Sponsorship for The Meningitis Trust

I have not set up sponsorship for The Meningitis Trust for the two Ironman distance triathlons I am doing this year plus other events in the build up.

I can be sponsored at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ironman and there is a link on the side of the blog to my page on the Virgin Money Giving site. Below is the link to look for.

Weekly Weigh In = A Slight Gain

This week I gained a massive 2oz (0.06 Kg) but my % body fat had decreased by 1.5%.

I was expecting a bigger increase due to the lack of exercise last week but this week it is already 50% more than last week. It looks my training plans for the bank holiday weekend will have to change to the poor weather forecasted.

Long Run and Cake

Did a nice long 11.3 miles midweek run before dinner in a total of 103 minutes. This did include a 1.44 mile Time Trial about 2/3 away round in a total time of 10:31.

Then after a couple of easy miles we stopped for some chocolate cake that somebody had made. I was glad of this as I had ran out of isotonic drink and I had no gels with me so I had two pieces!!

I did leave a few minutes before continuing with the last couple of miles, I think I should have eased in to the run more but I made it all the way round ok.

This was a good endurance run with a faster section in the middle. It also allowed me to try some food so my stomach was in a non optimal state when running the last few miles, this could be useful practice for the ironman based on past races.

Introducing El Tractoro Prime

After work I did a  quick spin in the countryside and cycled 23 miles in 81 minutes (an average of 17.1 mph), which did include some inclines in the countryside and traffic lights/stops in the town.

For the first 1 hour it ended up like a Time Trial as I did 18 miles down to the nearest 0.01 mile!!

The speed must have been due to the name I thought up for my bike , "El Tractoro Prime".

With the aerobars I was thinking El Torro due looking like a bulls horns but then a tractor went past I thought that sounds better plus goes with my cycling at a relatively slow pace (normally) but powerful!!
Then the prime is from Optimus Prime toy got my nephew which has the sound affect when it transforms (didn't have that in my day we had to make our own sound affects), that is mental trigger for me when I "transform" in to my aero position.

4th Consecutive Parkrun PB

This weekend I completed my 4th Parkrun Course PB on consecutive weekends after not beating one for over 9 months before this month!!!

One course back home near my parents only lasted 2 weeks until I was back next with in-between I beat my home parkrun by over 1 minute. Then this week I had to drive 30 minutes to get to the only other course I have run and beat it by over 4 minutes despite having the remains of a cold. All 4 where run at the fastest I could do on the day.

I think it will be 2011 before I get any more course PB's at these courses mainly due the endurance training I should be doing now.

4 PB's in a post and this is also my 500th post !!

Weekly Update

Last week I only did over 4 hours of training mainly due to cold. Below is a break down of the sparse amount of training A.K.A. a rest week.

37% Running
35% Cross Training
28% Walking
0% Cycling
0% Swimming

This did include my 4th Parkrun PB in a month and running speed work session.

Weekly Weigh-in = Loss

Over the last 2 weeks I have lost 1lb 2 oz (0.5 Kg) with my % body fat increasing by 0.5%.

I did not do much exercise at the end of last week due to my family visiting for a few days but I did do another fast parkun 5km and then a half marathon the folling day but have since had a cold which has limited my amount of exercise so far this week.

Weekly Update

This week under 11 hours of training which was made up by the following % by time.


34% Running
20% Cross Training
18% Swimming
17% Cycling
11% Walking

Running included another Parkrun PB beating the time I set only 2 weeks ago at that course. It also included a hill session which I was glad of when I did a half marathon pacing my brother round.

The cross training included a some gym warm and a match as an assistant referee.

The swim was mostly in a "fun" leisure pool but I practised some elements which I will need in the Ironman.


The cycle was a spin class and also a practice lap of olympic distance triathlon I have entered.

Bungay Half Marathon

On Sunday I took part in the Bungay Half Marathon which luckily I was pacing my brother round and not racing. The half marathon was one lap which started 2 hours after the full marathon which was two laps.

However when we started the half marathon after midday it was already hot. Then there was the unexpected amount of hills which lasted to about 6 miles!! From my GPS there was 40% of the course was not flat despite being in East Anglia. The way back part of the loop was virtually flat with a nice cooling breeze. For the last couple of miles it was along a gravel path.

Despite the undulating course for the first 8 miles we maintained a fairly even pace but after this the distance, hills and heat started to affect my brother so we had to slow down and then take walk breaks. However we managed it in under 2:20 which was good for the conditions.

I had 3 layers (no long sleeve top) in the heat plus a hat to help simulate the likely warmer conditions for the ironman. My nutrition for the run was spot on for both of us, we had a sports drink (I add a salt tablet) and two gels which were used regular intervals between the water stations. It was also to get this amount of time on my feet as I will not likely go beyond this time or distance in the training.

Still due to heat after eating a banana and downing a bottle of water we got at the finish I still needed cooling down, so only an ice cream would do :-)

The race like their other races was well organised, marshalled and plenty of well manned water stops. I will definitely be back to do this or even the full marathon.

Another Parkrun PB

Another week yet another parkrun 5km PB.

This week I was back to a course where I had only set a new PB 2 weeks after nearly a year from the last one their. This week I beat it by over 70 seconds!!!

To celebrate they had cake, biscuits and wine at the finish area or maybe it was to celebrate their first anniversary at this event.

That is the 3rd parkrun PB on consecutive weeks all going as fast as I could. I will have to go for the 4th (all April) but I will have to go to a different course that I have already ran as the others are bit too hard to reach now.

Weekly Update

This week I did 11.4 hours of exercise below is a breakdown of this by time.

51% Cross Training
21% Running
16% Cycling
9% Walking
4% Swimming

The cross training included 3 football sessions and a gym session which were at least 1 hour each.

The running included a long run with some speedwork in the middle of it and a 5km run as part of training triathlon.

The cycling was all on my town bike so provided extra resistance and only shorter rides but was part of my training triathlon.

The swimming was only one session which was part of my training triathlon.


This week I need to fit in some cycle rides on my main bike and more swimming in to my plan.

Training Sprint Triathlon

This weekend I did an early morning sprint triathlon. The limiting time factor was the the availability of the swimming pool. So as a warm up I cycled the few miles there on my town bike and had a ruck sack with some kit in both of these provided extra resistance on the bike sections.

I then swam 1000m in about 23 minutes at a comfortable pace. I could not do much more as the pool was about to close.

I then cycled for about 50 minutes going across the town with a few hills en route. Then I did a few loops so I could minimize the time between cycle and the run.

As the run part was a Parkrun 5km. My legs were heavy when I started off in the run but I went off fast so I could get through the people who had started too far forward then they should. Once I got past them in the first 100m I then slowed down a bit but maintained a fast pace following a group of runners.
When the mile splits came up on my GPS I was shocked as they where quite fast for me and they where fairly close for each of the 3. In the end my time was 1:21 quicker than my PB there!! This was a pleasant surprise as all the exercise and getting up early.

I took the few miles cycle back at a more leisure pace and as a nice warm down.

Recycle Cycle

Tonight after work as it was still light and warmish (compared to recently) I did a nice cycle ride to test out my B bicycle.

I went to a recycle point to drop a glass bottle and then cycled back to the supermarket and back with a few extra loops in between. I would have used my car if not and possible used the closer recycle point at the supermarket instead of the one further away.

It was good having extra resistance on the way back with some shopping in a ruck sack. However I still managed a good speed for me.

It ended up as a pleasant 8 mile and 35 minute cycle ride and my gears seem to be sorted out now on this bike.

Weekly Weigh-in = Loss

This week I lost 1 lb (0.4 Kg) and down 0.5% body fat. Not sure how that happened as my food intake was higher than normal with cakes, easter eggs and larger home dinner portions.

However I did do a long cycle ride and a couple of runs one being a faster 5km and the other being a longer running set.

Long Run and Speedwork

This week I did a nice 6 mile (10 km) easy pace run before doing a 6 x 800m interval session. I was surprised as I was able to keep up my pace for all 6 of the reps despite the longer warm up run. I was averaging about 3:35 for each rep which was two laps which included a slight incline. We had 3 minutes recovery in between which started when the last person finished the rep so the quicker you went the longer rest you got.

To follow that I did enough few miles which ended up as a total of 11.6 miles (18.7 km) in a few minutes under 2 hours, I think I will have an easy few days after this.

Long Cycle in the Wind around The Broads

This week I did a long cycle ride of 65.52 miles (105.4 Km) in a total of 4 hours 44 minutes which makes it an average speed of 13.8 mph (22.3 km/h). This is a lower than average ride mainly due to the strong 20 mph (32 km/h) westerly winds which was not helped by the route being round part of The Broads which meant that there was a lot of places where there was no shelter from the wind.
Also I had just looked at the route on a paper map and thought it was about 40 miles so I was well short of that. The temperature was only 10c to 14c which did not take in to account the windchill but luckily I had a number of layers on and a backup woolly hat if I got really cold.


The route was scenic and was along the north sea coast for the first part of the ride following a couple of cycle routes in places.
Less than 10 miles in to a helicopter went overhead as it was just about to land at the heliport it and I could see the pilot from the underneath landing window. There was a few cafe’s and chip shops in the first 90 minutes but this was even too early in the ride even for me to stop!!


There was even a sea eagle (brown wings tips with grey wing) that went overhead from the north sea.

I could tell how strong the wind was by in addition to the pushing the bike around and all the grass and trees by the few wind turbines which were going round at a fare pace and all in the same direction.
I stopped a couple of times to eat some of the food I had with me, I did not want to attempt to do this one handed in the strong wind as I could have ended up anywhere along the road side.

Once I got to the furtherest point I thought the wind would help me but it was pushing me to the side so I had to lean my bike to the right and in to the wind which felt unusual. During this bit Iwas able to use my aerobars for a few miles and was going 20 mph+ before the strong winds made it a bit unsafe carry on with them.
Some sections through the broads where quite exposed and required a lot more effort in the wind and there was even some inclines!!
Once I got to about 3 1/2 hours into the ride I stopped at a local village post office which was open and got some supplies to have.

I then carried on down the road to the reedham chain ferry I had to get to cross the broads which seem to have waves on today!!














Once a few miles the other side I had two options, to go a slightly shorter route but over a high bridge or a longer route but level bridges. Due to the wind still being strong I decided it would be better to the longer route but on a main A road which I knew the road and I could use the edge of the road in places to the traffic to more safely get past. During these 5+ miles I could use my aerobars again for longer periods and was able to maintain 20+ mph in places at this late stage of the ride.

I then got the local bridges and level crossings which there cars were stuck in a traffic jam but I was able to cruise past with a smile on my face :-)

Then within the last few miles of the ride was a steep hill to go up but somehow I managed it without using my lowest gear.

The ride was a slower than normal but was my longest cycle ride of the year. Plus in conditions I would not normally cycle in which was good training to improve my bike control. Overall I enjoyed this ride even when it was in hard conditions in places.

Weekly Update

This week I only did 7.5 hours of training which is 3 weeks of decreasing total training time, this will need to be corrected in the forthcoming weeks. This week’s training was made up of the following by time.

63 % Cycling
13 % Running
13 % Cross Training
5 % Swimming
5 % Walking

The cycling was the bulk of the training with a long cycle ride.

The run had a couple of shorter runs including a new parkrun 5km PB for me.

Weekly Weigh In = Gain

This week pre Easter I have gained 2lb (0.9 Kg) and my % body fat increased by 1%.

This is due to a lack of exercise since the weekend while maintaining my food intake level.