Week Seven - TRIATHLON (well a sprint one)

Sprint Triathlon DONE. On Sunday morning at about 8.50am I found myself packed into my wetsuit with a skintight swimming cap glued to my head by the side of a lake thinking that the swim looked a whole lot longer than the designated 750m. I find it amusing that I did this Sprint distance tri (750m/20km/5km) as training and didn't just enter like a normal person would, as the challenge that it is. Anyway, having gone a little crazy in the week and bought myself a wetsuit, some imaginatively named 'bodyglide' and several tubs of high quality energy drink and protein recovery shake I was really feeling the part. That feeling rapidly disappeared the moment I arrived at the transition and realised I had no idea what I was doing. Luckily my girlfriend was on hand to remind me to apply afore mentioned bodyglide, remember my goggles and attach my timimg chip; not a good start. I squeezed into my wetsuit and rushed to the briefing along with 140 other nervous looking competitors only to be kept waiting for almost 30mins in the early morning sun for the Olympic distance (or as they were unfairly referred to 'Standard') athletes to finish their swim.

Nerves were running riot in my stomach and it was all I could do to focus on the swim ahead. I made my way to the back of the pack thinking that it would shoot away from me and I'd be left with an invitingly clear, open patch of water to myself. Things did not go to plan and I spent the first leg to the nearest buoy struggling to find any space at all in a crowded melee of less than fast swimmers. Upon turning the first buoy I was able to settle into a better rhythm which I maintained for the rest of the swim. I started to feel a bit sick towards the end but apart from that I emerged in a respectable 14:22, which I was extremely happy with.

Struggling across sharp gravel trying to get out of a tight wetsuit is never going to be graceful but I gave it my best shot and was quite honestly just happy that I didn't fall over and look like a complete amateur. 02.11 was all it took to transform me into a cyclist and I was soon cruising along at a good lick taking on energy drink and a surprisingly tasty tropical flavoured gel. Conditions were pretty much perfect and without pushing too hard I kept up a good pace. If anything I felt I held back, constantly worrying that I would ruin myself for the run. I finished all too quickly and prepared for the run by spinning my legs furiously in a high gear as suggested by a friend in the know (thanks Dan). 37 mins on the bike were seemingly negated by this technique and after a miserly 01:11 second transition (aided by talc in the running socks - don't ask) I was off and running.

My legs felt a bit shaky for the first km or so but I stuck to the plan of starting slowly and building up and began to pass several others. Annoyingly I had no idea who was running in my category so it was hard to judge effort but I felt strong given that this transition was the one I feared the most. A bit of confusion with the run route laps and no watch meant I struggled to work out how much further I had to go. As such I found myself heading towards the finish several hundred metres away with plenty left in the tank. I crossed the line in 1 hr 17 mins and was absolutely chuffed.

I came 49th out of a 140 strong field and careful analysis of the finishers in front of me showed that if I had upped the pace by several minutes on the bike I would have achieved an almost 10 place higher finish. I was slightly annoyed with myself given that I felt I was holding back on the bike but a day later am happy with the finish given that this was a training exercise and in August I will have to go double the distance.

So now I have tried and tested my gear, I know which energy gel/drink to take and how much, and I know that I can give it the beans on the bike and get through the run. Now all I need to do is focus on a swim twice the length. I started my plan a week early just in case I had any major problems so I'm going back a week and will continue to stick to it as religiously as possible.

One final point to note is that the winner of the Olympic distance race completed his swim in 16mins, twice the distance in just 2mins longer than it took me to do half. Ouch.

Week Six

As I write this I have just realised that the end of week six is a horribly significant point to pass. I'm half way there, time wise that is, fitness wise, who knows? I certainly feel fitter and can definitley swim more comfortably than when I first started but the bike and run feel pretty much the same. I am now starting to get a little concerned about the run, so far all I have been asked to do is 'easy endurance run' by the all seeing, all ruling 12 week plan. Should I be doing some speed work, short sprints, fartleks etc? I had to run 10 mins further than last week's run but as I missed that I settled on an extended run home from work clocking up 65 mins in total and feeling great for it. Should I feel great, I really don't know.

Swimming got excting this week when for the first time I was required to swim a 750m set flat out. I managed to complete 30 lengths in just under 15 mins which I am very happy with and taking into consideration our friend the large hairy man stopping mid length to do his standard back-sculling, I feel this is even better. One thing that worried me slightly was the almost constant arm pain so I am definitely heading down to Tooting Bec Lido to get used to swimming for longer periods of time in one go.

Mid week was the cycle/run combo and in classic style I went off plan having decided that 50 mins on the bike without headphones would be purgatory. Instead I opted for 20km as fast as possible (32 mins) followed straight away by 5km on the runner (22 mins) which hurt, a lot. Having said that next weekend I am doing a sprint tri in preparation (a week early but who's perfect?) and it was at least satisfying to know that I could complete the distance in I think a pretty reasonable time.

Today has been spent shopping for wedding rings, Ikea Kitchens and Homebase paints as training for this triathlon malarky just isn't time consuming enough but I am planning to head out on Jessica tomorrow for at least a few hours. Finally, and quite possibly most importantly of all I have succumbed to what I believe triatheletes refer to as tri-kit-obsessive-disorder. I bought my own wetsuit. What a Sucker.

Weak Five

Oh dear. Week five has NOT been a good week for training. I can make excuses but really I should just stop drinking. It wasn't like the week didn't get off to a great start, a beautiful Monday morning complete with run into work along the canal, excellent.

Unfortunately from there it was very much downhill and I have only just started to get back on top of things. Tuesday night was a black tie awards do which quite frankly was rubbish. The comedian had no humour and made no effort whatsoever to engage with the audience, the awards themselves started very late and we hardly won anything. To cap it off some idiot bumped into me on my way outside and emptied a whole glass of red wine all over my shirt.

An unnecessary hangover on Wednesday meant that there was little chance of training and then having agreed to meet the boys on Wednesday eve a few more beers prevented anything that evening or the next morning! Feeling irritable, tired and groggy I forced myself out on the bike on Thursday night and loved every minute. Flew up towards Barnet on Jessica and as ever she went like a dream. The route, apart from being an out and back, is actually a corker as there are plenty of hills, not too many interruptions and and even some open space. I even managed to power up Muswell Hill on the big ring - bloody hell that hurt though!

These training diaries usually go on about appropriate food to fuel such training so I thought it was about time I mentioned mine, highly sophisticated as it is. For pre-exercise energy and getting me through hungry points in the day (every hour or so) I like to polish off a cinnamon bagel with peanut butter. Along with that I eat as much fruit as possible, as much free cake as I can lay my hands on and then as big an evening meal I can. For breakfast I have found, regardless of exercise, that nothing really fills me up so am currently on Oat-So-Simple with honey which pains me every single morning.

I made it to the pool on Friday morning and although only 30mins still managed 1200m which felt very good, so was happy with that. To finish a week of poor training I had an excellent day at the cricket on Saturday watching the West Indies tear Australia apart. The atmosphere was fantastic, our picnic was epic and yes, the beers slipped down a bit too well. Next thing I knew I was showing off dance moves on the decking at a mates' bbq; it was only 8.30pm.

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Week Four

Week four it appears was supposed to be a gentle week, taking it a bit easier with all sessions cut down in time and distance. Nah, what's the point in that! Both pool sessions felt good this week although I did get a shock on Monday morning when I arrived slightly early to find the 'triathlon club' just finishing up. That quickly put to bed the idea of possibly joining them, not only do they meet at 6.30am, they are all absolute gun-houses.

Mid week I was back in the gym trying a run-bike combo, this time doing sets of 8mins on each and jumping straight from bike to runner without stopping. It is still a horribly unnerving experience but still also weirdly enjoyable. I think I should have heeded the advice of the plan because come Friday I was starting to struggle and after a morning shopping in the heat of Saturday I was pretty much spent.

The week itself has been fairly uneventful with nothing much going on so Saturday night was a welcome break to that at a very smart engagement party in Pimlico, on a roof terrace with free champagne - oh how the other half live. We spent Sunday lying in the park which entailed the usual process of dropping off, dribbling and then waking with a start totally confused and with no idea where you are. Come on we've all done it. I am feeling pretty tired though so am a bit concerned that perhaps I should have eased off this week like instructed.