When does a run become a walk ?

Todays report should have been an update following the Bolsover 10k - but this was not to be as the organisers have had to postpone the event until the New Year.

This was a shame as following last weeks run in Sheffield, I was feeling confident that maybe I could go those 7 seconds quicker to post my first sub 55 mins finishing time.

Still, it was not too bad around Lincoln this morning so I decided to go for a sneaky five mile run...... I shouldn't have bothered !!

It was more walk than it was run, and I could only manage 3 on and off miles before calling it a day, honestly, by the end of it, I couldn't even go through the pretense of running the last 100 metres up my street. I think it is a good job that the race was cancelled today because I was really off it today.

I'm going to rest for a few days and then pick it up again, I will catch up the blog over the Xmas week.

Have a good one !

Another day, another Xmas Pudding and a PB !!!!!!!!

Percy Pud 10k - 55.06

It was back to Sheffield today for another crack at winning a Xmas pudding, and for another attempt at breaking my personal best for the 6 mile distance which I set in Derby back at the start of April.

This race was supposed to take place last Sunday, however, due to the snowy deluge from the past couple of weeks, it moved to today - this made it clash with the Lincoln Santa Run which I had also entered. There was then a decision to be made, and a real no brainer really - the Santa suit remains unopened, and a trip to Sheffield beckoned.

The Percy Pud 10k is an annual event which sells out very quickly due to its reputation of being well organised as well as being a quick and relatively flat course (relative to say Heanor !!) We arrived at the start with half an hour to spare which gave me ample time to warm up (that bit before the start where everyone jogs up and down and tries to look like professionals!) whilst also giving Heidi the opportunity to check out which coffee shop she would be spending the duration of the race in !!

The course was rural and a straight out and back, and we appeared to be finishing on the brow of a hill again (d'oh!), and all I could see in the distance was countryside, it was stunning really and I knew that whatever happened, given that I had only been able to treadmill run for the past week or so, I was going to enjoy running in such a location.

We were started (or everybody just started moving as there was not a horn or anything) at just after 9.30. The first couple of kilometres were slightly up and down, and as always, I tried to keep an even pace and not go to stupid (I'm daft enough already) - and achieved this best I could. The third kilometre took us along the edge of a reservoir and was my favourite part of the race as it was flat and very scenic. My pace picked up a bit for the rest of the first half of the race and the seemed downhill as we made our way to the turnaround point at the pub.

On the way back a strange thing happened, I again passed a bloke that I had flown past 3 kilometres earlier - the cheating ******* I thought, he clearly must have decided to turn around and head home at 4km or so, and I nearly said something to him as I passed him, but then I thought what if it was his twin etc. Looking back, it was the same bloke, and I suppose the only person he cheated was himself in the end.

I kept a steady good pace back along the side of the reservior and made sure that I took advantage of any downhill sections and by the time I reached the flat bit again at 7km, I knew that I had a shout at beating my PB. Indeed, if anything I was running as strongly as I had during the run at this point and was keeping a good pace up even though I was at the point of the race where I usually start flagging badly.

8km, then 9km, the wheels still didn't fall off, and the last kilometre felt the best of all knowing that, bar a muscle pull or fall, that I was going to do it a week earlier than planned. I literally sprant the final 100m (a first!) in a fruitless effort to break 55mins, but at 55.06 I couldn't have asked for more.

To celebrate I went to Decathlon on the way back which is my most favouristest place in the world !!

The day was fantastic, Sheffield Striders really do put on a great event, and I got another Xmas pudding to boot - classic !

And you've won.......a Xmas Pudding !

Heanor 10k - 56.54

There it is to the right.... a bloody great big Xmas pudding, the replacement today for either an event t-shirt or indeed a medal - and when I'm tucking into it on Xmas day, I'll think back to a windy day in November !

Like I've pointed out in previous threads, the end of this year is all about building up that 10k base going into the New Year and to assist with this I'd entered three 10k events between 21st November and 19th December.

First up then, the Matthew Walker Heanor Xmas pudding 10k , or the Heanor 10k as I think it is best that we call it. The object today was to get round in under an hour, as I had been suffering with a stiff calf after my two previous training runs, and rightly I was a little cautious about pushing things too much. To combat the calf, I wore my 2XU calf supports, and to make sure I wasn't laughed at, I disguised this fact by wearing running tights. It was a good job that I had so many layers of clothes on in the end to be honest, because it was bloody cold today, not just cold , but really through to the bones nasty cold - and I felt for the supporters, because us runners just need a few minutes of a race to warm up, the supporters have to wait around in it for upto an hour and a half - kudos to them !!

No race timing chips today folks, it was down to me and the measurements of the old Garmin 50 ! At almost bang on the advertised start time of 10.30am, an airhorn sounded and we crossed the rather shaky spray painted start line and we were off on our adventure.....

The first couple of kilometres take you around a loop of the industrial estate, and you pass the Matthew Walker factory twice, (cheers for the pudding!), before heading out of Heanor, via a bloody great hill, and into the countryside. First two kilometres were ticked off rather conservatively at just under the hour pace, and then during the third kilometre, and after the bloody great hill had been climbed, I started to feel a little more comfortable, and tried to keep pace with a couple of blokes in front who I estimated were running at a pace that would bring me in under my PB. I tracked these two at a safe non stalky distance up the ups, and down the downs, and at 5km was there or there abouts for a good time. It then became a case of trying to knock off each kilometre as it came, and keeping pace with my pacemakers. Between 5 and 7km's, I think I ran the most fluent and fastest couple of kilometres that I ever had, and as a result at 7km I was well ahead of PB pace and thought I was on for sub 55 - but as things sometimes do, the wheels began to wobble a little bit, my two pacemakers started to edge away bit by bit, and between kilometres 8 and 9, I struggled.

At 9km, I thought - Right, just one kilometre left - ramp it up, and I did, I ran as hard as I could, I ran up what I thought was the last hill, only to see that there was another even bigger hill right before the finish- and that was that, a real killer , just three hundred metres from the line - a direct parody of the course in Sheffield, and because of this I crossed the line, completely mullered by the course, less than 20 seconds outside of my personal best time !

I don't feel gutted, sad or disappointed, because that was the best race I have ever run, in terms of how I paced it and how I felt, and I know that if I can stay healthy over the next few weeks then the PB will fall without a doubt in either Sheffield on Dec 5th, or Bolsover on December 19th.

Getting ready for Heanor !

For the past few weeks I have been busy trying to get back to regular training with two aims in mind -firstly, to get ready for the four races booked in before Xmas, and secondly to build a base level of fitness going into the 2011 season.

Running - I'm up to 5 miles so far and have another 9 days before I have a run out at the Heanor 10k. I'm hoping for a steady run, to break the hour mark, and most importantly, bag a Xmas pudding !

Cycling - Sunday cycling is now the norm, and the milage covered peaked at 34 miles last week. In the next few weeks I'm hoping to take the distance past the 40 mile mark for the first time since late June.

Swimming - No more public swimming for me (thank f**k), I've joined a private gym and get access to a practicly empty pool whenever I want to - now I just need to learn how to swim properly !

I'll catch up again after next Sundays race..

The road opens......

Every single distraction is now out of the way and I can now turn my thoughts and ambition to the third of July 2011.

It is on that day, that I will make an attempt to become an 'Ironman' by completing 3.9km of open water swimming, followed by 180km of cycling, topped off with a full marathon, 26.2 miles of running. Its sounds crazy, it is crazy, but it is very do-able with the right mix of preparation, motivation, and common sense.

My preparations started this week with a 3 mile stop start run, 40 lengths in the pool, another more successful 3 mile run and tomorrow the cycling will start with a 2 hour ride.

The plan is to build up to a sound 10k running base for the new year, whilst keeping a decent level of cycling and swimming going, this will give me an idea which training plan is more suitable for the New Year.

I have entered three 10k races for late November and December which will give me a short term focus.

Lifes about to get very interesting....

BUPA 30th Great North Run

This is the first time that it has taken me a couple of days to write and post a race report. This is due to two things: firstly due to the massive congestion exiting the event which meant it was really late by the time we got back to Lincoln, and secondly, I wanted a couple of days to reflect on the day before I started typing.

I had been struggling in the weeks following Antwerp with knee pain, and doubted at that point if I would be able to rock up fit enough to the start line of the GNR. However, week by week, steady progress had been made and although things are not sorted 100%, I was able to complete two 8.5milers and an 11.5 mile run in the two weeks before. So not what I would call Antwerp fit, but able to complete 13.1 miles at a steady pace if I was sensible.

Race day itself started with a 4.45am alarm call (Black Sabbath's Ironman) and away in the car at 6am in the wet. The route was not overly complicated being mostly A1 and we arrived with no fuss into the centre of Newastle by 8.45 and managed to park near to St James' Park football stadium for only £1 for the whole day - bobsyfandango !!

From our handy little car parking spot the start area is about a mile away, so it was a slow steady walk to try and eat up some time. The start area on Claremont Street really is a sight to see as it stretches back a good kilometre and was full of people, as well as a line of yellow buses which were used to collect baggage, as far as the eye could see. I think it was the busiest place that I had ever been in my life and I think that it was then that the full scale of the event really hit home. I stretched, I stretched some more, jogged for a bit, went to the toilet, stretched some more and then decided that I could not kill any more time and then made my way to my start pen like a good competitor a good twenty minutes before the pens closed. These pens were rammed with people and I had to chuckle when the warm up guy was going through his routine whilst 40-odd thousand people attempted to do the same in a squashed cramped fashion.

The elite women were announced and were sent on their way first, and then the elite men with the largest cheer of the day going to Mr. Gebrselassie, the distance legend who had turned up for his third race against me. Ant and Dec were todays celebrity starters (thank f**k it wasn't Sting) and they got us underway pretty much bang on time - it then took a good further 20 mins for my wave to get past the starting line. Once I had gotten going finally, I tried to keep a sensible pace on my Garmin and also tried not to get pulled into zig zagging around people too much. the plan was too run the first half of the race and a steady pace and hope that in the second half I had some mojo left in the tank to finish at a good pace. The first mile went very smoothly and I loved the 'oggy oggy' chants as we passed under the bridges - truly memorable ! I passed the first mile in about 9.30 and realised that I was getting pulled along by everybody else and of course the occasion. Again, I focused on trying to bring the pace down a touch in the second mile and again tried to calm it down and take in the surroundings which I tried to do going over the famous Tyne Bridge( see phot at the top). At the end of the second mile the pace dropped sensibly and I was able to get into my running.

Just after the two mile mark I passed a chap carrying a fridge on his back ! A fridge ! For 13.1 miles - now thats hardcore. At the 5km mark the clock showed just past 30mins, which would be a bloody fast HM if I could keep going as I was. Truth be told though, the first few miles are slightly downhill and I found this out with a bang as at about 3.5miles there is a slight incline for a good two miles on this course and this is where the legs start to feel tired. You are also out of the city and running mostly on dual carriageways, which touch on a few estates where the locals were doing their best to be very supportive of the runners. I got to 6.2 miles in about 1.01 and normally the race would have strung out a bit, but no not this one - we were still congested at this point.

At about 8 miles something really strange happened - I had a complete loss of power in my legs and the speed just disappeared. This was to be my slowest mile by far and when I reached the water station at 9 miles I walked through it and drank the whole bottle of water which seemed to do the trick. I found a comfortable pace at this point and tried to work on 11 minute miles for the last four miles in an effort to gain an all HM (including triathlon) personal best time of 2.12. However, the legs did go again a bit and I walked the water station at mile 12 just to get the water on board, and this left me just too much too do in the last mile along South Shields seafront and I missed out by 30 seconds or so. I was disappointed, but on reflection, I could not have run any harder or faster on the day, I was just not fit enough race day to grab that PB. I crossed the line and gladly took posession of my finishers medal and commemorative t-shirt which actually fits me - yay !!!

Good things about the GNR - well organised, great atmosphere, large screens at the start, some of the supporters were excellent, great goody bag.

Bad points about the GNR - very congested, zig zagging is no fun for 13 miles, other competitors lying about how fast they would be, chav supporters squirting water, 1.5 hour queue for the metro to get back to the car at Newcastle.

2.14.18 then for my second standalone half marathon, and three minutes quicker than my first in Coventry last year.

Coming up.. I'm going to have a few weeks off and will be getting married. I will rehab the knee and start some light run training in early November. I've entered an Aquathlon on 21st November , and then a couple of 10k's in December to finish the year off and to give me a running start to 2011.

Great Yorkshire Run 10k

I had never been to Sheffield in my life and I was expecting today to be a bit grim to be honest, as really Sheffield as a place hasn't ever been the most appealing venue I could think of travelling to, and after seeing the Full Monty, I think I could have lived without going.

Nevertheless, as todays race fitted in nicely with my Great North Run schedule, I had decided to enter another of the Great Run series - the Great Yorkshire Run 10k - in grim old Sheffield !

I like the BUPA races for two clear reasons, firstly, the field starts in waves of similar ability which means that I don't tend to be overtaken by hoardes of people and coversily don't get held up behind fat fairies ! Secondly, and most importantly, a nice medal to put in the old medal treasure chest aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggh ! (pirate noise)

We arrived in plenty of time, which gave me plenty of time to do some proper stretching for a change and have a walk around, so that we knew where to meet after the finish. Todays race was also the first race that I will be doing without an ipod. I know that I haven't been using ipods during triathlons and managed a half marathon without one, but stand alone running races have been a different animal and I have always 'needed' one - well today that comfort blanket was most definately being removed !

Sheffield itself was surprisingly un-grim in the end and it was shaping up to be a good day out. The race itself starts in the city centre and heads out towards Hillsborough before looping around and finishing back in the city centre - it is a lot like the event in Manchester.

I set off at intentionally even pace, and tried not to get too pulled along by the excitement, as I didn't want to blow myself up too quickly. The first couple of kilometres went by without incident and by 3km I had overtaken todays TV celebrity (not in the same league as Rory Underwood so I'll keep quiet this time !) I saw a bloke with triathlon calf protectors on, and then a young lad with a cheaper version of these - knee high football socks ! still, I bet they did exactly the same job.

At 5km, we reached the turnaround point, where there was a large screen showing all of the runners running towards the bend. I looked for me, found me, then tried to smile as I could see myself looking a right miserable bastard on the massive screen !

The rest of the race was a battle to try and keep a the pace a good one with an eye on trying to achieve something near my PB time for the distance. At 8km I was convinced that I was on for a personal best and felt really good, however, this dissipated along with the potential PB when we hit a hill just before the 9km mark. A hill was not really what I wanted at this point and it took a lot out of me. Once at the top of this incline I tried to make up any lost time and thought I was making inroads and then with 400m to go....... another f@@**ng hill !!! That was it I'm afraid, it was only 200m long, but the energy had gone out of the legs and I struggled over the line in 57.22 which is less than a minute outside of my PB.

In all then, happy to finish in a decent time in the end, happy that my knee held out and seems in good order, and of course happy that there is more bling in the treasure chest ! aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrgh ! Oh, and running without an ipod is the dogs nuts ! you get to take in so much more !

I am seeing the physio tomorrow evening about my runners knee injury and hopefully will get the go ahead to continue on to the Great North Run in two weeks time. I will post again after that event !

National Club Relays - Race report...

Yesterday, I turned out for one of the Lincoln Tri teams at the National Club Relays event held at Holme PierrePont near Nottingham.

I was the third man in a four man relay team for the afternoon race, in a team called the 'Horny Imps' - boy, it was gonna be a long afternoon !

I followed my usual routine of turning up at the event about an hour and a quarter before my published start time, which usually gives me plenty of time to have a good look around, set things up, register etc. Well, next time, remind me to turn up a least a day early, cos it was very, very busy with what looked like every triathlon club in the country represented. First job then, find the rest of my team, this took an age, cos there was so many people milling about. I found the club's gazebo, where another team were looking for their last team member, who also had inconveniently forgotten to turn up at least a day earlier !

Eventally, I found them , we sort of got ourselves organised and I started to be able to relax a little bit. I made my way upstairs for a race t-shirt, but they had run out !!!! There was a pile of XXL left and that was all, a bit piss poor really....um ! Nevermind at least there was the beautiful summer weather to look forward to......or not!!

It rained ! When it wasn't just raining it was raining torrentially, conditions were very wet to say the least ! As a team we did a walk of transitions and agreed where we would stand so that we could find each other to hand over the baton (or purple elastic band as it is otherwise known) at the end of our individual legs of the relay. this done, I lubed up, slipped on the old wetsuit and we made our way on mass down to the start line, where we stood for many minutes in the pouring rain, trying to make out what was being said in the race briefing. This was my part of the race..

Swim - 9.56

I stood where we had agreed would be the best place to find each other to exchange the baton, seems that every other team had picked the same spot and it was like trying to get served at the bar in a very busy city centre bar on a saturday night. There were arms waving everywhere, and how my team mate saw me I don't know but see me he did and it was time to gracefully ?!? enter the water in a sort of stumble come belly flop ! I swam well, sighted very well and thought I had made good time, but when I stood up at the end of the swim, we all had to negotiate walking along a cobbled section before getting onto the matting. This wasted a lot of time, so the time of 9.56 was my first sub 10 minute 400m swim, but it was a minute faster than that in reality at least !

Bike 25.34

The good thing about the relays is that you have lots of time between your legs, so I was able to go back to the gazebo to get changed at a more leisurely pace. I walked the bike down to the transition area and then waited for my team mate to bring me the hallowed elastic band( baton). Whilst I was waiting it absolutely bucketed it down, and once I had the baton, I was off in the pouring rain. It was balls out(not literally cos that would have been painful and cold) the whole way round for me, and knowing there was going to be a lot of time to rest at the end, I gave it everything that I had. There was also a new addition to the animals that have tried to kill me whilst out on a bike - this time it was Geese !!! I had to do a last minute swerve to avoid becoming geese feed !

I overtook some people on the ride, and was overtaken by lots of people, and when I got in their wake, I enjoyed a spray of mucky water that freckled me. 25 minutes and 34 seconds gave me an average speed of 21.5 mph which is 2mph faster than I had ever managed before. Bobsyfandango !!!

Run 27.19

From the end of my bike leg to the start of my run leg there was a gap of around an hour so once I changed into my run gear I had lots of time to have a look around and spent most of it in the Planet X stand trying hard not to give in to temptation. I eventually made my way down to the holding pen where we were waiting for our runners to come in and hand over. Whilst we were waiting the torrential rain came hammering down again. Brilliant ! To be honest, we train in it, we swim in it, we should be used to it !

My run leg started in the hammering rain, and apart from not being able to start my garmin, my pace was good considering the first quarter of the lap is run on grass which I hate, and was hilly which I'm starting not to mind too much. After about three minutes, I managed to start the garmin so that I could be sure of my pace which I tried to keep fast to have a good chance of beating my PB. I ran 58.18 in a 10k around this course last year and knew what I needed to do to be under 29 minutes. I had though, forgotten how bloody boring running around the lake at HP really was so I tried to catch the man in front of me to break up the monotiny - but I couldn't quite manage it though, however, by tracking this athlete, I got round in a very good time. in total the Horny Imps came in 137th out of 237 teams with a time of 3.39.35.

Overall then a very wet day, three personal bests, no t-shirt, no race pack freebie at the end, no impulse bike purchases(thankfully), injury no worse than it was , and a great feeling that I did my absolute best for my team. A good days work !

Post Antwerp knee pain !

As I write this entry, which I apologise for, as it won't be a exactly a 'war and peace' effort today, I have been unable to start run training due to pain in my right knee.

After the race a fortnight ago, the knee has been tender whenever I put weight on it, either going up or going down stairs. I did try a run on Tuesday evening of this week, but half a mile told me that it needed more rest.

Interestingly enough, I can cycle and have completed two sessions so far, just as long as I don't get out of the saddle that is ! And my training partner is back !!

Today, it feels on the mend and I will have another go at a run later in the week. I was scheduled to run the Jagermeister 10k in Nottingham on friday evening and as much as I really wanted to do it, I pulled out in the end which was the right thing to do.

On a brighter note, today, I marshalled out the Outlaw Iron Distance Triathlon at Holme Pierrepont, and I was humbled by the athletes as they toughed their way through the day. I certainly will need to have put in the training miles before I start my Ironman next year. These guys were awesome !!

Next up for me ( provided the knee is in working order) is the National Relays on 21st August - I will let you know how I did, or did not get on !

Ironman Antwerp 70.3

Race Report


Pre Race

This is my second season of Triathlon and my first attempt at a half iron race distance. I wanted to do an Mdot event, so the close to home choice was either Wimbleball or Antwerp. I chose Antwerp because my fiance is from a town just outside of Antwerp, so it was handy for tying in both a trip home with handy accommodation.
We drove from Lincoln to Dover on the Wednesday, and took the Norfolk Line ferry to Dunkirk, happily on this occasion we turned up on the right day and avoided having to pay again as we had done in January. From Dunkirk, Antwerp is about 2 hours away, and once we passed into Belgium, I was pleased to see that at least some attempt had been made to repair the pot holed roads that I had seen back in January.

Once we arrived all I had to do was try and relax , and avoid blobbing out as there was a very real danger of being fed to death by my in laws !!
Anyway, I didn’t turn into a massive fatty, managed to gracefully decline the 24hr food offerings, kept away from the gorgeous belgian beer, and even managed to get out for a spin and a bit of a jog to keep things ticking over.

Pre- race Pasta Party and registration
Registration is at the RYCB hall, and once inside and registered you get your event T shirt and sports bag, which I thought were great ! I then went on the hunt for more Ironman branded gear which I though was totally overpriced so didn’t bother. There was a 10 euro Ironman jumble with some fetching early 90’s style two piece crop top and pant specials in there, but I dodged those bad boys and decided to go back and join the family and let other bargain hunters bag those babies!
I was really looking forward to the pasta party from what I’d read and heard from other Ironman events and even invited the in laws to come along, ‘’it’ll be great’’ I said, and then we turned up..and..oh....its not really a party and theres not a lot of pasta !!!!! Honestly, it was spag bol and that was it. How I yearned for my usual homepride tuna bake right there, but beggars can’t be choosers and I made do with what I was given. Another competitor offered around his pasta ticket and not surprisingly there were no takers.......

Raceday
11am start.....nice !!!! Not the 7.44am starts my slow swim times afforded me in the past !
Plenty of time to get the bike in the back of the car and check that I had everything I needed about a gazillion times....Triathlon does nothing to ease my OCD ! We drove the short distance into Antwerp and parked the car in the cobbled car park next to Transition 2. I dropped my run gear into T2 which saved a bit of time as I was supposed to drop it off back at Race HQ, but T2 was open, so it made sense. We then had to get the bike and swim gear over to T1 and the start, whic meant we had to walk through the Sint Anna pedestrian tunnel which is very long and very boring, and it was weird taking my bike up and down escalators.
To those people who do Ironman all the time – T1 was alright.
To those of us who have only ever done the smaller regional sprints – oh my god, T1 had carpets everywhere, individual racking, a box for your gear- it was brrrrrrilliant !!
However there were not many toilets(about 3 or 4) and about 1300 triathletes who all wanted to go through their pre race ‘routine’. We were placed in age group pens for a staggered start after the pro’s had been sent on their merry way. Eventually my wave made it into the Galgenweel and I had time to turn on my back to get some water down my suit and we were off too.....

Swim
I was looking forward to a bit of biff but didn’t really get any as I started towards the back of the pack and really didn’t advance much due to my lack of speed. I had to swim around a couple of breaststrokers having a nice day out, but all was quiet until the next wave caught up and tried to swim over me, pull me under, kick me etc. I was worried that the timing chip was going to come off at one point but that was the height of any real panic. In fact I quite liked the tussle and held my line the best I could. After the turnaround I felt better as I myself started to catch some of the earlier wave. It was hard to see exactly where to aim for so just went with the majority of the swimmers that I could see. It was cool to have a helicopter overhead, you don’t get that at Woodhall Spa !
Eventually we climbed out of the water and up the stairs where I managed a run into T1, I still don’t know where that came from. My time was 41.37 where I was expecting around 45 mins so was pleased with the start.

T1
Went to plan, other than I had to go for a pee detour on the way to the bike. Pretty smooth, made sure I had everything I needed, decided not to top up the sun cream as it was still dark with cloud which turned out to be the right choice.

Bike
Straight out of T1 and within 2km you are in the tunnel going back under the Schelde. I was looking forward to the descent and not looking forward to the climb out at the other end. It was a bit underwhelming to be honest as I though it would be greasy fast, and although I went past people on the way down, it just didn’t feel that quick. The climb the other end was nothing to worry about and it was great to pass more people on the way up.
Now, Antwerp really is a beautiful city, with historic buildings and a great atmosphere. Antwerp Docks however is not, smells really bad in places and is really boring ! This is where we spent the majority of the bike course, and as it was windy and long and flat, I stayed down in the aero bars for longer periods than I ever had before. I managed to pass some people on cervelos and the like which boosted me no end. Being at the arse end of the field drafting was never really going to be much of an issue for me and I was passed many times by draftbusters on motorcycles who seemed to be doing a good job of stamping on anything that they saw, however, I nearly fell of my bike when I saw what can only be described as a peleton of 15 or so riders coming back the other way !!!
I kept to my gel/powerbar every 30 mins routine and filled my aero bottle at every aid station. Whenever my legs felt tired, I dropped a gear or two and span them back into life. When it got hard, I tried to pick out targets in the distance to aim for and started overtaking stronger swimmers on the leg back into Antwerp. I completely misjudged my distance from T2 and as a result rode the last kilometre and a half with my feet out of my shoes as I got ready for the dismount a tad too early !!!!! Overall time was 2.57 which again was much better than the 3.15 I was hoping for.

T2
– ouch, ouch, ouch, cobbles, ouch, cobbles, ouch ! I hobbled around to my parking space, broke into my double bagged run gear, got ready and was off ! I still don’t know how it took me 5 mins in total!

Run
I couldn’t slow down for the first kilometre, I really tried, but could not get my run pace on my garmin to slow to where I wanted it to be and I started to worry about burning out. I got to the first aid station at 2km and made myself walk it, I took my first powerbar gel and made sure I drank all of the water in the cup. When I started running again, I had calmed down and managed to maintain a more sensible pace. It was the longest run without an ipod I had done in my life I i was liking it. I kept myself busy by weighing up wether or not compression socks really worked and should I buy some or not ! The first lap ended with a run through the finish area, and past the pile of medals I could see on the table which encouraged me. All around the run course there was great support, and anything you needed at the aid stations was catered for. The second lap was a more sedate lap , which livened up when it started raining for a short while. By the time I entered the last lap, the course had really thinned out and I spent a lot of it dodging old people who had started to walk on the course. I spent a good couple of kilometres talking to a nice young lady doing well on her first HIM as well, as well as passing some people having their own bad days. Halfway round I knew I was going to finish as it would have further to quit and from then on in, it was the best run of my life. My team of supporters were on hand to cheer me on and give me a lift on each circuit - they were amazing staying out there for all those hours !

I finished in 6.00.24 , which was nearly an hour faster than I had anticipated, I was over the moon and happy that I had finished while there were still medals left !
Thats my first middle distance effort and it appears that my ‘one pace racing’ is suited to longer distances. I have signed up for Ironman Austria next year to have a crack at the full distance, but at some point I’d like to return to Antwerp to shave off those pesky 25 seconds!

Just over a week to go - excitement is building !

As I write this, there is just over a week to go before I attempt my biggest challenge to date, which is to compete and hopefully finish an Ironman 70.3 triathlon. i think I'm ready, I've done the distances (nearly) and feel ok at the moment. I think it might be useful to look at the distances and the preparation that I have put into it....

- Swim - Ironman race distance 1.9km in open water.

Training high point - 2.250km in open water achieved twice at South Hykeham, plus I managed 1500m at the Dambuster in race conditions and hope to duplicate that performance in Antwerp. Since that start of the year, I have been going to the local pool with Heidi for lane swimming. I could have gone to tri club coached sessions, and would have benefitted from them I'm sure - but the problem is that I just don't like being told what to do, hence I may be uncoachable !

For the year my swimming total has been 48.4km, next year I will start to do longer sessions in the pool earlier to build that endurance base.

- Bike - Ironman race distance - 56 miles

Training high point - 54 miles, achieved on the tt bike last sunday, I am really loving this bike now and think I could even make a fist of hills on it if I really wanted to, the gearing and torque is just so good.

Along with this long fast ride, I've managed 50 milers at least twice, which took in lots of hills, I learnt to ride a bike in a more efficient manner and I think I broke a training partner, although not permanently !

The year started out in January in the snow and the cold weather on the mountain bike and back then everything else seemed so far away. Cycling has been the discipline I have enjoyed most and improved most in my eyes. Next year, along with a full distance Ironman, I would love to take in some 112 mile sportives. Training total for the year - 1470.8 km's !!!!!

- Run - Ironman race distance - 13.1 miles

Training high point - 11.5 miles achieved on Tuesday this week.

I have been running all year, and have included 3 x 10k races into my schedule to help me focus on what is actually the discipline that I dislike the most - which is strange because its also the one that makes me feel so good afterward. I am though, looking forward to the Great North Run in September and possibly the London Marathon next year if I'm really lucky in the ballot.

Training total for the year - 321.6 km.

Thats it - hopefully it is enough, I just hope I stay fit, ytake my time, be sensible and complete my challenge !

I will update when I get back......

Three weeks to go.......update

Since Juneathon officially expired at the end of June, I have managed to keep my levels of training up where they need to be :

Thursday - Cycling - This was a very hard session as I was beasted up and down a mile stretch of straight road to start to build some speed into these bulky legs of mine.

Friday - managed to cram in a 5 mile run, before I went to a BBQ and ate far too much !

Saturday - Open water swimming again, 3 laps this time and 2250 metres minimum, meaning that I have completed the distance for my next event. I was feeling really good as well halfway round on the third lap, I seriously thought about going for a fourth time.... then I started feeling really queezy and decided the time was right to get out.

Sunday - 31 mile bike ride, first 22 miles against the very strong wind and very slow, but then 15km from home, wind on my bike all the way, a very fast time trial time of 25.41 - I really flew and that was the benefit of those tiring stretches on Thursday night.

and then today is a rest day, I'm making the most of it because my next rest day is next Monday !

30/30 - What Juneathon did for me ...........

Todays exercise - Swimming 2000m in 51 mins.

This is my last addition to Juneathon and in all means that my totals were :

Running 72.58 km

Cycling 435.34 km

Swimming 16.4 km

When I look at those, I think shit, was that really me, and I don't think I could have kept that up if I didn't have to blog everyday, so that has really helped.

During juneathon I have :

Fought off a tropical infection !

Completed an Olympic distance triathlon !

Caused an accident !

Been attacked by toads and cats !

Astounded training partners with futuristic nutrition !

Lost 3 kgs !

Trained hard for 25 days, did some exercise the other 5 !

Blogged everyday !

............and farted in a wetsuit !

I also got to read some great blogs along the way ! Roll on next year......

29/30 Did I cause that accident with my odd shaped legs ?????

Todays exercise - Running 8.03 miles in 1.23.48

Boy, was it warm tonight, but I had no fear because I remembered to wear my water belt !!!! Hoorah !!!

Not only that, but I made sure that I had some powerbar gels with me and 40p in change so that if the going got too bad, I could make a phone call for Heidi to come and pick me up - all in all, I think I had all bases covered tonight.

The run itself was the same as usual,starting with the usual uncomfortable first 10 minutes. I soon realised that I had something in my shoe rattling around as well, so it was stop to empty that, then I had to stop at the crossings for a minute or so, and had to jog on the spot a bit ( must have looked like a was busting for a pee !)

Eventually though I got going properly and as I got to the halfway point I heard some brakes screeching and then there was a bang as a Golf smacked another car right up the arse. As it was a long straight road, I can only think that they must have been distracted .........lol ( I have been told that my calves are wierd, one side looks athletic enough, whilst the other looks like it lives in the pub!) - maybe it was the sight of these and the disbelief that distracted the driver !!!!

That aside, the four miles back were not overly tough, and I think that was down to both the fluid and the gels helping replace those lost salts.

So that was the penultimate day of Juneathon. Tomorrow I will add it all up and see how I've done, I'm certainly a lot fitter !

28/30 Back in the gimp suit... I mean wetsuit !

Todays exercise - Open water swimming - 1500 metres

It was time to return to the lake at South Hykeham tonight to do a couple of laps of the lake. the wetsuit seemed tighter which means I've been troughing a bit since Dambuster, so I need to knuckle down a bit the the old calorie counter.

The water was was lovely and even though I was in a sweaty sticky wetsuit the cool water made it all worthwhile ! When I had tootled round a couple of times I got back to the jetty to see other swimmers having a go without their wetties on.

Balls to that I'm not that brave....

27/30 and the peleton rides again !

Todays exercise - Cycling 16.25 miles in 1.04

Todays get out and go was a very easy circuit which we used to try and get me used to the tt bike as its still all a bit ' bambi on ice' at the moment.

There is now less than a calendar month to go to Antwerp and I will need to be comfortable getting down in the aero bars and be ok with getting up quickly, and generally swapping my position around on the bike.

Due to a problem with training partners back wheel which had begun to wobble noticeably, we cut short todays ride, but know that over then next four weeks that there will be lots of hard work put in to bring me up to scratch !

So here it is.... Juneathon is winding down and the countdown to Ironman is hotting up...

26/30 Splish Splosh ! I was trying to save dosh......

Todays exercise - Cycling 8.32 miles

This was supposed to be a rest day and for most part I suppose it was. I had a couple of things to do and one of those things was to try and fix the dripping kitchen tap. Rather than ask a plumber to come round and scratch their heads and tell me sincerely that this was gonna cost me, I thought I'd have a go myself.

I took the tap apart and then thought I'd ride down to the local hardwear store to get new seals etc. Turns out its not the seal , you have to replace the whole inner working unit, and theres 130 odd different types of these. I then rode around different parts of town to try and get one without any luck, hence the 8 miles or so.

I ended up back at the start, the tap is still dripping, and I will need a head scratcher to sort it out....

Ummmpph !!

25/30 and in my mind I'm Haile Gebrselassie !

Todays exercise - Running 8.03 miles in 1.22.31

Tonight I decided to go out for a long slow run and to see how far I could get. To help me, I planned to wear my water bottle get up again so that I could replace my salts on what was and still is one of those very muggy evenings.

It all started very sedately, at a nice steady pace and then two miles in....shit...I realised that I was not wearing the water belt !!!!!!

Right, carry on, try not to think about it, try not to sweat etc etc, and to be fair that was going nicely, but my legs started to tighten up very quickly and I found myself going slightly slower then slightly slower still.

I'm still feeling pretty hardcore to be honest cos that was my first eight miler of the year, and in my own mind, I feel like a professional runner, its a shame I don't run like one !

Massive step towards my half marathon goal and I think I am deserving of tonights pint.

24/30 A greasy fast time trial !

Todays exercise - Cycling 17.23 miles in 53.15

From the depths of my bike store (conservatory) , and from behind my normal road bike came my Focus Culebro TT bike for only its second airing of the year.

Now the problem with these types of bikes are that they are only bloody fast in a straight line, they corner like battleships, and to get the very best out of them you have to ride them in a crouched position which is difficult to maintain.

So, with all of my excuses safely out of the way, I decided to have a crack at what I know as the 1 hour route. In fact, the fastest that we had ridden this course was 59 mins 10 secs, and Kev pulled me around on that occasion.

I decided not to wear my ipod as well because I'm still pretty wobbly on it, and wanted to be able to hear the traffic coming from behind.

Apart from some wobbly handling early on, I soon had a go at settling down into the aero position and held that for a good mile or so, it felt a little easier than last time and it is true that you expend less energy in that tuck position. Still, it felt a little unnatural and I alternated between sat up and tuck. I knew the time was a fast one at the end of Brant Road where over a minute had already been saved, and with that in mind I found myself more willing to spend longer down in the bars.

The whole route seemed to be over before it really began and at a cracking time of 53.15 which is a whisker off being six whole minutes faster than that course had been done before.

Now thats greasy fast !

23/30 Pool gives discount to stupid people !

Todays effort - Swimming 1800m in 45 mins

It was back to daily training today and a nice dip in the pool to start things off as we reach the final stretch of Juneathon.

I noticed that there were not as many people at the pool as normal, but with England playing (and thankfully winning), I suppose that's not too much of a surprise.

However, I do think to compensate for this, the pool decided to offer a 2 for 1 specials for dorks today cos I got stuck behind a premier league one for a good few lengths !

Just f*****g stop and let people through you mug ! Every time I go, theres one who doesn't understand common courtesy, has overestimated their swimming speed and goes on to piss off everyone in their wake !

Still, once I got round him, I swam very well and the blood settled, and I seemed to swim quickly. I got cramp in my feet on a few occasions which then slowed me down, but happy with todays efforts overall.

Tomorrow I'll be all aero dynamic as I have a go at time trialling for only the second time this year.....

22/30 A fruitless search....

Todays exercise was another walk around town at lunchtime - I am really

going for it at the moment cos thats about two miles in the last two days ..

Whoa watch me go !

Anyway, today all I needed was an allen key so that I could attach a tool bag to my road bike and I couldn't find one of any real quality so I gave up.

After this monumental walk, I was so tired I couldn't do anymore training this evening, so I spent my time switching things around on my bikes and swearing a lot. I did manage to take my aero bike for a quick spin though.

Todays exercise - 1 mile walking, TFI wednesday tomorrow and I can resume my proper training.

21/30 Pull down your pants and paralyse the ants in an english country garden !

After yesterdays mega long ride I decided not to do any exercise today.....

Apart from a mile walk in total at lunchtime to the cycle shop to pick up a seat bag to keep my tools in and then when I got home I still forgot that I was doing nothing tonight and went out and mowed the lawn and did some general gardening gubbins as well.

The picture I have attached is not my garden, it is what my garden would look like if I lived in America, and was anal about lawns and shit.

Todays exercise 1 mile walking and some mower pushing !

20/30 The day after..... and its a 44 mile bike ride !

Todays exercise - Cycling 44.17 miles in 3.30.15

You would think that I would be taking it easy today after the exertions of yesterday, but I felt fine this morning and had no stiffness in my legs.

As a precaution though, it was decided that todays ride would be on mountain bikes (mostly because my padded seat would give welcome protection for my sore arse!).

We set off at 2.00 and by 2.10 I had a puncture ! So with that changed we had to go back to my house to pick up more spare tubes and some more CO2 for the pump.

Then.....we finally headed out on todays adventure, where we followed an old train line from Lincoln to the north of Newark, taking in the views of Lincolnshire's countryside as we went. Then we couldn't get off where we needed to and ended up going past a derelict power station before coming out thankfully in the middle of nowhere. We rode to Newark, through Newark and then up a bloody great hill where I swear two ten year olds were climbing it faster than I was !!

It was then hard work back to Lincoln against the wind , but in the sunshiiiiiiiiiiine, so not too hard really.

Tomorrow I'm gonna do nothing, nada, zilch, zero, well maybe a walk at lunchtime, but I am looking forward to an evening on the sofa !

The Dambuster Triathlon

Dambuster Olympic Distance Triathlon - Race report
- 1.5km Swim
- 42km Bike
- 10km Run

Todays race would be my very first at the olympic sized distances as my previous triathlons had all been at the shorter sprint distance. It would also be a good barometer for the training undertaken so far and would give me a good idea of what was missing if anything for Antwerp.

So, alarm set for 3.30 check, ringtone set as Black Sabbath's Ironman, check, manage to get up without waking wife to be, check ! I made myself some porridge and then put my OCD to good use by checking that I had packed everything about fifty times. It was out the door at stupid o clock and then an hour or so drive to Rutland Water. I arrive at just before 6, which gave me some time to go to registration, pick up my race number and then head down to the water for a look around. It was stunning and I wish I'd taken some pictures now just to show what people really are missing. I managed to rack the bike and change into the wettie before the race briefing at 6.45. By 7am I was in the water with my wave of 34-39 year old nutters, and this is how it went...

Swim 33.41

I was aiming for around 37,38 minutes, so obviously delighted with that time. In the water, I could tell that I was swimming well as I could see plenty of white swim hats (my wave wore all white, other waves blue etc) still behind me as we swam around the bouys and turned around. I swam off line a few times too , mostly as on the first straight the sun was very low and I couldn't see the swimmers half the time in front of me, net alone the orange bouy.

T1 2.47

Not bad, considering I always do a zombie shuffle from the water into the transition area, I also chose to put socks on for this ride, and had to cram my nutrition (including my asda bake bar) into the back of my tri suit.

Cycling 1.33.21

I set off into a head wind, turned left into a headwind, turned left again into a headwind... by now you're getting the picture, it was just one of those days. I did set off like a bat out of hell and rode the fearsome Rutland Ripple very well (mind you after all the hills Kev has had me up over the past few weeks these held no fear), I was out of the saddle and really moving even overtaking on the worst of the climbs. At about the halfway point I was well ahead of schedule and going well. Then, my chain fell off during a change down and once I had fixed that and got back on, it seemed to be a bit of a struggle from then on. Maybe I'd gone out to fast I don't know, it was certainly hard work from then on in, but I managed to get the bike home with no further problems.

T2 - 2.01

I'm great at transitions me.....usually !!! I still don't know what happened but I got completely lost in transition and just stood there looking like a dork, trying to find my station ! I must have lost a minute before rediscovering my bearings.

Run 55.11

The run is an out and back, around the lake and crossing the dam four times, (hence the name Dambuster), my plan was to keep to an even pace and watch my breathing. I also always run with an ipod, so to do a whole 10km without was going to be challenging.

I set off at a good even pace and held it together as I tackled the dam for the first time. I crossed some fellow Lincoln Tri peeps across the dam, coming back the other way and we all spurred each other on which really helpmed me. I also had my race nemesis of the day to track - Great Olmond Street Man (GOSM) who I had battled hard on the bike section. Having lost my time in transition, he had again gone ahead of me, but now I was reeling him in and by the last length of the dam I was on his shoulder, which is where I stayed until I kicked as we left the dam and built a small lead over him. GOSM probably thought the same and for a while he just stalked me at a safe distance and I thought uh-oh the gits gonna scream past me in a sprint finish. With just a kilometre to go though I looked back and he was done, all the race pressure disappeared, and I coasted home the rest of the way.

My time in total was 3.07.04 and well within my target of 3hrs 15mins. As distances go, it was OK, far better than anticipated, and gives me renewed confidence for next month. the dambuster by the way is an excellent all round event, and very well organised, well worth entering.

17/30 They think its all over....

After 17 days, I think its time to call time On Juneathon as I'm about to start some anti-biotics to treat the amoebic dysentery that I picked up in Tunisia.

I'm still doing the Dambuster tomorrow morning and will still continue to train hard, but I have really have missed rest days and this has had a big effect on how I have been feeling.

I still managed a mile of walking this lunchtime which really doesn't count.

Thankyou Juneathon, I don't think I've ever been fitter or lighter, cheers !

17/30 A glorious spin on the bike....

Todays exercise - Cycling 26.53 miles in 1.48.00

The plan was simple, have an hours cycling tonight, to keep the legs moving, nothing strenuous, protect everything, and remain ready for Saturday.

Apart from the timing everything else went to plan, it was a glorious british summer evening and it was a real joy to be out there in this weather.

Even though its day 17 and I'm still peaky, this is how I will remember Juneathon.

However, as I said I was only going to be an hour, I got in trouble when I got home....

16/30 and beginning to feel like Ivan Drago in Rocky IV !!!

Todays contribution - Swimming 1500m in 45 mins (60 lengths)

Its day 16 of Juneathon already and over halfway there,these but in truth its beginning to feel a bit like day 60 !

These are my training totals so far this month...

Running - 36.8 km

Cycling - 225.7km

Swimming - 9.6km

I'm beginning to feel how Ivan Drago looked in that massive training montage from Rocky IV - I must break Juneathon lol!!!!!

Tonights swim was a leisurely affair to be honest, and because I am starting to feel tired, I didn't push things too hard.

Tomorrow night I will be out on the bike , and then friday I will have a big walk during my lunch hour so that I can rest a little before Saturday mornings olympic distance triathlon.

14 days to go and counting......

15/30 Do I look like a camel ?

Todays exercise - Running 6.17 miles in 1.03.55

I really really did not want to go running tonight and laid on the bed hoping to fall asleep before accepting my fate grudgingly and getting my shoes on and getting my carcass out of the door.

As my runs are going to be progressing in length now up to a half marathon distance, I thought I would at least make tonight interesting and do the run with a water bottle and holder.

Well, this was a massive joke for a start as it was bouncing up and down as I ran and I must have got 300 metres or so before I took the bloody thing off and shoved it around my shoulder. This lasted approximately another 300 metres before I stopped in a bit of a strop, tightened the thing and put it back round my waist where it stayed for the rest of the run.

Camels carry water easily, I don't !!!!

The run was a reasonably slow affair and the time showed it - still considering how I felt before I went out it was a minor miracle that I polished off 10km tonight.

14/30 Why you shouldn't fart in a wetsuit.....

Todays effort - Swimming 1500m in open water, again !

It was back to the lake that I went to last Monday, to have another stab at the old open water swimming tonight. Truth be told, all I wanted to do was confirm that I could do it and that last week was not some sort of fluke. I was also bouyed on by last nights pool swim.

When I got to the lake it was quite windy and the water looked choppier than last week and cold and all of a sudden I didn't fancy it ! I did however get in eventually and it wasn't as bad as it looked, in fact I enjoyed a first out and back swim without any incident.

However on the second lap I was just approaching the turnaround bouy when I couldn't help but fart in my wetsuit ! ( Any man will tell you that its dangerous to hold it in !!!)

Anyway, this fart just stayed in my wetsuit and I could feel it moving around trying to escape ! It is a very creepy sensation and I can only compare it to having something crawling around under your skin, its that bad !!!!

Eventually an escape route was found and I finished my swim in relative comfort.

Day 14 of Jueathon completed and nearly half way !

13/30 Finally.... a 1.9km swim !!!!!

Todays Juneathon contribution - Swimming 1900m in 50 mins

On the 25th July, I'm having a go at the half ironman triathlon distance in Belgium.
That's a 1900m dip in the water, a 90km spin on a bike, and then a jog for 13miles to finish. I'm talking about it in this language because if I stopped to think about the actual distances and thought about it seriously, I would get bozz eyed and have to lie down !!
So my training has been about getting up towards those distances, and then to treat the whole day as one big training day.
Last week I tried to do the 1.9km swim in the pool at the leisure centre, but was foiled when with only 200 metres to go, they started to pull the lane ropes out. This week I was determined to stay in if necessary to get the job done !
Today, I nearly had an entire lane to myself, probably because there may have been a fair few people who partied a little hard yesterday and have decided to skip exercise today, hopefully this will help my Juneathon challenge. I left the pace nice and steady, didn't swallow as much water as usual, and kept an eye on the clock for the removal of those pesky lane ropes.
I was on my final 76th length when the lane ropes started to get reeled in, but I didn't care, because that was another of the scary distances ticked off.

12/30 Another 50 mile bike ride squeezed in before a World Cup BBQ!

Todays exercise - Cycling 50.27 miles in 3.21.28

I had a total conundrum this weekend where I wanted to keep up my Juneathon efforts up but also wanted to go to my friends World Cup BBQ where I'm sure I will eat and drink far too much.
The solution was to go for tomorrows scheduled cycle ride this morning, thus earning an extra 3000 calories that I could 'spend' at the BBQ - Simples !!
I also wanted to test out better nutrition on the bike and took with me an Asda bake bar and two Lucozade gels as well as SIS drink in my bottle. I'm sure my training partner was secretly in awe of this superior and advanced nutritional programme as he again took his slab of Jelly.
We rode very well and I was pleased with my own efforts after he had pretty much carried me round on Thursday. I felt a lot better too, and the Ibuprofen that I took half way round certainly helped me through the knee pain that I had left over from last nights run. We again took in the same hills as on Sunday, but I swear they were a little better this time around.
In all, our pace was nearly 10 minutes quicker than Sundays circuit without the feeling that we were pushing it the whole time, and the progression is certainly there for both of us.
Highlight of the day was the squirrel or rabbitt, couldn't tell which, that did a kamikaze dive past the front of us and almost becoming cycling roadkill !
Now wheres that cheeseburger with my name on it ?

11/30 A dead heat run and a visit to the Docs !

Todays exercise - Running 4.25 miles in 41.28

Following last nights fast bike ride where I didn't feel too good, and on top of the fact that since I returned from Tunisia 3 weeks ago I've had the daily trotskis, I decided that I would finally go to the doctors to get checked out.

He asked me to hop on his couch and he felt my stomach, I'm happy to confirm that I'm not expecting, although some old holiday snaps would suggest otherwise !

I've got some tablets now to calm things down and I managed to take a couple before I headed out on tonights run.

Now, I have not been feeling to good all day, but Juneathon being Juneathon I was not going to let a small excuse like not being medically fit get in the way of going out, so at 6.30 I duly slipped on the old trainers and headed out of the door.

It was harder work than Tuesday for sure, and I think that most of that was down to the sun being out, and I don't tend to run very well in direct sunlight.

It was an uneventful run, barring some kid letting go of his bike right in front of me, and another super hard cat that just slept in the path as I ran by.

The time ? 41 mins 28 secs, exactly the same time as I took for the same route last Tuesday - spooky eh !!!!

10/30 A fast and windy bike ride..

Todays exercise - Cycling - 17.23 miles in 59.10

After yesterdays massive workout it was time to get back on the horse tonight and put in some miles on the bike. It was windy too which is always good news because it meant that for half of the ride the wind is behind you which makes things easier.

However what goes around eventually comes around, and then its hard work all the way back. I don't mind admitting that tonights ride was tough, but at 59 mins for 17 miles it was also a best for that distance.

9/30 They're behind bars, they're on Mars !

Today bloody work sent me to Leicester for a full days seminar complete with breakout groups etc which meant that by the time I got back home to Lincoln it was late and there was no time to make it to the pool for lane swimming as planned.
Oh bother !
I ran last night, and I'm cycling tomorrow night so I had to think quickly, I also wanted meatballs on toast for my tea...
So my masterplan was to walk two miles to buy meatballs ! Super plan and well executed.

Todays exercise - 2 miles walking in 39 minutes.

8/30 - A slowish 5 mile run ...

Todays run - 5 miles in 50.26

Tonights run of 5 miles is the longest I have done since I had that little problem with my calf back in the last week of April. Before this I was completing this route in about 49 mins and change.

Tonight as I set off I was mindful of how bad I felt on Fridays run and made a conscious effort to slow down a little bit, this would also help me as I now try to lengthen my distances in readiness for the half marathon distance.

The run went well and I felt ok and in the end was only a minute slower than my last 5 miler.

Only thing of note was a double hard cat that just sat in the middle of the path and did not move as I ran past it !

Day 8 of juneathon and I'm getting fitter.

7/30 - an open water swim in the rain !

Todays exercise - 1500 metres open water swimming.

Oh that felt good, that felt brilliant !
I headed down to the lake at South Hykeham tonight for a spot of wetsuit swimming with Lincoln Tri.
Previously, the furthest that I had swum open water was the 750 metres at the Mallory Park Tri early last month. Since then, it has all been pool based fun.
Tonight, all I wanted to do was about 1000m and then work my way upwards next week. When I looked out onto the lake and saw the 750m bouy well into the distance, I set my sights a little lower and planned to give up after one circuit.
The water was cool but not freezing cold and the lake was quite clear meaning I could see the bottom for the most part. After about ten minutes of swimming I began to enjoy it, and once I had got round once , I decided to to go again. The second circuit took a little longer than the first, and as a bonus I enjoyed a massive rain shower for the last 400 metres !
My kit bag was soaked when I got back to it, but it didn't matter, I had had a blast!

6/30 - A 50 mile wet training ride !

Todays exercise - Cycling 50.27 miles in 3.30.28

Yesterdays weather was lovely and warm, but good things never last, and indeed the thunder storms came over last night and washed it all away.
I was really looking forward to the ride as I had changed my blebbed bike tyre and swapped both over to the super sleek Schwalbe Blizzards, this was going to be a maiden voyage for them.
Todays ride was going to be a re-run of the 42 miler that we did on Monday and the hills that we rode up back then. We did follow roughly the same route, but with some extra miles thrown in and a couple more hills. To paint a more hardcore gloss over this, it truly pissed it down for most of the first hour and at one point we had to literally stop and dive under a tree it was that bad !!!
The hill climbing was a lot better than Monday as well and I think I might even be developing some climbers legs ! (Lance Armstrong look out!) At one point today we were even in danger of overtaking horses on a hill, but they got a bit of a spurt on and beat us !
One thing I got wrong today was my refuelling as all I took was water, whereas my friend took a block of Rowntrees Jelly and ate that. Next ride I'm going to take along some Custard and Cream so that he can make himself a trifle !!!!!
On the home leg, a suicidal cat decided to have a go at being a spokey dokey by diving out in front of me, but was OK, thankfully.
So that was it, a first of many 50 mile plus rides, and seven more hills tamed. I really feel confident now that Antwerp in achievable.

5/30 A big long Swim with no roadblock !

Todays exercise - Swimming 1700 metres in 45 mins.

I went back to the same pool I visited on Tuesday, with the intention of swimming 1900m , this is because thats the swim part of my half ironman in just over eight weeks time. The lane swimming is only open for an hour, so by the time I had queued up, bought a ticket, and changed, there was about 50 mins left which is perfect really because thats my target time for the distance.

This was going to be the longest swim of the year and if I was eight years old, I would have been given my mile badge ! But, alas, I'm 37 so no badges for me.

I enjoyed tonights swim as the human roadblock wasn't there and I'm happy that he doesn't do Saturdays. With my path unhindered, I swam well and was on course to reach the 1900m mark when with five minutes to go, they started reeling in the lane ropes and I had to get out.

Day 5 of Juneathon and I'm still standing.

Melting in the Sun !

Running 3.17miles @ 9.48 miles/hr.

Boy it was hot tonight ! The car showed 27' on the way home so I knew it would be warm, but I set off none the less aiming to cover the same route as Tuesdays 4 miler. I felt good and seemed to be covering ground very quickly. By the second mile however, I was definately overheating and by the time that I reached the crossroads to either head home or head left for another mile or so, my body was telling me to walk. So, I walked for a bit and managed to make it home ok, even though all I wanted to do was crawl.

Day 4 of Juneathon and I'm pleased its raining this weekend.

Ah ! Spokey Dokeys !

Todays exercise - Cycling 22.47 miles in 1 hr 25 mins

Juneathons exercise so far has been Run, Swim, so next up was the Bike !

On Mondays mammoth near three hour ride, we took in some hard climbs which had left me with sore muscles, so I made damn sure that tonights ride was gonna be flat, flat and then flatter !

But alas it didn't matter cos it was hard work, and to cap it off I had picked up a bleb !

The last time I had a bleb was when I had a Raleigh Chopper when I was 9, and my front tyre had loads of them, and lots of spoke dokeys !!!

So day 3 of Juneathon and my legs are starting to feel it...

The problem with municipal pools.....

Is that you get all sorts of nutters using them. This is my own fault, if I wasn't so tight fisted, I know where theres a great health club pool and its nearly always empty.... but no, I go to a council run pool cos its only £3.10 .

Tonight I decided to go for 1500 metres because this is the distance that I'll be swimming at the Dambuster in just over two weeks time.

I was going along reasonably well , when the human roadblock decided to enter the pool ! I'm not the fastest of swimmers but I've picked the right lane for my ability, not like this numpty, who I think takes great pleasure in just causing a big long procession of carnage behind him !

Meanwhile, other than that, it went well, I'm happy with the progress in the pool and am becoming more confident that i will be able to crack the distance and not be last out of the water.

1500 metres in 39 mins

My Juneathon starts off all hardcore like !

There is an unwritten rule in running that any run that you do in the rain is automatically 50% more hardcore - well it was truly pissing it down tonight so I'm feeling doubly hard !

Tonights run was 4.25 miles @ 9.45 min/miles.

I also chose to wear my shorter shorts for the run which because of the wet weather rode up my legs giving the appearance of a mankini - epic fail !

I did notice that there seemed to be a lot of snails on the paths tonight, and me, with my new tree hugging attitude for insects and the like, took great care not to bound all over them.

Oh and finally, extendable dog leads should be banned. Rover does not need that much freedom and consequently I'm knackered enough without having to run the extra wide berth metres !

Day one sorted, 29 left to do....