First Sprint in 5 years.

Wow, I did my first sprint tri since 2004 yesterday.
Loved every minute of it.

Finishing time was 1:15:27
Splits were

Swim: 11:25 - this included jumping out of pool, running through changing rooms, down a long corridor, down a flight of stairs, across a sportshall and into an all weather pitch (chip system was at the entrance of pitch) so my actual swim time was about 10:20, and I'm only saying this cos I'm proud of it!

T1: 56s - Yeah, yeah I know - Dire!

Cycle: 40:02 - hmmmmm. Not bad but not great either. There was a long drag out to begin with, I was the first out of the pool so I'm not sure I got my pace right. It's really hard to focus on spinning really fast in a sprint tri - isn't it? You can relax really easy and then lose precious time. That on top of me not getting much mileage on the bike this season adds up. I need to get a few minutes off this time is what I'm saying.

T2: 1.06 - even more Dire!

Run: 22:00 - not bad for me and a negative split - which suggests maybe I should have pushed it a wee bit harder. But this will do, this will do.

I now got a month to do a bit more to double this distance. I'm doing an olympic distance in the middle of July.

Welcome back to the world of Triathlon!

J

Week off - life plan in check.

Wow - I've had a whole week off work to recuperate, rest up and generally just get my life in check.
It's been great!
I'm back to work tonight and am actually looking forward to it.

So what life plans have I concocted for the next six months?
Professional
1. I've got to pass my first set of Anaesthetic(anaesthesiology) exams coming up in October.

• this is intense stuff, and will need at least five months work to cover the syllabus (eek!)

• I'm not bookin any holidays away in this five months apart from perhaps a music festival and

• I plan to go to New York pre-christmas no matter if I pass or fail this exam (tho failure is not an option!) If I pass I hope to go skiing in January too so something to look towards.

Personal
1. Well, you may have guessed this already but I plan to get back on the ole triathlon horse!

• Yeah, on my week off I decided to book myself into no less than five triathlons this season!

• I openly confess my training has not been structured this year towards this.

• I have a base fitness achieved by swimming and jogging but the bike miles are few and I need to get on top of them.

• I am merely doing these races to give me back my lust for them and nothing else. I'm doing them to complete them, to focus on goals for next season and for pure unadulterated fun.

So that said I gotta go get ready for a mad-capped next 3-6 months. I've made some major changes to my career path this year and I'm thoroughly happy with them and last week was the first chance for me to sit down and really soak it all up.
On the training front I didn't act like a 'silly billy' and try and get a years training in during a one week period. I did a 40 mile cycle, two runs of 7.3 miles (I'm running a leg in Belfast Marathon) and I did an hour swim set. I've started off this week with a short run (3.5miles) and I'll likely repeat that today before night shift. Cycle to work tomoro night and then home on Wednesday followed by a short brick run. Wed night swim drills, thursday long swim, and Fri/Sat/Sun I'll get some bike miles in by taking the long route into work in the mornings and cycling straight home. (I'm on long days all weekend.) So that's some kinda plan.

Later.
J

Daily plans

So I'm thinking...
How about I try this for a while - make myself do some kind of daily activity every day no matter how small or excessive but do something every day.
I'll do it this week - see if I can do it for one week. If I can do it for one week - maybe I can make it habit. What do u reckon?

The 'oul'Two Bridges.

Ran this old favourite yesterday and boy, am I suffering today? I used to run this route with no issues at all - obviously I'm older than I thought. I did of course have my Garmin Forerunner 305 with me, which measured the route as 7.31 miles.
Since I haven't run more than four miles in a single jog in years I think completing this route in a hour was some kind of achievement to be proud of.

As I was running I was thinking about all my new gadgets and all the things I use these days to help me tranining - things I never used nor needed when I was younger and much fitter. I like to think it's because now I'm earning a reasonable amount of money and can afford these luxuries -but am I being completely truthful with myself?

I can't help thinking of the older men I used to smirk inwardly at a few years ago. They would arrive for our saturday morning cycles with their grossly expensive road bikes and contrasting beer bellies to boot not disimilar to the guys that turn up for masters swimming galas with the full 'ian thorpe style' shark suits sporting bellies that even the strongest material could not compress.

I'm beginning to wonder if i'm starting to fit that category of an athlete wannabe with all my gadgets and gimmicks that promise to make me faster, fitter and make my goals more achievable whereas reality perhaps would suggest something very different.

Reality at the minute is working a full-time job, loving my home comforts and finding it much easier to accept the extra stone in weight that I've worked very hard at keeping over the last few years with my regular sunday morning fry, friday evening takeout and the occasional glass or two of red wine with my evening meals.

There is no doubt in my mind that life would be completely unfulfilled without my swimming, cycling, running and whatever else activity keeps my generally high hyperactivity levels at bay. Although, I think it's time to accept that my gadgets are not going to make me the super-athlete I envisage every time I sit down to make another comprehensive training plan which is ultimately never kept.

This of course will not stop me using my Garmin Forerunner - hell no! It's brilliant, it draws a map on my computer and tells me how high I can get my heart rate and it even estimates my calorie expenditure - how else will I be able to justify eating chicken fried rice without it?

Gordo-isms

Check out this site...
http://www.endurancecorner.com/

It's because of this guy right here - Gordo Byrn - that I got into endurance sports. He's a legend, has a great mind for business and is somewhat of a modern day philosopher. On top of all that he's my guru. He doesn't know this of course but I just thought I'd put that up there. Check him out.

J

Night shifts...

Have been on night shifts over weekend so hence the tardiness of the blog writing.

So...
Tues 22nd - 50 mile cycle. Felt fine, conditions good. Did it in 2hrs 45 minutes, mid-afternoon.

Wed +Thursday - off.

Friday - Went for a swim. 400m warm-up. Free. Then thirty 100's free. (10 kick, 10 pull, 10 swim with fins off 2.00, 1.45, 1.30 respectively.) 200 swim-down. Nice.

Saturday - Cycled to work - 10miles
Sunday - Cycled home from work - 42 miles (took the scenic route)
Monday - Day off.

Night shifts were absolutely awful. Went out for dinner last night with two long friends and had a few glasses of white wine and now have to jog to my car ( bout 3 miles down the road). Not liking the white wine head though.

Before work + run.

Got up on Sunday at 5.30am and cycled 25 miles before work. Again, easy pace with av pace 15.9miles/hr. So bout 90min riding time. Heart-rate behaved itself never going above 157, and quite regularly down in the 120's to 130's.
Cycled the 10 mile home jaunt as well (measured it accurately with Cat-eye) although misbehaved on a few occasions and got heart rate up to 177 at one point. So all in all 35 miles on bike on a work day. Not bad.

Yesterday continued my running trend and did an easy 3.5miles, with HR below 156 at all times. 8.25 pace. Finished in 29 minutes. Slow and easy wins the race.