Sick Of Snow...and My Turbo!

Am I the only one sick of this weather and turbo riding?! I long for a degree or two rise in the temperature so that I can get out on the roads! I have set up my turbo in the gym on camp, rather than trying to squeeze in next to the Eskimo family and the polar bears in my sub zero garage!

Although the gym is a much more pleasant environment to train in than the bare brick of my igloo of a garage, it's still turbo training...and I don't like it! It's ok for sessions up to 90 mins or so, but sitting on the thing for 3 or 4 hours in an attempt to rack up the base miles is just not funny!!

As for running, the snow bound countryside is quite nice really, and I don't really mind treadmill running to build up those base miles. But it would be a different story if I had to do more speed work...I don't like speedwork on a 'treader' so hopefully the snow and ice will be gone by Christmas which is when my training is due to take on a more 'intense' slant. (That sounds like a plan of some sort doesn't it?!)

So lets pray for some slightly warmer weather, failing that it's time to get your aerosols out and spray them directly in to the sky and get this global warming going!!

Stay warm, train smart.

Down Time Over...Time to get Serious!

Its been a while since my last blog and training/planning has been ticking over quite nicely but its now time to get those serious miles in!

As far as a review of my season goes I've had a pretty decent one really...a total of 5 age group podiums with 3 of those being wins! Got to be happy with that!

My running improved, as did my swimming (a bit!), but my efforts on 2 wheels were pretty similar to last year. This was a bit disappointing really. I think it was due to a lack of proper base miles and hills last winter, due to my South Atlantic trip! I did get some good race results though, but these were mainly in sprint events which is how I come to the conclusion that I was lacking endurance on the bike.


My last race of the year was the 'Salomon Turbo X' race in Sheffield which was basically a beefed-up x-country race through mud and rivers. It was enjoyable, but was spoiled by poor marshaling. I was in the top 5 until we were sent the wrong way, and after running for about a mile, we were turned round and had to retrace our route back to the correct path. This resulted in about 20 of us rejoining the race close to the back of 400 competitors! Not good! I finished in 14th overall but the result had no importance after the route faff, I just enjoyed the 10 mile (which was actually nearer 13 for some of us!) blast through mud and thorns!

Since then I have not ran (until yesterday). I replaced my run sessions with run drills and weights/core work in an attempt to strengthen my 'run legs', before increasing the mileage over the winter. I have been building my swim miles and trying to improve on my technique whilst also trying to get as many miles and long hills in on the bike as work and weather will allow!

One thing I am going to try this winter is spinning. I have occasionally used spinning bikes before but never in a class session...until last night! It was tough! I've read in numerous articles that spinning is good for technique and is a good way to improve cadence and I can see how! Some of the sprint intervals had my legs flying round in a blur! After the spinning class I hopped on the treadmill for my first run in a while...nothing drastic, just 15 min at a comfortable pace.

So, for the next couple of months, it's a case of focusing on strength and endurance with the very occasional intensity session thrown in for kicks and giggles!

I have entered a half marathon in Jan (the 'Brass Monkey' in York) so that should be enough to keep me focused and off the lard!



Train smart

Survival of the Muddiest!

What a great race! Myself and a few other RAF triathletes (Greg Mc, Jase, Nick D, Paul F, Granty) turned out at the 'Mens Health Survival of the Fittest' race at the weekend, down in Nottingham. It was a real blast! 10 main obstacles to contend with over a 12km route through and around Nottingham. There were hay bales (first obstacle), army style assault courses, skate parks, football terraces, river crossings and more, with the final 'Wall of Fame' to conquer...it was muddy, wet and a bit tough!

Considering there were around 4000 on the start list, the RAF Tri lot did pretty well! Greg had a great run finishing 4th and apart from his known pedigree as a runner, he was like a flipping squirrel over the obstacles! I was happy crossing the line in 14th, having lost touch with Greg at the first major set of obstacles. Nick seemed to enjoy himself and came home in 23rd with Jase about a minute behind in 33rd. Granty finished 87th and Paul F 112th. The ice bath and FGS at the end were well deserved!

I would recommend this race to anyone who enjoys a run with a difference! I was aching all over for the next couple of days and my knees were battered, bruised and scratched...but I'll be back next year!

A Soggy End To The Season.

All the races I have competed at this year have been blessed with decent weather...until the Humber Sprint last Sunday!
It was a downpour from start to finish...I reckon I was drier in the pool than I was on the bike!!
It's not very nice racking your bike in pouring rain, having to put your shoes in plastic bags to stop them filling with water! I've never raced in the rain before and I hope I don't have to do it too often.

Having finished my 400m swim in over 6 mins I ran out into the rain for a 150m run, through the puddles to T1.


Once I got going on the bike, even though it was wet and windy, I wasn't as cold as I was expecting to be. It was a mistake putting shades on though...I thought they would help keep the rain out of my eyes but I could barely see the road and ended up pushing them down my nose like a pair of reading glasses until I needed them on the downhill sections, when I'd push them back up! There were also a lot of big puddles and rivers of water to contend with, which caused a few scary moments on some of the fast descents!



I was glad to get off the bike and into my running shoes, despite them being a tad soggy! The run was supposed to be 5km, but it clearly wasn't, as I clocked a time of 15:33 mins...I wish!




I finished 5th overall and 1st in my age group, which was very pleasing, but I took more satisfaction from registering the fastest run split of the day!









Looking forward to the 'Survival Race' this weekend with a few fellow triathletes, and to be honest I don't care if it rains at that race, it'll just add to the fun!!




Train well.

What Blue Green Algae?

While some people were chilling out in Hungary last weekend, competing at some low profile race or other, winning medals of varying colours, I was racing where it really mattered...Bala!!!

The mid Wales weather was very kind for the Bala Standard last Sunday (apart from a bit of a stiff breeze). The race had been threatened by the usual Lake Bala 'Blue Green Algae scare', which seemed to cause the organisers a lot of headaches in the lead up to the event. Apparently, this algae thrives when the sun shines and Wales had some sun...I know, sun in Wales, crazy isn't it! But in the final 2 or 3 days before the race, the rain and wind came and dispersed the algae enough to ensure the race was still able to be ran as a triathlon rather than a duathlon.


My race went ok, could have been better, but it was ok.


The swim was pretty standard, time wise, with no real issues and I even managed to draft of some blokes feet for half the route, which was a first for me! Although I did feel as though I was swimming slower than usual, I just relished the thought of preserving a bit of energy. The swim exit was a bit 'nasty' with loads of big stones to walk across which I later found out had bruised my poor little 'plates of meat'.


The bike was the usual Bala out and back route, with the wind in your face on the way out. I felt ok on the 'out', but coming home I sort of struggled to 'get in to it' really. I wasn't feeling the love for the bike, and it felt like a slog. I reckon I was a bit tired from going eyeballs out on my fitness test a few days before. As a result, my bike split was a bit slower than I'd hoped for and very similar to the previous year. (But I did get to level 14:11 on my fitness test!)


The run went well and was my best discipline. This has been the case on all my races this year. I ran 2 mins quicker than last years race, so I was very happy with that!



I finished 49th overall (800 odd competitors) and 6th age group, in a time of 2:06:49, about a min quicker than last year and about 30 places better.


I like this venue, it is extremely picturesque and when the sun shines it's even better!

One more triathlon to go, a sprint near Hull in a couple of weeks.

Train well.

Stockton Rat Race!!

Raced at the Stockton Sprint last week but it's taken me a while to write it up because of 2 main reasons. Firstly, I became mighty ill the day after the race, sickness and diarrhea, which hung around for 36 hours...not nice. Then, once I was feeling better I went away for a long weekend with the family, not too far away, just the east coast, but it gave me a chance to cycle there and back, with a long hilly run on the day between. Just under 8 hours of 'quality miles'.

Anyhoo, the race itself went reasonably well. The 750m 'city centre' river swim took me 12:56, slightly slower than I would have liked, but out of the murky water in 14th.

The 23km bike route was flat, 'compact' and REALLY technical and to be brutally honest, it was probably the worst route I've raced on! I'm not a lover of the 'stop/start' type of racing you get with city centre, multiple lap routes. There were a few roundabouts and several 180 degree dead turns on each lap, and after 3 laps I was getting dizzy! I know these type of courses are great for the spectators, but because of all the mega tight turns and sharp bends, no sooner had I got down on my aero bars than I was having to ease up and start braking ready for yet another 180 turn! Very frustrating! I was 4th fastest biker in a time of 37:19 and was lying 5th out of T2.

The 5km run was just as 'twisty' but at least it was only one lap and actually had a few lumps in it, courtesy of a few footbridges. I made up a place on the run with a split time of 17:45.

I finished 4th overall and 2nd AG in a time of 1:09:21. Happy with the overall result, especially as it was in front of some top quality support from some very vocal family members! (bunch of posers!)

A couple of days later, an email from the race organiser was asking if anyone had became ill since the race. It turns out that quite a number of us had became ill, and as a precaution we were advised to get a medical check up. They (the organisers) are worried about an illness called Weils Disease which attacks the liver and can be contracted from open water where rats use it as a toilet! Nice! After my visit to the Med Centre, I am now on anti biotics and have sacrificed an armful of blood for testing. I don't feel as though I have picked up anything nasty, but apparently this condition can lay dormant for a while, so a blast of prescription drugs is the way ahead!

So if you ever get ill after swimming in open water, I would suggest a 'better safe than sorry' trip to the doc's!

Train safe and remember kids...don't drink from rivers!!!

Good Day At The Beverley Sprint!

Raced at the Beverley Sprint Tri last weekend and had a pretty good day really!

I came 3rd overall and won my age group! Happy days!

I recorded my fastest ever 400m swim of 5:43! This was due in no small part to a bloke in my wave who was a bit of a fish...he started 5 secs behind me and was overtaking me within 2 lengths. I tried to stick to his feet for as long as I could and so subsequently ended up pushing harder than I really would have liked. But it got me a swim pb so can't complain!

The 20km bike course was flat and fast but there were loads of roundabouts and junctions which slowed you down a bit. After that hard swim, it took a while to find my bike legs. I felt tired for a few 'klicks' and so I took my gels earlier than usual which helped a lot! I was overtaken with about 5k to go by a bloke in my age group and thought he was going to get away from me. However, dropping down a gear, increasing my cadence, I found that I could stay with him (at least 7 metres behind, obviously!) and shadowed him all the way in to T2, clocking 33:38.

Once on the 5km run, I managed to pull away from my 'age group rival' but it was a painful 5k! I prefer to chase people down rather than try and hold them off and I was constantly looking over my shoulder to see if he was catching me! The pain in my lungs and legs only subsided once I knew I had held him off, which was in the last 100m! Run time 17:22.

So, a good day at the office, and a few cheeky prizes to boot...trophies, wine, cash, race voucher and a couple of bottles of 'Udo's Choice Oil'! Result!

Since racing at Beverley, I have been enjoying a bit of camping with the family in the Lake District. Camping is great, but sleeping can be a bit difficult with noisy sheep, ducks, owls, wind and rain! But I did get the opportunity to get some early morning open water paddling in the chilly waters of Ullswater, usually followed up with some hearty 'camping style' breakfast nosh! Lovely!

This weekend is the Stockton Sprint Tri...hope all that 'camping food' and lack of sleep doesn't slow me down too much!

Train well.

High Intensity, MORE Recovery...It's The Future!

I know it's been a while since I last blogged...sometimes there's just not enough hours in the day!
Thankfully, my season continues to tick along nicely, which in my world means no injuries! My last race was the Inter Services at Ellesmere. I like the Ellesmere course, with its fast bike route and challenging run, although the swim course in the Mere did take us into some shallow waters where my hands were dredging the silt off the bottom for a while! I finished that race in 17th overall, and bagged a bit of glassware for coming 3rd Vet and another piece of glass for being part of the winning Vets team...which was nice.

Since then, I've been trying to train quite hard, when work commitments allow (as always). Bike wise, although I've done two 3 hour rides, I've been mainly concentrating on power and anaerobic endurance stuff. The same goes for my running and swimming. This has meant that I've been doing 2 high intensity bike, 2 high intensity run and 1 high intensity swim a week, and all other workouts in the week have basically been recovery. Its kept me feeling 'sharp' and injury free and I'm really enjoying this kind of approach, which is quite a departure from my usual 'eyeballs out' every session regime!

Looking forward to the Beverley Sprint this Sunday, followed next week by the Stockton Sprint. Racing back to back weekends is something new for me this year and it seems to have worked quite well so far...touch wood!

Well done to all you recent long distance dudes at the IM UK and Outlaw. I think I may be tempted to go long in this country again next year, the question is...Outlaw or IM UK??

Train smart.

Since my last blog, I have competed at 2 more races; the Cleveland Steelman Mid distance and the RAF Sprint Champs.

The Steelman didn't exactly go to plan in terms of 'race day prep'. With 20 mins to the starting hooter, I went to put my suit on and realised I had lost my timing chip! Blind panic searching then ensued! Couldn't find it, so had to get another chip from the registration tent which was a few hundred metres away! Then trying to put a suit on when you're sweating is not an easy thing to do! Anyway, I made it to the start line in time, but way out of position and subsequently got a bit of a bashing by the faster swimmers during the early part of the swim.

The rest of the race went ok. It was the first outing for my new Shimano TR51 cycle shoes which I got from Tri UK last week and are by far the most comfortable cycle shoes I've ever worn!
The bike leg, although pretty flat, was tough due to the wind, but I just tried to keep the 'hammer down' for as long and hard as I could!Subsequently, the start of the run was a slow, painful one for me due to the quads cramping up a bit, but once I got into my stride and after downing a couple of gels, I really enjoyed the 'cross country' style 12 miler.

My splits for the Steelman....


2km swim 32:15

90km bike 2:38:10

12 mile run 1:24:21

Total time 4:36:28




I was happy with my time as it was quite an improvement on last year. I finished 14th overall (240 starters) and 6th in my age group.

4 days later was the RAF Sprint Champs. I did VERY little in those 4 days apart from lots of stretching and massaging and ate protein by the bucket load! I really wasn't expecting a lot from the race at Cranwell but as I felt ok on the Tuesday evening, I thought I would be able to manage a sprint distance without any dramas!



The race went well for me, although there were a few 'admin' problems with the timings. The snags were no doubt due to the amount of on the day entries swelling the numbers (myself included!), calling for the swim times to be revised last minute and creating quite a bit of confusion with the maths at the end! However, it was a good race and it was great to catch up with a few faces I hadn't seen for a while.

My plan was to just go all out from the off and hang on for as long as my body would let me! As I ran under the finish inflatable, I stopped my watch at just over 1 hr 6 mins which was 3 mins quicker than the original 'official' time! No matter though, coz from all the timing confusion (sorry Paul F, we may never know!!) I managed to emerge with the vets title!


So on the face of it, 4 races in 3 and a half weeks would seem too excessive and is something I would never usually contemplate however, with appropriate recovery between them, I managed to race pretty well I think!



Train and rest well.

Shropshire in the Sun!

The Tri UK Shropshire tri at Ellesmere last Saturday was a sun drenched affair and a race I really enjoyed!

After shaking off the DOMS from the cramps at Dambuster the week before, I had a steady week of training consisting of short intervals, long rests and plenty of stretching.
I went into this race feeling a lot more refreshed and determined to race better! I was convinced I had a better race in me than Dambuster, after all the hard work I put in down in MPA!

My swim was a lot better, mainly due to getting myself into a much better starting position and was able to get in to my rhythm almost straight away, with hardly any kicking and punching! I came out the water in 22:47. I was out of my suit pretty quickly and with no cramping!

The bike course was fast (which probably means short!) and practically flat. The 'hills' were short sharp ones with long steady descents which meant you could stay on the aero bars for the vast majority of the course. The winds were also light so I didn't get any nasty twitching from my SRAM 80 front wheel! There were a few traffic problems though, especially through the villages, with up to 5 cars stuck behind a slower cyclist at one point which was pretty frustrating. However, I managed to clock 1:02:52 for the bike.

The run was fairly tough as the sun was pretty hot by now and the route wound through narrow country lanes with high hedgerows, which didn't allow any wind to cool you down! I finished the run cramp free in a time of 38:34. I even managed a sprint finish when I noticed the bloke in front was in my age group, and the snap below shows me checking over my shoulder to make sure he wasn't coming back at me!

A good day of racing in the sun, a finish time of 2hr:06min:12sec (which was a huge 1 second in front of Daz Cole!!!) and finished 5th in age group and 33rd overall. Happy with that!

The Interservices are on the same course in July, lets hope the weather is just as good!

My next race is the Cleveland Steelman on Saturday and is a course I like, and actually is not too dissimilar to the Shropshire...as long as the sun shines again I'm sure I'll enjoy it!

Train and race well.

A Painful PB at Dambuster!

Dambuster last weekend was my first race of the year (not counting the 'indoor' race back at MPA!) and is was great to get into proper racing and to catch up with some of the guys.

My race went ok really. I guess any race where you get a course PB has to go down as a good race! However, (there's always an 'however'!!) after getting out of the water after a decent swim, I suffered with bad cramps in my quads as I was wrestling with my wetsuit in T1. I couldn't walk for a while and just stood there, wetsuit round my ankles, gulping down my electrolyte drink in a vain attempt to shake off the cramps! Once I'd struggled to the mount line, I got on my steed but the cramps were too bad to pedal properly until I got to the main road! It was soooo frustrating! Once I got moving though, I felt good for the rest of the bike leg.

After an average bike leg time, I had a good transition and set out at what felt like a steady run pace, with the intention of picking up the pace once I'd found my run legs. All was well until I got to the dam...then the cramps reared their ugly head again! My quads were very painful and each time my feet hit the floor, the pain was nasty! As it was obviously cramps and not muscle injury, I decided that I would just grin and bear it and hope that it would all go away! It didn't.

I finished the race with a burst of speed over the last 200m, crossing the line with a respectable run time of 35:09, which only served to cramp up my hamstrings too...as you can see from the pain on my face! Beautiful!!

So although it was a more painful race than it should have been, I actually enjoyed it!

To try and work out what may have caused such bad cramps, I have been going over my race prep and race food to see if I had done anything differently...drank too much water...ate too much/too little? But I reckon it just came down to being tired after a lot of travelling and not enough sleep in the several days leading up to the race.

This weekend is the Tri UK Shropshire tri. This is the first time I've done this race and I'm looking forward to racing without cramps...hopefully!

Race well and good luck to those in Spain for the weekend!

4 Month Training Camp Draws to an End!

Last week was mainly race prep stuff with 3 of the workouts being hard efforts.

The ‘hardest’ session was a bike/run brick of 5 x 10 min hard bike, 5 min hard run, 5 min ez spin. I found this quite hard going and so the evening swim that day was simply a 30 min ez plod.

I did a hard swim set of 6 x 200m where my average time was 3:10 and my last one was 3:05…that’s pretty quick for me! I didn’t feel too bad after this session, probably because it was an evening workout which, always seem to go better! Why can’t races be in the evening??!

My toughest run workout last week was a 30 min steady effort, followed by 10 x 400m.
No long run last week. I think my legs are taking longer to recover from those 2 hour plods, and I want to be feeling good for Dambuster…don’t want a DNF like last year!!

As my det comes to an end, and my first race of the season looms, in the last couple of days I have cut all my sessions down to 30 mins of moderate effort with a few short sharp intervals thrown in for a bit of ‘sharpness’. I won’t be training for a couple of days now…Oh the joys of an 18 hour flight! I must remember to eat less this week while the training volume is low!! I will see how much the flight home takes out of me before I decide if I am going to squeeze a ‘loosener’ in on Thurs or Friday.

I’m really looking forward to Dambuster on Saturday and my first wetsuit swim of the year! But more importantly, I will soon be back home and back with my family again after 4 months. The separation has been very hard, but by immersing myself in training, it has made the time apart from my family just that little bit more bearable!

Taper wisely all fellow Dambusters! See ya Saturday!!

First 'Race' of the Season

Last week was my last planned hard week before I start my race prep stuff.
I only managed to actually get outside for a couple of my run sessions this week as it was way too wet, windy and icy for biking, especially as I have ‘fabric’ poking through on my back tyre! That was a new tyre 4 months ago! That’s what turbos’ do to your rubber!

I’ve been mainly concentrating on increasing the intensity…hard short efforts with relatively short rest intervals, for example on Saturday I did a morning swim session which consisted of a main set of 10 x 100m on 20 secs rest, then in the evening I did a high intensity bike workout. Quite a hard day, but very satisfying!

I also did a couple of bike run bricks last week, the hardest of which was: 15 min steady run, 30 min hard bike, 15 min moderate run, another 30 min hard bike and finish with a 10 min hard run. This was quite a leg wobbler! Not exactly intense, but good race type pain!

Did my first tri ‘race’ of the season today. All indoors!! It was a charity sprint distance event with a 400m swim, 20km indoor bike and a 5km treadmill run. Those indoor bikes are not meant for racing on!! Although racing on indoor machines has its obvious drawbacks, it was still a good intense training session. I don’t have the results yet as I was in the first wave which started at 1300, and as I’m writing this, the last wave of competitors are still going…they started 3 hours after us! The huge time difference is not because there are so many competitors, (only about 30 I think) it’s because it’s the only way it can be done when there are no timing chips and only 2 PTI’s doing all the timings! I’ll find out how I got on tomorrow when the results ‘go global’, but my timings were 5:59 for the swim, 25:30 for the bike and 17:30 for the run. I felt ‘too good’ afterwards, and a little disappointed that I didn’t push harder, but it is really quite tricky to judge your pace on the indoor bikes and treadmill. But like I said…all good training!

Train smart

The Great Indoors!

Well done to all you Beaver racers! Some good results! I’m looking forward to getting back to blighty and getting some racing done…I enjoy training (mostly!) but I love racing!

Talking of training…it was a nice tough week last week, plenty of hard intervals and race efforts across the board. Unfortunately it has been all indoors apart from an interval hill run session this morning! The weather has been pretty nasty lately…the usual high winds have been relentless but when you add the rain, hail and snow to the mix then it becomes pretty impossible to get outside, especially on the bike. Not good. Even my long run, where I usually just ‘man up’ and get outside no matter the weather, had to be on the treadmill…I couldn’t (or didn’t fancy) doing battle with the frozen snow covered ground, and getting battered by the horizontal snow! Treadmill running for 2 hours does have obvious advantages though; it’s easy to stick to your planned pace, and you don’t have to carry your water or gels. Although it was a pain having to restart the flipping machine when, after an hour, it decides you’ve had enough and sticks you in ‘cool down’ mode, especially if you forget to make a note of how far you’ve done so far! Doh!
My favorite bike session last week was 6 x (8 min hard/2min ez). This was a toughie, but afterwards I was left with that satisfying feeling you get when you know you have worked hard and come through in one piece!
Tonight will be in the pool for a main set of 6 x 330m, hopefully averaging about 5 min 30, but that will depend on what’s left in the tank after this mornings run!
Tomorrow will be a rest day before cracking on with another hard week.

Train and race well bloggers!

Nice And Easy Does It...

Last weeks recovery week went as planned and I feel recovered!

I even managed to get outside on the bike at one point for a 90 min leisurely spin. I did a few brick sessions too, but nothing too long or too strenuous. At the beginning of the week I felt as though I didn’t really need a lot of recovery and was contemplating just taking 2 or 3 days of rest and easy stuff. But I stuck to the plan and I’m glad I did. I actually felt great by the end of the week…more awake, energized, no aches or pains and full of enthusiasm for some harder training! I think it’s sometimes difficult to realize how tired you actually are, until you compare it to how you feel after some proper rest and recovery…it’s usually a matter of refusing to believe you’re tired because you want to squeeze just a few more hard sessions in! Or is that just me!!?

I marked the return to ‘proper’ training this morning with an early dip in the pool…main set was 8 x 200m on 20 secs rest, average time of 3 min 15, with a fastest of 3 min 10. I always tend to go ‘all out’ on the last rep, whether it is in the pool, on the turbo or on the track/treadmill.

Now it’s 3 more weeks of ‘building’ before a bit of race prep…

Train smart y’all!

Time For Recovery...

I think I've definitely earned my recovery week! I trained hard last week, culminating in my own little middle distance tri.

I rested on Monday, and kicked off Tuesday morning with a pre-brekky swim of 8 x 200m on 20 sec rest, averaging 3 min 15 secs. In the evening I did a 55 min bike power workout which was flipping hard! After blasting out the last 20 sec max effort interval, I could hardly catch my breath and it wasn't enough to just be slumped across the bars, I had to get off the bike and lie on the floor! Now that's max effort! I soon recovered enough to slip my run shoes on and do a wee 10 min steady run.

The next morning the weather was pants again so more turbo time. I did a steady 2 and a half hours with some single legs, spin ups and 'hills' thrown in to relieve the boredom. The evening sesh was 6 x 1km (3 min 25 sec) with 90 secs rest, on the treadmill. I pushed the pace a little and found them ok at 5 min 26 per mile pace. I finished them with a bit (a small bit!) left in the tank and was pleased with myself for sticking to my plan of not pushing myself to destruction!

My early swim on Thursday was supposed to be a long one, but I got booted out of the pool to make way for an impromptu organized PT session! I managed to get 25 min done, most of which was drill work.
After breakfast I went out for the day with a few mates to the buzzing metropolis of Stanley. It was good to get off camp, do a bit of tourist stuff (see the 'totem pole') and have a 'proper' cup of coffee and a cracking slice of toffee cake!

When we got back to camp I hit the turbo again...5 x 8 min hard with 2 min rest. Those 2 min rest periods seem to pass in the blink of an eye!

I did a 2.5 km swim on Friday morning, nice and steady.

Saturday was 'long day'! I swam 2km in just under 41 minutes and then changed into my cycling kit and hopped on to the turbo for 2 and a half hours at a moderate effort. Then it was on to the treadmill for 90 mins, covering a whisker over 13 miles. It was a good endurance 'test' but more importantly I tried out a different approach to my race nutrition...no solids! In the long races I did last year, I suffered stomach 'issues' which I put down to eating too much. So I thought I'd try just gels and water with occasional sips of energy drink. It worked a treat! No issues, no stitches, no cramps...sorted! Although my quads felt tender for the rest of the day, my compression tights seemed to do their job well, and by the next morning I felt fine.

Time for a well earned recovery week! Sunday was a rest and stretch day and Monday was a very easy swim, which included a few drills.
Did a very easy 30 min turbo this morning followed by a bit of core work and loads of stretching.

The rest of this week will be focused on more recovery and trying not to eat too much!

Train smart.

The Reassuring Pain of Intensity!

Another good week in the bag! I'm pleased that I've been able to increase the intensity last week with no real problems...although my quads and calfs were left feeling a bit 'bruised' by the end of the week...no pain, no gain right?!

Last Wednesday started with an indoor bike/run brick session of 6 x (5 min hard bike/3 min hard run/2 min easy spin). I still had to contend with the frustration of waiting for the treadmill to get up to speed after jumping off the bike. I tried leaving it 'running' but it senses that there is nobody on it and turns itself off...annoying.
I went down to the pool in the evening but was greeted by a notice on the pool door saying that it was closed for 'short notice maintenance'...doh! So I had to console myself by having cake!

Thursday morning was another turbo sesh...after a warm up, I did 15 mins big gear (50-55 rpm), 5 min hard, 5 min EZ spin, 15 min 'bigger' gear, 5 min 'harder', 5 min EZ spin, then 3 mins at an even bigger gear, and finished with 3 min max effort, before a 10 min cool down...flipping hard work!!
Thankfully the pool was open that evening and I did pyramid intervals of 2,4,6,8,10, 10,8,6,4,2 lengths. I was feeling pretty good, right up until the last 2L interval when I got cramp in my quads and my lower abs! That was definitely a first for me, I've never had cramp in my abs before?! I don't think I had enough rest between workouts that day...I was trying to squeeze 2 sessions in before my night shift.

Friday was a 90 min run which included 45 mins of hill reps. The hill I use is quite steep and takes around 1 min 50sec to get up, depending on the ever present wind!
An easy swim in the evening finished off that day nicely!

Saturday morning I was back in the pool for bit of intensity. The main set was 10 x 2L hard on 20 sec rest, 4L EZ, 10 x (1L hard, 1L EZ). I finished off with 500m nice and easy.
The afternoon weather was sunny and calm enough to get outside on the bike, although still pretty chilly. I was out for just under 2 hours of steady riding, sprinting up the hills (I say hills...more like lumps really!)

Sunday was a treadmill run in the evening after work. 1 hour of fartlek which included a 20 min run at 6 min mile pace and various other shorter and faster intervals, as and when I felt like stepping up the pace a bit!

I rested yesterday (Monday). I felt pretty tired and my legs were quite sore but a fair bit of massaging and stretching helped a lot and they felt much better when I got up this morning for my pre-breakfast swim. I did a main set of 8 x 200m on 20 sec rest. I averaged 3 min 15 sec, with my last rep being my fastest at 3 min 10.

I'm on R+R this week so it's going to be more hard work before I treat my self to a recovery week! There's less than 6 weeks to my first race...is it time to panic yet??!!!

Train smart

First Competative Blast!

Competed in an 8km X-country last Wednesday and although it was just a 'military' race, there was still a good turnout with 130 odd runners, mainly consisting of Army but with a fair sprinkling of RAF and Navy. The weather was proper x-country weather...horizontal rain, high winds and flipping freezing! Ah, good old South Atlantic sunshine! I managed to grab second place in a time of 30 mins 30 secs, which is a time I'm pretty happy with. It was a tough race and I did push myself quite hard coz I wanted to test myself. And test myself I did! I lost out to another RAF bloke so it was good to see the 'fly boys' taking the top 2 spots and show the Army a clean (ish) pair of heels!
At the end of the race my legs felt heavy but aerobically I felt great! Which suggest to me that my endurance base is pretty good but I'm probably lacking a bit of power?? I've got 6 weeks to address that before my first triathlon of the year...so that will be me introducing more intensity in to my running then!

As for the rest of last week, it was mainly moderate effort intervals of swimming, biking and running until last weekend where I went long...

Saturday morning I knocked out 3.5km in the pool in 1 hr 03 mins. In the afternoon, after lunch and a kip, I did a 3 hour turbo ride where I threw in a '10 min hill' every 30 mins. I used my ipod on my bike which is something I've never done before, thinking that the ear plugs and the bucket loads of sweat I produce in the gym wouldn't mix too well! It was actually a great help having The Prodigy egging me on!
Sunday morning I braved some of the worst weather I've ever ran in! I had planned to run outside, up and over the Peak, and nothing was going to prevent me from finishing my 'long distance weekend' the way I had planned! So this meant getting up at 7am to do battle with winds gusting 50mph mixed with rain and hail which felt like needles on my skin! At some points I was running backwards to lessen the pain of the hail stones on my face! The pain of hail was temporary but it was my hands that suffered for most of the run. Once my gloves were wet (I only brought a pair of woollen running gloves with me...schoolboy error!) the chill of the wind froze my hands and I just couldn't get them warm again until I was thawing out in a hot shower back in my accommodation. It was a tough run but I got a great buzz from having still completed what I had set out to do...2 hours of tough hilly running!

The following day was an easy swim in the morning before work, and after work was an easy bike with a bit of core work.

This week will be a bit more 'intense'.

Train smart y'all.

More Hard Work Then a Bit of Bird Spotting!

Last week was a planned recovery week but I decided to delay it a tad to get a few more hard sessions in, as I was feeling pretty strong.

The weather was good enough to get outside on the bike last Monday and I did 90 mins up and down the Mare Harbour road, working hard on the hills. In the evening I did 10 x 200m in the pool on 30 sec rest, with my last split being the fastest of 3 min 09. A fairly intense session.

Tuesdays run was 10 x 400's. I got up early intending to use the grass track but the weather got the better of me...snow had arrived! There wasn't much, but enough to make the track too slippy for any kind of pacey running. So the treadmill it was. It's not that easy doing this kind of workout on a treader, what with the 'time lag' when selecting the speeds and the rocking and rolling of the machine once it gets there! I just had to not start the clock until it had reached the required speed. I 'simulated' my 400m by selecting a 5 min mile pace and running for 80 secs, and then a minute of easy jogging. I increased the pace for the last few, up to 12.7 mph, but kept the efforts to 80 secs. It felt quite hard but I never seem to be able to work as hard on a treadmill as I would if I were outside, especially for speed intervals.

Wednesday was an intense bike workout. Total session lasted 1 hour, consisting of 30 and 60 sec sprints with same time recovery. Hard but good.

Rested Thursday. Friday was a tough bike/run brick. The bike was 10 min steady, 10 min big gear 'crunch' (50-55rpm), 10 min hard then a 15 min hard run. This was then repeated but the next time the run was at max effort. I felt this session! So much so, that the swim in the evening was cut short due to my quads starting to cramp up and my toes starting to spread apart! Ouch! It was supposed to be 4 x 500m at a moderate effort but I only managed 3 and called it a day while I could still use the steps to get out of the pool!

That was the end of the hard workouts. Saturday was a steady/easy ride with single legs and spin-ups followed by a bit of core stuff.

Sunday was a nature hike! I was lucky enough to get a heli trip to a nature reserve on one of the islands called New Island. We trekked up and around the island taking photos like Japanese tourists of various wildlife. We saw Black Browed Albatross, Rock Hopper penguins Fur Seals and the local 'hard men' birds of prey called Cara Cara. It's quite bizarre how close you can get to some of these creatures, as you can see from the snap!

Once I got back to camp I went for a 40 min easy fartlek run and finished with plenty of stretching.

Today, Monday, started with an easy swim, with drills, and this afternoon will be an easy bike. Tomorrow will be a rest day with stretching before my first 'race' of the season...a 9km x-country run on Wednesday. Looking forward to a bit of 'competition' pain!

Train smart.

I Like Hard Weeks...When They're Done!

It was Max, my youngest son's, 15th birthday last Monday and although it was great to speak to him, missing his birthday still put me in a bit of a 'sad' mood at the start the week. Being thousands of miles away and not getting the chance to partake in some of his quality homemade birthday cake just made things worse!!

So, what do triathletes do to get through a tough emotional time?...TRAIN HARDER!

One of my key sessions was on Tuesday. The weather was reasonable enough to get outside for a run session of 6 x 1 mile efforts with 2 min rest, on the rather lumpy grass track. It was a pretty windy day (there's a shock!) but I still managed to average 5 min 45 sec, which was hard but satisfying!

Saturday was a particularly good (aka hard!) day with a morning swim of a moderate effort 3.3km in 58 mins and then a high intensity turbo workout in the afternoon which, after a 10min warm up, went something like this:

30 sec hard/30 sec EZ x 4, 4 min rec,
60 sec hard/60 sec EZ x 3, 4 min rec,
30 sec hard/30 sec EZ x 4, 4 min rec,
60 sec hard/ 30 MAX/90 sec EZ x 2, 4 min rec,
30 sec race pace/20 sec hard/10 sec MAX x 5.

It was a true killer of a workout which left me gasping for breath and slumped across my tri bars! Just what you need!

This morning was a run up the Peak with my 'bike buddy'. But by the time we had finished our nightshift, there wasn't enough time to fit in a 2 hour run before breakfast, so I decided to push hard for 1 hr 30 with the incentive of getting up and back down from the Peak in time for a huge brekky! I effectively 'raced' the route...pushing hard up the hills and 'bounding' down without putting the breaks on! I finished it in a world record time (for me!) with my bike buddy not catching up with me until the last mile!

I have felt surprisingly good considering how hard I've worked this week. Some of my split times have come down a bit too which is always a bonus!

Next week is recovery week, and the week after I will be having a go at a cross country race which will be a good blast at a proper race effort!

Train smart.

Just One More For The Road...

Last week was a little bit disjointed. I had to rearrange my plans a couple of times as the week progressed. This was due to a couple of sleepless nights which left me too tired to train as hard as I had planned, and also a rather heavy 'social gathering' after work. My plans for this 'gathering' were supposed to be 1 or 2 bottles of beer before 'banging out' early so as not to impede on my early morning training the next day. I even had an agreement from a 'partner in crime' who also wanted to stay just for 1 or 2......we seemed to have quite a few 'for the road' and I lost count after 7 bottles...doh!
It may not sound a lot but it was enough for me to have to go very easy the following day, and needless to say the early morning session went right out the window, and it was all I could do to get on my turbo for a very steady 30 mins in the afternoon. Not great.
So I only managed a total of 11 hours last week, out of a planned 13. However, the highlight of the week was my long run up the Peak. I had company for a change, in the form of a 'mate on a bike', a bloke called Matt. Matt was using a borrowed mountain bike. This beast of a machine was a full suspension 'tank' of a bike which had definitely seen much better days! He rode along side me until we hit the base of the Peak, and then I left him to battle with gravity and the loose gravel! He caught up with me near the summit, along a flat bit. After a couple of dips and climbs on the other side of the peak, and a chain faff, we turned for home. This is where Matt let fly and enjoyed himself on the scary decent! He waited for me to catch up at the bottom and then rode with me for the last 25 mins, pushing me on, right to the end! It was a good run, no wind, lots of sun and a 'coach' to push me all the way! He's keen to ride out with me again, which is great. It's always easier to do long runs with a bit of company and Matt will get a good workout in to the bargain!
He also took a snap of me just before we hit the climbs which shows how nice the weather was. Spot the trees!




It's a 'hard week' this week which started this morning with a high intensity swim workout and after lunch today I'm off outside (yes, again!) for a long ride.

Train smart. Make the most of your sunny UK weather!

Easter Already...Nearly Half Way...

Happy Easter to one and all!

After the previous weeks recovery and (over) indulging in many of my guilty pleasures, namely cake and chocolate, I was 'chomping at the bit' to get back into some 'proper' training.
This was the first of another 3 weeks of building the hours and efforts, before another week of recovery in the 4th week.

Monday was a solid run interval session after work. 6 x 3 min hard / 2 min ez on the treadmill with the 'hard bits' at about 5 min 20 sec mile pace. This was a good blast and I felt quite strong.

Tuesday morning, nice and early before brekky, was a high intensity swim of 6 x 330m (10 lengths) on 6 mins. I was pretty knackered after this and found it pretty hard. I don't think I swim as well early morning on an empty stomach, as I do in the evenings after a day of fueling.
In the afternoon I played a game of squash with a guy who ran me ragged, all over the flipping court! A lesson in squash and no mistake! After my drubbing on the squash court I jumped straight on the turbo for an hour of steady riding including a few single leg drills, spin ups and sprints. I got through over 2 litres of water in 2 hours and still felt a bit dehydrated!

Wednesday morning, after a nightshift, was a long steady swim of 3km in just under 55 mins. At first, my shoulders were still a tad sore after the squash game but after a few lengths they felt fine.

Before going back into work for another nightshift, I hit the turbo for a tough strength session. The main part was 15 mins in a high gear at 50-55 rpm with 3 min easy spinning repeated 4 times. I quite like these workouts in a weird way, coz they seem to hit the right muscles, and hit them hard, and the time seems to go quickly. A 90 min session passes before you know it!

Thursday was a cracker, weather wise. However, the previous nightshift was a bit of a nasty one as we were pretty busy, meaning we had very little time for any 'shuteye', so I had to go to bed for the first half of the day. Once I was suitably rested, I took the opportunity to get outside on the bike for a steady 4 hour ride, up and down the usual route of Mare Harbour road. The sun shone initially but after a couple of hours it clouded over and the chilly wind picked up and it got very cool. I soon regretted the shorts and short sleeve jersey!! By the end of the ride, when I got to the main gate, my hands were so cold that I couldn't open the zip on my under seat saddle bag to get my I.D out! Embarrassing? you betcha!

Friday morning was an early swim again. A bit of high intensity stuff...8 x 100m on 2 min, 2 lengths ez, then 4 x 33m as fast as my little arms could propel me! A hard workout but the rewards were great...a massive breakfast...porridge, eggs, fruit...lovely jubbly!

Saturday was a day of work, so couldn't train till 8 pm, not ideal but needs must! So it was a short sharp turbo session of high intensity efforts:

30sec hard 30 ez x 4, 3 min recovery

60sec hard 60 ez x 3, 3 min recovery

30sec hard 30 ez x 4, 3 min recovery

90sec building to max effort in last 10 sec, 90sec ez

90sec building to max effort in last 10 sec.

I don't like these type of workouts. They are so painful but I know they are essential. I always feel good about myself once I've done them, but the thought of all that pain always leaves me dreading them!

Easter Sunday was rest day and eat chocolate day! A whole Easter egg, and a big one too! Those who witness my feat of chocolate endurance are always in awe of my natural ability to demolish such quantities! What can I say?...It's a gift!

Train smart and train well.

Cake Aids Recovery!

Last week was a steady recovery week. With no real plan, it was simply a case of whatever I felt like doing, I did, and did very easy with loads of stretching. Total training hours, including core and stretching sessions, was 9 hours.

The weather was kind last week so I got outside on my bike quite a bit for some easy rides in the sun and wind. Most of my rides included some single leg drills and one or two spin ups just to make it a bit more interesting.

My swimming mainly consisted of drills and steady/easy swims. Occasionally I'd do some short, moderate intervals, no more than 100m, with long rests. I tried some kicking drills but unlike Saggers, I still cannot kick for toffee! I just seem to stop dead in the water! So I've convinced myself that I shouldn't waste my energy and time trying to improve a skill that I don't really need and will never master! Well that's my take on it anyway!

I made the most of my recovery week, and the spare time it gave me, to get out and about on the island. I did a battlefield tour of Mount Tumbledown, which was as moving as it was informative and also involved a fair old plod over some pretty rough terrain, albeit at a leisurely pace. On another day we visited some war memorials, including the Argentinian Memorial and the Para's memorial at Goose Green. On the way home we stopped at Darwin to hit the 'cafe' for a pot of tea and a pile of cakes...now that's what recovery is all about!

I will be picking up the effort and intensity this week and aiming for between 10 - 12 hours. Fingers crossed the weather remains kind for some outdoor action!

Train smart.

A Hard 15 Hours and Still in One Piece!

This has been a good 'hard week' and I came through it unscathed! Which is nice.

Last Monday, my long ride had to be in the gym on the turbo as the winds were up again (there's a shock!). Three hours on the turbo is a bit of a slog but on the advice of Turbo man, I broke it up a bit by sprinting or 'climbing' every 15 mins. It certainly helped to lessen the boredom factor...that and 'people watching' in the gym. That evening I blasted 'the core' and did loads of stretching.

Tuesday morning was swim drills and the afternoon was a bike/run brick. I did an hour of high intensity short sharp intervals on the turbo then hopped on the treadmill for a 30 min run, starting at 10mph and building to 12.5mph by the end.

Wednesday was an early swim (0600) consisting of a main set of 6 x 400m on 7 min 30. This was a bit of a killer but the large breakfast of porridge, poached eggs on toast and fruit and yoghurt, made up for the pain! Second session that day was a steady 90 min turbo ride with some single leg and spin ups (110+ rpm) chucked in.

Thursday was a treadmill session, 5 mins hard with 2 and a half mins steady, repeated 6 times, building to a max speed of 12mph on each hard effort.

Friday was back on the turbo for a strength workout. 4 x 15 min hard gear at 50-55rpm, with 3 min spinning at 95-100rpm. I'm feeling a bit stronger on these sessions now and am able to crunch bigger gears which is good for keeping the motivation high. I think I'll up the time spent in the big gears next time.

Saturday morning was a high intensity swim session. 10 x 100m on 20 sec rest, 2 lengths EZ then another 10 x 100m on 20 secs. I was really tired on this workout, right from the off! I pushed through it despite my arms feeling like lead, but my times were inevitably slowing towards the last few intervals.
Did a turbo ride of 90 mins in the evening. Started with an easy gear at 90-95rpm and moved down a gear every 5 mins until I could no longer maintain at least 90rpm - I lasted 45 mins and the last 5 mins were painful (in a good way!) and I could hardly catch my breath. The next 45mins were spent at a moderate effort with 30 seconds of max effort every 5 mins. A hard but enjoyable day.


Yesterday was a long hilly run over Pleasant Peak. From the base of the Peak, to the top takes me about 12 mins and this time, on reaching the top, I turned and headed back to the bottom, before turning around and trudging up again, only this time I went over the top and down the other side before returning back over it and back to camp. It took about 2 hours, with the last 20 mins ran as if I was in a race because I was being caught by another couple of runners who appeared just behind me from a converging path. When that competitive button gets pushed you just have to respond!
Later that afternoon I went for a dip in the pool for a steady 2.5 km, averaging about 5 min 50 per 10 lengths (33.3m pool). I felt surprisingly good considering the training I'd put in last week.

This week is all about recovery. I was on nights last night and I feel shattered today so I think a slow ride and a bit of core work is on the cards for later.

Train smart.

I Don't Think I'm in Kansas Anymore!!!

A good week of training this week. I seem to have shaken off the remnants of the man flu and am feeling a lot stronger and more motivated. The weather has taken a turn for the worse this week with very high winds mixed with rain and hail...not ideal for biking! No matter, it's what I expected really and is why I dragged my turbo down with me.

Monday was a core session in the morning with a steady recovery swim in the evening.

Tuesday, due to working long days today, and the fact that my legs where still a bit tender from Sundays long hilly run, I only did one session and that was a swim in the evening, mainly drills with a bit of speed work.

Wednesday: as the blue sky had seduced me, the plan was for a long ride outside, the usual multiple Mare Harbour loops. It was windy but didn't seem too bad. However, 30 minutes into the ride, flying downhill, in the tuck, I popped out from behind a sheltered section of road to be smacked from the right hand side by an almighty crosswind gust! I battled with my front wheel as it wobbled furiously whilst leaning myself and my bike into the wind at about 45 degrees, and only just managed to stay upright and out of the big ditches at the edge of the road. I really thought I was coming off and was amazed I avoided a crash. With my heart still pounding, I regained my composure and rode back, straight to the gym and stuck my bike on the turbo for 2:30 of hot sweaty fun! (the gym here is like a sauna!) In the evening I ran on the treadmill for a steady 50 mins with the occasional 30 sec blast to break up the monotony.

Thursday morning, after finishing my night shift, I went to the pool for a pyramid swim session of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 lengths (33 metre pool) with 30 secs rest between them, 2 lengths easy swim, then back down again, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, all at a fairly fast pace. A hard session but a good intense thrash! That afternoon I was on the turbo for a strength workout of 10 min hard gear at 50-55 rpm, 5 min spin at 100+ rpm, repeated 6 times, then jumped onto the treadmill for a 15 min jog.

Friday morning was a pyramid interval session on the treadmill starting at 45 secs and building in increments upto the longest interval of 3:45, before coming back down again, at a pace between 11.5 and 12 mph. The second workout of the day was a swim of 6 x 330m (10 lengths) on 6 minutes. This was a hard session as I think the previous few days training had caught up with me a bit!

Saturday was a rest day (hoorah!) and today I have just got back from an 80 min run...outside! It was definitely the windiest day I have ever known and I reckon it was even too windy for the Wicked Witch of the West to go for a spin!

I ran down to Mare Harbour (yes I do go there a lot!) with the wind in my face. I was running head down all the way there, with my arms tucked in by my sides and my hands up in front of my chest like a boxer! At the turn round point the wind blew me all the way back at a faster pace than I would have liked and on the downhill sections I had to really put the brakes on! I got back nearly 15 mins quicker than it took on the first half! Mad! I will be in the pool this evening before my night shift, for a long swim of about 3km.

So, this week has been good and next weeks plan is for a slightly harder week, mainly indoors I reckon if this weather remains dangerously windy, and after that I can look forward to an easier recovery week.

Train smart y'all. (HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MUM!)

Normal Service Resumed!

Finally managed to shift my lurgy and am feeling a lot more positive now that I'm training again.
I started training last Wednesday with an easy 90 min bike ride in some lovely Falklands sunshine and surprisingly calm winds. Although I was taking it easy, the road down to Mare Harbour, as I'm sure some of you will know, is a bit lumpy. As I approached some of these hills, just to test myself and to try and gauge my recovery, I tried to push it up to the tops. But by the time I'd attacked the second hill my legs turned to jelly and so from then on it really was an easy ride.
Thursday was a windy day but there was still a great deal of sun breaking through. After a 75 min steady ride in the morning, in the afternoon I jogged across to the grass run track and knocked out 15 x 300m with 100m jog recovery. (I think it's a 400m track?!) They were not lung busters by any stretch, but it still felt great to be attempting some constructive training.

Friday was another bike ride. The rides outside are simply a number of loops down to Mare Harbour and back. The hills are quite testing but are really testing when the wind picks up to gusts of 40 kts! That evening I ventured to the pool for a brisk 50 min swim, again, just to test my 'head out' to see if the sinuses were clear enough to handle it. Results were good!

Saturday was time to pick up the intensity. I set my turbo up in my room (after warning my neighbours of the impending drone!) and thrashed out an intense interval session to a training DVD. It was absolutely knackering! I tried to keep to the gearing and cadence I had done before but for the very last group of intervals I had to admit defeat and moved to an easier gear in order to keep the same cadence. On completing the last one, I slumped over my bars and I may have even swore a little! Once I had regained my composure, I span it out for 5 mins before changing into my run shoes for an easy 15 min jog.



I was up at 7am this morning for a 90 min run over Pleasant Peak. My legs felt a tad heavy as I set off' but after about 10 mins I felt ok. The weather again was cracking this morning...blue sky, no wind, no traffic, big hill...bliss!

Tonight will be an easy swim with a few drills thrown in.

It feels good to be back on track but I realise how easy it is to over train down here. It is something I definitely need to guard against. Its mainly the running where I am more likely to brake down with an injury, so I aim to concentrate more on improving my ability on 2 wheels and be more conservative with the running.



Train smart.

Still no Training...

The man flu has left me with infected sinuses for which the Doc kindly gave me antibiotics. So I should be rid of this filthy infection within a week. On the plus side, Doc said I'm ok to train as soon as I feel up to it, the sinus problem shouldn't get any worse with physical effort, it just depends how much I can put up with the headaches! I realise I'm not going to be 100% for a while but any training is better than no training at all.
I think I'll just see this week out with no real structure or training plan, just some gentle biking and running, and once I deem my nose is 'safe' to go near the water then I'll be going for a dip.

You never know, I might have some actual training to report on in my next blog!

Train well.

South Atlantic Man Flu!

Its been a while since my last post as I've been busy sorting my life out down here in the South Atlantic. I've only been down here a couple of weeks so still trying to get into a proper 'heavy' training routine so that I'm ready to hit the ground running when I get back to the UK, hopefully just in time for my first race of a busy season; the Dambuster/RAF Champs in June.

The first week was a pretty good one training wise, racking up 12 hours. I managed to get outside on my bike a few times, doing battle against the strong winds and 'lumpy' roads, as well as checking out some nice run routes around the local hills. And then there's the pool. Its nearly always empty and if there are 3 or 4 other people in the water then that seems like its busy!! It falls into place even better when I start shift work and I get plenty of time to train twice a day and with no injury niggles I was feeling very optimistic. Bonus. It was all going so well in 'training heaven'...then man flu strikes. Great. All the training grinds to a sharp halt before its even had a chance to get going, with blocked sinuses and a sore chest. Not happy.

I'd just sat down and devised my training plan for the whole det and managed to 'tick off' the first session then woke up the very next day with my nose running like a tap and by the end of that day my throat had closed up, I had a raging temperature and my neck and shoulders ached. Not good.

Its been 3 days now since the lurgy struck, and I'm still suffering with headaches and a nasty cough. Its really frustrating when you have time to kill, looking out the window at the sunny weather (no really, the sun does shine down here!) and wishing I was running up along the craggy hilltops. But I know if I push it too soon I will only be out for longer in the end, so patience is definitely the key at the moment. I'm sticking to the rule of thumb that says if the symptoms are from the neck up, then training can continue, but if like me, the symptoms are also below the neck then rest is imperative.

I'm tentatively targeting Monday as a gentle return to training. It will probably just be an easy spin on the turbo but I'm not putting any pressure on myself just yet, I will just see how I feel.

So, its a bit of hurry up and wait for me at the moment. Its a case of keeping my fluids up, eating sensibly (not too much cake!), doing a few stretches (when my head doesn't ache to much) and sleeping...a lot!

Train well.

Lack of Motivation? Buy New Kit!

Having read a few other athletes blogs and comments on various tri forums, we all seem to have been through a period where we have suffered from a lack of motivation recently for either cycling, running, swimming...or even all three! There have even been some folk talking of packing it all in and selling their kit! (welcome back Hussler!). One way or another the vast majority of us seem to snap out of it. Some of us are fortunate enough to jet off to sunnier climes for some warm weather training (nice sunshine pics Daz!), but I usually opt for a bit of new kit; doesn't matter what...could be something as lavish as a new bike (I wish!) or as little as a new pair of running socks, doesn't matter what it is, if it's new, it gives me enough of a boost to keep me going until the sun returns and the racing begins!

This last couple of weeks I've increased my running and biking hours, but swimming has kinda stalled a bit. My own 'motivational struggles' have been with the wet stuff. I just don't seem to have the urge to get in the water, and when I do, I find it a chore to put any real effort in. I think it's probably due to the fact that, in the back of my mind, I know I will be doing a lot of swimming when I get down to MPA. Hopefully the new swim shorts will help!
So, I'm mainly concentrating on bike strength at the moment, trying to convert all those squats and leg presses into more specific biking strength. It's leaving me with heavy legs most of the time and as a result my running just seems to be made up of steady runs, some quite long, rather than any real hard efforts, which is no real drama for this time of year. Once I'm done with so much 'big gear crunching' I will shift more emphasis to my run speed...that's the plan anyway!
But at the moment, I'm sort of got addicted to my strength DVD which has me crunching big gears at low cadence. I'm up to 5 intervals of 15 mins in a big gear at 50-55 RPM, with 5 mins easy spinning between. Feel the burn baby!!

Train smart.

Back To The Great Outdoors

Hallelujah! The snow has gone! Since the weather has improved I've been out on a couple of long rides...isn't it nice when the scenery changes as you pedal! Over the last 2 weekends I have bagged some solid base training. Last weekend I dragged myself out of bed for an early 3km swim on the Saturday, and in the afternoon I went for an easy/steady 10 mile run, which took me 1hr 10. I was pleased with the time, it shows that I still have a decent base level of run fitness to build on after my lay off.

The next day I went for my first outdoor ride for nearly a month - a lovely 60 mile loop over the rolling hills to Pateley Bridge (see the snow free photo!). Unfortunately I am having to use my TT bike for outdoor rides at the moment coz my road bike is a bit poorly - the chain keeps slipping under load. I've replaced the rear cassette and chain but it still slips so the next step is to change the chainrings which should sort it then, hopefully. But until then I will just have to keep giving the 'good bike' a damn good scrubbing after every ride.

Now that I am feeling stronger and have my 'mojo' back after my op, this week I have started to take a more structured approach to my training, managing to train twice a day for most of the week.

I did one of my favourite 'extensive endurance' run sessions on Tuesday (outside!). It starts with 10 mins easy then I up the pace for 10 mins of moderate effort, followed by 10 mins very hard before 10 mins easy and then the last 10 mins of 1 min strides 1 min steady. It maybe doesn't sound to hard but it does the job!

My hardest bike session this week was on the turbo for some strength sets. I use a DVD (Joe Friel) The main part of the workout was 15 mins in a gearing I could maintain 50-55 RPM in zone 3 (no power meter here I'm afraid!), with 5 mins easy spinning, and repeat another 3 times. It's a real leg burner but I find these kind of sessions a lot easier to do with the help of a DVD.

Only managed 2 swims this week. One was a long swim of 3km and the other was an interval session of 6 x 250m on 4min 50sec, followed by a recovery ride home. I really must try and get more swimming in next week.

Getting swim time in won't be a problem soon when I'm on my winter training camp with the penguins! Lots of time for that, but outdoor rides and even runs will be a tad more challenging! I fear a lot more turbo and treadmill sessions coming up....

Train smart.

Shock and Thaw!

Got a bit of shock the other day when I stepped on to the new scales we got for Christmas...since my last weight check, which was just before my leg op, I was 72 kg. This was a couple of kg's heavier than I was during the summer, but nothing too drastic. However, due to not training for 2 months and still eating like I was, then top that up with my weak will power over the Christmas period and I had 'ballooned' to 77 kg!!! Not good! Since that sobering revelation I have got back into eating better and because my training levels are increasing the weight is coming down. Yesterday I weighed in at 75 kg's - not a massive drop but I don't need to loose it too quickly, just as long as I'm back down to my 'racing weight' of 70kg by the summer then I'll be happy.

Well, almost half way through January and I still haven't managed to get my bike on to the roads! I know a lot of you are also suffering in the snow and ice and like all of you I am getting really sick of my turbo! The end of these arctic conditions does seem to be in sight now (well, in North Yorkshire anyway) so hopefully I can get some winter gear on and hit the hills without being met with a road an 'Ice Road Trucker' would be scared of!

Definitely a turbo day!

I struggle to get proper time in on the turbo, especially any kind of endurance ride. The max I have done on the turbo so far has been about 2 hours. I find that turbo riding is harder. I feel as tired after a couple of hours on the turbo as I do after 4 on the roads! Is this just me?

My running endurance is improving - did 90 minutes steady recently without any problems. I am still just training by 'feel' at the moment, just getting the endurance levels up.

Swimming wise , I'm concentrating on drills and aerobic endurance. The pool is quite busy lately with all the 'New Year resolution' swimmers! I don't mind when it's busy as long as the slower swimmers give way at the turns and keep close to the lane ropes to allow faster swimmers to pass without annoying on coming swimmers when overtaking them. Rant over.

This years base period I'm experimenting with doing a lot more weights and core work than I've done before. This is an area I've only 'dabbled' with previously, opting to get 'serious' miles in rather than spend time in a gym. Hopefully this will result in more power on the bike come the summer and maybe a greater resistance to lower leg injuries(?!)

I need to go and finalise my 2010 race plan...decisions, decisions... Train well and pray for rain!