Wednesday 30 April 2008

Recent update

Had a bit of a slack weekend, playing in a GAA blitz on Sunday was about as exerting as it got. With all the progress in the weight department last week, the weekend produced the usual cyclic weight gains.

Nothing much to report besides. Didn't get up to anything last night as I was at a meeting and tonight I was down (although late) for GAA training. Had a quick dip in the pool afterwards, which I was happy enough with. I still seem to be struggling after about 6 lengths, even with more a less a minutes rest between the lengths.

Sunday 27 April 2008

Last few days

had a tough evening on Thursday night...too tough.

Went GAA training at 6.30 for over an hour, where I was struggling a bit. Then popped back home to pick up the forerunner to go for a run from the gym...done 42mins as I wanted to get into the pool for half an hour. Struggled to regulate the HR after the GAA training, so avg was over the 160bpm limit I was trying to set. Hit the pool then for about 5 lengths.

Got home and I was absolutely shattered...could have slept in a ditch and I'd have been happy out.

Left knee is very stiff on Friday...was supposed to go for a cycle at lunch but decided against it. Also decided against doing the duathlon on Saturday...just wasn't worth the risk.

Had a blitz then today down in Luton. We'd a very weak team down, but I don't think we done too bad considering. Played the three games at full back, a position I used to hate as a youngster. Can't say that today changed my mind too much either.

Wednesday 23 April 2008

Punctures

Went for a cycle at lunch today, which was marred by a slow puncture that meant I had to stop to re-pump the back tyre every 5km after I'd already gone 10km. Bit depressing, especially as I'd dragged myself out into the rain, to get destroyed by road spray.

Overall, done just over 25km, at a disappointing average pace of 23.6kmph. Suppose, it can only get better. My average cadence was also a disappointing 77rpm.

Monday 21 April 2008

Swimming update

Got down to the pool tonight for a lesson that never happened. Went ahead with the plan anyways and for the first time managed to do a few lengths (not back to back) which beats stopping at 20m. Still gasping for air at the end, but its still an improvement.

Upcoming events

A few events that I'm thinking of doing in the next few weeks.

Next weekend, there's the fulontri duathlon (5km/20km/5km) .

Then, Cambridge Triathlon club have organised a three race 5km series starting in the middle of May. Its being held across the road from work, so I've hardly any excuses not to do it :)

I've got the London 10k at the end of May as well to keep me occupied as well.

This running lark is easy

Done another one hour run today. It wasn't quite non-stop, but more or less was. I decided to take a different route and part of it involved running on a country road without lights or a footpath (and not much of a verge), so I basically stopped anytime a car was coming towards me. Even still, it was still a good run.

Once again, aimed to keep the HR at 160bpm or lower. That more or less worked until about 40mins in, where a gentle incline meant that I just couldn't seem to keep it down. Pushed on anyways as I was feeling good, but kept the pace pretty constant (i.e. slow).

In the last 10 mins or so I upped the pace a little, but still felt comfortable. Overall, done 8.66km in the hour (up from 8.25km on the run last week) for the same average HR.

Wednesday 16 April 2008

1 hour runner

Woohoo. Set off for a normal run around the block tonight, aiming to keep HR under 160bpm. I find it tough to keep my HR that low, so pace was pretty slow. The upside was that I did find it a lot easier to keep going. Twenty minutes in and I was still relatively fresh, so decided to aim for a 40 minute continuous run.

Got to the 5km mark at 35m 20s or so but still felt relatively ok. Decided to go for the hour when I reached the 40 minute mark. For the last two km or so, I found it pretty tough to keep the HR in check, but made it to the hour mark in the end.

Here's a link to the Forerunner details.

Some info:
Distance: 8.35km
Time: 1hr 00min 26s
Avg Pace: 7m 14s per km
Avg Speed: 8.3kmph
Avg HR: 159bpm
Max HR: 166bpm

1km split - 6m 12s
2km split - 6m 59s
3km split - 7m 12s
4km split - 7m 06s
5km split - 7m 27s
6km split - 7m 32s
7km split - 7m 50s
8km split - 7m 28s

Tuesday 15 April 2008

Ooops

Been a while since my last post. Probably to do with a spell where I seemed to lack some motivation. Also, seem to have picked up a slight knee injury, which doesn't seem to affect me while exercising but just feels strange afterwards. Perhaps I'm just using it as an excuse.

So whats been happening lately?
  • Weight wise, not much. I haven't really been paying attention to what I've been eating. I'll start off the week good, but by the end of the week, I'll be back to normal. Really need to sort this out.
  • Exercise - not a whole lot either, especially running wise. Football training has started up again, so getting down there at least once a week, and also getting a few other workouts in, but I don't seem to be getting the "quality" sessions in.
  • Work...busy enough at the moment. Probably related to the above.