Happy Birthday!

Well this week marks not only the anniversary of my born day but also the anniversary of the fat lad sweating. It was around this time last year that I started running with new trainers that I bought with the proceeds of my birthday loot so what better way to celebrate than a week off work!

A busy old week was planned with 6 week service for the Cannondale, MOT & Tax for the road bike and cake and pressies for me!!

Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances some of it got put on hold and crammed into a day and half but not to worry as all is well again and I get to play with my new toys!

To start the week off the arduous 48 mile cycle described in a previous post just the thing to ease myself into a weeks holiday. Tuesday saw a return to the physio and more prodding and poking with some extra rehab advice too - I wont bore you with the detail but I need to ice more post run.

Tuesday afternoon was garage time and bike prep - 1 for MOT and 1 for race season - this was cut short by an impromptu visit to the RLI with the daughter which turned into a 2 night stay for her :-(. Wednesday was my birthday spent partly at her bedside with a cherry bakewell 'cake' and some pressie opening and new toys.

Thursday was MOT day and the return of the sickly one (who since then has been curled up on the sofa in the worlds biggest blanket). It was also time for another quick run  - nothing much to report as it was all much of a muchness as per recent runs.

Road Run 27.03.2014

Thursday evening was belated cake - nom nom nom!

Which brings us to today - an early start to get the bike serviced and ready for some more punishment in the weeks to come followed by a swim with the new toy - a PoolMate watch. This little gadget is a lap counter, SWOLF gauge and time & distance monitor - It basically times your swims, strokes & efficiency and then presents the info in pretty graphs once you have downloaded it (graphs to follow once I have the download clip thingy!). Setting it up was a piece of (birthday) cake, entering weight (to calculate calories), which wrist you wear it on and how far you want to swim.

With one press your up and monitoring your swim, another press to pause it after a set it then starts timing your rest period another press and set 2 is monitored - so an so forth. Once you have reached the end of your session a long press on the Start key saves your session and you can immediately see all the sets and data relating to them (you can do this mid session too after each set). I have often forgotten how many laps I'm up to whilst trying to glance at the big pool clock to check my time thinking jeez I'm quick tonight only to realise I'm 50m adrift of target distance so this should come in handy to monitor my progress over the coming months. The most helpful part of this watch is the vibrate function which you set to your required distance then with 10m left it vibrates on your wrist to alert you you are almost done.

Anyway more pull buoy training completed and liek I say pretty graphs to follow!

The weekend promises some walking and a lunch/dinner out for my birthday and mothers day (for Helen before you make any wise cracks!) before the impending return to the office next week.

I'm really not helping myself here.....

To paraphrase Hamlet

The fat lad doth protest too much, methinks!

You may recall a few posts back that I clearly stated I wasn't a cyclist, this was promptly followed by a post explaining I may have is-judged the situation following a 60k round trip to Arnside. Well, looks like I've done it again - yep this time an 80k round trip to Kendal. It is beginning to feel like I may be cyclist?!?!?

After the success and enjoyment of the last trip we arranged another slightly longer run out for our next days off that coincided. The suggestion of heading to Kendal cropped up and we tagged in a visit to Evans Cycles whilst out and about. A quick Google Map of some routes and we had a rough idea of what we wanted to do.

Ride day arrives and as before we meet at Slyne Lodge and head out down the A6 toward Milnthorpe, for those that read the Arnside report this first leg is almost the reverse of the tedious, long slog that sucked every last bit of will and hope from my soul last time. But with the wind behind us this time we soon made short work of it and it felt like a totally different stretch of road. Just before we reach Beetham we take a diversion through Hale and onto some smaller B-roads through Hale, Hincaster & Sedgwick (including a slight blip in the map that almost put us on the dual carriageway!) From Sedgwick we arrive in Kendal and navigate our way through the one-way system to arrive at Evans Cycles for a nosy around at what we can't afford!

Stage 1 - Home to Evans Cycles

After deciding we couldn't afford anything, least of all the Carbon BMC adorning their staircase, we head out for perhaps the most gruelling section ever - I'll let you click the link to reveal the monster route.

Stage 2 - Brew Stop!

Heading away for Stage 3 we weren't actually settled on a route home so we followed our noses out of Kendal and after a bit of shouting and uncertainty we ended up heading for Oxenholme Station. Now it's been a while since I was last here but even my fading grey matter recalls the road to the Station isn't what you might say flat - in fact it is quite the opposite! After having had a re-fuel stop this climb is not what I needed in the first 5k nor what was to follow - I have never actually been further than the Station was was completely clueless as to what I had let myself in for. I assumed that it would be 'a bit hilly' due to he nature of where we were and what I could see but how wrong could I be. After the Station this road just kept climbing and climbing and climbing - any slight let up was only equalled out and more by the next incline not to mention that by now we were cycling into the wind so even downhill was hardwork!

Eventually we reached the summit nearly an hour into the journey home and only 11.5k done. Not too familiar with where we were I had no idea it was still 8k to Kirkby Lonsdale which meant after that just the last 19.5k home! At least from now on it was downhill to Kirkby which gave the knee some much needed respite having had to dismount for one climb already (yes yes Boo Hiss I hear you cry). Finally arriving in Kirkby we stop for a much needed sugar rush before heading home via Melling and Tunstall again into the wind - as if the hills hadn't sucked the life from me this was now being to hurt and to make things worse I now knew exactly how far and what the road was like all the way home but I just had to keep lugging away - even as I passed my Dad in the car (he was going the other way!!). Before long I arrived at a familiar sight of Caton and I was home!

Stage 3 - Kendal to Home

So with plans afoot for the next ride out Doug has already declared this Summer he wants to do a 100miler (yep twice as far as my raggedy body has just done) and also wants to get some training in for the Sportive he has entered - I hope to God he has some days off before me!!

2 Runs & A Swim

As the title would suggest the week commencing Monday 18th March saw me take back to the outdoors for a couple more runs to see how the knee is doing bisected by a single swim session.

After a week or two treadmill training it was high time I took back to the open road with that in mind I was still in rehab with the knee and didn't want to push too far, too steep or go too fast fortunately the cycle path provides and excellent training ground for this with it's smooth flat tarmac surface and multiple entries and exits it is quite easy to tailor a run to many distances.

Having been running at a steady & controlled 7.5kph on the treadmill I was conscious not to go too fast but, as any of you that run may also testify to, it isn't that easy to achieve when out and about (or at least I can't do it anyway). Setting off at what feels like a gentle steady pace I complete the first kilometer in little over 5 minutes - a considerable difference to the treadmill but I feel any slower and I will be going backwards or at least jogging on the spot! I try and back the pace off a little which is kindly helped by a gradual slope in the route to about 5:30 per kilometer. Choosing my entry point for the return leg I get on to the cycle track and begin the plod home the knee gradually becoming stiffer and a little less comfortable now slowing to almost 6min kilometers.

Eventually back home and ice pack promptly applied to a sore but not painful knee I feel optimistic about running once again.

A midweek swim of 1150m is the first in almost a fortnight and also a first for using the pull buoy to train with. As an upper body swimmer I find my legs generally just drag behind or worse kick badly and either create more drag or flare up the knee so trying the pull buoy for the first time was useful - I have discovered that I am equally as quick with the pull buoy if not quicker. Hopefully with the buoyancy it provides it replicates a wetsuit which in turn bodes well for the open water swimming.

Another road run and the stats and route are almost identical to earlier in the week - perhaps a good thing that despite the injury I can maintain the same pace albeit over a very short distance. More Physio to come and hopefully we can start upping the distance - I would really like to get 5k runs in BEFORE my triathlon season begins I'd also quite like to get back on the trails this summer too!

Road Run 22.03.2014

Do I get a discount for introducing new members?

Well it's been a little while since the last post so I thought I'd best show willing and update the blog with some more fun and frolicks!

Since my last jaunt out on the bike I have recruited another victim, fool, idiot, candidate into the cycling malarky. A keen MTB rider already and keen to get fit for this years Manx GP it didn't take too much persuasion to get him on the loaned Fuji that has been discussed in earlier posts, plus it was also going to act as useful measuring purpose whilst searching for his very own steed. I felt it only fair to fore warn him of the pitfalls of the Fuji and the saddle situation with road bikes - although to be honest he probably wouldn't have offered me the same courtesy! So bright(ish) and breezy one Sunday morning we head off down my usual haunt of the cycle track to town and back. Due to the 'worn' status of some of the Fuji components and the fact it was his first outing we weren't going to set any land speed records any time soon so I decided to use the session as a high cadence training session.

17k later in just under an hour it was fair to say that poor Col was, well, err, let's just say he was feeling the burn! Having successfully tried out the road cycling malarkey he seemed sworn on getting one but was a little wary of the sizing guides offered by different manufacturers and was feeling a little overstretched by the Fuji (which to be fair was loaned to me from a 6'+ colleague). A quick bike swap and he felt instantly more comfortable on the Cannondale - at least he now knows what size frame to look for!

With the rest of our Sundays to get on with we went our separate ways for the day. Monday rolled around and was our usual squash encounter - I wish there was a better word for it because what we do isn't actually squash. A quick chat about eBay searches for bikes and the like and Col unveils his magnificent story of how the ride out has hampered his day - mostly whilst having to straddle scaffolding throughout the day oh how I chortled as he winced his way about the squash court that night!!

Inspiration, Physio & The Tin Man

Given the last few weeks have been very slow training wise after the first bout of physio I feel pleased with the little progress (or lack of regress) that has occurred  - a reasonable cycle distance, a relatively pain free run and back to my former times in the pool.

This weekend saw a visit to the Bike & Triathlon show at the Manchester Central Convention Centre. A great variety of things to do, see and of course buy ranging from a few quid on discounted items all the way up to the top end - no not the £7-10k full carbon race bikes but the £20k endless pools that were being demonstrated. The first thing we saw almost upon arrival was the demonstration in one of these pools (which by the way would be a lovely addition to the back garden!). From what I can gather the guy in the wet stuff was a regular punter who happened to have signed up. The demonstration went through training techniques, drills, intervals and of course showcased some of the items available to buy!

The interesting, but not surprising, piece of information to come from the demo is that I train badly. That isn't to say I have poor technique (although I know I do) or anything but more the fact most people get in the pool swim back and forth jump out and think they've had a good session. The coach went in to explaining the longer you swim/train the more fatigued you become and the more likely poor form is likely to creep in - obvious really when you step back and consider it. He then followed up with examples of drills and interval sets that can be done of 100m distances with short breaks before the next set all the while showcasing the features of the endless pool - just in case you had a spare £20k in your sky rocket! It, along with a couple of tips form the Smooth Swim stand, were probably the highlights of training info I took away. Other interesting stands include the Girona Training Camp stand offering training camp holidays in Girona surprisingly but it is something I hadn't thought about before and may be an idea for the future should I step up distances as they cater for all abilities.

Definitely Not!!!

Anyway, after a day looking at all the latest and wonderful products I wasn't feeling particularly Ironman* about it all and more Tin Man at the prospect of the training involved to be any good at any distance.

More than likely!

So as the day wrapped up and a couple of items added to my goody back off for some tea and a well earned sit down before Sunday rolled around and I'd be back out training.

All looked well for a brick session on Sunday the pool was open, the bike was good and my legs were OK after a day wandering about. Then I started thinking about trying to blat out a good swim in a 15m family pool so that idea got crossed off and I resorted to a true brick of bike/run. A quick ride out to Hornby Pool and back and I was really pushing on the way out with the wind behind me, unfortunately I pushed too hard and the way back into the wind was definitely hard work. Upon return home I jumped off the bike and could barely walk so rather than risk injury I called it quits and settled for the good hard ride.

Hornby Pool 9.3.2014

With the ride out of the way time to undo any good with an afternoon watching England beat the Welsh in the RBS 6 Nations!

Tuesday - a visit back to The Lancaster Physiotherapy Clinic to check my progress. The good news is that as most of the pain has gone some trigger point haven't re-knotted. So after 30mins of glute & Piriformis trigger release I'm let loose back to the world of training again with yet more stretching and strength work to do - hopefully though I can get it all boxed off before my next visit and return to getting 5k runs in. My only worry about hte upcoming Tri Events is not being able to complete them due to the run portion causing pain but like I say hopefully <crosses fingers, toes, legs & eyes> the physio will do its job and I can tape on the day to help.


*I have nor I doubt ever been in any way, shape or form been under the mis-guided notion that I will or can train to the level to compete in Iron Distance Triathlons

Contrary to a previous post, apparently I am cyclist

Despite my previous posting stating adamantly that I am not a cyclist it turns out I may be. Since the last post the new push bike was just sat in the garage looking shiny and new so I thought it high time to give it an outing to get rid of the newness and bed it in a little. Just a quick outing on my own up to Hornby Pool (you can see the data here) to get used to the riding position and cycling on the road and was relatively enjoyable. However, the 16km ride just didn't seem worth it on the road bike - it's not a bad little distance on the MTB up and down the track & trail but on the road just wasn't far enough.

A quick message via Facebook to an old school buddy who is now into cycling and before you know it a nice little route is planned and a date set - GULP. Around rolls the aforementioned date so I set off to the rendez-vous point of Slyne Lodge, now for those of you in the know the Slyne Road via Bottomdales from Caton isn't too far in fact it's about 5miles, however I severely underestimated the elevations. Due to meet at 9.30 I set off at 9:15 leaving it a tad late I hear you cry - I manage to rock up at Slyne Lodge just after 9.30 not too bad I think and I'm first here! Doug rocks up shortly after and we discuss where to head ad set off down the A6 with Arnside in sight.

The A6 was nice and vaguely flat until we turned off through Carnforth and embarked on the rural section through Millhead and and old favourite haunt of Warton past the site of the infamous Warton Grange (D.O.A for those in the know!!). Off out on some climbs, and some more climbs and then another climb through

Silverdale until we end up on the sunny promenade at Arnside for a well deserved break. A great view and some memories of growing up along with some fluid intake!

Stage 1 - Home to Arnside

Refuelled and ready for the off down the road we head through Sandside and toward Milnthorpe. As we head toward the crossroads in Milnthorpe a quick discussion is taken as to where else we could head on the way home but we decide to just suck it and see - and thank god we did! You know how you have in your memory what you THINK a road is like - well the A6 back from Milnthorpe to Carnforth isn't just as flat as I recall - man was that hard work. With my legs now failing fast and my ass not to far behind the decision is taken to plough on back to the Millennium Bridge where we can part and go our separate ways. This A6 just keeps going and going and going until we eventually get back to Lancaster and our next stop for a well earned breather.

Stage 2 - Arnside to Millennium Bridge

Having stopped for a quick chat and plans of our next ride and should we go further, hillier, flatter etc we soon decide to head home to get on with the rest of our day off. The prospect of heading down the all to familiar cycle path and its smooth flat surface to home is one I was looking forward too until, that is, I set off. I have absolutely nothing left in my legs and the seemingly easy task of getting home has turned into an epic battle of me against my body. Through nothing other than sheer willpower I soon return home aching and sweaty but proper chuffed with the mornings achievements. Considering I'm not a cyclist I have just done a 30 odd mile round trip to Arnside which when sat on the sofa contemplating seems like a ridiculous thing to do! Lets hope I can stick with this and get some miles in now the days are turning and the weather is on it's way!

Stage 3 - Millennium Bridge to Home

In other news the running is progressing slowly and steadily and I have made a return to the wet stuff and am already back at my previous 400m race pace despite only 2 sessions - lets hope the knee continues to behave and I can start bricking again - 50days and counting until Ribby Hall!