Weights again

I have the final Monikie Duathlon on Wednesday, so I’m going to try to keep fresh legs to give the race a really good effort. I should be able to push the run far more this time, and the bike is getting easier too. I think I’ll go on the Cycle-World ride tomorrow, then a complete rest day, then the race. So tonight, after a walk in Templeton woods with the boys, I washed the bikes, and did weights session D again.

Lunge to press – Ankle better, but not 100%, so I put down some foam mats, and it was OK.
Dumb bell bench press – 3 x 10
Reverse-grip bent-over row – 3 x 10
Sumo squat – 3 x 10. Doubled the weight this time, much better.
Shoulder press – 3 x 10
Biceps curl – 3 x 10
Overhead triceps extension – 2 x 10 each side
Dumb bell crunch – 3 x 10

So, hopefully a ride tomorrow, a rest day, and a race. Let’s see how it actually pans out….

Pre-Triathlon Cycle Course Recce

Pre-Triathlon Cycle Course Recce by tom.fardon@cantab.net at Garmin Connect – Details.

The day before my first Triathlon, so time for a bike ride to recce the course.  We went slightly wrong half way through, so did more than the full 20K, but I got a very good idea of the terrain – flat.  If there’s little wind,  I suspect it will be a fast cycle course.  I didn’t manage to find the lake, but it must be somewhere in there!

A trip to Accelerate, a minimalist running shop in Sheffield to get a pair of Roc-Lite 295s for me, and a pair of Road X 238s for Mother, and then back home for some carbohydrate, and an early night – registration is 0700hrs tomorrow morning!!!  And it’s a 45 minute drive.  I think I’ll aim to get there for 8.

 

 

Edinburgh North City Loop

I’ve been feeling under the weather since the swim at Loch Ore on Wednesday. Very frustrating, as my training has been going pretty well – the pool swim has me sub 13 mins for the 750, my open water swim had me sub 25 mins for 1500, and my running is coming along. So to get a runny nose, bit of a sore throat, head of snot (quite clear, and runny) is a pain. I went to Edinburgh last night to see JEdg and family, with a plan to go for a cycle ride, in preparation for the Aberfeldy Tri tomorrow. I gave myself a 20% chance of actually competing on Sunday, as I felt pretty rubbish. But, after a good sleep on a nice firm bed, I woke up feeling a lot better. So, off on a wee tootle around the North of Edinburgh.

I’ve bought a cadence and rear wheel speedo to link with the Garmin. So after fitting it, then realising I needed to pair the devices, I can now monitor my speed at the wheel, the speed by the GPS, and cadence. All more toys, but the cadence is useful information. So there’s a new graph on the Garmin connect:

Edinburgh City Loop by tom.fardon@cantab.net at Garmin Connect – Details.

I felt fine. Not too fast, but spinning along, and there’s a ludicrously steep hill in the middle there – JEdg laps up the hills, and he was off like a rat up a drainpipe.

Went to the Edinburgh Tri Shop. They have Ridleys *and* Kuotas. So both of the bikes that fit me, and I really like them both. They had a lovely black and orange Excalibur with Ultegra groupset, for a shade over £2K. Lovely. I’d settle for that, I think….

I feel a little congested again now, but I think I’ll head to bed after the Champions’ League Final, and hope that 10 hours sleep does me the world of good. Barca 2 – Man U 1 at the moment. Barca completely outplaying Manchester, despite the home advantage for United….

The Aberfeldy Sprint is tomorrow, at 12. I’m going to try to do it, if for nothing else but the transition practice, and some experience of pacing effectively – the Garmin is so useful for that on the run. I reckon if I hold back on the swim, just remember to keep breathing, and don’t try to swim sub 12, then get on the bike, keep the cadence high, keep it spinning, and keep breathing, then on the run, start with 6 min/km and steadily speed up as the run goes on….

Barca have scored again.

Loch Ore – first visit of 2011

Loch Ore is great – a deep man made lake with a reasonably shallow beach entry point, buoys set out to swim around, loads of like-minded folk out for a swim, and hot showers at the end. After stuffing up the preparation, and start on Saturday, I thought I should really make sure I can start more confidently in open water. On Saturday, once I got going (After about 600m) I was fine, so can I get going after 1m, instead?

The plan had been to get in, do some SGF, 50 metres to get acclimatised, get out, then get back in again. But, of course, it didn’t quite go like that. I went in, SGF, a few strokes, and carried on, straight into a lap. The buoys were probably about 240m apart, so a lap was about 500m give or take, so three laps, done, 23 minutes. Certainly felt more comfortable than Saturday. I got the start of a bit of cramp in my calf at the start of the third lap, but I just relaxed, kicked less, focuses on streamlining my legs horizontally behind, and the cramp disappeared. Last year I’d have over kicked at that point, and the cramp would have probably injured me.

So, a success, and confidence is restored. I did a race exit, sort of, and took my wetsuit off as though I were in T1. All good, then.

Not sure what I’ll do tomorrow, perhaps a wee run, then a rest day Friday, a cycle with JEdg on Saturday, and the Aberfeldy Sprint on Sunday…