In my quest to complete the my first ever Ironman/Long Distance Triathlon, March will turn out to be a crucial month I suspect. Starting in the warmth of Fuertaventura and ending in unseasonally amazing weather, it has been the shift up the gears that my training required. Now, however, its about maintaining & increasing the intensity when required.
We did a 10 mile time trial today and I'm maybe thinking too hard about the long stuff though, particularly on the bike. There were niggling thoughts in my mind though about the likes of my quads, which are still feeling tight after last weekends duathlon, but is this just a self imposed limiter, part of a mental block that stops me maxing out?
I know I can hit 100%, at least on short activities (particularly runs), but am I too concerned about blowing up or injury that I'm over restricting myself? I've felt this before in other aspects of life to be honest - its like I've got a level switch to protect myself, but the limit is set too low, at like 75%, where it would be safe to have it up to 85 - 90%, and off completely for those short, fasts, sprint moments.
Dunno, just something to think about I guess.
Anyways, regardless, I went out with a pace in mind and I nailed it, which in the long term will be a good thing I suspect.
So I need to keep consistent, keep getting stronger and slowly raise that level switch to maximise my potential, because after the month I've had, I can feel it bubbling away inside me all the more and if I can nurture it properly, oooooh I'd love to see it properly unleashed!
Today's blog is brought to you by:
Hours of Trance music
Higher and Higher
Free Fallin'
Peaches by Presidents of the United States
Pride (Times Are Changing) by Madball
The Badge by Poison Idea
Saturday 31 March 2012
Sunday 25 March 2012
Century Post
Yes, my blog has reached its 100th post, and not one fatality due to coma induced boredom in my readership (that I'm aware of - maybe one of these people I'm getting hits from in Russia has had a problem there....).
First up, Stirling Duathlon. I signed up for the standard distance this year, figuring I need time on bike & distance, so why not. It was hard going at times, but its a measure of how far I've come in the last 12 months that it (if memory serves me right) probably felt a little easier than doing the sprint last year.
Much respect to the organisers in Stirling coping with a heavy fog that just wasn't for thinning out at the Alva end of the bike loop - they delayed the start long enough for the Tullibody to Menstrie road to be clear, providing us with a safe route & 3 shorter laps rather than the 2 long ones planned.
The delay was a bit frustrating, but the weather is the weather & there's nowt you can do about it. Anything else would've been unsafe.
On to the race!
The first run is 4 x 2.5km loops, with a bitch of a short climb early on in the loop - this wasn't so bad on the first run, but its sore when running off the bike. I had a pace in mind to get me to do the 10k in 52 to 55 minutes, so I tried to ignore everyone else and just run my race, which can be quite hard when the front runners are lapping you, and the front runners from the sprint race (that started 5min before us, with a 5km run, 14k cycle, 5km run) started overtaking me on my 4th lap...! But nevertheless I managed to tune it out, focused on a comfortably fast pace (for me at least) that would leave my legs OK for the bike and brought rocked into T1 after 51:29. I've been practising mounting the bike with the shoes already in the pedals, but its still taking me too long to get my feet in and tightened up, particularly as I've got road shoes with ratchet straps, so I changed shoes there, giving me a rather slow T1 time of 1:10.
Out on the bike course, the sun had done a good job of clearing the mist, but it was still a bit parky. I started strong, catching up to and passing the nearest 2 other competitors before Tullibody. Dropping down to Menstrie, I tried to take a gel, but felt the boak coming on; stupidly I'd not had any water on the run & I only had an energy drink on the bike. WHEN WILL YOU LEARN COLM??!!?? Turning left onto the road through Menstrie I took a drink to rinse my mouth out & promptly dropped my bottle. D'oh. But I wasn't going back for it, I just wanted to keep moving. I actually felt pretty good all the way round the loop and came back into Menstrie again to find my bottle by the kerb, so figured I'd actually stop this time.
Heading out of Menstrie the 2nd time, I was starting to feel a few aches in places, most worryingly on the outside of my left quad, in an area that felt awffie close to the ITB, along with not being able to feel some of my toes that may or may not have been icicles at this point, but I was still holding up a good pace.
Closing in on the turn into the 3rd lap, I clocked 2 other riders not that far ahead of me, so I pulled closer, then coming off the roundabout I accelerated (I have no idea where it came from but I jumped from 30 to 36 km/hr!) and rocketed past them, and from there on it was all about staying steady and finishing the bike, coming in after 1:17:21 (av. 28km/hr roughly).
I had been wanting to do a dismount leaving both shoes in the pedals, but sadly with my cold hands I could only get one foot released in time, so ran into transition with the left one on the bike and the right one on my foot. 1:25 and I was back out and running.
My feet and calves felt like blocks of ice at this point, but there was enough feeling in my calves for them to feel like they were chock full of knots, but I manned up and ran (shuffled?) through it. The hill was absolute torture, though I refused to walk at any point. And the sun was out, making everything better. Round the first lap, an assortment of muscles tight from the bike loosened off, so I entered the final lap moving much more freely. All the way round I gave my thank yous to the marshalls that had done such a brilliant job, and took it on home for a 29:33 run split and 2:41:01 overall.
All that was left to do was hang out & watch the prize givings for the club members that had placed then head to the Parent's house for Sunday roast!!
Short reflection at 100
I started writing this blog as a way to track my progress, but its been much more useful to me than just that, as it has given me space to reflect on training and races to absorb what went right & what went wrong as well as being a place I can vent my frustrations to allow Mr Enthusiastic back out (like today: "every time you went past you were smiling" yep, cos I'm just glad to be here!). It also hopefully has entertained some of you & I know that it has encouraged some of you to get out and do more exercise and for me that is an amazing thing which really does make it all worth while.
Whatever your challenge is, I wish you all the best in it and I hope you keep enjoying these blogs.
Tonight's blog is brought to you by:
Lesbian - Loadbath
Devin Townsend - Earth Day
Russian Circles - Versus
First up, Stirling Duathlon. I signed up for the standard distance this year, figuring I need time on bike & distance, so why not. It was hard going at times, but its a measure of how far I've come in the last 12 months that it (if memory serves me right) probably felt a little easier than doing the sprint last year.
Much respect to the organisers in Stirling coping with a heavy fog that just wasn't for thinning out at the Alva end of the bike loop - they delayed the start long enough for the Tullibody to Menstrie road to be clear, providing us with a safe route & 3 shorter laps rather than the 2 long ones planned.
The delay was a bit frustrating, but the weather is the weather & there's nowt you can do about it. Anything else would've been unsafe.
On to the race!
The first run is 4 x 2.5km loops, with a bitch of a short climb early on in the loop - this wasn't so bad on the first run, but its sore when running off the bike. I had a pace in mind to get me to do the 10k in 52 to 55 minutes, so I tried to ignore everyone else and just run my race, which can be quite hard when the front runners are lapping you, and the front runners from the sprint race (that started 5min before us, with a 5km run, 14k cycle, 5km run) started overtaking me on my 4th lap...! But nevertheless I managed to tune it out, focused on a comfortably fast pace (for me at least) that would leave my legs OK for the bike and brought rocked into T1 after 51:29. I've been practising mounting the bike with the shoes already in the pedals, but its still taking me too long to get my feet in and tightened up, particularly as I've got road shoes with ratchet straps, so I changed shoes there, giving me a rather slow T1 time of 1:10.
Out on the bike course, the sun had done a good job of clearing the mist, but it was still a bit parky. I started strong, catching up to and passing the nearest 2 other competitors before Tullibody. Dropping down to Menstrie, I tried to take a gel, but felt the boak coming on; stupidly I'd not had any water on the run & I only had an energy drink on the bike. WHEN WILL YOU LEARN COLM??!!?? Turning left onto the road through Menstrie I took a drink to rinse my mouth out & promptly dropped my bottle. D'oh. But I wasn't going back for it, I just wanted to keep moving. I actually felt pretty good all the way round the loop and came back into Menstrie again to find my bottle by the kerb, so figured I'd actually stop this time.
Heading out of Menstrie the 2nd time, I was starting to feel a few aches in places, most worryingly on the outside of my left quad, in an area that felt awffie close to the ITB, along with not being able to feel some of my toes that may or may not have been icicles at this point, but I was still holding up a good pace.
Closing in on the turn into the 3rd lap, I clocked 2 other riders not that far ahead of me, so I pulled closer, then coming off the roundabout I accelerated (I have no idea where it came from but I jumped from 30 to 36 km/hr!) and rocketed past them, and from there on it was all about staying steady and finishing the bike, coming in after 1:17:21 (av. 28km/hr roughly).
I had been wanting to do a dismount leaving both shoes in the pedals, but sadly with my cold hands I could only get one foot released in time, so ran into transition with the left one on the bike and the right one on my foot. 1:25 and I was back out and running.
My feet and calves felt like blocks of ice at this point, but there was enough feeling in my calves for them to feel like they were chock full of knots, but I manned up and ran (shuffled?) through it. The hill was absolute torture, though I refused to walk at any point. And the sun was out, making everything better. Round the first lap, an assortment of muscles tight from the bike loosened off, so I entered the final lap moving much more freely. All the way round I gave my thank yous to the marshalls that had done such a brilliant job, and took it on home for a 29:33 run split and 2:41:01 overall.
All that was left to do was hang out & watch the prize givings for the club members that had placed then head to the Parent's house for Sunday roast!!
Short reflection at 100
I started writing this blog as a way to track my progress, but its been much more useful to me than just that, as it has given me space to reflect on training and races to absorb what went right & what went wrong as well as being a place I can vent my frustrations to allow Mr Enthusiastic back out (like today: "every time you went past you were smiling" yep, cos I'm just glad to be here!). It also hopefully has entertained some of you & I know that it has encouraged some of you to get out and do more exercise and for me that is an amazing thing which really does make it all worth while.
Whatever your challenge is, I wish you all the best in it and I hope you keep enjoying these blogs.
Tonight's blog is brought to you by:
Lesbian - Loadbath
Devin Townsend - Earth Day
Russian Circles - Versus
Sunday 18 March 2012
Lovely Lovely Weekend!
After yesterday's cycle, it was long slow run time today, 2 & a half hours of running along the canal path in the sunshine (well, for the most part!)
Its weekends like this that I fall in love with the country all over again and that training is as an utter pleasure!
Today's blog is brought to you by:
Devin Townsend Earth Day
Opeth Face of Melinda
Covenant Tabula Rasa
Its weekends like this that I fall in love with the country all over again and that training is as an utter pleasure!
Today's blog is brought to you by:
Devin Townsend Earth Day
Opeth Face of Melinda
Covenant Tabula Rasa
Saturday 17 March 2012
Job Well Done
Today I went out with the target of being on the bike for around 3 to 3:30 hrs, and getting 60 to 80km in. IN the end, I went 82km in 3:40.
Job Done.
Thanks to Alan & Duggie who cycled round with me, and Ewan, James & Craig who we met on the Crow
Today's cycle wasn't about speed, it was about getting a reasonable length of time in the saddle, as time in saddle is something I need top be building up over the next 16 weeks (gulp!). At the end of the ride, I felt I could've done more; I finished at Strathblane but rather than taking the cycle home to push over the 100km mark, I opted for a lift. Why? Because my legs felt OK, but were starting to tire, and that last push home may have been enough to knacker me, so I decided to quit while I was ahead, and leave myself in a position to safely do my long, slow run tomorrow. Looking at 2hrs15 there I think.
Other good things: I'm feeling stronger up hills. I had great fun up the top of the Crow. I can go faster than I realise. Down hills are fun :)
Tonight's blog comes to you with:
Machine Head The Rage to Overcome
The Doors Light My Fire
Job Done.
Thanks to Alan & Duggie who cycled round with me, and Ewan, James & Craig who we met on the Crow
Today's cycle wasn't about speed, it was about getting a reasonable length of time in the saddle, as time in saddle is something I need top be building up over the next 16 weeks (gulp!). At the end of the ride, I felt I could've done more; I finished at Strathblane but rather than taking the cycle home to push over the 100km mark, I opted for a lift. Why? Because my legs felt OK, but were starting to tire, and that last push home may have been enough to knacker me, so I decided to quit while I was ahead, and leave myself in a position to safely do my long, slow run tomorrow. Looking at 2hrs15 there I think.
Other good things: I'm feeling stronger up hills. I had great fun up the top of the Crow. I can go faster than I realise. Down hills are fun :)
Tonight's blog comes to you with:
Machine Head The Rage to Overcome
The Doors Light My Fire
Tuesday 13 March 2012
Better Back
So I came back from an intensive weeks training in Fuertaventura, to the cold, cold weather of Scotland. Within an hour of being sat at my desk last Thursday my back had seized up & I was in a not insignificant amount of pain (I was a grumpy bugger that Thu/Fri, I tell ya!). It was something that had started prior to Fuertaventura, due to poor posture at the desk in particular I feel, but I just put off dealing with it, figuring that I could get it sorted along with all the other niggles I was likely to pick up over the holidays.
Yeah, it was a mistake.
It took a significant session at the massage in Saturday to release all the trigger points (thanks a million Nicola!), and I followed this up with a swim on Sunday night then yoga last night. In both cases I took it way easier than normal, as gentle recovery sessions, stopping & resting if things were feeling fatigued, and they have continued to release tension from the back. Along with ensuring I've been getting away from teh desk more the last couple of days, everything feels to be on the way back to normal. I just now need to continue with teh improvements in seated posture, as well as the better stroke I've been working onand continuing with the regular stretches. I find it too easy at times to go "oh, its stopped hurting" and slip back into bad habits.
Must do better.
Tonights blog is brought to you by:
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Iron Maiden - Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Iron Maiden - Revelations (Bruce Dickinson with a guitar on stage!!!!)
Yeah, it was a mistake.
It took a significant session at the massage in Saturday to release all the trigger points (thanks a million Nicola!), and I followed this up with a swim on Sunday night then yoga last night. In both cases I took it way easier than normal, as gentle recovery sessions, stopping & resting if things were feeling fatigued, and they have continued to release tension from the back. Along with ensuring I've been getting away from teh desk more the last couple of days, everything feels to be on the way back to normal. I just now need to continue with teh improvements in seated posture, as well as the better stroke I've been working onand continuing with the regular stretches. I find it too easy at times to go "oh, its stopped hurting" and slip back into bad habits.
Must do better.
Tonights blog is brought to you by:
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Iron Maiden - Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Iron Maiden - Revelations (Bruce Dickinson with a guitar on stage!!!!)
Thursday 8 March 2012
Return To Reality
I'm back from my training week in Fuertaventura, and man, I had a blast! It was a week of sunshine and exercise spent with good friends and new friends.
For anyone looking for a cycling holiday, you could do a lot worse than Fuertaventura in the off season. The resort was fairly quiet and there wasn't that much traffic on the roads, and what roads they were! Mile after mile of the kind of tarmac you can only dream of cycling round Glasgow
I may go into detail about it in another post, but for now, all I can say is coached swimming sessions every day have greatly improved my technique (though as always theres a long way ot go with it still), Torquil is a bike god for sorting out my front derailleur mech enough to enable me to ride through, I'm seeing continual improvement on my ability to cycle up hills and I need to start increasing the distance of my runs & rides.
Think that was a great way to reinvigorate the old training regime in advance of Roth.
Tonights blog is brought to you by
Sick of it All - Return To Reality
Sick of it All - Can't Wait To Quit
Ozzy Osbourne - Over The Mountain
Metallica - Fade To Black
For anyone looking for a cycling holiday, you could do a lot worse than Fuertaventura in the off season. The resort was fairly quiet and there wasn't that much traffic on the roads, and what roads they were! Mile after mile of the kind of tarmac you can only dream of cycling round Glasgow
I may go into detail about it in another post, but for now, all I can say is coached swimming sessions every day have greatly improved my technique (though as always theres a long way ot go with it still), Torquil is a bike god for sorting out my front derailleur mech enough to enable me to ride through, I'm seeing continual improvement on my ability to cycle up hills and I need to start increasing the distance of my runs & rides.
Think that was a great way to reinvigorate the old training regime in advance of Roth.
Tonights blog is brought to you by
Sick of it All - Return To Reality
Sick of it All - Can't Wait To Quit
Ozzy Osbourne - Over The Mountain
Metallica - Fade To Black
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