Good Friday - great Friday!

Took advantage of the good weather and the quiet roads and cycled 83 km today.  Best conditions this year.  The countryside was beautiful but full concentration was required as the potholes are lethal as you swerve to miss them and the certain drivers are less sympathetic than others.  Perfect build up for the Etape in May which is 81 miles and will test my fitness.  In June I face an even bigger challenge with the UK 70.3 Ironman which has a very tough bike course and run - hilly.  So this is what I'm working on while keeping the swimming going.  Feeling fit!  Have a good long weekend.

Working smarter not harder

Early morning 11km run to the sounds of the birds singing was a great start.  There is something about running that allows your mind to wander and I was reflecting on last nights swim session.  We were doing 8 x 100m with the first 50m steady and the second fast, a 15 sec rest and then onto the next one.  I started at 2 minutes for the 1st 100 and by the forth was frustratingly at 2min 15 sec.  So the coach suggested I relax more by doing 75 m steady and 25 fast.  Guess what my time came down by 5 sec.  By putting in more effort I was getting worse.  By working on the efficiency of the technique I got better.
The reason I thought of this was that as I ran longer more commuters started to take to the road.  As time went on the more stressful they looked and that's before they get to work!  So today I am going to have an easy start by taking the kids to school and when I get into the office, working smarter not harder.  Enjoy your day.

The "f" word

A friend of mine has set herself a year of challenges and her biggest one was an 80 mile costal run in 24 hours.  Unfortunately she didn't make it and naturally she was beating herself up over it.  But by setting such stretching goals you can always fall short but she has still raised the "bar" to an incredible height.  Here's what Michael Jordan has to say about failure http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc . Why not risk "failing" every once in a while - come on get out there!

Active recovery

It was such a beautiful day I couldn't resist going out on my bike tonight even though I had promised my self a rest.  My legs were stiff from the duathlon so the bike ride was to loosen them off - which it did.  A quick 46km felt great.  The hard work in Lanza has really paid off.  The hills seemed small and the bike seemed at one with me, especially when I was flying down the hills.  The confidence is back on the bike and I'm lovin it!  A few big rides in store over the long weekend as I build up for the 81 mile bike race in May.

Recovery

Following yesterday's duathlon I was in the pool at 7am but only for a recovery session i.e. trying to stop the legs from cramping.  As we enter the pool there are kids that have been training since 5.30am!  These are the future commonwealth and olympic stars and some stay on longer while their coaches bark out instructions and shout times at them.  They look extremely fit, they are extremely fast but will only get away with wearing those "budgie smugglers" (speedo's - see Fosters advert for an explanation) for a few more years!  It's great to see that not all teenagers have long lies in the morning and spend too much time in front of the telly or play station.  Day off tomorrow as I prepare for the coached Wednesday swim session which will be a killer.

Duathlon report

Today was a beautiful sunny day and the location of the event was beautiful, a country estate with a river running through it.  Yesterday I set out my game plan so here's how it went:
I completed the first 5km run at my target speed of 4.45 mins per km - this was a miracle as my Garmin watch wouldn't give me an average read out as it should.  The course was hilly and tough.
The bike ride was 22km not 20km as advertised - my average speed was 27.06 kmph, quicker than my target speed.
The second run was very tough, especially the hills.  I had aimed at 4.30 min per km but slipped to 4.87 per km.  Being my 1st duathlon I learned that it is all about the legs.  The good thing about having a plan with targets is that you can reflect on them and measure your improvements in the future.  Without a plan it would just have been an event.
As with every event you learn from your mistakes.  I forgot a towel so had a "Glasgow shower" afterwards (deodorant), I forgot my tribelt to attach my number to so had to pin on the number.  Doesn't seem too bad but shouldn't have pinned it on before I needed a pee - that raised a few laughs in the gents and it was a close call.  On the bike I managed to squeeze my energy gel, miss my mouth and cover my groin area - that got a few odd looks at the finish line but fortunately I had a spare gel!
All in all the event was a success and I am pleased with the result.  I did end up on all fours at the finish line but managed to avoid serving up a pizza, if you know what I mean!  Next time I'll be better prepared in every way.

Game plan

Tomorrow I am taking part in my 1st duathlon at the same time thousands of people will be completing the London Marathon.  While I will be finished a lot quicker than them there are two things we will have in common.  The first is we will have a game plan.  Mine is simple; in the first 5km run I will run at 4.45 min per km which is slower than my race pace for 5km - treat it like a warm up.  On the 20 km bike I am going to maintain 26.5 km per hour, a good speed as it is over a relatively short distance and I have another 5km to run when I get off.  Then I step into the unknown.  I am aiming to run the last 5km at 4.30 min per km.  That is my game plan and having established the plan it will be easier to focus during the event and after I can conduct a more meaningful review.
The second thing we will have in common is at the end we will be knackered.  If I am not on all fours trying to keep my breakfast down and gasping for air then I haven't pushed myself to the limit.  Where ever the finish line is. 1km, 10km or 100 km, you need a plan that sets the pace to give you focus.
All that is left is to execute the plan.  I'll let you know how it goes but for now I am resting (part of my plan) watching Andy Murray battle with Nadal - come on Andy and good luck to all those taking part in the London Marathon!