On the downside, I have no job, a mortgage, and a yearlong course that Im about to start.
On the upside, I have shit loads of training time.
I feel a third blog coming on.
Friday, 27 March 2009
Monday, 23 March 2009
slightly overdoing it
IOW, set out at 9am(ish) after inputting a load of Geocaches into a GPS- (my forerunner is down, having to be shipped back- again, and the one I borrowed, I neglected to charge up- doh).
Ran over to Beaper Shute, then to Knighton, all in good time, though the caches were a little hard to find.
From Knighton I went out along the dismantled railway, then south to Godshill, south again over the downs and then to Wroxall.
By this time I had covered over 20km and was beginning to feel it.
Started on my way back, instead of going up Shanklin down- that would have been a killer, and went back via America wood, apse heath and borth wood (where my water ran out), up into alverstone, (where a blister on my little toe popped), up over brading down, into brading, and back home.
38km ish. in 6 hours.
damn.
certainly took quite a bit longer than I thought it would, and was more tired than I imagined.
Mind you, I wasnt wearing compression shorts, and was drinking water rather than 4:1, and I would have been much faster had I not had to keep stopping for caches, and not had horrendous hills to keep going up.
was fairly tired at the end of the day, but at least I know I still have the mental fortitude to pretty much cane out a marathon.
Ran over to Beaper Shute, then to Knighton, all in good time, though the caches were a little hard to find.
From Knighton I went out along the dismantled railway, then south to Godshill, south again over the downs and then to Wroxall.
By this time I had covered over 20km and was beginning to feel it.
Started on my way back, instead of going up Shanklin down- that would have been a killer, and went back via America wood, apse heath and borth wood (where my water ran out), up into alverstone, (where a blister on my little toe popped), up over brading down, into brading, and back home.
38km ish. in 6 hours.
damn.
certainly took quite a bit longer than I thought it would, and was more tired than I imagined.
Mind you, I wasnt wearing compression shorts, and was drinking water rather than 4:1, and I would have been much faster had I not had to keep stopping for caches, and not had horrendous hills to keep going up.
was fairly tired at the end of the day, but at least I know I still have the mental fortitude to pretty much cane out a marathon.
Thursday, 19 March 2009
New toy and circuits
So my viper belt and bungee rope came today, very exciting (not least because it actually got delivered and the concierge didn't screw it up).
Went out and did reps of 10 x 5 interspersed with a mins worth of skipping. (That's about 160 skips, to be honest I went by skip count rather than minuite, to make it more accurate.
No breaks between either, which took about 17 mins all told.
Went onto a circuit consisting of 12 pressups, 10 situps, 8 burpees, 15 high knee running steps and then 12 double footed jumps onto a platform.
each circuit took about 2 mins, then 1 mins rest. Did that 6 times before total collapse.
except it wasnt total collapse, I could still do the press ups, but the rest of it escaped me.
then had a chicken kebab.
thought it was a little more healthy than fish and chips...
Went out and did reps of 10 x 5 interspersed with a mins worth of skipping. (That's about 160 skips, to be honest I went by skip count rather than minuite, to make it more accurate.
No breaks between either, which took about 17 mins all told.
Went onto a circuit consisting of 12 pressups, 10 situps, 8 burpees, 15 high knee running steps and then 12 double footed jumps onto a platform.
each circuit took about 2 mins, then 1 mins rest. Did that 6 times before total collapse.
except it wasnt total collapse, I could still do the press ups, but the rest of it escaped me.
then had a chicken kebab.
thought it was a little more healthy than fish and chips...
pull ups
got out the RockRings for the first time in ages last night. Hung them at the bottom of the stairs, and cranked out about 5 mins worth of excercises.
dont want to overdo it at the moment, as just starting back.
Imagine twanging a tendon on the first evening training back after a lay off.
that would be annoying.
Biked to work today as well. all good fun, but really need to sort the gears.
dont want to overdo it at the moment, as just starting back.
Imagine twanging a tendon on the first evening training back after a lay off.
that would be annoying.
Biked to work today as well. all good fun, but really need to sort the gears.
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
biking
after the slight biking debacle... well, ok, it wasnt a debacle, it was just totally knackering, at the weekend, I have decided to get out and pwn myself on the bike on a regular basis.
Today, circuits of greenwich hill, managed 5 times, not the greatest, especially as I kept getting whupped by a guy on a racer.
cranked my way up the hill and then over the grass at the top, (found biking on grass especially difficult at the weekend, so extra resistance must be found to practice against), and back down a dodgy path, and up again.
did a 6:26, 6:37, 6:44, 7:04 and 7:30.
the gears were really playing up toward the end, and Im going to have to sort them out...
grrr.
Today, circuits of greenwich hill, managed 5 times, not the greatest, especially as I kept getting whupped by a guy on a racer.
cranked my way up the hill and then over the grass at the top, (found biking on grass especially difficult at the weekend, so extra resistance must be found to practice against), and back down a dodgy path, and up again.
did a 6:26, 6:37, 6:44, 7:04 and 7:30.
the gears were really playing up toward the end, and Im going to have to sort them out...
grrr.
Sunday, 15 March 2009
DAR Dorset
Up early on Sat to get down to Dorset for the second DAR of the season. My hand is indeed fixed, so we were actually in competitive mode, for the first time since last october.
Weather was good as we hooned down there, and once down in the valleys of dorset, found there was a fair headwind apparently coming in from the north west-ish.
We knew we were going to cycle second, electing to kill our legs first and then sit and pedal second.
We also had a plan to do about 70% on each discipline, as getting 100% on one is a silly idea if you are then totalled before you even start the second.
Off out on the running, and the hills, although not massive, were numerous, the first 10km was done in about 1 hour- or just over. pace then slacked off significantly and the next 10 km was done in 2 hours.
nothing to do with navigational errors, just more rests, slower pace, and less ability.
The first load of checkpoints were literally clip'n'go, but at later stages, we were using the time to have a breather.
Note for training, try longer- 2 hour runs keeping the same pace up all the way around, without slackening off.
Got back from the run, a little tired, but not battered, collecting a sneaky 10 pointer just as we got back, filled up on nutrigrain elevenses- a test to see if they provide the same kind of power as vomit inducing soreen, filling up camelbaks with water instead of the 4:1 we had on the run and headed out on the bikes.
The first hill was piainful.
beyond painful. I havent been on a bike since Christmas, or maybe before, certainly not in anger, anyway.
however, as we continued on, our legs got into it, and our average speed improved as we went along.
Tried to keep off claggy mud tracks and strength sapping grass "bridleways" finding that its often faster to take a detour, just to keep on roads, rather than battle it out along the churned up mud.
This worked out well on a couple of occassions, but out around around point 18, it screwed us up, looking back on it, it took us 4 km out of our way, cost 30 mins or so, and we should have just bitten the hard end and gone up the clag.
the long and short of it was we got to a point where we could have gone south and picked up about 60 extra points, but we just didnt have time.
without that mistake earlier, I think we could have done it.
the final uphill to point 2 on a grass track was hell on earth, not nice, and I thought I was going to die of a heart attack, however, got there and down, with about 4 mins to go.
715 points.
2nd out of the 5 male pairs and 13 out of a total of 27 competing.
not bad for a first competitive ride out since october, especially without bike training.
So thats the focus for the next couple of months.
oh, and the new thumb compass was brilliant.
Weather was good as we hooned down there, and once down in the valleys of dorset, found there was a fair headwind apparently coming in from the north west-ish.
We knew we were going to cycle second, electing to kill our legs first and then sit and pedal second.
We also had a plan to do about 70% on each discipline, as getting 100% on one is a silly idea if you are then totalled before you even start the second.
Off out on the running, and the hills, although not massive, were numerous, the first 10km was done in about 1 hour- or just over. pace then slacked off significantly and the next 10 km was done in 2 hours.
nothing to do with navigational errors, just more rests, slower pace, and less ability.
The first load of checkpoints were literally clip'n'go, but at later stages, we were using the time to have a breather.
Note for training, try longer- 2 hour runs keeping the same pace up all the way around, without slackening off.
Got back from the run, a little tired, but not battered, collecting a sneaky 10 pointer just as we got back, filled up on nutrigrain elevenses- a test to see if they provide the same kind of power as vomit inducing soreen, filling up camelbaks with water instead of the 4:1 we had on the run and headed out on the bikes.
The first hill was piainful.
beyond painful. I havent been on a bike since Christmas, or maybe before, certainly not in anger, anyway.
however, as we continued on, our legs got into it, and our average speed improved as we went along.
Tried to keep off claggy mud tracks and strength sapping grass "bridleways" finding that its often faster to take a detour, just to keep on roads, rather than battle it out along the churned up mud.
This worked out well on a couple of occassions, but out around around point 18, it screwed us up, looking back on it, it took us 4 km out of our way, cost 30 mins or so, and we should have just bitten the hard end and gone up the clag.
the long and short of it was we got to a point where we could have gone south and picked up about 60 extra points, but we just didnt have time.
without that mistake earlier, I think we could have done it.
the final uphill to point 2 on a grass track was hell on earth, not nice, and I thought I was going to die of a heart attack, however, got there and down, with about 4 mins to go.
715 points.
2nd out of the 5 male pairs and 13 out of a total of 27 competing.
not bad for a first competitive ride out since october, especially without bike training.
So thats the focus for the next couple of months.
oh, and the new thumb compass was brilliant.
Friday, 13 March 2009
Not really training, but
Passed theory.
Didn't know there were 50 questions, that threw me a bit.
Got 49 out of 50 though. Can't find out what I got wrong though, which seems a bit stupid. If you don't know, how can you improve?!
Passed though.
Didn't know there were 50 questions, that threw me a bit.
Got 49 out of 50 though. Can't find out what I got wrong though, which seems a bit stupid. If you don't know, how can you improve?!
Passed though.
Monday, 9 March 2009
Im really quite fatigued (circuits, 8/3/09)
I was going to write about all the littrle runs Ive been doing recently but havent really logged- but I dont have my forerunner here at the moment.
Yesterday did a full blowout killyerself session with Jibber.
Started with a bowl of cornflakes, as you do.
Warm up run of about 4 km, just chilling out, then down to the tarmac outside the flat.
Break out the tractor tyre and the skipping rope.
track of about 20 metres which you flip the tractor tyre down, jumping in and out after each flip, while the other person skips continuously. (this was made somewhat more tricky by the quite stong wind).
Times 5.
short rest and then circuits.
15 x unweighted squats
12 x pushups
10 x sit ups
8 x burpees
20 x high knee steps
12 x jump onto a platform.
rest for haf the time it takes, and then do again until 30 mins is up.
I think we managed about 5 or 6 rounds on that, taking between 2:30 and 3mins for each circuit.
went into the gym where the heat was oppressive in the extreme.
the idea was to do rounds of 2 mins on the bike and rower at 115rpm on the bike and less than 1:50 on the rowing machine x4.
we managed it x2 before nearly collapsing from heat and lack of air, and I nearly passed out on the rowing machine. I think I might need some practice on that.
came out again, and did tyre flips while the other did planks. (left, right for one flippage, and then front/back for 1 flippage)
final task was to jog up to the top again, then find a kilometre circuit, and run it as fast as you can- ideally under your normal 10k pace, rest for half the time, and then do it again, until youve run 6 km.
Managed a 4:24, 4:24, 4:30, 4:29, 4:31 and then we called it a day as jibber wasnt going any faster than normal, and the weather was beginning to close in.
so thats 3.5 hours of exercise.
I ache today, in all kinds of new places Ive never actually felt before, but a good precedent.
Im thinking of all kinds of vicious circuits to do which will surprise my body more- never do the same thing twice.
Yesterday did a full blowout killyerself session with Jibber.
Started with a bowl of cornflakes, as you do.
Warm up run of about 4 km, just chilling out, then down to the tarmac outside the flat.
Break out the tractor tyre and the skipping rope.
track of about 20 metres which you flip the tractor tyre down, jumping in and out after each flip, while the other person skips continuously. (this was made somewhat more tricky by the quite stong wind).
Times 5.
short rest and then circuits.
15 x unweighted squats
12 x pushups
10 x sit ups
8 x burpees
20 x high knee steps
12 x jump onto a platform.
rest for haf the time it takes, and then do again until 30 mins is up.
I think we managed about 5 or 6 rounds on that, taking between 2:30 and 3mins for each circuit.
went into the gym where the heat was oppressive in the extreme.
the idea was to do rounds of 2 mins on the bike and rower at 115rpm on the bike and less than 1:50 on the rowing machine x4.
we managed it x2 before nearly collapsing from heat and lack of air, and I nearly passed out on the rowing machine. I think I might need some practice on that.
came out again, and did tyre flips while the other did planks. (left, right for one flippage, and then front/back for 1 flippage)
final task was to jog up to the top again, then find a kilometre circuit, and run it as fast as you can- ideally under your normal 10k pace, rest for half the time, and then do it again, until youve run 6 km.
Managed a 4:24, 4:24, 4:30, 4:29, 4:31 and then we called it a day as jibber wasnt going any faster than normal, and the weather was beginning to close in.
so thats 3.5 hours of exercise.
I ache today, in all kinds of new places Ive never actually felt before, but a good precedent.
Im thinking of all kinds of vicious circuits to do which will surprise my body more- never do the same thing twice.
Monday, 2 March 2009
Yoga
Ok, so I didn't go running over the weekend- well, once up to the hut, listening to the prodigy, new album. That was a mistake.
Made me run waaaay too fast.
Got up there in 22 mins, and back in 21.
Managed to sustain 3:21 min per km down the hill.
Idiot.
Sunday evening my heels hurt, contemplated going for a run, but decided to listen to them, and spent about 30 mins following the first 2 chapters of yoga for athletes. Starting with sitting and going through to tree pose. Seems that I can sit comfortably on the floor if I sit on a chambers dictionary a potato cooking book and a rice cooking book.
Apparently as my hips get less tense I should be able to sit lower, as it were.
Running up to the hut again tonight. Doubt it will be in 22 mins though!
Made me run waaaay too fast.
Got up there in 22 mins, and back in 21.
Managed to sustain 3:21 min per km down the hill.
Idiot.
Sunday evening my heels hurt, contemplated going for a run, but decided to listen to them, and spent about 30 mins following the first 2 chapters of yoga for athletes. Starting with sitting and going through to tree pose. Seems that I can sit comfortably on the floor if I sit on a chambers dictionary a potato cooking book and a rice cooking book.
Apparently as my hips get less tense I should be able to sit lower, as it were.
Running up to the hut again tonight. Doubt it will be in 22 mins though!
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