Day 36 - a new week

A new week and a new session... the tri club's swim session. More focus on technique with new drills to try out in the week.

With the legs still slightly dodgy, I think I'll stick to the bike and swims this week.

Should be fun.

Day 33 - swim only

Another day with only a swim session being completed. I really didn't want to run, incase it made the quads worse, but now at the end of the day I think they feel my children better.

The swim session with Born2Tri was another good session. A good focus on not kicking too hard and focussing on twisting at the hips.

Day 32 - great swim

No bike for me today, due to sore quads after a run on Tuesday in the freezing cold, but I did have an awesome swim.

2500m in just over an hour is the main information but this was also as a stand alone swim with no toys whatsoever.

Love it.

Day 28 - End of another great week

Week 4 ended with an hours run, a 2 hour bike and an hours masters swim session at Halstead Swim Club (HSC).

Overall it was another great week with 4 swims. The only issue with these swims is that one of them was a technical session with the tri club (B2T), while another was with a coach from the HSC and another was a masters session, also with HSC. This basically means that I only had one other swim session where I was able to work on my stroke and really focus on it. This is something that I really must sort out next week as I would love to have 2 sessions to myself, then have a training session with B2T and a session with HSC.

More on this to come I feel.

Day 24 - Full House

Have just about covered everything during this Wednesday. Started of with a 2k swim first thing in the morning which was followed up this evening with a tidy little brick session. The bike was obviously on the turbo again but it all felt surprisingly good.

Bring on tomorrow.

Day 21 - Just how much training can you fit into one day

Due to the sheer lack of training yesterday I had to complete a two hour bike session on top of the hour run I already had to do. This all went according to plan although the bike was amazingly cold on the feet (I really must make sure I get something to keep them warm). The run was great because Sian was also with me and  it's always great to be running with her whilst chatting away.

Once the 5.5 mile run was out the way and I'd defrosted from the 30 mile bike, I realised that I'd also planned to attend a masters swim session  with the Halstead Swim Club. So, today was a very full day and it was also the end of my third week of training. My achilles is good to run on and I'm finding some good stretches to complete after running and cycling.

Time to hit the sack now and get some rest.

Day 19 - Turbo and Swim

Today all started at at 5am, the alarm went off in order for me to complete a 60 minute turbo, instead of a 60 minute run (I still don't want to run too far with my Achilles feeling a little bit dodgy) but like the lazy arsed triathlete I am, I snoozed it until it was too late. Therefore I had to try and fit it in after school and before the swim session. I pretty much managed to do this (45 minutes at about 12mph on the turbo) and then I went straight onto the swim session.

The swim was a coached session by Born2Tri and was really just focussing on the arms and legs. Once my legs were sorted it was straight onto the arms. They were teaching about having your hand enter the water a lot sooner. In fact, pretty much just after your head. It feels kinda unnatural but I'm guessing it makes it more efficient. The other part is about entering the water slightly wider. I really must ensure that I keep going to the pool and practise this in the pool and hopefully the first chance for this is going to be at another coached swim set at Halstead Swim Club on Sunday.

Enjoy everyone. Train hard and race easy.

Day 17 - lessons learnt

Today was an early start with a great swim session. The pool wasn't too busy, in the hour and a quarter I almost made it through the entire swim set (I completed 2.2km) and I managed to get some good footage on the GoPro.

After work it was straight to cooking and then onto the turbo for the beginning of another brick session. This was not so good though, training so soon after dinner just did jot agree with me and to make matters worse, the HR monitor wasn't working for some reason.

I struggled through the 30 minute bike session, averaging just over 12mph, but whilst on the 1.8 mile run I blew chunks.

I think this session was more about mental training in order to keep going rather than anything else.

Day 9 - a run and a swim

A pretty good start to the second week of training. Being the last day here in Portsmouth I already had it planned that. Was going to be going for a short 30 minute run but I also figured it'd be a great opportunity to go for a swim as well. According to the Don Fink training plan I only have to do two swim sessions a week but I know that it is a seriously weak area of mine and I reckon I'm going to need to do quite a bit more and therefore need to grab the opportunities when they arrive.

Running wise, Siân also wanted to pound the streets and a 30 minute run is a pretty good time for her to do (she's been doing a lot of running in the gym but hardly any outside). It really was a great run as it meant we actually had some time to chat and talk about her aims, running wise. Quite some time ago she completed a "couch to 5k" training plan and now her main aim is to complete a 10k. Dedham's race will be a good one for her I feel as it really isn't that far away, it has a short course for Rosy to do and we'll both be able to cheer her on as well.

Anyway, our run today left the house at about 6:30am and even though it was early I felt up for it and really quite happy to get up. Whilst getting ready I also completed a new little ritual that I only started a few days ago during my first swim. Using a sharpie, I drew a wave on my wrist in order help me to remember to go with the flow, to take it easy and allow the training to take me to the finish line of Ironman UK in Bolton. On top of this I drew an HY on the base of my thumb to symbolise the "Hell Yes" attitude I need to have during all this training. I read somewhere that completing rituals like this can really change your mindset for the better and make a big difference during training. Running with Siân did make me run at a slower pace but I don't think this was necessarily a bad thing, the pace was about 12min/mile which I think equates to just over a 5hr marathon. During all of this run my HR was about 130-139 and is probably the lowest it can be for optimal training. Still, it was good and I would really want to do it again.

Once the run was all over, I picked up my swim kit and headed straight out the door to go for a swim. There was something refreshing about the thought of heading to the pool after a slightly sweaty run, my only reservation was about the number of people that were there. To my amazement, upon arrival, there was actually one lane that was completely free. I managed the 300m warm up and the majority of the drill (with flippers) before someone else turned up. This wasn't too bad as I still managed to sort my sets out around him but only 10 minutes later another guy turned up. I was about to go into a 400m main set when they invited me to do their 6x100m set with them. Politely, I declined but opted for the 6x50m set instead in order to keep things straightforward and hassle free. In actual fact, this was probably the better option as it meant I could really focus on my stroke technique and get lots of rest inbetween as well.

Eventually the two guys were done (they were doing just an hour's swim) which left me and this year 8 lad who swims for the Gosport Dolphins. I explained that I only had another 200m to do so he went at the same time as me to duly complete 400m in a quicker time. I truely wore a jealous face through each stroke.

By the end of the session I could really feel my right shoulder aching and I've no doubt it's due to my poor technique.

Just before heading back to Siân's Mum's place I just had to set up the GroPro for a quick run session. I desperately want to use it to get some great shots so I experimented with the angle and ran straight for the camera. I'm not completely thrilled with the results but they will get better.

Anyway, we're on our way back to sunny Essex now so I really must finish this now and start chatting with Siân once more.

See you all soon.

Day 7 - end of the first week

That's the 1st week of 30 now completed with an early morning swim set (my first with fins) and a 45 minute run.

Once again, the swim took longer than expected, it was always going to be longer (as it was going to be 3000m) but this session was almost 2 hours. The pool was more crowded than I would've liked but all in all it was a good swim made even better by trying out the new GoPro.

The run came much later on in the day when it was also q lot darker. Not much can be said about that one though other than, I'm glad I've got my first full week under my belt.