Daz Does Tri

Well, the combination of cold weather, icy roads, children, in-laws, busy work, cough & CBA have meant that December has become a bit of a run focus month.  And by run focus I mean cracking out a few steady 5 milers! In fairness pace has been pretty handy - 6:30/mm for most of my runs feeling OK and I did manage a 15 miler with Dan on Sunday but really have not done enough.  But fair do's could be worse, DC has had his first injury for about 1,000 years and Mr T is coughing his lungs up every 5 mins. No frostbite on Sunday, laughed that one off when I saw the flooding at Hinchingbrook.  My swimming is OK but don't fancy drowning in dogshit on a Sunday morning so ran with the Monkey boy from Buckden.  Monkey is flying at the minute and had the feeling I was beeing half wheeled pretty much all the way round.  Longest run for donkeys and felt like it did some good (legs felt fucked today and that's the general guage). Good swim on Thursday.  Running late as usual and

This week due to work and coughing my lungs up, I've pretty much been plodding along at half effort. Hours in the bank has been dog shit but quality is not too shabby. Sunday night stuck in a decent 8 miles @ 6.13 pace on slippery pavements. Monday had a busy day at work, shitty meetings then took kids swimming. Ended up going out for usual 5ish route at steady pace. Was ok till had coughing fit at 4 miles. 6.51/mm.

Swim - 6:30.09 - 8.11 miles Bike - 10:53.47 - 201.44 miles (18.5 mph) Run - 13:10.56 - 107.5 miles (7.21/mm) 32:44 total training time. Last couple of weeks beset with illness (chronic manflu) but still managed a fairly decent average and 30+ training hours. Highlights - Swim By far the most improved discipline.  Still shit but not as shit as before.  Double usual volume and knocked out 3 sub 1.40 100m.  Need to keep this up there as I am enjoying splashing about in the lido.  Would be nice to try for a 1.28 100m before the years out as Mr T managed that and he's REALLY shit haha! Loads of time on tri-talk and youtube has helped here, hand entry & catch are coming along.  Push and kick to follow then I'll be all over the mother fucker. Bike Done OK on the turbo till mid-November when manflu kicked in.  Now I will be back on the hardcore spinervals and intervals in the cave.  Too fucking cold now to go outdoors, not even run weather let-alone bike weather.

Manflu has really got me.  So bad in fact that I have done 3 swims in a week!!! It's not actually feeling ill, I don't feel feeble anymore, it's just the constant raking cough that gives me a headache and that tickle in the throat that slows my runs down. I know if I backed off training for a couple of weeks it'd probably heal but that's the thing about us I guess.  Easier said than done!  I am pretty certain I have broken the back out of it now.  It's so annoying that I go to bed every night hoping that it's going to be cleared by morning.  Every day seems a little better but that raking cough is still there !!

Great swim set yesterday, 400 warm up then 100, 200, 400 with paddles followed by same again with pull. Then I put the flippers on and cracked out 3 x 100 in 1.29 avge! 400 cool down for 2.5km and longest ever session.  Good volume and will build on that as I didn't feel too bad. Finished off the day with a 30 min turbo. Nice!

After feeling guilty on carding two zero days for the weekend due to an almost terminal dose of #manflu, I decided that I was going to hit IRON Monday today !! The idea being that every so often I need to remind myself that it's not a paperman, a woodman or even a metalman.  It's an IRONMAN - and to be an IRONMAN you need to be a hard ass. So, the plan was simple.  Get up at 6am and go for a run.  Run at lunch time and do something in the evening.  3 sessions on a school day, that is enough to make anyone focus!

Not having enough of my moaning on yesterdays tempo, Turner decided he'd like another 4 1/2 hours of it today.  He must be a glutton for punnishment! We met up at his house for 10am after we had done our fartherly bit (school run) and all the work we was going to do for the day (otherwise known as 'working from home').  Usually meeting at chez Turner involves a few hours of poncing about drinking expresso and shooting the breeze but today Turner was a man on a mission.  We we bang into the ride before I'd even made it to the end of his street.

Swimming yesterday was proper funny. Przemek my kids coach gave me a quick lesson, elbow not high enough. Tried and failed miserably on some drills but did a couple of nice 200s. Joined the beginners swim group, some of them boys made me look like mike phelps! Was like a programme called mind you language from the 80s proper funny but good bunch of lads. 1700m in an hour so good time but I'd get clocked out at that pace in Zurich!

USE Tula Aero bars Wow, I rank for 'Garmin is useless' and 'poxy Garmin' #result !! Also the outdoor centre blog I posted a couple of weeks back and thorney 10k!!! It's almost like I know what I am doing :) So today ordered up some bike bling for Jezebel. Dura ace peddles, a spanking saddle (god knows what make it is but looks cool) and a new set of USE Tula aero bars. They look the tits, all carbon and aerodynamic! Also added dura ace shifters to go with it and white bar tape.  Jazzy will look a real slut when this is all on it.

Did my 8 mile steady tonight. Conscious I needed to go a lot quicker than last week I set off fairly quick (for a little fat bloke). Wound the pace up but never seriously threatened 6/mm and finished up with 6.16/mm avge. 10 secs a mile quicker than last week. But, Garmin upload fucked up for some reason and I don't know HR avge.

Why didn't I buy any before??? Man my toes were cosy on today's ride.  Turner you let me down son, you should have been forcing me into buying these, don't worry about aero bars and zipp wheels! So, after a good solid 8 mile run Sunday I managed a nice recovery10k with andy Monday afternoon. We managed to outpace the turning of the earth this week and hit a respectable 8.52/mm. Look away DC, you march around campus faster than that between noncing sessions!

Did a good swim session with Ian T Thursday night. Followed that up with a curry and a couple of beers which is always nice! Rubber pants went down a storm and some 1.45s for 100 were nicely done! Still a few yards behind mr T but he's still swimming more than double me at the minute ;) Fridays big brick was pretty shit. 51 min turbo at about 18.5 mph and 6 miles at 7.30 pace but timed out the session so was all I could manage. Need a bigger bike this week outdoors.  My bike and swim are just not getting enough time but once I nail running I should be able to maintain with 3 runs a week and switch focus.

Legs felt ok after track yesterday, think going a bit easier is helping. To be fair I seem to run much quicker than most on track but converting to road form is shocking. I is shit to be fair! How septic dan is disappointed with 10 miles in 64 mins when I couldn't race that is beyond me. Maybe I should stick to the track lol! I need to get my road times down, got to be doing some tempo work soon.

Interesting if title for an interesting blog. Actually just seeing if that gets picked up by Google! I rank on page 2 for 'p&d book' and have lots of hits for various injuries via google images. Interesting considering I just ripped the images off !! So yesterday, again a classic nail hitting session from the plan. The plan says track session and track session I done - perfect! Picked up Mr T on route and we get to the track half way through the warm ups (early starters??) 3 laps feeling rough and Mr T is already complaining.

One day in and I'm all over the master plan!! Easy 10k with Andy at work on the nature/river run. This is one gorgeous 10k route, nature trail for 4 miles and apart from the shit smell house it's a stunning location. Then along the high street on to the river then relief channel for the last couple of miles. Today Andy bottomed out on pace, he's not been feeling great and the 10:59.97 6th mile was pretty close to being outrun by the earth turning!! Run done, hip grumbly then dash home to take the boys swimming (them not me) and home. 3 hour 10 minute round trip every week that. Later on it was into the #mancave for a proper turbo session with the Spinervals DVD. Fuck that was tough! Really enjoyed it, was no easy spinning, recoveries were done in a decent gear and covered 18 miles in 55 mins.

I have no idea, I guess I should do something like - 2 x swim per week 5 x run per week 3 x bike per week Does this sound about right? Maybe I could do 1 less run. Fuck knows. I'm only writing this blog to make it look like I'm doing work while the wife tidies the house ;)

Last few days I really have had no oomph. Just kind of been going through the motions. Do not feel great and really want to get out and smash some training in but when it comes down to it I really can't be arsed. After Wednesdays shite ride, Thursday I rested up to see if that would help. Friday I planned to do a big brick but ended up poncing about with the tri bike on he turbo for an hour pretending I knew what the hell I was doing by loosening bolts, moving anything that would move, retightening then peddling for about 100m and repeating.

Lets start with a positive - DC will love that !! I got a run and a bike in for 2.10 training time today. An easy run and an easy bike. Well easy bike on paper. Base work. Only it wasn't, I properly had my arse handed to me by Mr Turner!! He turned up on his single speed bike. That means he cannot free wheel. And he's got one gear. So basically he's on a BMX.

Monday was an exceptionally slow 10k at lunch followed by a 35 min turbo session with 4 x 30 secs at about 30 mph with steady spinning. Pretty standard day really and I'll mix it up with some swimming in future. Hours in the bank kind of day. Hip was grumbling like a bastard at the end of it though. Think I'm getting a bit old for all this shit! Today was just a track session. Not just any session but a lazy ass session. Picked up mr T and junior and tried to kill us all with my shite driving skills but alas that could not stop us getting there. DC set a session that sounded like a timetable for a southern league with 200s 400s 800s and mile reps all mixed up in a big confusing bundle. As I was looking for 4 x mile without pushing my old man hips too hard I decided to do just that. So as the boys chatted and did their hair I set off on my simple session!

So after a well earned rest yesterday today was set for a long run. The skinny - 8 miles at 7/mm !! Not long and not quick but job done. The week layout looks good for winter and sets me up to be in good shape I reckon. Will do some turbo sets this week and am hoping my hip flexors are recovered for track Tuesday ! Will get a good volume swim in there too and I have an endless pool technique session and 5k zombie race on Saturday (wtf!!!) Will also get a decent bike in maybe Wednesday and keep the Friday brick going.

Thursday, after a long day at work I could only manage a steady - hard 5 mile run. 6.40ish pace and felt really tired. Wasn't great and I had only 40 mins to run but I was glad I did something with a decent level of effort. Today is brick Friday. Wenny turned up for what turned out to be 20.5 mile on the turbo trainer straight into a 10k run. The aim is to get this session to 30 miles so just over a quarter ironman! Paces were 19.1 mph on the bike and 7.30 pace on the run. Legs and body absolutely smashed to bits from track tuesday and 2 swim sessions.

It's the halfs for me - Cambridge Half Marathon in March and Outlaw Half Ironman in June. 2 races that are key springboard to my A races - London Marathon and Ironman Zurich. They should both give me a really good indicator of where I am at. The entire #stIvesElite will be at the Cambridge Half for a smackdown and PB fest. Quick course, local knowledge and local pride at stake. I have no idea what sort of shape to expect to be in but sub 75 always seems a reasonable and achievable target at any stage. If I nail it at St Neots then that will be seriously re-assesed!

After last weeks sporadic week, Monday started this week really well. Easy 10k run at work on the reverse usual route. Along the relief river, river Lea & nature park big loop. Really nice easy run and just under 8/mm for a nice recovery. Monday evening was a great technique swim session with coach Josh and Ian T joined us. Really good session concentrating on swimming longer and getting more power through the stroke. 50's coming in at 47ish avge which is quick for me and felt within my comfort zone. Averaging 21 strokes per length which is great for me. The aim is to get more and more power through the stroke and work up to low 1.40's for 100m up until new year. Once I am there I am in the ball park for swim :)

....again !!! After a big bike day on Wednesday, I carded zero days for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday was preparing for Edinburgh, Friday was booze fuelled mayhem and Saturday was recovery !!!

Nice commute to work and back yesterday - 34 miles each way. 17.9 mph avge on the way in and 19.1 on the way home. Really pleased with that as I'm not feeling great and the riding was comfortable. I am definitely progressing from time on the bike and I have a 50 with Ed on Sunday morning for some nice weekly hours this week. I need to focus more specifically on the bike going forwards though so turbo sessions in the mancave will be target rides from here to the new year.

After a great session on Friday I managed a nice curry & beer brick afterwards :) Saturday was a simple HR test run. Went better than expected as I felt a bit wiped. Paces were around 7.30, 6.50, 6.30, 6.15 for 140, 150, 155 & 160 bpm which is positive. Happy with that running form and this week aim to put in some extra miles than the 29 I finished up with last week. Sunday was long ride day. Only wanted a 50 on roughly the same route I rode with Ian T & Kye a while back + extra. Found pretty much the same course but the wind and tired legs (plus pushing the first 10 mins for a KOM :) left me powerless after an hour or so. Managed the 19mph avge which is great but dissapointed on the bike for the first time in I don't know how long! Tough ride that was and I slept or monged most of the day after that. Went to watch Jack Dee at the Corn Exchange afterwards and slept heavy last night! So a good 9 hour training week. Was tired at the end of it. 29 run, 1.3 swi

So Friday was Duathlon day! Nice easy 4.5 mile loosener with some easy strides and drills and a brisk 6.05 mile, but mainly very easy running. Spent a nice relaxing day chilling before the main session - 21 mile steady ride and 6 mile steady run. Kye & Ed joined in the session so was great company. The ride was Ian T's hilly route and decided to hit a couple of hard segments. First one was the Rogues lane -> Church end and into Hiton (thought the segment was longer) but the 1 mile was 24.9 mph with me doing all the driving!

Rest day yesterday after 8 days training - a good streak for me, in fact best for some time! Had meetings in London and a pretty small hangover after seeing Michael McIntyre at the O2 the previous evening. 5 beers was all I had and that was enough to take the edge off ! Actually think lack of sleep accounts for more 'hangover' than drinking nowadays. So today, worked from home and all 3 kids at school / nursery and made the most of time off with a solid 7 mile trail run (Ange joined on her bike) at 7:37/mm and 144bpm feeling really easy. Legs felt good and around that route it's not criminal for me! Did a 10 min tinkering with the Tri bike and 30 mins conditioning tonight (glutes & roller). Was going to do a turbo session but not having the cadence / speed meter on the tri bike makes it too hard. Will have to get another one set up on that this month ! Feeling a little like I have something in my system as well. Diet / sleep not helping with recovery but lungs

Did an easy 10k Monday on very tired legs. Pace was slow, Andy feeling it after not getting consistent weeks banked, but good company and nice to get an easy recovery hour banked. Tuesday decided to have another crack at the swim. Went to Manor of Groves with Andy & Bob with a view to just doing 'stuff' for an hour. Got in the pool and did 300m warm up. Felt tired and lazy and really CBA. Did some more lengths forgetting to hit lap and just start / stop and eventually got into it.

Easy 10k run was followed by beers and curry yesterday. Good news that calf held up. Today met Ed & Dan for an easy 50 on the bike. Rode to Hilton to meet everyone. 7 miles for everyone and a nice 20 mph avge for me to warm up :) Set off to Gravely & Offards before hitting Paxton hill. The guys wanted a hilly ride and we certainly succeded!! Over the A1 to Hail Weston was really slow going with the track more suited to a mountain bike! Hit some really good roads through Kimbolton and up to Old Weston. Stopped at 30 for a quick break as Dan was feeling the pinch. Dan split to go back direct via Alconbury and Ed and I headed north to Great Gidding and Gladon. We really poured on the pace and hit some massive climbs at 20+ - really good fun.

Yup, this is a happy blog! After resting with some kind of manflu Sunday and Monday, on Tuesday I did a good turbo session - 50 mins with 10 & 5 mins tempo on the biggest gear. Nice effort session and happy with that. Wednesday I did a swim session in the afternoon but there was definately something in my lungs as I couldn't breath properly. Ended up panicking a bit struggling to breath and session was stressful and completely shit. Did a 30 min turbo session in the evening which was OK but still idn't feel healthy.

Back to back rest days, have been feeling rough since Saturday but that's probably down to my appalling diet! It's just a fact of life that I get down when I can't run and that makes me eat. Constantly :) Good news is that bike and swim fitness does not seem to go after a half day off like running so that is all going nicely. Drove down to Maidstone today for a work meeting and back home early. I will do an hour session on the TT tonight, bit windy outside and I fancy some kind of intervals to wake myself up a bit. Something like 4 x 5 mins in a hard gear. Mancave still not completely done but it's getting there. New wall & paint will go up this week then it's just ifnishing the ceiling and putting down a new floor. But by Friday it'll be where it needs to be for comfortable TT sessions. And there will be many this winter !! So Mojo is a little lost. Have decided to take the pressure off a comeback and target races in December which gives me time

Wow, nothing since Tuesday! Well, Wednesday I took as a rest day. The calf was feeling better but Tuesday's swim was very tired and laboured. Thursday got out for a good 40 on the bike. Got a bit lost and it was VERY windy out there but had a good ride overall. Started feeling a little jaded but got into it nicely and settled into a good pace. Absolutely smashed a few miles along the A10 - between 22 and 24 mph which was nice! Stole my Caxton-Cambourne KOM back with a very good 6.12 for 21.7 mph net uphill - NICE !! 18.8 mph feeling pretty good for 2 hours is good right now.

Firstly the sweet - swimming. A game changer in the pool Monday night. A pure technique session with Josh and after working on a better body position (arse higher, head lower) stroke count reduced dramatically. In fact I was averaging between 20 and 22 strokes per length for the 50's I was doing. We spent a long time analysing and tweeking it to get the position right and my kick finally 'kicked' in (pardon the pun). Speed wasn't great, between 51 and 55 per 50 with long recovery but the focus was on a long stroke and I finally nailled it.

The Good Saturdays ride was a game changer!  There are 4 things that helped - I changed my stem on my bike from 100mm to 60mm to lessen the stretching on my arms - not so noticable over 20 or so but on the 90 my back ached. I have a 90 mile ride in my legs which I essentially rested all week between rides. I am working on lower cadence and higher gears to get more power down, have been leg spinning at 95-100 rpm with no gains so far. Most importantly (I think) I raised my saddle an inch or so.

Legs were seriously tired today, general fatigue and sore legs makes me feel right slap bang in the middle of marathon mode! Adaptions in training come from rest and it's picking the best time to rest that counts and means your body will adapt and become stronger.

Legs really sore today.  Bit of a niggle on the thigh and a bit of DOMS.  Overall fatigue as well but that's to be expected. Decided to do a swim set today just to get something in the books, up the swim mileage and help flush the legs out. Mentally I'm quite drained and about 100m into my warm up decided that I was just going to do 'some swimming' probably in a recovery style. Ended up with - 300m - 6.01 100m - 1.52 100m - 2.00 50m - 58 secs 350m - 7.18 50m - 1.06 50m - 1.10 350m - 7.25 For 1350m in around 27.40.  Felt OK swimming but mentally I was drained and a lot of fatigue in system so banking some pool time and flushing the legs was a good idea. Will use tonight to recover again and hope tomorrow legs are much better to do some kind of tempo.  The strength work I mentioned in my last blog I am not going to be silly and do on smashed legs - I'll always try and do the hard sessions on pretty fresh legs to get the most benefit.  Aim for this w

Took the hard option tonight of mile reps at the track.  Legs actually felt not too bad, obviously they didn't ask to get butched on the track but it's good to let them know it can't always be easy easy! Long day at work, interviewing 6 sales people in an apprentice style.  Was fun and all I can say is I am glad I havn't had a job interview for a LONG time! Home early enought to refuel & Ian T picked me up at 6.42 on the dot (only 12 mins late lad !!). Got to the track plenty early, most of the boys had done their warm up and we knocked out about a 6.30 mile - Jesus I wasn't planning on going much quicker in the reps! That woke me up a bit.

...on yesterdays ride. Slept and ate well yesterday (although no food immediately after). Plenty of water and drinking and a bit of stretching. Quads are properly mullered today, will swim at lunchtime to give them some extra recovery. Feel tired in myself but to be expected after 5+ hours in the saddle yesterday - it's all so new to me, even marathons are well over in 3 hours! So got to thinking today about training and my weaknesses. I think the quickest gains in my cycling are in the hills. I need to do some hard hill work to get my quads strengthened. I still need time in saddle and I like doing a quick flat blast but incorporating one very tough ride and one tough turbo session per week is going to be an essential.

And so it's done and dusted.  90 miles on the bike - 47 more than my previous furthest DONE. I didn't bonk, I didn't crash and I managed to keep moving as best as I could.  It wasn't great, it highlighted all the faults I know I have but I deliberatly picked a challenging course to show me exactly whats wrong. Pointless playing to my limited biking strengths at this stage. Set off at just gone 8 with Ed, Kye & Ian T.  From very early on (first mile) I got dropped on a climb.  Decided that I was going to warm up on the opening half hour or so and decided against sticking with the guys from the off.  Slowly reeled the group in and stuck with them for a few miles.

Rest day today, all set for the 90 tomorrow. Bike needs to be checked and loaded into the car and nutrition all sorted in preperation ! Looking forward to it in a strange way - just hope it's not a killer. It's a real test for me, possibly the biggest endurance test ever as my longest marathon was 4 hours. Today have re-read some bike info that's going to come in handy in winter - indoor sessions. A lot of top ironman guys do indoor training mainly to keep their biking strength up and I think that's going to suit me. Will set out a schedule from pretty much now to the end of the year of weekly sessions to improve my bike fitness. I think I need 65 1/2 hours a week between now and then to get strong and on the TT the focus will be much higher. Had a revelation looking at swim technique on-line - my lead hand starts the stroke far too quick before my catch up hand enters the water. Video here explains what it should be (9 strokes per length against my 28!!!) h

Big week this week - the Wiggle sportive that I have signed up to do a 90 mile ride in.  43 is my longest ride to date so it's more than double!  With Ian T, Kye & Ed on board there is NO backing out !! Last week had an easy run focus week at Butlins.  A good swim set and a nice 8 miler @ 6.30 pace made the week a good one and gave my body a chance to recover a bit. After not feeling so great on Mondays easy double, all Tuesday I was dreading running.  Had agreed to meet Monkey Dan for a 5 mile tempo from mine and was not looking forward to it.  Felt a bit rough and had to bosh a couple of neurofen.

Ironman is no easy feat, especially when you havn't done any kind of triathlon before!  I am not going into it blind or over confident - I know I couldn't finish a single distance at the moment let alone all 3 BUT I know what I can achieve.  I am a dreamer and in my mind when I'm running and biking I'm winning age groups and qualifying for Kona but I love the saying 'aim for the stars and hit the ceiling, aim for the ceiling and hit the floor'.  I know it's not realistic but it's what keeps my mind focused.

....at Butlins! Sunday 26th Sep I headed out for a 40 mile loop with Kye and Ian T.  My god, thought it was going to be a social but 2 or 3 serious climbs (5-10mph stuff) had me blitzed and I struggled to keep the forward momentum going.  Ian T drove the train at 20 mph but I just don't have it in me yet, especially on an early start.  Did manage 40.1 miles @ 19 mph though so best ride ever although it took a LOT out of me. Monday travelled to Butlins.  Off the back of 140 miles on the bike, 1750m swimming and 20 mile run week I had put some hours in. Tuesday attempted HR test along the prom but CBA'd and ended up with 5ish at 7.15 ish. Wednesday was my anniversary.  Wifey got me a Garmin 910 !!  Amazing bit of kit for a geek like me and loved it although I would have to wait to test it out! Thursday did an easy early run along the prom with 2/3 miles on the stony beach. 7ish miles just under an hour but not exactly condusive trying to run and sinking in stones!! Fr

Up early today to pick up the new bike. 5 hour round trip to Royal Tunbridge Wells via Maccy D's on the way back (I took Sawyer). Bless him he played on his DS the whole bloody way! Picked up the bike, did the dirty with the cash and got Jezobel home. Massive spec on the bike and got it for a song.  Really pleased as Im more into looks that performance tbh (Mr Vain haha). Here she is -   Rained when I got back so got a 7 mile trail run in.  Nice and comfy at 145bpm and 7.21/mm pace.  Still a little tired and hilly for me but getting slowly stronger week by week. Went out between a break in thunderstorms for a quick 10 mile spin on Jezzy.  Wow, the TT bikes are TWITCHY compared to road bikes.  Nearly fell off 3 times doing stuid things like forgetting the breaks are on the wings and trying to stand up when in the aero bars.  Also, you need really, REALLY subtle movements or you start swinging over the road. Good ride though, on the flat pushing 21-22 mph was easy and

After my long commute double ride Tuesday, Wednesday was a total rest day. Certainly for now I want to have a complete rest in there. Sunday was rough, Monday & Tuesday easy but very long (5 1/2 hours in 2 days) so it was nice to give the legs a break. Thursday decided last minute to work from home and test out a Strava structured interval session on the bike first thing. Idea from Ian T is to ride very easy between 4 Strava segments and hammer the segments. Total ride was 20.6 miles at 17.1 mph BUT the main segments were - 2.5 miles @ 24.3 mph 2.6 miles @ 21.4 mph 0.9 miles @ 16.6 mph (223 W)  2.2 miles @ 20.4 mph (224 W) Really good workout and an easy hour on the bike without too much to think about. Ian T said Strava was the best structured interval session on a bike and it really is. Recovered well during the day then off to St Ives in the evening for a 3 mile tempo run. After not much quality in the past week or so wanted to nail a day of fast riding &am

Today's target was to ride into work and back and get a big bike day in the bag. The driving route into work is down 2 main fast, single carriage way national limit roads (B1198 and A10). Planned the route avoiding these roads as much as possible but the only realistic way for today was to go the main roads to Royston and then back roads to work, only avoiding the A10. Set off 8.30 and gently plodded out of Cambourne at 15 mph. Nightmare at 2 miles the Garmin decided it was full and wouldn't play ball so had to stop, delete everything (including what I had already done) then start again. Ride down to Royston via bassingbourne was OK, not too many cars on the road. It's a hilly route but I was taking it easy. Through Royston and then a mega tough segment through Barley to Barkway. Eased off through to Dassells & Broughing, down to Puckeridge and across the A10 to the old A10. Tough ride up to Thunderidge then a mega quick ride down through Ware pretty much all

Yesterday th eplan was for 10 miles at 6.40ish pace - a 2 mile step up from the week before with Kye & DC.  Nothing out of hand, should be fine.  However, a mile into the run started to feel dog rough and struggle.  Managed to get to 4 miles on about target when the wheels started coming off.  At 5.5 left DC & Kye and myself trotted back to Fenstanton.  Must have been dehydrated slightly as I was very wobbly all afternoon.  Kye looked worse than me and DC didn't fare much better dropping to 9 miles.  Was very hot and I just chilled all day afterwards. Good week in the bank with a 45 mile bike, 2 mile tempo and 2k swim all ticked. Today was just a recovery day - 10k with Andy in a shade under a hour at lunch time.  Just what the legs needed.  Then a later 3 mile shake out.  Picked pace up towards end same as last week as I got carried away! 9.25 miles and 85 mins aerobic - good start to the week but feeling a little fatigued.  Heat / coming down with something, lots

Great old saying my coach had was slowly-slowly-cachee-monkey.  As long as you are getting fitter, stronger and thus faster then everything is good in the hood. In real terms my A race is now the Ironman which is just under 50 weeks away so I have light years to improve and in any case I dont want to be hitting peak volume or load anytime soon.  But, I do have races and targets in between so I am not entirely lapse at the minute and I have PLENTY to work on! After Tuesdays tough ride I rested Wednesday as planned.  Took the family to a hotel just outside Oxofrd and and a couple of nice days just playing with the kids and spending time with the family.  Training was on the back burner and it was nice to zone out and relax. Saying that did get a good pool session in.  1.3k in total working on stroke count and trying to be longer inn the water.  Didn''t eat pretty well so that's the 4th discipline for me at the moment - fuck transitions haha !! Home on Friday

Decided to try and get a long ride in today.  Was tired but am resting tomorrow so thought may as well have a go! Route plan was - Cambourne -> Knapworth -> Fenstanton -> St Ives -> Houghton -> Huntingdon -> Godmanchester -> Offards -> St Neots -> Abbotsley -> Gransdens -> Longstowe -> Caxton -> Home Result was 43.32 miles in 2.25 @ 17.8 mph. First hour was great, clipping along at 20's nicely, once I got through Godmanchester and turned into the wind the going was really tough.  The hills into St Neots were the toughest I have ridden then Abbostsley to Gransdens just took the sting out of me.  Really struggled today and had my first doubts.  Been a tough week though and a welcome rest day tomorrow is long coming.  Will recover well and come back strong next week.

Sunday I set off for a steady 8.  Was feeling tired and not expecting much really, hoping for 7.15 pace to be fair. Felt good and was checking pace by the 2nd mile (6.40) and by half way I felt a little tired but was nice to finally run at a decent clip. Finished up the 8 miles in 53.39 for 6.42/mm which is great at this stage.  All about improving daily and that was certainly achieved! Monday was double recovery day - my core marathon training start to the week of a nice easy double.  First up was an easy 10k with Andy at work.  Worked out at 9.20ish pace as he is struggling since Zurich. Legs felt happy at the end of that which is what I need.  In the evening I got an easy 3 done over the trails, think I got excited as I was running a bit quick for a recovery but more than happy with that. First day of the week and 9.2 miles of easy base running in the bank and 17 for day-to-day which is perfect for what I am trying to achieve. Today I am in work but I will try and sneak a

Wow, the Olympics is nearly over.  What an amazing event to be proud of in this country, so many great memories and after several average Olympiads, London has pulled off a master stroke in matching the memories of 80, 84 & 88 for me. It's been brilliant being able to watch so much, I am fortunate to have been to 7 events and finally witnessed a Team GB Gold (Mo's 5000m), a WR (Jamaica 4x100m) and countless amazing performance and moments. I have hardly done any work ( I know a couple will laugh but I have actually made some big contributions to decisions though :) ). Training has been a stretch ( although got some quality in ) and  family time has been a minimum ( again a good bit of quality )!! So today the 30th Olympiad ends.  Work starts in earnest tomorrow as does my Ironman & running plans. After squeezing in a short sharpe tempo run on Thursday, I managed to get my swim session in on Friday.  Coach Josh set out the schedule 300m warm up 4 x 100m drill

Andy & I have an old saying - get out or you won't get it done.  If we delay a run we know it's going to end up going in the bin.  Same happened today, after yesterdays rest day and evening at the Olympics, woke up dead tired today.  Monged out on the sofa, late breakfast and by the time I got my act together the missus is going out and I am not going to be able to get out. Off to watch GB Hockey semi final tonight, should be a good experience and I am loving the Olympic park! Yesterday was supposed to watch Boxing but pal managed to swap for 2 athletics tickets.  Really great seats - check out the view of Bolty winning the 200m semi final :) Late dinner and a few beers then it was last train home.  The rattler into Cambridge is shocking, takes about 2 hours so didn't get back till 2am.  Like I say really tired today !! So, depending on what time Ange gets back I may try and do a 25 mins TT session to get something done but I am out at 4.15 and it's 2.30 now

Lazy day watching the Brownlees tear up the Olympic triathlon in my pants today, was an amazing race those guys are animals.  Gutted for Johnny to get a stop-go pen for transition error but goes to show it could happen to any of us. Those guys really laid it on the line today and it's great to see smaller sports inspiring the nation. Decided to ride today, need to do a couple a week and set on the 21.3 hilly route that Ian showed me. Set off OK, quads have been sore for a few days off the volume I have been doing (18 miles on Sunday were tough on them). Really good pace first few miles down to Elsworth but after a slow climb up the hill I knew it would be a tough ride in the latter miles.  Descended OK down to the main road and set a really good pace up to Hilton and into Fenstanton.  Turning into the wind was double tough.  The run from Fenstanton to Bourn is very tough for me (as I have blogged a few times about), the long slow climbs and it's really open.  I always s

Early pool session with my swim coach Josh on Saturday morning.  Aim was to get the session done so we could get back and watch the womens Triathlon! Got into the pool then a 300m warm up with Josh watching me thrash about. Good news is that I am buoyant, bad news is that there is lots to work on! Did 300m of drills working on kick, straighter arms, catch & push.  Got down from 32 strokes per 25m length down to 23 at my best which is where it needs to be. Main set was 5 x 100m concentrating on form.  It was 50/50 to be fair and struggled to go quick.  Times were 1.48 - 158 but it was harder trying to work on so much.  Like rubbing your head and stomach at the same time.  Did notice that the lengths I nailled it we down to 25 strokes per length but when I struggled and tensed up trying to push too long or thinking about the catch it was 32 again.  Loads to work on but pretty good start and glad that I can get my times down. 200m warm down and finished off a good early wo

7 miles route over the trails today. Good news is that calf had NO reaction whatsoever - first time since it went at the start of July.  Bad news was that I was tired, it was hot and windy and HR was through the roof! Pace wasn't criminal - 7.24/mm but at 154 bpm shows there's a lot of work to be done in the next 4 weeks. Until I can hit tempo pace without reaction to the injury it will always be a struggle though. Happy enough but will be much better once I have a good 16 in the bag Sunday morning. Swimming tomorrow morning with coach Josh.  Technique session, just want to work on getting quicker.  Will do another timed mile in the week and hopefully see the pace coming down closer to 30 mins.  Need a pool mate !! Eyeing up bikes still, going to turn a £50 bet into £3000 so I can buy one :) Gone for a nice match betting treble at the Olympics - Powell to beat Bailey over 100m, Farah to beat Bekele over 10,000 and Merritt to beat Liu over 110m hurdles.  Will roll it

I am loving the Olympics.  Judo last Saturday, Canoeing on Monday then Fencing last night. Fencing sounded to me the most boring sport on the planet but wow, I was so surprised.  It was fast, exciting and the fencers had loads of passion.  Not sure completely on the rules but was really, really good event. Went to Westfield by the Olympic park for dinner afterwards and the atmosphere was electric.  There were athletes, stewards, officials and fans walking around soaking it all up. I cannot wait for the athletics on Sunday night, we are going to go really early and make the most of the day. Still have 4 events to go to and I am so excited watching the games today on telly with team GB smashing golds in left right and center now !! Slack week of training so far with just a 5 mile run and 25 min TT in the bank so go out for a long ride (longest ever today) of 34 miles. Flatter route but still not easy.  Did this in March when I was injured and managed 2 hours just under 17 mph.

Off to the olympics today - Canoe slalom with the boys at Lea Valley White Water Center.  It's in Waltham Abbey - close to my office and near where I grew up.  Absolutely amazing venue and the walk from the venue to Chesunt station was superb with displays and lots happening. I always loved team events as a kid - not as in football vs tennis but events like the London Youth games and English schools champs.  People from all over the world cheering their athlets on and in lots of cases the supporters will be friends and family of the people involved. Team GB were the nuts, mens C2 doubles both brits made the final with the 2nd pair with Florence 'the machine' needing to go better in their second run to qualify and the womens K1 girl ran 2nd fastest going into the semi. We were watching at the middle of the course on the most technical section where people were getting most time penalties and it was great viewing. The food & toliet facilities were also the nuts, r

After running with DC on Wednesday evening, I had an easy run with Ian D on Thursday morning.  Really struggled over the trails and calf was not the happiest.  Managed just over 7 miles at 7.31 pace so not a terrible run but bad enough for me to feel guilty at dragging Ian all the way across from Ely! Friday woke up feeling really tired so decided to do an easy hour on the bike.  Aim to just spin the legs and not tackle too many climbs and just keep the legs spinning.  Nice route Through Elsworth, back towards A14, Knapworth then Bourn and towards Gransdens before turning back through Caxton and home.  17 miles @ 16.89 mph feeling pretty easy - expecting that to be my go-to pace for now. Saturday was rest day.  Had last weekend off with the party and recovery from that so not been a big patch of work but upped my running volume.  Took the boys to the Judo at Excel for the Olympics.  I did Judo as a kid and was amazing watching a live Olympic event.  Really enjoyed it but it's a

Todays easy run with DC turned into a progressive tempo for DP !! Had the day off work as Ange had her medical and bummed around all day.  Ready for the run at 6pm - DC was coming here on his way home.  Also have Ian D coming to mine tomorrow so a double home run for me ! Pretty much looked at bike porn all day.  Cannondale Slice tri-bike is favourite with a Di2 gearset so far but a Cervello P3 framset with Ultegra looks nice.  I have fuck all idea what all that means, I just look at whatever bike is - a) Jazziest looking b) got funky sheels, and c) been reduced most Kind of like the wine menu in a restaurant where you ignore all the words and look at the price !!  Light + aero = free speed and I will be needing plenty of that !! Also read some ironman blogs and reviews of Switzerland.  I am in for a good ride by the looks of things.  I need to be 5 hours something on that ride so 18.5 mph and above on the bike which is what I am riding for an hour and 10 right now. Am

Picked my bike up from Massif Cycles today after getting it serviced.  £45 for a good clean up and sorting my grinding gears out - cheap at half the price!  Decided to do a ride as test run went well yesterday and I didn't want to jinx anything.  Also doing a steady 7 with DC tomorrow night. Gave Wenny a shout and hit the usual 21 mile route for some hilly work.  Started easy enough, just trying to keep cadence high and after a slow couple of miles started to work through the gears. Came down the big hill at 32 mph and into Hilton at 22 on the good road.  Nice to feel pretty good just getting the ride done.  Struggled as usual from Fenstanton to old A428 - that's a tough 5 or 6 miles for me and speed drops to 1/17 mph on that part and the long slow hills take most out of me. Into Bourn really quick and slightly slower than normal on the bumpy road to Caxton.  Serious wind in face from Caxton to Cambourne and only done that in around 21 mph when 23 is a good one.  Tired co