Thursday 30 April 2009

Another bad run

I've been struggling a bit lately with my running, especially with my lunchtime runs. It's a bit annoying, as I'm trying to use those sessions to squeeze runs in where my evenings are busy with football or other activities. These "bad" runs in turn, make me feel like I should be squeezing more bad runs in, etc., etc.

I think there's probably a few contributing factors to this, the main one is probably just trying to do too much. For instance, this week, I'd a tough run on Monday night (an hour - longest run in a few weeks), followed on Tuesday by a tough football training session (I think my improved fitness is showing though). A lunchtime run today just felt like it was too much, but with football training again tomorrow night, I felt like I had to try and squeeze it in.

Another thing that may be contributing is the weather - it's been pretty warm the last three "bad" runs I've had - probably coincidence but hard to know. Finally, the other thing I think that may be contributing is bad timing of meals - I normally just have breakfast 2-3 hours before the run - perhaps a snack closer to the time might boost my energy levels.

Tuesday 28 April 2009

Weight Update

Haven't posted a weight update for a while, probably because I knew it'd be bad news. Well, I guess it's time to face the music and own up. I should probably do this on Friday (first of the month) but I'm going to get it over with now.

28/04/2009: 108.81kg
01/04/2009: 108.80kg
03/03/2009: 108.61kg
02/02/2009: 108.26kg
31/12/2008: 108.45kg
01/12/2008: 111.20kg

So what's the reasoning? I don't know - I certainly slacked a fair bit after Christmas, when the weather was bad and I couldn't get out running. I havn't been particularly looking after what I've been eating, which hasn't really helped either. I'm going to have a big push in May and hopefully we'll start seeing some results.

Wednesday 15 April 2009

Busy week + race report

Its been almost a week and a half since my last post, but I've been keeping pretty busy fitness wise. For the most part, I've just been doing short and easy runs, up to around 40 mins in total - keeps me ticking by.

Then at the weekend I entered my third F3 Events duathlon - 5km run / 20km cycle / 5km run. I'd my best attempt at this event yet - for one, I actually completed it non-stop...this was a mere pipe-dream the first time I entered. Secondly, on both runs I averaged less than 6 min per km pace, which means that I done the 10km in less than an hour in total - another milestone. Thirdly, and probably most importantly, I enjoyed every minute of it.

It looks like the course is a bit short (even compared to my previous attempts) according to the Garmin, coming in at 4.7km\19.1km\4.7km, which is a bit disappointing. So I can't really compare times unless I adjust slightly for the differences. Either way, I knocked over 14 minutes of my previous time - 1hr 36m 03s vs 1h 50m 44s which I reckon is probably around 8 mins when adjusted. Either way, I'm absolutely delighted with the result.

I'm actually down in the results in last place but I'm actually the last finisher - there was two ladies behind me, so I'm not too sure what happened their results - the women in last I felt really sorry for - she really reminded me of my first (and second) attempt at the event, but in fairness to her, she kept going.

Sunday 5 April 2009

Diss Duathlon

Perhaps my mammoth cycle yesterday wasn't the best preparation for a duathlon today. I probably realised this during the cycle yesterday, but at that stage it was too late! But my bed was made, so I may as well sleep in it, so they say.

A slight ignorance as to the distance involved to the venue, meant I was up around 6am this morning to get down to register in time. After that was done, had about 90 mins to get set up, which was relatively straight forward. All the waiting around had me thinking if I should just go home and take it easy for the day, but I figured as long as I was there, I may as well give it a go.

I was due to go off in the third (and last) wave, 10 mins after first wave - as the starter mentioned, the young and fast guys. He obviously meant everyone else, and after the start, it was pretty obvious he wasn't lying! There were one or two other stragglers, but I was firmly at the back just hoping to keep my sights on the other two \ three people ahead of me. I done the first section (5km officially - 5.5km according to GPS) in just under 6 min per km pace which I was happy enough with.

Then onto the bike...I was last into transition but was half hoping I might catch up on someone on the bike. My rear was actually quiet sore once I was back in the saddle, after yesterdays exertions and it was also quiet a bumpy ride, which didn't help. The course was three laps of a loop and I passed three people in total (all women - two ambling along on mountain bikes). Still was happy enough with my pace (considering), doing the 28km (GPS - 30km as advertised) at just over 27kmph.

The last run, a copy of the first one was a real, real, real, (...), real slog. The least said about that the better. Averaged 6m 34km's (with a fair bit of walking) - again I'm happy enough with it as it's comparable (or slightly better) than what I'd done in similar events before.

I've got the option to do a duathlon next weekend that I've done twice before, so might try that (without the big ride the day before) and see what progress I've made.

Saturday 4 April 2009

FIrst group ride

77.5km in almost 3 hrs of cycling ... I'm pretty tired now. Its my first weekend in Cambridge for a while and with nothing to do today, I thought I'd have a go with heading out with the local triathlon club on their group ride. I choose the slower version of the ride and even at that, I was struggling a bit - any sniff of a hill and I was getting dropped.

Thankfully they were quite a friendly bunch and slowed down a bit which allowed me to catch up and seemed to be able to stick with them. There was a tea-stop around two hours in which was very very welcome, though getting up afterwards was a bit of a problem.

Final run back to Cambridge was relatively straight forward, taking just under an hour. I was pretty happy to get off the bike and a little dismayed that I'll be back on it again tomorrow morning for a duathlon.

Overall, an enjoyable ride, some lovely scenery and very friendly bunch of people.

Previous Reading Results

After a bit of digging, I fould my Reading Half Marathon results for the two other times that I'd done it...kinda puts last weeks run into context.

  • 2005: little training, approx 110kg (guess) - 2hrs 37m 55s
  • 2006: little training, approx 126kg (guess) - 2hrs 54m 51s
  • 2009: good training, approx 108kg - 2hrs 12m 40s
It'll be interesting to see what next year holds for this race!

Thursday 2 April 2009

Weight update

31/12/08: 108.45kg
30/01/09: 108.52kg
03/03/09: 108.61kg
01/04/09: 108.8kg

The above is not going in the right direction.

Slow few days

After the half marathon at the weekend, I've probably been taking it a bit too handy if I'm honest with myself. I skipped football training on Tuesday night and made it down to the pool yesterday (Wednesday) - probably should have went for a run in the evening, but went to the cinema instead to see the Damned United.

Went for a relatively easy cycle at lunch today and had football training tonight. All quiet besides - I've a duathlon on Sunday, 5km run + 30km cycle + 5km run. Plan to get a bit of cycling in on Saturday as well so might rack up the miles over the next few days.