Erm, *cough*

Nothing today. Oops. Gym or swim tomorrow. With bike on Sat and run on Sun, that does make today a rest day...

More endurance swimming

Completed the target of 48 lengths on 50 secs, had a bit of a warmup first but the last 2 of the 48 served as the cool down. I reckon I could go to 45 or even 40 secs, but when others in the lane are on 50 it's tricky.

Forgot my hat (duh). Trish lent me a hair bobble for the top/front, but it all went a bit wrong and I ended up cutting it out at home and then spending ages detangling. Memo to self: remember your hat!

Tuesday efforts?!

Turned up at the club expecting a steady 9-min mile run, only to be given an effort session. An "8 mile" run incorporating 5 x 5 mins with 2.5 mins recovery. It was actually only 6.6 miles, and we (Granville and I at the back) didn't quite make it to 5 mins on every effort, but it was enough for me - legs still feeling Sunday's bike ride.

Little run, new shoes

Little run with a handful of sort-of-beginners, and Lizzie who had her first run with the club since Edie was born. We did the Larkman/Guardian Rd route, the first 26 mins/2.3 miles non stop (not bad since the beginners had only been coming for 2-4 weeks), and ran-walked the rest to do 3.9 in a total of 48 mins. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, speaking from experience as I had an argument with a branch at the end of University Drive in the dark and dingy bus turnaround. Thankfully it wasn't 1cm lower....

New shoes aren't for running, they're for cycling! Nike Ventoux Plus, £40 (down from £70) in Pedal Revolution. Now I just have to fit the pedals and the cleats, and try not to kill myself. Buy shares in Elastoplast now....

Reliability ride

(Still no wiser as to what's so reliable about it!)

Out to the airport, then 50 ish miles via Holt and Cromer, finishing at Old Catton for tea and cake, then home again. 16.1mph average for the 48.4 miles of the main run. Then a 10 minute run just for the hell of it.

An enjoyable ride, bit windy on the open roads but not too bad. Lovely sunshine, and not too cold (my feet disagree, but they weren't working like the rest of me). I'm not a big fan of the main roads, though, and definitely enjoyed the last bit on minor roads the most - although it is good to get some fast riding in. The Holt road was better than the main coast road or the A140. Plenty of potholes and rubbish roads, though (but no punctures apart from one for Rosie on the way out to the airport). Riding two abreast for safety and visibility seems sensible to us but not necessarily to some motorists, and I can do without the close following and roaring around to overtake before it's quite safe.

No problems on my bike, despite having dismantled and reassembled various bits of it yesterday on the maintenance course. Felt very comfortable by the end of the day, it's good to get used to it again. Now I just need to fit my shiny new puncture-protection (and blue!) skinny tyres, get some shoes and change my pedals.

The run afterwards wasn't too bad, but we had already stopped for tea and cake, and then just cycled home, so my legs weren't too jelly like. I have problems getting up the golf course track at the best of times!

Overtaken

Overtaken by work etc. that is. Thursday - busy at lunch, wherries meeting in eve; Friday, busy at lunch and out in the evening. Saturday was the bike maintenance course.

Endurance swim, and more kit buying

With a pool full again, Kerry gave us an endurance swim - my first attempt at 1500m. The suggested timing (60 lengths) was on 50 seconds for those of us anticipating a 40 min total swim time. Of course, 60 lengths at 50 seconds needs 50 minutes to do, and by the time we were in and warmed up there wasn't that much session left. A couple of minor bouts of cramp, but I think I got 44-46 lengths in in the 45 mins that I swam. Between counting strokes (as low as 21!) and checking the clock, I didn't have enough spare brain to count lengths too.

I felt I could have done the lengths quicker (on 45s maybe) from a recovery point of view, but maybe my crampy legs tell a different story. Who knows.

Still, good to get a long swim in - sounds like it will be a regular thing for these sessions.

Trish and Rob were selling a wetsuit, so I tried it on - interesting experience (ha ha), but it seems to fit (I can still breathe and move...), so I've bought it. Since I've entered Norwich, I need to do open water, so it's a bit of a necessity!

Over an hour again

Over an hour's run for the first time in ages. A city route, Avenues - Pottergate - Bishop Bridge - Barrack St - Grapes Hill - Avenues (just over 7 miles) in 1:06:30, which makes 9.5 min miles. Marie and another runner did the full route which included Telegraph Lane, but I was stretching to keep up with them on the first half so came back short with Granville and someone else. Better to get back comfortably and enjoy it - I still feel a bit vulnerable to "bad runs" putting me off and lowering motivation.

Going out, we stayed slow (en masse!) to Colman Road (8:50, 0.85mi), which was excellent. My group (aiming for 9 min miles) were at Bishop Bridge (3.5mi) at 32:10, which makes 8:48/mile for the intervening bit and 9:08/mile overall. The difference on the way back comes from walking over Grapes Hill footbridge for 2 mins as a recovery after the hill.

Gym session

Having run (more or less!) Fri, Sat, Sun, I thought swapping Monday's run for a lower-impact gym session might help me have a better run on Tuesday. 2 x 10mins on the stepper (interval profiles, level 7/8), 10 mins on the rower (2242m), 20 mins on the bike (hill profile, level 7/8). The weights were busy so I called it a night there - next week I should go in the day so I can do the upper body weights programme I had worked out for me before.

Tri-Anglia 10k #3

Very muddy again, I walked a good deal of the riverside stuff as I just couldn't run it - looked at my soles at one point and the grip was completely obscured by mud! Still, more walking than last time (and a loo stop, since no-one had bothered to open up the outdoor centre for us to use loos/changing/kitchen) and only 8s slower, so that's not bad. It was damn windy too, with a headwind on the home stretch. It was great to see Jennie finally break 1hr too - not break it but completely smash it with 58:46!!

Route - times

Still squishy

Just a little run with Lizzie - path to the mill was just about passable without wellies but the water is very high!

Bit of a bizarre route but basically to Lizzie's, around the block and back to hers, then I came home again. Didn't time it at all. It was more of a social than a proper run :)

Squelch

About five and a half miles via Keswick Mill with Lorraine, 52:45 so 9:35/mile. Not bad as that's an overall pace and includes time spent headscratching and then wading through ankle-deep (or more) floodwater for about 75m on the track between the mill and the railway crossing. Freezing! My feet went numb before I got through, but then felt comparatively warm as we squished our way up Church Lane.

On the bright side, no hip pain in evidence when I run. It's just twisting motions that cause a twinge.

So, a little thinking required before running over to Lizzie's at the mill tomorrow! And I'm wondering about the 10k route by the river at Whitlingham on Sunday...

(Very tempting to tag this post with "swim" :)

Hip 'n' not happening

Having acquired a dodgy right hip from 12 hours on a plane with legroom for only my left leg (thanks KLM... memo to self, window seat+ exit row + 747 = bad idea), it's feeling a bit sore tonight so I'm skiving off efforts and calling it a rest day. Maybe swimming and all the rotation set it off again. Hopefully some sleep will sort it. Lorraine's running tomorrow lunch time so I'll go then instead.

Busy busy

LOADS of people swimming tonight - so many so that Kerry's closing the session to new arrivals. That's good for motivation as I now feel obliged to go every week :) Had a good swim, considering there were 6 in the lane, surprisingly little conflict. 400m warm up (bit less for me, to get a stretch in), then a 100-200-300-400m pyramid (which I just finished). No cramp till I got out, then my calf went, my inner thigh threatened, and when I gave up and used the steps, my shins went crazy. New legs please!

Over-ambitious?

OK, maybe 2 "proper" runs in 2 days after 3 weeks of near-inactivity was not so wise - no pain, just feeling slow and unfit. I called it a day at Newmarket Road and took a slow run back with Granville. 4.7 miles in 46 minutes (a couple of walks in there). Still, it's eased the stiffness out of my calves a bit. Fingers crossed for swimming tomorrow!

First "proper" run of the new year

Around the Aldi / Bowthorpe Road loop: 4.6 miles (not 5!), in a lung-busting, leg-aching, but pleasingly-numbered 44:55.45 (9:45/mile). Afterwards, my calves were in knots. Crikey, I need to get fit again. (That kind of assumes I was fit before but I'll gloss over that...)

I made it to the gym precisely twice in HK, with just 20 mins on the treadmill each time (plus other stuff). Lots of walking around the city too, but also lots of Chinese food! Ah well - it was a good trip, and now I can get on with the training again.

New year, new start

(new cold - bah)

Having been a bit slack before and over Christmas, the New Year's Day 10k was only ever going to be an enjoyable training run with friends, even before I picked up a cold. So I was happy to do it in about an hour, running with Kate for most of it and then sticking with Jennie for the last 2k or so. Official time 1:01:29, watch time 1:00:55. It was a nice comfortable run, and good to see everyone, including Simon and Jenna who popped up spectating on the course. Happy New Year!

Other runs I did in December, but didn't blog:

Home, 23rd Dec, with Kerry: 5.3 miles in 57 minutes - very icy and slippery, lots of walking, but a good run.
Aylesbury, 27th Dec: 3.6 miles in 37 minutes - felt rather breathless though, walked a few bits, fairly rubbish but glad I got out.
Home, 28th Dec: 5.5 miles, no time, comprising a short loop with Lizzie (a few walk breaks) and another short loop on my own afterwards which felt very good.

Next race: Great East Run, 17th February.

This week: I need to shake the cold, and am in Hong Kong 4th-11th. I'll take my kit as there is a hotel gym and a park just outside, plus the weather is mild.

This year's goals: I'd like to get under 50 mins for 10k (maybe GY Promenade), under 2hrs for a half (Wissey?), complete the Norwich Tri, and get under 1:05 for Waveney.