Swim

Got up nice and early and went to Heron lake for the first time to try my new wetsuit out. I met Jonathan there too.

The water wasn't as cold as I expected (except when sticking my face in for the first few times), but swimming front crawl was beyond me as I couldn't get a breath without drinking eau de lac.

Did two short laps, which are somewhere between 400-500M, with a 10 minute break. This at least proves I can swim the diatance using breaststroke, but the triathlon time is looking like at least 15 minutes. I might be able to swim a bit faster, but I know that would totally exhaust me for the rest of the race.

Run

Went to LA Fitness and did 30 minutes on the treadmill. Again, my legs were a little delicate after the sprint training on Tuesday, but I gradually increased the speed from 10 to 11.5 km/h and was OK.

Total distance a bit over 3.2 km.

Run

Went to Datchet Dashers straight from work. Haven't been since starting this job in January. It was speed training. We went to the Long Walk and ran intervals down to the traffic lights, resting 2 minutes, then back again. That's 6 sprints of approximately 800M each. I was quite pleased to be about the second or third fastest there - though it was a girl was easily the best :-)

My time was approximately 2 minutes 40.

Bike

SBR, four of us only again. I think I'm going to try and find a more popular group.

One rider was actually slower than me, so we spent quite a lot of time going slowly after hills to let him catch up, and so only did about a 28km/h average. This was OK for me for a change to not be constantly struggling.

Did about 58Km including the cycle home from Windsor.

Equipment

Finally bit the bullet and went and bought a wetsuit and tri-suit. I like the Sugoi stuff a lot so got their tri-suit. Went for Orca for no real reason on the wetsuit front. Tried various sizes from 7.5 right down to 5 which still just about fitted, so I got that one.

Only 3 weeks to go - I'm really not ready, but at least my equipment is :-)

Run

Went down to the gym at LA Fitness and had quite a restful 30 minutes on the treadmill running about 5km. Legs a bit sore from Tuesday's swim actually, hence the slow time.

Swim

Another swimming lesson in Windsor pool. I'm worried that doing the crawl will completely exhaust me. I should really have been doing more stamina swim training. I concentrated on breaststroke today and at the end of the lesson did 200M non stop. I could feel my arms getting really tired, but I know I can do 400M that way. I'm quiet slow, and I'm estimating a time of about 11 minutes for the swim now. Open water training starts soon, so I'm buying a wetsuit and will head down there to see how that feels.

Bike

SBR on a bright sunny morning.

After about 58km we got back to the shop and had averaged 32km/h which is faster than I've ever managed.

Total stats

dist 62.98k
time 1:59:20
av 31.67

Apart from a sprint over the last 2k I managed to keep up with the pack today.

Run

Set the treadmill up at LA Fitness this afternoon for a 30 minute run at 11km/h at 1 degrees. Completed it quite easily, 5.5km the total distance.

Run

It's daylight in Richmond Park when I get over, and it's full of cars as predicted. Went out with Carol and Jonathan and did a similar route as before, except on dirt tracks near the road. First 45 minutes at an easy pace here we could easily talk, then Jonathan and I did an extra 20 minutes at a little faster rate.

My knee and ankle started to suffer a little, so I should probably have stopped earlier, but I finished OK and was pleased to get in such a long run - about 7 miles.

Swim

I'm sure I must have missed a recent swim from my blog.

Anyway, had a refresher swimming lesson with Joan Nunn at Windsor. Forgot my goggles so bought new ones, which are a bit rubbish.

My swimming is much better, she didn't have much to say about my technique really, so that's quite pleasing. Being in a 25M pool is much better, and I think I can now do 100M crawl without stopping.

Timed one length of breastroke and one of crawl to compare: 32s vs 28s. However the crawl makes me very tired. As the difference is not massive, I may well do most of the triathlon 400M as breaststroke.

Bike

Didn't really fancy killing myself on the SBR ride today, but felt guilty in the afternoon and did my standard short cycle to Staines. Wasn't going to push it, but once again found myself hovering around the 30km/h average and trying to maintain it.

distance 23.34 km, in 47.01 minutes. Average 29.80

Run

Treadmill again in LA Fitness this afternoon. Did 5k building up quickly to a 12.5km/h pace.

Definitely a difference at that speed, quite tired. Took ~ 24.5 minutes.

Run

Tried out the treadmill in LA Fitness this afternoon. Did 5k building up to a fairly constant 12km/h.

Didn't feel too tired at all, took ~ 26 minutes.

Bike

SBR bike ride, quite a ncie day. The pace was fast to begin with, but I was maintaining my speed and not feeling too bad. About 35km in there was a huge downhill into Marlow, and I lost the pack. I'm not happy going much over 50km/h. Made my own way home.

Correct times later, estimate of 60k in about 2 hours as usual.