Take the rough with the smooth

Yesterday was a great day with my swimming.  Today was a rubbish day with my running.  I was meant to do the Oakley 20 but because I didn't have the car, getting the train their and back would mean most of the day being taken up and I had work to do.  So I decided to run in London.

I was up at 7 to do some work and have breakfast before my run.  At 10 I hadn't got done what I wanted so I worked for 2 more hours and ran at 12.  The first 8 miles were fine.  A little off the pace but ok.  By my 9 I was suffering and by 10 I was almost walking.  I struggled 3 more miles to my house and fell in the door.  A terrible run.

I can only put it down to a week full of a cold and many late late nights working.  This part of my course finishes on Wednesday so then I can get loads more sleep (5 hours a night is just not enough) and be ready for Brighton.  I will, however, do another long run next weekend (2 weeks before the marathon so that's just about ok).

Big step forward

I had probably my first really good swimming session today. I had my first 1:1 session with Maxine. We spent the first 15 minutes concentrating on legs. I still trash my legs so we did loads of drills about trying to kick from the hips rather than the knees. Also to kick a lot slower so it stabilises rather than propels.

We then did 15 minutes on my hand entry. I enter too far forward with a rigid arm so we did one arm drills to try and get me to drop my hand about level with the elbow of the other outstretched arm, go in thumb first and then go forward just under the water as I rotate. It took a while to get it right but it feels smoother.

The best thing about the session was Maxine saying that "for the first time, you actually look like a swimmer". That made me very happy.

Then it was the hour group lesson where we did basic extension, torpedo, shark fin and finger dragging. I hardly ever felt like I had a stop for a few minutes and catch my breath and didn't want to get out at the end. I'm guessing I swam somewhere between 1km and 1mile, maybe even more which I'm delighted with.

Bloody kids

Another hazard of the job of teaching is picking up every cold and lurgy the kids have. I've spent the week feeling absolutely rotten. What with feeling bad and working 12 to 14 hours a day as I approach the end of this placement, training has gone out of the window since my Monday night recovery run.

I got up at 7 today so I could get a few hours work in before my swim lesson. I have a longer swim today as I've booked some half hour 1:1 sessions before my hour group session for the next five Saturday's. I felt I needed a bit of a boost since I'm not managing to get to the pool as often as I'd like. My first tri is fast approaching (7 weeks) so I need to get better sooner.

Surprising problem

Since I've started this teaching placement, I have an issue that I did not see coming.  I knew I'd be tired, I knew I'd get lots of colds from the kids and I knew I'd struggle to find time to train during the week.  But I never even though about the problem of drinking.

No, I'm not quaffing the beer of an evening.  Its staying hydrated that is the issue.  You just don't get the opportunity to go to the loo so drinking my usual amount of water is just not an option.  You can't just go to the toilet during a lesson and leave the kids to fend for themselves.

So I get a 7 minute comfort break at 10:30, then over lunch and then at the end of the day.  As water goes straight through me anyway, when I tried to drink my usual amount, I spent the morning dancing around, watching the clock until it got to 10:30.  Its not ideal to be more focused on the loo than your teaching.

So I now drink when I get up and then don't drink again until lunchtime.  I feel dehydrated but there is nothing I can really do about it.

The Burgess Hill Springtime Classic

Another Sunday, another event.  As it was running last weekend, it was cycling this weekend to fit into my alternating plan.  I had booked this event months ago but I thought I couldn't make it but family plans changed and I was free.

I had cycled this sportive last year and really enjoyed it.  Its 72 miles around country lanes starting in Burgess Hill which is just north of Brighton.  When I did it last year, I somehow managed to come in ahead of all my mates, mainly because they stopped for a while at one of the checkpoints were as I thought I was behind them so didn't stop for more than 15 seconds.

I had no particular aims.  I had done OK 2 weeks previously in the Surrey Rumble but that was the only long cycled I'd done this year.  I set off with Ed and Simon but I think I was with Ed for about 20 seconds before he pulled away.  He was racing and we waved goodbye.

I cycled with Simon for a while.  He is quicker than me so I spent a long time pushing to stay on his wheel or within site of him on hills.  I occasionally took the lead but he'd come past me on any up or down hill.  We had some great fun on down hills.  Its great to blast past each other at over 35mph.

He eventually fell away because he has been ill for 10 days and shouldn't really have ridden.  The fact that he lasted that long was a great effort.
I had hoped to get in under 4:30 but I ended up with a time of 4:36 which seemed pretty respectable. I finished in 64th position out of 249 finishers which I'm really pleased with.  That's just outside the top quarter which is probably one of my best finishes in a sportive.

Aftermarth of 20 road miles

I felt worse on Monday then I did after my 28 mile cross country.  The quicker pace and the pounding on roads really kills my quads.  A swim this morning certainly helped but I still feel sore.

I also discovered that I have not one but five blisters.  I think I might get myself some new running socks as it can't just be the lack of Vaseline.

I came 274 out of 645 which isn't too bad.  Top half is always pleasing.

100 races and still I make school boy errors

Today was my 100th race.  After starting running in 2002, I have now completed 100 running races in one form or another.  For a 5K race to a 28 mile cross country, I've loved pretty much all of them.  I do really really love running.

This was apparent today.  As I set off on the Spitfire 20 from Dunsfold Airfield (where they film Top Gear), we ran down the runway before turning back on ourselves.  I was very far forward for some reason and as we turned, I looked back at the big crowd of runners in the cool, crisp, clear morning and it was about perfect.

The race stayed pretty perfect for a while.  I was running at 8 minute miles with my heart rate firmly in zone 2 and loving it.  This lasted until mile 7 went we did a big loop and re-entered the airfield from the opposite end.  It was then  3 mile slog into heavy winds which wasn't pleasant.  It was then onto lap too and it started to feel like a struggle.  I still kept up sub 9 minute miles but not without considerable effort.  This shows in my heart rate that goes up and up as the race goes on.

At mile 16, my ipod switched from podcasts to music and it gave me a boost.  Linkin Park got me to mile 18 in good time but that left the 2 terrible, windy, exposed miles to go.  I latched onto another runner and she pulled me round to mile 19.  Then my elementary mistake rared its ugly heard.  I had forgotten to put vaseline on my feet and my little toe on my left foot had a big, nasty blister on it and it really hurt.  I hobbled the last mile and finished in 2:55.  A very pleasing time.

We got a great medal. Its very heavy and shiny. I thought the race was ok. The 7 mile section outside the aerodrome is lovely but the 3 mile inside is horrible. The wind is bad but the worse thing was being able to see everyone else on the route as it was so flat. That is mentally tough.  But having just watched Eddie Izzard and his marathons, day after day, on some terrible roads in terrible conditions, I shouldn't complain.

So, 100 races done.  Only 14 days before 101st race.  Here's to my 200th.

Surrey Rumble

My first sportive of the year went really well.  A huge improvement in the weather and a good course helped make the day go well.

Positives
Sunny Day - It was a lovely day.  Deceptivly nice (see chill below).  It was nice to ride in the sun for a change.
Feeling Good - I was worried that I was going to be tired from last Sunday but my legs were quite fresh to start with.  It was only on the hills that I felt a little sluggish but that might be that I haven't trained on hills for a long while.
Completed the long course - It was great to get my first long ride out of the way.  Its been ages since I rode that far (76 miles) and it will give me a lot of confidence that I will be ok (ish) on the Fred Whitton.
Heart Rate - I managed to keep my heart rate at an average of 2.6

Negatives
Chill - It looked really sunny out but it was cold.  Really cold.  It wasn't until about 11am that I started to properly warm up even though I had my overshoes and warm gloves on.
Icy - There was a surprisingly large amount of ice on the road and some of it was very difficult to see.  There were large patches that caused all riders to dismount but there were other bits that looked like water but were not.  I saw two riders fall and I imagine there were more.
Accident - I saw the result of a terrible accident.  A poor girl had gone into the back of a car.  It made me go very cold.  I really hope she was ok.
Punctures - I got my bike out of the shed on Saturday and the front was flat.  I changed it.  I got my bike out of the car today and the front was flat.  I had three inners with me, one was the wrong size, one had a bent valve and the only one that worked had been previously fixed.  So I was about to start with no spares.  I managed to buy 2 at the start which was lucky as I had more punctures at mile 40 and 74 (yes, 2 miles from the finish).  Four flats in 2 days.
Nutrition - I gave no thought to what I was going to eat.  I shoved two nut bars in my pocket before the ride and filled one bottle with water and the other with Torq.  I drank the Torq quite quickly and ate one bar.  I intended to get something else from the feed stops but forgot.  So all I had was what I had taken with me.  It was just enough but I guess I wasn't far from bonking.

So a good day all-in-all.  I don't have any other sportives booked until the Fred but I'll be doing other long rides including my training camp at my Dad's in Devon during the Easter break.

February Stats

Run: 13 session - 14.6 hours

Bike: 16 session - 12.5 hours

Swim: 9 session - 6.3 hours

I pretty much hit all my targets this month. I would have liked a little longer in the pool and I have to do more time on the bike in March as it should be more like 25% swim, 30% run and 45% bike.  It will be leaning more towards running at the moment until I get the Brighton marathon out of the way,

Targets for March:

• 18 hours running
• 22 hours bike
• 8.5 hours swimming