Kick Start ...

I have been somewhat remiss from updating my wafflings. The reason I write this stuff is to create a record of what I promise myself I will do in a public way.

Obviously it has the side effect of creating a hardcore set of Shepherdites (fans who camp outside my house each morning and scream).

My plans this year have gone somewhat awry. In theory I should be a few weeks away from the peak of my 2015 which was the Lidl Bananaman triathlon.

Sadly I returned my cape and sent them a handwritten note (on yellow paper and rubbed with a real banana) saying I couldnt attend.

Moving house meant that for about 6 weeks getting to the gym became a real issue. It was packing, unpacking, cleaning, fixing, googling the answer to general DIY stuff and other events.

So ... rather  than feel sorry for myself or let it slip, taking my lead from the poets Danbert Nobacon & Alice Nutter - I am getting back up again.

My plan as from today is an Ironman in a month. Literally it is that... an Ironman in a month.

For those of you that dont know the distances are

                                                             3.86km (2.4miles) swim

                                                         
                                                             180.25km (112 mile) bike

                                                             42.2km (26.2 mile) run.




Now hardcore people who are better than me do this in under 17 hours. 

I am going to do it in under 730 hours, but i have to go to work so really I have the tougher challenge! (man logic at work there) 

Wish me luck!

a funny thing about regret is that it's better to regret something you have done than something you haven't done.

In the last fornight I have achieved 50% of my goals. Last time I sat down to write this I was expecting to do the Padiham Aquathlon and Thames Turbo Tri.

Spending the night before the Aquathlon throwing up and wondering where all this ectoplasm came from meant that I was in far from tip top condition for the event. When the starting gun went off, I was curled up in a duvet asleep.


Fast forward a week and on to the Thames Turbo race. I had ventured out of the north and like a human moth had been drawn to the bright lights of the big city (with its pavements of gold, a chewing gummy covered gold) found myself getting up at 4 am to get to the pool for registration at 5 30am.

 


 I had spent the previous couple days working out all the reasons I wasnt going to enter it and how I could kid myself that it was for the best. To put it pretty bluntly I was fairly nervous and quite scared about the event. Logically there was no reason to be, but emotionally I struggled with remaining positive. I used a well known tactic of telling everyone I had entered. That way to pull out, I would look like a dick and I didnt want that. The fear of being an idiot was stronger than the fear of the race!


Originally intended that a few of us would do this event, I silently cursed them all for deciding that a warm bed is better than a freezing cold poolside.

The collection of very fit men in lyrca and some seriously expensive machinery, sent collywobbles through my legs (not with excitement) but with the fear that I was the fat kid picked last at football and shouldn't be sharing the cold pool tiles with such esteemed company.  Indeed the event was part of the London league series and had attracted some of the fastest and fittest guys & gals (this showed in the results with 7 people coming in at under 1 hour).

The race itself sucked with very little enjoyment throughout. From the cold start standing on a poolside at 6 30 am in pretty much just your pants, through to the numb toes when cycling and speed bumps through to the agony of the run /walk.

 
One thing I really struggled with was energy, by the time i got to the run I had nothing left. Getting up at 4 am to have two weetabixes I think didnt fortify me enough to get through 2 hours of exercise. Next time I will make sure I do better than that for breakfast.

Two highlights were that emerging from the water like the sleek salmon I am (year right, moby dick) I saw my brother there to encourage me, very much unexpected and I think next time he should be the other side of the barrier joining in :-) (ignore everything I have said thus far, it isnt that bad Jev)

Secondly was the vision of Lady Searle standing at the finish line when I puffed round telling me to run faster! As the internal sweary thoughts, she made up for it with tea and hot cross buns. All eaten whilst sitting in a clam bushy park.

But I did it .. the aftermath is next week ..

Too clever by half

It's official I am an idiot.... I have been meaning to update this blog with my (admittedly not very) exciting adventures.

 

So I get a good idea about how it is all going to be done in pictures or done using the intros from famous songs... Then never quite get round to writing the flipping thing!

 

So I will keep it simple

1) had sore ligaments in my ankle for last couple of weeks, mainly through over training. I have been running more than other things and like a hippo in high heels my ankles have taken a battering

2) got my first event booked for Sunday, Padiham Aquathlon. Basically a 600m swim then 5km run. Until tonight I had no idea whether it was doable but after a 30 min run thing feel ok

3) two weeks ago I was very brave. I had to pick my camper up from its mot so instead of getting a lift I decided to run there. 4.5km downhill then through the delightful splendour of accrington. Really nice bit was a guy who was training for a tri came running up and ran with me for a big to encourage me. Off he galloped like a sleek gazelle leave the plodding hippo feeling a little more happy.

4)working evenings has encroached into my training time so I invested in a turbo trainer.

It means you can use your road bike inside and still get a workout.

It is a blessing and a curse... An instrument of torture that tenderises your undercarriage....

 

So that's it up to date.... I think...

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Once a polytito, when our young world was fresh

 The last two weeks have become recovery weeks, one through planning the other through circumstances times by lack of motivation.

Weirdly i am much fitter than last year (already run 8 x 5km since 1st January) but also contain more atoms in my personal shapeliness. So that is something to work on.

This weekends plans of running and swimming got put on hold when on Friday morning something pinged in my foot accompanied by being stabbed by a thousand mini pitchforks in my foot (never one to exaggerate). A bit of rest will fix it

In the meantime I thought I would show you my stuff. I have stuff that I use to get me through the pain and to the start line.

The most important bit of kit I have ever bought were my Barefoot running shoes. This whole journey started after reading Born to Run ( Highly recommended - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1861978774) and then buying pair of shoes in Kuala Lumpur (how long an exotic ago that sounds)

In simple terms the shoes are supposed to mimic running barefoot but with less stones poking your feet. They have no built up sole like you find in Nike Air Max which in theory promotes your body to sort out its own gait. All I know is that I have had no knee or ankle problems since using them, and once these go in the bin they will be replaced with another pair.

Mega light weight only about 150g, breathable and flexible.

 Number two in my toolkit of training is my Sansa Clip MP3 player. Cheap with SD card and 42GB of storage this is an ace piece of kit. Again barely weighs anything, can clip on to clothing (well if the clip hadnt broken) and is loud enough for tunes. Teamed it with a pair of Philips sports headphones for propa noize when runs init. 

Wills top tip is that if you keep losing the ear buds on the headphones, a dab of superglue keeps em in place (obviously not when you are wearing them, idiot)




Final tool to help me to greatness is my new heart rate monitor watch. Fed by magick elecrical waves the black strap sends letters to the watch, which tells you how hard your heart is pumping. I have included a pic of it in action taken from my last training session at the begining of the blog.



It has loads of modes including Autosport and a virtual race partner (he is much better looking than me) to keep you entertained. You are also able to enter training session in it before hand so you dont need to remember what you are doing.

Once session are over the data can be uploaded to garmin connect, which tracks what you are doing and gives you all the data a boy could need.

All from me for now .... byyyeeeee 

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