Still Alive... but race season down the swanny!

I know it`s been a long while, thought I`d better get a post out just to prove to you (and me for all that matter) that I`m still alive and kicking. Been a rough 6 month or so with injuries, which really has put paid to my plans for 2010. Back problems and shin splints the main two which have put paid to my bike training and running respectively for much of the year.
Although my Spring marathon and half and full Ironman have been cancelled, I have entered some races later in the year culminating with the Leicester marathon in October.
The year hasn`t been a total loss on the racing side managed to fit a 10km trail race in, a couple of weeks ago which was great fun. I`ll leave the race report till next post, hopefully bit sooner than 6 months!! :-) bye for now hope your training is going well...

I`m back!...(hmm must have been writers block.:-)) )

It`s been a while but thought I`d better get something down, not sure if it`s possible to have writers block when it comes to a boring training blog but that`s my excuse!..:-))
Since I`ve been back from Spain training has gone pretty well. Especially the weekend just gone. Friday managed 2400m freestyle in the pool no sets just straight off, probably about double the distance I`ve ever managed swimming front crawl.... okay still not fast but at just over an hour I won`t get disqualified for going to slow. The cut off time when you have to be out of the water is 2 hours at the Outlaw so at that sort of pace I should be safe. Anyway it was a great confidence booster but now I really have to work on getting faster by improving my technique.

On the Saturday the weather was good for mid January dry overcast not too cold and little wind, so took advantage, and did my longest ride this year and managed 70 miles, the last 20 felt pretty tough, took me about 4 hours 13min.

On the Sunday finished the weekend off with a 16.5 mile run average pace 7.28 min mile the middle 5 miles really pushed it and compared to my running in the last 3 months which has been all slow, this was definitely out of my comfort zone. But it was just one of those days where I felt great and just couldn't`t help myself.
On the downside my over exuberance has resulted in a recurrence of my shin splints, but I`m setting my goals higher for my marathon in April and going to try for qualification to London in 2011.
This week work has been pretty tiring, working 5 days this week instead of the normal 4 and four of these will be 12 hour shifts so training has been and is still proving to be a bit of a trial. day off tomorrow so really need to get down the pool and may cycle after although how far depends largely on the weather.... Happy training, The Galloping Gilli :-)

Thirty minutes and it´s to the airport and back to the UK, lovely day today with highs of 21ºc.

Amazing run this morning along a track in the National park, although because it was out and back, basically ran 3.5 miles uphill then 3.5 miles back down again. Think I´ve tweeked a muscle in my calf but finished the run strong after having stop half way up to stretch it out.

The photo´s show a flavour of the run taken this morning at the same time by my dad as he was walking the dogs

Sad to leave

Back to the UK tomorrow, and it´s sad to leave Spain. I don´t see my mum and dad often enough so it´s always great to have the opportunity to visit. Also the weather here is glorious now and I know I´ll be going back to cold wet and windy weather. Lastly back to work on Tues and in for a couple of tough weeks at work having to make up my hours before the end of year.
On a positive note though had a great time in Spain probably drank too much wine and ate too much cake and too many biscuits but hey it takes a stronger man than me to resist my mums fruit cake!! Managed to fit my training in pretty well even with sore shins doesn´t take too much inspiration to get out running around here.
Next visit going to try and get my old slightly worn out mountain bike over here so I have access to a bike.
Yesterday took a rest day although in the evening did my press ups and crunches, today hit the gym with a vengeance doing a very hard hot and dull 1 hour session on the spinning bike then 30min weight training followed by a relaxed 20 min on the elliptical trainer.
I know i go on a bit about the state of my shins, and they are definitely quite sore today but determined tomorrow to get out and do an hours run up in the national park, walked up there a couple of days with my Dad and the dogs and it looks great running country a well maintained road/track nestled between the mountains, a definite must.

running inspired!

Absolutely fabulous run today, 9.88 miles of beautiful Spanish countryside, sun shining and temperatures of about 16/17ºc, ah it felt great to be out running again after a couple of weeks off, shins felt okayish and I just felt priviliged just to be able to get out and run. Actually went a bit further than anticipated and the last couple of miles felt it a bit.
The route was very hilly and steep in parts so proved a real challenge..guess I´m not used to the hilly stuff yet.
The good news is that The Outlaw looks like its going to be a pretty flat course, not that i really mind hills, but for my first IronMan I guess a flat course is ideal. My other Triathlon planned in 2010 is the Bala middle distance Tri in North Wales which is far from flat, so I´ll still have to get the hill work in.
At the moment my race calender for 2010 is looking something like this:

21st March Ashby 20 miler (preperation for marathon)
25th April Rotary Shakespeare Stratford on Avon Marathon
13th June Bala Middle Distance triathlon ( 2km swim 78.5 bike 20km run)
8th August Outlaw Triathlon Nottingham
probably rugby sprint distance tri organised by my local tri club sometime in Sept , may just help marshal it.
3rd October Loch ness Marathon

So 2010 is definitely my slow long year! looking further ahead, if I´m still in one piece then 2011 will be an attempt to qualify for london marathon 2012.

Anyway didn´t make it to the gym for my 2nd workout but thats okay I ran for nearly 1 hour 20 min so thats quite enough, still plan to get some core work stuff in before bed so guess I`d better sign out and crack on with it..... good luck with your training,... toodledoo

Training back on track (ish)

Still relaxing in sunny Spain, well to be honest it´s no that sunny but highs today of about 16c (61f) is truly balmy compared to the UK at the moment, has rained a bit here but hey you can´t have it all your own way in January.
The theme of the week is definitely one of unstructured training and really just trying to get some hours in, if I can get 8 hours training done by the end of the week I´ll be well chuffed.
Yesterday had a really good aerobic session down the gym, I may have pushed it harder than usual but not sure as I´ve left my heart rate monitor strap in England. Workout consisted of
20 min Spinning bike
30 min (6km) Treadmill
20 min Elliptical trainer
20 min Spinnning bike
20min (4km) Treadmill
Finished the workout with a run back home about a mile but all uphill and steep in parts.

Today managed to find the pool in Velez Malaga (about 20min drive from my Mum and Dad`s Villa). Lovely pool all laned off so easy to get the metres in. It was however pretty busy so had to be patient one or two people had absolutely no pool etiquette and one guy in particular who was even slower than me(which is saying something!!) just wouldn´t let me pass. Still nice to get back into the pool and swam for an hour.
Hopefully fit some core stuff in tonight, and tomorrow morning going to venture outdoors for my first run outside for about two weeks. All being well get to the gym tomorrow afternoon and get back on the spinning bike and may even do some strength training while I´m there. Hope every ones training is going well ... toodledoo , GG

A Lazy Weekend!

Decided it´s time to end my week long end of silence and and post, not quite sure where to go with this, the last week has been a bit barren on the training front. The really really cold weather combined with traveling to Spain to visit my Mum and Dad, have combined to put one very large spanner in the the works. On top of these maybe lame excuses my shins have been giving me problems on the run, and despite resting them for a week my one and only run this week (a 4km run on the treadmill) proved painful!

On a positive note did managed too fit 2 swims in last week some core work and a little bit of rowing on the concept2.

My travel plans to Spains were thrown into chaos on Friday, my train taking me to Birmingham International airport was a victim to points failure so basically just drove straight through the station on the wrong line as the would be passengers stared on in bewilderment! Anyway to cut a long story short the next train to arrive at the airport was just abit too close to my plane departure for comfort so my only real alternative was a Taxi. The taxi fare in the end cost me about the same as my return air ticket to Malaga and back! At least the plane departed on time and the flight was great.

I guess I should have expected it (knowing Spain a bit better now) but the pool I was going to use is closed for the winter and the gym which is about a mile away was shut just about all weekend. So this weekend as been one of decadence, wine nice food and feet up relaxing.

My training week start in earnest tomorrow with a long session in the gym it looks like they have at least a spinning bike and eliptical trainer at the gym, and hopfully sometime in the week I can get down to the pool (another one) and maybe even trust my shins enough to get out running.

It´s a pity I´m not fit enough to get out running at the moment as there are some stunning routes to take although all very hilly!

Monday afternoon now, bit of a delay getting this post. Well as promised found myself down the gym this morning only had an hour to workout before it closed for the afternoon siesta so just did 30min on the spinning bike and 15min on the eliptical trainer, finished the session up with a march back to the villa which is far from easy, uphill for about a mile.

I do feel a bit better for getting a workout in finally, and feel confident by wednesday of getting a run in.

Its been pretty cold here even snowed here yesterday which is very rare for this part of the world but today is a lot warmer with highs of 14c (57f).

A much needed day of rest!...well I almost managed it!

Ahh a day off training, a day off work, caught up on a few odd jobs round the house, still managed to fit a core work out in the evening.
Warmed up with 10 min on the rowing machine, then managed 5 sets of press ups 5 sets crunchies and 5 sets squats, not very imaginative I know but feel pleased I fit it in the day.
Next week going to start doing a more comprehensive core workout.
May even try a bit of yoga sometime in the new year. They do a class at my gym so may go a long just to get some idea.
Planning on a 45min run in the morning, and a swim session in the evening, but after last weeks big week just going to ease off a little this week.
Really hope my shins are a bit better tomorrow, if they are still sore, resort to plan B, and head back home and do a session on the rower.

End of a great week!

What a week it`s been!! 6 days working and over 13 hours training, my plan actually wanted me to do 11, but with the 100km commute took it well over.
On top of the 13 hours also managed to fit in quite a bit of core/ strength training. Using some really nice apps on my new phone which help you build up to be able to do 200 crunchies 200 squats and 100 pushups, the programmes really don`t take much time out of the day and hopefully I`ll notice a difference in my workouts.
Today headed to the gym and swam 2km felt pretty tough today and split it into 200m sets with 2 min breaks, probably end of week fatigue!. After a very very long transition :-)) managed 10880metres on the concept2 rower 45min keeping my heartrate in zone 2. Longest row I`ve done for at least 7 or 8 months so the last 15 min were tough have a feeling my glutes will suffer tomorrow..:-)). Finished the workout off with 45min on the eliptical trainer, quite a mental battle to keep going, but good practice on "toughing it out" kept my HR mainly in lower Z2 mainly because i was just two knackered to get it much higher.
Pity I couldn`t get my long run in today but I think it`s probably wise to let the shins heal.
On the whole though the body is holding up well and feel strong and positive going into the New Year.
Have to mention the positive effect twitter has had on my training since i signed up a week or so a go, listening to the triumphs and struggles of fellow athletes is really inspiring and motivating, and somehow I do feel more accountable, this blog also makes me feel accountable too, so I`d like to thank the people who do follow in helping me achieve my goals in the coming year.

Oh dug the trailer out today for a super healthy weekly shop...New year=healthier diet so feeling very pleased with myself lol

New Years Day ( a memorable start to the year)

2.35am OMG what the hell am I doing a wake at this time of the morning, I banked on my 7.5 mile run the day before guaranteeing me a good nights sleep, this was the commute to end all commutes 100km to work in temperatures around -2c, but despite the lack of sleep and tired legs from the previous days run I wasn`t going to back down on this, after all promised Kelownagurl a voicemail during the ride and told most my friends of my plans. I still reckon I had the best deal from the 100km trainer challenge, I mean how tough is 4 hours on the trainer!!!!

5.45am Finally set off, too late to be honest hoping for a 5.30 start, had to be at work by 9.45am so knew 100km was going to be tough. The weather outside was pretty much what i expected and the sky's were clear the winds were lighter than expected. I set off with a route planned , but soon realised that the best bet was not to attempt a 100km round route to work, but keep close to Rugby so I knew where i was, didn`t need the stress of getting lost, time was already a bit tight, so in the end I just took roads as and when i pleased.


6.45 One of the high points of the ride.At this point I`d managed to get the blood circulating enough to get myself pretty warm, partly due to the fact I was stuck on the big chainring. A couple of days before the bike shop had supposedly fixed my gears..hmm. With a full moon up and the peace of a New years morning the ride had a surreal quality to iy..fantastic,felt strong and even my gears were starting to behave themselves.

7.25am reached the half way point averaging about 27kph.. after climbing a few testing hills and needing a much needed pee break :-)) decided to take a five minute break,munch on a muesli bar and take a gel. At this point I decided it was a good time to send the voice mail. The break was nice and gave me a bit of a boost when i got going again, however the cold was starting to really get to my hands, during the break took my gloves off, and although they cold cold, i was not overly bothered, expected with some hard cycling they`d soon warm up a bit. My gloves though had got very damp inside, and putting cold hands into cold wet gloves well needless to say my hands suffered for the next 10k or so. If anything it had got colder, although that was probably jsustt my perception.
On the plus side, the sunrise was gorgeous and my legs still felt okay so I pressed on.


9.00am
Found myself passing my house. On the way to work now on one of my longer commuting routes about 12 miles a way, I was familiar with this route so somehow despite the constant headwind felt great and could see the end in sight, at this point I knew I didn`t have the time for the full 100km, but I knew with the commute home at 7pm it would just about hit the 100 mark!

9.40am woohoo made it!!....despite a few hardships this was definitely one of my favourite rides for a long long time, and although work was.. mm how shall i put it, challenging would be a polite way of putting it, at the end of the day had no regrets at all about doing the ride, lol although have no plans to repeat it in a hurry!! Total km 92.2..and the ride home 8.2..totally 100.4km....AWESOME, maybe save the next 100km commute till next new year


HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL ...All the best for 2010