I was pretty pleased with the time, 5 hours 08 minutes and 35 seconds, with the following splits:

The swim started bright and early at 6:20am, so I was up and out of the B&B, with Rich from GyroHSR who was also racing, at 5am. We arrived and got transition sorted, I rushed a bit by faffing far too much, but all went relatively smoothly.

Rutland Water, home of the Vitruvian Triathlon

The water was full of plant life which was a bit annoying to say the least, tangling around my arms a few times but after 2 laps of the 950m course, I emerged feeling quite good. So much so I probably could have taken another minute off the swim time, but it was also a rough swim, with other competitors around me all the way.  I took my time a bit in transition, getting the wetsuit off and making sure I had all the gels and bars I needed and set off on the 2 lap 42.5km course.

It was cold, very cold and a bit too windy on the bike, but the hills got my heart going when they came around. I aimed at keeping my heart rate at 140BPM on the bike, gauging that would be the level I thought I would need to post a sub 3 hours time, turns out it was a great time, as I got through the hills and the wind still feeling strong for the part I had trained most for recently, the half marathon.

Feeling pretty  strong I set the target heart rate of 157 all the way, which should post a 1:35 half marathon, not bad at all. However I expected to flag and while I felt strong most of the way round, the faster runners were a little demoralising.  I kept above 155BPM most of the way round, in the last 7km easing off a little and cruising home at 145BPM, with an average HR of 154BPM for the 21km. I even had a little in the tank for a 50m  sprint at the end!

Only down side to the day was finding Rich at the end, and hearing his race wasn’t ideal – I wish he’d felt as strong so we had a fair comparison of times. Still, I had quite a bit of time on him and better training in the build up may just have given me a sub 5 hour time, but that’s life!

And the day after,  following that monster challenge, I had my Choi Kwang Do yellow belt grading, so now I’m a Vitruvian and a a proper colour belt in martial arts. All in all a good weekend!

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.

We went initially on Monday evening for a free introductory session where we learned basic blocks, punches and kicks in a private session with an instructor, who like me was slim and tall but I wouldn’t consider crossing him, knowing what he must know.

Claire really seemed to enjoy it and really got a kick (excuse the pun) from unleashing onto a pad held by the instructor, as did I, even if I was a little self concious I looked like an idiot. Mind you, looking like an idiot was nothing compared to sounding like an idiot, shouting a Kihap. Will have to work on shouting loudly every time I punch or kick, and decide on what I want to shout. I don’t think they allow you to swear, making it all the more difficult.

What I hope to come away with is more confidence and not feel intimidated by anyone, plus much improved core strength and flexibility. Of course as a bonus I should also have a bloody hard punch and good kicking techniques.

Choi Kwang Do also appealed to me due to its emphasis on physiology and anatomy rather than mystical energy centres of the body, which I’m not exactly sure about. The official Choi Kwang Do web site says “Choi Kwang Do is a unique martial art based on scientific principles and developed to promote optimum health, fitness and self-defense, not winners in sports competitions.” Its quite lucky there is such a great facility at the Cassar Academy in Morden (even if their web site could do with some of my skills).

The Cassar Academy in Morden.

For joining on the night we got our Do Bok (uniform) free, so we tried them on as soon as we got in and they are great! I mean, look how scary I already look.

Me in my New Do Bok.

Now we need to concentrate and actually apply ourselves to this, its going to be tough – but first things first, we need to learn the Choi Kwang Do adult pledge, that we recite before every class, and the principles of Choi Kwang Do:

Adult Pledge

• To set positive goals and strive to achieve them.
• To apply self discipline to further my personal development.
• To stand for justice and honour my word.
• To promote friendly relationships among all people.
• To use what I learn in class in a constructive manner.

Principles of Choi Kwang Do

• Humility
• Honesty
• Gentleness
• Perseverance
• Self control
• Unbreakable spirit

Add to all this a bow before entering the school floor, the school motto “Pil Sung” and a whole host of Korean commands we must know for class, there is an awful lot to learn before we really get into the nitty gritty of Choi Kwang Do, something I’m really looking forward to!

Chris Crudelli's BBC TV series.

We’ve also got a Chris Crudelli workshop coming up, where we might learn some more cool stuff, I like Chris Crudelli from what I’ve seem of Mind, Body and Kick Ass moves on the BBC DVD we’ve been watching. Not quite sure what Jiu Fa Men is but I’m sure it’ll all be explained on the day! More on Chris can be found on twitter.com/kickassmover or his web site, crudelli.com