Winter blues

After an autumn of relative inactivity (due to injury) and an almost unsurpassed selection of invites to parties, beer festivals, catch up drinks, gigs and general socialising; I am feeling extra sluggish as we head into the winter.

Despite some weight gains and a feeling that my heart maybe full of butter and cheese, I am keen to get back out there. I've recently started running again as I have been given the all clear on the broken metatarsal and it is an activity ideally suited to winter mornings. Running in the dark is nowhere near as scary as riding in the dark.

I have, as of this last weekend, broken out the 'windstopper' running tights which proved such a good buy last January. I am still running in a light windcheater and running vest at this point however and am saving the deep winter top for running in snow.

My life has taken an interesting turn in the last few weeks. I have worked at the  same place for 12 years and for the last 4 years have been aware that the department I work in will be restructured at some point. That point is now. The structure going forward seems ideally suited for me to take a promotion and to move on in the organisation. Had it happened 4 years ago I might have done just that.

I applied for an estimate on voluntary severance and it came back with a monetary figure that my employer thinks is worthy of my service so far. In the public sector you don't get pay rises based on work you do. There are no bonuses and there are no awards or presentations for long service. Just an amount when you finally get spat out of the machine.

I have decided to get out before I'm spat out. I'll leave local government... maybe for good while I'm still young enough to try something else. I may try contracting or I may get another job. My aim is to get a mortgage and buy somewhere to live. Once I have that sorted I'm going to work out what to do with the rest of my life.

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?

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.

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. 

Running for an hour

This morning I tried something I have not done before. I got up early as the clocks has gone back that night. That isn't the new thing I tried though. I have gotten up early before. Even when the clocks have changed. 

I had some muesli and tea then waited for an hour. I went running. With a digested breakfast in my bloodstream. 

As I am not a man of leisure I normally don't get the chance to eat before I run. 

I managed an easy hour of running with a breakfast inside me. Twice the time I normally run for. 

Breakfast huh. I'll be trying that trick again. 

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.

the joy of a brompton... first week together

I have been ill and, as a result, not training properly for the last week and a half. This is massively frustrating, but I'm determined not to cock everything up by over-training again…

I did however pick up my shiny new Brompton so I have been doing a little light cycling.

It’s funny but I was going to write a first thoughts post about the new bike, but actually they are the same thoughts I had last time I had a folder.

When you first sit on a folding bike after riding a fairly stiff and speedy road bike, then it doesn't even feel like the same activity. I am more compact and upright than a road bike with much faster steering. The ride is harder at the front and softer at the back and the marathons (Swalbe Marathon tyres) slow things down.

However I am enjoying cycling for transport and fun.

I have got the gears set at +8% on a stock bike so there is still a physical challenge and who knows, maybe riding around in my everyday clothes on a tiny bike might just end up keeping my bike fitness up a bit over the winter.

A first look review (of sorts) of the Suacony Hattori

Around this time last year I first attempted to run in what is commonly referred to as the “barefoot style.” I had had a minor case of Plantar Fasciitis over the summer and had been told by a physio that I needed expensive orthotics and to stop running. I had flat arches and inflamed Fascia in the sole of my feet. I did a bit of reading online and thought I knew better. After a month of wearing no shoes or socks at home and vivo barefoot shoes when I had to leave the house, my arches were back and I was down half a shoe size. Added to this my toes started looking like they were the right length in relation to each other.

I tried a couch to 5K programme that I found online and proceeded to throw myself into it wholeheartedly.

3 weeks in I could barely walk. I had an overuse injury to the ankle and I was out of action with a Darth Vader boot for a while. I had neglected technique. After running in the correct style I went out in my old Saucony shoes and ran with a heel strike. Then did the same in my minimal shoes. Insufficient rest periods as I acclimatised and twisting my ankle all played their part.

My confidence was in tatters as I only regained my freedom from crutches just before we went to India (immediately prior to my 40^th birthday.) I was worried I’d done myself that nagging injury that would dog me for life.

Once I had stopped being a drama queen and had completed three months of physio I could walk on it as normal, but I didn’t trust my ankle for sport or even hiking.

Watching the Olympics, and to a greater degree the Paralympics, made me realise that what separated me from the Olympic athletes was dedication, confidence and determination.

I am now running twice a week (let my body adjust) in Saucony Hattori minimal shoes. With a simple short stride, forefoot strike. Light and easy. I’d love to review them but I’ve not worn another pair of “barefoot” road running shoes so I’ll save that for when my next pair arrive.

First impressions from a month of use…

Very lightweight (There is nothing to them);

Difficult to get on in hurry (Separate and loosen as wide as possible then put them on);

Minimal cushioning, very soft sole (I have picked up big splinters and thorns in the sole of these);

Comfier on tarmac than grass (they feel less direct on grass or trail because the damping is added to the damping of the grass making them vague underfoot);

Alright for now.

Morning run

We had Miss S's sister staying (I see a tongue twister forming in my mind) last night. What that means on a practical level is that not only is the spare room full, where I normally breakfast... go figure, but also that somebody is up before me in the morning. Sophie's sister needed to leave at 07:00

I set my alarm for 06:30 figuring that as Sophie and I both needed to be out by 08:00 I could go for a run and the shower would be free when I got back. Who says it's difficult to plan training around a job eh?

It was pitch black as I set off in the drizzle, not quite sure where I was going to run to today. I knew I wanted to be gone for about 35 minutes. After 5 minutes I stopped and stretched by the park. As it was shut (what you don’t want us charging round the park in the dark??) I decided to head up to the pub on the corner of the park and do a lap on the road around the back. This route is roughly equivalent to 2 laps around the park.

Within a few minutes (leaping out of the way of an unlit cyclist on the pavement excepted… really) I was in a little world of my own. This consists of an acute awareness of what my body is doing, that cycles into vague day-dreaming and back into awareness. I used to find that I stayed mostly in the dreamy/vague stage once I’d got there, but it is too easy to forget to think about form and niggles.

Interestingly I was reading the other day that the perfect state of mind for endurance events is a balance between the ability to ignore suffering (and continue) and the total body awareness of form and injury potential from surface and surroundings.

I need feedback on how my feet are making contact with the floor. Whether I have traction or not? Is one foot form better than the other (Yes the right foot flows better)? Ignoring, or even worse not receiving in the first place, this feedback leads to problems. I need this onformation, it helps me to plan my next step. I found myself injured last year running on very wobbly high Saucony Triumph  running shoes, but am working better with their Hattori minimal shoe. I have changed my “foot strike” from a heel strike that ended up as a flat footed step flopping from the ankle to a forefoot strike that is more of a gentle step that quickly drops the heel then rolls through the foot to spring off the toes.

So far so good

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.

Running progress

This friday evening I got in from work laden with three members of the onion family and some citrus foods. I put them down and decided to go out for a run. 

Where this differs from my running so far this year is that I have only gone running in the park since my physio. This means that half of any distance I've managed so far has been run on soft surfaces. It was overuse before proper conditioning that caused the injury that put me in a darth vader boot. 

As I set off from the flat I noticed that the the park keeper was blowing his whistle and asking people to leave. 

Sure I could probably fit in a run before the gates were locked for the night, but I'd rather not piss off the parky when everyone else was doing their best too. 

I set off along the pavement for about 400 metres when I realised I had not turned on my stopwatch. 

Then I realised my right leg felt a little tight. My mind started to wander. Then the road headed uphill. 

My right hip started to cramp a little. 

I then realised that there was a very steep camber to the pavement. I realised when it flattened out. Hip and leg felt better. 

For the rest of the run I felt fine. Well fine-ish. I got a few twinges, hot and cold, and a little tired. 

29 minutes later and I stopped outside my flat. 

Felt good. Non stop. Going to build up slowly till I'm up to an hour. 

With running the first few minutes can really puff you out. Make it to ten minutes and you're in a differerent place entirely. 

Run easy, run light. Fast is for later. 

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.