December - a pretty intermittent month as I got just about every cold/cough etc going around, I did a 12 mile run on Christmas day during which I pretty much fell apart and so took the rest of the month off to recover - which was a great idea as I hit the New Year feeling fresh and ready....once the hangover had gone obviously!
The total training for 2010 was :-
Swim - 94 miles, 60 hours
Bike - 1670 miles, 105 hours
Run - 693 miles, 117 hours
Cross train - 101 miles, 19 hours
Total - 2558 miles, 301 hours
Not going to light up the world but a good solid first 12 months and noticeably lighter and fitter!
2011
As suggested, January started with a bang and I notched up some serious training time across all three disciplines, including a 14 hour week (my highest to date)! This however did lead me to feeling pretty mentally and physically worn-out by the end of the month with some pretty low points, however lots of food and rest perked me up a bit for February. Feb has gone well with some good positive quality sessions although I was a few hours short of my January total.
So 2011 to date looks like this: -
Swim - 23 miles, 14.7 hours
Bike - 437 miles, 26.6 hours
Run - 154 miles, 24.4 hours
X-train - 17 miles, 4.8 hours
Total - 631 miles, 70.44 hours
Swim: -
Soooo much swimming, including one week of 8,500 metres which blew me too pieces! To break it down (roughly) that is 1480 lengths of the 25m pool that I use....that's an awful lot of going up and down! I have focussed a lot less on speed at the moment - the amount of time it will take for me to get under the hour for the 3.8k isn't worth the investment whereas I can more than comfortably do it 1 hour 5 mins (yes I know its only 5 mins but its the principle)! My favourite set is 3 * 1000m at the moment, lots of time to plod up and down but there is always lots to think about...namely technique and not losing count of lengths!
Having said that a new 100m pb of 1.22 and a 400m pb of 5.58 were set during Jan - really chuffed with the 5.58 as that's been bugging me for ages trying to get below six minutes!
Bike: -
This has been my weakness so far in that I simply haven't done enough of it, I try and get on my turbo trainer (stationary bike thing) at least once per week and then a long ride at the weekend but it will need to be ramped up fairly soon.
I'm counting on the lighter evenings allowing me to ride to work which will really up the mileage pretty quickly so I am not panicking about this just yet. It is very cold, wet and muddy at the moment which is not the most fun of cycling conditions.
I have also been swindled out of about 6 hours (100 or so miles) of bike training due to mechanical issues in the last two weeks - Firstly a puncture and the spare tube having a bust valve = threw a massive paddy and went running instead, Secondly the rear mech (gear changer) on the tri bike caught in spokes and is now very, very broken = threw a massive paddy and watched TV all morning! In my defence I was racing the next day so didn't want to run!
Run: -
Some cracking running sessions including the rough and tumble 10mile - an exceedingly tough cross country race which involved climbing a hill on all fours it was so steep, I did really enjoy it though - muddy, splashy fun!
Race report: -
No great motivation when I woke up but dragged myself up there and took my place on the start line with a right proper grumpy face on! From the start it was downhill on tarmac through the village before a path led up through a field to the bottom of one of the biiiig, steeep hills - after one mile almost everyone was walking, in fact it was quicker for me to march up the hill than to run it! It was then down a rain filled muddy gully, running through deep puddles which were turning into a stream, various hills, puddles and mud later and we got to the real killer - big steep hill that required all fours just to drag yourself up - more climbing than running! Then back down just trying to stay on two feet! A few hills and mud filled shoe stealing puddles later and I was over the finish! After 4.5 miles I had decided to suck it up and enjoy it, I really gave it a lot and although not my fastest (no surprise there) to finish in 1.32.57 was pretty good and I was pleased afterwards - 147 out of 497 was good enough for me!
I also
It was all rounded off with the heartbreak half marathon this Sunday just gone which takes place on the Forestman course so it was a really good taster session.............oh my god its hard, the hills are pretty nasty little buggers for sure...and the marathon part of the Forestman involves doing them three times
Race report: -
Sunday - crap sleep, kept thinking I'd be late for the race! Morning was lovely though cold but set off to the race, registered...found out it was 14 miles not 13.1...ah well suited me really!
At the race start we went straight down a big hill and then straight back up the otherside - good wake up call! Thankfully a stile the otherside meant a quick rest while we all queued - then it was up the road for 1.5 miles before turning off on to the forest tracks - its a hell of a course with some pretty steep hills but nice on the flats - I went out too fast but after Saturdays impromtu rest I decided to hang in there as best as possible and keep going - on the flats I was holding about 7.40 pace which is very quick for me - I walked on three of the steep hills - which was just as fast as running and kept my legs okay!
Didn't receive the gels I ordered so I had grabbed a fry's turkish delight as energy to keep going....interesting but it seemed to work just fine and gave a little boost in energy here and there! A solid last mile and I was done, 10 miles in 1.22, 13.1 in 1.47.50 and 13.85 in 1.53.06 which I am happy with - I have never ran that fast for that long - on a flat course I may even surprise myself!
So that is the first two months nicely rounded off, I feel pretty fresh and good, apart from slightly achy quads from the above race! This week is a relatively easy one as I have a 20 mile race on Sunday down in Burton nr Christchurch so I am resting up for that! I then have a few weeks of hard training before a little thing called the London Marathon which I am really pleased to have got in for! So its all about keeping things going and upping my biking and running before London, at which point I'll ease back the running and really concentrate on the cycling...its only 16.5 weeks to go and that really isn't a very long time!
You've all had a lucky few months of no pestering and while I have still had some great donations come in I'd be hugely grateful for a big push in the final few weeks! Pretty please with a cherry and various other things on top!
www.justgiving.com/timdonell or www.justgiving.com/timdonell1 depending on your charitable persuasion!
Love to all,
Tim
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