More coverage in the Birmingham Post here
More than 8,000 to run in Birmingham half-marathon
Oct 6 2008
More than 8,000 people have signed up to take part in the EDF Energy Birmingham Half Marathon.
Organisers of the city’s inaugural event, on October 26, initially predicted entries would top 5,000 but reached 8,000 by the cut-off date of September 26.
Councillor Ray Hassall, cabinet member for leisure, sport and culture, said: “We are absolutely delighted that people have now signed up to take part in this event.
“It is going to be a fantastic event for Birmingham and I am delighted that so many local people have been inspired to participate in what is going to be a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase the city.
“A half marathon is a big challenge for many people so we do want to encourage every single runner to make sure that they are fully prepared for this event.
“The recent wet weather may affect some people’s training schedules but I’d like to remind runners that with the huge number of Birmingham City Council leisure facilities across the city, there are plenty of indoor training options for people to take advantage of.”
Triathlete Toby Radcliffe, of Athletes for a Fit Planet, has been appointed as EDF Energy’s sustainability expert for the race, also known as the Race Against Climate Change.
Every entrant has been invited to join the 2012 Carbon Challenge at www.savetodaysavetomorrow.com, which was launched to encourage people to reduce their home energy carbon footprint by one tonne by 2012.
Mr Radcliffe said: “We’ve come up with some simple ideas and suggestions so that people can try and save energy and be greener whilst they are training for the EDF Energy Birmingham Half Marathon.
“For example people should be drinking more water while they are training, so we suggest using refillable bottles rather than buying bottled water. We’re also encouraging people to eat local fresh produce, which as well as being good for you means fewer food miles so less carbon will have been used to transport the food that you eat.”
Volunteers are also needed to help man water stations and marshall the course, start and finish areas for the inaugural Birmingham half marathon.
Anyone interested in helping out can contact Birmingham City Council on 0121 464 2012.
Monday, 6 October 2008
Friday, 26 September 2008
Italian training
Managed to slip out of the country last week for a cheeky high vol week in Italy on a Steve Trew camp. Great group of people as usual. My lats are still recovering from a little more swim volume than normal, thanks to Dan from Swim4tri who was also out there coaching at the camp. Pleased to be able to hit a solid week of training with fairly minimal recovery from IMUK.
Nice to be back in the UK again though, and its made me realise how close the next race is... Kona is two weeks tomorrow!
Nice to be back in the UK again though, and its made me realise how close the next race is... Kona is two weeks tomorrow!
Sunday, 21 September 2008
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
IMUK 2008 Race Report
I just about made it to the swim practice early Friday before race day but quickly decided that the rest of the day was going to be spent indoors at my awesome homestay at the north end of town, avoiding the torrential downpours and blustery winds that were battering Dorset. Saturday wasn't much better in the afternoon and by racking time everyone at the race venue was soaking again. Relative to that, the weather forecast for race day of hardly any rain and just some winds of 16-20mph with gusts up to 30 mph seemed very positive! This was the kind of weather that as kids we used to relish on hiking holidays in Dorset, wrapped up in hardy waterproofs, wellies, with a large thermos of tea to see us through. The kind of weather that made the sheep huddle close to the lea side of the hills so they didn't get blown into next week.
So, positive choice number one: in case of inclement weather, take arm warmers. How I rationalised that arm warmers would suffice for a 16 deg C windy race with threat of rain as the only addition to the same kit I’d wear for a 35 deg C race in blazing sun, I'm not sure, but somehow it worked!
The swim was uneventful. The logistics of getting 1500 athletes into a pond at 6am (and some parking on the run course – never good!) meant that the start was delayed by around half an hour, but this at least gave the morning a chance to go from pitch black to just murky grey. I managed to lose the first group (not surprising given the pace of the first couple of guys) which meant a fair amount of swimming on my own, and then hanging off some age group feet for the middle section, which was fine. I got a little frustrated seeing the gap to the next group widening, but I tried to swim on and quickly realised I wasn't making any headway so sat back in until the feet started to slow down.
Roll back a week to last Sunday. I had to warn my long-suffering flatmate's that I was grumpy. I’d been struggling with a soleus injury for several weeks and it had finally kicked off so badly after a prep race in Bedford that I’d been on a running moratorium for 7 days with little improvement. I was on the verge of pulling out, not being able to face starting another race that I couldn't finish due to injury this year! But Sunday night I had booked in some cupping, acupuncture (the don’t try anything new on race week rule goes out of the window if there’s a big chance you might not be able to race at all!) and an hour and a half of massage (on top of 2 massages earlier in the week). My legs have never had so much attention! Monday rolled round and I procrastinated on the test run, knowing that if it went badly that I’d be pulling the plug. I tooled around all day until 5pm when I finally bit the bullet and went for a broken 25 minute jog. It wasn't great, but it was manageable. Perhaps another massage and a few more days rest. I didn't make the call to withdraw.
Exiting the swim, I was relieved that the hoard of age groupers hadn't overrun me – hopefully I’d not let down Dan my swim coach too badly (Swim for Tri)!. Running to T1, Bella was alongside, and she slid on a muddy corner. I saw her tumble too late and followed suit, wiping out in the mud. Highly entertaining! The bike started uneventfully, though I my aero-helmet felt surprisingly uncomfortable. After a few kms, I realised that I had put the aero side panels on the wrong way round, so they were pointing into my neck at the sides. Ouch – that hurt, though it did make me chuckle! There'll be some strange looking photos from the first 30kms, before I had the sense to take them off.
The first lap didn't seem too bad, but a time check at the turnaround showed that I was well off my predicted pace. On lap two, I started to slow. The combination of increasingly blustery winds and taking two bottles of water at successive aid stations instead of energy drink was making me flag. There didn't seem to be anything extra in the legs and it felt like I was going nowhere fast. Mentally I started writing my race report. The first draft was titled “so this is what being undertrained feels like...” A couple of pros and then some speedy age groupers ripped it past me, and I just let them go. Having little idea of how many had been in the front pack on the swim, I was clueless as to my position on the bike. It seemed pretty lonely out there, the first lap was spent with little sign of anyone else for a lot of the time. The wind and hills had split everyone rapidly, so that even on the last lap, the age group field seemed well spread. I was riding my beautiful orange Trek (Team Timex colours), with Powertap – post race I checked the data. At IMCdA earlier in the year (where I was doing a training brick as shin splints had me off running) I rode a fairly leisurely 5:15 on an undulating bike course... 10 minutes FASTER than my IMUK split, but averaging 20 watts EASIER. That was a tough old bike at the weekend!
Morale was pretty low, but the light in the darkness came in the form some incredible support, some in the form of pompoms and a few Serpie flags dotted around the course. Luckily the rain held off in the most part, so that the support out of the bike course was much more impressive than I had expected.
As T2 approached, I started to feel better, mentally, and having finally picked up some bottles of cola, the caffeine was kicking in too. Autopilot took over for the transition and I was out on the run, full-on bright white compression socks and all. Here’s where I’d find out if my soleus was going to keep it together or not. The dearth of volunteers in T2 watching me struggle with the compression socks made me wonder where I was placed. No one else in T2 was a good sign, right? At some point a couple of kms into the run a kid shouted “you’re in 15th!”. I don’t usually hold much stock in positions being called from the crowd, as I know how uncertain this can be, but it gave me some hope – perhaps everyone found the conditions hard, and it wasn't just me having a bad day. If the legs held together, perhaps I could run down a couple of those age groupers who must have spent themselves on the bike course... So I kept on. Keep it steady. Keep it steady. By mile 5 of the first lap I was contemplating the irony of wearing white knee high socks to what turning into a cross country mud marathon.
Between the castle gates and the centre of town I saw the top three or four running back, so I figured that I was only down about 25 minutes on them. Lap one came and went in a flurry of gels and coke. I did wonder how many more I could take before my body started to reject them violently. On lap two I had a stroke of luck. A Scot by the name of Alistair on his first lap pulled up to my shoulder and we chatted briefly. He was running a solid pace and kept it consistent so we ran together for most of lap two, running a couple of people down in the meantime. I’d counted off at least 3 people by then, so I was hoping I was around 12th. Coming onto lap 3 I caught up to another pro, Kai Soderdahl, and I think that kept us both going for the final loop.
Even at the finish line, I had no idea where I’d placed. A few sweaty hugs later and I had an answer from the Ironman live booth – 6th! I think I was grinning for the rest of the day.
A shower, massage, curry, bath and a lot of tea later, we watched the final couple of hours of the race. The Serpie cheering squad continued to amaze me with their endless enthusiasm late into the evening. For spectators, knowing that the best viewing is the mass swim start and the final few finishers makes it a long day! An endurance event in itself.
And the next day it got even better. I turned down a Hawaii spot last year as an Age Grouper as it is an expensive trip an I had some masters exams to finish off. Having worked out who had and didn't have a spot in the top 5 pros, I figured roll down may reach me... and I was ready to turn it down again, as I really can’t afford the trip this year. Gutting. And then something amazing happened: Rotary offered to part support the trip actually during the roll down. So it looks like I'm off to the Big Island a little earlier than I had planned!
See you in Hawaii... Anyone got a spare bed?!
So, positive choice number one: in case of inclement weather, take arm warmers. How I rationalised that arm warmers would suffice for a 16 deg C windy race with threat of rain as the only addition to the same kit I’d wear for a 35 deg C race in blazing sun, I'm not sure, but somehow it worked!
The swim was uneventful. The logistics of getting 1500 athletes into a pond at 6am (and some parking on the run course – never good!) meant that the start was delayed by around half an hour, but this at least gave the morning a chance to go from pitch black to just murky grey. I managed to lose the first group (not surprising given the pace of the first couple of guys) which meant a fair amount of swimming on my own, and then hanging off some age group feet for the middle section, which was fine. I got a little frustrated seeing the gap to the next group widening, but I tried to swim on and quickly realised I wasn't making any headway so sat back in until the feet started to slow down.
Roll back a week to last Sunday. I had to warn my long-suffering flatmate's that I was grumpy. I’d been struggling with a soleus injury for several weeks and it had finally kicked off so badly after a prep race in Bedford that I’d been on a running moratorium for 7 days with little improvement. I was on the verge of pulling out, not being able to face starting another race that I couldn't finish due to injury this year! But Sunday night I had booked in some cupping, acupuncture (the don’t try anything new on race week rule goes out of the window if there’s a big chance you might not be able to race at all!) and an hour and a half of massage (on top of 2 massages earlier in the week). My legs have never had so much attention! Monday rolled round and I procrastinated on the test run, knowing that if it went badly that I’d be pulling the plug. I tooled around all day until 5pm when I finally bit the bullet and went for a broken 25 minute jog. It wasn't great, but it was manageable. Perhaps another massage and a few more days rest. I didn't make the call to withdraw.
Exiting the swim, I was relieved that the hoard of age groupers hadn't overrun me – hopefully I’d not let down Dan my swim coach too badly (Swim for Tri)!. Running to T1, Bella was alongside, and she slid on a muddy corner. I saw her tumble too late and followed suit, wiping out in the mud. Highly entertaining! The bike started uneventfully, though I my aero-helmet felt surprisingly uncomfortable. After a few kms, I realised that I had put the aero side panels on the wrong way round, so they were pointing into my neck at the sides. Ouch – that hurt, though it did make me chuckle! There'll be some strange looking photos from the first 30kms, before I had the sense to take them off.
The first lap didn't seem too bad, but a time check at the turnaround showed that I was well off my predicted pace. On lap two, I started to slow. The combination of increasingly blustery winds and taking two bottles of water at successive aid stations instead of energy drink was making me flag. There didn't seem to be anything extra in the legs and it felt like I was going nowhere fast. Mentally I started writing my race report. The first draft was titled “so this is what being undertrained feels like...” A couple of pros and then some speedy age groupers ripped it past me, and I just let them go. Having little idea of how many had been in the front pack on the swim, I was clueless as to my position on the bike. It seemed pretty lonely out there, the first lap was spent with little sign of anyone else for a lot of the time. The wind and hills had split everyone rapidly, so that even on the last lap, the age group field seemed well spread. I was riding my beautiful orange Trek (Team Timex colours), with Powertap – post race I checked the data. At IMCdA earlier in the year (where I was doing a training brick as shin splints had me off running) I rode a fairly leisurely 5:15 on an undulating bike course... 10 minutes FASTER than my IMUK split, but averaging 20 watts EASIER. That was a tough old bike at the weekend!
Morale was pretty low, but the light in the darkness came in the form some incredible support, some in the form of pompoms and a few Serpie flags dotted around the course. Luckily the rain held off in the most part, so that the support out of the bike course was much more impressive than I had expected.
As T2 approached, I started to feel better, mentally, and having finally picked up some bottles of cola, the caffeine was kicking in too. Autopilot took over for the transition and I was out on the run, full-on bright white compression socks and all. Here’s where I’d find out if my soleus was going to keep it together or not. The dearth of volunteers in T2 watching me struggle with the compression socks made me wonder where I was placed. No one else in T2 was a good sign, right? At some point a couple of kms into the run a kid shouted “you’re in 15th!”. I don’t usually hold much stock in positions being called from the crowd, as I know how uncertain this can be, but it gave me some hope – perhaps everyone found the conditions hard, and it wasn't just me having a bad day. If the legs held together, perhaps I could run down a couple of those age groupers who must have spent themselves on the bike course... So I kept on. Keep it steady. Keep it steady. By mile 5 of the first lap I was contemplating the irony of wearing white knee high socks to what turning into a cross country mud marathon.
Between the castle gates and the centre of town I saw the top three or four running back, so I figured that I was only down about 25 minutes on them. Lap one came and went in a flurry of gels and coke. I did wonder how many more I could take before my body started to reject them violently. On lap two I had a stroke of luck. A Scot by the name of Alistair on his first lap pulled up to my shoulder and we chatted briefly. He was running a solid pace and kept it consistent so we ran together for most of lap two, running a couple of people down in the meantime. I’d counted off at least 3 people by then, so I was hoping I was around 12th. Coming onto lap 3 I caught up to another pro, Kai Soderdahl, and I think that kept us both going for the final loop.
Even at the finish line, I had no idea where I’d placed. A few sweaty hugs later and I had an answer from the Ironman live booth – 6th! I think I was grinning for the rest of the day.
A shower, massage, curry, bath and a lot of tea later, we watched the final couple of hours of the race. The Serpie cheering squad continued to amaze me with their endless enthusiasm late into the evening. For spectators, knowing that the best viewing is the mass swim start and the final few finishers makes it a long day! An endurance event in itself.
And the next day it got even better. I turned down a Hawaii spot last year as an Age Grouper as it is an expensive trip an I had some masters exams to finish off. Having worked out who had and didn't have a spot in the top 5 pros, I figured roll down may reach me... and I was ready to turn it down again, as I really can’t afford the trip this year. Gutting. And then something amazing happened: Rotary offered to part support the trip actually during the roll down. So it looks like I'm off to the Big Island a little earlier than I had planned!
See you in Hawaii... Anyone got a spare bed?!
Monday, 25 August 2008
Bedford Olympic Race Report
2 weeks to IMUK. This weekend featured the usual race prep olympic distance - essentially an intensity brick session at the end of a tough week. Despite the rain and nearly going back to bed before race start, it turned out to be a worthwhile hit out.
The purpose of race prep is two-fold: a key brick session in race conditions, and to try out all the kit and transitions as if in an A race. So I was out in full orange kit, Trek, Bontager race wheels, Rudy project aero helmet, the works. A bit overkill for a training day, but that's the point! And the rain probably made it quite race specific training for IMUK too (though I hope not!).
The race turned out to be very pleasant. Despite the rain and some slippery roads, and a few badly signed roundabouts and a missed turn (!), the ride was flat and fun. The swim was simple to navigate, and included at least one of your five a day on the return leg in the form of river weed. The run was a well supported 3 looper, complete with steeple-chase water opbstacles in the underpass thanks to the wet start :) And the club champs for the Serpies made it a sociable one too. Lots of red and yellow out there on the course doing well. And to get 11th out of 400ish overall wasn't a bad result too.
The purpose of race prep is two-fold: a key brick session in race conditions, and to try out all the kit and transitions as if in an A race. So I was out in full orange kit, Trek, Bontager race wheels, Rudy project aero helmet, the works. A bit overkill for a training day, but that's the point! And the rain probably made it quite race specific training for IMUK too (though I hope not!).
The race turned out to be very pleasant. Despite the rain and some slippery roads, and a few badly signed roundabouts and a missed turn (!), the ride was flat and fun. The swim was simple to navigate, and included at least one of your five a day on the return leg in the form of river weed. The run was a well supported 3 looper, complete with steeple-chase water opbstacles in the underpass thanks to the wet start :) And the club champs for the Serpies made it a sociable one too. Lots of red and yellow out there on the course doing well. And to get 11th out of 400ish overall wasn't a bad result too.
Monday, 4 August 2008
Nottingham Photos
Here's some photos from the day courtesy of Ian and Sally - of me, Jenny on the bike and Andrew running. Then all four of us on the podium :) And check out in the background of one of the photos is a guy riding with a pink skirt on - he was one of a team called the 'lady boys'... think they were racing as a mixed team, but not sure on the specifics....!! And behind the podium shot the man with the flag I believe is Neil!
Club Racing at Nottingham
Following the success at the local sprint a fortnight ago – in terms of getting me to do some intensity, have some fun and finally getting me back into the racing groove – I signed up for a mixed team for the UK Triathlon Club Championships. Our club, Serpentine, had entered quite a few teams, and I got involved as part of a ‘fast mixed team’, with Jenny (tapering for Norseman next weekend), Helen and Andrew (both short course studs). The format to the Club Champs is a 500m swim, with each team member going in sequence, then a 15km bike, and a 5km run, with a band being passed between team members until the distances are complete.
Having not done the race before, I must admit to not realising how big the event was, and how seriously it was taken. All the major UK tri clubs were represented, and a few ‘pro’ teams were entered as well. Most clubs had branded tents, flags, kit etc – it all looked very slick! With several hundred teams competing in the morning (mixed and women’s teams) and the afternoon (mens), it made for a packed venue up in Nottingham.
Race morning was wet and miserable. Spirits were low, given that we’d driven up the night before and gotten lost for a while round the city looking for our accommodation, so were a bit under-slept. The format of the race meant that race morning as I usually do it was not necessary: it was only short course, and there would be plenty of time between legs to eat, get out of wetsuits, change kit and find toilets. With no previous experience of the event, I was pretty clueless as to how the handovers worked, where we passed the band and even the distances! Luckily, there are many organised individuals amongst the Serpies to fill in the blanks!
The swim start came round quick and I think I started a bit far over in the pack, even if I was right at the front. The sprinters were off like a shot, being well practiced at short course starts, so I was chasing through a rough pack from the outset. Out of the water probably around 20th, I handed over to Jenny who made good headway. Helen was third and got a little dazed at the handover – even 500m of swimming can heavily disorient you – and almost couldn’t find Andrew amongst all the bodies in neoprene waiting for handover.
Soon Andrew was done with the swim and I got to ride. We’d finished the swim leg in 15th, so there was some work to do. I lost my bike computer on the way out of transition, so had to do the 3 lap course on feel. This was completely experimental – not knowing how a 15km time trial should feel and not even having any speed data was going to make it interesting. So I concentrated on catching people ahead. I was trying not to think about my poor ears that were being squeezed by the aerohelmet I'd borrowed from Helen for the race (I was short on packingspace for the trip so hadn't brought my own beautiful - and comfortable - Rudy Project aerohelmet up from home!). For the first lap at least, it was easy to see who was ahead, before the hundreds of teams behind crowded onto the 5 km loop. The sun was out finally, and the wind was up, so most of the puddles were drying nicely. About 22minutes later, I handed over to Jenny and we were in 5th place. We made up another 2 places by the time Andrew steam rollered round the bike, and then we were onto the run. That was 5km of pain. The end of a long week of fairly high vol and intensity had left my running legs a little worse for wear, and I never found a top gear. Instead, I quickly overheated and just concentrated on getting round in one piece and damage limitation on the time we were probably losing on the team ahead – not that I saw anyone else on the entire run! Jenny hit out onto the run with tight calves following the bike, and we were a little concerned that she may have to jog some or all of the run, but she clearly warmed in quick and had no issues. Helen had a battle with the team in 4th on her leg, and the Andrew finished off the run with a sub-17min 5km on a tough course to put a big gap in on 4th. Given the highly standard of teams racing, 3rd was a fantastic result.
Good work team!
Finished off training for the day with a 2 hour run and then watched the racing in the afternoon. Unfortunately we missed the BBQ and partying that evening as we returned to London that eve, but it was a great day, and great fun to race with the Serpies – seeing some of the guys I’ve known a few years, and meet new faces.
Photos thanks to Ian and Sally Hodge - great pics of the entire day are here.
Having not done the race before, I must admit to not realising how big the event was, and how seriously it was taken. All the major UK tri clubs were represented, and a few ‘pro’ teams were entered as well. Most clubs had branded tents, flags, kit etc – it all looked very slick! With several hundred teams competing in the morning (mixed and women’s teams) and the afternoon (mens), it made for a packed venue up in Nottingham.
Race morning was wet and miserable. Spirits were low, given that we’d driven up the night before and gotten lost for a while round the city looking for our accommodation, so were a bit under-slept. The format of the race meant that race morning as I usually do it was not necessary: it was only short course, and there would be plenty of time between legs to eat, get out of wetsuits, change kit and find toilets. With no previous experience of the event, I was pretty clueless as to how the handovers worked, where we passed the band and even the distances! Luckily, there are many organised individuals amongst the Serpies to fill in the blanks!
The swim start came round quick and I think I started a bit far over in the pack, even if I was right at the front. The sprinters were off like a shot, being well practiced at short course starts, so I was chasing through a rough pack from the outset. Out of the water probably around 20th, I handed over to Jenny who made good headway. Helen was third and got a little dazed at the handover – even 500m of swimming can heavily disorient you – and almost couldn’t find Andrew amongst all the bodies in neoprene waiting for handover.
Soon Andrew was done with the swim and I got to ride. We’d finished the swim leg in 15th, so there was some work to do. I lost my bike computer on the way out of transition, so had to do the 3 lap course on feel. This was completely experimental – not knowing how a 15km time trial should feel and not even having any speed data was going to make it interesting. So I concentrated on catching people ahead. I was trying not to think about my poor ears that were being squeezed by the aerohelmet I'd borrowed from Helen for the race (I was short on packingspace for the trip so hadn't brought my own beautiful - and comfortable - Rudy Project aerohelmet up from home!). For the first lap at least, it was easy to see who was ahead, before the hundreds of teams behind crowded onto the 5 km loop. The sun was out finally, and the wind was up, so most of the puddles were drying nicely. About 22minutes later, I handed over to Jenny and we were in 5th place. We made up another 2 places by the time Andrew steam rollered round the bike, and then we were onto the run. That was 5km of pain. The end of a long week of fairly high vol and intensity had left my running legs a little worse for wear, and I never found a top gear. Instead, I quickly overheated and just concentrated on getting round in one piece and damage limitation on the time we were probably losing on the team ahead – not that I saw anyone else on the entire run! Jenny hit out onto the run with tight calves following the bike, and we were a little concerned that she may have to jog some or all of the run, but she clearly warmed in quick and had no issues. Helen had a battle with the team in 4th on her leg, and the Andrew finished off the run with a sub-17min 5km on a tough course to put a big gap in on 4th. Given the highly standard of teams racing, 3rd was a fantastic result.
Good work team!
Finished off training for the day with a 2 hour run and then watched the racing in the afternoon. Unfortunately we missed the BBQ and partying that evening as we returned to London that eve, but it was a great day, and great fun to race with the Serpies – seeing some of the guys I’ve known a few years, and meet new faces.
Photos thanks to Ian and Sally Hodge - great pics of the entire day are here.
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Metabolic Testing
Last weekend saw my first metabolic testing since January 2007 in Christchurch just before Epic Camp – it was long overdue! I did a bike test with Pete Byworth from www.vo2fortri.com – I’d highly recommend him: he knows his stuff when it comes to sports science, is a cyclist, and has done metabolic testing on something like 4000 people – age groupers and elite athletes alike. Critically, he can give you lactate threshold/anaerobic threshold (and associated power on the bike) from which you can work out where you should be training and racing. You can choose to test on a bike or on the treadmill. The results were pretty much in line with what I had expected, but provide a much more precise baseline from which I can retest in the future to see how everything’s going. The test also carried power data, so this means I can use my new powertap a lot more effectively! The other bonus is that unlike a test I had done quite a few years back, blood isn't taken for lactate readings, its all done by gas exchange (COs, O2 balance), so there's no sore fingers or earlobes etc! Hope this has been phased out from most testing!
We did the test at Swim For Tri’s HQ in Liverpool Street (also where I do Endless Pool sessions), but Pete also does testing in Canary Wharf at The Cycle Doctor (Kev’s place – www.cycledoctor.co.uk). Its becoming a bit of a triathlon mecca down there at Cannon Workshops in Canary Wharf with Kev’s tri/bike shop, another Swim for Tri Endless Pool and even a yoga centre. The Docklands have got it good!
Following the testing on Saturday morning, I went and joined in a local sprint tri run by tricoach and ironman addict Mike Shaw (coach and founder of www.triperformance.co.uk) down in Raynes Park – great fun, and a bit of a change to the normal. Luckily I still managed a quality long run afterwards, and topped the week off with an overdistance bike plus run on the Sunday. This week’s been more of the same, with a little consolidation on the mileage.
Here’s some photos from the testing – apologies for the low quality, but they were taken on Pete’s phone. Luckily the low quality hides the fact that I am DRIPPING with sweat! Managed to form a large lake during the course of the testing – always attractive! ;)
We did the test at Swim For Tri’s HQ in Liverpool Street (also where I do Endless Pool sessions), but Pete also does testing in Canary Wharf at The Cycle Doctor (Kev’s place – www.cycledoctor.co.uk). Its becoming a bit of a triathlon mecca down there at Cannon Workshops in Canary Wharf with Kev’s tri/bike shop, another Swim for Tri Endless Pool and even a yoga centre. The Docklands have got it good!
Following the testing on Saturday morning, I went and joined in a local sprint tri run by tricoach and ironman addict Mike Shaw (coach and founder of www.triperformance.co.uk) down in Raynes Park – great fun, and a bit of a change to the normal. Luckily I still managed a quality long run afterwards, and topped the week off with an overdistance bike plus run on the Sunday. This week’s been more of the same, with a little consolidation on the mileage.
Here’s some photos from the testing – apologies for the low quality, but they were taken on Pete’s phone. Luckily the low quality hides the fact that I am DRIPPING with sweat! Managed to form a large lake during the course of the testing – always attractive! ;)
Friday, 11 July 2008
Getting back on the wagon
I thought I’d finally commit to the blog with some good news: I finally got a clean bill of health from the sports docs. :) For the first time since January I am finally 100% free of injury. Long may it last!
Just to summarise - as I knowI miss out some of the key pieces of info (especially if they're not good news) from the blog normally... I had hit a bit of a setback in early January when a virus wiped me out completely for a fortnight – the result of long-hauling it back from Oz to the UK for Xmas and not breaking from volume training – and then had very little recovery prior to going on Epic Camp NZ and beasting myself for 8 days. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the best part of the next 4 months were a blur of training ups and downs, cramping and muscle pain, fatigue and moodiness! Finally, a pile of normal blood tests later, it was given a name: post viral fatigue – though luckily not as severe as some cases I’ve since seen or read about. To add insult to injury – or perhaps injury to insult – I had also picked up shin splints in March as I continued to try to drill my body through excessive fatigue and general tightness (and a questionable pair of trainers too). Luckily for me the solution to both problems was pretty similar: rest, rest and more rest. So much of March and the whole of April was pretty much a write-off, and even in May, though my appetite for training was starting to return, the running was still on hold.
So, a load of rest, a few tonnes of ice, hours of massage, aquajogging and core, a handful of physio and podiatry sessions later (and did I mention orthotics?), I started to run with trepidation at the start of June – just a few kms a week to start, and gradually building (despite a small setback when i got totalled by a bus in London!). I even went to IMCdA knowing I wasn’t running the marathon – that was tough mentally! (But great to finally meet some of the team and Tristan, as well as ride the beautiful orange Trek in a race scenario). But this week I’m hitting 70kms running – a milestone for me as it is what I generally consider a weekly floor to run volume in ‘normal’ training.
I am finally back in training properly as of next week. Touch wood I’ve not jinxed the recovery process! But you can’t blame a guy for being positive! It is amazing how great such a simple thing as being able to run properly again, and enjoy training fully can make you feel. Its not to be taken for granted! With just under 7 weeks to IMUK, looks like my season will be starting a little later than anticipated, but better late than never.
Happy training!
Just to summarise - as I knowI miss out some of the key pieces of info (especially if they're not good news) from the blog normally... I had hit a bit of a setback in early January when a virus wiped me out completely for a fortnight – the result of long-hauling it back from Oz to the UK for Xmas and not breaking from volume training – and then had very little recovery prior to going on Epic Camp NZ and beasting myself for 8 days. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the best part of the next 4 months were a blur of training ups and downs, cramping and muscle pain, fatigue and moodiness! Finally, a pile of normal blood tests later, it was given a name: post viral fatigue – though luckily not as severe as some cases I’ve since seen or read about. To add insult to injury – or perhaps injury to insult – I had also picked up shin splints in March as I continued to try to drill my body through excessive fatigue and general tightness (and a questionable pair of trainers too). Luckily for me the solution to both problems was pretty similar: rest, rest and more rest. So much of March and the whole of April was pretty much a write-off, and even in May, though my appetite for training was starting to return, the running was still on hold.
So, a load of rest, a few tonnes of ice, hours of massage, aquajogging and core, a handful of physio and podiatry sessions later (and did I mention orthotics?), I started to run with trepidation at the start of June – just a few kms a week to start, and gradually building (despite a small setback when i got totalled by a bus in London!). I even went to IMCdA knowing I wasn’t running the marathon – that was tough mentally! (But great to finally meet some of the team and Tristan, as well as ride the beautiful orange Trek in a race scenario). But this week I’m hitting 70kms running – a milestone for me as it is what I generally consider a weekly floor to run volume in ‘normal’ training.
I am finally back in training properly as of next week. Touch wood I’ve not jinxed the recovery process! But you can’t blame a guy for being positive! It is amazing how great such a simple thing as being able to run properly again, and enjoy training fully can make you feel. Its not to be taken for granted! With just under 7 weeks to IMUK, looks like my season will be starting a little later than anticipated, but better late than never.
Happy training!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
