Victory Triathlon North Walsham

Hello

Despite the depressing weather we have been experiencing for what seems like an eternity, I have had a pretty enjoyable week.

Whats happened?

Norwich Council have allocated us an allotment/jungle. Two years on the waiting list but we were aware this was the timescale so no biggy. 250 sqm @ £37.50 per year, you cant grumble. Should give me some extra calorie burning exercise clearing that plot. Doing another blog on it to record progress or lack of. http://allotmentjourney.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/welcome-to-jungle.html

Spent Friday evening and Saturday afternoon at Crystal Palace watching the athletics. Really good as usual, despite the weather.

Viewing summer sporting events in the UK

Me & Spike

Team GB Olympic Athletes

Arleya with Jeff Porter

Anyway, this isn't a gardening or weekend breaks blog Baxter so get back on with the Ironman training!

Training - Bit less this week due to weekend activities & quite a bit of ankle pain. Ankle felt a lot better after a few days rest & was fine during today's triathlon. Good

Monday - Bike 57min & Run 1hr 16min
Tuesday - Rest day
Wednesday - Early morning Run 40min, Open water Swim 31min, Bike 12min
Thursday - Bike 56min
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - Rest day
Sunday - Victory Triathlon

Victory Triathlon

Yet another great event by active outdoor sports
http://www.activeoutdoorsport.co.uk/?p=2374

6am wake up, went with the tried & tested nutritional plan of porridge, toast & two cups of coffee. Shower, pack car & out the door for 7am.

Sun was shining & i managed to drive across Norwich without getting stopped at a single red light. Good sign for the day.

Arrived at the Victory Gym in North Walsham at 7.30am. Simple registration, my transition set up only took 5 minutes, think I'm getting the hang of that now. Briefing was at 8.10am with racing beginning at 8.30am. Came out of registration & bumped into an old boss, Charlie Crafer who was trying to recruit interest in a new Victory Triathlon club. Anyone living out North Walsham way if your interested give the leisure centre a call.

As a slow swimmer my start time was 9:34am. I'd predicted 9 minutes to swim the 300m but that was based on breaststroke. As you know I can now do front crawl, so was going to attempt this triathlon as my first using front crawl. Hopefully my time wouldn't be far out.

Met with Dave, aka 'Spoons' from the Fatman to Ironman RW thread, nice to meet up with people I've been chatting to for months in cyberspace. Still trying to talk him into the IMUK 2013 though ;-)

Went through to the pool about 9.15am & sat next to number 108. Recognised him & a few others from East Coast Tri where we had all broken our Triathlon cherries, so us slow swimmers club had a good chat & wished each other good luck before we took the plunge.

12 x 25 metre lengths required, two in each lane. Not sure of my split yet but the most important thing for me was completing it all doing front crawl.

Fish man :-)

Straight out through the swim doors and into transition, refreshing change not having to run a 100 metres or so to the bike. Was going to try with no socks but after a practise the night before, it took me longer to get my trainers on without socks than it did with socks so I'm going comfort all the way.

T1 done

Only a short trot to the mount line

Bike route, out of the car park down to the first mini roundabout and screech of brakes from the dipstick driving a car who needs to remember traffic approaching from their right has right of way on the roundabout!! Nearly a quick end to my bike leg.

Mostly left turns from then, route took us out to Felmingham across to Swanton Abbott, down to Scottow then back up to North Walsham along the Norwich Road.
Here's the route - http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/152087399

Took on one energy gel halfway into the ride. Stayed on the aerobars for most of the time, right hand bar started to feel sticky so i assumed it was down to gel. Turned out I'd sliced my finger open with the gel packet so the stickiness was blood. My white handlebar tape has taken on a nice pink tinge to it now

Averaged 19.6mph for the bike which I'm happy with, seemed to have a head wind most of the way.
Back into the car park & time for 3 laps of the run course

Coming in to T2

Careful dismount (saw one guy brake hard on the dismount line & go straight over his handlebars, only an injured pride thankfully) & quick change. Overheard a comment from the lady who had set up next to me say to her boyfriend what a great idea my elastic laces were, made me chuckle as i remembered back to my first dualathon trying to tie laces quickly & it was recommended to me to get some.

Start first lap

Set off on the run which was three laps of the field next to Victory, down station road then back in the back of Victory. Run felt really good, no ankle issue. More evidence to me that it pays to take some days off when i get niggles (i might learn one day)

Finished in 57ish minutes, split times here http://www.activeoutdoorsport.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Victory-Tri-Results-2012.pdf

Job done

So, last short tri done for the season. Big break till my next event on the 19th August which is the Ely Monster Triathlon http://monsterracing.net/triathlon2012.html

Have a look at the top of the blog page & the video from last weeks Norwich Triathlon, really good vid, only a few minutes long.

Can't think of anything else to report on today.

Have a good training week



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http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/forummessages.asp?dt=&UTN=191464&last=1&V=1&SP=

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Perseverance Pays

What a great week. Not in the completion of events but in a landmark accomplishment for me.

A lot of the blog readers will already know about this landmark achievement through the Fatman to Ironman thread or Facebook, i would like to say thanks for all the encouragement i have received on those forums.

Training

Monday - 1hr bike ride &1hr run
Tuesday - Rest day - 2 mile bike to work and back
Wednesday - Run 42 mins. Bike 2 miles. Pool swim 1 hour broken down as follows
1 x 25m breaststroke
13 x 25m front crawl = new Pb
6 x 25m breastroke
52 x 25m front crawl = big time Pb, not sure what happened, the crawl just suddenly felt totally natural.
Thursday - Bike 1hr 10 min/Run 18 min brick session
Friday - Bike 1 hr
Saturday - Run 48 min. Pool Swim 1 hour I did the whole hour front crawl 1.1 miles. No longer will i need to tell people i cant do front crawl. I'm now actually looking forward to my next swim session.
Sunday - Bike 2.5 hrs & Run 25min brick session. Longest brick session to date.

Gas Hill Gasp

Had a great evening at Gas Hill Gasp on Friday with wife & daughter. Well done to all the competitors

Roger Slee of Tri-anglia

Spot Arleya & me

Kate Scotter of Tri-Anglia. Can you spot all 3 Baxters as well?

Mark Philo of Tri-Anglia

Random Hill Climber

http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/gas_hill_gasp_1_1436658

Youngest King of the Mountain was a 7 year old lad who cycled up this beast of a hill. Amazing.

Norwich River Swim

First Norwich river took place today, I had originally planned to do this but because of my shocking swimming skills when the event was open I decided not to bother. Had i known my swimming would have come on so much i would have done it. Another event organised by Active Outdoor Sport http://www.activeoutdoorsport.co.uk/?p=2286 I'll definitely be up for it in 2013.

Well done to all those who did it, especially the 14 year old girl who won it.

http://vimeo.com/45386315

Been some inspirational kids doing sport this weekend which has been fantastic.

Recommended reading

If your struggling with front crawl like i had been try reading Total Immersion, been a life changer for me
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Total-Immersion-Revolutionary-Better-Faster/dp/0743253434

Search Total Immersion on You Tube as well to watch some great examples of relaxed fluid swimming.

Food for thought, from my limited experience

One

Woke up at 6am to do an early morning run Wednesday,  lay there for 5 minutes trying to think of excuses not to get up & do it.
Realising if i want to be an Ironman i need to stop being a wuss, get up and do the training.
So, got up & did the 42 min run, in the rain

Through the life of the fatman to ironman thread & people I have talked to about doing an Ironman, one of the common reasons for thinking we cant do an Ironman is 'i don't have time to train'. 42 mins of my training has just been done before work, i would have never got up and done that 6 months ago. It can be done, it will be done, if i can do it so can you

Two

 Just looking back at previous blogs. In the 18th March 2012 entry, i "nearly managed 25m front crawl". The amount of times i nearly said sod it, i'll just stick with breaststroke. Perseverance paid off

Time to get fit: My first Sportive
clearseaz-timetogetfit.blogspot.com


Coming up next week

Friday & Saturday off for our family annual trip to Crystal Palace for a weekend of Athletics.
Sunday i will do my final sprint triathlon. Will also be the first event i do the whole swim front crawl.


Nearly forgot, finally broke the 14 stone barrier & weighed in at 13st 11 lbs on Wednesday

Happy training :-)




Join the Facebook Group - The Ironman Journey
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http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/forummessages.asp?dt=&UTN=191464&last=1&V=1&SP=

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Norwich Triathlon 2012

Good evening, from a knackered Triathlete.

Only 5 events remaining on the 2012 plan list after completing the Norwich Triathlon this morning. These are:
July 2012 Victory Triathlon
August 2012 - Ely HALF IRONMAN
August 2012 National club relay Championships
Sept 2012 - The Great Barrow Challenge 480 mile cycle (reduced from 500 mile for some reason)
Nov 2012 - Norwich half marathon

http://www.bmycharity.com/clearseaz

Tour de France has begun, love it. Prologue & Stage 1 completed already, currently watching todays sky plus'd stage whilst i write.

Couple of stats for you. This blog has had 2759 views since it started. Hopefully it's inspiring rather than putting people off exercising

Fatman to Ironman thread on RW has had 33141 views & 2735 posts since it was born on 18th April 2012
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/triathlon/fatman-to-ironman/191464.html

Come say hi, get mugged off & talked into doing an IM event in 2013.

Enough waffle, heres the weeks training.

Monday - 1hr 2min bike/15min run brick

Tuesday - rest day (2mile work bike)

Wednesday - 38min bike & 48min open water swim. Huge result for me on this swim. Managed to swim 140m & 146m non stop front crawl. Looks like the days of not being able to swim a length are long gone :-)

The lake where i swim

Thursday - 1hr 2min bike/15min run brick

Friday - 56min bike

Saturday - No training but spent 8 hours helping set up the Norwich Tri, good fun. Did another  park run marshall while Arleya  ran

Sunday - Norwich Triathlon (report below) Helped clear up & load truck for a few hours (exercise i guess)

Norwich Triathlon organised by TriAnglia.

 I'll just start of by saying what a fantastic event this was, best Triathlon (& longest) I have done & it was certainly in the most pleasent setting. I couldnt get any pictures though as Arleya (my camerawoman) was on marshalling duties. i may be able to find a few on FB.

Run down on the day.

Up at 5.15am, porridge, banana & two cups of coffee for breakfast. Loaded car, bags had been packed the night before & set off the the venue.
3 minutes later arrived at the venue & was able to park a  hundred yards from transition. If Carlsburg did Triathlon venues :-)
I registered the night before so just needed inking up. Number 547, wave 5.
Wave 1 & 2  Olympic distance racers
Wave 3  Relay teams
Wave 4 & 5 Sprint race

Each wave had their briefing 10 minutes before their start time at the Open water centre, apart from relay who had a seperate one. Instructions were clearly announced over the loud speaker in between some sweet tunes being played.

I set up in transition, wish i'd waited because i wound up in Mr Selfish bike rack area again. (Came back from my leg to find someones bike on top of all my gear. Not sure if the 2 seconds gained in careless bike slinging meant a podium position for this person. grrrr)

So, after I'd set up i had a a couple of hours wait till my start, had another banana. Met an old friend Ian , a guy I used to work with who was doing his first Tri. We went down to the lake & watched the first Olympic swim wave come passed.

Time for toilet before lubing up & donning wetsuit, as it happens i must have had about 10 wee's in an hour before the race?? There were only 3 portaloo's so there was a massive queue which was hardly moving. After 10 minutes the local folliage was starting to look appealing. I then noticed two other plastic huts which i thought had said mums room on them (baby changing maybe?) then i saw a guy come out to which i realised the sign said mens room. These contained 6 urinals. Doh, should have gone to specsavers. Enough detail on that i think.

So, walked up to the swim start, excellent sign placement to find this :-) Had another wee when i got there (in the toilet). Briefing done, in water, not cold. 9.45 away we go. So, learn from previous open water swim. Dont set off like a nutcase, there is a reason i'm in slow swimmer pack. I controlled my urge to rush & waited a few seconds for people to disperse. This strategy made for a totally relaxed swim start.

Did breast stroke for 100 metres then alternated breaststroke/front crawl. First time i've done this in an event. My best 750 to date has been 22 minutes. Managed today in 19:43.  I think this may include the run to transition though as my watch was on 18 min when i came out the water. Either way, chuffed with the swim time.

Nice run to cheers & clapping up to transition where i was in & out in under 2 minutes. God bless sensual lube. Bike leg always good for me & i picked off  20 + competitors on the bike. Apart from that, uneventfull. Took 35:12 to complete the 18 k course. Pleased considering it had been the hilliest Tri course i have yet done.

T2 was quick despite the aforementioned ignorance, 19 seconds.

Run took me 31:22 to complete the 5.5k course. First half was quite tough as it was mainly up hill with a few steps through the woodland along the way. Nice route though, i will be using it in training. Once we got to the end of the woods we were on my normal training path so i was away round the lake.

I'd had my heart set on finishing in 90 minutes but the more i thought about it i didnt think i'd quite do it. Time was ticking away as i was running up towards the open water centre & i couldnt remember exactly how far it was from there to the finish. So, i opened up a bit & came in at 88:31.

Arleya giving competitors their well deserved banana's & water

Well done to Mark Philo for organising this event & all the helpers / marshalls this weekend.

Great Barrow Challenge. All registered & paid up so no turning back now. Looking forward to the  4 day cycling & camping holiday
Details here if anyone fancies it
http://www.greatbarrowchallenge.co.uk/

Next event is two weeks time. Victory Triathlon at North Walsham. That will be my last Sprint Tri. Just going to do olympic, middle distance & IM events going forward. Hark at me, struggled to ride a bike further than 12 miles a year ago :-)

And finally, a massive well done to those who have completed & who are still out on The Outlaw Ironman distance course today.



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http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/forummessages.asp?dt=&UTN=191464&last=1&V=1&SP=

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http://www.bmycharity.com/clearseaz

2.4 mile Ironman Swim

Another week gone & experienced a couple of new achievements this week.
No event write ups though, need to wait for next Sunday for my Norwich Triathlon experience.
Anyone wants to come down & cheer us all on, will be appreciated, all the Triathlon events are now full. Here's the start times

Address: Whitlingham Country Park, Trowse, Norwich, NR14 8TR
Olympic Triathlon 8:00 am
Olympic Relay Triathlon 8:30 am
Sprint Triathlon 09:30 am

Achievements this week

Monday saw me break the one year non smoking anniversary
Saturday I managed to swim the 2.4 mile Ironman distance within the cut off time of 2 hrs 20 mins. Only by 11 mins but a huge result for me & a weight off my mind. This is the furthest I've ever swam by a long way.  I stayed off the alcohol the night before, even though I was at the annual work BBQ, another first.

On the subject of achievements, well done to Mark Nash & Kevin Kavanagh on completing their first Triathlon today. Pop over to the ''Fatman to Ironman'' forum thread on Runners World website so we can add you to the cherry popping Ironman 2013 squad :-)

Training done this week
Monday - Rest day

Tuesday - Rest day - Bike 2.1 miles

Wednesday - 37min Bike - 50 min open water swim. Big breakthrough on front crawl. Did loads during this session although i wound up completing the mile 4 minutes slower ?? Found myself a lot more relaxed & smoother now so can concentrate on technique from now.

Thursday - 1 hour Bike + 23 minute run brick session

Friday - 47 min bike, (before work)

Saturday  - 2.4 mile open water swim in 2 hrs 9 mins (fanfare) Did this at Fritton Lake. £5 to swim whatever you want between 8am & 10.30am. You could even incorporate the Fritton Park run at 9am. More details here  http://www.activeoutdoorsport.co.uk/?page_id=1335

Sunday - 45 min run. Most comfortable run i've done in a while. This pace will do nicely for the half Ironman. http://app.strava.com/runs/11597141
1hr 57min Mountain bike. Nice change, heres the route  http://app.strava.com/activities/11631055

Took additional rest day this week & reduced running to try cure shin/calf problem

Weight loss

Was having a look through some of my pics from when i first started doing events. Quite nice & motivating to see a change in my shape :-)

January 2012

June 2012

Same jacket but not quite as snug in the June pic. Less chins in June than Mr Chunk in Jan.

You know I'd had the shin & calf issues. I ordered these things.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/compressport-r2-race-recovery-calf-guard/

Got an extra 10% off last weekend as well because it was fathers day :-)
Worn them twice this week & i have to say, made a massive difference. I still spend most evenings wearing compression socks. Also continue to  run cold water over my shins & calves after a run. Started rubbing Sainsbury's Ibuprofen Gel down my shin bone & round my calf's. All helps me.

TOUR DE FRANCE  http://www.letour.fr/us/index.html

Starts next Saturday. Those who have read my blog from the beginning will know what an inspiration I found this at the start of this Journey. Doesn't feel like a year has gone by already.

I've set up a 'Fatman to Ironman' Fantasy league if anyone wants to join that. Good fun, you don't need to know a great deal about cycling, all free. Just click on the following link

http://www.velogames.com/tdf/index.php

Create your team & join the mini league. Code is 23123333 

Fritton Triathlon split times

I was 26th
http://www.activeoutdoorsport.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Super-Sprint-Overall-Results1.pdf


Arleya sporting her 10th Park run T-Shirt

Cant think of anything else for this week.

Happy training

Join the Facebook Group - The Ironman Journey
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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

Fritton Lake Triathlon 2012

First Open Water Triathlon completed yesterday. Quite an experience being involved in a mass start. Will give a full report after this weeks training update.

Monday - 1 hour RUN & 56 minute BIKE
Tuesday  - Rest day
Wednesday - 45.46 OWS, shaved 8 seconds off my 1600m time. 6 mile BIKE. 30 min RUN (before work)
Thursday - 1hr 18min BIKE/15 min RUN brick
Friday - 45 min BIKE
Saturday - Fritton Super Sprint Triathlon - details below
Sunday - 1hour Pool SWIM. 2 hour BIKE/23min RUN brick

All seems to be going to half Ironman plan although calves feel ruined & painful today. May have a few days off the running to let things settle down.

Fritton Lake Triathlon 2012. Another great event organised by Active Outdoor Sports
http://www.activeoutdoorsport.co.uk/?page_id=2618

I took part in the super sprint. Weather had been looking ropey all week with high winds & downpours. I was contemplating doing the event without a wetsuit due to the agro i always have removing it. However, after dipping my toe in the lake before the race I decided no wetsuit wasn't an option, it was a bit nippy to say the least.

Registration was at lunchtime, race start was at 3pm so i got up there at 12.30pm. Wasn't sure on nutrition for the day due to the later than usual time for a race so went with toast for breakfast. Sausage & egg McMuffin meal at 10am (the food of champions :-) after Arleyas park run. Oats simple stuff at 11pm. Ham roll at 1pm & the free energy bar i got from the Boudicca bike ride last week at 2pm. Sorted, no probs for the whole race, took on one Gel during the bike ride & a few swigs of Sainsburys energy drink.

Set my stuff up in transition at 1pm, second person in so i got right at the end next to the bike exit. This also gave me plenty of room for writhing about on the floor trying to get out of my wetsuit.
Wind was still gusting at over 20mph so it was advised not to leave helmets and number belts on on handlebars. So, i actually clipped mine to handlebars. Also just realised why you put your towel on the floor & gear on top. I never actually dry my whole body just stand on it to dry the feet, durrr.

Had to go back in to transition to unclip helmet & number belt & leave on the floor. Obviously the 2 seconds of  wasted unclipping time later could have been the difference between getting a podium position or not :-)

2.30pm, last wee & time to get into wetsuit. Covered myself in sensual sex lube hoping this would help me slide out of the suit later. Also lubed the legs on the outside as this is where i have the probs. Put my watch under the suit & made sure my timing chip was on the left leg (so as not to risk catching on bike chain) & also under wetsuit. Slipped into wetsuit easier than usual (good sign), zipped up, needed another wee ??? Will have to wait for an hour.

Had a briefing then off we trotted to the lake. All in the water by 2.55pm, I got right to the very back as we all know how slow i am & didn't want to be frog kicking people in the face. Fog horn blared & off we went. I turned into a man possessed & lept forward trying to do front crawl for some bizarre reason, after 30 seconds i was knackered & could hardly get my breath. What you playing at Baxter !

Had a word with myself & settled into my steady eddie breaststroke :-) Think i completed the 400m swim in about 12 minutes, not seen the splits yet. Cold & choppy but my worst bit out the way. Don't think there was many people behind me when i emerged from the lake.

Now a 150m run to T1. On the way i found it easy to slip the wetsuit off my top half & then remove my hat & goggles. Took a gentle jog up to T1 & passed half a dozen people on the way to T1.

Sex lube makes removing suit easy



Shaking off excess sex lube

Cleared T1 in under 3 minutes, suit came off pretty easy. Trick was also to pull it right down below my knees then it was quite easy.

Coming back in to dismount area.

My bike run was pretty good. Averaged over 19mph, couldn't use the aero bars because like a dipstick I'd adjusted them before the race & made them too narrow. Between T1 & the end of the bike stage I must have passed another 20 people. I was flying. Home straight was tough as we got the full 20mph + head wind. Speed down to 12mph just like that.

Into T2. 34 seconds later i was out of there.

Shoes on

Away we go, i did remember to spin my number round

Two laps of cross country to run, legs felt good & jogged round the first quite comfortable. Although it's always disheartening to come up on the finish line but have to run past it for another lap. However, this is where i saw my boss just in front beginning his second lap as well.

The boss & I

Got a bit of a second wind & put in a good run to finish. Wife & daughter actually found the finish line this time. Thanks to Andy & Becs for their support on the day as well. Support is appreciated.

Split times haven't been posted yet. Think i did it in 59:56. Happy days, two weeks to Norwich Triathlon.Will be my longest event swim at 750m so obviously I'm really looking forward to that.


Not much other news

My one year quit smoking anniversary day is tomorrow. The thing that started me on this journey in the first place.

Had a weigh in today, Still at 14 stone 1 lb. Definitely hit a plateau, need to finally visit the diet i think

Aero Bars arrived, used a few times now & after minor adjustments find them fantastic. Not fantastic on the Triathlon for reasons mentioned before but top notch on today's 2 hr ride

Total Immersion book has arrived but not had chance to read that as yet, still got Be Iron Fit & Chrissies book to finish off, not to mention the 3 Tour de France magazines Arleya bought me for fathers day today.

Found this a good read. Chrissie Wellingtons top 50 tips http://www.chrissiewellington.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/220_262_50tips_final.pdf

Also well done to the 'Fatman to Ironman' Runners world forum guys who have done Triathlons this weekend.

Thats all folks

Happy Training



Join the Facebook Group - The Ironman Journey
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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

Boudicca 100 Sportive

Second century ride done this morning. Again in glorious sunshine around the Norfolk countryside.

Began training for the half IM at Ely this week. Put together training plan based on Don Finks full IM competitive program. I'd originally just halved the times but I have since increased the bike mileage to 75% of full time (i love cycling) & will do the full amount of swimming as this is my most rubbish bit.

Training for this week (managed my full plan despite the bad bad weather)

Monday - Bike 31.30 minutes & Run 45.30 minutes

Tuesday - Rest day - although went geocaching (great fun ) with Arleya which probably ended up as a 10 mile hike. http://www.geocaching.com/

Wednesday - Run 30.01 minutes,  Open Water swim 45.19 minutes (new PB on 1600m) & Bike ride 26.52 minutes (this was getting to swimming & back)

Thursday - Bike/Cycle brick - Bike 29.30 minutes, quick change Run 14.52 minutes

Friday - Pool swim 1 hr 6 mins - 1950 metres. Bike 47 minutes

Saturday - Rest day due to 100 mile sportive on Sunday. Marshaled at Fritton park run though

Sunday - Boudicca 100 sportive 5 hrs 32 mins - http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/136630579

With the increase in running i think i've pulled a small muscle in the side of my leg, near the shin. Quite painful when walking, although is loads better after a couple of days non running.


Boudicca Sportive

Fantastic, very well organised event by Sara Flatt which began at the Horse Welfare centre near Snetterton. I was going to start at 7.30am but got there early as i couldn't sleep as usual the night before.
Got up at 5am, had my usual event day breakfast. Oats simple stuff, two slices of toast & marmalade , coffee. Seems to work for me :-)

Already had my race number off the website, 008, missed the 007 by one grrrr. No numbers needed to be worn though as the whole event was chip timed.

Got to the start at 6.45, registered, got a goody bag with free gel & energy bar, plus the timing chip. There was an instruction board on how to attach the tag which i started to do like everyone else. Then remembered I had my trainers on & not cycling shoes, doh.

Was a bit of a chill in the air but a hot day was expected with the possibility of rain mid afternoon. Had my arm warmers on, bloody brilliant invention (thanks Karl) Decided not to take suncream as I'd already bathed in it at home. Also decided to take a chance on not taking my waterproof.

I was ready to roll just after 7am. We were started off in groups of about 20 with a few minutes interval between. Two feed stations on route. These were well stocked with free energy drink, bananas, malt loaf, fig biscuits, cereal bars etc

I kept with the same group for 85 miles then riders started to drop off. Two dropped off earlier due to punctures, one guys tyre making a sound like a shotgun when it burst so god knows that he had filled it with.

The pace increased a lot following the second feed station so no surprise riders were starting to struggle. Pace increase was mainly down to a giant South African guy who could really motor. Managed to hold my own though & coming up to 90 miles there was just 3 of us left. South African man dropped off to stay with his mate who was struggling. Took turns on the front and managed to keep the speed around 20mph.

Next to go was a velo rider, not sure why, then me :-( couldn't keep up with the last guy, my legs were shot. However, 3 miles from home he took a wrong turn. Despite my shouting to him he continued on up the wrong road. :-)

99 miles done and i could see another bunch hammering down so i tried to pick up the pace, I know it's not a race but i was in the zone. Despite my best efforts, the mini peleton gobbled me up about a mile from the finish.

So, chips were cut off, bike put in the car and off to the cafe at the Welfare centre where we were given free pasta salad & a cup of tea. Happy days :-)

I will be doing this again next year without a doubt
http://www.boudiccasportive.co.uk/about/
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No pictures this week I'm afraid. Should have some next week from Fritton Tri. My first open water Triathlon. May be able to get away with not wearing a wetsuit if the temperature is over 14 degrees. Will save me 5 mins in T1.

Ordered some more stuff.
Aero bars from Ebay - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=150813145808&view=all&tid=763273935005

Total Immersion book - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Total-Immersion-Revolutionary-Better-Faster/dp/0743253434/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339339974&sr=8-1

Put an order in for a pirate Monaco Tri top as well.

Also thanks to Gastank on RW i now need to buy decals & a speed fill bottle for my bike.

With today's cycle & my swimming times I have a lot more confidence in my ability to complete my Ironman challenges.

Happy training folks.


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

Ironman UK 2013

No events since the Norwich 100 so couldnt really think of a title for the blog. Went with Ironman UK 2013 as i have had a further development in Ironman plans this week.

Signed up yesterday for this, will be my biggest challenge so far. Would never have thought i'd be entering a half Ironman event in 2012 6 months ago. ECF Monster Middle Distance Triathlon 2012 1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21km run Sunday 19th August 2012 http://monsterracing.net/triathlon2012.html

Due to the above i've had to drop 3 previous planned things due to training for half Ironman & the costs to enter everything.

http://www.bmycharity.com/clearseaz

Only 8 left to do this year.

Training for this week

Monday 28.94 mile cycle - http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/131085055

Tuesday 4.87 mile run

Wednesday 1600metre open water swim in 48 minutes

Thursday & Friday

Saturday 5k park run & 40 mile cycle - http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/133172673

Sunday went to do my swim but pool closed for a gala so nothing done today.

Ironman training begins tomorrow so an extra day off is probably good.

11 weeks to the Ely IM so unsure of how i train. Decided to go with Don Finks competitve plan in 'Be Iron fit' but half all the times & starting from week 19. I've also had to adjust it to incorporate two open water Tri's & another century cycle coming up.

Would appreciate comments on the training plan by some more experienced triathletes. When ive written it down it dosent seem like much compared to what i already do.

Sold my Ducati this week as i dont use it much since taking up cycling. So done an extra 12 miles cycling this week going to work & back.

Week off work coming up with the Boudicca 100 mile cycle ride next Sunday.

Cant think of much else to report. 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