Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Steady run

Out to Keswick and back, on a really pleasant evening, running with Granville and taking it a bit easy most of the way, but adding in a couple of efforts and a faster finish round via Fiveways. 1h02 for 6.6 miles = 9:30 miles or so. Felt good to start off slow and then open up a bit at the end - a really enjoyable run.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Back in the swim of things

Feeling slightly less lazy after a good swim session. Just under an hour, and 84 lengths done. After the sets of arms-only, I did what felt like a flying set of 8 lengths full stroke with no recoveries - forgot to note the exact start time but I think it took about 5 minutes. That's also the longest set of consecutive lengths I think I have done! As long as I can remember the slow, strong, efficient kick, everything clicks into place. The 8 x "fast" lengths were pretty much spot on 30 secs each time.

4 lengths warm up (2 breaststroke, 2 freestyle)
5 x (2 full stroke, 6 arms only with pull buoy)
8 full stroke, steady, no recoveries
8 full stroke, fast, 20 secs recovery
4 x 2 full stroke, fastish, 20 secs recovery
6 x 2 steady, 10-15 secs recovery
4 lengths cool down, breaststroke

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Grrr and this week's plan

No bike ride buddies so I stayed home and did lots of weeding in the garden, planning to maybe go out later on my new bike, and never did :( Idiot! It was ideal weather too. What a lazy arse. Grrr - very annoyed with myself now. I shall channel my energies into a plan for the upcoming week:

Monday - repeat Weds swim session; beginners' running
Tuesday - club run
Wednesday - swim session
Thursday - efforts
Friday - Wibbly Wobbly Log Jog
Saturday - I WILL get a bike ride in!
Sunday - wherry crewing all day

Saturday, July 28, 2007

New toy

My new bike is here! All I can say is - I LOVE it! It's absolutely perfect. Must remember to take a photo :)

Having been given a complete tour (about an hour) of all its components and workings by Geoff at All-Lite, I rode it home... just a mile - not far enough! So, after lunch, I headed off to Mattishall as planned - 14 miles, country roads, lovely weather (apart from a near-continuous headwind, but you can't have everything). Had we not been staying for a bit of a do, I would have happily cycled home again.

Love it, love it, love it. Hope Kerry can make it out for another ride tomorrow :)

I feel bad for neglecting to mention that my faithful hybrid also took me to Little Melton and back this morning for a meeting. Every little helps...

(ps - I can still move my arms :)

Friday, July 27, 2007

Gym - trying the resistance work

Since my new bike is ready for pick-up tomorrow and I will probably be playing on it all weekend, I cut out the 20 mins cycling from my gym session, and added in the round of resistance work for swimming (which takes >20 mins but hey...). I also split my 2 x 10 mins on the stepper in two, to split the resistance work and give my arms a break.

5 mins warm up (bike) levels 3-7
10 mins rower (2323m) level 5
10 mins stepper, profile 2 level 7
Triceps - single overarm pull, 3 x 12 each side @ 5kg (couldn't manage 7.5!)
Lat pulldown - 3 x 12 @ 30kg
Upper back - 3 x 12 @ 17.5kg
10 mins stepper, profile 5 level 8
Chest press 3 x 12 @ 5kg
Shoulder press 3 x 12 @ 4kg (difficult!)


Let's see if I can still move my arms tomorrow, eh?

Eaton Park efforts

Over to Eaton Park tonight, 10 x 2 min efforts, with 1 min recoveries. Only 6 of us, and I was by far the slowest, but made it through the set, with everyone doubling back every so often (very odd feeling being "at the front", but less odd being overtaken!). Return to base was largely walking for some reason (but not unwelcome for that!).

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Swim session 3

Tonight seemed a bit more non-stop, but it was all good stuff. First time with the pull buoy, concentrating on arms - hm, I swear I am faster like that than when I kick! Made my hands ache though - must be tensing them too much. I gave up on the nose clip (maybe a different sort wouldn't fall off, but I would still feel "blocked up") and just put up with the sniffing - will try an antihistamine next time.

4 lengths warm up
5 x (2 x full stroke, 6 x arms only with pull buoy, 30 sec rest)
8 lengths easy
8 x fast with 20 sec rest after each
4 x 2 fast with 20 sec rest after each 2
6 x 2 easy (cool down)

Hey, I make that 80 lengths or 2000m! Wow.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Running ragg(we)ed

Took the option of (almost) the whole Tuesday night run out towards Ketteringham and Hethersett, running with Julia on her first long run for ages. Whereas the others took Cantley Lane to the monument and then Station Lane, we headed along the footpath by the railway to emerge at the A11 junction. It only cuts half a mile off but saves running on the narrow lane, which can be quite a rat run sometimes. The shorter distance is more than made up for by the amount of jinking around ragweed, thistles, nettles and rabbit holes... all good agility training :) Crossing the A11 on the flat was straightforward, surprisingly, leaving the worst bit of the run as Roundhouse Way (or across the fields, as it appears on Google's out of date imagery), where the roads are made, but the pavements are not. All hail King Car.

8 miles, 1h20.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Splash and sniff

Well, I completed a repeat of last Wednesday's swim session, in about 55 minutes - I'm pretty happy with that, considering I was lane-sharing. This meant the rests on some of the sets were longer or shorter, with me either dashing off or hanging back so as not to tangle with the other swimmer who later joined me in the lane (doing steady breaststroke, probably wondering what kind of idiot she'd got into a lane with - but not annoyed enough to find another lane...). And I did do all of the warmup and the sets this time, without any cramp.

Interestingly, the 16-length warmup (of which maybe 6 lengths were breaststroke) took 11:30 in total, which seems like a good base to improve from for the tri.

I tried the nose clip, but it felt like I was swimming with a heavy cold (I breathe out through my mouth and nose usually), and then it fell off after 5 lengths anyway, so I left it off after that. Maybe I put it on wrong? I couldn't work it out - didn't seem comfortable however I did it! But back at my desk I'm not sniffing as much as usual - maybe it's the first few minutes in the pool that are the most irritating?

Plan for the week

Monday: swim (repeat last Weds session); beginners' running
Tuesday: club run (1hr+)
Wednesday: swim session
Thursday: club efforts
Friday: gym inc. new resistance work
Saturday: cycle to happenings at Little Melton (5mi) and Mattishall (14.5mi)
Sunday: run or bike

Should get my new bike this week - hurrah!

Return to the gym

With shoes, this time. Incredibly quiet (well it was 7:30 on a Sunday, everyone else has better things to do no doubt)... but it allowed me to indulge my sad interest in Come Dine With Me while working away. I felt so sorry for the poor, bored fitness assistant that I asked for some resistance work to help my upper body for swimming, even though I didn't have time to do more than try them out. Full set next time though.

5 mins bike warmup
2 x 10 mins stepper (profiles 2 and 5, level 7 and 8)
10 mins rower (2278m)
10 mins bike (profile 3, level 7, 80-90rpm) (usually 20 mins)

3 x 12-15 reps of:
chest press @ 5kg (free weights)
shoulder press @ 4kg (free weights)
tricep pull (both arms) @ 10kg
or tricep pull (single) @ 7.5kg
lat pulldown @ 30kg
upper back @ 12.5kg

cooldown = jog home!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

The old stomping ground

More or less the usual run from mum's, extended a bit to hit the hour mark (6.5 miles approx). Funny how I don't really know any off-road routes despite having lived there until coming to university, so I'm stuck with main roads and streets for the most part. Didn't see a single other runner, which was rather odd (maybe they're all on the off-road paths I don't know about...). Came back via part of the old school cross-country route - amazing how short it seemed!

Oops...

Gym session failed due to lack of shoes. Heh. Poor excuse - but it allowed an early start on the road back to mum's for the weekend. Kit chucked in the bag so I can go on Sunday instead.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Lunchtime efforts

Going out for Chinese tonight, so rather than the club effort session, I headed out with colleagues. A mile (ish) each of warm up and cool down, with 12 x 1min run, 1 min recovery in between. Took us out to Cantley Lane and back.

Second swim session

Slightly apprehensive tonight, going to my first "improvers" swim session with Tri Anglia at the High School pool - even more so when the first thing was a 400m warm up (er, that's my target!) I think I managed 350m by the time we were ready to start properly, so only 2 lengths off. However, the session turned out to be really enjoyable, challenging but do-able, and only marred by a few pre-cramp twinges (the worst just as I was getting into my flow - boo). They don't seem to be directly related to the effort I'm putting in at the time, so I'll have to look up some ideas about what might be causing them and how I could prevent them. I feel like I am getting into the stroke more, and improving my technique (hopefully leading to better stamina) if not my speed!

Session was:

400m warm up
pyramid (1-2-3-2-1 lengths with recovery between at 30sec per length swum)
10 50-sec lengths (50 secs between starting lengths - i.e. the quicker you are, the longer your rest!)
10 pairs of lengths comprising 1 easy + 1 sprint, 1 min recovery between

This all seems like good stuff I can do on my own on Monday lunchtimes. Excellent!

Nose streaming again afterwards so next time I'm trying out a nose clip courtesy of Marie.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Great run

Excellent run at tonight's club run session - I ended up running with my friend Lorraine, who is usually faster than me, and we managed to average 9 minute miles over a 6.5 mile route including part of Marriott's Way, and Grapes Hill (which we certainly didn't do at 9min/mile pace - so other bits must have been considerably faster). Felt I had earned my 2 pints in the pub later on at Jen's leaving gathering!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Mini run

As well as my swim, I joined the latest crop of beginner runners at the club for their first session tonight, 10 x 1min run, 1min walk. Only 5 beginners this time, but all looking good so far - we made it to 13 repeats.

Route (about 2 miles)

Monday, July 16, 2007

First swim "on my own"

First time in the pool since my first swimming session/lesson last week. That one session brought up several things to work on:

- slower kicking (currently I kick way too fast and tire myself out)
- hands entering the water correctly (at an angle, thumbs first)
- hands pulling all the way back
- rotating the body with each arm stroke and especially when breathing

(However, I was good enough to move up from the basic session to the next level next week - hurrah!)

Having bought myself a kickboard and pull buoy, I took the board to the Sportspark pool this lunchtime to try and concentrate on a slower, more efficient kick from the hip. (I think the pull buoy can wait until I've learned some drills for that!) It's surprising how slowly I go without the arms - and surprising what little benefit (in terms of speed) I get from kicking too fast. I just need to practice enough so that the slower kick becomes natural - I notice that as soon as I concentrate on other things, it speeds up again! As well as some lengths with the board, just kicking, I did several lengths of the whole stroke, and it's already feeling easier and more manageable. The triathlon needs 16 lengths, and I can manage 3 or 4 consecutively at the moment, but I'm hopeful I can improve that quite quickly.

One annoying side effect is that every swim leaves me with a runny nose for the rest of the day. Very annoying. I don't know whether a nose clip will help?

Starting out...

With exactly 8 weeks to go until the tri it's time to get down to some more serious training. Some friends have done the Beaver Triathlon today, which is mostly inspirational but also ever so slightly scary - will that be me in a few years' time? Will I get that hooked? But let's not run (bike or swim) before I can walk, though...

Having neglected to go out for a bike ride today (lack of buddies is no excuse really...), here is my planned schedule for the next week:

Monday: swim
Tuesday: run (club session)
Wednesday: swim (club session)
Thursday: run (efforts, non-club)
Friday: gym, inc. resistance
Saturday: longish run (away for weekend - no bike)
Sunday: rest

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Saturday run

Out to Whitlingham, around the lake, and back - 9.7 miles. Bonus points for amusing some golfers (crossing Marston Lane between the two parts of the course at Eaton) when we were doing Marie's warm up drills.

Monday, July 9, 2007

Country bike ride

From Trish and Rob's, taking in Swaffham, Oxburgh and Watton, about 38 miles.