CTC Ruff Stuff 2012

Not an overly exciting week again, although i did take part in an off road MTB event today. Was really looking forward to doing this extended version of last years fun ride, which was my first cycle event.
http://www.norfolkcycling.co.uk/RuffStuff.html

It was looking like a grim weekend for the event. Hail, rain, gale force winds on the Saturday which thankfully dropped in time for the Sunday ride start. This years Ruff Stuff, CTC had hooked up for Iceni Velo to apparently make the event bigger & better. Unfortunately it  had  an adverse effect on the 'better' front.

First gripe was having to print off an application form & post it with a cheque, did i just warp back into the 80's? Last year we just rocked up and paid £5. (£10 this year, Iceni's cut?)  Job done. So, after rooting about to find my cobweb covered cheque book i sent it off. No acknowledgement if it had been received so i didn't know if i was even registered until i got there this morning. After all that, an on line entry system opened a week before the event & you could also pay on the day after all???

No GPX routes were available until someone questioned this on the facebook page at 9pm Saturday night. GPX routes were then posted for the 10 & 25 mile routes but non available for the 40 miler as it hadn't tracked properly.

So, got to the event HQ at 8am ready to start at 8.30am. Registration was straight forward & we were given a route description (no map, unlike last year). I headed to the start & was told by a marshall to follow the red signs for the 40 mile route. Sounds simple doesn't it?

Start went well & was looking good, but at 5 miles the first lack of red signs sent me off too far down Marriotts Way. Back tracked with another cyclist who had gone even further out the way, to the road we should have turned down, didn't help the road was signed with a different name to what was on the route description either.

I wont bore you with the rest of the details as it was just uneventful & annoying for the rest of the ride. There were eventually 10 of us in a group getting lost and having to backtrack every 10 minutes & take another punt on which direction to try next.

Everyone was pissed off by 25 miles due to the frustration of a crap route, the fun had vanished 10 miles ago & it then started to rain :-) So, as soon as we hit a road again we all headed straight back to Reepham on the tarmac.

Thanks to the ladies at the school who had made the sandwiches, cake & tea. This was the highlight of the day. Doubt i will do this event again now unless it reverts back to just CTC organising. Shame because there are some good off road sections, just a pity there had been such a lack of organisation & planning. Never mind, one bad event out of all Ive done this year isn't bad i suppose.

Here's the route, well part of the 40 mile route , part of the 25 mile route & lots where we just winged it.

http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/198475047

Oh, & its mucked my knee up again, grrrrr

Training (lack of)

Tues - 3.5 mile run
Thurs - 3.5 mile run
Sun - 30 mile ride

Missed Weds Swimming due to working late & skipped a weekend long run due to today's ride.

I'm stopping the cycling for a good couple of weeks now (other than 10k on Thurs), including the weekends to try and settle this knee down once & for all, i guess the harder off road work didn't do it any favours.

That is all

Happy Training

Join the Facebook Group - The Ironman Journeyhttps://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/287319678021088/

Say hello on the Fatman to Ironman forum
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/forummessages.asp?dt=&UTN=191464&last=1&V=1&SP=

My charity page for event listings & making a donation
http://www.bmycharity.com/clearseaz


The allotment Journey Blog
http://allotmentjourney.blogspot.co.uk/

Triathlon World Championships 2012

Another weekend, another triathlon world championship, another GB world champion. Well done to Jonathan Brownlee.

In my world, no championships won but managed to take pole position in the Boardman Britpak National league table for distance ridden & total time spent on the bike :-)

Knee seems to be pretty much mended now. Did no cycling during the week but went out on the Tri Anglia confidence ride to Reedham Ferry yesterday. 32 mile round trip with no pain or issues. I'll stay off the bike till next Sundays Cawston ruff stuff event just to be on the safe side though.

Few pics from the ride. Wasn't foggy, my phone lens was a bit misty.

Rob & Alison

Crossing the river on the ferry

The pub & cup of tea time

Training

Mon - rest day
Tues - 3 mile run
Weds - 1.3 mile swim
Thur - 3 mile run
Fri - rest day
Sat - 32 mile bike - http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/195559295
Sun - 6 mile run

Signed up for another event, only because it was a freebie if I'm honest, but looks like it will be fun. The Virgin Active indoor Triathlon.

This takes place between 1st & 3rd November, 3 different events & in reverse order. Run - Bike - Swim.

http://www.virginactive.co.uk/indoor-triathlon/the-event.aspx

Finished the Born to Run book & started on Chi Running. Again, eye opening stuff for me. Going to be looking at some Tai Chi classes & maybe some Yoga to help with my natural running plan. Couple of friends have also mentioned how Yoga has helped them.

That's it then, MTB event time next week, really looking forward to that, haven't had a good off road cycle for a long while.

Arleya offered to donate her November pocket money if i take part in Movember so I've signed up for that. Heres a link to my Mospace if you would like to donate to the charity http://uk.movember.com/mospace/3111897

About Movember - http://uk.movember.com/about/


Finally this latest news, Andy Holgate's new book will be out 1st January 2013, title now confirmed as  'Can't Sleep, Can't Train, Can't Stop! : More Misadventures in Triathlon'

Anyone who's read the first book  Can't Swim, Can't ride, Can't run will be counting the days for the new one.

happy training

 
Join the Facebook Group - The Ironman Journey
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/287319678021088/

Say hello on the Fatman to Ironman forum
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/forummessages.asp?dt=&UTN=191464&last=1&V=1&SP=

My charity page for event listings & making a donation
http://www.bmycharity.com/clearseaz

The allotment Journey Blog
http://allotmentjourney.blogspot.co.uk/

Kona Ironman World Championships 2012

Time to write this weeks blog, which is going to seem even duller than usual after just
watching Felix Baumgartner's world record sky dive from 24 miles up, he even landed on his feet! Amazing.

Other exciting news brings me onto a new event coming to Cromer in East Anglia next year,
our first Ironman distance triathlon. Link below to register.

http://www.theanglian.co.uk/

Unfortunately i wont be able to participate as it's only a week before Ironman UK. I am looking forward to helping out & marshaling though.

Tim Lebbon's new book was released this week.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coldbrook-Hammer-Tim-Lebbon/dp/0099571560/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350239511&sr=8-1

I mention Tim & the book because he is someone whom i have got to know in cyber world & who will also be popping his cherry at Ironman UK 2013.
You can follow his journey through his blog. http://www.runwalkcrawl.com/back-in-the-saddlepoolon-the-trails/

I began logging rides on a page in facebook a couple of months after i began cycling, if you
remember from my earlier blogs, this was the site where i won the carbon Boardman bike.
Since 7th August 2011 i have ridden 4817 miles. I haven't driven my car that much.

Training hasn't gone too bad this week. Off the back of my planned transition into more natural running I've tried incorporating a bit of landing on my mid foot during my runs. It definitely feels more comfortable & i can feel less impact travelling up into my knees. Trade off is really stiff calf muscles, but this will ease as i get more used to the new running style. New minimalist shoes are the next purchase.

Training

Mon - Rest day
Tues - 2.51 mile run
Weds - 1.24 mile swim & 2.3 mile bike
Thurs - 2.51 mile run & 2.3 mile bike
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 37.5 mile bike
Sun - 5 mile run

Started my half marathon training this week which felt good. I'll be slowly increasing the mileage each week up to the event, at the end of November.
I have suffered some more knee pain this weekend which is no doubt due to the 37+ mile ride on Saturday. More cycle rest needed. I'll jst do a 20 miler next weekend to see what happens, if still issues then a trip back to the Doc to arrange some physio & cycle rest.

Didn't get any pain whilst i was riding which was a bonus, especially as I've now signed up for this years Ruff Stuff ride. For those who have followed my blog from the start you will know the 25 mile Ruff Stuff ride was my first ever cycle event last year. I did it with a miserable daughter in tow. She doesn't want to do it this year, good job because I'm doing the new 40 mile route.

http://www.norfolkcycling.co.uk/RuffStuff.html

Finally, as the title of the blog suggests, this weekend, the Ironman World championships in Kona took place. Unfortunately we didn't have Chrissie Wellington representing GB this year.

But not to worry, we had Leanda Cave, who did the business for GB & brought home the Woman's World Champion title in a time of nine hours, 15 minutes and 54 seconds. Well done to her & everyone else who took part.
.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/triathlon/19940336

Thats all for this week.

Happy training

Join the Facebook Group - The Ironman Journeyhttps://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/287319678021088/

Say hello on the Fatman to Ironman forum
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/forummessages.asp?dt=&UTN=191464&last=1&V=1&SP=

My charity page for event listings & making a donation
http://www.bmycharity.com/clearseaz


The allotment Journey Blog
http://allotmentjourney.blogspot.co.uk/

Barefoot running

A week of rest has been the perfect remedy for my knee.

Done plenty of IT band stretches & used the foam roller twice a day, seems to have helped.

However, did a 20 mile cycle ride on Saturday & started to feel some discomfort returning to the knee, although no pain like I'd experienced before. Also did a run today which was quite comfortable. 35 mins cross country which was quite easy despite the fact i haven't actually ran for 4 weeks either.

Had my number through for the Norwich half marathon which is on Sunday 25th November.

 



Training begins for this on Tuesday. Planning to do 2 short runs during the week then a longer one at the weekends.

Brings me on to the title of this blog, Barefoot Running. I have nearly finished reading a book called Born to Run by Chris McDougall.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Born-Run-Hidden-Ultra-Runners-Greatest/dp/1861978774/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349624762&sr=8-1

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At the heart of Born to Run lies a mysterious tribe of Mexican Indians, the Tarahumara, who live quietly in canyons and are reputed to be the best distance runners in the world; in 1993, one of them, aged 57, came first in a prestigious 100-mile race wearing a toga and sandals. A small group of the world's top ultra-runners (and the awe-inspiring author) make the treacherous journey into the canyons to try to learn the tribe's secrets and then take them on over a course 50 miles long. With incredible energy and smart observation, McDougall tells this story while asking what the secrets are to being an incredible runner. Travelling to labs at Harvard, Nike, and elsewhere, he comes across an incredible cast of characters, including the woman who recently broke the world record for 100 miles and for her encore ran a 2:50 marathon in a bikini, pausing to down a beer at the 20 mile mark.

Some great characters in the book, Jenn Shelton, Billy Bonehead, Barefoot Ted, Cabello Blanco, google them to find out more.

Anyway, it's a fantastic book which has made me think about my running & the constant having to deal with niggles. Shin splints, knee pain, ankle pain, blah blah blah. I've done the gait video thing & bought the extra padded shoes, but still have niggles.  So i now intend to learn to practise running properly (no more heal stomping) & incorporate some barefoot training to strengthen my feet, particularly the arches where it would seem, weak arches could be an underlying cause for a bad running posture & overpronation .

From a bit of research on the internet it would seem a lot of modern day leg problems from running was a lot less years ago when running shoes were not so bulky & padded. I guess our feet get weaker due to all the assistance they get from our super Nike's or equivalent. Although i say barefoot, i don't mean I'm going to be running marathons with no shoes (some short no shoe runs is apparently good though) i do intend switching to a minimalist shoe. How successful this will be, will it work for me, who knows? Worth a try in my book though.

http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/5BarefootRunning&TrainingTips.html

So, that's the latest development, in my obsessive way, Ultra Marathons have now been added to my bucket list. Once the Ironman is nailed in 2013 I will look to increase my run distances. A 50 mile  then a 100 mile run are great goals to aim for.

Training this week

Thurs - Bike 2.5 miles
Sat - Bike 19.22 miles
Sun - Run 3.54 miles

Not a lot done & will be similar this coming week, although a bit more running. Hopefully be back to a 6 day training plan in a couple of weeks.

Going to do The Great Barrow Christmas Challenge on 30th December. 26.2  mile hike for me, my daughter Arleya is planning on doing it as well. Burn off some of those Christmas calories.

http://greatbarrowchallenge.co.uk/sign-up/christmas-sign-up.html


Nearly forgot. Link to Trianglia's new  'Norwich Triathlon facebook page'

https://www.facebook.com/#!/NorwichTriathlon?fref=ts

This event was recently awarded the 'Triathlon England Eastern Region Event of 2012.'

That's it then

Happy Training

Join the Facebook Group - The Ironman Journeyhttps://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/287319678021088/

Say hello on the Fatman to Ironman forum
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/forummessages.asp?dt=&UTN=191464&last=1&V=1&SP=

My charity page for event listings & making a donation
http://www.bmycharity.com/clearseaz


The allotment Journey Blog
http://allotmentjourney.blogspot.co.uk/