The London triathlon 2014

Sunday 3rd August is a date that has been burnt into my thoughts for the best part of a year now. Late last year I signed up to compete in my first triathlon. When I signed up it seemed a very long way off but the time came around really quickly in the last couple of months.

Getting to the venue was an interesting journey in itself. The road closures were already in place so we had to do a long loop into the venue. The organisers had done a fantastic job and every aspect of preparing to race went smoothly, or as smoothly as possible in a venue that size utilising mostly volunteers.

The swim
We queued up in the swim assembly. Me and 300 other men in my age group. One guy that I got chatting to suggested that I keep an eye open for the billingsgate turn on the first cycle loop as he had missed it and added 15km onto his ride the previous year.

At the instructed time we walked outside onto a pontoon in the dock and we were instructed to jump in as quickly as possible. I balked it a couple of times before just jumping in. I sank quite deep, but the wetsuit buoyancy popped me back out on the surface quite quickly.

At the horn we started swimming. For the first 100 metres or so people kept bumping into me a one guy swam straight though me. As a result of the crowding I kept my head up and swam a slower crawl than I expected to. This stroke with my head up caused the wetsuit to rub the back of my neck and I realised that I would need to swim my practiced stroke if I was to get around without wearing through the skin on my neck. I settled for around 20 strokes of open water front crawl, with a pause of paddling on the surface to check directions and surroundings before another 20.

After what seemed like an age I reached the buoy for the turn. Thankfully the second side of the loop was much shorter, maybe only 20 metres. At this point I started to need a wee. The only snag was that I couldn't wee and swim. Each time I stopped to try, one of the lifeguards on the kayaks would check if I was OK. In the end I just put me head down and started swimming the stroke that I had planned.

Before I knew it it was all over and I was climbing out of the water.  One of the assistants asked if I wanted help with the wetsuit zip. Thank you yes.

At this point I realised that Sophie was watching. The volunteers held open a bag for me to put my wetsuit, goggles and swim cap. There was a 200 metre jog to the bike racks

The bike
I took my time getting dried and changed. I was only a few from the back in my wave anyway so I thought I'd dry off and double check I'd got everything. The bike section was actually really pleasant. The route went from Excel up to Westminster on closed roads. The usual motley crew of time trial bikes, road bikes, the odd single speed and even a mountain bike. The route came back past Excel and then up to Billingsgate. It was lovely except I still needed a wee.

I'd spotted my parents with Sophie by this point which I was pleased about but I'm also embarrassed when I'm being watched.

I don't normally get to ride quickly in London so the closed wide roads and the empty roundabouts were an absolute joy. That said the last 50 were a climb up a ridged ramp to the first floor of the excel.

The run
I'd felt pretty good on the bike but the moment I got off I realised the run wasn't going to be easy. My foot which had been uncomfortable all week was now painful to run on. I had just 3 laps of the running circuit to go but I was thinking that finishing this was going to be something of a challenge.

Running is by and large a solitary venture...Unless you are running on the same narrow path with a thousand other people, whose friends and family are screaming support. The other runners were either going for it or hurting by this point. Everyone was also suffering from wind. Too many gels and sugary snacks. I however also still needed a wee.

I had to walk up the ramp back into the excel on all three laps but was pleased to have run the rest. Warren had joined my folks by this point so I was even more embarrassed but happy to see him.

As I crossed the finish I heard them announce my completion over the tannoy and I was presented with a medal. I declined the alcohol free beer and headed straight for a long overdue toilet stop.

I could barely walk but was happy to have completed my first triathlon.

Festival of cycling

I have been consumed for the last couple of weeks with the Tour de France. This year the bug bit particularly hard with a trip to Harewood House to watch the depart. It was Sophie's birthday and so we organised a trip up there with friends to celebrate. This all happened weeks ago but with the triathlon training, working and watching the tour I've not had much time to write this up.

The festival itself was a great experience (hampered slightly by everything closing at 17:00 or 18:00, the food not being veggie or healthy eating friendly, and no-one on  site knowing anything at all ever.) The grounds are lovely and the people were great too. Who knew a festival toilet could be useable after 48 hours on site?

Things we learned

1. Yorkshire isn't undulating. It is hilly. Period.
2. It is miles to the shops.
3. It's difficult carrying cake on a bike.
4. Sometimes you do actually have to leave a bird sanctuary because Tibetan  monks need to get in there and bless the birds.
5. Even Half-Maltese people can burn.

Time trial
On the Saturday evening David and I signed up to do the time trial. It would be our first attempt at a race of this kind. A short 12 mile, or 5 laps of the course, race against the clock seemed like something we could fit in nicely before tea-time.

Alarm bells should have started ringing when the Brownlee's lap time was 5mins and 32 secs giving them a time of nearly 30 mins for the course. The briefing described the course as "undulating". They should have gone off a second time when the team time triallists din't finish their first lap in much under 10 minutes.

The start was a slight uphill gradient that steepened slightly  as it came up level with the house. We passed the grandstand for the great and good (by that of course we mean rich) to watch the grand depart and turned left into a fairly sharp downhill section. I had sunglasses on  and didn't see the first speed-bump on  the the downhill. I'm new to TT racing but I'm fairly sure I'd know if it was a good thing to get "Good Air" over the "Jumps"

I panicked a little and slowed my descent. More corners and downhill under an old bridge. The dappled light meaning I couldn't see the road surface... which is just as well as there was a cattle grid at the bottom. A really sharp turn led to  a short, sharp climb with another cattle grid at the top. Then down over concrete slab roads to another sharp corner leading into a climb.

This climb was presumably what the organisers meant by undulating. Hitting it at a slow speed off the last corner I ran out of momentum about a third of the way up and started pedalling in a lower gear. This climb seemed to go on for ever (This is a TT course not a road circuit. I hit my lowest gear on 3 of the 5 laps, dry heaving on  laps 4 and 5)

The last mile was narrow and dappled and frankly covered in pot holes and covered cattle grids, before turning onto the smooth tarmac of  final straight back to the start.

On lap 2 there was a bike in the ditch at the bottom of the first speed-bump covered descent. By lap 3 there was a pile of bikes and an ambulance.

I finished in 55 minutes meaning I averaged 12.5 miles and hour. I averaged over 15 miles and hour on the Dunwich Dynamo doing 10 times the distance. Very slow.

Highlights for me were making the same guy jump out of his skin (with high volume dry heaving behind him) on the climbs (laps 4 and 5) and David completing the ride 10 minutes faster because he was convinced I was right behind him.)

10kmTrail run
Things I learned trail running.

1. Flat barefoot running shoes are no good for this type of running
2. Sometimes you can't tell where to go even when there is a sign
3. The man you think is lost may be just a mile or 2 ahead
4. It's OK to be lapped by a 19 year old who had completed the 10km run and the 10km bike lap by the time she passed me.
5. 10km takes the same amount of time to run whatever the surface if you are in a hurry
6. Don't drink Gin between a time trial and an early morning trail run.

That is all :)

4 days to go

In 4 days I will be competing in my first triathlon.

I'm not sure I'm ready for the following reasons

1. Lack of training - I haven't been  able to train due to injury for the last couple of weeks. I also haven't swum nearly enough.
2. Lack of form - Due to the lack of training and a persistent foot injury this is not the best time to be doing this.
3. Shyness - Not looking forward to being "on the stage" in a tight fitting onesie so to speak

I will however be turning  up and doing my best. Overcoming fear and avoiding excuses is what I have gained from this process. IF I want to do "A" I need to do "B" and "C" whether I'm afraid of them or not

This last weekend I went up to Hampstead Heath to try swimmimg in my second wetsuit (The first didn't fit.). It will rank as one of my weirder swimming experiences. Muddy water and not  feeling the cold of it through the wetsuit.I wish I'd done it sooner.

I haven't ridden my bike since the Dunwich Dynamo and it desperately needs a clean. Which is what Saturdays are for.

Continuous improvement through reckless experimentaion

Triathlon preparation, like much in life, seems to be an endless series of experiments and purchases

Running
After injuring myself in 2012 and taking the first half of 2013 to recover I  was nervous about running. I first tried "barefoot" running in the Saucony Hattori shoes (I reviewed them here). Once that worked I realised I wasn't going very fast/it wasn't comfortable for longer than an hour/i had no grip at all* in the wet. I bought some merrell road shoes. Got used to them and then realised I preferred the Hattori. I have experimented with the following...

• Shoes
• Breathing
• Training patterns
• hydration equipment (bottles/bladders)

Cycling
I have made a few changes to the bike...just a few. None of which I have settled on. I even bought a brompton (which in this blog I'm going to call my "winter trainer"*). I am now panicking as the bike has transformed into a racier machine, just as I realised I'm doing the Dunwich Dynamo in 2 weeks and may need to convert it back a bit!!*

• Removed rack
• Removed second bottle cage
• Lowered handlebars
• Extended stem
• Added a small saddlebag and a bento box
• Tried 1980's bar extensions (FAIL)

In a box to do whenI get home tonight I have a 

• Change of  handlebars
• Modern ICU approved tri bars (we'll have to wait and see)

Swimming
I could not swim far or in open water. Given my  lack of ability, swimming  kit and experimenting has been kept to a minimum. I read"total immersion" and applied it.

• 2 different pairs of goggles
• Different pools
• Swimming in the sea
• 1 ill informed wetsuit purchase

Other equipment:

• Bryton cardio 60 triathlon watch - currently broken due to swimming in it...
• Zoot Tri Suit
• 2 running vests
• 2 pairs of running shorts
• 2 running t-shirts
• 1 running jacket
• 1 pair running tights
• I thermal running top

* The author is prone to gross exaggeration

Croatia and triathlon training

I'm now only 6 weeks away from my first triathlon. Whilst my holiday to Croatia felt like bad timing when I was planning my training in actual fact it couldn't have come at a better time. I run and cycle the same routes quite frequently and so to go somewhere else and run trails by the sea ( and on one occasion up a dual carriageway up a mountain) mixed things up a little. 

I purchased the wrong size wetsuit a few weeks back and had been using this as an excuse to not swim in open water. In Croatia I swam in the sea 6 times. On one occasion I managed a 1km swim and felt absolutely fine at the end of it. I managed to cope with currents, tides, rocks and fish. In the interests of disclosure I have always been terrified of natural water. Not always, but from the age of 16. I watched  2 sisters bodies dragged from the sea and heard the wails of the surviving sister and mother whilst camping in wales. Their dingy capsized and they drowned. 

At 4 I fell into a river and was fine until my rescuer suggested we check my wellies for fish. Swimming in the docks of London is going to be a big deal for me. More so than the distance or the 3 hours competing. 

I ruined my triathlon watch as it turned out to not be waterproof, but Rutland Cycling are going to take a look and see if it's a warranty job. Anyway. I really enjoyed swimming in the sea. Goggles, rock-shoes and trunks. 

 

Dignity?

There is a dignity in rising up to meet a challenge but there is very often little to no dignity in what we have to wear to achieve our goals.

A case in point would be the triathlon suit that arrived in the post this Saturday. All in one, stretchy Lycra in black. Cut using the basic assumption that we are all shaped like a pro. The zip extends only as far as the sternum so I am going to be a hot sweaty mess if I ever need to get in and out of it to use a lavatory.

This is just one of an increasingly long list of totally undignified things that we wear, smear on or accept as normal in the pursuit of sporting glory.This list includes but is not limited to...

• Chamois cream - mentholated or regular? Used to prevent friction burns and saddle sores this goop is smeared on your genitals and bum. The result feels like you pooped your pants with ice cream.
• Winter bib-tights - Brilliant protection for the elements but effectively a fleecy skin-tight baby-gro. Keeps the draft out but as it has no fastening you have to get all the layers off and then sit naked with it around your knees when using the loo.
• Cycling shorts - The fastest way to look like an oversized sausage with a camel-toe. At worst you look like wurst. At best you look like a member of 1980's band Erasure.
• Running shorts - See above only this time think Burt Reynolds does PE.
• Hi-Vis clothing - Are you going to the Camden Palais in 1995? a little bit rave a little bit council health and safety officer.Not dignified and impossible to look at whilst eating/concentrating on anything else.

Have I missed anything?

Why I'm doing the triathlon

This August I'll be swimming/cycling/running the London Triathlon in aid of SCOPE. Scope exists to make this country a better place for disabled people and their families through advice, providing services and campaigning on their behalf.

On the 3rd of August I have chosen to compete in the Olympic distance: which involves a 1500m swim, A 40km cycle and a 10km run. I can currently do two of these things but not on the same day, so there is a little training still to go.

You can read more about why I’m doing this and what it involves, as well as hopefully sponsoring me, on my fundraising page. Please support me and this excellent charity.

Lee Valley Duathlon - Race Day!!

I woke up this morning in a flash and checked my alarm.

06:48.

Exactly 2 minutes before the alarm I'd set was due to go off. My running gear was stashed in the spare room along with tights and a jacket. I'd lowered the handlebars and taken the touring rack off of my Kona. The plan was to have a light breakfast and then take a leisurely ride up to the Lee Valley Athletics centre for a 09:00 start to the race.

Needless to say I panicked about everything from the route there to the fact I've never raced as an adult...

The nice lady on google maps talked me through the route there, although I did find myself correcting her out loud a couple of times. The only other people around at that time on the river are the sunday morning fishermen.

I parked up and locked my bike before going in. I soon discovered that everyone else had wheeled their bikes straight through. I was given a number to pin on my shirt and some safety pins. I wandered off to find the lockers and pin on my number, only to realise that it would have been easier if

a) I had taken the shirt off to pin on the number... and not my trousers
b) I had not been wearing my helmet which I should have left with my bike.

Outside and the race organiser ran us through the route. After about 30 seconds I realised that I couldn't remember this under any circumstances so as I was going to be some way off of the front I'd follow people and look out for bollards. There were only 15 runners this year as opposed to 50 last year. I don't think the rain, lack of a website or race pack, and no online info played any small part in this, but if this is your first time this is a nice and short race

On the dot of 09:00 we were off. The pack split quickly into the skinny people in tri-suits at the front and everyone else spread out according to ambition more than ability at this point. I say this as for the first half of the running section I was about 5th until passed by all but 4 runners on the back section.

I took my time getting on the bike and was passed by one of the remaining runners in transition. But the bike bit was fairly easy I was able to pass them quickly and get in front of another rider quite quickly. I slowed down a lot as we passed some fly tipping and a caravan I hadn't remembered being there earlier (although it could have been fresh) before pushing on and finding I was still on the right path.

Running after legs 1 and 2 provides an interesting distraction in that my legs had jellified a little and I wanted to be sick. I had drunk too much fluid on the bike section and was making an awful sloshing noise as I ran. 3 laps of the park and I didn't feel too bad as I crossed the line.

Afterwards we chatted sitting on the track waiting for the last couple of runners in. I was third from last. There was a quick presentation and we were done. The ladies winner looked about 18 and this was her 4th win. I still had a lap to go when she crossed the line. The men's winner had left East London by the time I finished.

It was 10:00 am on sunday morning. I rang Sophie and asked her to put the kettle on. It started to rain.

The Lee Valley Duathlon

"I'll be coming to the gig, but I'll need to take it easy though as I'm racing a few days later"

I am not sure how it all happened, but I found myself saying the above phrase out loud on Saturday over a few beers. A few years ago the quickest that I moved was to catch a train if I was running late, or last orders if the pub was closing.

Late last year after some cycle touring and a couple of really quite long rides, I started running again with the express intention of entering the London Triathlon in 2014.Whilst my fitness has been growing, I have started to find myself a little daunted by the whole finish-get-changed-try-another-sport-straight-after part.This is usually referred to as transition.

I'm one of those people with little, or no,sense of direction. When under pressure I often take the wrong turn. Worse than that however is the inability to locate items such as keys and a bicycle helmet when they are in the flat. After seeing the transition area at the Hyde Park Triathlon last year I am genuinely concerned that I'll:

a) never find my bike
b) never find my way out

With that in mind I started looking for small/short multisport events that are close enough for me to get to without having use the term 'logistics' to describe getting there

To this end I now find myself entered in the Lee valley Duathlon. It is a relatively straightforward 2km run/5km bike/2km run mostly contained in a park 6km from my house. At present there are only 15 entrants, so I should be able to spot my bike with ease. Even if that is because afterthe 2km run it'll be the only bike left in the transition area.

I've started looking at some quicker pacing and maybe doing a trial run using the bike rack outside the flats as a transition area. I don't normally put on cycling gear for a journey this short - I'd take the brompton.

As the conversation in the pub turned to the perceived lunacy of any absolutely non essential exercise, David piped up.

"You're not  doing it naked are you? Or is that something else?"

You could have heard a pin drop

Bryton Cardio 60 Review - Part two: Running

I have worn the Bryton Cardio 60 on 2 runs so far. Run 1 was a 6 km loop in the morning without the HRM chest strap and the unit set up straight out of the box. Run 2 was a 10km slow run focusing focusing on  heart rate and stride rate.

Run 1

I strapped the watch on fully charged, but with only my user profile set up on the unit. By the time I’d walked across the communal garden and out into the street the unit had acquired a satellite fix and corrected the time settings. The unit has three fields configured as standard (which I changed for run 2. It was easy to read and understand in use. I had distance/time/pace to look at on this initial run, which was informative but didn’t massively change my approach to training in any way.

Run 2

Before setting off I configured the screen to show Time running/Current heart rate/Pace/Cadence and made sure that the HRM strap was paired and working. I set off on a loop that I thought would offer me around 10km of running with some quite big inclines on busy roads, finishing on a few quite roads then a lap of the park. The aim of the run was to stay under 160bpm for the whole run but to try and keep my heart rate at around 150bpm for most of it. Throughout the run I wanted to keep my cadence/stride rate above 80.

Monitoring this was easy (I will configure alerts and workouts next) but all in all it was good to have a device confirm my perceived effort on this run. My distance calculations were also about 0.5km off so I was able to add that on as I went rather than discover it on  the iPhone app after I’ve stopped running.

I can see that there is a lot more potential for getting my training right by using this device, however I did find myself checking it quite often and not just as my perceived effort changed. A word of warning. The chest strap works beautifully but I may have worn it both too tight and too high. I have been left with 2 puncture/rub points where the skin in broken under my right armpit. I'm going to check for advice online to correct any error on my part though. 

Dunwich Dynamo 2014

Yesterday at a slow late lunch, I was perusing my emails, when  I can across an unassuming email. from a chap called Bill Owen.

"Hi!

Please forgive this intrusion, however, you at one stage last year booked tickets for our Coach Service after the Dunwich Dynamo last year.

So we thought we would let you know that tickets are now available for 2014."

A quick email around my cycling buddies and I am booked to do it again. At the moment only David is coming too but I'm sure that'll change.

It's a fortnight before the triathlon, so it'll also act as my last big ride before I start to lessen off on the training and get ready to flog myself in and out of the water for a few hours. I know this may seem daft, but an endurance event like the dynamo makes an event like a triathlon seem much more manageable... Albeit a little quicker.

Should be an interesting test for the brytonas the battery life is supposed to be 16 hours on it's powersaving mode

Bryton Cardio 60 Review - Part one: Unboxing

Finally after a couple of false starts trying to purchase a Garmin 310xt that left me £150 down for a fortnight (Gee thanks Amazon) and one returned order I have settled on the Bryton Cardio 60 GPS Multisport watch. There were several reasons for the choice. In an ideal world I fancied the Suunto Ambit 2 or the Garmin Ambit2. I also wanted a bike GPS, wetsuit, new wheels... etc... you get the picture.

Deciding factors were:

1. Rutland cycles had the unit with the HRM on sale for £119 (about half the RRP)
2. DC Rainmaker had an OK and fairly in depth review
3. It looks ok
4. Vibrating alerts for laps/targets/time etc
5. Multisport

So I picked it up from the post office on Green Lanes which was an experience in itself as I was the only person in their not conducting a week's worth of business at 9 in the morning. Hard though it was I made myself wait until I got home to take it out and have a play.

The box itself isn't as classy as the TomTom and a little less pro looking than the Garmin boxes.

In the box is the unit, a USB charger, HRM and strap, 2 instruction booklets (One with 12 pages of English instructions) and three copies of the warranty.

The Bryton Cardio 60 (With printed screen protector still on)

HRM and strap

USB Charging clip

Wrist shot (I have relatively large wrists)

The unit is surprisingly light and a little flimsy feeling. I am not massively concerned although the waterproof rating is only 30m. It is comfy on the wrist, does not feel particularly big, and the strap locks quite nicely to the strap loop.

I had already signed up for a Brytonsport.com account so I just needed to download the agent and update the software on the watch.

The site is pretty basic, but it appears to be ideal for an amateur like me. I'm going to customise the screens after using it a few times and see how it goes.

***Update***

I tested it this morning on a gentle run and uploaded the info to the bryton site. The info is easier to read and analyse than it had been using the Runmeter app. It also appears to be more accurate (I'll need to test consistency) compared to googlemaps. When I mapped out a route on googlemaps then ran it on runmeter I'd frequently come up a lot shorter than the plan would suggest. I came in at 5.95km on a suggested 6km route but I started recording after I'd crossed the road, so I probably lost 20m. Not too shabby so far.

A main motivator for getting something like this for a race as complex (technically) as a triathlon is that I need to be training to complete each section as fresh as possible, which requires me to monitor my heart rate and pace. Difficult without kit.I entered my current times into a calculator online (at running free) and it reckoned I'd be all done in 03:09:55. Well we'll see.

Distance	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run	Total Time
SuperSprint 400/10/2.5	7:30	3:00	20:17	5:00	15:06	50:53
Sprint 750/20/5	14:20	3:00	42:00	5:00	31:30	1:35:50
Olympic 1500/40/10	29:17	3:00	1:26:57	5:00	1:05:40	3:09:55
O2 2000/80/20	59:48	3:00	3:00:03	5:00	2:16:55	6:24:47
Half IM 1900/90/HM	37:21	3:00	3:23:45	5:00	2:24:55	6:34:02
O3 4000/120/30	1:20:25	3:00	4:35:37	5:00	3:30:27	9:34:29
IM - Expert 3800/180/FM	1:16:17	3:00	7:01:53	5:00	5:02:07	13:28:18
IM - Beginner 3800/180/FM	1:16:17	3:00	7:22:59	5:00	6:02:32	14:49:49

I accidentally ran over 5km this morning

Ok so it was 5.2 km and it was down to me not checking on the GPS but guessing how far I'd run before I stopped.

Even so I ran 5.2km in 36:31 minutes... or 7 mins per km. I realise that this is no speed record or anything, but you have to remember (actually you don't have to at all) that I never got this far last year. In fact I may have caused myself more problems than I solved last year trying to even get here.

I'm just chuffed as I only have to learn to:

a)swim properly,
b) cycle in a different position,
c) stay fit,
d) learn to do all these things back to back,

...and I'll be ready to do a triathlon!!

Hell yeah.

My first running race

I have decided to enter a road running race. As you can see from my use of non-technical lingo I am frankly and quite obviously not expert (although technically I am a "Masters Athlete")

In researching the types and levels of training I would need to be able to complete a triathlon,  I came across a handy formula. Time training = proportion of race that discipline takes up...

e.g.

20 mins swim = 22%
40 mins cycle = 44%
30 mins run = 34%

Now this is all well and good, and when I get into training proper I shall stick to this, the thing is my weak (WEAK!) points are the run and the swim.

So the plan is this. I will train just the running and the swimming until I can cover the distances comfortably (I'm giving myself until Christmas). Then in the New Year I can start a structured training programme to build up for an actual event.

With this in  mind I am going to enter the Regents Park 10km race or the Richmond park 10km in December (Maybe both). If I can build up in two months to running a 10km race then I will be well on my way to being fit enough to run a tired 5km.

All the advice I've read so far point to attempting to good enough on the bike, to come off of the bike section relaxed and with plenty of leg energy. This means I can't let my on the bike fitness drop off over the winter to the level I did last year. I'm thinking one or two round trips to work for now, and then add in spin class after Christmas.

Breathing...The source and solution of my problems running

There is something romantic about running. I can't quite put my finger on what it is. Maybe it's the simplicity of being self propelled without the need for the volume of equipment needed to cycle (Bike, shoes, shorts etc) or swim (erm...a pool.)

Once you get into the rhythm of it there is a beauty to the way the world looks. the surrounding terrain becomes something to be covered, climbed or circumvented. Breathing becomes regular, almost metronomic as your feet spin and bounce you along the floor.

I've been reading a lot about breathing cycles. Some of you will be familiar with the way in which breathing cycles work in swimming. To avoid a training imbalance whilst doing front crawl I breath on the third stroke. This means I breath on a different side each time. Short deep breath, breath out for two strokes and in the other side.

With the way the body is constructed, the core (strength and stability) is more important than I ever imagined. Swimming appears to happen almost entirely from the core. When running the foot stabilises but the core holds the torso and head balanced.  When you are fully exhaled the core is relaxed. I found that as I counted my breaths I always ended up completely exhaled as my left foot hit the floor. This is the less stable ankle that caused me all the trouble a year ago.Somehow I need to do what I have managed in swimming and get my exhalation on different sides.

First week of triathlon training

Since I last totted up the distances on the bike, I have added a little over 360km to my total from April. That's over 1,000km. When you look all a lot of enthusiastic cyclists though, they often rack up well in excess of 100km a week. 

I had decided a few weeks ago that my next challenge would be a triathlon. I didn't know that much about them so I've been doing a spot of online research. 

It didn't start that well as the day I had picked for my first run was also a day I'd agreed to go to the pub. I've re-jigged my schedule however and am back on track. Due to the injury I picked up this time last year running I am taking it very easy. I am running one, walking one ( minutes that is). 

Yesterday I did my first 'brick' session. This involves doing one activity and then moving onto a short session on the next sequential activity. So I cycled both ways yesterday and after carrying my bike up the stairs I changed my shorts and set out for a gentle run. 

It's bloody tiring is what it is. However if I am going to do this I need to do at least one session a week where I do this. During the winter I hope to do a 'gym triathlon' as part of my training. 

All three sessions back to back. In a tri outfit. In a gym.