Swim

After yesterday's disaster, I thought today wouldn't be too hot either.

I was wrong.

I went swimming in LA Fitness, and did 60 lengths easily in their 15M pool. 900M. I was trying to swim faster, but was still slow. 20 of those lengths were breaststroke, and I had to stop and demist my googles every 10 laps It took about 30 minutes altogether.

Left calf muscles are feeling a bit better actually.

Goals: Part 2

So I've decided I need some goals. Short term goals are fine, but I need som medium and longer term goals to really get this thing going. I need to work out what I really want from this sport - what would make me happy, after all, isn't that what doing this exercise is for in the first place.

Having done two triathlons now, what I most enjoyed about them was being out there on the bike racing loads of people, and passing a lot of them. Once was a closed road, almost like a racetrack. The other did have traffic, but it was early on a Sunday morning, and the police were on hand waving us through junctions. Both days were bright and sunny.

I just wanted to finish those races, to say I'd done it, but the good weather definitely enhanced the experience a lot.

So I think I'd like to do more races in nice weather, preferrably on roads with little or zero traffic. I think I'll have a better chance of this if I do them abroad, in a warm country. This will obviously cost me more in time and money, but maybe I can make mini holidays out of it.

I thought I'd found a good one here - Seattle Escape From the Rock. The cycle over that bridge looks awesome. But it's not a dry place - some of the photos on the Brightroom website for this event from previous years look a little grim.

The search is on though.

Goals

I have far too few goals. Now I've done my Olympic Distance Triathlon, I don't have anything on the calendar. I think this is a mistake.

I've been doing some searching on Blogger for triathlon, and found a community of people who seem to know each other and all have training blogs. They are all in the US - here are a few I've read a bit of:

http://curlysu.blogspot.com/
http://lanasmarathonjourney.blogspot.com/
http://tri4ever.blogspot.com/
http://trirunning.blogspot.com/

There is a very positive, upbeat feel to these blogs. Very American in the "Have a nice day" vein with a lot of mutual support and back slapping. I like it really, and the blogs are all very readable, almost addictive. It would be nice to find a similar group in the UK to join.

Another thing they all have in common, is a list of goals for the coming year. 10K races, sprint and olympic triathlons, 1/2 Ironmans and Ironman races too, with dates and estimated times. Some have a nice table of these dates, some keep weekly and monthly training summaries. It's all a lot more interesting than my blog, but of course, a lot more work. So I'm going to try and get myself entered into some more events, and put a calendar online, to see if I can structure my training better and achieve more.

Talking of goals, would *love* to be able to do this http://www.envirosports.com/events/displayevent.php?eventid=1547

Run/Row/Swim

Sounds like a tough session from the title, but it really was a bit of a disaster.

Went to LA Fitness gym, and walked on the treadmill for a few minutes, trying to warm up my left calf. Took the speed up to a jog, and after only 2 minutes, my leg was throbbing and I had to stop.

So I gave up and did 100kcals on the rowing machine. Unsure what to do next really, and not having swum for a week, went to the pool and did 20 lengths. I tried to put more strength into my pull, but I'm still going far too slowly. Ran out of time.

Really must book more sessions with SwimForTri

Bike

Yes, Bike again.

Decided that I need to build stamina, and a 3 hour ride was in order. Despite making up the route as I went along, I managed to do almost exactly that.

Started in Ascot and finished in Datchet:

Time 3:02:??
Distance 89km
Average 28.34 knm/h

I didn't have any food, only one gel and 500ml of PSP22. This was a mistake. After 1 hour my average speed was 32km/h, but it gradually waned as I got more tired. I did a series of big hills outside Henley too, which slowed me down, though the ride back down the other side was pretty fast. In the last hour I just couldn't keep the pace any more even on the flat. I haven't done any rides this long for ages though.

On finishing, I could hardly get off the bike - back a bit stiff. Also, the suncream on my forehead had some flies stuck in it.

(Route, over to A30, then zig-zag up to Drift road. Over to Twyford and up to Henley. As mentioned, went up big hill there for a change and to add distance, past places like Rotherfield Greys and Shepherds Green and turned around at Nettlebed for a long downhill back to Henley. Then round to my usual journey home to Datchet through Marlow, Bourne End, Maidenhead, Dorney and Eton. Must do that Henley bit again soon.)

Bike

After a whole day spent ferrying family around, and seeing all the cyclists out enjoying themselves in the sunshine, I just had to get out there.

So as Dr Who was starting in Datchet, I got on my bike and cycled round to Ascot. Went via Old Windsor, Egham, A30.

Went up through South Ascot, and into the town which was full of drunk people trying to get home from the last day of the races.

Was careful with the tightness in my left calf, though there wasn't that much need - cycling doesn't affect it that much.

Bike/Injury

Another week of commuting, another 45 miles or so on my Brompton.

Arrived in Datchet this evening, and pedalled really hard back to the house.

Feeling OK, I started running up the stairs, when suddenly my left calf exploded, and I was brought to my knees just like the scene in Terminator 2 where the silver terminator gets frozen and tries to keep running and his legs fall off. I'd thought this injury from last night was feeling a bit better. It doesn't really hurt when cycling.

Put an ice pack on it and did some stretching.

Admin

I'm messing with the Blogger template - expect some things not to look right on here for a few days...

Run

Went over to Kingston for my regular run in Richmond Park with Carol and Jonathan.

Started OK, though feeling tired for some reason - too many late nights watching American TV dramas perhaps. It was a lovely warm sunny evening, with deer walking across the path in places, and people flying kites.

By about 3/4 way through my left calf was really throbbing, and I had to slow down, and even walk for bits of it.

Nevertheless we did a commendable time of about 42 minutes (4.8 miles)

Row/Run/Swim

A bit of a mixture. I really wanted to swim, but the pool at LA Fitness looked too full, so I did 10 minutes rowing (111 kCals), followed by 20 minutes of cycling (9km). I finished off with 10 lengths of the 15M pool as fast as I could go.

I measured my HR on the bike at 100 watts, and it was almost exactly 100 bpm. I know this means something, but can't remember where I read it now.

Bike

Got up nice and early and left the house in Ascot at around 8.05am for a cycle.

Headed over towards Drift Road and did that part of the Windsor Triathlon course. Then headed over to the A30 and Virginia Water/Chertsey/Staines/Egham/Old Windsor and home to Datchet.

Felt quite tired and only averaged about 30.5km/h for the 56 or so km.

Saw the Hounslow Wheelers out doing a time trial on Drift Road.

Row/Run

Went to the gym at LA Fitness and started with my fairly usual 10 minute rowing warmup.

Set the treadmill at 10.5km/h and managed 20 minutes of this (around 3.5km). My left calf is still hurting a bit, and I decided to stop there.

Bike

Another week of commuting on the Brompton - another 45 miles.

Swim

Thought it would be a good time to go swimming during the England World Cup game. Unfortunately, a lot of women decided this also. There was even a lane roped off for a swimming lesson. I struggled through a few laps, trying to swim 15M fast with good technique then waiting for a gap in the crowd and doing it again. Probably only managed 20-30 lengths.

Row/Bike

Spend 10 minutes on the rowing machine (110 calories) and then 25 minutes cycling at LA Fitness this afternoon.

Was trying to find my heartrate as a certain power. Did it wrong. Will need to try again.

Windsor Triathlon 2006

Well, the day finally arrived, and I was as prepared as I could be. Over a years training for this event, so no excuses. The Windsor Triathlon is one of the most popular in the country, and gets a great crowd. I'm lucky having it in my back yard.

Arrived with family at the ungodly hour of 5.35am and went into transition to get my bike ready. Pumping up the slightly deflated tires, suddenly the rear tube went 'pfffttttt' and deflated completely. Not the best news, and so a panicky replacement was required. Many thanks to numbered competitors near me in the 426-430 range (I was 428), who helped me take my time and not pinch the tube. Maybe next time I won't buy new tires and fit them two hours before bike racking.

Checking the tyre later, I found that the problem was really pretty bad - the whole valve had broken away:



Just found out actually that number 430 was Laurance Harding, a friend of Jonathan's, and he was the eventual winner of the whole age-group race. Karma!

Carol and Jonathan didn't make it in time for the swim start, but Vivienne, Olivia and Gina are witnesses to me taking the plunge and just jumping right in. The water was surprisingly warm, though of course I wouldn't have liked to be without my wetsuit. It didn't even taste much of anything.

Start was 6:35am. I breaststroked a bit to try and find some clear water. Then I alternated breathing to the right, breaststroke, breathing to the left, breaststroke, for the rest of the race. My pace was terrible, and I would breaststroke all the way as it would probably be as fast, if I didn't know that it would tire my legs too much. At least with crawl I can rest my legs quite a bit.

I seemed to be swimming for hours, and just when it got nicely uncrowded, a pile of swimmers from the following wave race overtook me. This happened a couple more times. Got to the bridge for turnaround, and headed back downstream into the sunshine. Kept pace with someone who wasn't wearing a wetsuit, and I was thinking "well, this complete amateur must be very far down the field, so I could actually be last." People in our wave were wearing light blue swimming hats, but even so, it wasn't really possible to get a good look behind me to see if there were any other competitors likewise attired.

Finally the steps appeared. I was feeling relatively good, and expected to be close to my 45 minute estimate as I'd swum at my normal pace, the one that I can maintain with no fear of getting exhausted and panicking in the water. I spotted Carol as I exited the water, but could only find breath so say one syllable - "God!'.



A long run down the grass to my bike is followed by quite an inefficient wetsuit removal. Maybe drying my feet and putting socks on will be somewhere I can shave 30 seconds off next time. I don't even notice as I mount the bike hat my trisuit is wet, and thinking back, still cannot recall any sensation of water dripping off me at all.

For the first time, I get to look at my watch and see I'm pretty much on target, maybe even slightly ahead. From experience, I know that a slow start on the bike, even for the first couple of minutes, gives you a low average speed. It then takes a long, long time to raise that average. So I'm standing on the pedals past SBR and I'm flying round the roundabout (overtaking two people taking it easy) and am going at 35km/h down to the A308. Lights are all green, and there are policemen waving us through too. Up towards Maidenhead I maintain my pace, slowing a little to maybe 33 or 34 km/h. I'm watching my average speed the whole way, and know I need 30km/h by the end to make my 1 hour 20 minute target.

Amazingly, I feel really good all the way round. In fact, I get a little worried that I'm going too fast and will burn out, so even on the flat where I could push a little harder, I stay at 35km/h or so. My hills are good, much better than usual. I am going to thank all my commuting cycles to work for this. I play a little cat and mouse with some other riders. They overtake me, and to avoid drafting, I let them go a few metres ahead. Then I realise they've slowed down, and now I'm going too slow, and so I have to overtake them again. Repeat.



It really pays to know your course, this was proved after one climb. One of the riders I'd been battling with overtook me near the crest of the hill. I knew that there was a steep drop coming up. So as soon as the upward gradient started to lessen, I stood on the pedals and went flying past the other guy at 50km/h before he even realised the hill had stopped. That felt great.

I hit the halfway mark at Drift Road, and my average time was still about 33.5 km/h. Here I overtook a huge number of women from the previous waves. I was worried about getting a drafting penalty, and I think this prevented me from pushing harder sometimes. Nevertheless, the steady riding was probably good for me. The dead turn at the end of Drift Road didn't slow me down much, and I continued to be surprised that my legs were fine for the fast acceleration needed to go from 0 back up to 35 km/h.

Straight along now towards the final climb up to Windsor Great Park. I didn't mind the hill really, but I think I can improve on this section, as I slowed down quite a bit.

Then finally I'm pushing down the big hill through Windsor Great Park, hitting 60km/h and trying to push even faster. As expected, this feels great - I always love this stretch of road. The weather is perfect, and all the way around I've hardly noticed any headwind. This air resistance is the most breeze I've felt, and I let if cool my head through my new Giro Atmos helmet. Some people are overtaking me as the slope evens out and turns back upward. This always happens in training too. But I'm also overtaking others. It's really difficult to know whether I'm making headway in my age-group race or not. I've passed quite a few people, but quite a few have passed me (were they the same ones?).

Into Windsor, and again the police wave us through the lights. Annoyingly I have to slow down at one roundabout as some riders are in front of me and are in the left lane when they need to be in the right one where I am; a car comes through the middle of us, and then has to brake to let them across, which means I also have to brake. Doh! I can see my speed is still averaging arounf 34km/h - amazing, I'm way ahead of schedule. I could easily keep on cycling, but can I run?

Into transition, cycling as fast as I can through the 200M inside the park, which isn't really very fast at all as other riders are also nearby. Rack bike, change shoes (carefully, remembering last years near cramp episode at Dorney). I take a big drink of PSP22, and then I'm off. I notice Olivia near the exit, but my tunnel vision doesn't reach anyone else.

I start running, and pretty much instantly realise that I'm not going to be able to go fast. I practically sprinted out of transition last year in the shorter Dorny race, but therer is no chance of that today.

I take a cup of water from the water station just before the climb up to the castle, and try to drink it on the move - it goes up my nose rather unpleasantly instead. The next two laps I also take water, but stop a second to drink once big gulp.

I'm feeling tired but OK, until about 2km into the 10k, when my left calf starts to ache. I have only had one run in the last 5 weeks, since I sprained my ankle. I'm worried again about cramp. I don't really have much choice about going faster, as there just isn't any pace in my legs, but this doesn't help much. Looking at my watch, I see that if I can just keep going as close to my 10k rate as possible, or even as slow as my training rate, I should still break the 3 hours target I've set myself.



I was hoping for a 45 minute run, but this gets more unlikely as I get tireder and tireder. I expect to see my supporters, but it isn't till the third lap that I spot Carol. I'm going to have to brief them better if they come again! It's starting to get hot, but not unbearbly so. I feel OK, I'm just annoyed that I just can't go any faster, and keep plodding along.

And then I hit the finish line, and it's over. My watch says it's 2 hours, 47 minutes since I set off. I've done it.



Not your normal Sunday morning, it's still not even 9.30am.




Results


991 428 Shiels, Robert 40-44 190 male  00:40:41 00:02:46 01:12:26 00:02:29 00:49:33 02:47:55

Preparation

Today I had to take my bike to Windsor to rack it for tomorrows triathlon.

I decided that I didn't want to risk the rear tyre, so cycled into SBR in Windsor and bought two new tyres.

Had great fun putting them on (not), but finally got the knack by utilising the tyre levers properly.

Cycled back into Windsor again, met up with Jonathan, and racked up.

Bike

Following last night's trip over from Datchet, this morning I left the Ascot house at 6.30am and cycled back. 16.6km or so, again around 31 minutes.

It was a beautiful sunny morning, and there were a couple of other mad cyclists on the road. I think I'll do this again.

I was really going well, average speed up to 32km/h due to a great run through Windsor Great Park, but as I left Old Windsor I noticed my rear tire was starting to go deflate. I leaned forward, still pedalling fast, but being very careful not to hit any bumps, and managed the last 2km before going completely flat.

That's the second puncture in a month, where previously I'd had hardly any - I think I may get new typre for Sunday's Windsor Tri.

Admin

I've forgotten to fill this in for a couple of weeks, will try to backfill, but I'm sure there will be a few inaccuracies.

Bike

After work, went over to Datchet and did a bit of gardening.

Left the Brompton there, and cycled on the Ridley over to Ascot.

16.6km, averaging about 31.5km/h, so around 32 minutes.

Was trying to follow some hints I read in 220 Triathlon magazine about acceleration out of climbs, and maintaining momentum following descents.

It was a nice evening, just shorts and t-shirt weather, and I arrived in Ascot at 8.40pm.

Swim/Bike

A nice early start and another trip to Heron Lake for some open water swim training.

Met Jonathan there just after 7am, and swam round twice.

Yet again, my times were 23 minutes, and 25 minutes. still no real idea how far it is. (somewhere between 800 and 1100 M)

Following this, we went back to Datchet, got changed, and reccied the Windsor Tri bike course.

We kept a fairly consistent 30km/h pace, and finished the 40k in approximately 1hr 20min. This is my aim for next Sunday's race.

Bike

Cycled over from Datchet to Ascot this evening.

16.6km in just over 30 minutes, averages something like 31km/h.