Sports Massage

Went for sports massage at Body in Motion last night, with Vikki Styles, who is physio with Worthing RUFC.
And for a small lass, she delivers quite a punch! Quads and hamstrings and glutes aching last night, but boy oh boy, do I feel better today. And good news is that I am almost pain free in the knee for the first time in 3 weeks. Certainly feel well enough to do some light strength work on my quads at the gym tonight and will have a swim after, still pushing off on one leg til I feel more confident of my knee.
But I can now flex my knee with no pain, so all has settled down. Just strength and felxibility for the rest of the week and at the weekend will try sitting on my bike on the rollers for 10 mins, and maybe a light jog/walk for 10 minutes as well.
So far so good. Much more positive today.
:-)

Still injured

No good. Have stopped swimming as well. Still pain in my right knee when I walk, so I have decided to stop completely and rest as much as I can until there is no pain. It's frustrating as I marshalled at the New Forest middle distance tri yesterday and as I watched the bikes go passed and then saw the results, I would have been mixing it with the top 10. Never mind, there's always next year and marshalling was good fun.
Just don't know when I will get back on my bike or run, and with Clearwater only 7 weeks away, it's not looking good. Oh well, it's just another race, and we'll have a nice holiday over there I'm sure!
:)

AECC works wonders!

Thanks to Ed Morton at the AECC in Boscombe, I now can focus recovery on my knee injury.
As I thought, the knee is not the root cause. Down to tight quads, adductors and pelvis. Will be continuing with stetching, flexibility and strengthening. Have booked a sports massage for this Friday at Body in Motion, also in Boscombe, to sort me out as I feel a bit like an ironing board at the moment.
No running and cycling for 2 weeks is killing me, I still have 5 days to go before I can get back on the bike. This is self-enforced as well, so makes it harder. And while I'm not training I'm fighting the urge to continue eating the colossal amounts of food I normally do!
I'm off for another swim session, so on a positive note, this time has been useful to focus on improving my swimstroke, and at least I'm keeping a bit of aerobic fitness.

Injury

Bugger!

Gone and overdone it when recovering from a knee injury. Nothing serious but will take a while to heal and for me to get back to full training.
No cycling or running for a week while I address the pain and then 2 weeks of gentle recovery, mostly swimming, light rollers, treadmill walk/jog and strength conditioning in the gym. Hopefully can get back to full training by beginning of October which will give me just under 6 weeks to go before Clearwater on 8th November, which hopefully will be enough to get me through with a decent performance, although I'm almost resigned to the fact that I might be going there not at my best.
Oh well, trying to stay positive, and at least use this time to look at some long term goals, work at swim technique and start including strength and flexibility into my training.
Just means I will be pulling out of Littledown triathlon on Sunday and might not compete at the New Forest middle distance tri the week after. I'm disappointed about the New Forest one as at the start of the season I was targeting this as an 'A' race, and was very confident of a sub 5 hour finish, and certainly finishing in the top 20.
Next year!

Southwater Relays 2008

Good turnout for this event in poor weather, a very dull and dreary September day. This was brightened by a surprisingly good result on our part.

Zoom tri club had entered 4 teams and myself, Lawrence Down and Andy Downton(team captain) had some serious competition form Rob, Ed and Freddie!

In the end we came through in 4th overall and picked up the 2nd men's senior prize! Andy and Lawrence have been training long this season and were in no sprint form, and I had a very sore knee( now a lot worse!) and had done virtually nothing in the way of serious run training for 6 weeks or so, and nowhere near being race fit. I hadn't ridden my bike for a week prior to the day before, and on the Saturday before the race I spun on the race bike for 30 minnutes and had to stop with pain in the knee. Ideally, should not have raced, but couldn't let the team down.

We all posted similar times, Lawrence and I did 56' and a bit for 400m swim, 18.5km bike, and 3.8km run. Andy was a bit quicker on the last leg with 55' and small change. Well done boys.

I was slightly disappointed I couldn't push any harder, but injury and lack of race fitness just held me back, particularly on the bike where I rode very conservatively, but still managed to get us up to 4th place from 16th. Lawrence did a great job to get us up near the front guys at the start which set me up for a good bike, and then Andy came through solid on all 3, finishing with a strong run to keep us in 4th.

Freddie Devos posted the quickest time from Zoom tri club in 54 mins, his team finishing 14th overall in the end. And the Zoom ladies senior team managed to bag 3rd place, excellent stuff.

Was a great fun event and will look forward to doing this one again next year, hopefully the weather will improve.
Link to website: Southwater Relays

Rest of year Race diary

7th September - Southwater tri relays with Zoom Tri Club
14th September - Littledown Fast Twitch tri - www.conceptsport.co.uk
21st September - New Forest Middle Distance tri - www.racenewforest.co.uk

October - Sandy Ball-buster duathlon - www.racenewforest.co.uk
8th November - Ironman 70.3 World Championships, Clearwater, Florida

All races wih the exception of Clearwater will be extended trainig sessions, and not sure whether I will yet finish New Forest middle, depends on the next 3 weeks' training, if I can build up enough strength/muscular endurance.
And then after November a well earned rest. Will start bike base miles in December in prep for next season.

Swanage Classic Triathlon 2008

Well, I had a big rest after my efforts at Wimbleball(Half Ironman UK), and since then I have not been doing much in the way of run training, due to a viral infection, which floored me at Purbeck tri(although managed to bag a 3rd place), and a bit of a knee niggle, due in main to tight hamstrings.

I ummed and arred about doing Swanage but in the end James Gilfillan talked me round and I thought it was not a bad idea to get back to a race just for fun and see how I am doing.

I felt like I needed a bit of a kickstart to get me going for Clearwater in Novemebr, only 10 weeks away!!!

So I did it. And felt good throughout. Had a great first half of the swim, out in around 12 minutes, and then went and got lost on the way back!! Typical, I always do it, just swam too far out and cost me some time just trying to get back on course!

Oh well, had a good T1, and jumped on bike and felt surprisingly strong. Normally at these Olympic distance ones I struggle regulating my breathing from swim to bike, but I was ok. Biking definitely my strongest discipline and even though a bit of a hilly route I still got myself round in the top 10 bike times, and despite my chain coming off again!! My fault. I must just pick a big or small ring at the start of a climb and stick to it. I was caught in 2 minds and it cost me.

Had a good T2 and off on the run, where I planned on attacking the hills. This I did, but my lack of recent run training began to show after half way and my calves were tightening.

Prior to Wimbleball I had been doing a lot of hill running as intervals and I got round that run course without any problems. Swanage was different, and although I was 4 minutes up on last season's run time, I was still off the pace of what I know I can do. But I was not at all disappointed.

High 5 from James G at the end, he won yet again, great performance. And man he can eat some food. Did a bbq in the afternoon and got no idea where he puts it!! We sometimes go out on training rides and you ain't gonna get any draft off him whatsoever!

So Swanage got me back into triathlon again, not that I ever doubted my love of the sport, but it was just the tonic I needed. A good performance, very strong which now puts me in the right frame of mind to continue my journey towards the Ironman 70.3 World Championships!

My Overall time: 2:21:37

Winning time: 2:01:26

I was up on last year's time by 12 minutes. This year the weather made it tougher.

Winning time last year by James G was 1:56 something. So putting it into context a very good performance and had it been an A priority race then could have been better.

Next year James, next year!!!

:)

Half Ironman UK 2008

Welcome back!

It's been 6 months since I last posted on here, for a number of reasons.
1. lack of time
2. I'm updating loads of training web applications
3. I'm using paper and a pen to record my training, much less hassle.

But, thought it would be nice to report on Half Ironman UK 2008, as I went back to race it again this year.

Training this year has been very consistent, with only one knee niggle throughout March which was more annoying than distastrous and I managed to keep up some light work while my physio sorted it out.
I've had some excellent results. 2nd at Mad March triathlon http://www.resultstriathlon.co.uk/race-results/race-results.asp?id=22
http://www.conceptsport.co.uk/results.php

8th overall, and 1st in my age group at Hungerford tri, which was reduced to a swim and run due to snow!!! 17th overall and 1st in my age group(35-39) at Winchester tri. 15th overall and 2nd age group at Dorchester tri. These were all Concept sport events and on the link above.
I also did a 10 mile TT and finished 13th out of 70 riders, posting a respectable 24' 11" in very windy conditions, amongst some very strong riders.
I posted 39' 50" at Winchester 10k back in Feb and came 65th out of 600 odd runners, which for me is very good.
So preparation for Ironman UK 70.3 had gone really well, and I was full of confidence. I have also been doing some good run and bike sessions with James Gilfillan, who has been a great inspiration and has had some excellent results this season, winning all but one race he has taken part in!

So here goes. Race day.

Swim:
It was very cold! Air temperature was down to 7 degrees at 6am, and it felt warmer in the water! However, it did not last and we were held in the water for at least 10 minutes, and before long I was feeling the cold. It was a mass swim start, with 900 athletes in the water and waiting for the off all at once! Behold the washing machine!
We were off and immediately I was into a good stroke, but I was not getting through the water quickly, I was feeling the cold and just could not get any effort into the stroke.
I cam out of the water in around 35 minutes which was 2 minutes down on where I should have been. However, I made some time up through T1, only 3 minutes to run up a 400m hill, change out of wetsuit, get bike and set off.
bike:
Well, the start of my bike was so slow, bottleneck at start did not help and I had to stop to get feet in shoes to get going, so my T1 speed had been negated. Once I got going I really started to feel the cold and could not get my legs moving, and especially as it was straight into a climb, I was finding it hard to regulate my heartrate. It was a good 20 miles until I managed to get myself really going and once there I was riding strongly. Unfortunately the rain came at about halfway and it really made conditions a bit tricky. Glasses had to come off and riding at 40 mph into driving rain is not at all easy on the eyes, and actually seeing anything was a bit tricky!
But I made god progress and was looking at posting a split of near 2hr 52, which would have got me into the top 20 bike times. However, just as I came down to T2, I had a mishap and came off the bike! It was a nasty fall and shook me up a great deal. Feet and hands bloody, right knee and leg taken a bash. Cost me at least 5 minutes on the bike, and obviously affected my run time. But I got into transition and told myself to keep going. 2hr 59 on the bike, down in 47th.
Run:
Started strong and finished stronger! I had a very good run, paced it very well and made sure to run within myself. Everytime I felt good and felt like pushing I just reigned it in a little as I didn't want to blow up before the end. And it worked. 3 caffeine gels and water saw me home in 1 hour 41 mins, very repsectable. My half marathon PB before that was 1hr 36, so to do a 1:41 on that course(very hilly, twisty and turny) and off a tough bike, falling etc, I was very pleased. My running has really improved this year, as I have been working hard at that.
All in all I finished in 65th place out of 900. I finished 10th in my age group. My time was 5 hours 21 minutes and 14 seconds. An hour better than last year!
And what's more I qualified for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, Florida on 8th November!!!
Very excited about that!
Got 2 weeks rest now and then will pick it up again in July, a few more races in preparation for November. I'll keep you posted on progress!
Pics of 2008 racing etc to follow.

December 07 training

The focus for this month was on the swimming and running, improving technique and aerobic fitness. This has been working and to great effect. Managed to do a pool 1500m in under 28 minutes. Very happy with that. Can now tumble turn, and use it on 90% of my lengths in the pool. Needs improving but has come together really well.
My technique is far better, coming through with nice high elbows and legs together more, very high in water and balance is improving. I'm managing to control myself in the water better and have an overall better feel for the water. By the end of next season I'm hoping to be under 25 minutes for 1500m. Then I can look at being competitive.
Running is improving greatly, and that has been boosted by my performance in the Downton half marathon. To do 1' 36 on a hilly course is a great time for me and I'm looking to build on this and do a couple more and see what I can do on a flat course. To go under 1' 30 would be fantastic, and really give me something to build on. My goal is to run 1 hr 35 for Half Ironman UK run leg. Similar course to Downton, I feel I have it in me.
At the moment, lots of easy paced runs, extending the distance, building up my base miles.
And that's the same on the bike. December has been some long easy rides mixed with a couple of harder paced efforts. Once the weather warms up then I expect my speed to really improve. Working in some turbo sessions for building up leg strength and been on the rollers for improving pedalling technique and efficiency.
I now have new Easton Attack aero bars on my Plasma, which look the business and are light and built for speed, get me in a far more aero position. Looking forward to next season just to see how fast I can go o the bike.
So all in all December has been a positive month. My fitness levels have increased hugely, my body shape has changed as I have got leaner, and back has broadened due to swimming. No shoulder pain when swimming as I now have the correct technique, and running injury free.
Just going to plan my race schedule for next year, keeping it flexible, but to focus on HIMUK as a qualifier for the Worlds in Florida in November. I will be there!!!

latest

Well, recovery week was good after half marathon. No running. Ran today for 40 minutes at a nice easy pace, just to see how legs are. Covered a little over 4 miles, and felt good. Legs in good shape.
Done a good amount of cycling last week and at the weekend, not too hard, nice and steady. Couple of sessions on the rollers, getting better balanced on there now, done 2 good workouts, concentrating on pedal technique and spinning at high cadence - 110 - 120rpm.
Swimming is on the go too, 4 sessions in the week, 2 this week already, back in tomorrow. Was videoed on Monday night at Zoom tri session. Front of stroke is lovely, with good shoulder rotation and angle of entry, good reach and smooth long stroke. That's the good bit. Bad are my legs!! All over the place. SO at least now I know what to work at for the next few weeks. Get my core strengthened and get that kick nice and narrow.
Reliability ride on Sunday, Jubilee Wheelers event, 100k, should be a good ride, if the weather is any good! Feeling good to train hard at the moment, but resisting going hard, and just really keeping my fitness up, but building the bike slowly. Focus on swim technique. slow and steady. And will start to build run endurance with long slow runs.