Two very different races.

Race Report - Mallorca IM70.3 - 11th May 

Following my last update, training had been coming along nice and consistent with some good quality sessions. Before I knew it was time to get packed up and head off to Mallorca for my first main race of the year. This was my third trip to Mallorca to complete in this race and this year I was feeling nice and relaxed without the pressure of trying to secure a Vegas slot.

After an early morning flight on Thursday from Stansted to Palma we picked up our hire car and drove across the island to Alcudia where we checked into our hotel; Just in time to meet up with some friends for lunch on the seafront prior to popping along to register. Then a little 30 minute run around the course and assembling my bike before an early evening meal.

Friday morning was a quick 45min brick session, transition bag packing and then feet up till the race briefing on the beach, trying not to be sat in the sun to long then it was back to the hotel again to chill and enjoy the weather before raking the bikes.

Saturday morning and up at 5:30am, breakfast, then the long trip to transition, well 100 metres or so. Tyres pumped up, nutrition loaded, then back to my balcony for a coffee before the short walk across the road to the beach to watch the pro start at 8:00. Then it was on with the wetsuit and into the starting area. I positioned myself about 4-5 rows back on the left hand side, hoping I would stay away from the biff on the right and as the first right hand turn was some 900m in I wouldn't end up swimming to much extra. With over 500 in my age group I was ready for a scrappy first few 100m but my plan seemed to work and I was in clear water from the start, got on some feet and just swam. Conditions where good, sighting easy and all in all a pretty uneventful swim. I never wear a watch in the swim so I had no idea what I had swam at the time but as I ran through T1 there seemed to be more bikes still raked than normal.

Out on the bike and I soon got into a nice rhythm. The first section along the coast to Puerto Pollensa is fairly fast then you head inland to Pollensa where you start to slowly climb before hitting the main climb upto Lluc. The plan was to ride to power for the whole ride with a target of  85% of FTP and capping it at 95% of FTP for the climb. I stuck to the plan to the letter and as I approached the top of the climb in Lluc I checked my time and it was 1:10:00, bang on the same time as 2012. Every time I ride this course the hill seem to feel shorter and the decent faster. There is nothing like knowing a course and before long I was winding through the streets of Inca and on the last 40km flat section back to Alcudia, but unlike the last two years the wind was blowing which made it a little tougher than normal. As I rolled into T2 I felt pretty good and was looking forward to the run.

I ran through T2 trying to count bikes which is never easy, but thought I saw 6 or 7 so knew I would have to run well, a quick slick change and I was off. The weather was much cooler this year and running felt easier, I ticked along at 6:00-10 min/mi pace thinking the elusive sub 80min half marathon off the bike was on the cards. The first lap flew past, but by now the course was getting busy and the aid stations were manic. I managed to maintain a steady pace up till about mile 11 when the legs started to feel a little heavy and my HR started to rise, pace dropped to 6:25-30 min/mi pace and it was now a matter of just hanging on, I downed my last gel and not really knowing where I was currently placed, I just tried to hang in. As I came round the corner and into the finish chute I heard the announcer say 3rd M40, with a quick look over my shoulder to see nobody else.  I jogged over the line in a total time of 4:26:12. I missed the 80min run split by 61sec but I'm getting closer ever year....

 

 
In the finish area I whet over to congratulate the M40 winner, he asked if I was racing the ITU LD Champs in Belfort, I replied "yes" and he said ''that's my home town'' I thought 'bugger !!!' ...   

Second Lap of the run

Podium (yes, male & female together)

The long walk to Transition

Race Report - ITU Long Distance World Champs BELFORT - 1st June

I originally entered this race not knowing if I would actually race it or not due to racing Nice IM three weeks later. Therefore it was a late decision to race,  with the plan to use it as a late prep race, hoping it would be nice and hot to help me get acclimatised to racing in the heat.

The week prior to the race it was very clear it was not going to be a hot one. In fact the complete opposite as snow had fallen on the top of the Ballon d'Alsac (the main climb on the bike). We arrived in Belfort to the news that due to both water and air temperature being below the minimum levels the swim had been cancelled and replaced with a 10k run, the bike leg shorted from 120k to 85k and the run leg reduced from 30k to 20k, this was not the prep race I was hoping for.

The day before the race the weather was cold and wet and after a short brick session in the morning I was far from happy, but kept thinking its the same for everyone, we have come a long way, lets just get it done. So after the team briefing in Belfort it was off to Lac de Malsucy where the race was based to rack our bikes.

Luckily the morning of the race the weather was looking kinder and after a 5:30am alarm call and some breakfast, we headed off to the start. As a poor swimmer my tactics come race day are normally survive the swim, smash the bike and try and work my way through the field then hang on for the run, this was different, with a 10k run to start (in age group waves 2 minutes apart) I thought I could be quiet close to the front from the start, then stay with the leaders on the bike and then have a running race at the end. So the plan was to run hard and stay insight of the leaders which was the case to just before half way where the 4 leading guys started to open up the gap and I settled into a good pace with a fellow GB'er, we ended up coming into T1 in 5 & 6 place about 2 minutes down on the leading 4.

I had made the decision to wear all my gear for the bike on the run which meant I didn't need to located my bike bag and change in the tent which saved valuable time, I just ran straight through the change area to my bike, helmet on and I was off. As I got to the mount line I was now right behind Anthony Philippe (the Frenchmen who won Mallorca).

Once on the bike I tried to stay in touch with Philippe but I was having to work hard and my legs just didn't want to play ball and he slowly pulled away from me. At this point I was over taken by the Uber biker runner David Slavinski from the USA, last year's winner and the 2011 World Duathlon Champ, he was flying (he ended up being the overall age group winner) and also disappeared into the distance. At this point I was not quite sure where I was in the race but possibly third so I pushed on but was not feeling good at all. After about 26 undulating miles I was at the bottom of the Ballon d'Alsac which climbs quite quickly for a start with a few switch backs before settling into a steady climb with a gradient of 5-8% for around 6 miles.

At this point I was regretting running a 44/25 gearing, not the ideal setup for  climbing and as the auto stop kept appearing on my Garmin this was not helping my mental state. Not long into the climb a couple of GB guys I had passed earlier on the flats caught me and we started to chat which helped take my mind off the climb and I just tried to keep to my power cap. Just before the top I was overtaken by a Danish and Russian guy both in my age group I was slipping further back. Once we neared the top we were in the mist, it was about 3 degrees and I was wearing my aero helmet with a visor, the combination of 3 degrees a boiling hot head meant one misty visor so as I started the descent I couldn't see a bloody thing not ideal travelling at 42mph with switch backs and no barriers. 

Bike Course Profile

Once down the descent my legs were starting to feel a little better and I pushed on over the continuing undulating course slowly making back the places I had lost on the climb and finally ride into T2 with Anthony Philippe.

A quick run through a muddy T2 in my socks, racked my bike, on with the Sketcher GoRun2's for the second time of the day and then run around the bike raking to the bag racks, grab my bag into the change tent for a quick change to remove as many layers as possible before running out for two more hilly lays of the same course we ran in the first run.

Run Course Profile

As I ran out I could see the Danish guy not far up front and I knew I had overtaken Philippe in the changing tent but knowing he ran a 1:17 in Mallorca I know he wouldn't be long.... Result.  Danish man stops by first tree for a pee, at this point I was unsure who was up front apart from Slavinski. It wasn't long before Philippe caught me and after a quick chat about who was up front he was off. It was now just a matter of survival and ticking off the miles and dreading the inevitable pain of the last hill of which I was determined not to walk up. Once there it was one last big effort to keep running to the top knowing it was downhill to the finish and not to let anyone pass me.

At this point I realised my tactics were completely wrong. I had ran the first run way to fast (6:00mi/m) I should have just jogged round and saved the legs, 2 minutes slower on the first run could of meant 5 minutes faster on the second run and as it turns out a podium, but hindsight is a great thing. Lesson learned.

All in all not the trip I or anyone else was expecting. On a day where I didn't feel 100% and made mistakes tactically, I was happy to come away with 4th in my age group, 21st overall AGer and overall 4th Brit...

Coming Up - Ironman France - 23rd June

With just over a week to IM France in Nice my legs are still not back to where they should be but hopefully with a good tapper I will be on the beach in Nice a tightly coiled spring ready to go...

As always a massive thank you to Johnny from Racetime Events and Sketchers for their continued support, also the guys at The Gorilla Firm for the superb service and bike support.
    
Cheers for now..

Paul

Another Busy Month

Since my last blog the weather seems to have marginally improved making training and racing a little nicer, but it's still hard to believe its May tomorrow and the open water triathlon season is about to get into full flow... bbrrrrr.

April has been a busy month of training and racing starting off with a last minute entry into the Lincoln 10k on 7th April. After some long training runs in preparation for the Virgin London Marathon and lack of any speed work (last speed session was an hour Fartlek run on 19th February) I was getting anxious about turning into a 'plodder' so when the opportunity arose to have a quick 10k blast I jumped at the chance. After the normal fast first mile I settled into a nice even pace and managed to clock a time of 35:14 & finish 34th out of a field of over 4500. Not my fastest 10k but off the Ironman training and nonexistent speed work I was happy with the result. But the result of the day had to go to my son Josh (@josh_lunn) who ran a massive PB of 32:21 to finish 5th, well done son :-))

The following weekend, 14th April, saw my first triathlon of the year at the Desford Sprint Triathlon organised by my new race team, Racetime Events (no pressure there then). It was a 400m pool swim, 18k bike, and 5k run. With the swim being my weakest element and being a "one speed swimmer" I exited the water last in my wave of 4 (35th o/a) and headed out on the bike for a mighty windy 18k, I never really got into a good rhythm on the bike but pushed on and ended up with the second fastest bike split, a speedy T2 and I was out on the run where I again managed the second fastest split of the day to finish 3rd overall. I would love to say Ironman training makes you slow but the fastest bike split, fastest run split and overall winner was by fellow Ironman and RacetimeUSN team member Duncan Shea-Simonds, well done Duncan.    

Desford Sprint Triathlon

Three days later it was the first Fenland Clarion mid week 10 mile TT  which is always a good indicator of current fitness. It was another very windy evening and on the warmup I was getting blown all over the road. Off I set and the first mile popped up in 1:49, that's an average speed of 32.9mph from a standing start, now either I was on fire or that was the back wind section, it soon came apparent when I turned at 3.5 miles that it was the latter and I nearly stopped, head down & trying to stay as aero as possible I pushed on and clocked a time of 22:00, which for me on that course was pretty good and only 4 second off a PB & the first time I had broken 5.0 w/kg so I was pretty happy but maybe not the best tapper for VLM.

The first proper test of my running legs came by the way of the Virgin London Marathon on 21st April. After a steady couple of hours on the bike Saturday morning I headed off to London to stay overnight at my brothers. An early start Sunday morning and only 2 degrees outside I headed off for  the 'Good for Age' start area in Greenwich Park. After my last somewhat disastrous run at the NYC Marathon in 2011 I was somewhat nervous about what was about to unfold. For the last 6 months I'd had a time of 2:42 in my head as a target, so the plan was to run at 6:11mi/m pace and see what happens. With the first 3 miles being net downhill its hard not to go out too quick, I was fairly well controlled but still a little quick. Halfway soon came round and the clock was showing 1:20:?? I was still feeling good but in the back of my mind was mile 15 in NYC when it all went "Pete Tong". I pushed though 15 still feeling good and my Garmin showing an average pace of 6:07mi/m, then at mile 19 just as I starting to think 2:39:59 was on the cards the legs started to feel heavy and the pace dropped off, but unlike other runs instead of the pace downing right off I only dropped 10-15sec per mile and then managed to maintain that same pace to the end instead off completely exploding. So as I turned the corner onto The Mall and saw the clock on 2:43:?? I was over the moon, 15 minutes off my PB, no explosion, and a sub 2:45 which gets me a Championship entry for the next two years, Happy Days..... 47th A/G and 279th O/A

Rocking the Sketcher GOrun2's at VLM

I seemed to recover fairly quickly and after a week of light recovery runs, some steady bikes, and my normal swim sessions I was feeling back to normal by the following weekend. Which was good considering I had entered the N&DCA Open 10TT which was organised by my cycle club the Fenland Clarion, this event also doubles up as the Club 10 mile championship race and as last years winner was hoping to defend. But more importantly I needed to get some good miles in on the bike prior to the race due to not riding much the week prior. So I head out on my normal 3 hour route (NP 250w) then home for a quick wheel and costume change and it was off to the TT. It was on the N1/10 course which is out and back along a quite section of the old A1, with 7 roundabouts and some slight undulations its not a super fast course and this year it was particularly testing as the first half was into a howling head wind. As the pusher held my bike with 30 seconds to the off I sightly back pedaled to align my pedals and off came my chain.... not quite what you want, 15, 10, and I'm still on my knees getting greasy, 5, 4, 3, on its on, 2, leg back over bike, 1,  GO,  I wobble off one foot clipped in,,, not the most professional start to a TT. Nonetheless I headed off into the wind just trying to ride to power, once at the turn point I was hoping it was going to be super fast on the way back but it was one of them day when the wind didn't want to push you. After about 7 miles the legs started to moan and it was a case of just doing my best to the end as my average power slowly faded. 22:58 on the clock, good enough for 6th out of a field of 104 and just enough to be first Fenland Clarion.

With less than 2 weeks to go until my next race, Mallorca Ironman 70.3 I have a relatively big training week this week then a short 4 day tapper leading into the race.. Can't wait to get some sun and smash it up again.

Till next time, train hard, train smart ......         

A few more races ....

It has been a busy few weeks of racing and training since my last blog, so here is a quick update.

Stamford Valentine 30k - 17th February 

This was my next build up races for the VLM. I did this race back in 2011 (was canceled in 2012 due to snow) and all I could remember about the course was that it was lumpy so the plan was try and run at my target marathon pace. It was a bright and sunny morning and as the gun went off I found myself soon settling into a nice comfy pace and cruised along on the slightly downhill first few miles. It soon came apparent that my memories of the course were correct, this course is either up hill or down with the only flat section being the football pitch at the finish. I soon found myself moving along just trying to slowly reel in the guys that started too quickly. The half way clock soon came round and with 56:48 showing I was bang on target and it was just a matter of digging deep and hanging on. The last 5k seemed all uphill and with nobody else around it was a lonely run in and hard to keep pushing. Eventually the finish came into sight, but first a lap of the school sports field was needed. I crossed the line in a finishing time of 1:53:33 which was good enough for 9th place. This was my first in my new Sketcher GoRun2 shoes, and I have to say they were awesome, good enough to be my chosen shoe for the VLM and IM France, big thanks to Sketchers and Racetime Events for their continued support. 

Stamford 30k Profile

Dambuster Duathlon (British Champs) 10k-42k-5k - 9th March 

It was a pretty cold and dank morning for raking the P5 for its inaugural race but at least the rain/snow was holding off. With the World Champs being in Canada this year I had decided I would give them a miss this year (long way to go for a 2hr race) so with no pressure of qualifying I was just going to enjoy the race. As soon as the gun went off we all charged off and I very quickly realised Ironman training leaves you a little short of top end speed, as all the fast boys disappeared into the distance. The first run was out and back, so as we approached the turn point we got to see how far you were back, as I saw one of the top runners Alan Murchison zip by I timed myself to the turn point, hoping to be under a minute down, but as the seconds ticked by my heart sank, 1:10! I was going to have to get a move on, on the bike. Into T1, shoes off, helmet on, grabbed my bike, and ran to the mount line and off we go, this was my first race on my new bike and wow, it was so nice to ride. After a winter of fiddling with numerous seats and positions, I think I had cracked it, so off I pedalled on to catch up. The race was in wave starts so by this time you're checking the tail end on the previous wave, although we had no idea who we were actually racing. I was just focused on catching Alan, I had a rough idea where I would need to catch him to stand any chance to holding him off on the second run but as the miles ticked by there was no sign of him. I eventually caught up with him, with 6 miles to go, I know what an awesome runner he is and it was to late, but I monstered on. In to T2, shoes on, and out we went. God, my legs weren't talking to me, I had pushed pretty hard on the bike and they weren't happy, but only 5k I kept telling myself. After about a mile I could hear the sounds of an approaching Alan and as he flew past in full flow the catch was made. I gritted my teeth and pushed on to finished 5th in age group and 16th overall, and in a time of 1:58:44. 

10k down, loving them Sketchers

Cambridge Half Marathon - 10th March

Note to self "when entering a race check diary first"
Another cold morning with the snow lashing down as we drove over to Cambridge, I had every excuse for a poor race at the ready. Once we got to the start area it was freezing, and we huddled up at the rear of an admin tent and contemplated how many layers to wear. We did a quick warm up and my legs felt pretty tired and sore from Saturday's race. The plan was to try and run 80 minutes which would be 6:06min/mi pace, (this is my dream 70.3 pace) as we lined up I found myself on the second row and as the gun went off I sped off at a silly pace just keeping with the flow and not to look like the muppet that pushed his way to the front. The first mile popped up on my Garmin at 5:40, oops! A little quick for fresh legs so I just dropped off the group I was with and eased off, mile two - 5:46, again this was still way too fast but it actual didn't feel to bad and the legs were starting to fire up and I was in a nice rhythm. OK, decision time I either back right off or see how long I can go until I implode. I opted for the latter and pushed on, firstly thinking would I make 5mile, yep - 28:53 then 10k, yep - 35:57 and that was the first of the two laps, and I was feeling surprisingly good, the legs felt very tired still but the old diesel engine was ticking over nicely. The ten mile marker eventually same into sight and as I glanced at my watch and saw 58:08, OMG a 10mile PB at this point I was just waiting for someone to turn the switch off but it never happened and I just motored on, finishing in a new PB of 76:41, fast enough for 18th place on the day....         

 

The week that followed showed me just how important recovery is and how much racing can take it out of you. I had an easy day on the Monday with a swim and recovery run, then Tuesday I did a roller session on the bike, but by Wednesday I was not feeling good, I was sick in the morning but proceeded to go to the office were I was sick again and was sooooo tired that by lunchtime I decided I had to go home, first sick day in over 10 years, but it was needed. I crawled into bed at 13:00 and slept for 18 hours, boy did I need it! I was back to work Thursday morning but no training, I needed to recover and recover fast as I was off to Nice, France to ride the Ironman course on Saturday. 

IM Recce Trip to Nice - 15th - 17th March.

After a couple of full days of rest I was almost back to normal, and all with bikes packed up I flew off to Nice with Jimmy (@jimmybangle) to ride the IM course and get a feel for the course and what will be expected come race day in June. Well I loved it, the climbs are all very manageable and some nice technical descents, just hoping it's a little warmer on the top and the snow has melted....
   

Nice and Sunny on the way up Col' de l'Ecre

Not so warn on the top

After a relatively light week of training (low intensity) I'm starting to feel my old self again and was looking forward to racing at the Bedford Harrier's Oakley 20 this weekend, but with the snow falling, like most races this weekend it was cancelled, so 20mile on the treadmill had to suffice.

Thanks for reading and cheers for now......

Loving my Runnning

Since my last blog update at the beginning of January it feels like the weather has not been above freezing level. But with all the festive holidays now well and truly behind us it's been a time to start laying the foundations for the forthcoming season.

January is also a month where I like to fit in a few running races, 6th of January was the annual Cambridgeshire XC Champs held at Prior Park in St. Neots, with a pretty stacked field and 4 laps around the muddy park it seemed to be a very long 10k, well it turned out to be nearly 10.8km but great fun as always. I managed to finish in a respectable 17th with Josh having a great run and finishing 6th and grabbing a place for the Inter-Countries later this year.

The following weekend (13th January) saw the 4th round of our local inter-club XC league 'The Frostbite Friendly League' 5 miles of mixed terrain around Whitemoor Prison near March, it's a pretty un-testing course being fairly flat, but all good fun none the less and nice to get the legs turning over a bit faster than normal.

Then can the snow, and with it the first cancelled race of the year, the Folksworth 15, this was to be my first proper road race of the year and a good indicator to see how things were progressing ahead of the VLM. With a little surfing an alternative race was soon found, the first of three Wellingborough 15K multi terrain races. After racing and winning the 10K there last year it was an ideal time to up the distance to the 15k. By the time we got lined up on the start line in true XC fashion in my NVH's Singlet and shorts the snow was starting to fall again. 3 x 5k laps of the snow covered course and it was over, a not to shabby 3rd place behind the legendary Hywel Davies...

27th January and it was time for a day of swim coaching, Emily had very kindly treated me to a Swim Smooth Clinic for my birthday and at last, the time had come to literally jump in at the deep end. The session was run by Steve Casson, and involved pool videoing, drills, classroom analysis of our strokes and then back in the pool for more drills and race simulation work.... all in all an enjoyable day and I can away with lots of things to work on, as we all know my swim is my biggest limiter so the hard work continues.

Finally last Sunday (10th February) saw the Folksworth 15 was re-scheduled, after a pretty big week of 16 hours of training I was not really looking forward to a wet and windy 15miles specially after attending a Roundtable Ball the night before. But hay hoo its all good mileage leading up to London. The plan was to try and run a steady even paced run at 5.55min/mi. As normal the gun went off and I shot out the blocks like in a bloody 5k race, it didn't help being downhill and back wind, but I soon settled down running in a small group. It's an undulating course of 2 laps with 3 main hills per lap, but worse than the hills is its exposure and the back straight of about 3 mile was into the wind. On the first lap I found myself running the back straight with fellow Ironman Mat Stephenson, after sitting in close behind him for a while I repaid the honours.. I hate running into the wind..... once round the corning and out the wind it was back to ticking off the miles until that same section on the next lap, this time all on my own, so tooth gritted, head down, and thinking only 3 miles of wind then it's back wind, downhill home (well back wind maybe but there is one last killer hill at mile 14). With a last little effort up the last hill and half a mile back wind to the finish I manage to get 4th place in a time of 1:28:39 some 1:39 faster than last year and bang on my target pace of 5:55min/mi. I even managed a small negative split :-). All in all a good race and the time bods well for my sub 2:45 VLM target...

Next (running) stop, Stamford 30K next Sunday, now this one is a toughie but really looking forward to it and testing out my new Sketcher GoRun2 shoes, which I kindly received last week courteously of the RacetimeUSN race team, they do look awesome. I think they will be the perfect Marathon and IM shoe for this year so big thanks to Racetime and Sketchers for all their great support.           

Apart from running I've been maintaining my bike fitness with a far bit of time spend to the rollers and turbo in the mornings before work and most Saturdays morning out on the road with Jimmy who's been cranking up the mileage in readiness for our trip to Nice next month to recce the Ironman bike course.

Thanks for reading this far,,, I'll leave you with my January stats.......... Train hard, train smart..

January's Stats, Tried to maintain my swim volume, and substituted some bike hours to my running.

	Duration (h:m)	Distance  (mile)	TSS
Swim	20:25	32.65	925
Bike	24:23	454.45	1349
Run	16:11	140.38	1359

An Emotional Roller Coaster

Well what a month,,,,

It all started off with a fun XC race in the North Mids Leagues at Wollaton Park, where I met up with one of my new RacetimeUSN team mates, Duncan Shea-Simond for a brief chat before the race. With Duncan's past performances duly noted I thought we would be pretty close in the race. After 2 laps of the 3 lap hilly course I could see a shadow slowly catching me, yes it was Duncan, he was just too strong for me on the day and he edged away to take me down by some 17sec..... Albeit I was happy with my 48th placing in a stacked field of 'runners'.

All cleaned up and back in the car to head home I got the sad news that Emily's mum had been taken ill and had been taken in to hospital. I rushed back home and to the hospital to pick up Georgie to give Emily some time with her mum and to wait for her brother to join her that evening.

Sunday was the Nene Valley 10mile road race where I was due to marshall, so Georgie and I headed down there in the morning to give Emily and her brother some quality time with their mum who sadly lost her fight on the Monday morning and slipped away from us. As I'm sure you all would imagine the next couple of weeks were all over the place as we all came to terms with our loss and the emotional roller coaster that comes with any bereavement, Hilda you will be dearly missed.

December 16th saw the third round of our local Frostbite Cross Country League which was at Hinchingbrooke Park. After all the rain that had fallen recently the course was slightly amended due to flooding. Normally this course suits cross trainers due to the mixed terrain and about a mile of tarmac. After a recce of the course on warm up where I could hardly stand up due to the mud, I opted for spikes. I think this was a good move even with the tarmac section. Finished 9th in the end which was my best Frostbite placing, just some pretty sore calves the next day for running on the tarmac.....

December also saw Stamford Tri Clubs Awards Presentation night where in my absence I was delighted to pick up "Male Best Athlete of the Year" and the winner of the "Male Club Championship" which very nicely capped off the year in terms of silverware. Thanks to everyone at the club for their support thoughout the year, cheers guys....

Well now the year is coming to an end its time to start thinking about 2013, how I can improve, how I can go longer, how I can go faster..... 

December, its been a mixed up and emotional month, just getting it done when I can.

	Duration (h:m)	Distance  (mile)	TSS
Swim	18:41	30.70	694
Bike	28:06	490.22	1411
Run	13:29	114.69	1165

2012 Totals,

	Duration (h:m)	Distance  (mile)
Swim	150:53	265.26
Bike	265:19	4912.18
Run	156:09	1366.67

Happy New Year everyone,,,, and hoping all have a great 2013..
 
   

November Training Stats

November, its been another nice steady month, an increase in bike miles over last month and all good base milage, will be ramping it up from now on....

	Duration (h:m)	Distance  (mile)	TSS
Swim	13:18	23.00	602
Bike	27:48	484.44	1340
Run	11:35	98.49	978

Just ticking along nicely

Training Update

Well after my little bike accident I'm now pretty sure I must of at least cracked a rib, the following week (w/c 29th Oct) I was not a happy bunny but luckily it was an easy week, I had to make it even easier than normal. Only one short treadmill run in agony, one swim with Stamford Tri Club, where I had to knock it on the head after a 400m warm up. At least I could bike, so I did manage three good bike sessions.

W/c 5th Nov I was still struggling with my ability to swim (nothing strange there I hear you cry) but with the help of some pain killers I managed to get my four swims in, albeit at a very steady effort. Running was back again with the aid of some pain killers and biking was still good which got me back on track with a nice 12.5 hrs in the bank.

W/c 12th Nov, pretty much back to normal now can swim Ok (just can't get out the damn pool at the end of the session without the aid of the steps) and got my 4 swims, 4 runs, & 3 bikes in. Clocking up 14.25hrs.

W/c 19th Nov, the last week of my current block and for the first time in a while I ticked every box, 4 swims, 4 runs, 3 bikes, all going nicely to plan considering the poor wet weather we had. I was lucky and stayed dry all week and only doing one run session indoors on the treadmill. Saturdays ride was a little longer than planned after trying a new route and completely heading in the wrong direction for about 10 miles before realising..... Week total 14.5hrs

I'm now looking forward to a nice recovery week before I see what Steve has in store for me in my next big training block.

News

I've been kept busy at home too, tidying up my garage, painting the floor, and preparing to move my turbo and rollers in there. My time is finally up in the Dining room, I've been evicted....

I also had some great news, when I received an invite to join the Racetime/USN Race Team for 2013, its a fantastic opportunity for me to race in a top quality team with some extremely talented team mates. The Team has some great sponsors too which include Greeper Laces, Compress Yourself, USN UK, Ashmei Running, Skechers Performace, Bonk, and Sunwise. I'm really excited about this opportunely and looking forward to to racing in 2013.

My new ride for next year is how complete and after a visit down to the guys at Freespeed on friday for a bike fit I can't wait for some dry weather to go for a spin.

Right I'm off for a nice recovery week and maybe a little cross country race next weekend in the North Mids League at Wolloton Park, time to get muddy ..... Cheers for reading... 

Oh and don't forget and check out racetime-events.co.uk for thier 2013 events calendar...