Jog On...

21/05/12 - Rest Day 22/05/12 - Rest Day 23/05/12 - Open Water Swim (North Dock, Llanelli) What a lovely evening to do some open water swimming, the sun was shining and the water was.. well... warmish. I was reliable told its the warmest it had been all year, so I was happy to get in and get some meters in. I've been testing out some goggles, so tonight was a mask pair, you probably cant see them from the photo above, but I'm the head with the orange swim hat on the right. This was a great session, to get me back into the open water scene, 50 meter warm up, then then sprint 20 strokes, 10 recover, then sprint 30 strokes and 10 recovery. To finish we did zig-zag sprints, about 100 meter sprints with 30 seconds recoveries. My arms were really heavy after this session, but its a good pain! Session Details Duration 01 00 00 Distance 2000m 24/05/12 - Free Run (Llansamlet, Swansea) Its hot out there and I'm wearing black, no the best choice of colours fo

14/05/12 - Rest Day 15/05/12 - Rest Day 16/05/12 - Brick Session (National Pool of Wales & Swansea Sea Front) After have 2 days off this week already, I had no drive to get out for this session, but when I did finally get the Speedo Jammers on I was really keen to get into it. I decided to hit the 50 meter pool and complete a 4 x 500m set (2000 meters) and get a 60 minute run under my belt. The weather was lovely and I was keen to make the most of it. I was lucky enough to have a lane to myself and so it was a interrupted set and and a quick change into some running gear I was out the door and on the sea front listening to my ipod picturing myself running the last 7 miles of the Ironman race. I felt good, really good and could have quite happily kept on going on the run! Session Details Duration 01 40 00 Distance Swim (2000m) Run (7 Miles) 17/05/12 - Cycling (Spin Bike) I was still feeling it a bit from last nights brick and the alarm clock went off far to earl

After the rain we have been having recently I was hoping the sun would come out for this race, It was my first sportive and I needed the good weather to help me home as I knew I would find some of the climbs difficult and the duration in the saddle the main concern as it was going to be the longest ride for me ever. I woke up before the alarm after a good nights sleep and I sneaked downstairs for larger than normal pre-race breakfast, got dressed for the race, a quick kit check, packed the car and off we went to the start line, an hours drive. Parked the car up at the destination, registers and got the bike ready to go, you had a window from 08:00 - 10:00 to start so I saw a group of other riders from the club and congregated with them towards the start line. The marshals scanned my timing chip and off I went. The sun was shine, there was a cool breeze, I found a comfortable gear and off I went. The first 25 miles was brilliant, relatively flat, no massive inclines, it gav

07/05/12 - Rest Day 08/05/12 - 5km Time Trial (Swansea Bay) I missed out on the this race last year as it clashed with another race, so I was keen to race it this year. My PB was 21:21 last time so I wanted to know how far forwards or backwards I've come. Thankfully I've moved forward and I posted a 20:49. I was very please but I did run out of juice for the last 300 meters, I probably went out that little bit to fast, but I know where I need to work. Considering all my training for the half Ironman has been endurance based I wanted to know how my body took to a speed session. I was really happy with my time in this speed race, I averaged out at 6 and half minute miles and I'm surprised my legs worked that quick since the type of training I have been doing, I even managed to get a best pace of 5.23 minute mile pace, but I wasn't going that quick for long. The big dip in the middle was the turn point, so I needed to slow down to get around the cones. This is

30/04/12 - Rest Day 01/05/12 - Cycling (Spin Bike) After 2 days off it was hard to get back onto the saddle today, but If I want to get over that finish line I've got to keep on going, as as this week is the half way point I'm nearly there. I made sure I has plenty of water and supplies, last time I did 2 hours on the spin bike, I flagged at the 1 hour 40 mark. I was loaded up with 2 bottles and a energy gel to make me last the duration of the ride, and keep riding hard till the last second. The session was 10 minutes standing (T4/T5) and 20 minutes recovery (T2/T3) which is a great session, I have been trying my best to get into T5, as previous session I have only managed T4, so the resistance has been cranked right up and the work rate has also gone up too. The last time I did this session my maximum heart rate was 147 BPM, but this session was 181 BPM, a massive 36 BPM difference. Session Details Duration 02 00 00 Distance 40 Miles Max HR181 BPM Average

  The lovely people at GU sent me some samples of the delicious energy gels to try out, and I must say they tasted lovely and definitely do the job. When I first read the flavours I was slightly concerned that they may be hard to swallow and digest but they are far from it.   The flavours I tested were: Tri Berry Lemon Sublime Jet Blackberry Strawberry Banana Vanilla Bean Chocolate Outrage These don't sound like your average sports gels flavours, but I can confirm they definitely work on all levels, flavourings and taste, easy of use and most importantly instant energy. My favourite flavour of the test was the chocolate one, it was brilliant, it went down so easy, no need for water for help swallow, it was brilliant to change the favouring on your palette from the sport drink you have been using all session. Also another benefit of the chocolate flavour was that it has caffeine in it so this also gave me that additional boost to kick on during my