Daz Does Tri

Replacing the cancelled Southern Counties 6 stage at Crystal Palace - today's race actually worked out much better all around as it's much closer to home. Jake ran 2nd leg for the u17 who unfortunately had a drop out on the way to the race so didn't finish as a team but a pretty decent 17.3x leg. I went first leg for the seniors. It's a shame as a club we can't get our best teams out to these races. Every man and his dog does Round Norfolk and Chariots but this is the big stage people !! Warmed up, felt a bit bleugh which is usually a good sign lol. To be fair I've been below the weather all week and ended up carding a zero yesterday as I was pretty rough. Felt OK - 90% range today so not 100% but still not that far off. Race starts and I settle in. It's quick and I'm just trying to get position. Fairly quickly settle down - off the big pack in front (long snake) with a few clingons but ahead of everyone else who fairly early are a long way off. Slowly w...

Have to say I have really enjoyed racing since I got back to some kind of fitness. Hard to believe I've put out 9 races since my last blog post!  Some days back to back just to get used to running hard again. Previously I've tried to race fit and it's led to a lot of disappointment as the build up increases pressure and expectation. This time around I've used races as hard training efforts and if I've felt good I have pushed on but if not just kept it under control knowing I am still in the game. Net net I am improving slower than I would like but the plus side is I feel very comfortable pinning a number on. I think running to power really helps. 335w is high 5.3x range and 350w is low 5.2x so I am very comfortable running 330ish watts so I know it's not going to be a total disaster if it doesn't come together. It's a nice place to be. Race wise, highlights are the 5k at Battersea Park - 16.39 feeling a little leggy and a 9.54 track 3000m. The track time...

"Slowly, slowly catchee monkey"  - the Gaffer '96 Feels like an eternity since I felt like I could plan out a training block but maybe, just maybe we are here. 3 weeks now very slowly building back to some light sessions and tempos. I've penned out a small block to try and get some fitness and motivation back but I am not going to lie, it's been a bloody tough journey. New Treadmill arrived a couple of weeks ago after the old one got worn out. The new one is a really good piece of kit and touch wood paces feel incredibly close to real world paces. I'll do 75% of my work on there as I build fitness I reckon. Aim from here is to slowly build and chip away at paces and mileage without going  too mad and peaking too soon or changing things radically when they don't work. I'm back on the old plan that got me 5k fit and if I can get relaxed at pace again it should pay off. Right now I can run 5 miles at around 6 flat pace without dying so I'm on the danc...

Physio today. Pretty much 10 days off with this niggle and it does honestly feel past the worst now. Conclusion was a bone to kneecap rubbing scenario and avoid low squats, lunges etc. until healed. Can do boss !! Start running again. So, jogged yesterday in Adidas Prime X on grass at about 3 mph. Not fun - possibly the slowest those shoes have ever been off the production line but positive for me in there was no issue afterwards. Today, after fizz, I extended to run a lake loop. I will remain Garminless for the foreseeable - I can't face getting involved in all that for a while. Run was good, pace felt pretty decent but tried to keep it under control. In fairness a week and a bit off shouldn't be total devastation of the conditioning but it was noticably down. Have scrubbed everything off the race calendar which relieves the pressure. I have zero to aim for but getting fit again. Feels much more relaxed and can start to daydream about running quick times agin. Treadmill sold ...

After last weekend's race I have only managed one run all week - coke club on Wednesday - which was a fairly painful shuffle. Since then I have isolated the knee which now seems to be the main problem. Ice and heat treatment is making it better (as is no running) and it does feel like it's getting better every day. I have physio booked in for Friday which will probably be clear to run by then !! It's been frustrating but just one of those things. It turned out far worse than I originally thought. The knee still feels swollen but I can now walk upstairs with zero pain. Not checked out squatting yet and i have had the odd strange twinge but I'll continue with the rehab. More worrying is the total lack of mojo. Can't even be bothered to check Strava or race results (did watch the AAA's tho) and I'm not really missing it. It'll probably come back when I start running clear again but for now I'm pretty much OK with being benched. Race wise - everything is...

Sometimes you're so far from the target it seems all but impossible. I train and live OK as an athlete and on the whole I get a pretty solid return from my investment. But not today, today was one of those days you could easily walk on. 800m was first up. 2.10 was the absolute A target - this was a big stretch. 2.12 - 2.14 was the sweet spot. 2.15 would be disappointing. Anything slower inconceivable. I must admit was I wasn't 100% feeling it. My sciatic issue was a little strange but not stopping me running. In the non scoring race and from the gun it was an 'oh shit' race. Off the back from the start (Geoff behind me but he waived the white flag at 600m). I passed the bell a long way back thinking shit, if this isn't 62-63 I am bang on trouble. 67 / 68. Ouch !! Dug in, really not in the game. Tried to reel in the back markers but had zero gas today. It was like I was missing a gear, i just couldn't relax at pace. It was 100% effort for 90% speed. Crossed the l...

Today was the start of a new target for me. I really needed to freshen things up and going from marathons to 5k to steeplechase I just haven't found something I can really get my teeth into. If I am honest, I really wanted to chase but the last one just went horrible. To be fair, I will try again this year and I think I'll have to perfect the foot on and see how that goes.  So I settled on something I toyed with for a year or so in my head. Focus on 800m. Last year I ran 2.13 off 5k training and this year I think I can go sub 2.10 with some focus. That puts me borderline competitive as a V45 (low 2 mins would be national level). So after consulting super coach Ashy I ran an old session - 3 x 200, 200, 400 off 200 slow jog and 5 min set rest. The idea is to run these really hard but controlled. Actually I was only supposed to do 2 sets BUT the main command was to warm the legs up so an extra set in Vaporfly before I went into spikes. Times were - 31,33,67 31,32,65 31,32,67 Then ...