Sunday, July 26th, 2009
Milton Keynes race results:
| Swim 1.5km |
00:25:30 |
| T1 |
00:01:52 |
| Bike 40km |
01:11:42 |
| T2 |
00:01:08 |
| Run 10km |
00:42:25 |
| Total |
2:22:37 |
I have to admit, I’m pretty happy with that – despite getting a bit lost and disoriented on the swim, I made it round in closer to my original goal of 2hr 15 than my revised goal of 2hr 30. Full results are available on the Big Cow website. The winner, Adam Bowden, managed a pretty amazing 1hr 48min time.
To say I’ve also run my fastest ever 10km after an undulating bike ride also says quite a bit for the training from Jen at Optimum Velocity which has really pulled me back from running oblivion!
Then of course this morning I thought what better way to recover than a 5km run and a coached swim session. That was painful!
Friday, July 24th, 2009
I appear to have finally exorcised the running demons for this season, only more than half way through the season, but at least I have managed to get ready for my main Olympic distance race in Milton Keynes on Sunday 26th July and the dreaded Vitruvian race in September.
Completing a warm up sprint distance triathlon on Wednesday gone in the F3 Traithletes World series, at Dorney Lake, was a bit of a milestone in the end. Posting not only my fastest swim yet, I also managed a pretty good 21:32 5km run off the bike. A total time of 1:14.58 met my final goal of last year and hitting under 1:15 for a sprint triathlon really felt like an achievement. Now lets see if 1:10 is possible next year!
Milton Keynes have slightly annoyed me by changing the bike route to a 2 lap 20km route rather than one 40km loop, however I hope to use this to my advantage and blitz the second lap by know where I can punch it and when I need to save some leg strength for the undulations. Travelling up there by car Saturday means I’ll also have chance to recce the course, better preparing myself even more.
I’ve also just started my own running club! Work have introduced a scheme to try and get people more active and I’ll be taking on the running side of it with regular runs for all abilities at various times throughout the week. Will have to plan the best way for beginner and mixed ability running sessions, but I also look forward to the faster lot providing a bit of a challenge and motivation during some really tough interval and fartlek sessions.
The GyroHSR Chicago office have also laid down challenge in regards to a Nike+ inter-office challange, so I’ll have to get myself an iPod and Nike+ sports kit to participate in that – but to be honest its a good excuse for more training tracking toys.
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
After having iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) forcing me out of running for a while I have attempted to start running again this week, in preparation for the Milton Keynes triathlon on 26 July. If I am to reach my (revised) goal of 2hr 30 I have to really get in a 46 minute 10km run time. I had hoped to complete a 2hr 15 Olympic distance triathlon but with injury interrupting training since I set that goal in January, I have decided 2hr 30 is a respectable target time.
Thankfully this week I have completed a 6km and 7.5km run with absolutely no ill effects whatsoever, in fact my legs felt stronger than they ever have following any distance running. Tomorrow I am tempted to even try the 11.4km run into work (SW20 to SW10), however it might be a bit soon for an undulating run like that.
I’m attributing this feeling to 2 things, the excellent physiotherapy (and subsequent stretching exercises) that David Bolton provided and Choi Kwang Do study and stretching. Now I included a Choi Kwang Do warm up before my running and with class twice a week I hope that the injuries will stay away – goodness knows I’ve had a shocking time with injuries so far this year.