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Showing posts from 2012

Week 51 - Running Is Back On

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24/12/12 - Free Run I managed to get my final pre Christmas day run in. Session Details Duration 00:48:17 Distance 6.30 Miles Calories 901 Average HR 163 BPM Max HR 179 BPM Average Pace 7.36 Best Pace 4.22 25/12/12 - Rest Day 26/12/12 - Free Run A day to burn off yesterdays indulgence! Session Details Duration 01:15:15 Distance 9.00 Miles Calories 1285 Average HR 158 BPM Max HR 172 BPM Average Pace 8.19 Best Pace 4.04 27/12/12 - Rest Day 28/12/12 - Sprint Session Its been a while since a sprint session was completed, I do enjoy them, they are short, sharp and over quickly.. a bit more pain in the lungs but over quicker. You also get some random looks off people driving past. 1 = Sprint  2 = Recover and so on... 8 sets of flat out and recovery, Recover had to be under 3 minutes maximum. Session Details Duration 00:33:11 Calories 458 Average HR 157 BPM Max HR 183 BPM 29/12/12 - Rest Day 30/12/12 - Free Run Last ru

Week 50 - Toothache Stops Play

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17/12/12 - Rest Day 18/12/12 - Rest Day 19/12/12 - Turbo Session I found it, I'm back with some more graphs, I found my heart rate monitor chest strap. After a lengthily visit to the dentist on Monday, the pain has dulled down and I thought I'd give the turbo a go. Session Details Duration 00:40:02 Distance 10.75 Miles Calories 638 Average Cadence 91 RPM Max Cadence 106 RPM 20/12/12 - Free Run This is probably my last run until after Christmas. Session Details Duration 00:39:59 Distance 5.19 Miles Calories 739 Average HR 156 BPM Max HR 168 BPM Average Pace 7.40 Best Pace 5.45 21/12/12 - Rest Day 22/12/12 - Rest Day 23/12/12 - Rest Day Week 50 Totals Cycling - 10.75 Miles Running - 5.19  Miles Swimming - 0 Meters  

Week 49 - Reverse?

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10/12/12 - Rest Day 11/12/12 - Rest Day 12/12/12 - Rest Day 13/12/12 - Rest Day 14/12/12 - Free Run I couldn't find my bloody heart rate monitor belt, so I was doing this run on a "feeling" and it went pretty well as it was at 8pm and hammering it down outside. It was the first session of the week so I just had to make some effort and get out there. Session Details Duration 00:38:25 Distance 5.00 Miles Calories 713 15/12/12 - Turbo Session Still no heart rate monitor, I still have keep looking for that. This session was a 40 minute high cadence session and I wanted to keep it above 80 RPM for the whole session. Thankfully I managed to get an early session as it was Chinese for dinner. I needed to burn some calories if I was going to indulge tonight. Session Details Duration 00:40:01 Distance 11.51 Miles Calories 695 Average Cadence 84 RPM Max Cadence 100 RPM 16/12/12 - Rest Day Week 49 Totals Cycling - 11.51 Miles Running - 5.00  Miles

Week 48 - Back Into It.. Slowly

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03/12/12 - Rest Day 04/12/12 - Turbo Session A very simple session today as I wanted to get something in the training and enough to wet my appetite, I'm afraid it didn't but 30 minutes is still 30 minutes. I think I need to start using music to get me pumped for these session as it worked when I was doing 4 hour spin sessions when training for the half Ironman. The cadence chart wasn't very flat but averaged out for 80 RPM, and I know the session was only 30 minutes. Session Details Duration 00 33 01 Distance 8.63 Miles Calories 515 Average Cadence 80 RPM Max Cadence 92 RPM 05/12/12 - Rest Day 06/12/12 - Turbo Session Well, I've managed 10 minutes more in the garage on the turbo trainer and I seem to be enjoying the turbo. I forgot the ipod so I still was watching old DVDs that weren't really distracting me from the sweating and muscles tightening from lack training going on at the moment. The first 20 minutes I took it easy, I don't

Week 47 - Please Come Back

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26/11/12 - Rest Day 27/11/12 - Rest Day  28/11/12 - Rest Day 29/11/12 - Rest Day 30/11/12 - Rest Day  01/12/12 - Rest Day 02/12/12 - Free Run After a well earned rest and recovery from being ill, I wasn't hungry for training, but I knew I had to get out there so I got my waterproofs on an off I went. After the first mile, I thought "I'm not really enjoying this" but I had to man up from the wind, rain and cold and get another 4 miles under my belt. The first 3 miles is completed in the pitch black on a limited access road so its a tad bit scary when its just you, the head torch and the road. I forgot my iPod so I ended up jumping or gasping at every little bark, toot or rustle in the hedges. I suppose it made me run quicker. After completing the first lap I though to myself I've still got a bit left in the tank here and lets bang out 2 more miles for the 5 mile marker. I kicked on and I was really surprised that I had completed a PB

Week 46 - Still Not Right

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19/11/12 - Turbo Session After the rest day yesterday I was keen to get the legs spinning again, it was a tough race on Saturday as it was so wet under foot so it was nice.. well kind of nice to be training inside on the turbo. I wanted to get into the training zone and just stay on that thresh hold as I race on Saturday so I don't want to work to hard, give my legs a chance to recover. I got into Zone 3 relatively quickly and by the end of the session I was in Zone 4, if I went for longer I think i would have hit zone 5 just like my run on Saturday so I'm glad I got off when I did. Work rate on the cadence front was relatively low, a simple session to spin out the legs and flush out any lactic left from the weekend. Session Details Duration 00 45 01 Distance 11.30 Miles Calories 658 20/11/12 - Rest Day 21/11/12 - Turbo Session Not feeling to sharp today, and this session was a sluggish one. All I could manage was 30 minutes, until I felt unwell.

Week 45 - D & V You Best Stay Away

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12/11/12 - 18/11/12 No training this week due to a lovely virus I picked up and had me laid low for the week. I look forward to Mondays nights session... maybe! Week 45 Totals Cycling - 0 Miles Running - 0  Miles Swimming - 0 Meters  

Amphibia X-Bag Triathlon - Review

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Do you find yourself carrying a massive see through box into transition with all your triathlon gear, some stuff you always use some stuff you never use. Do you try and balance it on your handle bars while pushing your bike and keeping it all balanced.. one small move and it all crashed on the floor.. well I know I've been there so I was looking for something to make that journey to transition that little bit easier! Look no further, I have the answer and it comes in the shape of the Amphibia X-Bag! A very nice gentleman at Amphibia Sport sent me one of there X Bags to try out and I can only complement this piece of kit. First impressions are how good this bag looks, it is an attractive looking messenger bag, it comes in 2 colours and both have a lovely finish. As soon as you put it over your shoulder, its a cracking fit, there is no uncomfortable-ness on the strap as it has a strap protect so you can move it to fit your size, this also included the length of the strapp

Week 44 - On The Road

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05/11/12 - Turbo Session http://connect.garmin.com/activity/241094789 06/11/12 - Turbo Session http://connect.garmin.com/activity/241094785 07/11/12 - Turbo Session http://connect.garmin.com/activity/241295251 08/11/12 - Brick Session I was away with work so I had the ideal  opportunity  to get a long session in and not feel guilty about not spending time with my family. It was always going to be a brick session, just needed to firm up the  duration . There was some proper "meat heads" in the gym, doing one squat with all the weights and then spent 15 minutes chatting to the girls. Real athletes... Session  Details Duration  01 20 00 Distance 20 Miles 09/11/12 - Rest Day 10/11/12 - Endurance Life Gower 10km - Race Report HERE 11/11/12 - Rest Day Week 45 Totals Cycling - 44.65 Miles Running - 9.18 Miles Swimming - 0 Meters

Week 43 - New Plans (#Turbovember)

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29/10/12 - Rest Day 30/10/12 - Turbo Session Final turbo session before #Turbovember kicks off, and it was hard work to get out on the bike after a long day in work and eating dinner so late I just wanted to drop in my bed but the bike was calling. A very light and lack luster performance on the cadence front! Session Details Duration 00 35 04 Distance 10.27 Max HR 135 BPM Average HR 112 BPM Max Cadence 78 RPM Average Cadence 88 RPM   31/10/12 - Rest Day 01/11/12 - Turbo Session Typical that may battery has passed away on my cadence monitor on my Garmin so I'm just training via the heart rate this evening. I had to make an effort for the 1st day of #Turbovember and clocked in a 45 minute session. Its cold in the garage, but I thought if I work hard I'll soon warm up and the quicker I do the session the quicker I can get back into the warm house. A simple session, peddle fast for 45 minutes in a high to middle gear, find that rhythm and sta

Week 42 - Routine Required

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22/10/12 - Rest Day 23/10/12 - Rest Day 24/10/12 - Rest Day 25/10/12 - Rest Day 26/10/12 - Free Run I'm a day behind on the recovery run, after the weekend half marathon. I had sore hip flexes which I think are down to my lacking core stability, so the aim of this session was just to get out, do a quick run and get home. It was chilly too, so winter running is definitely here! This is the 2nd time I've been out in the dark in Lamphey and I happy to say it wasnt as scary as the first time and my mind didnt play to many tricks on me. A few russels on leaves did make me up my pace but apart from that all good. I'm sure there may have been a few heart rate spikes as I jumped a few times but I couldn't find my HR monitor so I can just I was man enough not to be scared! This above photo looks like I was out in extreme cold condition.. well I was.. at least 8'c or am I robbing a bank... I'm not quite sure. Session Details Duration 00 33.53 Dista

Week 41 - Recovery Week

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08/10/12 - Rest Day 09/10/12 - Rest Day 10/10/12 - Rest Day 11/10/12 - Swim Session Its been ages since I've done a training session in the pool, so I was looking forward to it. As we were away I managed to find a pool close to the outlaws house which was pretty easy to get to and it was clean! The session was a late one 9pm till 10pm, so I was going to be up all night after the workout so late as I'm not a fan of training after 8pm as it takes so long for my body to shut down. It was the first session from the internal combustion of the off road race on the weekend, I was now back walking properly so I was ready to get back out training.  I decided to keep the session simple and do a basic pyramid, it was a tough one but I really enjoyed and definitely felt it in the shoulders. Once we have sorted out our house move I'll be looking to joint the sports centre with a pool The pyramid was: 100, 200, 300, 400, 400, 300, 200, 100 = 2000 meters Session

Week 40 - Moved & Missed

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01/10/12 - House Move 02/10/12 - House Move 02/10/12 - Rest Day 03/10/12 - Free Run New shoes so I used this to break them in. There new off road shoes (Salomon Speedcross 3), I really wanted a high colour pair but all I could find in my size were borring black so I just went with them. As I only had 30 minutes today to run, I got a hardish session in, I put the treadmill on incline 12% and ran at a 8 minute mile pace. I did this for 10 minutes on 10 minutes flat and then the final 10 minutes at 12% incline again. I'm not sure if this was a good idea doing such an intense session, but my legs felt nice and strong. I was beating everything the treadmill was throwing at me, I really enjoyed the session and I think I'll start adding cheeky inclines into the run sessions over the winter went I cant get out in the mud. On another plus note, my shoes fit like a glove! Roll on Saturdays race, I'm sure they wont be this clean for long. Session Details Duration 0

Week 39 - All Work (inc House Moves) & No Play

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24/09/12 - Rest Day 25/09/12 - Free Run After a great days racing on Sunday, my legs felt great and I was keen to get a hard run in and as it was hammering down outside the treadmill was the only option. I cranked the treadmill to 8.6 minute mile pace and got in the zone quickly and disappeared into the run. Its great when this happens as you forget the timer is on, you dont care how far you've gone and you can run for miles. When I eventually looked at the clock I had been running for 40 minutes, and considering this was a lunch time run I only had 5 minutes left. I felt strong in the legs so I decided the take it to maximum session, and did the last 4 minutes and 4.5 minute mile pace. This was great fun, the treadmill at the gym has never had such a stressful time. I bet it was greatful for me to get off and back to my desk. I'm not sure when I'll get time again this week to train down to the house move.. BOOO! Session Details Duration 00 45 00 Dista

Tuska Sprint Triathlon - Race Report

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This was a no support group (wife & son) race as the team were left in a bed as it was another early start, I didn't get a chance to pre register the day before down to sorting out our new house purchase. I ate my breakfast, and sneaked out the house not to walk the sleeping household. Another PB on this course was on today as its the first time I've competed at Tuska, I've only heard good things about it so I was really looking forward to racing. I was praying for a calm sea, as this was a sea swim race and Porthcawl is known for is swell and surf! GULP! I managed to park up with no problems and now I could concentrate on registration and transition setup. This time I remembered all my kit, no going around last minute asking for "can I borrow or have you got a spare" my race had all my concentration. I was relatively quick setting up my station and I even had time to chat to a few of the Celtic Tri racers and a last minute toilet stop. Wetsuit o