Commute to Work

I have now bought a commuter bike which I am planning to use at least a couple of times a week.

Each day this would be about 6 Miles (10km) of cycling to work but on the way back I may add a few more miles. This may not be much but it is more cycling miles which should hopefully add to my cycle fitness.

Weekly Update

This week I have done 4 hours of training in all 3 area of the triathlon.

Swimming 33%
Cycling 33%
Running 16%
Gym 16%

The swim included a long(ish) swim session. I have not done one of those for a while.

Next week I am planning to do more cycling and running.

Aqua Jog

Earlier this week I when out for a short 3 mile (5 km) I felt a pain in my right hamstring muscle so I stopped my run early instead of doing another 2 miles.

So today I did a 30 minute Aqua Jog session at my local pool. It was quite strange floating in the pool upright but I think it did help me recover a bit. I will plan to keep doing these sessions even when not injured.

Weekly Weigh-in plus 12 Weeks

This week I have gained 1 lb (0.5 Kg) with the % body fat remaining the same.

Despite the last two weeks having small increases, over the last 12 weeks I have lost 3 lb (1.2 Kg) and my % body fat is down by 2%.

Weekly Update

This week I did no training apart from walking a few miles. This was not helped by the poor weather conditions.

I should have really got my cycle turbo out but I am trying to get a spare part. As previously last year I pedalled through a cable which broke.

Weekly Weigh-in

This week I have gained 1lb (0.5 Kg) with my % body fat decreasing by 0.5%.

Last Weekends Planned Training

Last weekend I was planning to do two 1 mile charity runs.

However on the day the weather conditions were a strong wind off the north sea and also rain. So I decided not to do the runs as there would also be about 3 hours of driving in those conditions.

I had also planned to so some swimming in a pool that had a wave machine and a slope entry to the pool (to simulate a sea swim). However they will be closed for a few weeks due to the strong winds earlier in the week which part of the roof collapsed in to the pool.

Apart from that it was a good weekend.

Weekly Update

Last week I did nearly 4 hours of training.

50% of this was running.
40% Swimming including a 1 hour training session.
10% Gym session.

Reducing Caffeine

This last few week I have also reduced my Caffeine intake.

Instead of a having a few cans a day of diet cola I have replaced this with squash, which means I have been drinking over 1 litre a day of water. I did occasionally have the odd can/small bottle of drink.

I am still having about 4/5 cups of tea a day which I am planning to reduce this having some non caffeine teas.

Before Ironman UK last year I went caffeine free for about a week, so its effect would be more noticable at the end of the race. However this is going to be a change to my nutrition.

Weekly Weigh-in

This week I have lost 1 1/4 lb (0.6 Kg) and my % body fat remaining the same.

I think this due to gradually increasing my training hours while not increasing my food intake. I have even slightly reduced it by not having a mid morning snack and instead of having a yoghurt at lunchtime I have it mid afternoon instead of a normal snack. The additional snack will be added back in once my hours increase significantly further and depends on what sessions I am doing that day.

Hill Session In the Wind

Tonight I did a hill session which had some extra resistance training.

On the circuit used the second hill was into head wind which was occasional gusting winds over 20 mph (35 kmph). The first hill had side wind so you had to be careful that a gust of wind did not push you on to the road.

It was not that cold but I did get a lot of fresh air.

Weekly Update

This week I have trained for over 5 hours with all three triathlon disciplines plus some gym work.

It was roughly distributed as below.
40% run
35% swim
10% cycle
15% gym

The swim amount is high on time and not distance as I was concentrating on my technique rather than distance.

The run does include a football match were I was an assistant referee which involved a number of sprints. Although the biggest/fastest sprint was to the dressing room after the game. As the second half had turned cold and it even hailed for a few minutes!!

Weekly Weigh-in

This week I have gained 3/4 lb (0.3 Kg) with my % body fat remaining the same.

My food intake had increased slightly and I thought it was inline with the increase in training but obviously this was not.

Swimming Drills

Today I did a swim session using the new drills from the previous night. I was able to do them quicker as I did not have to listen to the instructions compared to the previous day, I think I remembered them correctly.

I did feel more efficient swimming today as I was noticing all the small parts of the swim stroke.

It was a bit strange as I was doing some more unusual swim strokes/drills in the lane next to where they had an aquajog session with about 20 people.

Had a Swimming Lesson

Despite already completing an Ironman which includes a 2.4 mile (3.8 Km) swim I decided to go to a swimming lesson, as I felt my swimming technique could be improved.

It was a good 1 hour session doing various drills with emphasis on each the areas that we needed to improve. This was easily done as there was only 2 people being taught which made it a really productive session and by the end I could feel improvements.

Now I have a few more drills to help practice these techniques.

Not doing the Ultra Marathon

I have decided not to the Ultra Marathon that I had planned this year as I have not done enough training for it.

It is also too close to the Ironman France to be able to recover properly for it.

Extra Walking

Also on Saturday which was not included in my weekly training was walking about 1.5 miles (2.4km) each way from the main railway station in Southampton to Southampton FC to watch a football game.

As my seat was only a few rows from the top it was a bit of hill session going up to the seat. As the food and drink was available underneath the stand so therefore I did a few hill reps.

I am not sure if it was that windy at the height of the seat or the stadium design but it seemed windy all game yet I did not notice while walking to the game.

After the game I was walking away from the stadium back to the railway station and I recognised the person walking next me, so I chatted to them for a while. They supported the home team and supported the away team, the game had ended in a one all draw.

What is the odds of meeting someone you know at an away game. In this case about 1 in 23,000!!!

Weekly Update

This week I did under 1 hour of training. Half of this was swimming and the other half was cycling.

This was planned to be longer on Sunday with some cycling and swimming. However my right shoulder was hurting a bit when moving it forward, so I decided best not to do any training. I think this was due to me landing on top of my car the previous day, strange how it did not hurt this much when it happened.

This week looks like I may no do any outdoor exercise at the start of the week due to forecasted weather conditions. This morning after 9am they were already starting to grit the local roads!!

First Bike Ride of the Year

Earlier today I did my first bike ride of the year, which was over 5 months since I last rode it. This was just to test my bike was working ok, so after a visual inspection I went on a short 15 minute ride.

However it did not start well as I did not make it of my drive way without fulling of my bike on top of my car bonnet. I forgot about my foot being clipped in to the pedal on the side I stopped on.

After that the rest of the ride was ok. I did find out I should check the type pressures by measurement and not by feel. Also one of my on board cycle counters had ran out of battery.