Recovery run

Around the marshes, 3.6 miles in 36 minutes, nice and easy.

Strength to strength

Wroxham again. Lovely evening, lots of people around from the club, and Lizzie too on her first race back. Made the mistake of entering on the night (an extra £2 each - ouch!), but it was worth it as we had a great run. Caught up with Kate just after 1k and we stuck together for the rest of it. Captain Rocket pulled out another sprint finish and beat me to the line again to make it about 26:30 (results pending - 26:23 by my watch, started at the line not the gun). Splits: 5:22, 5:14, 5:15, 5:31, 4:57. That's about 1:45 off last time, and at this rate a new PB for me (never mind Mark) at the August race! PB for Kate too, and Lizzie was pleased with hers at about 28 mins. Smiles all round!

Bleh swim

New goggles - not good. Leaked, gave me a headache, and my eyelashes brushed the inside. Hmph. £9 well spent then.

With all that, I just had a swim, no really structure, 30 mins, not especially fast. Didn't want to tire myself out for Wroxham - it was just a good escape from the office really!

Bike loop

Realising I'm not going to get much bike time between now and the tri (specifically I'm missing this weekend due to Sally's hen do), so tonight I went for a spin around the Ketteringham loop (looped the opposite way to this map though). Average was 17.1mph, not bad given that I treated the loop as the main effort and didn't push it so much on the rest. Was tempted to loop around again but I knew my tea was going to be ready soon :)

Still feel like I need to up the saddle, but I never seem to get the time for an adjustment session. In my head, high = unstable in traffic = scary. I'm fine on the open road, but don't want to get into trouble at junctions.

Not really a brick, but I went for an experimental run up the lane when I got back. Legs a bit crampy, but a quick stretch seemed to sort them out. Not catastrophic, anyway.

Moderate run

Another run spoiled by the need for a loo break. Over to Lizzie's, around to Waitrose, up Newmarket Road and back via the golf course, at which point it was straight home for me.
Total was 4.6 miles in 46 minutes. Enjoyable, but I really should have done more.

Miserable, wet, wet, miserable

Miserable 1: biked to the lake, via the ring road (yuck), my chain came off (think I half-shifted to upper front ring, then full-shifted down), and while putting it back on I cut my knuckle. Only noticed minutes later when blood was dripping down my fingers.

Wet 1: lake swim. Chilly to start but turned into a good session. 1500m course, 33 mins including rest halfway.

Wet & miserable 2: Olympic bike course. Got off to an interesting start when I sent my rucksack (which I had cycled to the lake wearing) off home with Marie, forgetting that the keys to my bike lock were in it. Had to call Mark to bring the spare out, getting told off (rightly, but nicely) by a ranger for driving to the outdoor centre to unlock the bike ASAP, and then pedalling like hell to catch up with the group. I managed to find them having a breathing stop at the top of Skeet's Hill, waiting for a chap with a puncture. After that, dull and grey turned into drizzle, then drizzle with a vengeance. We were soaked by the time we hit Hempnall, and the second half of the route was misery. Horrible drivers on the A146 too. At White Horse Lane on the way back I cut my losses and came straight home!

Happy midsummer's day! :)

Swim, run

Time to squeeze in a quick lunchtime swim session, copying the other week's Wednesday one. 400m warm up, then 3 x 100 (40s rest), 3 x 50 (30s), 3 x 25 (20s), 3 x 50, 3 x 100. All felt pretty good, some cracking lengths although not consistently wonderful. Still well worth it though.

Then just shy of 5k with Mark in the evening, around Sunningdale and South Park. Little break for stitch, but 4.75km in 26:32 = 9 minute miles. Looking good for Wroxham 2 (next Wednesday)...

Nine out of ten

Efforts down on the grass track - 10 x 400m with 90sec recoveries. I managed 9/10, one of those broken as I had to run for the bushes and pit stop. Times were 1:45, 1:42, 1:41, 1:45, 1:46, (broken), 1:48, 1:47, 1:51. Not bad going, but that was enough for one night.

Sprints again

A fairly normal pool session:

400m warm-up
10 x 100m comprising: 25m @ 5/10, 25 @ 6/10, 25 @ 7-8/10, 25 @ 4/10
then drills inc. single-arm, and one or two attempts at tumble turns.

Still can't get the hang of single-arm. The best thing is to go fairly slowly and not have to breathe so often. Also felt a bit lost with tumble turns, don't think they are going to make the difference at Norwich!

Another steady one

Ran with Liz again tonight, took a route similar to my run on Sunday, but going out via the lane instead of the bridleway (fewer puddles!) and back via the golf course (shorter, fewer hills). Spot on 4.5 miles, although no stopwatch tonight. We were out for ~50 mins, with one pit stop and a couple of short walk breaks, so must be close to 10 min miles. Clearly evenings suit Lizzie better than mornings! Lovely evening to be out as well.

Solid run

A Colney Lane loop with the back of the beginners' pack, 4.7 miles in 47 minutes, so spot on 10 min miling. Felt really good too.

Back with it

I think I found my running feet again :)

Out with Lizzie for a short run by Keswick Hall, then continuing on my own up Ipswich Rd and over to Newmarket. Overall run was 1:07 for 6.9 miles, overall average 9:42/mile. The first bit was a nice warm up, and I really got going once I hit Harford Bridge. I left Lizzie at 32 mins, which leaves 35 mins for the last 3.8 miles (9:12/mile). Seeing as that includes the slogs up Ipswich Rd and Church Lane I'm really pleased with it. I felt strong and was really enjoying myself. And it was another lovely day too!

Sunny swim, double bike

A glorious morning - perfect for open water. I went to the 8:30 session so as to meet up with the riders doing the Norwich sprint tri course, at 10am. Swam the long course with Trish and Chrissie, and made good time - 34 mins including stops (1 brief one en route, a longer one at the buoy), so I've graduated to a red hat now :) . Even went out for another 100m or so afterwards! Got into the flow after the first stop, and really enjoyed it again.

I did start noticing that the more frequent breathing is a bit dizzying, as it seems your head is hardly ever still, but while I can breathe on 3 for a little while I find it hard to do it for long. I can just about alternate when breathing on 2, and do a while on each side. Swimming straight seemed to be more of a problem today but I was never wildly off course. I found that when I concentrated on a long glide, I made better progress and could catch up with Trish.

After-effects: achy hands/fingers (maybe from pulling on the wetsuit?), and stiff neck, although both only slight.

On the bike route recce I hung out as tail end charlie (thus helping out and earning a freebie - good job as I forgot it was supposed to cost one voucher), chatting to a few of the new competitors. The route is good, although with a long climb from Stoke to Upper Stoke (hm, I wonder why it's called that?!) and Poringland. We averaged 13.3mph, doing the 11.3 mile route in about 51 mins. I then went around again, averaging nearly 17mph and completing in 40 minutes.

Next week the logistical challenge is to get my swim kit to/from the lake by other means, so I can cycle there, do the olympic course recce, and cycle home.

Busy :(

Thursday: visitor at work, early finish, evening meeting.
Friday: fieldwork all day, meal out.