My Ramblings

As I am aiming for a middle distance triathlon in September, I want to make sure that I can complete it before shelling out the (rather high) entry fee. my main concern is that my knees cope with the run section which will be 21 Km (a half marathon). In the past, I have had a bit of trouble with my knees playing up. I thought it was because I had run too much (increased my training too quickly, too many races close together, that sort of thing). So for the last 8 months, I have been trying to acclimatise my knees by running around 5km three times a week To take stock of how my knees are with running, I decided to enter a 10K race. The race I entered was the Bristol Race For Chocolate 10K. It sounded like a fun race and was on 27th January, which would give me plenty of time to train for my main race in September. I wanted a 10K as it is just under half the distance of my target middle distance and if my knees cope with that then I have plenty of time to increase the distance...

So, my 2019 training has got off to a good start. I'm running regularly and my knees seem to be holding up. I've got a training plan to get me to a middle distance triathlon in September and I am managing the run distances I have set myself. I need to find some longer cycling routes to work and ones with a few hills too, but that shouldn't be a problem. my weekly cycling distance is okay, I just need to move to get my ebike to be doing less of the work. last week I did use my normal commuter bicycle and managed the whole four days as well as my runs, so that was a really good sign. Swimming won't be an issue, I have always found that to be the easy part of a triathlon (not that I'm fast, but I can keep going, and I did manage to swim the distance within the cut off time when I tried the ironman 70.3 last time) The main worry about going longer is my knees. I've got a 10K booked in late January which will test my knees out and I'm hoping that they hold ...

So, 2019 is here and it's going to be a big one. Since I started at Scott Logic last year I am getting much fitter. being just about 10.5 Km door to door it's an easy cycle (or will be once I get fit again). Also there are lots of us who like to go running at lunchtime. Well, they go running, I just try to keep up, and mostly just watch their backs head off into the distance. Of course trying to keep up will get me fitter and faster in the long run (I keep telling myself that). Last year, I finally got back into triathlons and I am now looking at which races I will be participating in this year (notice I don't say competing in, which would be a misnomer, I only compete to not come last!) Many years ago (around 2007) I attempted to complete the Ironman 70.3 at Wimbleball. I failed. I was far too slow on the bike leg and ran out of time. That was the first race I had not managed to finish. This year I am thinking about trying my hand at another middle distance race ...

I have just completed my first triathlon of 2018. On Sunday I completed the Lydney First Tri . I managed to get round in 2:10:56. Although not a great time, I am happy enough just to have completed it as I haven't really cycled since my last tri back in September. I almost didn't make it to the start line as my shoulder was playing up in the week running up to the race (I decided that, with a week to go, I really should get out on the bike. I think the sudden move back into cycling and leaning on the handlebars got to my shoulder). I was also very nervous. This would only be my second tri in many, many years and I think self doubt was creeping in and nagging at me that maybe I should wait until I'd done more training. But, I managed to ignore my little inner voice telling me that there was no way I would complete the course, and got up, dressed and got to Lydney Leisure Centre for about 07:45. I left everything in the car and went to have a look around. I like to ...

So, I've finally done it. I'm a Triathlete again. First a bit of background. In the 90's I used to work at Xerox in Hertfordshire. I used to run with the work club some lunchtimes, swim with friends on the other lunchtimes and cycle to work some days. Xerox had a small gym on site with a resident fitness instructor. Approximately every six months I would have a fitness test to see if I was getting fitter. it was a stationary bike test and they measured fat percent and blood pressure (probably a bit more, but it was a long time ago now). During one of these fitness tests the instructor asked what exercise I did, and told him, and he suggested that I have a go at triathlons. So I looked for magazines (This was actually before Google. Yes there was a time before Google existed). I found a magazine called "220 Triathlon" and read through it to learn more about triathlon and look for races. I'm not sure how I found out about it, but I was told about the ...