Tuesday - Week 5

Swim - 3800m in around 1hr45min.

Yes, quite a wopper swim, and this morning I feel well tired!!! Also Leo had a bit of a restless night so was up a few times to settle the little man. But all good, not sure how I'll manage the turbo tonight but lets see...

Monday - Week 5

Run - 45 min, around 7 km.

Was very tired, not the greatest run but hey...at least it's done now!!!!

Started on my healthy eating routine to see if I can shift some of the excess weight...got on the scales yesterday morning, NOT GOOD. But much happier this morning as I was already 0,3kg down. V. good!!! Would like to loose 4 kg's by the end of March. That must be do-able.

Week 4 in-a-can!!

Saturday – 75km bike ride, in 3hr05. Went out with Sharon and Pip for a little all-girl bike ride, gotta love it. We did the hilly Windsor route, with mandatory tea stop. The pace was comfortable, except for a few bits where we got rained on, and there was a long bit where we were going into the wind, that really hurt. Also nice to ride and have a bit of a natter….usually I’m hanging on the back for dear life in complete survival mode!!!!
Here are some pics taken on our ride. That’s Sharon in the Turbo kit, and Pip’s up front in her commuters neon jacket (very fetching!!!) We’ve just left Windsor proper and were passing through Old Windsor heading towards Runnymede. That’s the Thames on our left.

Sunday – 12km run in 1hr11min. Bronson, Leo and I did the Richmond park run again, managed to knock 4 mins off our last time so quite happy with that. Heart rate stayed nice and constant so wasn’t killing myself. We have had pretty wet weather in the last week, so the park was real wet and muddy. I though for sure our time would be slower, but what-do-you-know…It was a tough old run that, especially near the end as Leo was starting to get bored and Bronson has making all funny noises to entertain him. He was also leaping up and down like a crazy person while Leo chuckled away or screamed in unison. It’s very difficult running and laughing at the same time!!!!

I’m quite happy with this last week. Managed to do 8,5 hours of training…brilliant. If I can keep this up, I’ll be on track to finish CH70.3 without too much trouble. There is a guy in our club who did IMUK ’06 on less then 5 hours of training a week….I’m doing a bit more then that and only need to go half as far…yippee!!!

Now for week 5, BRING IT ON!!!!

Thursday - Week 4

Run - 58:43, 9,1km - Had to run real slow in the beginning due to sore knees (oh brother)...but once I was warmed up, the knees felt ok so I could get a move on again. Average heart rate was 147, a definite indication that I was going steady. The last of the lurgie has left so lungs feel good-to-go, finally.

I have to do two things, more of one, less of the other…

Firstly, I have to do more stretching…especially around the knees. Maybe add to this some strengthening exercises. Else these knees are just not going to make it. I’ve also got a sinking sensation that there is a staircase on the run route, that I’ll have to get up three times. Stairs really kill my knees. I found a post on Tritalk, and after having a closer look at the profile for the race run route, I think they may be right….this is what I’m talking about:

Maybe it’s not a stair case….please god!!! (the bit at the 2km mark). If the profile is accurate, it would mean the stair case starts at 1,8km and goes on for 200m. And the elevation is 10m...surely not a staircase, but rather a short sharp hill. Either which way, it's going to be hell on the knees.

Secondly, I have to start eating less. I need to shed some extra baggage before the race. If I could just stop eating sweets and cookies, I’ll be fine. But I have the most horrific sweet tooth, runs in the family I’m afraid…maybe I should get on a scale and log my weight. SCARY!!!!

Wednesday - Week 4

Turbo - 30 km, 1hr 5 mins.

Doing a turbo session is really the worst punishment for me....just so boring.

This is how my session goes:

Start and do a warm up, watching my heart rate climb, great uses up about 5 minutes.
Then I try concentrate on what’s on the telly. Mostly junk, another 5 minutes go by.
Then I mess with my iPod, looking for some decent tunes, flick through some tracks, 2 songs later bored with that too, only managed to waste 10 minutes.
Put my head down and grind away for another 45 minutes, just painfully watching the distance counter on my computer till I hit the magic 30km. Thank heavens, I can get off. Just in time before I completely loose the will to live…

Bring on the summer…when I’ll happily risk life and limb on the wild roads of Surrey.

Tuesday - Week 4

Tuesday – Swim, 2900m in around 1.5 hours. Throat still a bit yuk, fine if I’m coasting along, but anything at speed just lead to coughs and splutters.

Week 4 - Catch-up mode

Well, week 4 is supposed to be a recovery week, but as I missed quite a few day’s while I was ill, I’ve decided to play a bit of catch up.

Run – 48:53 , 7.7km, felt pretty good on this run, knees held up as I tried to find paths with less tilt. Running is starting to feel comfortable, which is great because as you may have noticed from my little table, I’ve entered Ranelagh half marathon. Bit scared really, I’ve never ran that far before. I’ve run 16km before, but that last 5 could just kill me….

I entered the race on Pip’s advice, she tells me the route is flat and it’s a good run to cut half marathon teeth on. Pip has turned into my HIM guru, having done 3 and attempting a full one this year (Go Pip), think I’ll be calling on her experience often in the next few months.