Crash week part 2: DOMS, sleep deprivation and a parrot

Well this week was a full on crash and burn week. I feel that my glutes won't forgive me for a couple of weeks yet.
I promised an update after Monday and Tuesday's trainign days.
Wednesday included a session that was not only physically tough but mentally tough aswell.
Being an amazingly glorious day with the weather, Will and I decided it was time to put the glad rags on and take out the super new shiny toys, ehxibits A and B as detailed in the photos below.

 

As I mentioned in my last blog this session was to be a tempo and building over 9.5 miles (with a little lump of a hill in the middle). I was chuffed to bits with my times of 41 minutes (1st lap easy), 35:10 and finally 32:00 dead. This was promptly followed by a 2 mile very very hard run. I thought I was running quite slowly but my watch indicated otherwise with 2 miles covered in around 15:30. Awesome! Wednesday afternoon also included laughing at our parrot Madiba who was having a whale of a time outside in the apple tree.

Thursday's recovery ride around Rutland Water with Will led to some really bad sleep on Thursday night, my legs were absolutely smashed and I was pleased to recuperate on Friday with some friends and some well earned Vino.

Saturday was a bit of a smash fest with Mary and her partner in crime Gail Warner. I had been warned about Gail's tendencies to fly up hills, but I never thought this was possible until i saw it with my own two eyes. She literally sailed up those hills on Saturday. Starting off in thick fog at 10am, it was a bit grim, especially when I could no longer see Mary or Gail, but they hung back for me and were very encouraging. The hot chocolate rest certainly helped, as well as the sun breaking out and slipping onto the back of a group of cyclists to help us out for a mile or so.
The 32 mile ride was followed by a brisk 2 mile run out and back, with Gail running at the front or rather bouncing like Tigger in her new Newtons. I can see why these two are certainly going into business together. Inspire2tri is going to be a lot of hardwork but also tonnes of fun!

Following this eventful Saturday I was pleased to take the afternoon off training and instead helped prepare for around 20 of our friends to come over for a start of Summer BBQ. Well, the weather had been nice, the clocks were going forward and I hadn't seen many of our friends since the days of 'training every single waking hour' came into play!

I enjoyed my Sunday ride clocking up another 25 miles or so on my own, it was great to see the wealth of cyclists out yesterday, however disappointingly they were all heading in the opposite direction to me! Our Sunday afternoons always have a recovery 2km swim. This is a great way to round off the week and to help those muscles after a tiring week or training. The pool is always empty too so it means we can do what we like!

So this week involved 15 1/2 hours of training total:-
10.5 hours on the bike = 264.5km
1.5 hours running = 19.2km
3.5 hours swimming = 5.7km

Not as much swimming as I want but the bike figures speak volumes. This was my highest block of training time banked to date and I feel good for it.

Next week I hope to include an interview with Mary herself, so keep posted for next week's blog.

Happy Training!
Kerry

Crash Week Part 1

Another busy week of work and training, the time is flying by and now I have completed around 22 weeks of training since Will began coaching me!

I have to admit that I am feeling a lot fitter and leaner than I ever have (although I could still lose a bit more on the rear end!) and am really enjoying training. Running has been a regular occurrence now for around 3-4 weeks and I am smashing out 15-20 km of running a week which is great considering I wasn't even running in January.

This week for me is Crash Week, or train hard and die week, or push to your limits week....... lots of different names for essentially the same thing. Will and I both took a few days off together to train together and to essentially have a big block of training. This involves lots of sessions, lots of eating and lots of wearing my Compression Sport calf guards to recover!

Yesterday's sessions included a 40km easy bike ride, 6 km running intervals (hard then easy then hard again) and a final spin session in the gym. Sounds a lot on paper, but this was only an additional session to what I already do on Mondays when I am working. The skies were blue and the birds were singing for our morning's ride, however the headwind really did cut through me. Thanks to Will and Jono for sitting at the front and helping me along.

The running session involved a hot and sweaty gym with a treadmill. I have had to learn to love the treadmill these last few weeks and last night really tested our relationship. I was extremely keen to finish the session off outside, but stuck to my guns and help and encouragement from Will meant I finished the tough session, only to then walk through to the spinning room to be met with another instrument of tough love. The spin bike.

45 minutes of sweat pouring in your eyes, working around the handlebars and jumping off your seat, but it really helps! I have been spinning since I joined the gym pretty much, every Monday for the past 6 months or so. It is a great session, but really really hard work.

This torturous session will soon be ending for me with the nights being lighter and the mornings as well, so I have decided to end my gym membership at the end of the month and will start my bike sessions outside around Rutland Water instead.

Today's sessions are 6.5km run which I am really looking forward to and Mary's swim tonight. This will be followed up by a big meal with our regular swim session goers. :) (food time!)

Tomorrow will be a real test as Will has a session planned on the bike that will involve a hill and a 10 mile loop x 3. Oh dear me, this is going to be tough. Followed by a swim with Stamford Tri club. Thursday is another 40km bike ride, with a 2 mile hard run and simple weights session. Friday I am back to work, and a swim session only. The weekend will be back in the tough lane with rides, runs and swims galore.

I will report back later this week on how all of the sessions go. Quite simply this week will be a hard one, but I know that I really will enjoy it. I would advise that if you are going to put your body through this kind of test, then give it time to recover. And eat plenty of food! I am struggling to get back the calories recently, which is why it is important to eat, eat, eat and eat some more!

Next week I will be hopefully putting up an interview with Mary Hardwick. She is one of the reasons I have improved so much in the pool of late. If anyone has any pressing questions to ask Mary (soon to be fully qualified Level 3 Triathlon Coach and Inspire2tri founder) then please get in touch!

kerryrough@hotmail.com

Happy training everyone:)

Weekends with your bike

 A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of returning to my old haunts of North Wales where I studied Psychology for three years, in between the drinking, hockey practise and various trips to the beach/mountains and the pier for scones. It was here I met Will as well as some amazing friends who I consider friends for life. Alice and Ben kindly put up Will, Heath (another foreigner :) We love you Zimbo!) and myself for a couple of nights. Their lovely house was just the perfect setting in the valleys and on the Saturday and Sunday we donned the Lycra and set out for some nice sociable rides. On the Saturday we ventured over to Anglesey and to Newborough beach where we often spent a summer's evening with a couple of beers. Here we gave Will some stick for his helmet (see the above picture for before and picture below for after alterations!).

 It's always great to have Heath with you when you're out and about, as he always has his camera with him, getting some sneaky shots in as we cycled along is just one of his many tricks!

Sunday saw us join one of Ben's friends Rohan to tackle the heights of Pen-Y-Pass. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this place, it is basically the main starting point for walking up Snowdon via many various paths. It begins down at Llanberis, where Electric Mountain and the train for Snowdon starts, and you begin to cycle around 2 miles to the top. I think it took us around 30-45 minutes, with Will leading the pack and soon disappearing from my view. It was an amazing climb, even if I was nearly sick at the end! Thanks Rohan for this photo!

 I also happened to bring home some little injuries from cycling both Saturday and Sunday. These are the nice bruises from falling off my bike not only once, but twice. Those bloody clipped shoes! :)
So thanks for a brilliant weekend guys, you really know how to show guests a good time. Cycling, Rugby, Chicken, Beers and Herman (friendship yeast!)- all in one weekend!

Finally once you get serious as a triathlete, you might want to attend the TCR show (Triathlon, Cycling and Running show) which is held every year close to the start of the season so that you can go and drool over the latest bike bling or find out what your swim stroke is really like. Or if you are super geeky, take a look at your power output on the Watt bikes, and get a high from all of the gels and drinks. Although at this year's show I was a bit disappointed with the stalls, as they were mostly the brands showcasing their 2012 products, I did get to see one of my heroes and the current triathlon World Number 1 Womens' champion Helen Jenkins.(picture below- I must also apologise for the weird guy in the background, maybe he was really excited about a new wetsuit or similar!) She really is a lovely girl and I got to ask her what she did on her days off- I am pleased to say that she is quite normal like most of us and likes to take her dog for a run on the beach and then eats lots of food afterwards! For me this was a great chance to see the latest products and also got a chance to see the triathlete stars.

As for training this week and last week, I have had a bit of a bad time of it lately. I am running really well, managed to conquer the 5km and that is some achievement given the injuries I had. I have now been knocked over sideways with a lovely throat infection and cold. I could feel the glands getting swollen last weekend and I have to say I am bit of a wimp when I am ill. So I have been avoiding the pool and trying to pull back on the training this week. When your body is trying to fight off a bug or illness, it does no favours to go and get yourself training to exhaustion.

So for me it's resting up this afternoon with a book and some lemsip.

I hope that everyone else's training goes a bit better than mine-Happy training everyone! 

(Oh and good luck to all of those racing this weekend- train smart race hard!)

An Easy and a Tough Life

How is it when you are trying to fit in lots of training sessions and keep things consistent that other parts of your life keep trying to take over?!
I find that as the nights get shorter I keep thinking about my long term goals of qualifying for the Worlds, and that (along with a bit of a shove from Will) helps me to crack on with those hard sessions. When I am back from work late, or have been driving up and down the country (as I often do with my job as a Sales Rep) I have to be very dedicated to even think about training when I get home. However, I still have been managing to average around 10 hours of training a week, and that is still with mostly swimming and cycling as I am only just now starting to put in a few more running sessions.
Chatting with other triathletes helps to put it into perspective.
I am just becoming an avid user of Twitter and find that most of the people I follow are elite triathletes and sports people. When you are sat on the turbo in the kitchen watching Michael McIntyre on DVD (who by the way is very funny!) and then see that the elites are training in South Africa/Gold Coast/California/New Zealand then it can sometimes get you down. However, I find that thinking of how much training they do as a full time job, and that they really can't afford to screw up and get injured as that is their livelihood, then I feel a bit better when it is raining outside and I have to go for a run just as the wind is whipping up around me.
Most of my triathlete friends are pretty dedicated to the cause, some with similar goals to myself, some just in it for the fun, and some are trying to get fit, I think it's hard to compare yourself with others who are doing it as a full-time occupation.
I took up tri as a way of keeping fit, but also as it is three disciplines and varies the types of training. I find that no two sessions are the same and this is something I enjoy. I have managed to keep going despite an injured plagued start to my winter training, and I am getting fitter and feeling stronger with each training week. With a few races entered and my 2012 racing season pretty much planned out, I am looking forward to getting in those key sessions to fine tune and race hard. Training smart is key to a successful year, and if I manage to stay injury free this year, then that will be a great success for me.
In many ways I am glad I am not an elite triathlete as I would have to give up a job I love, and race for money, which would involve winning, and I don't think that will be on the cards for a while!

Another key aspect for me is having a great set of friends who can appreciate your lifestyle and your love for the sport, if they can't appreciate why the hell you are up on a Sunday morning to swim in a lake at 7am and cycle and run all before 10am then maybe you should invite them along to watch. It's quite fun to watch people's reactions to tri and I think it's important to have that support for your training and dedication. Then they might understand why you aren't going hard out on the lash getting bladdered every single weekend.
There again outlines another reason not be an elite triathlete, at least we amateurs can indulge in a bit of grape juice now and again without the guilt!

I must also say that having a coach has helped me improve greatly this year. Mary Hardwick is an absolute star and having just launched their website www I must urge you to check it out. My swimming has come on no end, and without her help I think I wouldn't be achieving PBs every  session- so thank you!.inspire2tri.co.uk

Snow and training in extreme temperatures

Jimmy Robinson enjoys the -11 temperatures!

Rutland saw some significant snowfall and extreme temperatures this week. It began last Saturday night with a bet on whether the snow would come, which it did (and I was instantly 35 better off- thanks Will!). Although not as much snow as last year, it decided to stick around. Then overnight temperatures over the week saw much of it freeze leaving our pavements and roads like skating rinks. Many of my friends and I spent time on the treadmills, indoor bikes and the swimming pool which can be terribly boring is if were not were for interesting sessions!
Most of my week has been about keeping consistent with my training and Tuesday saw a 1km time trial in the pool. Managing to take 40 seconds off my previous time of 17:15 to swim 16:34 was pretty amazing. It just goes to show that an increase in fitness and time spent getting your pacing right pays off.- so thanks Mary and Stamford Tri :)
I want to go even faster in four weeks time at the next TT, but that will take much more work to take time off!
I also got to enjoy the delights of aquajogging, which is seriously good for you if you are injured and just very good for you in general as it helps with your core. It did amuse me slightly that there were 6 of us in the pool on Friday night bobbing up and down in a circle for over 15 minutes not really getting anywhere. That is the only real frustration, as you don't seem to do many miles, but the next day your muscles certainly feel the effects.
After more snow on Thursday and a real deep freeze of -16 on Friday night, my plan for Saturday fully depended on the weather. Myself and a couple of friends made plans to cycle around Rutland Water on mountain bikes, this being a great alternative to the road bikes which wouldn't be coming out of their hiding places unless being put on the turbo trainer!
I layered up, and heading out of the door yesterday morning, I couldn't quite believe how cold it was. My face was frozen and toes began to hurt almost instantaneously.
Somehow I managed to keep on the bike most of the way to meet my friends, although I did come off and give myself a great bruise on the shin. Having met my friends, it was funny to spot that my water bottle has already started to freeze up.

Setting off in the fog we cycled through the snow giggling most of the way and finding it a real test of fitness to get up small rises with snow covered tyres. Our feet were the main topic of conversation, although we also discussed races and training this week being heavily disrupted.
The point where I took my photo of Jimmy, he decided to test the temperature, a balmy -11! With the freezing fog, it certainly took our breath away.
The ride home was probably quicker than I cycled out, probably as I wanted to get back and seriously defrost my toes and waterbottle which was now a solid brick of juice. (Which reminds me to tell you that you should never try to warm up your toes quickly, as I can tell you that it was extremely painful to do so!)
Despite the cold, it was a fantastic way of staving off the indoor blues and really made me feel appreciative of the beauty of where I live. If you ever get a chance to come to Rutland Water, you really should. The roads are pretty good for cycling, the path around the reservoir is really great for running and cycling and in the summer the sailing and windsurfing is pretty epic too.

So for today with snow still on the ground and ice still threatening to freeze my toes, I have opted for an indoor 90 minute turbo session with a film on DVD at the ready. However the weathermen have reassured us that the thaw is on the way- confirmed by Will on his way to work that there was no ice on the cars this morning, so suggested going out on the bike outside. Despite the temperature having risen slightly, it has probably only just got above freezing, which is still not quite warm enough for me just yet!

Have no fear fellow triathletes, the longer nights and warmer weather is only just around the corner, lets see what March and April brings us!

2012 Race Calendar

Last week was rather easy in comparison to the week before. Clocked around 8 hours of training, but then I have had a visitor and snow fell over the weekend. I am trying to keep consistent, but finding that an easy week followed by a much harder week works better for me and my recovery.
Managed a 3.5km run yesterday (on the treadmill) so I am slowly building it back up. I don't want to aim too fast, although anything under 25 minutes for a 5km at the end of a triathlon will be good, especially in my first triathlon of the year. (It would also be a PB for a 5km at the end of a tri!)
I have tried to space out the races I want to do, as well as pick and choose the ones which will give me the best chance of qualifying.
The following races are ones I have already entered or plan on entering very soon:-

• Sunday 22nd April - Lincoln Pool Sprint Triathlon 400m/20/5
• Saturday 28th April - Rutland CiCLE Event, either 100miles or 54 miles
• Sunday 13th May - Grendon Sprint Triathlon (Worlds 2012 Qualifier) 750m/20/5
• Sunday 27th May - Nantwich Pool Sprint Triathlon 400m/20/5
• Saturday 16th June - Dambuster Olympic Triathlon (Worlds 2012 Qualifier)1500m/40/10
• Saturday 30th June - Deva Divas Triathlon Sprint Relay Event (Swim only)  750m
• Sunday 1st July - Deva Olympic Triathlon (Worlds 2012 Qualifier) 1500m/40/10
• Sunday 15th July - Bristol Sprint Triathlon (Worlds 2012 Qualifier) 750m/20/5
• 25th/26th BH Weekend August National Club Relays  500m/15/5
• Sunday 23rd September - London Olympic Triathlon 1500m/40/10
• Worlds NZ 17-23rd October  (If I qualify!)

I have given myself a few chances to qualify, however it will be expensive and a whole 2 weeks out of work so I have to really give myself plenty of time to save up!
I really want to do this this year, and the hard work and training has already started.
I also hope to make it to London on the 7th August to watch the Men's Triathlon Olympic event. It will be AMAZING!

Clocking up the miles and a TT to boot

So what was last week all about? Sleep Eat Work Train Eat Sleep! It seems to be all I am doing, but I am really REALLY enjoying the fact that I am putting in some hard sessions and clocking up the miles. I have done nearly 40 hours of training for January with 2 weeks of just over 8 hours and 2 weeks of 12 hours +! That is pretty good when I think of how I was in 2010 and still managing to qualify. My running is building up very slowly, but I still am managing to do some 2-3km of running sessions a week.
I have had some excellent swim sessions recently, in a very interesting format with Mary Hardwick again.  Coaching is something which I eventually want to be doing, I think I would quite like to get involved with coaching, and so am on the lookout for a course, once I have some more money!
The other great thing about the end of January is the fact that I got paid (16th December was last pay day!!!) and managed to book myself in on a couple of races, the Lincoln pool sprint being one of them. This is a fairly local event and is a great early season starter and will be pretty crucial for me to see how my last 3 months of training has gone and how my running will fare! It's on the 22nd April and very cheap compared with the extortionate prices that you can pay for races now.
The other great thing is that Spring will be here soon (well not quite yet with the snow forecast for this weekend), but the nights will get lighter and it means training in the evening will become a bit more pleasant!
29th January saw the inaugural Stamford Triathlon Club Bike TT around Rutland Water. We cycled up to Whitwell for a 9.30am start, and let me tell you, the three pairs of socks, overshoes and foil (yes foil) on my feet were not to prepare me for the cold cold cold temperatures!
I didn't manage last place (14/16) however I still have plenty of work to do on that front! Let's see what the spring brings!