Tuesday 1st October 2013 - Night rider

Another hike to and from the garage while my car proves its neediness, demanding more and more repairs.  It now seems that I will soon have spent more money repairing the car than I did to buy it in the first place.  The V5 arrived in the post with the words BUYER BEWARE in big letters on it.  Indeed.

Anyway, the car issue helped put another six miles on the training record and got my heart pumping a little before a day in the office dropped it to about 20 beats per minute.  Hibernation in plain sight.

After work I jumped on the bike and did a quick hour long circuit at about 122 bpm, although the HR average doesn't tell the whole story because I went up a hill that took my HR up to about 165bpm and it stayed over my target range for the best part of 20 minutes.  No matter what I did I couldn't bring it down without slowing my cycling to a snail's pace.  Eventually I recovered though and got back into a bit of a flow towards the end.  My average speed was 13.7 mph which is fractionally quicker than my previous average speed at that HR.  To be honest though I'm surprised it wasn't a lot slower because the hill killed me and I had to go at a snail's pace for a while after to recover.

I think the fact that I was cycling in the dark may have made a difference to my HR too.  It's surprisingly nerve wracking to cycle at night no matter how many lights you have!

Peace, out.

TODAY
Run Distance: 0 miles
Swimming: 0 m
Cycling: 14.33 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  3 hrs
Press-ups:0
Core workouts:0


TOTAL
Run Distance: 28.36 miles
Swimming: 7350 m
Cycling: 90.13 miles 
Hiking: 12 miles
Workout time:  21:17 hrs
Press-ups:206
Core workouts: 2

Monday 30th September 2013 - To sleep, perchance to swim

Uurrgghh... tough shift today.  It was a swimming day but boy oh boy my body did NOT want to play. The aftermath of Saturday's alcohol and a few late nights and early mornings left me feeling really lethargic and tired.

I got into the pool and swam two lengths and had to stop for a rest.  Not really Iron Man form!  I tried the thigh-to-thumb drill and it made a big difference.  Sadly the difference it made was to make me twice as tired as I normally am. To be fair though it did also make me swim a bit faster so that's a plus.  I managed to keep that up for maybe the first 10 or 15 lengths but after that I had to switch back to my old, ugly, style because I was just too tired.

Somehow I managed to splash and grunt my way through 60 lengths.  Goodness only knows how because after the first couple of minutes I wouldn't have bet on making 6, let alone 60.  I trudged out of the pool feeling empty and sore.

One thing I definitely know is I NEED SLEEP!!!

Peace, out.

TODAY
Run Distance: 0 miles
Swimming: 1500 m
Cycling: 0 miles 
Hiking: 0 miles
Workout time:  1:10 hrs
Press-ups:0
Core workouts:0


TOTAL
Run Distance: 28.36 miles
Swimming: 7350 m
Cycling: 75.8 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  18:17 hrs
Press-ups:206
Core workouts: 2
Stretching workouts: 6

Saturday 28th September 2013 - Estuary Welsh

Saturday night is alright for drinking.  At least this one was because I'd had a night out arranged for ages and was intending to put aside my monastry lifestyle for a few hours and get mullered.  YOLO and all that. 

Of course a man of my years oughtn't be exerting himself when affected by the demon drink and so my long run was pulled forward to Saturday morning instead of Sunday. And a jolly good idea it was too because the conditions were just beautiful!  Broken sunshine, cool refreshing breeze, a lovely route planned along the waterside in Hull; ducks lined up nicely for a thoroughly pleasant time!  Not literally you understand.  I've not seen many ducks in the Humber to be fair although there may be some somewhere.  I digress.

Another experiment I'm trying is to base all my running (and cycling) on time instead of distance.  I'm told it's all the rage in iron distance triathlon circles.  So rather than set out for an eleven mile run, I set out for a two hour run and just let the distance take care of itself.  Combined with my new found HR obsession it meant I really had no idea of the pace I'd run nor the distance.  As it happened I maintained an average of just over 11 mins per mile at an average HR of 122.  Given that I stopped for the loo a few times (child's bladder) and to take photos a few times my actual running speed was probably a fraction under 11.  This is still way slower than I'm comfortable with but I need to stick with it to get the benefits I guess.

Apart from some blisters that my striking (lime green) new Nevica trail shoes have given me, I finished feeling incredibly fresh.  I really think that with a bit of food I could have continued for at least another hour at that pace but there's no point in rushing things.  I'm sure the training will get more challenging as I start to focus in on some intermediate goals and push things a little harder.

Next stop, swimming on Monday.  Oh, I took Friday and Sunday as rest day's - tired legs; hangover; etc.

Peace, out.

TODAY
Run Distance: 11.11 miles
Swimming: 0 m
Cycling: 0 miles 
Hiking: 0 miles
Workout time:  2:04 hrs
Press-ups:0
Core workouts:0
Stretching workouts: 0

TOTAL
Run Distance: 28.36 miles
Swimming: 5850 m
Cycling: 75.8 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  17:07 hrs
Press-ups:206
Core workouts: 2
Stretching workouts: 6

26th September 2013 - 16 miles on the bike

Back on the bike today after a few days off it since the Palace to Palace ride at the weekend.  I'd been tinkering with the gears (thank you You Tube for showing me how they work) and I got the benefit tonight; they were whirring and clicking up a storm and weren't making any of the crunching angry noises they had done in the past.  I was even able to use my small front cog for the first time in ages.  Oh boy, the hills are a LOT easier if you can get into that lower set of gears!

It was a fun ride, out to St Martins, then down the main road to Gobowen and back to Ellesmere by some back lanes marked out with ROUTE 21 signs.  I've no idea what this signifies but the first sign had Ellesmere written on it and indeed, that's where I ended up.  Lesson for the day.  Trust the road signs.  Except this one... BBC News.

As for my own performance, I paced myself by HR and did much better this time, averaging 13.5 mph at an ave HR of 121.  Although my legs are a bit tired, my HR recovered within minutes of finishing the ride and by around 5 minutes after getting home I was moving around as if the ride had never happened.  Very gratifying!

TODAY
Run Distance: 0 miles
Swimming: 0 m
Cycling: 16.44 miles 
Hiking: 0 miles
Workout time:  1:10 hrs
Press-ups:0
Core workouts:0
Stretching workouts: 1

TOTAL
Run Distance: 17.25 miles
Swimming: 5850 m
Cycling: 75.8 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  15:03 hrs
Press-ups:206
Core workouts: 2
Stretching workouts: 6

25th September 2013 - Swimming

Swimming day today.  Grace and I hit the pool in Oswestry and despite feeling tired almost immediately (the first ten lengths were a struggle!) I managed to eek out the required 80 lengths. 

I'm getting used to this breathing both sides malarky and I started experimenting with the 'thumb to thigh' drill that I'll be introducing next.  The purpose of this drill is to train me to take a full stroke each time and not to withdraw my arm too early from the water.  My first impressions were that I need more strength in my arms in order to get the full 'kick' from the stroke but I know that will come. 

I got some cramp in my calves after about 65 lengths but I stretched it out and kept going for the full 80.  After I finished I chilled out in the kids pool (which is considerably warmer!) and did my daily stretching. 

All told a good, solid, day's Iron Man training.

Peace, out.

TODAY
Run Distance: 0 miles
Swimming: 2000 m
Cycling: 0 miles 
Hiking: 0 miles
Workout time:  1:30 hrs
Press-ups:0
Core workouts:0
Stretching workouts: 1

TOTAL
Run Distance: 17.25 miles
Swimming: 5850 m
Cycling: 59:36 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  13:53 hrs
Press-ups:206
Core workouts: 2
Stretching workouts: 5

24th September 2013 - Palace to palace and all that

A busy few days here and just a quick recap for the purposes of posterity.

Firstly, I took a scheduled rest day on Friday after a solid week of training.  I wanted to give myself time to recover before the challenge of the Palace to Palace 45 mile cycle event on Sunday.  The rest day did me good.  So much so in fact that I decided to take another rest day on Saturday.  Thus it was that I lined up on the Mall early on Sunday morning and cycled towards Buckingham Palace with two full days of rest in my legs.  And boy was it worth it.

I absolutely LOVED the ride.  I wore my heart rate monitor but paid it no attention for the whole way around.  The early miles were interrupted often by traffic lights and junctions but we were soon into Richmond Park and able to get into some serious rhythm.  I'd never been to Richmond Park before but I liked it a lot.  I cycled past a stag!  No, really, like a genuine boy deer with antlers an everything.  It was AWESOME! :)

Coming out of Richmond Park there were more areas of traffic but generally the gaps between stops were longer and longer the further the race went on.  At one point an automated traffic sign showed my speed as 19 mph.  Very satisfying!

At roughly 30 miles in the course turned hilly and it certainly did become a test.  Mostly though I aced it.  I averaged 161 bpm on the HR monitor so not really a sustainable rate but for sheer fun it was the business.  I was passed by only a few riders and, pleasingly, the ones that did pass me looked very smooth and strong and were on pretty nice bikes.  My bargain bucket bicycle did a pretty darned good job!  I finished the event in 2:55 hrs thus beating by 5 minutes my goal time of 3 hours.

I cramped up pretty bad at the end and Emma had to help me stand up at one point!  I will definitely do this event again though - it was tremendous fun and I've been well and truly bitten by the cycling bug!

There's no rest for the wicked and on Monday I dragged my tired and sore legs off to the swimming pool.  I took plenty of breaks and swam quite slowly but I made it up to 80 lengths eventually.  The alternate side breathing drills went well and by the end it was becoming second nature.  Hopefully I will soon be able to work on the next drill in my plan - thumb to thigh.

And thus to tonight.  Just over six miles, keeping my HR below 126.  It was the usual slow shuffle and amazingly when I checked the Endomondo records I made it back home in almost exactly the same time as I had done last week over the same distance.  To be precise I was 2 seconds faster than I had been last Thursday!  Interestingly though I did improve my average HR over the same distance and time.  It was 121 bpm tonight against 123 last week.

And that's me caught up on the blog front.  Oh, I did some press-ups (100 to be precise - get in!) and some stretching too.

Till tomorrow.  Peace, out.

TODAY
Run Distance: 6.22 miles
Swimming: 2000 m
Cycling: 45 miles 
Hiking: 0 miles
Workout time:  6 hrs
Press-ups:100
Core workouts:0
Stretching workouts: 3

TOTAL
Run Distance: 17.25 miles
Swimming: 3850 m
Cycling: 59:36 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  12:23 hrs
Press-ups:206
Core workouts: 2
Stretching workouts: 4 

Thursday 19th September 2013 - Your inflexible friend

I started today with some press-ups.  I've got a half-hearted ambition of completing the hundred push ups challenge.  I took the test the other day and did 26 press-ups straight up.  This let me skip straight to week 3 of the challenge and I followed the plan of doing reps of 14, 18, 14, 14, and finally 20 to finish.  It sounds good to say I did 80 press ups today.  The reality was pretty unimpressive as I heaved and sweated barely lifting my nose off the carpet by the end.  Still, who cares about reality as long I can create an illusion of fitness!

I followed up the press-up-fest with some plank work to try to build up my core.  I think they are called planks but I have a nagging voice in my head that says they are called 'bridge' exercises.  Anyway, I digress.  Basically the problem I have is that my middle needs a lot of attention (ooh err) and every time I do these core strength exercises I shake and vibrate like a ringing phone.  Despite all that I actually enjoy them.  They really hit your stomach muscles and the side-plank one makes me think that one day I might lose that roll of fat and finally start to look a bit more like the guys on the front of Men's Health magazine.

Running wise I did a little over an hour of down in HR zone two (sub 126 bpm for me).  It's still devilishly tricky to stay below that rate and my movement feels cumbersome and far too slow.  However I'm determined to persevere with it.  I made some improvement over Monday's run and averaged 11:30 minute miles.

I finished the night with some stretches.  I used this routine (below) and learned in the process that I am about as flexible as a block of granite.  Years of running and cycling without stretching have taken their toll and now I have a horrible flex-deficit.  I'm bendily challenged.  I'll never be as flexible as the woman in this video but it would be nice to touch my toes again one day!

That's it for tonight.  Peace, out

JUST THE FACTS:

TODAY
Run Distance: 6.22 miles
Swimming: 0 m
Cycling: 0 miles 
Hiking: 0 miles
Workout time:  1:30 hrs
Press-ups:80
Core workouts:1
Stretching workouts: 1

TOTAL
Run Distance: 11.03 miles
Swimming: 1850 m
Cycling: 14:36 miles 
Hiking: 6 miles
Workout time:  6:23 hrs
Press-ups:106
Core workouts: 2
Stretching workouts: 1