Weekend Warrior

After last weeks post where things were finally picking themselves up I had a bit of a slack one.
On Tuesday I did nothing and on Wednesday I did the most pathetic 30min turbo session ever, a real waste of time if ever there was one. Thursday was more interesting as I went out for a messy old run from Gordano Services in Bristol where I got totally lost, ran along a public footpath through 4ft grass only for it to suddenly stop in the middle of nowhere and where I ran across the M5 Avon Bridge.

On Friday the weather was awful and I was asked to do some extra stuff at work so I only managed my normal Squad swim session, although it did include 13 continuous 4x25m IM's and a 50m Butterfly Time Trial in 39secs at the end.

Saturday was the day of the Goldcoast Beach Aquathlon. Pre-race I had to do a couple of laps of the run course putting signs and tape out, then when I got back with 15mins to spare I thought I might as well have a go so I slipped on my wetsuit, talced up my trainers and headed down to the start.

There was no pressure for the race and the run from the start line to the sea was done near the back of the field while chatting to one of my clubmates. My first dive into open water for the 'M' shaped swim reminded me of something ---- the sea is bladdy cold, brrrrrr!!!! As my head froze I swam to bouy 1 with my head up in the air and with occasional breaststroke (girlie). The swim back to the beach for the small run section was steady but once back in the water sections 3&4 seemed to be real easy and I was flying past people as if they weren't there.

The field was stacked with some seriously quick swimmers but even so 23rd out of the water in a field of 65 was pathetically slow for me, I'd normally have been aiming for top 10, still there was no rush as it was just a bit of fun.

There were 3 of my clubmates ahead of me and it doesn't matter how lightly you're taking the race Club Pride matters so I set off in hot persuit. Very quickly I started moving up the field and soon there was only 1 clubmate ahead, gradually I reeled him in and listened to his potty mouth as I ran past him to take the lead in the only race that really mattered, the race for club honours. As the race went on I slowly worked my way through the field until I eventually finished happily in 4th position not far behind 3 very classy athletes and ahead of some equally classy athletes.

Job Done for the day ---- or was it???? Not quite...

After the race there was the small matter of clearing up all of the race gubbins before heading out on my planned run home, all 11 miles of it. The run was an absolute pig and included a 4 mile stretch of beach which was like running into a sandstorm. At one point my HR was close to 160bpm and I was running 9:30 min/miles, crazy slow. I fought my way back though averaging 8min/miles.


The plan for Sunday was a 90+ mile ride to Perranporth, Cornwall. I didn't fancy 6+hrs of riding into a headwind though so after riding the first 23miles in 90mins I turned around and headed back before tacking on a little loop to take the total to 60miles. The 2nd wind assisted 23miles took 60mins.

That'll do for now, some of us have work to do and there's already far too much rubbish on here.


Iain

Finally training?

It almost seems as though I've started to get my head around IM training, even if it is 6 weeks later than planned. That's not to say that I've suddenly smashed out a couple of century bike rides, but I have managed a few decent sessions.
After last weekends long bike I had a rest day on Monday to recover, then with my work hours having changed lately I managed to have a rare session at my home town running club. I got there to be told that this was the night for the 'Tarka Mile' - balls!!! The Tarka Mile is a monthly challenge and my Running Club, basically you run 2.5miles out along an old railway track (the Tarka Trail) where I do lots of my training at a nice steady pace. The whole club groups up at a line and then we all race for a measured mile before heading off in various directions to finish our session in whatever way we want.
On the way out my legs were feeling really tired and I wasn't looking forward to the mile at all. I'm no sprinter and to run eyeballs out for that distance would hurt a lot.
I knew the boys that I 'should' go off with, but decided that I'd be better setting off behind them and running with the next group, so that's what I did. It wasn't long before I decided that I'd probably made the wrong decision, I was feeling far to comfortable sitting in my pack and decided to push on ahead. I chased down two of the four members in the lead group and finished in 5:10 which I was really happy with after expecting a 5:30 at best.
Wednesday I was off work so put in a 1h40m bike ride and an hours run over the Burrows with the pup (Rosie).
Thursday was a long day at work and I ended up in the middle of nowhere so had another day off.
On Friday myself and my training pal Phill had our normal Squad swim session, but for the first time this year we rode the 28mile round trip there and back. We're a good 5-6 weeks behind the time of year where we normally start this activity, but now we've started we'll hopefully continue for the rest of the summer. That's a good 90mins a week training rather than sitting in the car and driving there. The swim session was very congested as the local beach lifeguards seem to have decided that they need to get back in shape for all of the holiday making girls that will be hitting the beach in the near future.
Saturday was my first proper solid long run for a good while. I drove to Fremington Quay which is an 8 mile run away, then I ran home and collected the dog (and Shelly on her bike) for the return trip. We then had something to eat and drink at the hideously expensive Fremington Quay cafe while we cooled down.
Oh yeah, nearly forgot.............. I got sunburnt!!!! Summer is here!
Yesterday was supposed to be a 4hr+ bike ride, but my legs were in pieces after Saturdays run and I only managed a 2hr 36mile out and back ride before returning home to sit like a vegetable infront of the TV for the rest of the day.

Well, that's it. Update complete for now.

Oooops, nearly forgot. Congratulations to Kit 'the git' Stokes who was obviously so buoyed by his victory over me at Burnham on Sea Sprint Triathlon 2 weeks ago that it spurred him on to 9th overall and 1st Age Grouper in the IMUK 70.3 race at Wimbleball yesterday. Once again his swimming was disgraceful, but once out of the water the boy's an absolute monster. I hate him so much :-)

Hit and Miss

Well May finished with a fluster and a 10hr week, June on the other hand has started with a bit of a splutter. The month started well enough last Sunday with the Burnham on Sea Sprint Triathlon.
Barring a total disaster for my old sparring partner Kit Stokes I was only going to be racing for 2nd place. The days of challenging him have long gone, he may swim like a brick, but once he's out of the water he's awesome. Look out for him going sub 9hrs at Chellenge Roth this year.
The Swim - 4 of us started in a lane together (including Kit), we seeded ourselves and being the quickest I headed off first with the others following at 10 second intervals. Kit was last to leave 30secs behind. I caught him after 3 lengths and then caught him again near the end so followed his feet to the wall. 500m and out of the pool in 6:49, a pb for the race.
The Bike - A small shower just before we started made the early corners a bit tricky but that feeling soon disappeared as the road dried. I got stopped for a few seconds at a set of traffic lights but they're accounted for in the results. Other than that the ride was pretty uneventful, except for Kit (grrr!!). I'd got 90seconds on him, could I hold on ahead of him uptil T2? Could I heck!!!! Just 7miles had passed when I heard what sounded like a low flying fighter plane by my side, it was Kit on his new Cervelo P3C with his disc wheel humming away. A few seconds later he was away ahead of me - git!!! That was the last I saw of him until I rolled into towards T2 and he was running out.
The Run - It was solid enough without actually being anything special. I was quicker than last year and this was really the big difference between the 2 years times, I was still a minute slower than Kit who went on to set a new course record of 57:52. I worked solidly but just failed to push it hard enough to crack the hour mark for the first time.
The Result - I managed to hold 2nd place with a time of 1:00:12 which shows that although training has been lacking there's obviously something hiding away in there. Now I just need to work out how to make the pace last for 4 or 5 times the distance.

After the race the week fell apart somewhat. For my work I had to spend a week in (not so) sunny Bedford. This involved lots of hours, working through from Monday to Saturday and also lots of company paid food & drink. To say that I expect to have put on a couple of pounds is an underestimation. I only managed one run on Tuesday night where I found a nice Country Park to run in, at least it would have been nice if Bedford hadn't just recieved a months rain in 48hrs. There were times where Wellington boots would have been more use than my trainers. It was right up my street though, I loved it. After my run I made my way to the Hotel room where I preceeded to stand fully clothed under the shower and turn 'everything' a lovely shade of dirt brown.
The weekend has seen things pick up slightly although I can't pretend to have enjoyed either yesterdays 1hr run, or todays 3h45m bike ride. At least the fact that they're done has helped my training volume look lightly more respectable.
Hopefully, now that I'm back at work and (for the moment) working more sensible hourse then there's the chance of a slight improvement in training - we'll see I guess.