239 to 240 - 14th and 15th of November

Saturday was rest rest rest. Sunday got up and went for a swim sesh. Had a great swim, started off with 1k none stop in 20 minutes which I was pleased with. Then just did some facter work. Did 20 min on my turbo trainer, got a puncture!!!!!! what! Then as I was changing my tyre my back went!! not a great day for training.....really p*ssed off about my back as it sets me back again. I am going to try to get a better bike fit as I am sure that is something to do with it. Just resting again now and Tuesday I will have a short cycle to work and back and a swim..lets just see how it goes. Going to stay off the tri bike until I can get the fit right, have had enough of back injuries now to know its more than an accident!! damn damn damn

239 - 13th of November 2009

Just cycled to work and back today. Legs feel tired today so I am giving myself some extra rest. Plan to swim this weekend and also put some time in on my bike if I can.
Great week of phys.
Will try to include a few extra pcitures from now on too as the blog looks a little dull!

As promised here is the bike on the trainer...just need to get used to this bloggig thing to find ways to make it mire interesting!

238 - 12th of November 2009

Yesterday I went home slightly early and spent 1 hour on the turbo trainer. I think this is actually really good training and I was tired with sore legs by the end! Also get to watch some old DVDs while at it!
Today I cycled to work, did some work...the ran 10k in 47 minutes with a colleague. Then cycled home. Pretty good run and felt strong. Legs getting a little tired by the end.

237 - 11th of November 2009

Swim was a miniture nightmare! couldnt get into a rythem and I felt like I was stopping between each arm stroke!! My legs do nothing in the water except slow me down when I try to use them!! I still did 3k though so it cant all be bad. I think I may need to accept that my legs will never work in the water and just use my arms and only let my legs keep ballance!! Its a pain but I am not going to lose sleep over it! It would be very easy to get a little down hearted about the swim but when I put it into context I have still improved and can now see my self actually finishing the swim part of my iron distance race! will try to get another swim in this week.
Today I plan to go home early and get on my turbo trainier and crack out 1 hour of serious indoor cycling!! lets see how that goes.

236 - 10th of November 2009

Its swimming this evening! My swim coach has just sent me the workout!
200m free warm up
8 * 50m technique
100m, 200m, 400m, 400m, 200m, 100m all with a short rest between (30sec)
4 * 100 tempo
8 * 50 speed (25 easy 25 100%)
8 * 25 speed
100m warm down.

I hope to survive and tell you how it felt!!!

235 9th of November

Felt much better today. Did 10 K in 44 minutes so a new PB!! The running is coming on well now so I just aim to keep up the k's and try to do more interval work. My 10k has now come down by well over 10 minutes so I am well pleased.

234 - 8th of November 2009

Managed to drink far too much red wine last night when we had some visitors! not a great idea but was fun. Had to work all day today but I managed to get a quick 5k run in to just help clear the head.
I am going to try to work out how to add my garmin webpage to this blog....lets see

233 - 7th of November 2009

Managed to get my hands on a turbo trainer! its an old one but it will do for now. I set it up and managed to crack out 45 minutes. Really quite hard work. Very different to road ride as the resistance is so constant - I think this could be a really good training tool and will allow me to do more frequent 1 hour + sessions. Im going to set a telly and PC up so that I can get some kind of entertainment going while I train. Its a little dull with no view!
I am also going to video my self to see if I can get my bike set up a little better.

182 - 232 Up to 6th of November 2009

Back again...I haven't been updating my blog for a while but I have been training!

My weekly training plan looks something like this now:

Sunday - swim 2 to 3 k (still my worst discipline!).
Monday - cycle 20k (10 to work and 10 back), Run 10k at 5min or less pace.
Tuesday - cycle 20k (10 to work and 10 back), swim 2 to 3 k with swim coach.
Wednesday - cycle 50k (some weeks 80k) at 30kph avg, cycle 10k back from work.
Thursday - cycle 20k (10 to work and 10 back), run intervals or 5 k as fast as I can.
Friday - Cycle 50k at 30kph avg, cycle 10k back from work, sometime throw in 5k run.
Saturday - rest.

I also try to throw in some gym work but its a little random at the moment.

This is my plan, I try to follow this as much as I can but I also vary it a little. This week for example I have done no big rides, I did some hill work instead as the weather is pants.
I plan to get a turbo trainer for some in door cycling too.

I have made some big gains. My heart rate is now between 140 and 150 when I run 4:50 to 5:00 min pace! this was above 170 only a few months ago. My running is much better and I have made a really big effort to work on my style of running, I actually think this is where I have found my biggest improvements. My advice is to run with better runners and watch how they run and try to take advice from them. Run tall and don't slap your feet down.

My cycling is ok. I have just booked to go to Mallorca for a week in April for some solid cycle training with 50 crazy Danish guys! going to be an experience! I think my fitness improvements would take me the distance on the bike but I really still need bigger stronger legs, I am now working hard on this so that my pace improves.

As I may have hinted above, I now have help with my swimming!! a friend at works used to race at club level and has been coaching me! it has made a huge difference. My legs are terrible still and I can only just do 50 meters if I use my legs alone! but we are working on it and my pace is much better, also I have more control of my breathing. I still have a lot to do but I am now confident that by August 2010 I will not be stopping at the swim stage!!!

I am using my Garmin 310xt all the time now and am getting used to it, I am also logging my training on line at Garmin connect.

I am fitter that I ever have been and I feel so much better for it. Smoking is a distant memory and I feel so sure I wont go back to it as I now have a new vice! 200 odd days ago I decided to do something for my self and I think its one of my best ever decisions! woo hoo for me...ok enough of that rubbish...I am off for a run..