So, Training, eh?

I'll be honest, I've been slacking a bit in the old training department. My focus has shifted from Race Season to Roth, which, when I've still got a Standard Tri, a century ride, a sprint tri, a 10k, an assault course 10k and a 16 miler until my season is officially over, is not necessarily a good thing. I know I can get distracted by shiney things (case in point, see my last post), but I obviously need to learn to focus on whats at hand so that I can get to the cool shiney cool stuff *and* be awesome. I can also suffer a bit of the old post event dip - after Lisboa, it was like, yeah, that was great, now I'll chill, chill some more, take it easy in training

OHSHITI'VEGOTARACEINFIVEDAYSAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

I think I'd slipped into that mindset a little too much. While it was the second time I'd ran that distance in a oner, I saw the half marathon in the Aberfeldy relay as 'just' a half marathon, and while I felt I ran it well and showed my continual progression of the year, if I'd focussed a little better, I could maybe've ran it better. Learning process, eh? The week afterwards, I used my blistered feet as an excuse to slack off, but, in my defence, at least I was constructive with my time & got started gutting the flat, so its not all bad.

At the weekend, I found myself thinking on Strathclyde Standard this coming Sunday, and foreced myself out onto the bike in the blowing wind, as quite frankly, I've got no control over it this Sunday, so why not prepare for the worst? And then when I was out there, I made myself go up the Crow, and I thought "Why did I do that?" so I turned round & went back down the hill laughing AHAHAHAHAHTHATSWHYIDIDITWEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then sauntered back home for a stretch & a bit of pain on the foam roller. Monday I went out for a short run in my old old shoes, I thanks to the nice wee blisters on my toes, decided that I'm probably better off with my old shoes come Sunday. Tonight I went to the swim session and again felt like a bit of a sack of potatoes, though in a few lengths I felt my catch improve and my body position in line, and wow, they felt awesome. I'm actually looking forward to the off season swim training so that I can focus more on getting the flaws ironed out of my technique instead of these speed & pacing sessions. The potential is there, and if I can get the majority feeling as good as those few today, I'll be jumping out of the pool with a grin on my face instead of a scowl more often!

Todays blog is brought to you by Rage Against The Machine's Freedom, with an unsurprisingly political video

Inspirational Sunsets

Wow. As I was sitting down to write tonights blog, I got a sunset like no other I've seen while living in this flat. So good I sat on the window sill for 20 minutes watching it. Amongst the glorious golden light I could see out to the campsies, the trees and allotments below me, out across the city and beyond towards Bute and track the flocks of birds flying around. Its amazing how something like that can still keep me in awe of the world we live in and brush away my troubles and cares. As I sat watching, I thought about how lucky I am to be in the position I am to be training for something like Challenge Roth and how in embracing triathlon, I've embrace nature and life around me and in the last year (and the year to come) more importantly than transforming my body, I'm also transforming my life. For years I talked about how I missed the countryside and should get out more, now I just jump on the bike & in 10 minutes I'm out on a country road with fresh air filling my lungs. I've spent hours of my life sat trawling the TV for worthless dross & now portioning & reducing what I watch. Hell I haven't played a game on the PS3 for around about a year, nor do I have any real desire to. I have more important things to do now and I will continue to pick away at these strings that hold me back as I move onwards, releasing myself to become more of the man I want to be.

Golden Sunset View from Casa De Colm

So my planned blog is no more, its irrelevant after that, there is nothing to analyse, because its all been washed away.

My soundtrack for this stunning show by nature was the album Hymn to the Immortal Wind by Mono, gloriously swelling music to stir the soul, beautiful and epic, and if you follow one of my links form this blog, please, please follow this one, then go find the rest of the album tracks: Follow the Map

Normal service will resume later.

The Quest for New Shoes, Part 1

Following my recent blister incident at Aberfeldy, I figure it about time I got myself a new pair of gutties. (I know Ciro, you are a big fan of barefoot running, but I have too many races in the next 2 months to contemplate a direct transition and I will not be doing that over winter in Glasgow)

Anyway, digression to my brother aside, I popped the old runners in the car and after work popped into Run 4 It in the Tiso outdoor centre in Townhead. My last 2 pairs of running shoes were out of there & both times I'd got a decent service, getting the gait analysis & working my way through multiple pairs until we found a pair that felt right. Today though was different. Today I was served by Don.

After a brief chat explaining the blister, age of the shoes, what type of races I do, and him talking about running ultra marathons, he got me up on the treadmill in my old shoes to do a gait analysis. After talking through many of the dodgy biomechanical things I'm doing (inc. toes pointing off to the outside and knee & achilies not in line) he then started to point out what was run with my shoes (my feet are too narrow so my feet slide about in them quite a bit, so in actual fact my arch was sliding into the arch support which was causing the blister). Next I was asked about what my running style is like & what I want to do with it, so I explained about my ITB problems & how I was moving into a faster cadence to promote a front foot strike. At this point he basically told me that he wasn't going to sell me a pair of shoes today, then took me round to show me the range of Innov8 off road running shoes that have been designed with less & less heel support & a more and more minimalist sole, so that as you move into better technique and as your body has adapted you can change your shoes to adapt with a reduced risk of injury to yourself. SInce this process takes months to years this way, and I'm fully intending to be changing mys shoes regularly as I train for Roth, I have no problem with this.
We then had a 30 minute conversation abou the different brands and the designs they've got to promote more natural movement in the foot before he got a pair of runners with a very thin sole (Innovate have a grading of 0 to 4 on the heel thickness & this was a 1 - he recomends a 3 or a 4 to start off on) and sent me down to run round the wee rock path they have in the middle of the store.
Wow. These felt amazing! I was excited to be wearing & running in them. Light as a feather on the feet but hugged them perfectly so there was no slip sliding about, and running in them I could feel speed begging to be unleashed from my legs so much more than before. THe only issue being with the massively reduced heel cushioning, I was right out on the ball of my feet & it was really tugging at the lower calf muscle (while the change in style has helped massively helped the ITB problems, it has put extra load onto the calves which are still getting stretched & strengthened). Sure I could take a pair of these and slowly build up my strength & technique, but I'm better off getting the right ones (plus I don't think Don would've actually sold them to me). So yeah, I'm going back in on Saturday to talk through the assorted options & we're going to find the shoe that works best for me & where I want to go, even if we have to go order it in.

Today I went to buy a pair of shoes & instead got a lesson & a whole new look at running and an idea of I can take myself, and it feels good :)

Todays blog is brought to you by the song Call the Ships to Port by Covenant - Industrial Dance with a wicked beat

Aberfeldy

So Aberfeldy middle distance has now been and gone, and I've returned from my brief countryside sojourn to return to reality and the city a little more relaxed and happy that I've made progress.

After getting the team to the caravan on Friday, we headed off to meet many other GTCers for a cheeky ruby murry before heading to possibly the dullest race briefing in the history of race briefings. A cheeky wee nightcap followed in the pub then it was back to the van to crash out.

Seeing how as I was doing the run leg of a relay team, getting up at the back of 6 in the morning to begin race prep was a little odd, and did skew my sense of how to prep properly quite a bit, so I just tried to stick to as normal a routine as possible; some oats for breakfast, make up an energy drink for sipping at later on and slowly wake up. Unfortunately as I couldn't find my running shorts before I left the flat on Wednesday, and as I seemed to have mislaid my tri shorts, I was left with my leggings for the race, though at that time of the morning I wasn't complaining with the extra layer.

We packed ourselves into a couple of cars and headed round to Kenmore for the swim start & T1, taking time to chat with the GTCers around & get a few foolish snaps, particularly as we'd been given 666 as a race number.

As the racers piled in, I couldn't help but feel a little relieved that I wasn't one of them getting into that "13"degC water, and once they were off and into the second lap, the wind was picking up, making me happier still to be out of the choppy Loch Tay. We watched a number of cold looking bodies pile out of the water, cheering on all and sundry, then Andy handed over to Christine and she was off on the bike. Once the last swimmer was out of the water, we headed back to the car and then to Aberfeldy to wait in the rec centre until it was the turn of the runners.

This was the weird bit, as I was now waiting around to do a run without a start time only a vague band when I expected Christine to finish her leg, so it was a case of chatting with everyone and keeping the fuel topped up. As the first cyclists neared T2, the holding pen was set up for the relay runners - only the sheepdog was missing to keep us all in check. Paul then Mike beasted into T2 to unleash GP and Tom onto the run course leaving me standing in the sun that had finally appeared which, thanks to my handy leggings, was starting to roast me. The relay pen emptied down to 3 of us, which had us all feeling a bit lonely, until there was another influx of runners who had sensibly stayed outside to chat to friends till much closer to their start time.

Once Christine arrived in transition, I was raring to go. Quickly swapping over the timing chip I shot off out of transition at a fair old pace, shooting up the hill way faster than I had intended. Finishing the first km in just over 4 minutes, I sensibly decided that this was an unsustainable pace for me so pulled it back to 5 to 5:30 min km pace and settled into a speed that I could keep. I quickly started taking plenty of runners doing the full event, but pleasingly I was picking off several relay runners too.

At about 3km out I passed GP on the return leg about half a km behind 3rd place in the relay, but unfortunately a few problems prevented him from catching up. Another km or so along was Tom pounding out a similar pace to GP. My tempo seemed all right at this point so I pushed along as hard as I could without pushing the heart rate up too high, but I was regretting being stuck with my leggings as I was starting to well heat up now. At the feed stations it was just about getting some water to drink & plenty to pour over myself to try and take some of that heat out.

At about 5km in I could feel a blister forming on the arch of my right foot. Now, this was utterly my fault. For a couple of months I've been telling myself I should get new trainers, but not getting round to it. As the kms continued, it just got worse, and I truly expected it to be burst and bleeding so I just did my best to put it from my mind and keep on truckin', which paid off, clocking the 10km mark about a minute off of my PB for a 10km road race.

Once Torq gel & a shed load of water around the turn point and I was on the home straight! Or something like that. At this point it was just a case of keeping as steady a rhythm as possible and taking it on home. Having done the first 11km in around 50 minutes, I felt like I didn't really have an extra gear to go up without burning myself out so I just chugged along trying to keep my speed up as high as I could. I felt myself flagging a little around the 15km mark, and could hear one someone else hanging on my shoulder then the feet of another runner catching us up. As she passed me at the foot of a wee incline I decided I really needed to pick up the pace as it has slipped slower than 6min/km, so I tried to latch onto her heels and dragged myself up the hill, leaving my shadow behind. I never really managed to hang on, but it broke me out of a little spell of feeling a bit sorry for my tired legs and got me back to a reasonable pace. Unfortunately the blister (which had either gone numb or I'd successfully managed to ignore) had got me to subconsciously run to protect it, taking me out of the technique I've been training and putting extra pressure on my right ITB & ankle so that subsequently they both started to hurt. While I was a bit worried that the ITB was going to cause a real problem, I also knew that if I'm going to be able to do a long distance triathlon, there's going to be a lot of discomfort so I pushed on without letting the pace slip any further. Once I was conscious of the change to my gait, I managed to bring it back a little more to normal, easing the tension in the ITB.

Back round and heading into Aberfeldy, it was all about the incline, with a long drag up the hill and round and down into the finish chute where I burned a little more energy to finish strong to the cheering adulation (*ahem*) of the assembled masses & GTCers at under 1:49.

Plonking myself down I took off my shoes & socks, expecting to find a bloodied mess, instead finding a rather large blister, which a trip to the chemist got it dressed.

So, could I have gone faster? Yes I think, a little, though with the problems I had on the day, it didn't seem worth pushing to bust myself up worse.
Can I do a faster time? Aw hell yeah!.
Where can I improve? Nutrition as always, not misplacing my kit & train, train, train!

Today's Blog is brought to you by the number 666 and the song Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden

What A Difference The Crow Makes

Or at least getting out on the bike regularly.

My little trips up the Crow are doing the trick; took a wee jaunt from Aberfeldy out to Pitlochry and I'm becoming a different beast on those hills, spinning up some faster than I expected and blasting up others managing to keep my momentum up from the downhill before, without my legs fading when I got to the top. Some of the time, at least.

It was a cheeky wee 46km round trip, which I clocked in under 2 hours, much of it below what I would consider race pace, so I feel like I'm in good shape to put in a respectable time at Strathclyde Park in a couple of weeks. The half Marathon on Saturday will also be a good marker, as I'd anticipate being able to run a similar pace off the bike to what I'm planning

Today's blog is brought to you by the letter A, the number 6 and the song Ih! Ah! By Devin Townsend. Its not heavy. Listen to it and love it.

Garmin & Caravan

First up, after 1 shot of it, I love my Garmin Forerunner 305. I did a cheeky wee 5k run there and tried to pace myself to what I'm aiming for my half marathon on saturday, rather than my normal running at my balls out 10k pace. With the immediate feedback I was getting from this awesome little gizmo I could pull back from my natural tendency to creep towards the red zone and actually establish a pace that I could comfortably hold for a sustained period, so that I finished my 5k in about 27 minute and while I was breathing a bit heavy, within 30 seconds of stopping I was breathing normally. I figure I'll look to start off at a similar pace on Saturday and look to wind it up a later on in the race.

Secondly, a great by product of doing triathlons is that I'm actually getting out into the country more. After I'd signed up for this race, I decided as I was in dire need of a couple of days off work to chill out, so my folks kindly agreed to park their caravan up in Aberfeldy for me, so I'm typing this up on my phone as I chill with the gorgeous views around me. Tomorrow I'll mibbies have a cheeky wee run first thing round the golf course then I'm going to cycle to pitlochry to get some new cleats for my shoes. Then I'll mibbies just sit around and read, or possibly go for a swim. Who knows? Its all good :)

Todays blog is brought to you by the song Scene by Envy. Gorgeous building guitars.

Shoulder and Swimming

I've had a bit of a problem with my right rotator cuff on and off for a long time, but never so bad as to cause me any real problems; a lifetime of poor hunching my shoulders and slouching at the computer when typing have left a lot of muscles on my back weak and out of position I think. I mean, seriously, check this out where I probably thought I was standing up quite straight:



I've been mixing things up at my computer recently, changing the mouse to left handed to stop that grab and stretch reflex with my right that pops the shoulder nicely out of position and I have a cracking new chair with actual proper back support, so forcing myself to sit better. Because I'm doing this though, I'm pushing weaker muscles and in the short term may be making it feel worse, but in the longterm, that might be OK.

Today, I felt quite cack getting into the pool. My shoulder felt dull and around the rotator cuff & rhomboid muscles felt tight & tender (probably not helped by the rubbish day at work winding me up), and it showed in my swimming. I talked over some problems in my stroke with Coach Vicky, as I've been kinda flailing the right arm roundback into the water so its going out to the side and increasing my flip flopping through the water. When I go to breath (currently to the left every second stroke) I'm dipping that right shoulder so that its coming out of position, forcing my hand down right hand down early so that I can't get the same kind of glide I'm getting on my left and then when I am pulling my elbow is low in the water and I'm just kinda dragging it behind me.
Vicky got me bringing that hand up along the body so that I was bringing the arm out straight in front rather flailing out to the side. Now when I caught the water with the right arm, I found the shoulder was in a better position (improved further when Vicky suggested thinking about pulling my shoulders back further) and I was rotating the arm straighter, so I was putting less pressure on the rotator cuff and it hurt less and I was able to access more power from my back muscles, so it felt way more powerful. Trying it breathing every 4 strokes was a revelation in that I was actually swimming straighter with even less of the flip flopping going on. Unfortunately as I'm still so inefficient and uptight in the water plus still gasping for my breath too much, so I wasn't pulling in as much oxygen as I needed to feel comfortable. More tweaks required.

Getting there.

So, what do I need to do?
1) Improve my stroke
2) Relearn bilateral breathing
3) Do the frikkin stretches & exercises I've been given as often as I'm meant to.
4) Get the ergonomic keyboard ordered through work to open up those shoulders further still.

Tune for the day:
Magnetic Man: I Need Air

Crow and Balance

With the weather being reasonable, I went out for a spin to Lennoxtown, to do a couple of reps up the Crow. Thanks to the location of my flat I get a great view out towards the west and I could see a stonkingly thick dark cloud gliding over this way, but I figured a) you can't choose race day weather, b) it looked to be a narrow band which would pass over quickly and c) man up or you'll lie around reading on the sofa all day. Since I was starting out in the sun, I jumped out with a base t & a cycling top. I couldn't find one of my arm warmers, so I just popped it in my back pocket rather than put it round my wrist

My route from the flat takes me through Bishopbriggs and rather miraculously most of the traffic lights were in my favour, allowing me to shoot through without having to shed speed often. From there it was a drop down into Torrance and then through, out and on towards Lennoxtown. At one point there's a hard right up a hill, with a farm house on the corner, and it was around about here that the dark cloud caught up with me. Starting off light, it quickly turned heavy and cold, verging on hail. Rather than stopping to put on my jacket, I decided to test my theory on the size of the cloud & just keep going. Mercifully, I was right. By the time I turned off onto the Crow it had stopped, so the jacket remained in it pouch and I trusted to the work I'd need to put in up the hill to burn away the chill from the rain.

Being the second time in a week to go up here, it definitely felt easier; I knew what to expect & I knew I could do it, so it wasn't daunting in the slightest, but there were sheep flaked out on the road and rivers of rain water running off the hill, so it was a little different.

Head down I spun my way up, trying my best to focus on maintaining a good, high cadence, and to use the full turn of the pedal to my advantage. I managed to keep a reasonable speed up (for me) and on a few bits managed to even pop up a gear or two. I took it all the way up past the car park to the top by the burn, before turning round and descending.

With the water all over the road, I never felt comfortable really opening up, and indeed someone coming up the hill gave me a warning about the water on the road, so I played it safe & stayed below 60km/hr. While I'd planned on doing a couple of reps, I managed to talk myself out of it on the way up the hill, as things just felt a bit of a struggle towards the top. On my downhill I passed a couple of folk going back up for another rep themselves, so I managed to talk myself back into going up with a promise of it only being as far as the car park and that I could have a wee sit down and a breather. Turning round just past the golf course, I started back up, internally telling the wuss me to just shut up and be quiet as this was happening regardless, getting myself up to the car park in about the same time as the last rep. Bonus.

Coming back down the hill, my mind started to think about the road home, and I decided that I wasn't ready for that quite just yet, so would extend the route out to Kirkintilloch & drop in on a couple of mates. Sometimes training makes it more difficult to get out and see mates outside of triathlon, other days it makes it easier, and I have to remember to use those opportunities when they arise, because its important to have that balance in life; the chance to have a blether and a catch up, to read stories to a toddler and become the human climbing frame and the horse, to remember that life can be simple and fun. I left their house with a bigger grin than when I entered and a strength in my legs to get me home in double quick time.

Top of Arthur's Seat

An enjoyable view after an enjoyable run!

Little Victories

So from being a bit of a coach potato I've been training properly since the turn of the year and it shows, sometimes just a little bit, but I know I'm on the right path.
This evening I popped into the city to grab a couple of drinks with a mate from work. After that, I headed back to the car by way of a short run (I'd had 2 bottles of Peroni over the space of 2 and a half hours, no fear); from One Above to the passport office is mostly uphill, so I popped up a steady pace and went for it. End of last year, I'd've been hanging out of my airse half way to the car and had to walk some of it without getting close to that pace, today I judged it well to my limits and it felt good. Really good. I like the way this is going.

Work Induced Mental Fatigue

When I decided to write this I I figured I'd make sure I recorded everything, good and bad. This here is a mediocre day.

Today as I drove home from work, I felt both physically and mentally fatigued, so I've bailed out of my run session. Physically I reckon I'd've been fine to do it, particularly as its recovery week, but mentally, even though in all likelyhood I'd've felt better at the end of the session, I just kinda wanted to hide from the world for an evening.

For those of you that know me, I tend to be a rather unrelentingly positive & cheery guy, and the training and competing has made it even easier to maintain that outlook. Some days though, staying positive and trying to keep the spirits of those around you up is a tiring task (yeah, works not a happy place for a lot of folks at the moment). I also haven't had a proper break since I was over in Lisboa, so I'm risking a little mental burn out in the office. Thankfully I have a 2 day week next week before I head up early to Aberfeldy to stay in a caravan for 4 nights where I fully intend on doing a bit of running, a bit of cycling and lots of sleeping, reading and chilling to recharge those batteries.

There are other factors at play here too I'm fairly sure, some of them things I can deal with fairly easily (I've let some bad eating habits slip back in & I'm having too much refined sugar again leading to those sugar dips) others require a lot more thought and care. The good news is though that the training is enjoyable and I'm looking forward to my run up Arthur's Seat on Saturday.

But I'm recognising when I need to stop & rest earlier these days before it becomes an issue, so rather than going out for that run, I took myself to that mat & did a stretch session, now I need to move on with some of those niggling things around the flat. Finally, and most importantly, I will be having myself an early night & plenty of sleep, and I'm sure I'll wake up with more energy to hit the day and the weekend head on :)

I also know that once I hit my Roth training plan I'll be getting very busy, so now is the time to eliminate the stressors that can easily be dealt with & reduce the impact of longer term stressors. Training for Roth won't just require the physical effort of training, but the mental effort to get my life more efficient so that I can function better. Some aspects should be straightforward - declutter the physical and mental things, be it something as simple getting better at the housework & keeping on top of it, or physically getting shot of things that I don't need, I just need to start changing some more bad habits is all!

Words are a powerful tool, and never underestimate them. Even in the act of writing this I have felt some of the mental burden lift from me and some more of the excitment and optimism seep back in. Had I finished this 45 minutes ago, I may even have put on my trainers and gone off to join the run session. All I can say here is find an constructive outlet for anything negative in your head - get it out before it becomes a pattern, be it a foolishly public blog like this, a friend to talk to or a private diary, because a healthy mind is a healthy body my friends.

More Swimming

Pool session last night, open water tonight.
Last nights pool session was an odd ball. I've got my swimming up so that I'm out of the development lane and into the middle lane, with a more consistent session. Yesterday though, I started off swimming lack a sack of potatoes, and never really pulled it back. The session started with an easy 200 as a warm up, but I started off in the middle of the group, so rather than finding my own steady warm up pace I pushed on harder than I should've so that I didn't hold anyone up. Stupid. After that, bit more warm up, into the main set and slipped back to the back of the group where I started to get into a rythmn cos I wasn't worrying about slowing people up, just about me and my tempo, listening to the feedback from my body & just trying to relax into it, and it started to work, but should've done it from the start. Towards the end, I was getting reasonably consistent I thought.
Tonight it was off to Loch Lomond for some open water swimming. With the utterly miserable weather, I struggled to get psyched up for it, and dipped into a bit of Team Roth backup to chide me into manning up. Lochside, the rain had stopped which made pulling on the neoprene a bit more appealing. The water was surprisingly mild considering the amount of rain that'd chucked down during the day. Into the swim and I found myself in a bit of a bunch a couple of times, so I'm definitely getting more comfortable with the flailing arms and legs around me! My swimming felt better than yesterday, though my shoulders were still feeling tired after last night, so I bailed after one lap and headed in to change as the skies started to open up. Job done.

Cheeky Wee Monday Crow Climb

I hadn't planned on doing anything except a little stretching the evening, but as I got in the car to drive home, I realised with weather like that, it'd be criminal not to get out on the bike for a wee spin and since I'd yet to do the climb up the Crow Road at the back of Lennoxtown, tonight was the night.
I was feeling a bit sluggish, so I just spun myself over there, doing the 12k out in around 30 minutes, just warming up for the climb really. I took 10 minutes from there up to the car park as I struggled to get a good rhythm going, then as I had worked out how to get those pedals spinning properly another 5 minutes to top out where I took a wee chill out to stop beside the burn and relax for a while. Lovely in the sun.
Now the fun bit!
Back on the bike and you have that lovely downhill to open up on, topping out at 68 km/hr on the section down to the car park before chickening out into the headwind and sitting up in prep for the corner. Heavy on the anchors for the corner, then tuck in & crank it up in top gear and WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE topping out at 70.4km/hr with more available from the legs, as it felt a bit sketchy thanks to the wind coming straight at the side of the hill. Anchors on again, into the corners, fun but not so good as technically I suck cornering at speed, with a couple of almost hairy moments, then I'm down into Lennoxtown and cruising all the way home. Lovely.

the route is here, though the out and back sections feel hillier than that...
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/45156476/

So things I learnt/refreshed in my memory today:
1) Need to practice bike handling skills
2) The Crow is in easy reach for hill reps
3) My climbing is still a bit baws, but no where near my "special" technique of the spring
4) Fast is gooooood
5) Take opportunities to get out in the sun
6) Fast is fun!

Do The Maths, Sean

First up, I want to point out that in no way is this a complaint, last nights run session was fantastic and exactly what I needed. In saying that, taking 20 or 30 meters off each of the 12 laps then adding 6 is (being generous) removing 1 of last weeks laps then adding 5 and a half new ones. I wasn't fooled. Instead I was pushedand enjoyed myself.

Similar set to last week, though we did 1 lap on 2:30 then 2 on 5:00 finishing with 3 laps on 7:30 with an extra minute before starting again, and then again. So yeah, we didn't have to walk back to the start line, and yeah, we got 5 to 10 seconds extra rest, I will give you that.

Anyways, once again I felt I paced myself pretty well, most laps coming in aroun 1:53 to 1:58, so probably around the 4min/km mark, which if I can start to string it together will lead me to one of my goals of a sub 40min 10km run.

Right now, that feels very possible, though there are a few things I need to work on to make it easier - my glutes & hips need stretching out as they tend to tighten up and its where I'm feeling it the most when I'm running, I need to relax more as I have a habit of tensing up if I get a little out of breath, which just makes my posture worse, if I can get my hips better stretched I can get them further forward and more into the 'falling forward' way where I can let gravity pull me along and I need to get my ankles more flexible to aid this too. I've made great gains in this running malarky, but as you can see above, I've got plenty more to go!

Support

I signed up for Roth with Mark, Hannah & Jo from the club, and it does make it all the more exciting to be entering an event like this with friends I train with. Over the next year, I've no doubt we'll be giving each other masses of support and encouragement and I know I'll be looking to them all for plenty of advice, which is why when Mark asked if I would be up for driving down to Bolton to cheer on Hannah in her first long distance race at Ironman UK, I didn't even have to think about it. I know from my races how much easier it feels when there are faces you know out there cheering you on.
We headed down without telling her, so I'm sure you can imagine the look on her face when she clocked us on the course - totally worth it. We caught her several times round the course, each time with a huge grin on her face as she cruised through the miles as steady as can be, before heading down to the finish line to witness her triumphant finish. Much respect & well done Hannah.

The whole day was spent cheering on everyone that went past; unknown spectators have raised my spirits so often before, so I wanted to help all those competitors the way I've been helped in the past. We cheered til we were hoarse and clapped till our hands hurt; the words and smiles from those passing were all that we needed in thanks.
So if you know someone competing, give them encouragement throughout their training and on the day. And iff there's a race near-by, get yourself out into the crowd and shout your lungs out. Maybe you'll get inspired too. I know my inspiration went up. Now I've seen what long distance is all about, and I. Can't. Wait!!!!!!

Swim Success

Another day, another sign of how far I've come. Tonight was time trial night and as I have Strathclyde Park Olympic Distance coming up, I figured its time I manned up and moved from the 750m to the 1500m. After a cheeky wee 200m warm up, it was onto the main set. After an initial wee rush, I talked myself into setting a good steady rythmn, not worrying about anyone else's speed and just going for it. Due to a wee niggly issue with my shoulder, I'd given myself the option of dropping out after 750, but as I reached it feeling good at just under 16 minutes, I carried on. In a moment of excitement I kicked off the wall a little too enthusiastically, resulting in a smidgen of cramp, but I worked it off over the next 50m. Settling back down into my proper rythmn, the lengths just disappeared, though towards the end I started taking a couple of big breaths at the end of some lengths. In the last 100m, cramp started to threaten again, but there was no way I was stopping, so took it on home, in a little over 32 minutes. The best thing for me though was that the entire session was completed using only freestyle, at no point did I have to slip back to breaststroke to catch my breath. That, my friends, is progress!