Category: Triathlon

Feeling fit, bit bored of Triathlons though!

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Soooooo, i haven’t updated this for a while! I can not be bothered to fully recap everything in the last few months. I’ll do a quick recap of what i’ve been up to, a few picks, then i might rattle on about stuff.

  • May – Maltby Sprint Triathlon 1:16:41 – Was really happy with this and enjoyed the race.
  • Ripon Triathlon 2:48:08 – Swim = 31:19 – Bike = 1:21:17 – Run = 52:44 – I enjoyed this, bit warm, but was a nice day. I fucked up for about 10km on the bike, i couldn’t work my new hydration bottle thing!! And it was fucking baking, so i panicked a little! Yes, i’m the big dickhead who didn’t test things before a race!! No fucking medal either!!!!!!! Gutted!
  • Castle Howard Triathlon 3:08:25 – Swim 24:13 (Ripon was a non-wetsuit swim, hence the time difference) – Bike = 1:40:37 (This was about 7km longer than 40km, hence the 20mins time difference from Ripon) – Run = 55:57 – The swim was dirty and full of reeds, then a 600m run up an hill to T1 (T1 took me 6 mins!!!), i hated the bike, but again this is my dumb fault as the weekend before i did a 110mile bike from Filey to Barnsley! I could feel the fatigue in my legs. I loved the run, it was all off road on trails around Castle Howard, it was mainly up hill too! I might, next year just do the half marathon run as the weekend festival was good. I hate my time result on this, the 6mins in transition and extra 7km on bike ruins it!

The above are the races i’ve done, i’ve also do the Great Yorkshire Bike Ride which is 80miles, the Filey to Barnsley, about 7 Oxspring Trunces, which is a local fell race. The Dam Flask relays, which was awesome and Stan’s Toffee Run, which is a local trail race.

 

 

I’m getting bored with Triathlons, not so much the actual events but the training for them. I enjoy the swimming, the biking and the running. What i don’t like is that sometime its feels restrictive in how i train and what i want to do. Its mainly the biking and the running. The road biking i like and enjoy, i find nice rural roads and kind of just explore, which is good as there is plenty around where i live. The problem is that just training isn’t about a nice amble out. It has to be functional on the bike whether this is endurance or speed etc. So most of the time its head down and get the numbers right! And the running!! i love running, but i love running in the middle of hills, mountains and trails. I like to stop at the top and admire the views! I like that n one is around and its kind of just you and nature! i also like the kind of self sufficient thing about it. You put on your race vest, few snacks, water, rain coat and just fuck off somewhere! Training for flat road and speed gets boring.

I’ve been doing a few more trail runs lately and kind of neglecting the bike. I have about 4 to 5 weeks until Ironman Weymouth, so i need to get some biking in.

The plus point is i do feel a lot fitter than say 6 months ago. I did a 16 mile run in the Peak District the other day with 3,500ft of elevation in it. I felt brill, and i’ve not really done that for 3 months, and i have’t run over 10 miles since start of May. So i was happy with the progress.

Currently my training week breaks down into

  • Monday: Swim 2,000m (am) / 1 Hour turbo on Sufferfest (pm)
  • Tuesday: Swim 2,000m (am) / Speed work 5 – 10km (pm)
  • Wednesday: 1 hour Strength & conditioning (am) / 1 Hour turbo on Sufferfest (pm)
  • Thursday: 2000m (am) / Club ride 30km & 5km brick (steady pace)
  • Friday: 2000m (pm) / 30mins Yoga (pm)
  • Saturday: 100km bike ride & 5km brick
  • Sunday: 10 – 20km steady recovery run

Sometimes i miss shit, sometimes i swim less than 2,000m etc but i try and roughly stick to this. If i’m feeling tired or that i need a rest then i’ll take a day off. I use Training Peaks to plan shit and review my form and numbers etc. It works out to around 10 – 15 hours per week, depending on how i feel.

I do think though 2019 will be a run only year though, i’ll still swim and ride, but the comps will be run only!

New Year New Goals (bit late, who cares)

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So long time no blog (ish), not sure why, sometimes i just forget to blog, until WordPress email my bill anyway!

Anyway screw recapping what i missed from this blog to the last! I’m not sure about everyone else, but i kind of do make New Year goals, or resolutions. I learnt a fe things from last which i intend to take into the new year. All in all last year i did about 20 different running/triathlon events. This was way to many, fun, and add to the medal collection, but way to many to be of any use. My last race in December (i know i said no recapping, but this is me making a point, stop judging) was a 10mile trail run that i had done the year before. Now i beat my time this year, but i was still 10mins shy of my actual goal time. My legs have never felt as bad when running, i have never felt as bad! The fatigue in my legs was shit, this was an accumulation of too many races over too many weekends. The week before i had done a trail marathon with around 4000ft of elevation, two weeks before that i did a race, 98km from one end of the Peak District to the other!

Now my lesson is too many races too soon after each other, not enough time training!

This year i have booked every event i’m doing up until end of September.

  • 27th Jan – Waterway 30 (31 mile race along the canal toe paths)
  • 17th March – Hardmoors 55 (55 mile race around North York Moors)
  • 5th – 7th May – Great Lakeland 3 day (3 marathons 3 days, Lake District)
  • 13th May – Maltby Sprint Triathlon
  • 30th June – Ripon Triathlon (Olympic Distance)
  • 21st July – Castle Howard Triathlon (Olympic Distance)
  • 23rd September – Weymouth Ironman 70.3 (half Ironman!!)

So that its so far, i know the 3 day event is near the Maltby triathlon, but the Maltby one is more of a club event and there is around 20 of us doing it, so fuck it!

Thats my entire race calendar, i’m not sure what to do after September, i would like to do the 98km Peak District race again, but i’m not sure how fast i can transition from doing Triathlons to Ultras! Currently i’m prepping for the 2 Ultras and 3 day event. I know from doing this my speed is pretty much gone. Which i’m assuming will be role reversal once i start the triathlon training. My speed will get better over 5km – 20km, but my long distance running will probably suffer. Which means is 1 and a half months enough to train for a 98km Ultra! I mean the fitness will be there, but the miles in the legs will not be there! Fucking decisions eh (i’m very lucky that these are the worrying decisions i have to make in life)!!!

I have a training plan until May, when the 3-day event starts, mostly running. I will also being doing 1 to 2 turbo sessions in the house every week, and currently 1 swimming session, but this will increase when i can get back into the lake to around 3 times a week, plus the odd strength/conditioning/stretching session per week. Currently i’m doing around 60/70km per week running, all activities included, around 8-9 hours per week. I think this will have to increase to around 12 for the 70.3.

The Hardmoors 55 and the Ironman 70.3 are pretty much my main focus this year!

Other goals – Do 50 push ups a day, i know doesn’t sound a lot, but it was 0, and i want to see if it actual makes a difference, more of an experiment than a goal!

Eat more healthy – so far i’m doing well, no fast food ( i rarely ate this anyway, but cutting it out altogether is still better), no sweets, no chocolate – all currently a tick. By the way there are rules and disclaimers to this, pizza is allowed at all times!! Pizza is life, especially after a race!!

And boring work goals, but i’m not going into that shit.

1 bike trip this year to Scotland (motorbike), for a few days.

Also fucking Australia for Christmas & New Year (my best mate moved there last year with his family), i haven’t been to Oz for 15 years, so i’m pretty excited already! By the way i live in England, just incase Oz doesn’t seem like a big deal, England will be cold, Oz will be warm, England has no cricket on, Oz has cricket, England has Christmas dinners, Oz has BBQ’s 😉

Here are some photos of the last few months.

6 races left until the end of 2017

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I haven’t scheduled any races/events in until September, i kind of wanted a little time to just enjoy the training, and plan some other stuff, and i had a couple of exams to do, and the wife wanted to go on holiday in August (Amalfi Coast). Also i’m not a huge fan of running in heat, not that England is hot, but i prefer colder temps!

I haven’t blogged for a while so i’m not sure where i’m up to!

The last event i did was the Ripon Triathlon, my first Olympic Distance. My aim was to do my first one in under 3 hours. I dd the swim in 30 mins, bike in 1 hour 23, and the run in 24 mins. The overall time was 2:53:33. I learned a few things from doing this, which is good. I need to practice my biking a lot!! but i was happy with the bike time. I should have eased off the bike for the last 5 mins to give my legs a little rest for the run. Also because i tracked the times on my Garmin i knew how long i had for the run, which kind of had its advantages and disadvantages. As soon as i started the run i knew i had 1 hour, which i knew i could easily do, i kind of eased off the run, with my main priority being to just finish, and get the first one under the belt. After i felt like i should have pushed the run a lot more, but i suppose next time i know i can beat my time.

The field average was like 15 mins faster than me, but i know my biking is bad, and i barely practice, which i’m going to sort out for next year. I’m faster than the average in the swim, and i can beat the average in the run (when i decide to push myself). So no more triathlons this year. All running events, then around Christmas time i’ll start upping my bike training for 2018.

The races for the rest of the year are.

  • Half marathon 03/09/2017
  • 10km race 24/09/2017
  • Marathon 06/10/2017
  • 50km trail race x2 over 2 days  18/11/2017 & 19/11/2017
  • Trail Marathon 02/12/2017
  • 10mile trail race 09/12/2017

So the rest of the year is mainly run training. Which is no different to any  other time, hence being shot on a bike!!

Currently my training is

Monday – PT session, work on mobility, flexibility and core

Tuesday – Club run, either hills or speed work

Wednesday – Open water Swim

Thursday – Middle distance run from 8km to 12km

Friday – Open water swim

Saturday – Long run (20km – 40km)

Sunday – Rest or recovery run

Thrown in between, is sometimes i cycle to work, this is like 8km on a long straight road, so when i do this i try to use it as a kind of time trail. I also go to the gym every now and again do some weights and swim at the pool.

I’m going to stick with this for rest of year, then change this to incorporate more bike work. The open water swims will end in a month or so, so i will have to up my pool swimming.

Training & Comps

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Everything’s been going good, had a little unmotivated few days last week, but apart from that on track.

Benn running about 3 times a wee, and swimming around times, my biking hasn’t been really going anywhere. Started commuting to work (when the weather is good), but that is more of a 9km sprint to see if can do it faster than the car!

I did the Maltby Sprint Triathlon a month or so back, this was a new event put on by Huub, the wetsuit/triathlon brand, was really well orgainsed. Really enjoyed it, but it made me realise how shit my bike is/was, so i bought a new one.

This is my ride home from the shop buying the bike, i know its only 4km, but the point is i got to the top of a Strava leaderboard 😉

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After that i did another Dark & White event, this was a 26km run. This was the most annoying event to date, I smashed the first 21km (half marathon) in less than 2 hours (this is all off road on trials, so i was really happy with this time), then my knee proper fucked up, i had to hobble the last 5km, which ended up taking me 45mins. I was so disappointed with is, i could have finished in around 2:20 which would have put me in the top 30! I got over it though, and just focused on the fact i was doing so well for the first 21km.

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We then had a Triathlon orgainsed by the Tri Club i go to, Manvers. This was an 800m outdoor swim, 15km bike ride and a 5km run. I enjoyed this, was a good day, and really nice that other clubs turned up and took part. The bike was off-road, which meant i had to use my mountain bike, which is slow as fuck when compared to road. You just feel like you’re peddling like mad to get nowhere! The swim and run went well though.

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And yesterday i did another Trail Marathon, this was the Peakrunners Ladybower Marathon. I love running in the Peak District, the views are incredible and the terrain is ever changing, and some of it gets really technical on the downhill trails. I did this in 4hours 36mins, which i was over the moon with for a trail marathon. The run was really good, as normal the last 6 miles were hard going, and they decided to throw in a huge hill at mile 15! always nice.

So all in all a god few months. And last week i also book this 🙂

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So this will be in September, i’m going with a mate who owns a pub in London, which he also lives in (the flat above the pub, not just randomly in a pub), which worked out brill, as we’re flying from Gatwick. The holiday is Friday to Monday, i’m going to London on the Thursday, and coming back from London on the Wednesday. I have never been more excited about a trip!

And finally here are some snaps of a few runs, swims etc and other shit. Oh and the Vibram 5 Fingers are awesome, but fuck me start of steady, i did the 4km run and honestly i could not train for about 4 days, my calves were in bits. The picture below with the blue skies and 28 degree heat (Celsius) was a run to my sisters, about 15km the heat was pretty unbearable (not used to it in the UK), the other pic of me having run 15.67km, in a Salomon waterproof coat, with constant heavy rain and wind was exactly a week before the other one!The 50km one is a bike ride, the other is the Lake and a few open water laps. Next week is the Ripon Triathlon, Olympic Distance.

 

Training going well, over due update.

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Ok, so, its been a while. Still be running, swimming little bit of biking. Quite a bit in fact since the last update. My instagram is updated a lot more if anyone cares to follow achambers81

So i did the Bradfield, in the Peak District, it’s a lovely little village in a valley! 17km, awesome event held by Dark & White. I did the Langsett half marathon, which was a tough event. The hills are not too bad, and all runnable, but the terrain you go over makes it hard. Its on trail tracks for around the first 5 mile, than into the Peaks, then the track literally turns into a stream and bogs! hard going, then up to Margery Hill, which is basically, no path, just heather and bogs! Would recommend this if you like trail running. I then entered the Sheffield Half Marathon, so this is a road race, which i haven’t really done before. Everyone i talked to mentioned the hills in the first half, basically the race is 7 miles up hill then 6 miles down. Everyone was saying take it easy on the hills then speed up for the last. Now my bad here, i didn’t really distinguish between the trails runs and road running, and the people i talked to are road runners. On trail runs when someone says its hilly, its generally a bitch. The Bradfield 17km had a 120m rise over 400m, it was pretty much vertical climb, Winhill is 463m high, and around 1.5km, and i run that. So when the road runners were saying hilly, i was expecting a hill. I held back expecting hills, and it was just a steady incline for 7 miles, not really a hill! I was slightly gutted i held back on the first half.

I have bought a wetsuit ready for the open water swimming starting next week. I bought an Orca S6, after a lot of research on the net and speaking to people. It is supposably a good entry level wetsuit, with good buoyancy in the legs and chest. All to get ready for the Olympic Tri at the end of May.

I’ve felt a bot sketchy the last few weeks, but i think that was due to the bank holiday and going to Cambridge for a few days. It all threw my training off a bit, but i’m back on it now. And i’m starting to commute on the bike to work!

And here’s some photos

Langsett half marathon

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Dark & White Bradfield 15km

Sheffield Half Marathon

Training in the Peak District, up Winhill, to Loose Hill onto Back Tor, up to Mount Tor and back.

The wetsuit and the Lake

Few Random Snaps

Knee problems over

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So, the runners knee took around 6 – 8 weeks to finally disappear. This was in my left knee, and pretty much stopped me from doing anything in the end. I learnt quite a lot about being injured and why it happened. I basically quite the gym around October time, i still went for the swimming etc. but i no longer really did any workouts, thinking the running, biking and swimming would be enough. Turns out not really! who knew! So basically for 6 – 8 weeks i worked on strengthening the muscles in my legs, ass, back and even shoulders. I went to Yoga and still go! bought a foam roller, which i still use and some training bands. All this has helped a lot. And i know know that quitting the workouts was a major part, when i did my leg workouts i did squats, lunges straight leg deadlifts, leg curls etc. all this was helping my running. Back days were deadlifts too which also helped, so now all this is back in!

I did the Dunkeries 10 mile, like a week after my knee stopped hurting, which was about 10 weeks out from my last bit of running. Completed it without any bother from the knee, this was a cross country/trail run, the weather was shit, rain and snow on occasions, the mud was mega! my time was 1 hour 40 mins. My aim when i entered was 1 hour 10ish, but that was before my knee. I was happy to finish, run all the way and be pain free, screw the time.

This is the list of races i’ve signed up to so far,

11th March – Langsett Trail Run half marathon

2nd April – Dark & White Trail Run 17km

6th May – Lakeland Tails 17km

29th May – Wetherby Triathlon (olympic distance 1500m swim, 40km bike, 10km run)

11th June – Manvers Triathlon (i think this is more of a sprint)

8th October Yorkshire Marathon

Basically i have only looked at events up to June so far, the Marathon was booked in as my sister wanted to do it, so i signed up with her. I am wanting to an Ultra before the year is out if possible.

I’m looking forward to Saturday with the Langsett Trail, i originally entered the 10km due to the knee, but its been brill, so switched to the half marathon. Its where i go quite a lot in training so it should be good, and it leads up to a place called Margery Hill, which i have always wanted to go to, but its pretty remote and hard to find. It will be marked out on Saturday though!

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Few snap shots of training, and the medal :-).

I’m also now, two week caffeine free!!!!

 

Not the best start, still going to smash it!

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Ok, so first post for a while. Not that i haven’t done anything, just forgot about the blog!! Been on holiday over Christmas and New Year!

I injured my knee, and have had about 4 – 5 weeks off, so no running (at all), no cycling (well a bit) and i still swam, stretched etc!

My knee is ‘runners knee’ a problem with my IT band. This is due to my wanky leg muscles, not some being stronger than others and my knee compensating for the shitty muscles, and my poor flexibility.

The remedy is rather simple, but still frustrating, with not being able to run, or do what i wanted, i feel like not only i have lost 4 – 5 weeks of no training, but i must be like 2 – 3 months behind with the fitness i have lost (thats an assumption! as i haven’t really tested it yet). So i basically need to strengthen my leg muscles, my hips, improve my flexibility and do a lot of foam rolling. The strengthening part isn’t me doing squats with 120kg, its much easier! I went to Yoga classes, did my stretches, did my strengthening exercise and foam rolled, and at this point i would like to thank YouTube and everyone on there.

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Saturday was the first time i ran, did 1km, uphill, cause running downhill is bad for the knee. That right there is what you want to hear, you can’t run for a month, and when you do start, its all up bastard hills! An yesterday i ran 3km, uphill and flat! Feeling like i’m getting somewhere now. The problem is i have a 10mile trail run on Saturday! And my opinion is fucking do it, i haven’t got a medal this year yet and its Feb!

Anyway, apart from the wank knee, i was meant to have a race in Jan, but couldn’t compete, so i marshalled instead. This was actually really enjoyable, although stood in freezing cold weather, it was in the Peak District and to interact with the other competitors was really good, i was on a food station too which was cool. I recommend everyone should do this. Go volunteer if you’re not racing, it helps keeps the races going and makes sure the events can happen.

Anyway, apart from the no exercise, as such. I had to occupy myself, the motorbike is in the garage waiting for the summer, so i thought i’d get things sorted for the better weather, and the camping trips. Panniers and rack for the bike!

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End of the year, nearly!

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Yesterday i ran the Hobopace Wheatley 10.1 trail race. This is the last event until the New Year, I enjoyed this run, although i had a few problems with my shin at the beginning of the race and my knee at the end. I’m convinced this is down to my running technique, or lack of, i might get a coach to have a look for me, i convinced of this as today my body is perfectly fine, and surely if it was something injury wise it would hurt when i don’t run too? I go to Tenerife over Christmas, so will be chilling out doing no more than a few 5k’s and a spot of swimming, maybe in the sea 😉

Next year i plan to hit the road running and smash up the events, i’m going to look at when the last half Ironman of the year is and plan my year around doing that. I’m doing the Yorkshire Marathon in October with my sister, but that shouldn’t really get in the way, i don’t have to specifically train for this, as i will already be ready fitness and running wise. I have a 17km trial race at the end of Jan, and i intend to hit as many Sprint Tri’s and Olympic distance Tri’s as possible. While also still going touring on my bike, i could incorporate the two for some trail runs.

This is some of the training over the last few weeks, not all of it but some of it.

 

This is a few snaps of scenery from the runs and bike rides.

And a new bit of training kit, to sooth those aches and pains, by submitting yourself to more pain in the process of recovery.

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These are the achievements of this year, The Sprint Triathlon, the Fan Dance Race, The North Yorkshire Coastal Marathon and the Wheatley 10.1.

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What next!

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Firstly i’m i bored of the titles, and have no idea what to call these!

Last week was pretty good, my knees are still playing up, but my stubbornness just tells me to run through the pain and carry on, i shouldn’t be responsible for my own advice! I have however done Yoga a few times in the last weeks to help my joints and flexibility, i’ve got some joint supplements from MyProtein.com and some Protein to try and help with recovery.

I started out on Monday with a 30 min cardio session in the gym, just usual stuff, press ups, pull ups, squats, bench press etc. all high reps and done quick. Then i did 500m of swimming. Wednesday i have an hour of PT which is high intensity training mainly. Thursday i did some interval training on the rower, then back in the pool for, i think about 750m swim. Saturday was a 10 mile run, this was mainly on the trans pennine trail. This isn’t road or trail i normally do, its a path designed for walkers, horse riders etc, its a path! but i didn’t want to ruin my knees. The 10miles is to my sisters, and i felt awesome, no fatigue, aches or pains, i should have really carried on, but i have a small 10km trail run this weekend, and i’m trying to let my knees recover. Plus i then spent all morning building train tracks with the nephew.

Sunday i went on a bike ride, first one in ages and first off road one in years. Only went about 25km. I went with a mate, and borrowed his spare bike, i got on my road bike to get to his which is about 10km away so i had planned to do 45km, my fucking tyre was flat when i got on it though, i was not happy, but nothing i can do at 9:30 on a Sunday morning, so i just swore and threw my toys out of the pram. The plan was the bike ride, plus the biking to my mates, then jump off when i was home and do about 5km straight off the bike. My day was ruined!! its always the small things!!

I just went with my mate, then drove to gym and swam half a mile instead, i was still mad at my bike though.

The plan is hit as many sprint tri’s and tri’s throughout the year, with some trail runs thrown in. I’m going to see where i’m at in August/Sept then maybe see if there is a half ironman at the end of the year. I still have the Plusnet Yorkshire Marathon and the North Yorkshire Coastal Marathon booked in too. Tomorrow i’m going to a Triathlon club, i’ll not mention my knees, unless i collapse!

 

 

York Triathlon

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So, i completed the Triathlon. Took me just over 1 hour 30 mins, which is OK i suppose. The swim and run weren’t too bad, to do and in times. The biking was a shocker, fuck i forgot how hard it is, and the fact it makes up so much of the race, i should have practiced that more.It was a good day though, and i really enjoyed it. Will do another, and try and improve on the biking.

 

These are a few pictures from the day. It wasn’t too cold, just about right, but the wind was fucking harsh on the bike. I recommend checking out the York one next year if anyone gets chance.

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