It has been decided. A few friends and I are going to race the New Forest.
The Forestman is an iron distance triathlon, comprising of a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike, and a 42.2km run. For those of us that prefer good of fashioned distances: 2.4 miles in the lake, 112.5 miles in the saddle, finished off with a marathon.
Entries aren’t open yet, but we’re resolved to look out for opening day and getting our names on quickly. Should be an interesting year.
Well I had a whale of a time. My provisional time is 1hr14, that is from starting the stop watch 5 seconds before the swim and stopping it as I crossed the run finish line. The transitions went perfectly, I genuinely don’t think I could have done any better/faster.
The cycle was incredible – a four mile climb to start with which hurt a lot (I don’t have any hills to practice on), and then a steep down hill on which, according to my cycle computer, I clocked a top speed of 44.5mph!
I then ran a ~22 min 5k which ordinarily would be terrible, but again it was hilly (where do they get those from up north anyway?) but I’m happy with it on a recovering leg and for a first Tri.
What a great experience, thoroughly enjoyed it – I will definitely be doing more.
Despite something in my brain screaming restraint, I’m signed up for four Triathlons now. Though the Ely place isn’t confirmed as they have a small field, I’m registered for the other three.
So I’ve entered my first triathlons in the upcoming months. I’m doing the South Sea Classic in August (1.5km/40km/10km swim/bike/run) and as means of preparation decided that looking for an earlier event would make good sense.
And so I found the Todmorden Sprint Triathlon (400m/20km/5km). My aim is to try, nothing else – get experience of the transitions, see if I can get round and properly condition each leg so that I don’t blow up on the run – a distinct danger as I’m likely to give it some on the cycle. This is on the 4th of July, I’d like to think I’m prepared – the distance is easy, I’ve practised transitions. I’m hoping to finish in a competent first-go time.
The same has to be said for the SSC in August (14th), it’s a much longer distance, especially the swim which is my weakest discipline. And it is a wetsuit swim in the sea, which will be a real challenge for me. Still, looking forward to finishing and getting round in at least a competent time, with eyes on the bigger prize of Ironman distance next year with any luck.
I just came across this rather..interesting looking exercise.
Now, I’m pretty confident I could do the running bit. But the rest…ouch. So naturally, I’m going to try it out!
My physio will probably have a heart attack when I tell him, but here I go. Beginning Monday, I will be following a marathon training schedule.
The venue is as yet to be decided, but it’s likely to be Valencia or Vienna, my preference lying with Valencia as it’s a flat course, and Vienna is not.
Here’s to my knee exploding, holding up, or possibly even doing a relatively decent time. I’d consider <4 hours good given my knee problems of late, but I’d still be pissed off with anything over 3:30.
Bumps is once again upon us. I’m rowing in division four & three this year with City VIII, thankfully not in the first division. I’m also coaching the Radegund M I this year, so two crews to keep an eye on.
Tuesday
City VIII – Division 4 Chain position 1 – Rowed over (Sandwich Boat). GPS Trace.
City VIII – Division 3 Chain position 18 – Overbumped Chesterton III (up 4). GPS Trace.
Radegund I – Division 2 Chain position 7 – Bumped ’99 IV.
Wednesday
City VIII – Division 3 Chain position 15 – Bumped Cantabs X. GPS Trace.
Radegund I – Division 2 Chain position 6 – Bumped Robs V.
Thursday
City VIII – Division 3 Chain position 14 – Bumped ’99s V. GPS Trace.
Radegund I – Division 2 Chain position 5 – Bumped Cantabs V.
Friday
City VIII – Division 3 Chain position 13 – Bumped Cambridge Vets. Blades!
Radegund I – Division 2 Chain position 4 – Row over.
Yesterday I found an awesome little addon for my Garmin 205.
I’m a huge geek, and this is the kind of thing that really gets me going, so to speak.
On a more important note, this is the longest run I’ve done in about a year, and whats more, my legs feel great after it. No pain, no aches, and most important of all, my knee feels fine.
..and it feels great. Fingers crossed that after yet another layout my knee is finally ready to run again. No long races planned for the foreseeable future, just lots of sensible low mileage work, coupled with training and plenty of strengthening exercises. I plan to start triathlons in the next few months once my body is once more up to it.
Ironman next year..?
It has to be said that lactic acid does not feel to pleasant. I’ve slept more in the last two nights then I did in the last two weeks prior, and my body seems to begrudgingly be thinking about repairing itself in what can only be described as a cumbersome fashion.
I have overtrained massivley of late, and am continuing a rather extreme course of exercise, involving several rowing outings a week (often 12), and am attempting to clock 250 miles/week on the bicycle, often falling short at around 200 miles due to time reasons.
I’ve trained excessively before, when rowing at university for example, or when training to do 3 marathons in 3 weeks; indeed my normal training for running and rowing would be considered by most to be excessive. Still, I don’t ever recall feeling the lactic acid course through my veins quite as badly as this.
I played badminton last night and I was absolutely shocking. My body simply could just not cope with the demands I place upon myself when playing badminton – even at a semi-casual/serious level. Mentally I was slow and unprepared, and even though I could on most occasions realise where the shuttlecock was going, and get into a position to be able to play a shot; I simply wasn’t able to mentally goad my body into playing what I wanted. I have never played badminton as badly as I did last night.
I’m hoping that getting some proper sleep for a change will actually enable my body to start repairing properly, and that I can get to the level of fitness I want after my knee injury. Otherwise I might have to take some time off, and who knows what will happen then.
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