had anything to drink, and fell completely for the line that "everyone had got changed out in the garden of the pub".

Large shorts were fine, XL top was a bit on the short side. Didn't have an XXL top to try. The XXL one piece seeemed fine, although I do prefer the two piece. Might go for a one piece and also a two piece outfit and gamble on the XXL top.

The pirates attempted to "pressgang" other peeps into coming to Germany with us!

Bad Day :o(

Woke up early, all prepared to swim, but I felt knackered. Not good at all. I figured anyway that even if I got to the pool for 6:30, that since I was going to make use of the train (drinks after work) that I'd never make it in for 9am. So I switched off the alarm, and went back to sleep.

Only thing is, I messed it up, so I didn't wake up until 7:30, and ended up rushing. The train was awful - crowded, had to fight for a seat again, and had all the usual crappy aggro I'd had for several years but escaped from for the last few years thanks to the scooter. Still - I did get a copy of the Metro, which was one major plus! About the only thing I've missed.

Soggy and Saddle Sore

First thing first. The more observant amongst you will have noticed a name change to this blog. Why? Well - having been inspired by the various pirates at IMUK, and all the stuff on the forums, I've decided to give IMDE a shot in 2006. Okay - my knee may give out on me, life may get in the way, or I may get hit by a bolt of lightning, but what the feck - you can't live life on that basis! So - I'm going for it, and looking forward to the rollercoaster ride that I'm sure will follow. It feels like the challenge I've been looking for, and my motivation to train is the best it's been for ages having made that decision :oD

Having done with that, on to today's training:

Discipline: Bike
Distance: 20.32 miles
Time: 1:22:23
Max speed: 30.0mph
Av speed: 14.8mph

It was a dank and miserable night, but I've been meaning to do another bike ride for ages, so when the rain cleared a bit, I set out. I had a route in mind, but as it turned out, I got lost, and didn't quite do that route! Instead, I did this one.

It still takes me a while to get settled into the bike - clipping in and out, the position, and everything else. My two biggest sore areas are the bits where my thumbs and first fingers join, even with the gel padded gloves, and my perineum and nadgers(!) The fact that I forgot my bike shorts tonight may not have helped!

The journey to Epsom was a lot of stop and starting at lights, which was irritating, and I fought to get used to the gears. The big idea in my mind at the moment is to keep that cadence in the range 85-95. Keeping the heart rate down is also a good idea, but I'll leave that to happen as I get fitter!

Once through Epsom, I was onto a long stretch of road out to Oxshott that only has one set of lights on it. It has gentle slopes up and down, and was good practice with the gears. I found I was devloping a natural feel for when I was in the right range cadence-wise. Left turn at Oxhott, then through the village and otu towards Leatherhead. This is where I made my mistake - instead of carrying straight on to J9 of the M25 and then heading back into Epsom via Ashtead, I turned back up a road going to the crossroads on the Oxshott road. This worked out okay, I could go right there and then back home through Epsom, but it had cut a corner off my route, so I decided to add a bit extra. At the crossroads, both my calves cramped when I got off the saddle when the stop sign showed, and I managed to walk onto the central island to get out of the way. A quick rest, and the calves recobvered, so I set off back into Epsom. It was busy, even at gone 8pm, so I made slow progress. A quick detour round the back streets avoided some of the hold up, and then I headed down the Ewell bypass and up the back of Nonsuch Park before heading back through Cheam. The climb into Cheam Village was steep, and I really had to knock the gears down. Not sure how I'd cope with the Alps - guess I'll just have to get used to it!

The final mile or so I was feeling knackered, so it was good to see home. I got off my bike, but my legs were wobbly and my back a bit tight, so I nearly fell over! Teh tension across my upper back/neck had been a persistent issue, which is a bit worrying as it's one of the things the chiro always picks up on, but apparently it's quite a normal biking thing to have, so no panic as yet.

All in all a very satisfactory ride. A few issues, but nothing too bad or that might not be expected for someone building up their time on a bike. I downed my jacket spud, beans and sausages (left from the weekend!) with gusto, feelign that I'd earned it!

Wednesday Weigh-In

:oD

On the plus side, just weighed meself and I've "crashed" through the fifteen and a half stone barrier (just!). 88.6kgs, or fifteen stone, six point nine two pounds according to my spreadsheet.

On the downside, I seem to have a load of mozzie bites fro the weekend. Odd really, as they don't tend to go for me. They're nearly all below sock level too, so perhaps they got inside my socks or something! Can't recall removing them all weekend (yuck!). It was one of those weekends.

Spent yesterday evening fannying about trying to sort out my AV software which has messed up, so no training :o( However, I'm going to do a bike ride tonight and then put in a swim tomorrow morning, taking some anti-histamine tablet first, as I suspect I may be having an allergic reaction to the chlorine.

I've been browsing tri-porn on the internet too - looking at various bike components and energy gels. Ain't Wiggle great? ;o)

Loitering Within Tent

Wow! What a weekend!

As mentioned in my last entry, I spent the remainder of the weekend supporting at IMUK, taking my brand spanking new tent for five people, which I was to be sharing with Annajo. As it turned out, Lindi's friend Lucy was also coming alone, but we still had loads of room, and someone who actually knew how to put up a tent! Plus she also provided us with all kinds of scrummy cakes, sweet and pies :oD My kind of person!

We made it to the campsite about 4:30 or 5pm, and fairly quickly located Lindi. We had a quick drink, and proceeded to put up the tent, helped by another demon tent erector, Monique! It was all up in about fifteen minutes, and a lot of that was trying to figure out the instructions before just going by the experience and nouse of Lucy and Mon.

We whiled away the evening indulging in idle banter, and in may case sniffing and having trouble breathing. The chlorine allergy thing I reckon - surely not another cold? It had gone completely by the next morning, so it does seem rather a coincidence if it was a bug rather than an allergy. Lindi cooked pasta with tuna and tomato, which was great, and I christened to new cooker with some hot water for coffee/tea :oD

We headed off to bed early, as we had a 4:30am start the next morning, but it was feckin' freezing and it took my a while to doze off. I woke about an hour later, put another layer on, and went back to sleep. All too soon though it was time to get up! From a couple of tents down, Carl's alarm went off with an upbeat disco number resonating around the campsite!

We had decided to have something light to eat and then head over to the start of the swim, but in the end purloined Lindi's cereal, and ate a croissant provided by Lucy. It wasn't long before we were heading over to the lake, rather concerned about the heavy mist that was everywhere - including on the lake. The triathletes headed off before long, and we stood around sussing out vantage points. 6am approached, but still the mist lingered. The due start time passed, and announcements about a delay were given. Around half past, the mist pretty much cleared, and the rescue kayaks hit the water again, but then the mist descended again, and the race was put back even longer. It was after 8am by the time they started. I felt sorry for the peeps hanging about getting cold.


After one false start(!), the swim was under way, and I was amazed by the mass of thrashing arms and turbulent water. It was also amazing how quickly the lead swimmers got away from the rest, and how within a few minutes, the densely packed mass of coloured swimming hats (rather reminiscent of plastic ducks bobbing on a pond) had been stretched out to a fairly long line. We headed up the course, snapping as we went, but it was impossible to pick out individuals that we knew. Forty-five minutes later, the first swimmers were out of the water, which coincided with us reaching that end of the lake, and we hung around to cheer in the pirates, and snap most of them.

Next, the bike, but we knew that no-one would be around for a few hours, so we headed back to the campsite, ate sausages and beans, and had a quick sleep. Then back to the bike course in time to take some snaps of Monique, Carl, and a few others. Unfortunately I missed Lindi first time round as my batteries ran out just as she passed.
Monique wasn't far behind, and she soon set out chasing Lindi on the run leg.




The pirates were well strung out by now, and there wasn't long between the last one passing for the first time and the first one coming back in at the end of 112 miles. We did however manage to snaffle some rather delicious burgers in the interim period!

Carl was quite a way behind by then, so we stayed to watch him come in on the bike and head out on the run, and then went back to the campsite. We had hoped to have another sleep, but in the end there wasn't time, so we just took the tent down, did the washing up, and packed away what we could before heading back for another burger and to see the pirates finish.


Unfotunately we missed Monique by about twenty minutes, but got back just in time to see Lindi, and the others streaming in after her. We stayed until gone 10pm, and then really felt we should head off. We eventually got home around 2am, completely shattered!

Thanks to:
Annajo for driving and her company
Lucy for the food, tent help and cooking the sausages, as well asher company!
Mon for help with the tent
Lindi for the food
Carl for making me laugh, and for keeping going - sorry we couldn't stay

Great to see all the supporters too
Dr Nic and Mmmmmark
Juiejoo
Fat Buddha and Petal
Oxy
Tara (must have walked past you about five times before realising it was you!)

Saturday 20th

Discipline: Swim
Distance: 2000m

Rather a disappointing swim - I think I went too soon after brekkie, but I could have gone any later without mucking up my chiro appointment. I didn't feel fantastic from the start, I just didn't seem to be powering through the water that well, and my breathing on the left hand side, which is normally the stronger of the two, felt weird and off balance. I did twenty-four lengths warn up (600m).

I then went into an 800m time trial, but it didn't feel good all through, although I reached half way in about 9:25 - about 15 seconds down on my last attempt. I kept going, but didn't make much progress, ending up with 18:44.6 - about twenty seconds down on last time. I guess that means that my second half was a bit better! I did another twenty-four lengths fairly speedily, fitting in a 400m time trial, but again that was disappointing - 9:14.5 - nearly 30 seconds down on my best time (done a couple of weeks ago). I seem to have ended up with the runny nose and sneezing - I'm convinced now it's a chlorine allergy or something! Biggest swim week so far though - with 4000 metres. Hopefully next week I can fit in three sessions, and get that up to six thousand. I'm going to give the running a rest for a few days and hopefully fit in some biking too.

A quick dash then to the chiro - who seem very pleased with my progress (I am as well!). I did have to have a few tweaks done (probably a slight imbalance that's causing my knee to ache from last night), but nothing major. I got my right quad massaged and some "soft tissue release" done on the hip flexor bit as this was tight. Not sure what that was about - I think probably a slight twist in the sacrum, as the achey quad came on yesterday, around the same time as I noticed the back ache. Not sure what the root cause is :o(

Just about to head off camping with Annajo!

Moving Four-ward!

Discipline: Running
Distance: 4.05 miles
Time: 34:56
Shoes: 2100s without heel raise
Surface: Mainly tarmac roads, but plenty of pavement too
Average Speed: 8:32 min/mile

Been off training for quite a while with one or other lurgies, which apart from a swim has put me out for a week. Not good :o( I've been back at work for a few days now, and I don't know if it's riding the scooter again, or being at work, or what, but the middle of my back and in particular my right rear shoulder blade has started to ache, which is one of my main problem areas. Both quads seemed to be misbehaving a bit before I set out.

Tonight's route is a new one that takes in some familiar bits, but rather nice in that it's not an out and back route, more of a loop, but a bit of a figure of eight (albeit a bit uneven - one half of the eight is much bigger than the other!)

All in all it was a pretty uneventful run - I actually enjoyed large chunks of it, apart from about half way round onwards, because by that time I'd come to the conclusion that I hadn't left enough time since eating (about 45 minutes!). It might be a relatively easy pace compared to what I used to run, but at the moment it's still working me hard.

I did get the occasional twingem, and momentary dead/numb feelings around the left knee, but it was right quad that was giving me the most gyp - feeling a bit tight from the start. It didn't get any worse, but then it didn't seem to loosen either. I finished the run, and iced all the appropriate bits, and then remembered okay - I was reminded) to stretch. Thanks Wumbly! :oD

Swim for me first thing tomorrow, although I am going to be pretty busy - got chiro, and then fairly soon after heading down to Somerset to watch Lindi, Barlist and co at IMUK. If I decide I need some camping pans or plastic plates then I may run out of time, and something will have to give!

Soggy but Satisfied

Back at work after a couple of days off, and it's A level results day. A bit of a mixed bunch of students this year, so who knows what'll happen?

Turns out they did fabulously well - lots of As, and even the weaker group all did better than expected. If you look at the official stats, they may not look too impressive, but if you know the students (or look at the "value added" stats, which don't get published in newspapers as far as I know), then they're fab! A great day. I went home exhausted but happy :o)

This morning was ridiculously wet, but I now have full waterproofs - but must remember to sort out the slits that let me get at my pockets, so as to avoid the water leaking in! One side was dry, ther other was soggy!


A weekend's camping ahead of me at IMUK, with Annajo sharing the tent and helping me get it up (fnarr fnarr), Let's hope that Lindi, Candy, Barlist and co all go well. Should be a fun weekend in any case, and I'm really looking forward to camping again, particularly with my new mega-tent. Just hope it doesn't leak!

Tuesday and Wednesday

Feck feck, feckity feck!

Monday evening I felt rubbish, and fell asleep around 8pm, only waking up briefly before the next morning. I seem to have had a lurgy - maybe I didn't get rid of it at the weekend. I've taken two days off work, but more importantly, two days off training. I was hoping to get a run in Tuesday and this coming Friday, looks like now I'll just manage one before Saturday's chiro appointment. Should be okay - still plenty to report, will just make this a bit of a duff week. Still - can't force it if I'm ill :o(

On the plus side - managed to re-arrange my 1-2-1 swimming lesson for September 17th :o)

An Early Start!

Discipline: Swimming

Distance: 2000 metres

Time: 55 minutes

An early start today - up at 5:30am to down beans on toast, and then after a bath, off to the swimming pool to get a session in. The pool is quite different at that time - split into three lanes, all for length swimmers, and everyone there seemed to be serious and not just fannying about chatting. There were lots of pull buoys and hand paddles in evidence at the pool side!

Must confess to feeling knackered - not sure if it was the alcohol yesterday or the early start. I didn't feel like I was swimming that well, but after eight lengths I decided to do a continuous 800m. First time I've tried that, ever! Anyhow - it di feel rather weird, setting out for thirty-two lengths, knowing that I wasn't going to stop, but that's only 20% of what I'll have to swim next summer, and I won't get a brief hold of the poolside at the end of each length either!

I felt my technique wasn't good, and there were moments where this suffered particularly badly, interspersed with good moments. I tried to focus on holding good technique, but inevitably it suffered. I seem to have switch to mainly alternate side breathing every three strokes, and although I'm not as good on my right (possibly not as stable?) it is coming reasonably naturally.

Anyhow - bottom line is - I did record the following:

800m PB (first try!) - 18:25.4

which is 9:13.7 for each 400m assuming an even pace. Not bad - until last week my PB for 400m was only a few seconds inside this, and I did it twice! I also think I managed to keep up pretty much an even pace for the two halves.

I also did some practice of trying to look front then breathe side - as I'd seen some of the top swimmers do this to sight when I was watching the London Triathlon on Saturday. It didn't quite work always - it seemed to take a while for the water to fall from my goggles (presumably raising my head caused a bit of a wave), and the twist to the side felt a bit odd, but certainly it's one to practice, and better than breathing at the side first and then trying to look front. One to work on certainly!

Weight back up to 100.1kgs this morning - but I don't expect that to last!

Hopefully time for a bike sesh tonight - I'll go for about 15 miles/an hour's cycling.

Rest is Best

Well, today had been planned as a rest day for a while now, but it would have been anyway, as the sniffles and sneezes of yesterday got a lot worse, and turned into shivers and aches as well. In a way it's good - it won't cost me a day's training as it was a rest day, and also it might explain partly why I found yesterday's run so hard work.

One downer - I've remembered that the social is the day before my one-to-one swimming session and I have peeps staying, so all in all it won't really work! Still - there's still the day's swimming camp, and I can always arrange another individual sesh for later on. Might be good in a way, to get some feedback having tried to adopt what I learn at the swim camp :o)

Training this week:

Day	Swim	Bike	Run	Other
Sunday	0	0	0	0
Monday	0	0	3.14	0
Tuesday	0	0	0	Body Pump
Wednesday	1600m	0	0	Pilates
Thursday	0	10.83	0	0
Friday	2000m	0	3.71	0
Saturday	0	0	0	0

Weight has dropped to 98.9kgs this morning

Just call me Thorpedo ;o)

Discipline: Swim
Distance: 2km
Time: irrelevant as not continuous


Went to the pool a bit later than planned, as they had aquarobics, and last time that was on everyone else crowded into the lengths lane. It was a bad start, the lane contained several breastrokers and a jellyfishing bloke. Still - I managed to swim around them pretty well, and had knocked off about 600m pretty quickly. I did 3 x 8 lengths (200m) and tried to do it at a pace I could keep going. I got quicker each time, reducong to about 4:30 for the third set :oD

I played around after that, working on technique, and threw in some swim golf - where you time yourself over 50m and count your strokes, then add them up. The other day I did 43 strokes in 59 seconds (102), today I did 45 strokes in 51 seconds (96). So - a slight increase in strokes, but considerably more power per stroke.

I stuck in some 100m time trials, but couldn't get down to my PB of 1:50.7, done several weeks ago. However, I did have a crack at my 400m PB, and managed to set a new one, along with a new 200m PB (done separately).

400m PB: 8:48.0 (done very even pace - first 200m was about 4:25)
200m PB: 4:12.3

After that I just did some leisurely lengths, with a 50m time trial thrown in to break things up. I managed 49.6, which is a few tenths off my PB, but still very pleasing.

Weight is up slightly at 99.7kgs today.

I managed to arrange a 1-2-1 swimming lesson for 1pm on 27th September - Open Water stuff, and I'm about to book onto a swimming technique course with video analysis and personal feedback with the video on DVD. It sounds excellent. Both of these are with these people. I'm really looking forward to it.

It's Not (All) About the Bike

Discipline: Running
Distance: 3.71 miles
Surface: Tarmac
Shoes: 2100s without heel insert
Time: 31.27

Average min/mile: 8:25

Woke up early (5:30) as planned, and swigged a cup of tea while managing to completely balls up a sudoku puzzle! I was a little nervous about this run, as I'd cycled yesterday, and my inner left knee had been a little sore last night, so I iced it.

After a lot of faffing about, I set out. It wasn't sunny really but still felt like it was warming up, and I started swetating quickly. Both inner knees felt a bit sore at first, but eased off after about a mile. It was good to be out doing something more like a proper out-and-back route, rather than just loops around the block. It covered a lot of familiar ground from my favourite six mile route.

Anyhow - the run itself proceeded pretty uneventfully, apart from the fact that I got extremely hot, and I was glad that I took a drinks bottle. Heaven knows how I'll cope with temperatures of 30 degrees plus :os. The second half of the run went particularly well, with no real niggles. Just rather bother at how hard I was having to work for what a while back would have been a short run at a relatively low pace, but it'll come back!

I Want to Ride my Bicycle!

Discipline: Bike
Distance: 10.83 miles
Time: 43 minutes
Average speed: 14.9mph

My first serious bike ride for a while. The time was not including stops. Unfortunately these were quite frequent, as certain parts of the route have lots of lights on them, like around Mictham and the top of Sutton. I actually got confused and thought I was avoiding central Sutton, forgetting that Grange Vale was one way (I run down in so I must be able to bike down it - duh!). Next time I'll go up Ventnor Road and through the backstreets round Cedar Road etc.

The bit between my thuimb and first finger still gets sore, even with the gloves on the right way round! From what I've heard though, it's something you get used to. Likewise, I'm getting used to the saddle, and the padded shorts help, although I'm going to have to get used to a tri-suit with less padding.

All in all a good ride - no obvious tension in the back, although it does feel a wee bit stiff afterwards, but nothing untoward - I was a bit sore this morning before the ride. The only problem was a bit of confusion about unclipping at a roundabout, when I forgot I hadn't got my right foot unclipped and tried to put it down. Managed to save myself on a stationary lorry though!

Weight down to 99.4kgs this morning :oD

Pilates for Pirates

Just back from my first Pilates class at the physio place. I have done Pilates before but not really much like this. It was a grouop with a maximum of four (actually just me) with a qualified physio (incidentally the one who I worked with back in Feb/March this year.

What was great was that I basically ended up getting a physio reassesment in the process. He picked up so much stuff!

The Pilates was great - made all the better by the use of a biofeedback device - essentially a small cushion that went under my lower back with a pressure readout, so that I could tell if I was tilting my spine at all as the pressure gauge reading went up or down. They're about £80 to buy but it might well be worth it :o)

Sub Nine

Discipline: Swim
Distance: 1 mile

Got to the pool early today - just before nine o'clock. Fantastic, as until 9:30am, the whole pool was set up in three (wide) lanes - one for plodders, one for joggers, and one for sprinters. Even so, the effing Breastroke Mafia struck again, and there were several breaststrokers (not fast either I might add) in the sprinters lane, along with me and a woman who was doing a very efficient looking front crawl. I managed to get in a good few lengths before the main bit of the pool went over to general swimming and more people came into the "lengths" lane.

I really didn't feel that my stroke was terribly efficient - not sure what was goijng wrong with it to be honest. I just didn't feeel like I was gliding nearly on top of the water, the way I do when things are going well. I tried a 200m time trial, but gave up half way through as it just felt like hard work. That took about 2:05, which isn't a bad pace, but was too hard work for that really.

I settled down to just swim out the rest of the lengths, but got bored and decided to do a 400m time trial. Although it didn't feel fantastic, my stamina seemed to be better, and I achieved a new PB - which was....

400 metres: 8:56.7

A new PB by over fifteen seconds, and my first time below nine minutes! I'm still wondering if I miscounted the lengths, but I'm sure I didn't!

Around this time the "wide load" girls from last week got into the pool. I call them that because they both do breaststroke and insist on swimming side by side, which makes them very hard to pass, particularly when there's someone coming the other way. Still - they did provide some nice eye candy! Lindi's tip of wiping the inside of the lenses with washing up liquid worked a treat, and my goggles didn't mist up at all :o) Pure coincedence that I mention the goggles at this point!

The pool was filling up, and although the though of doing another sixteen lengths crossed my mind, it was getting a bit tedious weaving in and out of people, so I quit at the mile point. I'm glad to say that my back, which was a little bit sore before, seems to have loosened up. My knee, which was twingeing a small bit, also seems a lot better. Swimming does seem to be a good thing to do as a recovery exercise :o)

Weight is up to 99.8kgs this morning - no probs though - it's still sub 100 :o)

Body Pump

Down the gym for a Body Pump sesh - only 45 mins, but good to do some muscle work. I decided to keep the squats shallow today, and fortunately everyone voted against doing the lunges track, which usually buggers my knee up.

So - all in all a productive sesh - almost made up for the problems with the swim. In the end I didn't swim, as I misunderstod the timetable. A shame really, as I fancied it.

Anyhow - post BP I decided to have a protein shake - choccie flavour with a banana and some raspberries in it, which was fabulous.

Found this cartoon yesterday - went back and read every one on the website - brilliant stuff!

Then a wholemeal roll slice in half with pineapply cream cheese, turkey rashers, and a liberal dollop of sweet chilli sauce - gawjus!

Tuesday Weigh In

Well, I wasn't going to do this, supposed to do it just once a week, but I couldn't resist.

New Weight: 99.6kgs
Or in pounds: 15st 9lbs

:o)

Decided to reset my target as two bad weeks meant that I was constantly "trailing" above the 1kg a week target line which was depressing, so I reset it to the end of that bad period. So - here's the new graph

Life of Pi

Distance: 3.14 miles
Time: 26:57
Surface: Road
Av Speed: 8:35 min/mile

Wow - did wonder if I was pushing up a bit from 2.5 miles, my last run, even though I'd only planned a 2.9 miles run. Then part way round I found that a road that looked like it went all the way through to another one was actually a cul-de-sac, and I had to double back which added a bit on. My legs felt fine, so I was okay with that.

No really problems whatsoever - top of right leg on the inside felt a bit tired, but no problems with the hammy or the knee today. I was worried that the cycling which had given me a sore back (Saturday) might have knocked me out of alignemnt, but if it did then it didn't show in the running!

The main issue was the heat - probably only about 20 degrees celsius and it still knocked me sideways :os I'm going to have to get more used to that so I can cope with it - can't guarantee a cold wet day in spring or summer!

Here's my road mileage build up

Monday Morning Weigh In

Weight: 100kgs

Hmmm - been a bit of a pig of a week - a big drop near the start, and then I seem to have stabilised for most of the week at 100kgs, without ever going below. Hopefully there's another drop on the cards - it does seem to be going in fits and starts.



I'm going to "reset" the target weight loss - the weekly figures (yellow) seem to be running pretty much parallel to the target (purple) now, which is basically because nothing much happened in the second and third week. I'm losing at about the right rate - so no point having a chart looking bad because of what happened a while back.

Today I plan to go out and do something like a 2.5 mile run, and possibly a swim later. Lindi has a ruptured ear drum, so can't OW swim, but did offer to come and run round while I swam.

London Triathlon

Wow - what a day - 1500m swim, 40km bike, and 10km run.

Sadly though it wasn't me - just the people I was watching at the London Tri! I got there later than I intended to, having sat around much longer than expected watching the end of the cricket. Anyhow - I arrived around 1pm, walked across the bridge to the Excel Centre, look down at the runners, and my eye was caught by the pirate tops outside a pub. Sounds like this was going to be a good place to watch from!

It was - and I only stuck to the soft drinks for one pint - after that I went onto lager, so not great for training. We cheered Dan RW and Oxy on, and then later, Lindi, Monique and Clair (Petal).

It was about 5:30 by then, so I went inside with the others and we found Lindi, who'd taken an elbow to the ear and had a ruptured ear drum. Sounds like the swim was absolutely brutal (Oxy had commented on this too). Does make me nervous about doing a big tri event.

A great day out anyhow - just a shame we had to put up with the incessant cried of "Banana Army" from just along the road. I think we wanted to shoot them by the end!

On Yer Bike!

Discipline: Bike
Distance: 3.5 miles
Time: 14 minutes

Not a full out ride, exploring the local roads and getting used to being on the bike, the gears, and so on. A bit concerned about the knee too, since it's the first time I've ridden a road bike for months.

I've been reading "Every Second Counts", by Lance Armstrong, and it mentions keeping the cadence (rate at which you medal) up at 90. It' ssomething I've heard before, but not paid a lot of attention to. Today, I noticed my left quad in particular got quite naggy when I was going uphill in a bigger gear, whereas once I went to a smaller gear (and the cadence increased), the leg felt better. It also stopped me needing to breathe so hard (presumably with a higher heart rate). All worth considering - I don't want lactic build up in the legs if I'm to do long bike rides (especially if there's a run afterwards) and also being anaerobic will knacker me. I haven't got "Going Long" yet, but I get the impression from Candy that it's going to be going on about low heart rates and fat burning. So high cadence is the order of the day.

The other thing I tried was the tri bars - down a long hill, and on a road with very little traffic! They seemed to go okay, although they do seem a bit short. I have a slightly sore back now, which is worrying, maybe the seat needs adjusting. I hope that's all it is - and not a need for a new bike! The knee seems to be okay so far - so a run tomorrow - perhaps I'll have a shot at 30 minutes?

The other thing tomorrow is the London Tri. Should be great - lots of Pirates (RW forums Tri Team) competing, and a big expo to spend money at!

Back to the Pool

Discipline: Swimming
Distance: 3/4 Mile

A rather annoying session. I'd spent the afternoon watching the cricket (and on the forums) and so not gone until later. I figured the pool would be quieter then, and that although there was an aqua-aerobics class in the main bit of the pool, the lane would be fairly empty at that time of night.

It started off well, with about four of us in the lane, and although I did have to stop and wait for a bit of clear space at times, I managed to get in some good clear swims. It felt strange after Monday's OW sesh, but I seemed to adapt quickly. I practised alternate breathing, and also having my hands enter the water a bit wider (hopefully giving more stability). It seemed to work pretty well.

The pool got a bit more crowded, including another species of annoying swimmer. I've already talked about the breaststroke mafia and the jellyfish, this time it was a short-lengther. This is someone who swims slower, and so can be overtakem but then rather than go to the end of the pool, and wait for any backlog of swimmers to clear, simply turns round before he or she reaches the end, meaning that anyone who's swum to the end of the pool then has to wait for them. This is particularly annoying when they're slow, as it means that unless you're hugely faster than them, you have to keep on overtaking them every ruddy length!

At 8pm, the aqua-aerobics class started. I figured quite a few people might get out of the lane, as it was getting late, but instead, the people who had been in the main pool decided to invade the swimming lane, and a lot of them did the trick of standing around in the shallow end and chatting, perhaps swimming a length once every ten minutes just to make it look like they were doing something. I got fed up fighting a losing battle,a nd gave up after 48 lengths. Must say though that it felt very easy - I could easily have gone on for a lot longer if the pool had been clearer!

Road Runner, Road Runner :o)

Distance: 2.5 miles
Time: 22:27
Surface: Roads
Shoes: 2100s without heel raise

Well - my knee was still twingeing a bit, but I set out anyway - two laps of the route shown here.

No problems for the first few hundred yards, but then the top of my right hamstring started nagging. This had been a bit of a problem recently, and something I need to be aware of. I'm still not sure what is causing it. It was a problem before all the chiro, so I don't think it's anything to do with the realignment stuff I've had done.

The end of the first lap was tough - it's a slight uphill, but nothing that would have bothered me if I was fully fit. I stopped for a quick drink at the end of the first lap, and set out in the opposite direction. I'm very conscious these days of trying to even out the effects of the camber as best as possible.

The second lap went pretty well too, particularly the bits with a slight downhill, where I felt my stride was very fluent. None of that feeling of being off centre that I was getting a few months ago. The slight incline towards the end slowed me a bit, but overall I managed to keep a pretty even speed. I didn't time it exactly, but I think the two laps were pretty much the same time. Round about nine minute miles, which is a bit slower than I'd like, but I've lost fitness. There were points where I could have pressed more, but I was just concerned with getting the distance in.

That's my longest run on roads for months, and the last one I did before going to the chiro (13 minutes) left me with a badly swollen knee. Today I've got away with no obvious increase in soreness (just the small twinge I had beforehand), although my right hammy has tightened a bit now.

Rest Day :o(

Bit of a nothing day today. I completely forgot about the Pilates class until too late (annoying), and decided not to run as my knee was still nagging a bit. Nothing too bad, but enough to make me feel that giving it an extra day would be good. My shoulder was still a bit sore so I didn't swim either.

The good news is that suddenly quite a lot of weight has dropped off from somewhere (checks limbs), and I'm now down to 100.1kgs. Once that gets below 100kgs, there'll be another graph! Hopefully later on this week :o)

Oops - Was That Wise?

Body Pump

Went down for the lunchtime Body Pump class, complete with knee brace. Started off fine, but did get a bit of a twinge on the squats every time I bent the legs past about 30 degrees. I kept going. Not sure if it was a good idea. It hasn't flared up so far, but worrying nonetheless.

Still very happy with yesterday's swim. My shoulder (right) aches a bit though, and the rows in today's class made it twinge a bit but not too badly.

Yesterday's chats with Lindi made me think seriously about doing the Ironman. It would be a fantastic target to shoot for if I can fit it in, and most of the work will come after I've done GAMSAT.

Swallowing Fish :oS

Distance: approx 1km
Time: no idea - took my watch off!
Discipline: Open Water swimming

Yup - that's right peeps - Open Water Swimming (somehow the capitals seem appropriate). It was finally time to leave the relative safety of the swiming pool with the nice blue lines painted on the bottom (the pool that is, not me!) and head off into "Proper Grown Up Triathlete Territory". The open water swim - wibble :oS

This was meant to happen last week, but I had a cold hit me suddenly, so it got put back until today. Fortunately, I had Lindi and Dave Bennett with me, both experienced open water swimmers. We headed off to South Water Lake.

That's it in the middle in the gap towards the bottom. Not the pristine clear blue water further up and to the right, the murky green looking one!

I was worried about it being cold, as I didn't have a wetsuit, and was not reassured to hear someone plunge in and scream like mad. As it turned out this was just someone practising life saving drills, but I didn't find that out until later! The following sight also did nothing reassure me!

I jest! That wasn't at Southwater, although the water was pretty much that colour! My main worry was swallowing a fish, which Lindi had told me there were some of at South Water. Anyhow - I eventually got up the nerve to plunge in, and found that I could stand on the bottom by the jetty (to the right hand end in the aerial shot). Right - time to set off. Dave stayed with me as I took my first tentative strokes. I was amazed by how little I could see in the water - I could just about see my front arm going forward for the next stroke. I concentrated on sticking to swimming just like I'd done, length after length, in my local pool. This seemed to work great, and I relaxed into it.

The next thing I knew, I felt something grasp my ankle! Gulp!



Fortunately, it wasn't that, it was Dave, trying to attract my attention to tell me that I was about to crash into the reeds! Hmm - I understood why the swimming pool had lines on the bottom! I had a chat with Dave who talked about sighting - taking my head out of the water every few strokes to look ahead. This was worrying, as it was going to interrupt something that I'd practised a lot. I tried it, and found it hard going. I eventually reached the far bank (shore seems too grand a word) and rested, rather depressed. It had been a tough journey across, and rather spooky, as at times it seemed as if I wasn't getting any nearer (a trick of perspective I think). Lindi swam up, and we had a further chat about sighting. I decided that I was going to have to master this, and that it was bound to take time. The swim back was easier, but still not fantastic. I decided to do a couple more "lengths" and then call it a day, the sun was getting close to the trees.

The next couple of lengths were better. While I never found the sighting technique easy, I did manage to get a little more to grips with it, although almost by definitions it's going to interrupt the smoothness of the stroke. I also went to bi-lateral breathing consistently rather than just when I felt I needed a breath more often than every four strokes, and that seemed to help me keep naturally straighter. It still took time for the far bank to approach, but it wasn't too long before I'd completed four lengths :o). I got out exhausted but very satisfied.

Oh yes - swallowing the fish! Lindi and I went back to her place and stuffed ourselves full of fish and chips!!

Knee-tastic!

Distance: 2.83 miles
Time: 22.45
Shoes: 2100s - no heel raise
Surface: 17 minutes tarmac, 6 minutes grass

Wow! What a great run!

I felt uneasy setting out, as I was worried that soemthing might flare up. To be honest that's how I've felt for the last few months - worried that a run might end (or be followed by) a lot of soreness around the knee, and various niggles en route. But today was different!

Okay - I got a bit tired, and for a few seconds the top of my right hammy was sore, but overall I had nothing more than very very minor twinges, probably what should be expecte3d. In many ways, since I'd built up from nothing to 23 minutes in my new shoes in the space of two runs, I should have had more problems! In fact, a lot of the run felt really fluid, although slight uphills did some rather moreproblemmatic than I'd have liked, but maybe that was lack of aerobic fitness.

Iced like mad afterwards - the only bit even remotely sore was the medial right ankle, but that was very minor. We'll see what the next 24 hours bring!

Weight has gone down slightly, but I have a feeling I'm due another bigdrop, so I'll leave the official weigh in until tomorrow :o)

Getting Zippy with Even Hippies!

Distance: 1 mile
Discipline: Swimming

Okay - naff title! So what's it all about? Have I spent too long smoking weed which has enhanced my swimbling, I hear you ask? The short answer is "no". The longer answer is that I've been speaking to Iron Lindi and talking about how important it is to keep the hips a) level and b) stable. This led to an interestign conversation at Friday night's social where various traiathlete types decided to take the pi55 out of me for not having a set of abs like Peter Andre. I decided to do something about it. not right away though, as I had beer to drink, and boy did I pay for it yesterday :oS

Anyhow - I've sought out a Pilates class, so I'll be goign to that as of this week, but for today I really concentrated on using my abs more, pushing my chest forward to get my legs up, and concentrating on those elements of technique. Must confess it did lead to a few problems and all sorts of oddities, but I reckon I'm getting there. Still plenty of work to do though.

My stamina seemed a bit carp today, and my 100m time was a few seconds down, but perhaps I should have tried it later on in the session when I'd got more to grips with the new elements of technique.

50m PB - 49.2 second

which is obviously better than even time (1 second per metre). I'll be looking to increase that to even time for 100m over the next couple of months - my best is 1:50.3, so I've got just over 10 seconds to knock off! That seems a lot, but if I can hold the technique for longer (it really seems to deteriorate in the second fifty) and improve my fitness so I don't get short of breath quite so quickly (which also hurts the smoothness of stroke) then I might be in with a chance.

Weight
This has dipped quite a bit since my last official weight in, but went up again this morning - probably something to do with the social, although I must confess to not eating a lot yesterday. I'm hoping it will be back down again for the official Monday weigh in.