Thursday

I was exhausted this morning and was going to wimp out of my planned lunchtime swim. But Tommo said he was going to go this afternoon and I would have felt like a skiver if I hadn't gone, so off I trundled. Unfortunately Thursdays are school swimming days and arrived while lots of little girls were swarming round the changing room. I felt very self-concious donning my ultra-cool goggles, hat and noseclip. Sure enough I spotted two of them whispering about me in the mirror. I turned round and asked them if they were laughing at my goggles, in what I thought was a non-confrontational manner. They looked absolutely petrified - as you probably would if you were challenged by something that looked like a giant fly. I agreed that the goggles did look weird, but unlike the traditional sort of google, they didn't feel like they sucked my eyeballs out. That won them over and I really hope they don't have nightmares tonight about their mothers turning into enormous insects and sucking their eyes out.

Once in the pool I did the same routine I did on Tuesday with slightly shorter rests.

Back in the changing room, the next batch of little girls had arrived and was waiting for their lesson. They didn't want to go poolside they explained to their teacher in fits of giggles as there were 'naked ladies in the shower.' On reflection I suppose naked ladies are quite funny.

But naked men are funnier.

.

Today I decided it was time to do a slightly longer run and to include a rarity in these parts - a hill. I ran from here to the top of St Ives hill and back and it took me just under an hour. I haven't measured the distance, partly because I did a bit of 'off-roading' and partly because I worry that it might turn out to have been 3 miles or something.

It was a very steep hill, honest.

Have a go at this game, you internet whizz-kids

Glug glug!

Yesterday the people at The London Triathlon sent through a training schedule. Are they having a laugh? Currently I would be happy to get out of the pool after the warm up section!

However I decided to at least make a start on it so I did this. 4 x 100 easy front crawl with 30 seconds rest between each set. Then I moved into the 'fast lane' (woo hoo) and did 4 x 50m fast pace with 40 seconds rest between the sets, then back into the middle lane for another 4 x 100m steady and rounded off with 10 lengths of breast stroke. I was quite chuffed with that little lot, and feel it helped to break the session up.

Ooh me legs!

Even stiffer today! I decided to go for a gentle run to loosen up a bit, and it worked. I also tried to put into practice some of what we were taught at the weekend.

Triathlon Training Day

This was held at Dulwich College yesterday morning and was very worthwhile, even though I had to get up so early! On arrival I was rather disconcerted to find that everyone looked decidedly fit. The first session was running and after the warm up, which involved a fiercley competitive, boys versus girls game of stuck in the mud! We then learnt to strech whilst on the move - which is what you're supposed to do at the start of a training session - then lots of drills to improve technique and some track running to finish. After a short break we collected our wetsuits and headed for the pool. As I suspected, getting into a wetsuit is not the easiest of tasks and you start off with a very claustrophobic feeling. However I did manage to fit into it which was a result as they said I needed a size smaller than I had asked for. Once in the water I was surprised by the bouyancy the suit gives you. We did a hard session of drills, then did a trial-run of getting out of the suit which was fun. After a picnic lunch we had a seminar about nutrition which was very interesting. We then started the bike session but I had to dash off in order to catch a train back here ready for our big night out. After a quick wash and brush up we went with friends to see The Hives in Cambridge. I had a photo pass and got loads of great shots. The band were fantastic. Pelle Almqvist is such a good showman.

Today I am as stiff as a board, so tomorrow will be quite a gentle session. The main thing I learned yesterday is that I need to do a lot more training!

Humpf

I went running this morning and was not at all impressed with my performance. I did a route that we measured at the weekend to be just over 5km. Unfortunately it took me 36 minutes and I really thought I would do it more quickly. I did stop to help an elderly gentlemen get out of a parking space, so I stopped the watch then., then once agan later as I had stitch. I haven't had stitch for ages. In my defence it was very windy and at times it felt like I was dragging something heavy behind me - no, wait, that's my bottom. Oh well. Some you win, some you lose. At least I didn't need to stop by the side of the road for a bit of a download.

Swimming on Saturday night was better though. 40 lengths of front crawl - a couple of rests but also some much faster swimming than usual, so it's not all bad news.

I stayed up way too late last night watching UFC52 on Bravo. A good show all round, but an exceptional fight from Matt Hughes to retain the title. Absolutely brilliant.

A big thank you to everyone who has sponsored me already. I do appreciate it!

Friday's Blog

This morning I repeated the run I did on Wednesday and knocked a minute off the time so I felt very chuffed. It's a short run - just 23 minutes today, then I did some weights and sit-ups - kindly assisted by the cat :-Had the details through of the training day in Dulwich. Registration is between 8.30 and 9.00, which means I'll have to get the 7 o'clock train on Saturday morning. I don't think 7 o'clock and Saturday morning should appear in the same sentence. I'm also going to have to slither off the course early so I can get back in time to see The Hives. I've written to the organisers to ask if I can td the run seminar first, swimming second, and cycling last. What a pest.

Oh, here's something worth doing. If your computer screen is getting dirty, you can now clean it from the inside. Here's how

Back again

I've been rather remiss with this haven't I?

Well we went away for a break to Cornwall and very lovely it was too. I did take training gear, but we were out and about all the time, and to be honest, walking around Tintagel was some of the hardest work I've done on my legs for ages. They ached for days afterwards. Since we came back I've done some running and I've managed to get my speed up a little, something that has been bugging me for a while. I can run for a long time, but I'm a real plodder. I'm going to do more shorter, faster runs, and not so many long slow ones.

I found a fantastic training guide on the British Triathlon site so I'm going to start using some of their ideas.

Still under par at the moment from burning the candle at both ends. I photographed bands on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in Cambridge. For Beverley Knight and Manic Street Preachers, the pictures had to be with the paper by 6 the next morning so it meant a lot of work when I got home. Plus JT is now on his school trip and we had loads to get ready. Went to the docs today with a little rash under my chin. The doc says he thinks it might be shingles. I don't think it is - so it isn't!

1st April

Had a good swim last night. I did the 30 lengths of crawl in 19 minutes then 10 lengths of breaststroke just for the hell of it. According to the London Triathlon website, the average swim time is 17 minutes so I have a bit to do there. I reverted to my original Speedo noseclip and it stayed on. Maybe rubbing my nose with sandpaper beforehand had something to do with it.

I've just booked myself onto a training day on 23rd April which should be fun. You get to have a 'go' in a wetsuit, which I'm really curious about. I am slightly worried that they don't make wetsuits for my kind of figure. I don't seem to fit into any of the sizing categories! After the training day we're going to see The Hives in Cambridge. Hurrah.

If you have a few spare moments, have a look at this - it's brilliant.


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