Re-start. Focus. Go.

Not sure what really happened the past couple of weeks but it wasn't great. Decided I would focus harder this week and get back into things. Tolls syndrome was still hanging about and my head space was filled with a little disappointment following my Isoman DNS. So much so, Monday was another missed opportunity where no exercise at all took place. However, I did cut down much bush from the front of my yard which mentally made me feel a trifle better.

Tuesday was a much better day. Not only did I get back on my single-speed road bike and cycle a short 17 mile circuit, I also ran straight after doing so. My run was real short, just over a mile. I think they call this sort of phenomena a 'brick'. Later in the day, I went for a jog with SJ. Yup, you heard me right - SJ and I ran a mini Studley triangle. I reckon that was the first time SJ had ran for like 2 years or more. Let's hope she doesn't leave it another couple of years until the next outing.

Wednesday was another great day. I hooked up with my buddy Roger and we took The Beast out for a blast. We cycled (fairly) familiar roads to the back of Ragley Hall and then stopped at a cafe for some delicious beans and egg on toast. We washed this food down with a mug of tea. Back on the tandem we cycled through Alcester and then stopped at my gaffe to meet my family. It was great introducing Roger to SJ, Melody and Lunar. Lunar loved the tandem and even took a shot on the back saddle. Lunar had never seen such a strange looking bike before.  

Roger and I didn't cycle far once we left Doo Little (my abode). We spotted my parents at their dwelling just around the corner. Would have been rude not to stop and have a natter.

Final push was essentially a trip along my commute route. How strange it felt to cycle through Arrow Valley Park on a tandem. Of course, we didn't cycle to work, we cycled back to Rogers. Great day out in mixed weather. We covered just over 70k and I'm already looking forward to our next adventure.

Thursday was another brick session. A 20k cycle followed by a 5k run. Strangely, my legs didn't feel so weird during the transition. Maybe brick sessions are the way forward?!

Friday was a rest day. Of sorts. SJ's sister got married on this day. How awesome!

Lunar and the bride (Jackie)

Saturday was the day I completed my long run. This long run was a half-marathon. A half-marathon, just for fun. Ouch, I ached big time afterwards!

Long-run, 13.1 miles (21.1k)

Whilst uploading my long-run route on Strava, I could see someone had sent me a message. Low and behold it was Terry, who sent the lovely following words:

''Yo Doo ! I was just mooching around web and stumbled across your signature on LEL video trailer -  made me laugh and chuckle a bit. You are a star and source of inspiration.... I'm looking forward to seeing your face on my living room TV in next month or two when my LEL DVD arrives.   Ride safe my owd matey -  hope to see you again soon.  Terry from Bury....''

Kind words indeed. Terry really is a legend! To quote myself, I wrote the following words about him during my LEL adventure back in 2013:

Another awesome part of this stage was that I was cycling large portions with Terry. Terry was a real nice guy and I had passed him at the start in Loughton (we just exchanged a friendly 'hi' there) and caught him again at a control but was unable to chat as I was on the phone. Anyways, during this stage we chatted loads. Terry said he felt some strange emotion when he saw me and believed I helped him get through the Holl and Back 600k event. If truth be known, it was Terry who helped me get through said 600k event - he proved to be both a navigator and inspirer. I enjoyed Terry's company a lot - he likes real things in life and appreciates stunning scenery and has this great ability of spotting many a folly (well, it was an old bridge on this occasion). Terry likes to tour whilst cycling and his love of what he sees is very admirable. God's creation is truly awesome. In retrospect, this was probably my favourite part of the LEL adventure.

Sunday was a day of rest - like it should be! My legs were too whacked to do anything really. Am pleased I got my mojo back and hope next week will be as great as this.

Tolls Syndrome

Moomin Toll

Last week I commented that I had done little on the training front and that I was lacking motivation and energy. My friend Jamie remarked 'it sounds like you've caught 'Tolls Syndrome'. Toll, is (was, ha!) a friend of ours who I reckon Jamie was having a friendly dig at. How confused was I when my wife butted in and said 'I had to look that up [Tolls Syndrome]... and yep I think he [me] has'! This caused for some research of my own.

Tolls Syndrome is also known as 'burn-out syndrome'. Some of the signs include long hours at work, unhealthy habits, irregular behaviour, psychological symptoms, a general feeling of being overwhelmed and feeling like your life is devoid of purpose'. Hmm, I tick at least four of those listed options (won't spell out which ones).

Stranger still, Tolls Syndrome is alleged to happen probably because you're a great professional devoted to your work (I like to think so), you take too much care of everyone else around you (I like to think so), and you think you have super-powers (c'mon, of course I do, I am mighty)!

Whether I had Tolls Syndrome last week, I can't be sure. However, there was evidence I had it this week! I had at least 2 shifts that were over 12 hours long. Ate unhealthily. Wont comment on my behaviour. Held a belief that I was poisoned. I really was unwell and felt that I was 'tripping out' at times. Could well have been poisoned. Paranoid, maybe - but there was an evidence base to my thinking. To top that, I'm sure my work colleagues will testify how professional I am and how I try so hard to look after them (okay, may depend which colleagues you ask but hey...) Truth is, I did no exercise at all this week and am looking for a feasible excuse!

Coach SJ

I would so very much like to complete an IronMan event one time. I guess my weight and lack of experience are the biggest stumbling blocks in my way at the present time. One day I hope to compete in same. Meanwhile, I will continue training (for my upcoming triathlon and marathon events) and take inspiration from a couple of my hero's (pictured below).

Below is reflection on how my training for the week went. Could always do more. Could always push harder.

Monday. Started the week by doing what I do best - nothing! Felt some-what demotivated today and despite my head wanting me to run, my legs and the rest of my body just said 'no'!

Tuesday. A better day. Again my legs wouldn't allow me to run or cycle to work. However, once home, my head and body in partnership felt an open water swim would be a great idea. Better yet, my wife SJ, daughters and father came along to spectate.

Doo the (wannabe) triathlete

I managed to swim 3 x 750m laps around the lake which was my goal. My father gave me constructive criticism and told me that, essentially, my arms were flapping like a big bird. SJ was more helpful and gave me cues on how to improve my swim. My second lap was better, I kept my arms closer to my head. SJ gave further instruction and told me that I needed to bend my arms more (elbows higher than wrists). My third and final lap was much better again (though far from perfect). Was helpful having SJ there in the capacity as coach and I hope she'll come along again. Was great having my daughters (and dad) there too, even if Lunar did cry every time I got into the water.

Lunar, Melody and Pops (SJ took pic)

Wednesday: Easy run. I ran the Studley Triangle which I have ran lots of times but not for a while. Should find/create a local 10k run really...

Studley Triangle 5k

Thursday: 10k run, interval style. I followed the formula 10 mins warm up; 3 x 1600m run (with 3 mins recovery); cool down to finish. Quite bizarrely, I followed in the shadow of another runner all the way from Kings Norton into Town. Every time I neared this runner he'd put down the gas. I never quite caught him.

Friday: Bike commute to work and back. Perfect weather. Shame not all the folk I work with are shiny, happy people.

Saturday: Diddly-squat. Lack of motivation. Not enough sleep.

Sunday: Not a thing. Too tired to open water swim in the morning. In the afternoon, the Wimbledon final was on, my wife and kids were home, the weather was pants... Really struggled with motivation again. Voices in my head said 'don't do it'. Maybe this rest will bode well for my Isoman triathlon planned for next week. I do hope so....

Home made pool

Monday: First cycle in ages with my buddy Ron. We just cycled along nearby lanes and essentially 'caught up' with each others happenings. Not long until Ron (and Jamie and Andy) starts his PBP adventure.

Jolly with The Phantom (27k cycle)

Tuesday: A wonderfully hot day and how awesome to open water swim in Ragley Lake. Managed 3 x 750m laps. Was great to have my mum and Aunty Christine come and spectate too.

Stolen pic of Ragley Lake (can you spot me?!)

Stolen pic (2) of Ragley Lake

Wednesday: I think this was the hottest day of the year thus far. I ventured out on my long run quite early in the morning and essentially ran to Alcester and back. My run consisted of both road and off-road sections. Ran places I had not ran before and saw several signs relating to the Heart of England Forest (presume I will run some of this route during my planned marathon later in the year). This run hurt and I had another emergency on route (3rd in 3 weeks). Cooled off later in day by dipping my legs into a cool pool.

Check out the moobs!

Thursday: Rest day. Well, that's if you can call a day spent entertaining the Health Minister Alistair Burt 'rest'! Ha!

Friday: Interval run. Followed the formula 10 mins warm up; 6 x 800m run (with 90 seconds recovery); cool down to finish. Ran 10k on a nice warm day.

Pace chart, 10k run Interval style

Saturday: Cycle. Commute to work and back. Single-speed road bike style.

Sunday: Open water swim at Ragley Lake. Managed 3 x 750m laps. Should have gone to tri-club but the Tour de France was on, I was tired....

Do not feed the sea gulls

Monday - Rest day.

Tuesday - Swam 2 x 750m laps at Ragley Lake. Suffered terrible cramp - worse yet. SJ did some research and thinks I need to drink more, rotate my ankles before getting in the water, and point my toes like a ballerina when I swim. Hmm. Wore my 'new' wetsuit (short leg and sleeve) which was fine but maybe not quite as buoyant as my full suit - cheers Lin. This suit will be great for any future holidays.

Wednesday - Cycled 40 miles with my buddy Roger and The Beast (his tandem). Great ride on a terribly hot day. We cycled to Whitlenge Tea Rooms and back. We had the obligatory full english breakfast which is a must should anyone venture to this wonderful place.

12 Intervals, ouch!

Thursday - Ran my interval style run. Followed the formula - 15 mins warm up; 12 x 400m run with 90 seconds rest; cool down to finish. This was a 10k run and in retrospect I should have shortened the warm up because I had reached work (my destination) before I had really cooled down. Maybe I'm getting too fast for my own good. (Ha!)

Friday - Rest day.

Long run 17.9k (11 miles)

Saturday - Long run. I ran on a lovely hot day all the way to Mappleborough Green Village Hall (where I had my wedding reception) and then to Alexander Hospital for an emergency poo (my second emergency in 2 weeks). From the hospital, I ran to Arrow Vale Lake and then back home. It was nice to see the Parkrunners at the lake (I went in opposite direction). Man, this run hurt. My right calf and both feet found it heavy going. Was pleased I managed 11 miles.

Tri-club cyclist's post TT (L-R Doo, John, ?Martin, Phil)

Sunday - Tri-club day. Swimming followed by a bicycle time trial. My swim was lousy. Despite Leigh giving me and just one other his undivided attention, it just didn't click. I swam like a bag of sand. The time trial (TT) was much better. I was pleased with my position and time (19:59) and felt my efforts were well paid off. According to Strava, I am currently KOM (19:55) for the Tri Redditch TT!

(The Avenger) The day I was Johnny Mitchum

After my 10 mile run on Saturday, I sat in front of my computer to download my route and stuff. And just at that time, a message popped up on my FaceBook account. My buddy John had strained his calf  and was not able to participate in the Avenger Triathlon at Ragley Hall. He asked if I wanted to take his place...

I did a quick back-ground piece of research and found out the following:

The Avenger - Olympic Distance 
1.3km Swim 
46km Bike 
10km Run 

The swim takes place in Ragley's ornamental boating lake, with competitors completing either one, two or three laps. (2 laps in my case).

The bike sections head out onto the open roads of the Warwickshire and Worcestershire countryside, the routes are scenic and undulating with good road surfaces throughout. 

Finally the tough run course takes competitors through the tracks and trails of Ragley's beautiful estate; the run course has been changed from previous years to encompass more trail running and less grass sections. 
Please note that distances for the Sprint and Olympic events are subject to confirmation. (And Heartbreak Hill is making an appearance).

Without further ado, I decided I would be Johnny Mitchum for the day. Free entry into an awesome event. Would it really matter that I had just ran 10 miles, was ill prepared and had no time to train specifically?

Well, before I knew it, the race day had arrived. I packed up all my stuff and got to Ragley Hall about an hour before my event kicked off. First off, I located my slot within the transition area. Not an awful lot of room, but enough to just house my bike and leave my cycling sandals and running shoes ready for those legs of the event. After I got my stuff ready in the transition area, I just bummed about for a while. It was nice to take in the atmosphere and was awesome to bump into fellow triathlete's from my tri-club.

Only minutes before the start, I, alongside just over 100 others, was summoned to the water. My stomach felt full of butterflies and I just couldn't shift this feeling. Am not sure if it was nerves or excitement, maybe both. These feelings soon went once the whistle/horn/what-ever-it-was was sounded. My plan was to not race this section but just swim as normal and get to the finish. I knew swimming was my weakest discipline but I didn't think I was really as bad as I was. Quite embarrassing really, but I was the last but 3rd person out of the water! My 1.3k swim (2 laps around the lake) took me a good 38 mins to complete, that was a whole 8 mins slower than the field average. Out of the water, I ran to the transition area. It was awesome spotting my daughter Lunar (and Lin) watching from the sidelines. I just had to stop and give Lunar a kiss. Lunar got wet and exclaimed 'naughty daddy!'

I only spent about 2 mins in the transition area. I decided to wear cycling sandals (SPD's) so I wouldn't have to bother drying my feet and trying to put socks on. Helmet, glasses and gillet was all I decided I would wear (plus the tri-suit I was in). Getting the wet suit off was a menace, and getting my sandals on was a challenge. Once in bike mode though, I was off!

The bike leg was fantastic. I felt strong and was getting an almost constant buzz after I overtook cyclist after cyclist after cyclist. I chased each cyclist I saw in front of me and felt I was reeling them in one by one. I managed to cycle at an average speed of over 30kph which was my goal and I knew I could maintain this as the outward cycle was into a headwind.

At about the half-way section, drinks were being offered but I didn't partake as I was prepared already and taking sips from my bottle every 5k. The route followed roads that I had recently cycled with my blind friend Roger on his tandem. Thinking about Roger motivated me further and helped me grind my gears. I passed so many cyclists, this section was just great. As I neared the transition once more, I remembered advice from John Legge and span my legs big time in an easier gear before dismounting the bike. Just before reaching the transition, I passed Lunar and Lin again which was nice.

Lunar, my no.1 fan!

The 50k bike leg took me about 1 hour and 40 minutes to complete, about 8 minutes faster than the average cyclist in the field. My maths told me that I was now on an equal footing after my slow swim. Only a quick transition and a run to go....

In the transition area I swapped my sandals for my running shoes. I put my socks on but they felt damp. It was hot, so I removed my gillet and put on m running cap. I took a couple of gels as they were being offered and off I jogged.

The run was a10k off-road route. It was really warm by now and running was a sweaty affair. It was nice to cool off a little as the course went through wooded areas allowing me to simmer down a little. I took a couple of gels and drank some water at about the mid-way point. In retrospect, I wished I pushed myself a little harder during the run as I wasn't really racing. My time was about 1 minute slower than the field average and I only really raced the last few metres as I sprinted to the finish.

 

 

It was great getting to the finish and completing my very first ever Olympic distance triathlon (including my only ever triathlon with an open water swim). It was a lovely event and I felt I deserved the lovely medal at the finish. I came in 62nd position out of a filed of 109 (an additional 2 did not finish). My overall time was 3:15:09.

I didn't beat the 3 hour mark which no doubt the real Johnny M would have done, But hey, I had fun and have a target to beat should I race this event (or Johnny M) again in the future. It felt great to be Johnny M on that day in history. :)

Holibobs over..

With my holibobs over, training resumed again on Tuesday. Am training for 2 up coming events, the Isoman Triathlon (1/4 distance) on 18 July 2015 and the Heart of England Forest Marathon on 3 October 2015. Info on the triathlon can be found here and info regarding the marathon here.

Tuesday was a 'double-whammy' training day. For starters, I ran my 10k 'Run 2' route into work. This run felt hard, maybe because my back pack was more full than usual. For finishers (ha!) I went OW swimming in Ragley Lake and managed 3 x 750m laps. I think that's the furthest OW swim I have swam to date and that equates to about 1.4 miles.

Wednesday was a cycling day. Usual commute into work and back. The lights in Edgbaston Tunnel were not working and I bashed my bars into the side of the railings which caused much bleeding to my middle finger.

Thursday was a hard run. I ran a 10k route interval style. I warmed up for 10 minutes; ran 4 x (3 mins fast then 3 mins easy); cooled-down to finish.

Pace graph for Thursday's 10k run

Friday was another cycling day. Usual work and back commute. This time I suffered no injury!

Long run 16.6k 

Saturday was long run day! I managed to run 16.6k (a little over 10 miles) on a grim drizzly day. I had to stop at the hospital for an emergency poo. This day was SJ's birthday, so the day could only get better! Happy birthday SJ!! xx

Holidaze

Last week, I was on my holibobs. As a result of this, little training was undertaken. Mostly, I ate and all the wrong sort of stuff too!

It's not like I didn't exercise at all, I managed 3 runs during the course of the week. Each run took me from our holiday garden flat, touched the beach, and then returned to the flat. Weather was just right on each run.

My first run was great, as I wasn't exactly sure where I was running to and all the sights were essentially new. I ran through tunnels and over grass, sand, tarmac and soil. Despite the picture below, I didn't actually run into the sea!

Run 1 (Run to the coast) 5k

Second run was essentially an extension of my first run. Again, I ran to Wisemans Bridge but this time, I ran there twice and took a beach route on the first return and a hilly off-road (woodland) route on the second. Further tunnels were found as I ran to Saundersfoot beach. Ugh, there were jelly fish everywhere!

Run 2 (Tunnels, hills and beaches) 8.5k

Last run was essentially a jog to Saundersfoot and then a bunch (well 3) of hill repeats. Perhaps I should have ran a few more but hey I was on holiday! Oh, what fun!

Run 3 (Hilly holidaze 5.5k)