Its always the day after the day after

So I was pretty stiff today when I got up. This was compounded by a head cold thats been around in the background since Friday morning. Arms and shoulders plus stomach were the worst so much of it down to the gym session yesterday. I was tired but that might be due to losing the hour as the clocks went forward.

I'm certainly sleeping better at the moment as I've cranked up the training regime. I'm seeing an expotential decrease in my reading as my exercise increases. Once I'm sleeping I'm out cold, little or no dreaming and when I first wake its the usually when I should get up.

This evening I did a very easy 10K at marathon pace to try and just keep things ticking over and to try and loosen my muscles up a bit. Straight 6minute KM's so I was hardly breathing above normal on the flat/downhill sections. The saying is that you need to being able to hold a conversation and I could that without any problem.

I need a swim but to be honest I'm getting to the point where I'm not sure what the returns will be in thrashing another 2K in the pool. I can do the distance I'm sure. Naturally I still need to do it outdoors and in my wetsuit but right now I feel confident in clicking it off in 45-50mins max which is within the hour I have given to it. I think more bike work will bring bigger rewards. A 5% improvement in my bike ride would give me more reward than a 5% improvement in my swim time. Having a cold doesn't make me want to swim so its a feeble excuse I know.

Gym'll fix it

Although I was pretty sore and tired for about an hour after yesterdays marathon bike/run session I was fine this morning. Still a bit saddle sore and a little deep muscle tiredness but nothing to what it could have been. I thought I'd go for a swim and get some easy laps in to ease the muscles a bit.

However it being the weekend the pool was full of families, so I hit the gym for just under an hour. Usual 250 bench situps and then some work using the machines on my shoulders and chest. Finishing with free weights for my arms. Pretty knocked out at the end as I put in a pretty good effort and was pushing myself for 10 more on every repetition.

As part of yesterday's cycling I tried to work out a fuelling regime for the race. If you're doing hard exercise non stop for over 6 hours you run out of blood sugar quickly and you need to keep your available calories up. The ongoing danger of dehydration due to constant sweating obviously needs to be tackled at the same time. Normally if I run I'll have a single energy drink beforehand and that is enough to get me through anything up to 20K as long as I've had lunch or breakfast within 3-4 hours of the run.

There is no way to do the triathlon just by eating and drinking at the start. Its easy to run yourself dry in as little as 2 hours as I described last week, when I did the 62KM cycle run without having eaten or drank anything. So I know from this and previous experiences what it feels like to run out of juice before the end. Its a kind of light headed sensation a bit like the first beer effect but its accompanied with a hollow feeling in the stomach and worst of all a jelly/weak sensation in the arms and legs. So like a sober hangover in a sauna.

The secret to fuelling up is to make sure you do it before you need it, that way you don't have to go through a yo-yo effect during the race. Now its easy to say eat when you're hungry and drink when you're thirsty. However from ingestion to hitting your bloodstream and to doing you any good there is a time lag. There is also a time lag of when your body starts to run out and when it tells you. These two things compounded by constant exersion means you need to find the match of intake to energy use without any help and well before the race.

I set my watch for a 1 hour fuel up as its as good a place to start as any. I did the first hour and was pretty spent and could just feel the dizzy sensation in my head although my legs, arms and stomach felt fine. I drank half a bottle of sports drink(350ml) and within 2-3 minutes I felt fine and like I'd gotten a second wind.. So I will drop the time to 50 minutes next time out. That way I hope to avoid any ongoing nastiness or dips in concentration.

I'll then wait for another 50mins more on the bike at which time I'll eat some dried fruit and nuts and finish the sports drink. At the next 50 minutes and I'll take a sports gel(1500Calories) and a half bottle of sports drink. I'm looking to flood my system just at the time I'm getting off the bike and into the run. I don't really like drinking or eating when I run so I'll try as much as possible to bulk up on food just under an hour before I run. That way I'll at worst need to drink on the run and should have digested much of the solid food. You need to watch though as if you over do it on the drinks or food side you run the risk of being sick or getting the shits, both of which will make a hard day even harder.

Chapeau to Rob York for chopping off a half marathon in Liverpool this morning. When I woke up this morning I was glad it was you on the starting line and not me, especially with losing an hours sleep last night. Well done mate :O) The big question of course is whats the next race.

Life and Death

~ Whatever comes out of these gates, we've got a better chance of survival if we work together. Do you understand? If we stay together, we survive.~

Anyone who doesn't believe in life after death hasn't trained for a Triathlon, I mean I died on my feet numerous times today and I think I'm still alive. As I'd promised earlier in the week I was looking to go long this weekend.....So I set out on my bike early doors. I was well prepared food wise having scoffed a large bowl of Museli and two bananas. A 750CL bottle of Sports Drink and I'm off with a pocketful of nuts/dried fruit, energy gel and another Energy Drink.

I head out and the first 5K I'm huffing and puffing. After 10K I settle down and start to click off the miles. Out past Waterloo, La Hulpe, Rixensart then down to Court St Ettienne. Right along to Genappe and then head back towards Maransart. Then up towards Rixensart again and back into Lasne. I'm hitting Hedgehog hill at the 50K mark...unbelieveable....Twice today I was forced out of the saddle due to running out of gears on big hills. The first was a 14% job after leaving La Hulpe and it was tough as hell. Really my whole body hurt, you go up a gear then get out of the saddle. Then the arms ache, then your back, then the legs get sore and then they start to turn to jelly. I honestly did contemplate stopping but I just put my head down and watched the front wheel. Its what the books say and it appears to work.

Hedgehog hill I took and was only out of the saddle for 5-10 seconds. However the following hill into and through Ohain past the school and Communale really wore me down. I kept going though and was round the sprint circuit and back home for a very very tidy 66KM in 2hrs 48. Thats not so fast but its as long as I've been and as any Port Glasgow girl will tell you, length is everything.

Normally I'd have rolled in and accepted a good session like that and be happy....but hey Triathon needs something a bit more. So I do a transition into my running gear, quick drink and MP3 setup and I'm on my way in 8 minutes. Now I needed to raid the wardrobe and the fridge and so I expect my transition times to be shorter on the day.

I head out with a 10K minimum target but thats really just what I'm telling my legs. My head is saying go long and we're dreaming of a 17K long circuit. First 2-3k were OK apart from some idiot in a minivan too big for her to handle who as I went behind her at the junction she pulled out and cut the corner hitting me with the back of he van. I'm sure she didn't understand what I shouted but the hand signals were internationally recognised.

I get to Lasne an the Hedgehog awaits, well I'm a greedy bugger for punishment. Up we go and its tough and sore on the legs but no danger of a submission. I'm very glad to be at the top and turn left onto the flat section. I head downhill missing Bois Paris and so am committed to at least 14K now. I get the 7K mark and I'm starting to fade...then like a miracle the former Spice Girl Mel C comes on the MP3 player and I get a real boost. I'm off with a better pace and smiling again. There is very special degree of smugness when you've clicked off 66K on a bike the on stuck on your trainers and went out for a run....The world looks a little smaller and a good deal less dangerous.

I get up to La Ferme Papellote and I'm feeling the pace again, so I get Mel C onto repeat. Here we go its Madame Pave up the never ending hill past the Nunnery towards the Butte Du Lion.

Its now thundering with rain like someone has turned on a big shower. I literally shout at the sky, is that all you've got...come on come on...Little do the gods know I've got an ex-Spice Girl on my side....

I click off 10K in 55 mins....Then the hailstones start....Down the N5(how I hate that road) Wind howling in from the South West across my front from right to left and as requested bringing all the gods have got. I'm now literally running up a river as the cycle path has vanished and been replaced by all the runoff from the road and its cascading down the hill and I'm running right through the middle, ankle deep. All thats missing is migrating Salmon to complete the surreal picture...The hail is still lashing down and my thighs are bright red. I'm running at times with my hands out, crucifixion style and shouting at the sky. The passing motorists must think I've lost it. Its keeping me going though as all this is a diversion from the pain I'm in and all the while my legs are screaming at me to stop.

I keep going. At the top of the hill I have the choice left for flat finish 14k or straight on down the N5 to clock off the big course 17k...Its just as well my hips are well made, legs go left top of body goes straight on...I promise the legs I'll take the shortcut through Plancenoit so I don't need to take on the last hill 1KM from my house..So many lies in one day....

I'm running down the cycle path into the oncoming traffic, the road is flooded in sections and they don't slow down for runners. I'm getting sprayed every couple of seconds and then when my timing is perfect with a big lorry and a large puddle I get a full bath over me....superb..

I'm as high as a kite, having conversations with myself , shouting, singing out loud and all the time laughing. The motorists must have wondered what I was on. This is the point when I was happiest. The pain, the cold, the wind, the hail and the cars. All this and my legs are STILL going.

Corny as it sounds I felt like I'd just won a Gladitoral battle with the world. Its as good as I've felt on a run ever. Totally overwhelming sensation of just being able to keep going and nothing can stop me, except me. I turn left at 14K mark so 3K to go and one big hill and I've done it. I somehow manage to pick up the pace and my legs just keep turning over. I should stop I know but I really can't as I don't want to . I've realised that I've mastered the mental over the physical. When you first start training its all about the cardio side, then as you get fitter you rarely get out of breath except on hills and you recover quickly without needing to stop or slow down. Then as you go longer it starts to become a physical challenge as its painful and naturally your body tries to slow you down to stop you getting hurt and all the time you are trying to run faster times. My realisation today was that to overcome this you need to use your mental capacity. Its not just a matter of battering out the miles and you can finish. You need to train your mind to be stronger....Up the last hill and its so painful but I don't care I've done it and I feel that anything is possible....

So 17K in 1:34:35....right after I'd done 66K on the bike. Almost 4 and a half hours of solid non stop training....to put this into perspective I'd need to do all this plus an additional 2 hours on race day to scoop up the 2km swim and the additional 24KM on the bike .....

Dips under the Wires

Last conf call finished early so I was out the door before anyone could offer me another opportunity for discussion. Home and out for a deja vu 10k run same as I did on Wednesday.

Running round I was watching my pace carefully and once I was settled into my stride I settled around the 5:16 per km mark...it was so stable and comfortable a pace that I decided to try some experimentation on stride length and cadence.

If I simply increased the number of steps I went faster but felt the cardio strain increase after about 30-45 seconds. If I lengthened my stride and slowed the cadence a bit I went faster but without the cardio increase. So I tried going round and lengthening my stride every time I saw my pace drop, Trying to keep my pace faster than 5:00 per km. I found it hard and fairly unnatural for me to run like that. I would quickly drop back to shorter and more frequent strides as soon as I stopped thinking about it.

I still got round OK and never really ran out of gas except for Hedgehog hill and then I recovered quickly once at the top and onto the flat. There is no way to put a long stride into a big hill.

I finished in 47:22 which is significantly faster than my last run over the same distance two days ago.....now I'm obviously fresher than I was on Wednesday and it was less windy. However chopping a good 3:21 off a 10K is still an improvement. I'd still need a leg transplant to get a sub 45:00 10K I think.

Skinny Dipping

1.7KM swim before work this morning, pool busy including a couple learning to snorkel... Difficult start and was sore on the arms for a while but after first 40 lengths(700m) it got easier and I got into my rhythm. Ticked off 100 laps in 41minutes 56 seconds. Including quite some time pissing about with cap and goggles.

Lazy Bones

Conf calls all day and all evening just finished at 21:00...so no exercise today. Only good news is that I've ordered wetsuit and new cycling gear.....more expense.....its not gear i need its miles

Stretch Armstrong

So back into the training groove to stretch the legs after a couple of days rest. I needed to get into it again especially to run off the high blood pressure from when the lady from reception tells me she had issues sending my very urgent parcel via UPS and she'd do it tomorrow as she had shut down her PC, despite me telling her it was very very very urgent....yesterday.

I set out for a quick 10K to get back into it, new knee high compression socks on in the rain and hail....It was windy and very wet, however it also rains and gets windy in Switzerland so its Hammer time.

First 2-3K was a bit tight in the legs, especially at the front of the thighs. It was fine after that and Hedgehog hill was taken at a canter. 5K went by in 24:30 and 10K dropped off in 50:43...not fast but a nice run.

I'm looking at a big bike run on Saturday early followed by a run. I'm potentially looking at 75K and 15K. I'll try and fit in a swim tomorrow evening. Wet suit will be ordered tonight.