And Breathe

Sort of completed week 3 of the training. I say sort of because the Norse gods have been unhappy and cursed this hill in Accrington with snow and ice. Normally it starts as snow then melts a little and turns to ice. With the added bonus of lots of wind!

It has meant that couple of days this week it physically has been almost impossible to get out of our stately country pile. Fingers crossed next week we have a big thaw :-)

So out of the 6 sessions I have managed just a measly 4. Instead of regaling you with my magnificent amazingness and feats of athletic prowess I will tell you about some knowledge I have acquired.

All about your heart, well the heart rate zones that are used when you train. Heart rate zones are the % your heart is working towards its maximum rate. It is all calculations and loads of detail can be found on the interweb.

By using the right zone you can concentrate on getting either your aerobic (fat burning - yes please) or anaerobic work outs. Mixing and matching they can make you run faster, jump longer with out being Steve Austin.

If you are going to do some tri training or anything else for example, can I highly recommend you get a heart rate monitor and stay in the Zone (man). 

Last year I followed a training plan for my tri and just did the activity suggested flat out then collapsed(ignoring the heart rate zones). This year I am following the plan including the heart rate zones and in 3 weeks I am probably fitter than 3 months of training last year! The added bonus is that you hurt less after even though you have progressed more.



Below is a non standard Will interpretation of the zones :-) 

Zone	Which is	Feels like	Example
1	Gently	You haven’t even started	Strolling in a summers evening in a beautiful bluebell wood
2	Bit of a trot	Sort of jogging	The speed at which a boy that decides he likes being kissed, runs during kiss chase
3	Steady on now	Definitely moving now	When you mum tells you to hurry up, if you don’t think it is worth it
4	At a gallop	Sweaty and fast	10 minutes to kebab shop closing
5	Flat Out	Your body will explode!	Phil Mitchel running towards the Queen Vic when he gets the news that Peggy has had a fall

Its Mental init ..

Week two down in my training and it is coming along nicely.

Today whilst on my 30 min run (get me) I did quite a lot of thinking and one of the many (man, many) thoughts I had involved the prep of a triathlon.

In my life there have been a couple of things I am certain I am going to do. I always knew I would get my MBA, I always knew I would get my Queen's scout award and recently I have become cognisant that I will do an Ironman Triathlon. Not only do but complete in under the cut off time (17 hours). How strange is that..

The reason that it occurred to me is that I have already taken as read that I will complete the Olympic tri this year, next year depending on fitness and wobbliness will either be a consolidation year or a push on to a 70.3. either way they are not a goal in themselves but a stepping stone on the path to the biggie.

 So before I start deciding whether I can get the I dot tattoo if I dont complete a branded Ironman event or even where I should put it, I think I should explain what I have been up to this week.

Physically 
Completed week two of the training plan. So far so easy. In total spent 4 hour 12 minutes working out excluding all the warming up and cooling down stuff. The peak was the Brick on Saturday lunchtime.

A brick (apart from being used to build a house) is where you complete a bike ride then immediately do a run. The reason for this is two fold 1) it is what you have to do in a triathlon so is good practice 2) to get you used to jelly legs. 

After you have spent a good while on the bike, when you come to get off and start to run your legs feel like .. well jelly and really heavy. Getting use to that feeling is important. So Sat was 45 minutes on the bike followed by 20 min run. Whilst not earth shattering it was enough to feel that I could get a good workout.

I also worked on my heart rate zones, more of which next week. 

Things I learnt
1) Foam rollers hurt but get rid of muscle tightness 
2) My new HRM GPS watch is the dogs danglies. All it needs is tetris or the ability to talk to KITT
3) A 30 min run can now be boring.

Mentally 

Not something that I had considered before but I spent a long time this week mentally preparing. As outlined above I realised that this is just a step in the next 5 years of my life.

I read a lot.

5 books in a week all about triathlons, nutrition, heart rates, preparing, plans etc. I also listened to some really interesting podcasts which had some amazing hints and tips but also shared some of the realities of the sport. Mentally I feel so much more prepared than last year and much more wiser. No doubt it is pushing useful knowledge out of my grey matter, probably lyrics to really important songs..

I also got out the calendar and started to plan events.

9th April  - Hampton Turbo Sprint Tri with my Tri ladies and potentially a few more people (Mark, Fi & Jev)
10th May - Pendle Sprint Tri
14th June - Windermere Open Water Sprint Tri
11th July - Lidl Bananaman - Full Banana Tri

Things I learnt

1)Triathlons in their nature are pretty selfish. At the moment going to the gym for 1 1/2hours is ok because I get out the house, once I start deciding to train for the bigger events it becomes life absorbing and I think the doggies might object :-)
2) Words make things sounds so easy
3) 2 hour podcast on triathlon training doesn't compete with the Football Ramble.


So thats it, nothing more for now... next week a bit more progression into the Adonis of the tri world and perhaps an amusing explanation of heart rate zones.

New Year new plan

So the new year has popped into existence, 2015 already.  Scary how life seems to fly past.

Being one prone to stupid ideas, I have decided to enter a proper triathlon. In technical terms an Olympic distance one (sort of), yes like they do at that four yearly event, all proper and grown up.

No it isnt the mental ones when you run marathons (that may be for later in my life, if I decide that I am going to partake in that particular kind of madness) 

In simple terms it is a 800m Swim (in a lake) 31.8km bike (on roads) and 7.5km run (utilising the ground/foot interface). All in one go, with no stopping for coffee and cakes or beer, definitely not beer...

Sounds so simple typed out, but means I need to get practising again. i will be waiting for the gym to open tomorrow morning to get back in the groove.

Things to do include being able to do all those distances separately, practising them, lots, trying to swim in a wetsuit in a lake without drowning, doing some warm up sprint tris and making sure I don't get injured. To that end I am going to keep a weekly rambling account of my progress (or lack of) 

I have decided to do it for myself first and for charity second. I will raise money to go to support Soi Dog who do fantastic work and are building a new hospital in Thailand. More on that later.

So if any of you are foolish enough to want to join me (they do little ones as well) then please form a queue :-) http://humanrace.co.uk/events/triathlon/bananaman-triathlon

Till next week... wanders down acacia road  singing banana man theme

Not so silently screaming

Today I just wanted to share my pain.

Cramp.

Yes cramp.

Work done by the devil as he taunts you and your new exercise regime.

Like a thousand sharp needles jabbed into you in delicate places.

Now add two dogs who think you are playing with them as you roll around on the floor moaning and clutching your leg.

Taking it in turns to pounce, bite and lick you.

The screaming is mixed with trying not to laugh, as that then tightens the muscles and makes it hurt even more. So the circle of pain continues ... and the biting.. and pouncing ..

It must be the 10th Circle in Dantes Inferno..

Hard work - You should try eating a bun

So we live in a (theoretical) universe that encompasses all the infinite possibilities that each decision we make represents. Not just in a Sliding Doors way, but for every journey there are an infinite number of start times with an infinite number of outcomes. And to keep it simple there are degrees of infinity as well.

A strange fact is that there are an infinite number of numbers between 1 & 2 and they arent countable (look up Cantor if you are interested, bored or want to impress geeks). Strangely enough some infinities are countable but guess how long you would need to count them?

So with all this infinity populating our normal lives, there is a reality where running is easier than eating a bun.

Where chunky monkeys are revered for their bun skills as they have to practice a lot, British Bake Off is a behind the scenes visit to the Team UK training camp for the international scoff awards and running is an activity for the unpopular people in life.

Gym would become plumping rooms, with specialist machines to increase your ability. One will be a massive whipped cream can where you would do small spurts to build up stamina before moving on to the crispy cornflake crammer which slowly fed you pieces of chocolate crispy cakes.

Beeeeep...  that is the machine finished now onto the next one. Unfortunately in the real reality (or is it) its back to sweating and trying to lose as many atoms as possible or at least turn those atoms in a less wobbly structure.

10 days ago I did a Go Tri event (highly recommend them) which I came middle table in. Yes I know it isnt about competing but let the fat boy have a moment. Since then visitors and visiting have sapped my motivational mojo.

This week will be different, I have chosen a different reality from the one where I stayed in bed this morning (sadly I didnt make it to the plumping room, that was the other reality).

Only 3 weeks left ...

In the Zone ..

Last few weeks have seen a slow return to the gym. I still have tightness in my calf but due to a combination of rubbing, waves and needles it hurts a lot less.

I took a training selfie for you all to see :-)

The reality is that I have only a month or so to get back to where I was before, that is being able to complete the Triathlon in September without serious medical assistance.

This week I have got back to being able to run 4k without too much effort so to reward myself I thought I would enter a couple of smaller events before september. Sat I have entered myself for a Go Tri event with a short swim then 2.5k run. Should give me a bit of a fix after weeks of being laid off.

I thought that to motivate me I would post my training schedule for the week here... so that I know I will do it

Monday - Gym - Run - 4K
Tuesday - Pool -  Swim (although judging by the weather outside I could just use the front garden)
Wed -Pool - Swim (evening is lane swimming so less idiots to worry about)
Thurs - Gym - X training including Run
Fri - Rest
Sat - Go Tri event
Sun - Bike

Not particularly exciting but will get me fitter and closer to the Brackley Tri

Remember that tank top you bought me ....

The last couple of weeks have been incredibly frustrating with my calf injury still quite sore. I managed to get back training only for it to flare up again.

Trying not to be wussy yet not overexert at the same time is a bit of an issue. I think that the fact I am still classified in the comfortably padded measurement index doesnt help much. So that will be dealt with in due course.

Last Sat I was signed up to do a Duathlon in Preston, a run then a cycle then a run, but come Friday it was clear I couldn't manage the run part of it. even with the application of lots of heat and mega stretching my calf kept cramping up.

Anyway a couple of days rest and Sunday I hit the gym again. Thankfully the last couple of days have been pain free which means I am back up at doing an hour in the gym which is awesome. That means that my next tri in August in Macclesfield should be a goer (words I never thought I would utter)

For those of you that are joining me in September just a gentle hint that it is only 7 weeks away :-) 
It will fly past!

So boring bit over with want to know what I think sometimes when running ...
no? ...
stop reading then ...

1) Why cant they have heat converters that take the heat from the gym and use it to drive some sort of energy recovery system? Perhaps they could use it to heat the water in the sauna? (I did think about it being pumped straight in then mentally corrected myself for the ick factor)

2) Even though my mp3 is on random how come it is always the same songs? I seem to have far too much Rancid on there even though they are only 10 of the few hundred songs

3) If I had one wish I decided that I would spend it on making Solar UV cleaning water via plastic bottles a viable method. Not exciting as a ferrari but something pretty cool. There must be an answer out there somewhere

4) Surely all of the antiques in the UK have been bought and sold by a team in a crappy brightly coloured fleece jacket .. .normally at a loss

5) Is it ok to sing to yourself in the gym? I mean I know I am an awesome singer ...

6) Why not fit drains under the gym equipment so that the sweat runs away rather than sitting there till someone half arsedly wipes it down?

7) If I had to write one song it would be Wizzards christmas hit. Money for life ... then you could do whatever you wanted.

8) When they invent a way to pipe books straight into your mind will they just download everything at once or will you have to sign up to a weekly Britannia music style programme? 

9) Can you exercise in your sleep?

10) Do people every put their phones down?

So yes .. .a little of me ...that is 2 minutes you will never get back ... I did warn you ..