2 years later and a twist to the journey!

Where do I start....

2 years have gone past so why publish a post now?

Well not to be dramatic but I am lying in hospital after having my prostate removed this morning (and hopefully the cancer with it).

I now know when I started my original blog many years ago I needed it a lot more than any interested readers - I felt the need to catalogue my journey and it motivated me to meet my fitness goals.

For whatever reason that changed down the road and writing a blog (diary) unfortunately became more of a chore.

Now there has been another twist in my journey and I feel the need once again to share my experience and document it for my own future use.

This time around it will be slightly different - I am still relatively fit and still enjoy the triathlon scene, albeit my training has gone from 12 hours a week to 6 hours for the last 2-3 years and now more like 3.

The sport and the like-minded friends I have met along the way is very important to me. The long-term fitness I still maintain, to a degree, should help me get through these more tricky coming months.

There is also other stories to share - how I have found love again and all the twists and turns that brings.

Anyway quite a bit to tell. With that I am going to sign out until tomorrow - it has been a hell of a day, although I am all good.

Night, night (if there is anyone out there!)

Strava target achieved - easy taper week ahead

So last week Strava results - 12.5 hours, which is accepted, although probably not what it should be for someone who has an Ironman is less than 40 days!!

Most of that was in the saddle (approx. 10 hours) with only 1 hour running (Achilles niggles) and 1 hour swimming (arm strain) - my goodness I am falling to pieces.

The timing is not great as this weekend I have my first proper event of the season - The Cotswold 113 (or middle distance triathlon - half Ironman), which is going to be a bit of 'suck it and see'.

With the exception of the injuries I reckon my general base will get me through the distance but I am not sure how fast and whether the injuries will flare up and then make my main event in early July - Challenge Roth - a non-starter.

A wise man (or coach) would probably advise skipping this 'B' race and focus on the task ahead - Challenge Roth (my main 'A' race), however I am a typical 'won't be beaten', 'give it a go', 'paid for it now' kind of guy and therefore I expect to be on the start line this Sunday.

I am not a complete fool and would hate to put my health at risk so I will be starting at Pegler pace and see how I feel during the race. To date I have never had a DNF, well apart from Steyning sprint triathlon one year, which was cancelled because of heavy snow during the race - mad!

So, in order to give my body the best chance of making it around the 113km course on Sunday I am giving myself a rest week with hardly any training, although I did manage to get my first lake/wetsuit swim in on bank holiday Monday.

If my body holds together then I plan to have 3 more heavy weeks (June 5th - Jun 25th) followed by one lighter week (June 26th - July 2nd) and then a further taper to July 9th and race day at Roth.

Will report back on Costwold 113. Wish me luck!

Not a great success in the pool - struggling with arm strain

So I know I need to update you on my fitness to date (lack of detail over the last year) and I do hope to back-fill and provide this information.

For now, however, let's just brief you on how I feel today.

Well, unfortunately I am suffering with a right arm strain, nothing too serious, but enough to cause pain during a 45 mins plus swim session. I have no idea what caused it but I do know it is taking much more time to fully heal than I expected - symptom of my age!

Last night I decided to attend the Club swim set, the first since the 8th May, and it wasn't that pretty. Half-way into the the 90 mins set I thought it best to call it a day. My journey home involved a stop to the local supermarket to pick up some frozen peas and some Ibuprofen. I think I need to apply more of that RICE thing (Recovery, Ice, Compression & Elevation).

Hopefully it will all be sorted by July 9th (Challenge Roth). However, I still have a 70.3 (half-Ironman) event in just over a week's time (June 4th - Cotswold Middle Distance) - may have to take the swim relatively easy.

I do also need to watch my ankles - as the run volume increases there is a risk of the old 'Achilles' tendon problem surfacing again - need to get in those specific stretches before anything flares up.

So today, I hope an easy run (beautiful day to be out), mindful of previous injuries.

Friday, an evening spin class with the lovely Lucy (my girlfriend - more on that later), then more time on the bike during the weekend. I will see how the arm goes as ideally I had planned for the first dip in the lake on Sunday - just a couple of laps to try out the wetsuit prior to the Cotswold middle distance event.

I am personally looking for around 12 hours+ in the Strava bank this week.

Over and out - get out there and soak up that Vitamin D

My goodness - has it really been 15 months since my last post!

My goodness - has it really been 15 months since my last post!

Well, before I say I am back, I am going to ease myself in gently. There is a risk of saying too much and then running out of steam and never following through with any new decent content (hopefully you can call it that).

All I will say at this point is that my life has changed massively over the last 15 months (really the last 2-3 years) and there is quite a lot to tell.

The good news is that triathlon is still a big and important part of my life, albeit I now consider it within a greater and broader idea of 'well-being', rather than a simple sporting activity.

So going forward, if I can make use of this blog once again I expect my posts will follow a more broader 'fitness and well-being' theme, even 'Zen-like' at times.

Saying that I have just had a lovely cycle into work, the sun is out, and I am happy to get in the commuting miles (all recorded on Strava). Also got a half-Ironman event shortly coming up and then the big one - Challenge Roth in July.

Lots more to tell you, including a 100 mile ultrarun race report from last year, and a number of life changes to report on.

Let's leave it there for now, plenty of content to come.

Reporting back - Malta marathon race report

It has been a while since my last blog post.

I have managed to get in some semi-decent training volume over the last 2-3 weeks including a bit more strength work in the gym. I have also had some better results in the pool, namely my 200m + 400m time trial times have both improved:

200m - 3:18
400m - 7:10

The latest 200m time trial effort is close to my personal best (PB) of 3:17 but the 400m is still some 20 secs short.

At least there has been some progress mostly due to the new-found focus on better rotation and extra reach, which sets me up for a more efficient pull through the water. I has also made some improvements to my kick, which was almost non-existent beforehand.

I would have liked to have got in a couple more longer runs before the Malta marathon but for whatever reasons it didn't work out.

Anyway, I am writing this blog in the plane on the way back to the UK after a relatively decent marathon result. I was hoping for a PB but came up a little short on the day with a time of 3:46:00.

We started 200m up in Medina and finished at sea level so from the look of it a downhill race. However, there were some elevated sections, albeit nothing that caused me too many issues. On the day there was a strong wind that didn't help and I believe slowed me in parts. By the time we finished (around 11:20am) the sun was pretty strong. I actually prefer the warmer conditions although did get a bit of sunburn on my arms and neck, despite applying some suntan lotion beforehand.  I ran with a lightweight race hat, which kept the sun off my face and was useful for keeping me cool when squeezing some water from the wet sponges given out at aid stations over my head. I did suffer from a bit of chaffing between the thighs and also a small blister on my right foot, which was caused when I stopped suddenly and twisted around to grab my hat after it flew off in the wind.

The first 20-25km went well, possibly too well (or too fast). I was averaging just under 5 mins per kilometres, which if I could maintain put me on a 3:30 target.

I knew I would slow but it came a little earlier than I thought so the last 10km was much tougher than I would have liked. The support from my wife and friends was welcomed during 32-36km and helped me to keep going to the end, however I didn't have anything left to push the last few kilometres and get my PB.

My legs are not feeling too bad today (day after) and I expect with some easy swimming and cycling I will be back to normal training in no time.

Stopping to say hi to my support team

Malta Marathon

So, what's next....

Well I have a classic cycle event to think about - Paris Roubaix in April, when I will be tackling 163km of which 52km are on cobbles. I am still considering bike options as not too sure my race bike in its current set-up can cope with it.

Thereafter there may be a DIY training camp in Spain at the end of April with some friends and fellow triathletes.

I also need to try and get a few more long and easy runs logged in preparation for my main 'A' race and 100 mile ultra run event in June. The plan will be to do a few long runs in the dark on the Downs, probably as part of my commute but really upping the mileage - potentially some very early starts and finishes.

As always, I will continue to let you know how I get on.

The week just gone and looking ahead

So after my tough 28 mile trail marathon (ultra distance event) on Sunday 31st January last week was mostly down as recovery.

As previously highlighted in my recent post I was most pleased that I had no ill-effects from the long run and was delighted to be back in the gym on Monday and even on the track (coaching plus a bit of running) on Tuesday. I also managed 2 club swims during the week - following our new swim instructor's advice I lengthened my stroke and focused on the pull through, which definitely appeared to make a bit of a difference to my swim times - result! There was an easy bike commute on Thursday but little activity over the weekend. It would have been a good opportunity to get in a little more volume, albeit relatively easy.

So to the week ahead...

It is not taper time yet (Malta marathon - Feb 28th) so I do really need to get another decent run in plus some higher intensity work. Today (very stormy weather - strong winds) I opted for the gym and managed 35 mins on the treadmill - interval set - 1Ks @ 4:40 pace + 2 min recovery @ 5:45 pace, although my Garmin (indoor run setting) listed a much slower speed.

Here is the plan:

Mon: 0:35 interval run + 0:15 weights; [Optional 1:00 Club Swim]
Tue: 2:00 bike commute
Wed: COACHING - recovery day
Thu: 0:45 swim + 0:15 weights
Fri: 2:30 long easy run into work + 1:00 bike commute
Sat: 1:00 swim + 1:30 run on tired legs
Sun: 1:00 bike turbo (Valentines Day - need to give Mrs P some attention!)

Report back soon.

'Work the uphills, cruise the downhills, and keep the rubber-side down'

Better news and another ultra event in the bag

So finally, better news...

After a long period (possibly months) of sub-par volume training weeks I posted a half-decent effort recently, mostly driven by entry and completion of the Darkstar River Marathon. I say a marathon, however it clocked in at around 28 miles, so officially an ultra event. It was also a proper tough event as nearly two-thirds of the route was along boggy river banks - a mudfest! Not only did that make the going hard and slow but also a little dangerous in places. One of mates, Paul Carruthers (a Horsham Amphibians Triathlon Club Member), who also participated in the Darkstar event, came off worst for wear with a very nasty bruised and sprained ankle as a result. Paul, is an experienced and decent-level runner and sometimes a follower of this blog, so I wish him a very speedy recovery. He still managed a decent time of 4:36:43

My time for the Darkstar event, as you may expect, was nothing to write home about (5:03:24), however I was pleased for a number of reasons:

• No injuries
• Able to walk and even workout the next day - very unusual!
• Lost some pounds - back nearer to my fighting weight
• It is only February - good to get an early run in the bank
• Great training for my next challenge - Malta marathon

So, what is next...

Well - now I have lost some weight and recorded some better volume I intend to keep the momentum going, however this week will be a little more recovery biased (less intensity). I hope to get in 1-2 more decent runs plus some faster speed-work in preparation for the Malta marathon at the end of February. If the conditions are right I may possibly have a chance of a 'personal best' (PB) and a time south of 3:45.

Onwards and upwards!