Thursday 8 December 2011

8th December 2011

Two weeks of being pretty ill and only managing a hand full of training sessions seems to have helped! Back into training 100% now and have had a great week. Monday was indoor cycling on my turbo trainer, 1.5 hours and it went quite well. Tuesday was 24km run and that went really well, in the eve I did 45 mins on the turbo to losen legs up. Yesterday did 2 km in the pool with quite a lot of speed work and again in the eve I did some turbo training. Today its spinning.

Dog getting bigger and he keeps me busy, do a lot more walking now which can only be a good thing.

I hope I can keep up the training now for a good few weeks without any more illness..damn this winter stuff is dull.

Saturday 19 November 2011

19th of November 2011

Wow, its been a busy few weeks. I now work from home much more but actually have less time for anything! I now have a dog (Vizsla) which will become my training buddy at some point but right now is more of a pain in the butt!
Dont worry, ill just lie here and my new owner will pick up my poo!


















I am now fully booked with flights and hotel with my two racing mates for Ironman Lanzaroti! I have done much better training as of late and I feel in better shape already than what I was in for Challenge Henley.
This Tuesday I smashed my personal best for the half marathin by 6 minutes to 1 hour 30. I plan to get  that down to 1:27 before I get to the Ironman. On Sunday morning I did a 10 mile TT ride and did it in 25 minutes so again I was pleased with that. Will try to get that down to 22 minutes (we will see!).

I am finding it hard to find the time to train but am making the most of short periods. I have done very few long training rides but am getting a lot more 1 hour sessions in. For now thats about all I can manage. Will try to up those to 1:30 as soon as I can.

My training is more interval based and more heart rate based which seems to work quite well for now.

I have also been looking into some great multi day adventure races! my top one at the moment is one that is done on Patagonia and looks like an epic, once in a lifetime, kind of experience! just trying to work out how I can convince my Mrs thats its a good idea!! thats probably going to be the hardest part of the whole thing. I already have a team mate sorted out but he is off in Afghanistan right now so I cant rely on him to convince my wife either! doh.

Anyway, im back in it after a little wobble post Challenge Henley and Im back in it to do much better!

Monday 19 September 2011

18th of September 2011 - Challenge Henley Race Report

Photos will be added when I get the :)

Yesterday I took part in the first ever Challenge Henley race in the uk. Based in Henley on Thames and riding out into the surrounding hills sounded like a pretty beautiful place to be racing. The weather had other ideas but it was still a great venue to race at.
I was part of the 6:30 swim start. It was v cold (5 c) and my feet were freezing just standing around waiting. There was a lot of fog so visibility was pretty bad. I jumped into the Thames and instant shock took over! wow that was a cold start to the day. Anyway we started and I wasnt feeling confident, my swim training has been about 5 swims this year so its my fault. I panicked for a while and got dropped by the pack but it gave me some open water and time to deal with my head. Head sorted, breathing more relaxed I put some power down and managed to catch and overtake most of the pack I finished 18th (I think) with a time of 1:07. I am sure I could have been closer to 1 hour if not less if I had done a little more training and had time to warm up in the water before starting. Anyway I was pretty damn happy to just be out of that water.

I had a slow steady T1 of 8 minutes. The weather was cold so I made the decision to put arm warmers on and a cycle jersey, and socks. Off I went, onto my bike and I felt pretty good. The course was brutal, it was basically one big up hill and then a turn around and back the same way and then an even longer uphill to another turn around, repeat 3 times! man my legs were tired after the 2nd lap. I had a banana at one food stop and I felt really sluggish afterwards. I have had that before so maybe bananas are not the best choice for me. Anyway I did ok on the bike and had a split of 5:50 ish which was ok as it was a hilly course. I would have loved to have been closer to 5:15 but I will need to work on my bike a little more.

Ok, so I hop off my bike at the end and the run starts. I had a decent T2 of around 2 minutes and started my first of 4 laps. After the 1st lap I was destroyed! my stomach was a mess and I just felt totally dejected. My wife and kids were there to cheer me on and I stopped to tell them I was going to call it a day - my daughter who is 5 just looked at me and said "daddy you need to keep going so we can get a medal"...enough said, head up and start running was the order of the day. I somehow managed to focus on what she said and run the rest of the 42k. I have no idea how I finished I really don’t. I hadn’t trained hard enough for this race and I knew it.
I finished 23rd in my AG with a time of 11:30. I am very very pleased with that. I know that here on ST its not much of a time but just to finish that race I had to dig really, really deep. I have done 50 mile runs, marathons and IM races this was my toughest.

The race was very well organized and we had closed roads for the whole 180km, that is pretty cool in my book. I have to say that I think the Challenge team do a great job with their events. I know you pay a price but I have done 2 now from their series and both have been really good.

Lanzaroti is my next race and will now start to really put some training in. I want a 7 min improvement on the swim, 3 mins off T1, 30 mins off my bike split and 30 mins off my run time!! no small task lies ahead!

Wednesday 14 September 2011

Wednesday 14th of September 2011

Wow, its been a while since I last posted! I have done a good amount of run training and I feel confident about my running  now. Cycling not so much! I hurt my shoulder really quite bad and was unable to swim or bike for almost a week. I managed to get some short sharp bike rides in but still this year I havent done nearly enough cycling! I know this is going to hurt me in 4 days time. I just havent had the time to do it. Also my swim training has been v v poor. I did do 3k the other day and I feel pretty confident that I will finish the swim. This week I have been feeling low and have no energy at  all so actually I am not looking forward to this race at all. I will be lucky to finish this one.
Anyway, ill go and I will try my best to do it, something deep down says Ill finish it so ill go with that!
Tomorrow I may do another small jog just to keep my legs going and maybe even a small bike ride.
Ill post a race report when I am done! bad or good!!

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Tuesday 23rd of August 2011

After Thursday last week I rested until Sunday. Sunday was my 34th birthday and it started at 3am when my family and I flew back to Denmark. After landing I drove like a man possesed to get to the start of the Copenhagen half marathon. A good mate of mine wanted to break 2 hours so I said I would love to come along and help him out. It was a very sunny warm day and I havent ever enjoyed a run more! It was slow by my normal standards but it was sociable and I just felt great the whole way. We did it in 1:56:30 so my mate was also very happy.
Yesterday I went out on my own on the bike and did some hill work. This morning I went out for a fast 56km ride with one mate and I took the front 80% of the tiem so it was great training.
Summer seems to be back in Denmark so I am going to finish early and head out to join my family for some play time! woo hoo.

Thursday 18 August 2011

Thursday 18th of August 2011

Wow, I feel smashed!
My shoulder seems to have developed a rather bad pain so my 2 k swim was quite a challenge yesterday. Did it anyway but will be going to see my doc about it. Its been bugging me for nearly a year on and off and it just seems to have goven up on me! great timing!
24k run this morning! thats why I am smashed. was great to get it done though. Not a bad pace either so quite happy. Next week will be 30k (fingers crossed) and that will mark my longest pre IM training run.
so this week so ar has been good.
Monday 2 hours bike, 10k run
Tuesday 125k bike (110k and a 15k commute)
Wed 2k swim 30k bike (commute)
Thursday 24k run and 15k bike
Friday ...lets see how I feel but would like to get out for a short bike and maybe even a swim...we will see.
Challenge Copenhagen was last Sunday and a guy did the bike legs in 4:20 something! thats is just nuts!!! he did it around an hour faster than I did!!!! then he ran the marathon over an hour faster than me and he swam 15 minutes faster!!

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Wednesday 17th of August 2011

Last weekend was a bit of a throw away as I spent the weekend with friends and family and did zero training! Not great but was good to have a rest.
Monday I did 2 hours on the bike and then a 10km run which I ran pretty hard.
Yesterday I did 110km on the bike. Today I plan to swim and tomorrow is the weekly 24km run.
I know I am not in the shape I was in last year for my IM but I still feel that having held pretty decent levels for 2 years now I will be ok. I am not really going for a time so will try to just enjoy the day as much as I can and put in a better show on the run.
I am still feeling slightly tired most of the time as I am not sleeping great. I have also hurt my shoulder somehow and need to get that sorted before Lanzaroti next year. Will see how that goes today during my swim session.
Travelling back to Denmark every week has made it much harder to train this year. Need to work out a routine that works better.

Wednesday 10 August 2011

Wednesday 10th of August 2011

Good god that was a tough run! I was done by 6km but somehow managed to get in the 22km. Did it with an avg of 4:37 per km so I am quite happy with that. Just think I need some down time and some decent sleep!
Swim last night was very good though. 2 and a bit km.

Tuesday 9 August 2011

Tuesday 9th of August 2011

Back in Denmark now. Have done a good bit of training at home before coming back to work. This included a 20k run with a nasty hill in it called Brassknocker Hill - not fun to run up!! Also did some cycling near the Mendips with my bro which was fun and also had some "interesting" hills involved. I have even managed to get a little swimming done!
Anyway, this week so far had included a couple of bike rides (one pretty small at only 30km but it was done at speed) and a good swim session. This evening ill do another swim and in the morning I am being joined by 2 Danes for a 24km run.
Hope to get a swim in the Sea done this coming weekend as were off to Devon!

Friday 5 August 2011

Friday 5th of August 2011

Hi all,

Just back from a nice long break in southern France. A very helpful bike shop lent me some FFWD wheels with built in power meter which I put on my bike and took with me.
The week prior to going away was a good strong training week and I really wanted to follow up on that. while I was away I managed:
1 20k run
2 15k runs
2 10k run

3 2 hour bike rides in the hills near Limoges in France. Some pretty decent climbing involved :)
I really loved the wheels and the power meter. It was interesting to have a new tool to use to see just how hard I was really working. Seems I can keep a constant 250 watt power going which I think is ok. I am now using it to try to build this up.

Here is the view from the house we stayed at:

and the other side:

Its a stunning part of France and I have never been on better roads for cycling! stunning scenery and very challenging hills. Some steep some just very long and rolling. The great thing too is that there were very few cars around. There are also a few large lakes in the area and you can swim in them.

Back in the UK this week. Have only managed a 1 hour turbo session on the bike and today a 20k run including Brassknocker Hill which is almost vertical (or that's how it felt!). Hope to get out on the bike tomorrow weather permitting.
really must swim tooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!



Tuesday 19 July 2011

Tuesday 19th of July 2011

Didnt get up to much training on the weekend. I managed to squeeze in 1 hour on the turbo trainer riding up a mountain! dull but got the legs moving.
Yesterday I did a 100km bike ride. Pushed hard and had quite a good ride. After though I had a bit of a funny turn and didnt feel too good. Still feel a little tired today but am going to do a sow 10k run just to make sure everything is ok.
Lack of sleep seems to be taking its toll!

Thursday 14 July 2011

Thursday 14th of July 2011

Wow what a difference a day makes! Bad night’s sleep, too much food last night, crap weather this morning so no run or ride! now I am all down in the doldrums! bloody rain. Its amazing how training/not training effects my mood. It’s actually quite a shocker to realize just how obsessed I have become with all this training stuff! I am missing one or days and suddenly I feel like a real loser and am trying to find ways to cram it in! I almost went and did 5k on a treadmill! wtf.
Am going to try to snap myself out of it and make sure that I can still live a normal life!
Back to the UK this avo to meet up with one of my best mates and get on the beer. He is forces so I am guessing we will probably crack some phys but this normally just means running back to his at the end of the night after 8 pints of beer! nice.
have a good one.

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Wednesday 13th of July 2011

I had planned to get out on the bike for a couple of house but A I couldnt get out of bed and B it was peeing down with rain! Went for a swim after lunch though and did 3k so am quite happy with that. I think the swim is now on track and the fear factor for the ironman swim in Sep is slowly going. Will try to get out for a run tomorrow morning as there is no spin class on. Going to be a tricky weekend for training as I am visiting a good mate of mine who is off to Afghanistan again soon. Going to get messy! maybe that could count as some kind of training?

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Tuesday 12th of July 2011

Had a good week last week of training. Added an extra 70km ride in on the Friday morning around Chew Magna lake area. Managed to find some terrible climbes which was quite fun. At one point I actually thought I may have to get off and walk my bike!
Then we went to see some friends and drank way way too much wine. Monday cycled 100km. Varied the pace quite a lot and burnt my self out a bit but I was still pleased to have done it. Today I did a 20km run in the heat of the midday sun (which is quite rare in these parts!). Hard run but again happy to get it done. I plan to do a 60km fast ride tomorrow morning and a swim tomorrow afternoon. Thursday I will probably spin but I may swap that for a hard 10km run..will wait  to see what the weather is doing.
Time is going pretty quick. Its only about 2 months now to the race! doh.
Take care
Johan

PS will update with how the bike and swim plan goes tomorrow.

Wednesday 6 July 2011

Wednesday 6th of July 2011

Training has been going well. Over the weekend I did a 16km run and a 65km ride in the hills near Bath. This week I cycled and did some hill work on Monday, Yesterday did a 60km ride and an hour in the pool. I feel like my swim is starting to come together again now which is cool.
This morning its a 21km run and tomorrow who knows!
Weather has been kind over the last couple of weeks which has made the whole thing more fun really. My weight is starting to get closer to where I want it for the race in September, not quite there yet but its coming.
will update with how the run went. I have a feeling its going to be a hard one as my legs are sore from cycling..gulp.

Update post run:
oh my god that was terrible! did the 21.3km but that was not fun! seemed to have a gallon of water slushing about in my stomach! oh well its done and thats the main thing. off to try to do some work now.
Have a good one
Johan

Wednesday 29 June 2011

Wednesday 29th of June 2011

Well summer has arrived at last!
Its been a nice change to train in some sunshine. Its been going pretty good and I have been slowly increasing the training. My chubbyness levels are down to 80kgs again and I will try to drag this down to the high 70s over the next few weeks.
I am not doing a huge amount of kms on the bike but I am trying to focus on good quality training. I tend to do 2 60km rides at high pace, sitting on the front of a group or out on my own. I am now trying to push one of those rides up for 10 or 20kms a week and get it right up to IM distance. The other I will keep to around 50 - 60kms and concentrate on pace. My avg speed is up 2 or 3 kmph on last year so I am pretty happy with the overall picture. I am also doing some in door riding on my turbo to really focus on power and form but its pretty dull stuff.
The running is 1 longer run of around 20 to 25km and 1 shorter run at higher pace. Today I will be doing around 21km but my legs are already sore so I know its going to be a tough one.
Still not doing enough swimming. Really need to get into the pool and work on this! I may try this evening..we will see.
back later
Johan


Update:
Just finished the 22k run. Very hot conditions and I fealt my legs were a little weak but I knew they would be. In the end I had a good strong run. avg of 4:45 per k which for me is ok. Really enjoying the training. This eve I may even have a swim!

Update 2:
Well I did go for that swim! very pleased I did as my swimming leaves something to be desired! need to really kick my own ass and do at least 2 swims a week. maybe dualthlon is the way forward!!!

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Wednesday June 15th 2011 - and photos from Bala!

Went for an 80k raide with the cycling team last night. Man thouse guys are strong. I found that on the flat I would have been able to stick with them but as soon as its going uphil I am lost. I need to shed a few kgs and increase my cycling kms. Concidering I did a half Ironman 2 days before I was pretty happy though to lead the 'B' group around. I know I am carrying a few kgs too many right now but I also know it will drop off gently as I increase my training.
21k run planned for this morning, going to be interesting to see how that goes!
more later


Update...did the 21k in 1 hour 39 minutes and was in huge amounts of self pitty by the end! wow that was hard work. Feeling tired but good now. Will do a 60k ride tomorrow morning and maybe another 60 on the weekend. Appart from that Im going to chill.

Update - photos
End of bike leg, legs went into cramp!

After Swim

End of the Race!

Start of the bike


Tuesday 14 June 2011

14th June 2011 - Bala race report

Here's an idea, let's spend the whole morning swimming, cycling and running in the poring rain and strong winds. That was not a pleasant experience at all!
Bala is a beautiful part of the country and I'm sure that if it had been sunny I would have quite like it BUT it was not sunny!!
I woke at around 6:30 looked out of the window of my self drive hired motorhome and could hardly see anything thanks to the fog! Oh no just like The Vitruvien last year I thought but soon my fears are lost as I realise it's not fog it's just hammering with rain.
Gun went off at around 9:30 and into the water we went. Very cold and it took me 2 minutes just to get the cold panic under control. The first few hundred meters are always a nightmare for me so I put my self right at the back, wish I hadn't as there were so many people to. Overtake. Water, felt ok at this stage, then we turn left and bam I get hit by wave after wave. This is supposed to be a lake, why am I dealing with surf! Left again and back into shore. Wow that was not Ann easy 40 mins. Disappointed by the time but considering conditions, I'm quite happy to be alive. T1 goes well and I'm off on the bike pretty quick. I feel cold and I put my cycling water proof jacket. On, good move.
It rains the whole. Way and the wind is terrible. It's a ha enough ride without the added bonus of storms so I quickly find my self feeling pretty tired. I am not the only one. I actually quite enjoy the first half but the last quarter is pretty hard going and I am very relived to be off the bike and into T2. can't get my lid off so have to ask for help, my hands are frozen and my feet don't don't feel like they are there. Running shoes on and off I go. At this stage I feel really quite good and the first 8k is going v well. I do the hill to the turn around and the rain picks up again. By now it's getting to me and I am tired and cold but I keep going. I have a couple of walks and my time shows it as it's a 1:50 half marathon. A. His stage I don't care as I am sooo happy to be finished. 3 people I know dropped out on the bike due to the cold and I think there must have been a 30 % drop out rate.
One of my toughest races. Great training for Henley and I now know that I need to pick up the training.
Over all time is 5:28 which is ok by me :)

More details and some photos ton appear soon. Off to catch a flight.
Johan

Wednesday 8 June 2011

June 8th 2011

Been a while since I blogged. Have been working loads which involves travel to and from Denmark so my time has been somewhat limited! The good new is I have my first race of the year on Saturday!! Doh! Bala middle distance which is a 2k swim, 80k bike and a 20k run. Herm...going to be interesting getting into that lake! Anyway I think I'll be ok, I could be in better shape but I'm ok. Been keeping quite well to my training, not doing as many hours as I want but I have a family so it's not that easy. I try to make up for it with intensity as much as possible.
Even better news is that I have a place for ironman Lanzaroti 2012. This is my "a" race and what all the rest of this years races are aimed at. I'm not really tapering for this weekend as I intend to use it a training day and build on it afterwards towards Challenge Henley in September.
My aim for Lanzaroti will be to try my best to go sub 10 hours. I am pretty sure I can do this but I know what it's going to take. Ouch.
I am supposed to be doing another ultra in August but I'm in two minds about it. Watch this space!
This week I ran 26k Tuesday, swam 1 hour solid Tuesday evening and today I cycled 60k hard. Tomorrow I'll spin hard and do some lifting. Then I'll rest up till Sunday, I may throw a jog in Friday just to listen the legs a little.
Wish me luck!

I'll post a race report ASAP
Johan

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Wednesday 18th of May 2011

Have had a tough coupe of week training.
This week was like this:
Monday - 21k tempo run
Tuesday - swim 2k, cycle 100k
Wednesday - run 10k fast
Thursday (planned) - 1 hour spin, 30 mins lifting
Friday - rest
Saturday/Sunday - 2 to 3 hour bike.

I need to add in some extra swims but I just dont have the time right now!
Only a few weeks until my first race of the year - Bala Middle Disntance (Half Ironman).
Im slowly getting used to having constant sore legs again! great stuff.

Tuesday 10 May 2011

Tuesday 10th of May 2011

Hi again, its been a long time since my last post and thats mostly due to the fact that I have been crazy busy! I have been away for a 2 week holiday in Egypt and have been busy catching up with my work from that time.
I managed to get some decent cycling in before I went away and while away I managed to run 5 times which I can tell you was not fun due to the 35c temp! 10k runs was all I had in me.
Im now focused on my cycling and am trying to ratched up the mileage as fast as I can without damaging my self. The run training is ok and the plan is to do 1 long run a week and 2 short ones (21 to 25k long run, 10k short runs).
I am doing the Bala half ironman race on June 12th which will be a great training day towards the full ironman in Sep. I have signed up for another 50 miler in August but will see how my fitness is going before I do that.
My swim training has taken a back foot but I am going to try to go tomorrow if I can.
I always say it but im also goint to try to keep my blog updated as much as possible too!

Wednesday 6 April 2011

Wednesday 6th of April 2011

Had a good week last week for training. Did a few good swims and runs and some indoor cycling work. The weekend was a little unproductive but managed to get an indoor ride in and an out door 1.5 hours of hill work. Not too bad really and felt strong (ish). This week has been good too. Monday eve did an hour of v intensive spinning (high cadence and high watts! = hard work) followed by an hour and a bit in the pool. Yesterday I ran 21k in the rain and it felt terrible! my legs were like lead and today they are sore, everywhere! I intend to shoot to the pool for an hour this eve just for some easy steady swimming. Tomorrow spinning again and then back to the UK for the weekend where I am on kiddie duty so may struggle with exercise but I know ill be tired anyway as kids seem to be the toughest workout!! looking forward to it though.

Have a good one.
Oh, I just ordered some K SWISS shoes with the GB flag, looking foreward to trying  them!!


Quick Edit - just been for that swim...now Im knackered! great swim. 2.5k ish. Just swam up and down at a quick pace with a very very short break at one end.

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Tuesday 29th of March 2011

I have had a great week of training. I did a really good hard 15 k last weekend in shorts and a T shirt as the sun finally showed its face! great stuff. I then joined a couple of mates in Bath for a decent 2 hour cycle training session where we took in 7 hills! I think we must have climbed at least 3000 meters. Also swam up at Bath uni sports facility - wow what a place! Its amasing how quickly you can go from fealing quite athletic to realising your just another civilian! these people are something else. I did a good 45 min swim and then gave in to the need to get out of the pool as it was just too busy. Really enjoyed the swim though.

Then Monday eve I swam again and we did 2k with good pace and very few breaks. I also did 30 mins on the turbo trainer - I did some single leg work outs and that was pretty painful :)
Today I did a 15k run with a friend from work and we did an avg pace of 4:30 so I was quite pleased with that. I think I could get that down to 4:20 pretty soon.

I was asked to write a short article for this website too http://www.newtotri.com/. I wish this site had been around when I started! If you want to see some bad pictures of me then thats the place :)

I may enter into a 7.5 k race next week here in Denmark just to see what I can do, will see what happens.

Have a great eve
Johan

Monday 21 March 2011

Monday 21st of March 2011

Had a heavy weekend of drinking due to St Patricks day and 6 nations rugby but I did manage to train too! I went spinning last Thursday followed by a 5 k "as fast as you can" run. Then Friday was rest, Saturday I worked all day and yesterday I did a 70k bike ride in 2 hours which I was very pleased with. I feel I havent actually lost mucg bike fitness at all over the winter and I thinks thats down to a mix of spinning and the turbo trainer.

Today I did a 15k "as fast as I could manage" run with an avg speed of 4:31 per K so quite happy with that too. This eve I am going for a swim and tomorrow back to the UK. may try to get a short run in tomorrow but we will just see about that.

Take care and have a good one.

Thursday 17 March 2011

Thursday 17th of March 2011

well the training is going quite well. I may have done a little too much as I feel really quite drained today!
I have done a couple of realy quite good 10 k runs recently and did a 60k ride on the weekend. I have also done some in door cycling and some spinning. Yesterday I went for my first swim in 6 months! went really quite well and I feel that I havent lost that much pace. This morning I did a killer spin session for an hour and then did a quick 5k after just to get into the habit of running after cycling.
Today is St Patricks day so a few beers will be had...oh well got to have a life too!
Plan to do some more cycling and running over the weekend too. Maybe ill throw a swim in tomorrow eve..lets see how bad the hangover is first.
no injuries so im feeling pretty good.

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Wednesday 9th of March 2011

Its been a while but I have been training and racing so here goes:
I have been getting as much running in as I could but itactually took quite a while for my legs to recover from the 50 miler. I added extra cycle training and have tried to keep ontop of my wieght.
Last weekend I did the Bath half marathon in 1 hour 35 which I was quite haoppy with. I would have liked to have done 1:30 but it was so busy that it just wasnt possible to get any pace going for the first 5 k or so. I think I could have done 1:32 but anyway,maybe next time.
I am now ramping the cycling up and plan to do one big bike ride every week from now on. Big starts off at doing a couple of hours at a time and then in a month ill take that up to 3 hours etc until IM when a big ride will be 5 hours ish. At the same time I plan to put in 1 24k run every week and a 10k with pace. To all of this I plan to add 1 shortish brick session if I can. Somehow I need to swim too!! damn, not enough hours in the day! I remember that feeling from last year :)
I am very happy with my running now and I am really going to try to run every run I do at around 4:30 pace per K. If I can do that then I can bring my marathon time down to 3 hours 15 and that will help. I guess I should be able to then do a 4 hour marathon at  the end of the bike come race day! we will see.
Weather is slowly getting warmer and I have even seen the sun come up a couple of times now!
Take care
Johan

Wednesday 16 February 2011

Wednesday 16th of Feb 2011

10k run yesterday was pretty tough due to very very cold and windy conditions. It wasn't just me finding it hard though so that was kind of reassuring.
Did another 10k today and felt much better. I can still feel that my legs are a little tired but I think its going in the right way now.
I guess I am going to try to keep the kms down a bit for a while but keep the frequency increasing. Lets see how that goes :)

Tuesday 15 February 2011

Tuesday 15th of Feb 2011

Its been over a week now and I am starting to feel more human again. I have managed a few training sessions on my bike (turbo trainer) and also a couple of spinning classes. I still have a few small niggles but today I am going to run 10k, nice n easy just to see how it goes. Will post later to tell you.
the two guys I ran with are still in trouble. One guy still gets pain just walking..maybe I got off lucky on this one.
Anyway, I have been asked to do IM Lanza in 2012 so that is my plans for 2012 sorted..just need to get a place now:)

Ciao
Johan

Tuesday 8 February 2011

Tuesday 8th of Feb 2011

I am feeling a little better today. Legs feel more like they actually work and are not going to go into cramp! I cycled home last night 3k and it was "interesting". Cycling in this morning was much better and I hope this eve will be another improvement.
If I feel ok I plan to go for a short and very gentle run just to get the legs moving again.
One of my mates who did it with me has knackered his knee, the other is weeing blood...nice. I guess I was quite lucky!
I plan to try to focus now on my IM training again..want to do well in that this year.

Monday 7 February 2011

Monday 7th of Feb 2011 - race report

Morning,
Well I made it...just. 50 miles (80k) done in around 8:45 (thats the time on my watch but haven't seen official race results yet). This was by far the hardest thing I have ever done and I came close to wrapping at 45K and then I wrapped at 65K but somehow found my self running a minute later - this was due to being lied to in order to "motivate" me...got to love that stuff.
First 40k was done in 4 hours and the going was very hard as we were basically on bridal paths where horses had been messing the mud up nicely for us - I never was a huge horse fan! My ankles were very sore pretty quickly as I guess most of my running has been on roads...wont make that mistake again.
I felt a little odd from the start and could tell that things were not going to feel better so just put my head down and ran. 3 of us set off as a team and that was actually one of my problems as our paces didn't fit together and some wanted to walk while others wanted to keep going. At 65k I had to just say sorry, get jogging and keep jogging to then end as I knew that if I stopped it would be en ex for me.
This is me at the start, stupid nervous grin cant be helped I'm afraid:
This is me at 45k...not so smiley now hey!



And at the end:

The guy I am with is my mate who I have to say has the strongest mental attitude I have ever witnessed and he managed to drag me back into the race when I really had had enough! cheers bud.

At the end of this I had stomach cramps, leg cramps and a sore back. But I felt really great as I knew how hard I had just worked.

What did I learn from this? Well, you cant judge a book by its cover as some people at the start did not look like ultra marathon runners! Also, you need to have a focused training plan to deal with this if you want to do anything more than survive...I am not sure I would do one of these again but if I did I would treat it with much more respect! I would plan my nutrition much more carefully!

I met some quite amazing people and was blown away but how helpful and cheerful everyone was. People were still cracking jokes at 75k! There were some hard core supporters who were at every checkpoint! One lady runner stopped and gave my right calf a massage as she could see I was in trouble! not many sports where someone who is racing will do that.

I am still in a word of pain so I will keep this brief but will come back and edit this page and add to it as I remember more and more.

few..thanks god that ones over! now onto the ironman.


PS quick edit, just found out the official time - 9:11...guess my watch was pausing when we lost GPS. oh well never mind.

Friday 4 February 2011

Friday 4th of feb 2011

Slightly bricking it today! not in an exercise way but more in a really quite worried way! starting to dawn on me just what tomorrow may entail...bit late I know!
Anyway, nothing I can do about it now so ill just get on with it. I promise a race report v soon with some photos...could be quite amusing.
Have a good weekend...sooo wish I was just chilling this weekend.

Thursday 27 January 2011

Thursday 27th of January 2011

Went for a cold 18k run yesterday morning. It had snowed on the Tuesday eve so there was quite a nice thin blanket of snow to run on which seemed to make the going nice and soft under foot. Legs felt quite tired by the end but no funny niggles or anything so quite pleased.

This morning was another spin session, really quite a hard one this morning but I really enjoyed it!

1 week to go before the 80k run....getting a little worried now but nothing I can do about it now :)

Off back to the UK this afternoon and hope to get some turbo trainer sessions in.

Ciao
Johan

Tuesday 25 January 2011

Tuesday 25th of January 2011

Arrived back in denmark yesterday after a heavy weekend of famiy, friends and beer. Not ideal training but it was fun. Went spinning last night for an hour and worked very hard. Walked home which is around 3 to 4 k. Up early doors today and out for a 23k run. Went very well with no problems so I am quite happy with that. Plan to do another 24k tomorrow just to push the ks a little this week, One week after I am supposed to be doing this 80k run so I have to push a little!
Now a little aching but not too bad so I hope tomorrow will be ok. If anyone reading this has done any distance running please feel free to send me some hints!!

Thursday 20 January 2011

Thursday January 20th 2011

At the airport again after another week in Denmark. U early, walked 40 minutes to work and then went into a 1 hour spinning class. Again a very good work out. Legs are now fried so I am looking forward to a break! Need to get a medium length run in this weekend, hope to crack that one Sunday.
The weather actually managed to break out into sunshine which made me wish I had to time for a good bike ride...alas I will have to make do with yet another flight. Someone needs to invent a way to get some spinning or running on a flight...could get loads done then.
Have a good one.

Tuesday 18 January 2011

Tuesday 18th of January 2011

Had a great spin session yesterday afternoon at work. 1 hours of hard hard work. I could feel my legs this morning when I cycled to work! Then went for a 10k run with a buddy of mine. Was supposed to be nice n easy but we ended up pushing it quite hard. Felt great not to have any strange paind in my just legs just the feeling that I was working hard.
Tomomorrow we plan to do a 15k run but this time not going faster than 5min pace. We will see :)
Going to just chill this eve and try to get some good kip.
Have a good one.
Johan

PS
I have had a few questions from people who have read the blog so I just wanted to say that you should feel free to send me a question, doesn't matter how stupid you may think it is. I have learnt quite a lot in the last couple of years but I also ask lots and lots of questions still! that's the beauty of the sport, people are quite helpful and seem to like seeing newbie's improving! I don't think you can ever know enough in this kind of thing, there are always people faster, fitter or just good at different skills.

Thursday 13 January 2011

Jan 13th 2011!

Happy new year to anyone who still looks in on this. I have been plagued by an injury in my right calf muscle for some time now and I have to admit that I did get quite down hearted about it. I drank way too much and ate way to much over the festive season pushing me up by around 3kg. I think I peaked at around 5 k above my ironman wieght. Thats actually quite a lot. I have now been able to run again a few times with no problem. I am taking it very very easy to start with and keeping the distance well below 10k. I plan to start bringing this up next week.
I have been doing quite a lot of cycle training on my turbo trainer at home and spinning classes which has helped to get me over the worst of it. I still plan to start the 80k run on Feb 5th with my two team buddies so that is my focus now. No injuries and just keep the running up but gently.
Once the run is done I plan to re focus on ironman training. I really need to get back into a pool!
My new lifestyle of commuting to Denmark for work every week is going to make this a challenge in its own right but it does also give me some opportunities to get some serious training done while I am here.
Sorry its been a while but not being able to train left me feeling quite low. It also gave me time to focus on my family more which I really loved. Kids get big soooo fast and I think my daughter could probably out sprint me now! My son has developed an amazing determination (also called being stubborn!) - ironman Max?
Have a good one
Johan