Wet and Windy wk3 Wednesday 21st October

Autumn is finally here. I might still be sleeping under my summer duvet but outside it was wet and windy. The single speed winter bike came out for the first time since March.
The schedule today asked for a 12-16 mile run depending upon how I felt. It does seem rather a long way to run in the middle of a recovery week, but I'm not going to argue and at least there wasn't a target pace set.
To fit the run in around work I opted to do the run as my means of getting home. I worked through lunch so as to be able to sneak off a little earlier and started running at 16:50. Was hoping to be able to get the run in before it got dark, but with the days being well and truely drawn in ahead of the end of British Summer Time at the weekend I wasn't too optimistic. It was also drizzling.
I'd plotted a route that google maps reckoned was 17 miles, but that was sending me off route at times because it didn't know of a couple of foot paths but also because it wanted me to run down the Newmarket road passed the slip road down to the Eaton lights that I wanted to head down and continue to a roundabout, turn round it come back up the Newmarket road and then take Colney Road to then get into Eaton. Route turned out to be 14.2miles and took just over 2 hours. As you can see from the profile included on the heart rate trace it wasn't flat. Something like 256m (840ft) of uphill. Legs felt heavy most of the day before the run. Felt good for the first mile or so but still heavy and then whinged a little for the rest of the run.
I was well prepared though for the conditions. I used again the Innov8 bum bag with horizontal drinks system, Ron Hill lycra shorts, Ron Hill long sleeve top, Ron Hill gilet, Ron Hill reflective vest and Pretzl head torch with rear light all sourced from Cotsworld Outdoor and sold to me by Andy Bolden (Roo). On my feet I had a pair of Saucony Grid Rides with foxriver socks that Pete Johnson of the Runners Centre sold me. As the drizzle had become rain there was a lot of standing and flowing water on the roads. I got wet. My main observations were 1) when it's raining hard and when your breath is condensing you actually see better in the dark without the head torch but people can't see you so well 2) without the headtorch you don't see the branches blown into the smaller roads and 3) either with or without the headtorch its amazing how many puddles your feet find.

3hr ride with 2x 10mins wk2 Sunday 18th October

Last session of a two week build period and I was beginning to feel tired. No one to help me along on this occasion. No one to hide behind from the wind.
The aim was 3 hours steady at 17-18mph containing two 10minute periods at 85%HRM 40minutes apart. Followed by a 2-3 mile steady run.
I chose a route that took me from Trowse down to Hempnell on the Stoke Road, so not the flatest, then down through Hempnell Green and Aldburgh to Homersfield to do the 10minute effort from Homersfield to Flixton. The effort was hard work. My legs were protesting and just wouldn't work hard enough to get my heart rate up to 85% of Heart Rate Max (HRM). I could get to 81%. Had expected it to take 10mins to get to Flixton but it only took 5. The full 10minute effort took me all the way to Bungay. Rather than doing a loop I opted for an out and back, so did 20minutes of the 40minutes between efforts riding from Bungay to Beccles. That road isn't flat. It's the first half of the Bungay Marathon that is famous for it's undulations. Not sure how smart it was to do that road twice as part of the 40 minutes between the two efforts, but the road from Bungay to Homersfield is really good for a 10minute turn of speed. Good road surface, straight road and not much traffic.
I now had a headwind for the return effort and legs were really hurting. Again couldn't get the pulse to 85%. Only positive was that I was gaining on a scotter that was ahead of me and the most inroads I made into the gap came when I had trees protecting me from the wind.
At the end of the effort and the second hour I was averaging 17.6mph, but I was pretty much spent. By the time I'd got back to Hempnell it had dropped to 17.2mph though managed to get it back to 17.3mph by the time I got back to Trowse.
I'm pleased with that.
Then straight out for a 2.2mile loop round Whitlingham Lane, The Street and Whitlingham Hall. It was nice to be off the bike, but running wasn't what I wanted to be doing, though I'm pleased to find I was running at 8:04mpm pace even with the hill up to the Hall. Managed to overtake someone that was on a bike, though admittedly they were only 4 or 5 years old.
Feel I've earned the curry I'm now heading out for, plus the rest day tomorrow and massage tomorrow evening.

Steady 3 hour ride, Wk2 Saturday 17th October

Jonathan Briggs and Will Hall helped with the ride and route today. A nice route up to Cley from Weston Longville along the coast to Weybourne before heading back. 51 miles in under 3 hours at an average speed of just under 18mph. Steady - not easy, but not too hard either, though some of the lumps stung the legs a little.
As we headed back from the coast we passed Simon Edye, Glen Nelson, Mick Powell and Graham Bainger in a group going the other way fighting against the wind. Guess they were doing the normal 9:30am Tri-Anglia ride from UEA Sportspark.

Pleasing Hill Efforts

Found myself on my own at lunchtime today. No colleagues to shelter from the wind behind. No strong riders to latch onto the wheel of. Instead I had tired legs, blustering winds and a couple of showers to contend with.
Made it round a variant of the Shotesham figure 8 route that took in all the hills including Skeets twice. 21.7miles that I averaged 18.3mph on. I'm pleased with that.
Click here to see the route

Ironman Week 11

Weather forecast for this week isn't as favourable, but so far all has gone well.
Swam at 7:10am monday morning. 3.6km
Rode twice yesterday, getting a little wet at lunchtime. Stayed dry on the turbo last night (obviously). All time best on the turbo last night in fact. Averaged 233watts for 79minute session. Best previous session was 221watts. The session was from the 24 week Ironman schedule in the book "Ironman start to finish". When I did this session on 8th Jan 2008 I covered 41.4km, last night it was 47km. That was followed by a 3mile out and back transition run (t-run).
At the pool for 7am when it opened. Dived in at 7:03. Got out at 8:11 having done 3.7k, Wk 11 wed session.
Oh, and I'm now registered on www.iamtri.com

Ironman France week 10

Days getting longer and starting earlier.
High pressure sitting over the country
Warm dry conditions.
A weeks rest last week.
All these things helped with the training this week. Was riding strong on the newly rebuilt Giant. Got a good run in on the Sunday from Mum's back to Norwich.
169miles ridden, 29 run. Only one swim of 2.6km

Training for Ironman France 2009

My training for Ironman France 2009 has arrived and was chritened on a run with Lynn Emmett and Tim Topper yesterday. Whilst I'm now into week 10 of 24 it only now seems real. the run was hard work. The legs kept screaming at me to walk but we managed 7:30mpm at 80%HRM for 6 miles. If it wasn't for the legs hurting I'd be pleased with that.

Lunchtime today we were joined by Chris Guy who was nursing a broken hand. He is still seriously quick even when injured. Pleased to say I performed a whole lot better than I did when I last rode with him 3 weeks ago. Back then I was on the single speed and was feeling warn out. Today was a whole lot different, kept up all the way round the ride and even managed to get the better (slightly) on one of the hills.

Part of the success is due to a good rest week last week. Part of it is down to the training over the winter months on the single speed and part of it is due to the bike I was riding. My good old Giant OCR2 has had a major facelift. I spent ages stripping it right down and cleaning it. After 5 years and 16,000 miles it needed it. I then put on a second hand 105 groupset replacing the orginial Tiagra Triple, plus new pedals, new bars, new stem, new tyres, new cables. Feels like a completely different bike and to most intents and purposes it is.

Bike 2 Run

Yesterday I cycled one of our regularly lunchtime routes. 16.4 miles in 57minutes.

Today I ran it in 2hrs 15, though the slight variation to the route makes it 16miles.

You spot different things when you're running compared to cycling.

As well as taking longer I ate more jelly babies.

First Run Race of 2009

Today witnessed the Great East Run. A 20k run based in Bungay organised by Bungay Black Dog Running Club and sponsored by Elgoods Brewery who give a bottle of their Black Dog beer to all finishers. You'll note a theme in that the last run race I did also involved beer being given to all finishers.
The aim was to cycle there, run the race as a training run with a bit of a warm up to make it up to the 14miles long run I had on the scheduled and then bike home.
Succeeded in biking there and back. Succeeded in adding on a warm up to get me to over 14miles. Failed to run it as a steady training run, though I did manage to run it with fairly even splits at a shade under 4:30 per km (7:13mpm). Was only 20seconds off a PB and based on how I've been running lately I'm very content with that.

Yippee - Snow melting

The snow of yesterday morning and of last night has melted this morning with temparatures soaring to 5C. Okay it's not warm, but it's warm enough to be ice free. The forecast for tomorrow is clear blue skys and barely a breath of wind. Should be really nice for a bike ride tomorrow.
Sunday is due to see a bit of rain, but hopefully early morning before I ride with some fellow Tri-Anglia members to Bungay for the 20k Great East Run.
I'm now entered for the 5k Swimathon in April.

More eventful than I'd like

Was involved in an ice induced 4 bike crash and had two rear punctures on todays club ride. More incidents than I'd like. Was amazed had how far we slid when we went down. In a sureal way it was fun, but have no desire to do it again.
Last time I hit the deck whilst riding was the day before Ironman Switzerland in June 2007, so I'm keen to go at least 18 months and 12,000 miles before doing it again.

Half Marathon Efforts

After the snow of earlier in the week I had a good effort session today on Whitlingham Lane with Jeff Lansdel and Lynn Emmett. 10-15minute warm up, then four efforts of 8mins, 7mins, 6mins and 5mins at half marathon pace (7:15m/m) with 3minute jog recoveries between and a 10-15minute cool down. Whitlingham Lane was icey the further along it you went, so didn't venture much beyond where it joins the river. Covered 8.1miles, and felt good.

2008 Training Miles

Have managed to cover over 14,000km swimming, biking and running in 2008.
For those of you who work in real money the numbers are: 8,734 miles (14,053km) total. 153 miles (246km) swimming, 7,508 miles (12,080km) cycling and 1,072 miles (1,724km) running.
Whilst it's not quite 2009 yet I'm counting todays mileage to the new year. Well, it is now the first week of 2009.

Overtaken

Got overtaken swimming this morning. Really doesn't happen too often. Guess it's my fault by getting in the same lane as Mike. Youll have to forgive me for not knowing the surname of the other early morning swimmers, at least I know the forenames of the people in this mornings story.
Well, I started off at 7:04 on Mikes heals, I was doing 5x800m with 60seconds rest between each and he was heading off on a 1500m warm up. 3 lengths into the swim and I'm being overtaken by some slim lady who I hadn't even clocked as being in the lane with us, she didn't catch Mike before she paused for a rest, though she did give me a wake to follow in for 200m. Mike later confessed that he'd spotted Claire overtake me and wasn't going to let her catch him.
I was then into my second 800 when Mike then overtook me towards the end of his 1500m, this time with Tom on his heals. I did get my own back on Mike when he went onto kick, but you would expect that.
Nattering with Mike he reckoned that averaging 1:30 per 100m was a good pace for a distance swim. My 4,000m set took me 65mins which included 4mins rest, which means I averaged 1:31 per 100m. So I'm pleased with that.

The Week That Was - 13-19 Oct 2008

Though the title should be the weekend that was, not that there was ever a TV program of that name.
The weekend topped off what was a pretty good week.
Friday evening - I attended the wedding reception of Dean Grady and Fiona Hunter, who are kayaking and cycling friends as well as being neighbours.
Saturday morning - swimming training with East Anglia Swallow Tails before heading off on a Tri-Anglia ride to the English Whisky Distillery outside East Harling (route). Wrapped that up with a 2.2mile transition run.

Diss Swim Relay Challenge
Pleased to report that following a solid display of consistant swimming in the 15 minute Relay Challenge that the Tri-Anglia team consisting of Matt Ellis, Matt Spillman, Oliver Milk and myself won. More

Club 10k

Sunday morning saw the first Tri-Anglia Club 10k of the winter series. The run follows the 10k run route from the Norwich Olympic Triathlon, though admittedly with a slightly different start/finish point. The route is undulating and twisty with a significant portion off road. So not a quick course. Managed to post a time of 41:21 which is just 6 seconds off my all time 10k PB recorded 3 years ago.

I'm very very pleased with that.

Then went for a 36 mile ride on the single speed Specialized Tricross. Mark Nowell gave me company to Wortwell where he bought us hot drinks. The 36 miles is the furthest I've ridden on this bike in one go so far and takes the total mileage on that new bike through 100miles.

My ever faithful Giant OCR2 which was my first bike back in sept 2003 this week went through the 15,000 mile point. Total training mileage for the week was 192.6miles consisting of 5.1 miles swimming, 161 cycling and 26.5 running

Training total year to date

Todays swim, bike and run have taken me through the 7,000 training miles year to date.

Swim wise i'm just 2 miles short at 132 miles of my 2007 total with eleven weeks still to go. Bike wise, I'm just 4 miles short of 6,000 and run wise I'm at 929.

Nearly went out on my single speed winter bike today, but glad I didn't as the fast boys (Matt, Matt, Oli and Russell) were out and I would not have kept up on a 42-18. Weather was fab, and we found a lovely road with tail wind that we belted along at 23+mph, which meant we missed the planned route, but meant we were on the right route for us for today.

Planned route was: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1661635

Acctual route was: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2327582

Wroxham 5k - 2008 number 3 - 20th August

Last week was my biggest week of training ahead of the UK Ironman ahead of what should have been a recovery week. Over the last two weeks I've covered over 500 miles in training (425 on the bike 78 running and 7 miles swimming). In the 5 days leading up to Wednesday's 5k I'd run 38 miles and the legs were feeling reluctant to move. I was convinced I shouldn't be running and shouldn't be going for a fast time. I asked if anyone needed pacing round in 25 minutes.
I ran my usual 2k warm up and the legs felt heavy but produced 8mpm, which was faster than I was expecting. Lined up for the start and suddenly felt light on my feet - guess it was the light weight cycling socks rather than blister resistant thick running socks I normally prefer. Legs still felt heavy and didn't want to risk injury. 4:10 for the first km, ran the second km chatting and watching the form of those around me. I know my style is far from perfect but a session recently with Neil Featherby had me looking at toe landers, circular leg actions, lopsided shoulders, backward leans and uneven arm swings. Second km was done in 4:00. Third km was the usual slower split that I've come to expect with the Wroxham course of 4:22. With just over 2km to go, and inspired by our Olympic success I went into overtake mode from the bend and clocked 3:56 and 3:55. Total time of 20:24. Whilst still 44seconds off a PB it is still my fastest 5k as a Vet (oh, okay 1st 5k as a Vet), my fastest 5k for 3 years and way faster than I had any right to run. So I'm a very happy bunny with that performance, very happy with my training in prep for the Ironman and very happy with how my body seems to be coping with the training. Not promising anything great for the Ironman just the finish but I'm sure I'll have fun getting round. Have I mentioned my just giving site of www.justgiving.com/roblines?

Last Long Run and Ride done now...

.... ahead of Ironman UK. Rode 114 miles yesterday and a very slow 18 miler today. That makes 221 miles cycling, 6 swimming and 38 running with 31 of those taking place in the last 48 hours - no wonder today's run was hard work and a test of will.
Have been able to pile on the miles these last two weeks and feeling pleased with the efforts. Total combined mileage for the two weeks being 515miles. Total for the year to date is now 5,940 miles as 108.7 swimming, 5,042.4 cycling and 789.4 running.
Just the taper to do now.

Heavy Rain..

... this morning meant I got soacked riding into work. Fortunately the rain had stopped before JT and I went for our lunchtime ride, however we did find lots of standing water, particularly in the fords and dips around Mulbarton. We came back with very wet feet.

Last big week of training for Ironman UK

Today is the first day of my last big week of training for Ironman UK. It got off to a good start with my first swim at UEA since the pool reopened following refurbishments. That was followed up with a recovery run at lunchtime and I've now setup www.justgiving.com/roblines to raise funds for the Meningitis Trust.
Last week saw an impressive total mileage with 212 miles on the bike and 40 miles running. Long ride was 108 miles down to Aldeburgh. The long run yesterday was 22miles to my Mum's house for Sunday lunch. I was then given a lift home.