Home & Away

A weekend trip to Scotland was required to visit family. I was just outside Aberdeen and had amazing weather.

Saturday morning I managed a quick 5 mile loop round the outskirts of the town. The roads were quiet and the scenery was great.

That was it apart from my brother managing to raise my heart rate. He's got a few driving qualifications so don't be trying this at home. But I've never felt quite so sick since a roller coaster in the USA.  Thrashing around the lanes at 60-90 is not my idea of fun. Although in retrospect he knew what he was doing.

This evening I did a quick lap of the 10k circuit. I decided to make it a fartlek session and aimed to do the effort on the uphill section. I thought it was 1min on, 2 off but it turned out to be 1 mile on, 2 mins off. Yikes. It did work well though as the main efforts came at the hilly section and I was pleased to push on those with something in the tank. In the end the 4 miles were at just about 7min pace.

I managed a lunchtime swim session today as well. I think there might have been a breakthrough with my front crawl finally being quicker than my breast stroke! I know, pathetic but a breakthrough all the same.

The next few days are going to be busy. I'm down in Somerset for an announcement which will cause a bit of angst and no doubt be in the news. Anyway, the shoes and trunks are coming so I can escape when the job's been done.

Swim sessions

So I'm 3 weeks into the new swimming regime. It's hard work. I am so rubbish at swimming!

Drills and reps galore. Worst of all has got to be 4 x 25m legs only. I am so slow its untrue.
I'm fine on my back, I kick away and off I go. But on my front, I might actually be going backwards.

There are signs of green shoots though.  I'm finding the arm drills helping my stroke efficiency which means less strokes to complete a length. And, I suppose my confidence is improving and I'm not a out of breath as much as I was 3 weeks ago.

The session is, 12 x 25 warm up, 4 x 25 legs, 2 x breathing right, 2 x breathing left, 4 x high elbows, 8 x 50 flat out. Then a warm down.

At the moment I'm managing 2-3 sessions a week. So surely there's got to be some improvement!

Airport Slog, 6.5miles

I had a car to drop off at the Airport and was delighted Anthony could join for the run home.

It's dark before 8pm now so we've resorted to the use of head torches for the run home. The writing was on the wall though when I found one of Olivia's teddy bears in the hire car and had to carry it home. Then Anthony's new head torch didn't work.

I was still feeling the effects of Sunday's reps when we started running. My calves were aching and I had very little bounce. Anyway, the darkness forced the pace down, especially on the off-track sections.

We took the route down passed the sewage works and up Cooters End Lane. All in all 6.5 slow hard miles.

Hopefully the recovery will start tomorrow.

Herts 10k Splits

So this is now definitely an annual event. The 3rd outing of the Sunday morning troupe for the Herts10k route in 3x2.08miles with 3 minute recovery.
Paul Savage and myself have done all 3, Anthony and Big Paul have done 2 and today we were joined by Rob, Ben & Viddy.
The general rule is to push as hard as possible, take the mick out of your running mates and hope not to die in the process. We've come close in previous year's but not this time.
It was pretty cold this morning, 6-7c, and so a few of the guys were in their leggings and jackets.
We met at the George and headed up to the start line. Ben was late so had to scamper to catch us up. That didn't slow him down as he and Viddy set a blistering pace on the first leg. The rest of us were strung out with myself and Rob making sure no one fell behind. Anthony was looking strong and holding Paul's pace, while Big Paul pushed along behind Ben & Viddy.

At the first stop we regrouped and then too off again after the 3 min recovery. My legs were shot to bits. I was really struggling but tried to keep Rob's pace. He was running the second leg very strongly after the shock of the first. Up the hill was steady and then the long drag back to Roundwood where wee stopped and again regrouped. Ben & Viddy had once more set off like hares!

We lost Paul at this point. His biannual need to rush to a bog seems to align with these reps.

The 3rd leg takes us back down the Nicky Line and over the fields. Rob was on form and Anthony was cruising. I, on the other hand was whimpering like a git. The energy was gone. A bit of running, 3 swim sessions and a track session on the bike probably caught up with me. However I dug in and somehow came in with a reasonable final set.

So the 2011 splits were: 7:05, 7:10, 7:08.
Compared with 2009:  6:30, 7:03, 6:58 and 2010: 6:54, 7:37, 7:46.

So I was pretty happy with those in all honesty. There's still a few weeks to go and with a proper taper I might get close to the 2009 time which was a bit over 41mins.

Swim, Bike, Run.

It's been a fun week with me starting novice sessions on both swimming & cycling.

I've decided to go back to the drawing board on the swimming. My cardio fitness is good but my technique and efficiency in the water is abysmal. So on Tuesday I was back in the pool getting one-to-one lessons and using the teddy bear floats the kids use. Not very ironman but it has to be done.
The good news is I can be rebuilt but it is going to be hard. I've core exercises to do every day, stroke, balance & breathing drills to do when in the pool. Oh well it's nearly winter so I might as well spend it in the pool.

Today was my second session over with Welwyn Wheelers who run some novice sessions on the race track. Using a fixed wheel bike with no breaks is quite an experience. Getting on and off is tricky but I think mastered now! The coaching has been all about building basic skills and not about fitness, although I think 2 hours on the bike is good for anyone. The drill include drafting on the wheel of the rider in front,  using the slopes to move from front to back and snaking your way through a throng of riders.

As well as the bike and swimming I've managed 3 shorter runs. The focus is turning towards the Herts10k so I've cut volume and building the speed work. Hopefully I'll stay clear of injury.

I'm hoping to get out on Sunday morning's from now through the winter and it looks like a good group will be at the George tomorrow at 7am. The weather looks wet and windy so that'll separate the men from the boys!

A few miles covered, 17 sessions, 17,000 calories burned.

A few weeks holidays but no let up in the training. 17 sessions captured on the Garmin and a few others which slipped through the net when the Garmin battery died.

Week 1 was in Crieff where I set about riding a few hills and adding on a hilly run. These sessions were very tough but the scenery helped distract from the lactic acid build up on the hills.

One of the highlights was dinner with DocRoddy my cycling guru. Roddy's training for a week in the Pyrenees and completed a gruelling 100mile ride on Sunday.

A few morning swims kept me on track and overall the week in Crieff was excellent.

We headed to Aberdeenshire next and had a great day in Strathdon with university friends. Somehow I sneaked in a decent sunday morning run which involved a climb, red squirrels, deer and a ride in a Land Rover. That afternoon we did a cycle round the Strathdon area and saw all the preparation for the Lonach Gathering, one of Scotland's most famous Highland Games, with Billy Connolly now assuming the role of Highland Chief.

After Aberdeenshire we set off for Lewis and Harris. The weather was kind with very little rain and temperatures between 17-19c, described by my Uncle as "scorching!"

Harris was amazing and I managed a few sea swims one with some Porpoises showing a bit of interest and circling me. I wasn't worried, honest!

As well as the swimming the cycling was incredible. The terrain is very hilly, so you get steep climbs and monstrous winding descents. My performance on the downhills was very Andy Schleck, but that was mainly due to the presence of hundreds of sheep who have a tendency to walk out into the road without a care in the world.

The scenery in Harris was breathtaking. Sea lochs, blue skies, hills, beaches and hardly a car, it was a pleasure to enjoy the place at its best. 

I managed a couple of hilly runs to make up the trip and overall I was pretty happy with what I completed.