Done It!

Ok, so I've not posted in a while, but there really wasn't much to post as I couldn't do much in the way of training with dodgy shins.


Anyway, the tri was Sunday before last and while it was supposed to be a fun event, there were plenty of fit serious people there.


We all lined up poolside, and they had the slowest going in first, three in each lane and a new swimmer went in as a finisher got out. I had a 20 minute wait before getting in, but once in I was offffff :D Think I went off a bit quick but got held up a couple of times giving me a much needd breather. I was just thinking I had two lengths to go, when I was told to get out. Not a bad time at 8 mins but allowing for the delays would have meant nearer 6m 50 which was what I'd hoped for. So tired, I couldn't actually get out of the pool - I tried and fell back in :D


Got to transition for the bike and thinking back, spent far too long getting dried/changing - probably another couple of minutes lost, but hey it was fun. The ride was advertised as 16.5 miles, but I'd mapped it out on dailymile.com and it was more like 18. I was really hoping to average 20mph but it was too windy and my legs hurt like hell as I put a lot of effort into it. Part of the route involved a U turn where I stopped to get some food from my saddle bag - another minute or so lost :D


Anyway, got to the pub for the final transition and onto the run. Well, I originally hoped to do the run in 40 mins so was amused to do it in 39:40 sec :)


All in all, it was a fantastic event, really well organised. The finish at the pub was great as they had food and drink on the go (duh, I know, it's a pub, it's what they do !!!). The weather was great too.


All in 1 hr 49 mins and 40 place. There were 50 solos and 6 teams of three. My swim time was 17th fastest though I reckon should've been nearer top ten without delays; the bike was 20th fastest, but food probably cost me a few places and the run I was 56th fastest, but that has always been my weakest discipline, worry etc etc.


Will I do another? Er, signed up for an open water tri in August at Bewl - 750m swim, 20km bike and 5k run. I will also be doing some practice tri's on the south coast before hand. I'm also going to start taking the running a lot more seriously as that'll be the biggest time benefit.


Just watched the London ITU event and men did the same distances I'll be doing in August in 50 mins. A target has been set :D

Getting Irregular!

Well, it's been 1/2 a month since the last post. To tell the truth I just completely forgot to update as I was really interested in posting progress on the running.


Anyway, it's been another couple of weeks since I last ran (but think as of this week the frequency will be upped quite a lot) but the reason for the post tonight is that I hit a fairly major milestone.


Bear in mind that when I decided to do this triathlon, I barely managed to run 200 yards without a breather, then I was having various aches and pains especially in my shins that I was giving them a proper rest - well, tonight I finally managed to run 3.5 miles (circa 5k), and I've got to admit I'm feeling pretty please about that.


I was originally thinking my best time for the run would be around 40 mins and tonight I did it in under 38 minutes - yep, not a lot, but still got eight weeks to go.


The pool re-opened today, so I start in there tomorrow. No mucking around on this - as I'm joining a SwimFit class to make sure I put the effort in. It's been 10 months since I was in the water and I have 8 weeks to get to the stage where I can do sixteen 25 metre lengths non stop in 8 minutes. I know it's a fairly relaxed - I just need to convince myself I can swim for 8 minutes and that will be that for the swim.


As for the bike, I'm trying to get out on the road bike as much as poss. The first ride was average 15.4 mph (and a hilly route), my local 17mile loop is fairly flat (the odd bump is all) and I managed 19mph the the whole ride on Sunday. Checking out the faster times for last years' riders I need to be doing around 22 mph (the fastest did 25 - just a dream for me, but at least I have a target).


Anyway, me happy and going to bed.


G'night !

Yes!

Finally decided to get back out on the run tonight as it's been a fortnight or so since I the last. Main reason for this was all the grief I was getting from my shins, so rest it was!


How was it? Excellent! Basically, did the usual 1/4 mile warm up walk, then ran for 1.5 miles, short walk, 1 mile run, short walk, .4 mile run, short walk and same again.


So, managed to run most of it, and no pain in the shins :D :D


Last night I did a quick 17 miles in an hour on the road bike and on Sunday I did 18 mtb offroad miles.


Hopefully (and it's a bit of an if at the mo), I may be getting back into the pool on Saturday, so it'll be good to see how that works out as it's around 10 months since I last did any serious swimming!


Anyway, need sleep, so till next time!

Oops, forgot to update!

So, since the last time I posted I've done the route a few more times, those being:


41 min 4 sec, then 42 min 46 secs, then I decided to rest as my shins have been hurting too much. Last Saturday did a 34 mile mtb ride on the South Downs (4500 ft of climbing) then the following day got out on the new road bike and did 15 miles in an hour. That included a chat :D


Should be back out tomorrow and hoping to beat 40 minutes for the 3.5 miles - which will be fab if I can, as that means I'm ahead of my original best time prediction for the tri when I first started writing this blog :D


Anyway, will let you know tomorrow. Maybe soon have an idea when I can get back in the pool!


Cheers

Quickie!

Just a quick post to say that I went out again tonight and did the full  3 and a half (and a bit) mile route and was pretty determined to beat the time I set the first time I did the distance.


Well, 1st time, 49m 50s tonight 45m 17; around 4 1/2 mins quicker.


It's funny, I was nearly panicking with my time so I kept on doing a bit more running - about 22 minutes worth (was aiming for 15!) but as you can guess, it was very slow running towards the end.


Going to cover my legs in heat gel now and get some sleep as I'm out again Thursday :)


Till the next one!

The Ante's Been Upped!

Well, it'd been more or less a week since I last ran because I had really sore shins. Decided a week long rest might be in order, especially as the last time I ran, I did the whole mile none stop.


Anyway, last night I decided that it was time to get the new running shoes out again, this time I'd been doing 3.5 miles rather than the 2.25 miles I had been doing.


Main reason for this is the get the tri distance under my belt as soon as possible and get a time - I now have 12 weeks until the tri, around 36 runs of 3.5 miles - over 120 miles of training.


The 3.5 miles I did last night took 49m 50 secs. I've set myself a nominal target to decrease my time by 30 secs per run (with an increase of 1min of running, so I have to run that min at 7 mph to beat my 3.5 mph walking pace), and if I can keep that up, I should get the 3.5 miles down to around 32 minutes, which I'll be very happy with.

I'm now hoping to run on the proper days (which I'm now changing to Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday) without any long breaks like I've just had.


As I said in another post, I'm increasing each run by one minute, however what I did last night was three 4 minute runs and 1 of two minutes (so 14 in all). The next run will be 15 minutes in total - 4m 20 sec x 3 and a two minute run at the end.


Anyway, next update Tuesday after my second 3.5 miles walky/run :D

One Mile!

I ran a mile, I ran a mile ......


For the first time in a very long time I have finally managed to run a mile non-stop, and I've got to admit I'm rather pleased about that !!


Tonight I upped the running time to 11 mins, and the mile took around 9m 50s so not exactly quick but bear in mind that I rode 34 1/2 miles on the bike this morning over some very hilly roads (doing around 3000 ft of climbing) and I was wearing a new pair of shoes. I was hoping to smash my 2.25 mile time but beat it by 4 seconds, but given the ride, shoes and run I'm still happy.


Going to increase the route to 3.5 miles and 12 minutes of running when I next go out, but will see how the legs are on the night.


Anyway, I'm fairly knackered so going to bed :D


Night!