Oo! Suits you!

Today I went to buy a new wetsuit, We researched them on the internet and Billy arranged a fitting at Trikudu at Richmond. We were a little late due to traffic and speed restrictions on the A1. But when we arrived the suit was ready, a Zone 3 Aspire, ladies large. It was lovely, black and purple. I fought my way into it, but it was actually too big. So I tried a men's medium of the same model, this one was red, after an even bigger battle to get it on, it was still a bit too big on top, so I tried a medium small, by now I was hot and getting into the suit was even more difficult, but  yey it fitted. 

Thank you to Harry for his patience, I hope he wasn't late to his bike race.

We then drove to Ripon for our Thursday swim, great chance to try it out. Before the swim we ran around the lake. I was pleased that I managed sub 10 min mile av over the 1.2 mile lap, then time to fight back into my new wetsuit again it was a battle to get it onto my sweaty body, but I got in and went into the lake which was quite pleasant tonight. 

I swam 1.44 miles, the suit was good, my position felt lower in the water and my shoulders felt less constricted. 

After getting out of the lake, I easily stripped the suit of, swapped my Tri top for a dry t shirt for my run around the lake. It's not nice running in wet stuff, but I managed sub 9 min average this time, so I am very pleased.

It was nice not having to rapidly wrap up in tonnes of clothes and dash off. The pleasant temperature meant that we could socialise with other club members, who also were not rushing off to warm up.

Day 4 totals

Walk 1.5 miles

Swim 1.44 miles

Bike 0 miles

Run 2.46 miles

Juneathon day 3 back on the bike

Woke up to a much calmer day today, bright and sunny and the howling winds had calmed to a fair breeze. It was lovely as I walked the dog with Billy, to look over towards Swaledale and Wenslydale and see the glory of the sun singing on the dales, such a change from the last few days.
The weather held out though a day at work, so when I got home, Billy and I went out on the bikes for a short sharp ride, fourteen and a half miles with two cheeky little hills to get the heartrate up and a long descent towards home.
When we got home I went for my 154th Runstreak run, I ran 5km, then went home for tea.

My legs were showing signs of tiredness from last nights race but it's all good training for Ironman and Equinox24.

Totals for day 3

Walk 1.5 miles

Swim 0 miles

Bike 14.48miles

Run 3.37 miles

First race of the month

The Harrogate District Summer Race League is a race series for the local clubs. Tonight it was the turn of Thirsk and Sowerby's to host. The course is flat as it is right in the Vale of York. It was a slightly different course this year.

After marshalling the Ripon Runner Juniorrace on in Ripon I drove to Thirsk and parked up by Thirsk and Sowerby's clubhouse. I met up with mor RR's and we set off to walk to the start, 1.5 miles away.

Somehow I ended up near the back with my mate Jackie, we've been pushing each other in the league races this year. We never heard the start just became aware that everyone was moving. The Kane was quite narrow so it was tough to get by people, but we managed, first Jackie led, then me, we were to and fro for the first 2 miles then I thought Jackie had got away from me. I pushed hard to keep with her and as we started the second lap I took the lead, I could hear her on my heels and was worried that I would run out of steam as I ran around the fields, but it was only a 5 mile race and the end was in sight, one last push and if was done. 5 miles 43 min 12 sec, that was one of the fastest runs I'd ever done. 

Soon the rains came so we jogged back to the clubhouse 1.26 miles. 

There wax a stunning double rainbow to celebrate our brilliant runs.

And so after a lovely buffet provided by Thirsk and Sowerby it was time to come home, hence the late  blogging today.

Day 2 totals

Walk 4.5 miles 

Cycle 0 miles

Swim o miles

Run 6.2 miles

Pinch Punch First of Juneathon

Ok, so no pinching or punching today, no cycling either. The wind here is very strong with stronger gusts, so I start my Juneathon 2015 with a fail, Or do I?

Of course not, I walked the dog a mile and a half before 7 am and realising the severity of the wind, chose to drive to work rather than cycle. 

The oilseed rape fields were the only bright thing this morning.

So, change of plan. The wind was even worse by the time I finished work and bits of tree were scattered on the roads. Cycling was definitely not happening tonight. But Ironman UK is only 48 days away and the weather won't stop it, so my plan was changed to running to the pool, swim and run back. 

I ran a longer route to the pool to make up for not cycling (sort of) the wind was howling and the road strewn with leaves and small branches, there were times when I was running but not moving forwards and times when it felt as if a giant hand was shoving me in the back. I got to the pool soaked to the skin. It was odd taking wet clothes off to put dry ones on to go in the pool, I picked a quiet lane and just swam, most of the other swimmers let me pass as I caught them up, I was to fast for this lane really but not fast enough for the other one, which already had 8 swimmers in it. I swam 72 lengths but my Garmin only registered 71 oddly. Putting soggy cold running kit on was very unpleasant and the weather seemed to have deteriorated further for my run home, which I went the direct route, wet swim kit is surprisingly heavy in a back pack.

It's still windy, hope it calms down soon.

Day 1 totals

Walk    1.5   miles

Cycle   0     miles

Run     4.4  miles 

Swim  1.1  miles

Runstreak which started on day one Janathon 2015 #152

Loch Lo Man Triathlon

This is a brand new middle distance triathlon, I read about it on Facebook way back in the autumn, Billy and I decided to enter, so did Martin, Jeff and Helen decided to do the standard and sprint events respectively.

https://www.facebook.com/LOCHloMAN?ref=ts&fref=Ts the cover pic is Billy, Martin and Jeff, plus a bloke.

We were under no illusion that it would not be challenging, Loch Lomond in May was likely not to have great weather and the terrain was never going to be flat.

I booked a room at Tullie Inn Balloch after an email conversation where Angie said that they would store our bikes and sort break kite at stupid o'clock on race day.

The Loch Lo Man fell perfectly off training for Ironman Uk, so we spent the winter training for hills and from April we have been open water swimming in a chilly Ellerton lake.

Alan the Loch Lo Man organiser kept us informed as to weather and temperature states as race day drew closer, the event was moved from Duck Bay to Loch Lomond Shores  so that the swim would be in shallower and therefore warmer waters but he reccommend we swim in neoprene swim socks, gloves and hats. So Items purchased all swim sessions were in the extra gear. The boots felt like someone was pulling my feet, the chinstrap of the hat strangled me and the gloves when wet get like pound weights on each hand. I started to hope for a heat wave.

The weekend of the race 16/17 May approached and it became apparent that there would be no heat wave, wind, rain and single figure temperatures were forcast. We packed for all eventualities including Avon Skin So Soft for midges and suncream. 

We arrived at the Tullie Inn.  They said that we could store the bikes even though it was too early to check in, and the heavens opened with a hail storm. We then drove to find transition. It was not far away, we parked and walked to the swim site. 

We got there and some swimmers were just going in, we waited for them to emerge again they were very pink, the water was cold. 

We met up with Martin, Jeff and Helen and walked the swim to T1 with them before heading back to the Tullie Inn for tea.

I was starving so ordered tomato and basil soup and a roll, fish chips and mushy peas followed by hot chocolate fudgecake and icecream. It was delicious. I was fit to burst. Uncomfortably full I went to our room for an early night. Our room was next to the rail line but it never bothered us, we could only hear the howling wind and pouring rain, an early night with all alarms set for 4 am.

All too soon the alarms went off and up we got, double checking kit and eating bananas before going to load the car. We got down stairs and our bikes were ready, the night porter brought us drinks and toast. I was still full from tea and only managed 1 slice, Billy managed cereal and toast. We felt guilty at not managing all the toast.

We drove to the event car park and went to register, yet again it was raining, we waited in the tent to register whilst the Marshals were briefed. Soon it was time to collect our race packs, middle distance men had white hats , women gold which looked like baldy heads. We the racked in the rain all our kit was I. Bags which we left by our bikes. There was no order for racking so we all racked near each other

Very soon if was 06:15 and time to get our swim gear on and head to the swim start for briefing. It was a long walk, I was worried that my swim socks would be wrecked.

Briefing revealed a swim distance of 500m for everyone due to a water temperature of 10.9 deg C , at least it would be warmer in than out then, the air temp was about 6 deg C. As rehearsed on Thursday we jogged about abit, not easy in swim socks and no trainers, then into the water to dip my goggles, wet my face and neck and psych  myself up for a mass start.

The countdown started and we started to head into Loch Lomand for the start. 10, min, swim a bit! get face in, 5 min, more swimmers, make sure I'm near the back, swim a bit, tread water a bit, 1 min, get in position , face right direction, gloved thumbs up to Billy and Martin. 

Go, swim between the red and green, there was a man in trouble already, but someone else had stopped to help, It's a bit murky, oo! There's the other red and green buoys, I'm in my own space, it's pouring down and I'm heading for the first orange buoy, I go wide and turn left towards the othe orange buoy, it was getting busy I slowed and went wide again, turned left again heading for the red and green buoys, not many swimmers now, between the red and green, and between the other red and green, left turn to the beach, I stood up and crossed the mat ran over the pebbly beach to the path and ripping the gloves, hats and goggles off, headed to T1.

It was really tough getting changed in the elements, but I decided not to use the heated changing room as I didn't think I'd come back out.

Billy and Martin were still there, but not for long. I took off my wet top and put a dry one on and a jacket, then my rain jacket, socks and shoes, a buff and my helmet.  my gloves did not want to go one, my wet hands were stitching inside them, "Stop faffing" I said out loud and unpacked my bike and set off to the mount up point. I didn't know the course, a thing which always makes me feel uneasy, but also makes me be a bit more careful on the first lap not knowing what's ahead. The course was well marked, though having strong winds and rain did mean my head was down a lot. The first loop was a small one and at was over quickly with no tricky bits. The roads were nice and the inclines were slight, shame about the weather. The second loop was longer, and as soon as I turned on to it I started to climb, not steep but constant for quite a while and into a head wind, and then it was a descent, and an incline, up and down like a roller coaster, nothing too hard just long, but good quality road and when the rain slowed, the views were stunning, then suddenly a sign "steep descent" OhOh! This was what had worried me, it wasn't a steep hill but just gad that gradient which allows you to pick up speed very quickly, I was on the brakes, the wind was now a side wind, and I was still speeding down towards the submarine base at Gareloch Head, roundabout ahead, left hand turn still picking up speed without trying, another roundabout and it leveled out, Phew, that wasn't as bad as Id expected, I didn't freak out and have to walk down so that's a bonus. 

Another left turn and a different  view, a wooded lane which was heading upwards. On the road was a High5 Outlaw bottle contained in a red gorrilla cage with pink juice in it. That's Billy's I said out loud, so I stopped, un clipped and picked it up. I was faffing around trying to work out how to transport it when I was passed by a lady, I apologised for being in the way, took the bottle out of the cage and put it in my spare cage, I then balanced the cage on my Tri bars, suddenly conscious of losing time. I got going again and caught the lady up, she told me that this was the big climb. The narrow road wound it's way back and forth up the hillside, corner after corner, over a cattle grid past a very cheerful marshal, still working my way upwards, past a wooden deckchair randomly at the side of the road, eventually I saw a red van roof, Oo! Ice cream van I thought, it wasn't but it was juas as welcome, the water station at the top of the climb. I stopped and wriggled Billy's bottle cage into my back pocket, as numerous riders passed me by, I refilled my bottle turned the corner and what goes up must come down, the road down was steep and winding, Brakes, I slowly made my way down the wet road over a cattle grid and then I could relax, the road was rolling, the wind behind me and I gradually started to catch up wth the riders who had passed me. Shame the state of the roads was not so good now, puddles and potholes, a big like home really. I was determined to catch back up and I did as another hill, short and steep approached I caught up and started to overtake a couple of riders, now the route was downhill for miles, not steep just nice, though I did slow right down for corners. Soon I was back at the start of the loop, right, I know what's ahead one big loop and that's it for the bike.

The last loop was tough at times as last time the route was busy with riders from the standard race who did 1 loop now it was deserted, I wondered if I was right about doing it twice. The wind had not eased and the hills seemed to have multiplied. Where was it? That steep hill sign, surely it's the next one, It finally arrived and as I braked for the descent, 2 riders flew past me with amazing confidence, I was jealous, but could not convince my fingers to release their grip on the brakes. Back to the roundabouts and then the turn onto the lane, I caught up with a rider, it was the lady from the first lap, Lorna, we were back and forth as we wound up the hill, then she shot off and flew down the other side, I was a wimp and slowly descending as I watched Lorna disappear into the distance. As soon as the road leveled, I pedalled like mad, I had a target now, I wanted to catch back up to Lorna, I gradually succeded in passing another lady, then caught Lorna, we were nearly at the end of the ride and we spent the last few miles overtaking and catching each other even as we passed runners, already on the run course. 53 miles complete.

Back at T2 I quickly stripped off my jackets, helmet gloves and swapped bike shoes and wet socks for dry socks and trainers, and set off on the run. As I was leaving the transition area the announcer announced he was going to do the presentations, blooming heck, I hadn't started the run and enough people had already finished to do the presentations, Wow they must be amazing triathletes.

The run consisted of an out and back in one direction twice  and a loop in the other, twice. It was pouring down and windy, I ran along the path, I could see Billy ahead, and I chased him It seemed forever to get to the turn point, as I approached it I saw Martin coming towards me, good to see the boys were ok and running well. They were a lap ahead of me, I turned, ran back to transition, turned and ran back along the river passed the Tullie Inn to the turn point again. Finally the rain stopped and the wind dropped as I headed back to transition, ran past it and set off on the loop to Cameron House and back, I felt good to say how hard I had worked on the bike, It was nice doing a different loop, stopped it becoming tedious. The views across Loch Lomond were a lovely distraction, I was slowly catching some runners, that made me feel good, as I got to a slightly downhill section I picked up my pace to transition, turned and headed out a final time, I worried I'd pushed to early, I'd overtaken the runners but was now running hard, thinking that they would overtake me, soon I was back on the downhill section to the end, I ran as guard as I could and entered transition where I was directed to continue around the racking area to the finish line. 

And stop. It felt like an age since I had set off that morning. Billy was waiting for me with my bag of dry clothes, and I went finally to the heated tent to warm up and get changed.

Overall this wax a good race, no one can help the weather but the organisers had gone out of their way to make things more comfortable for us triathletes.

There was no momento for this race but I never expected any. I signed up to a low key event but it was put on in a professional manner.

 

Week 20 update. It's been a while

Ok, so why no updates for so long? A couple of things, firstly we moved house at the beginning of March, that was a busy couple of weeks but I did manage to do some training. When we were settled, we had no internet until mid April due to a BT Openreach issue, and there being a limited capacity for internet in the Aiskew area. Thirdly, I got out of the habit, family, work and training all vying for my time.

AsI say I have continued my training over these past twelve weeks and my sciatica, though not entirely gone, seems to have stabilised.

On a plus side the move means that I will be able to cycle to work (14 miles) sometimes and save some time combining training and commute, that means I needed a new bike. So I treated myself. I contacted Moonglu and asked if they could get me a Giant Envie, they did, built it and saved it for me until I moved house. It's a lovely ladies aero road bike no pink in sight.

March

I managed a run every day, it's difficult trying to find new routes though.

On 22 March I went to Thirsk, for Thirsk and Sowerby's 10 mile road race. This is a flat road race so a good race for me as my sciatica means less power in my left leg making hills difficult. The last time I did this race it was in November 2009 but then they moved it to March and until this year it has always clashed. It was a sunny but chilly morning, my favourite running weather and I had no real goal in mind, just to run how I feel, which I did and surprised myself by finishing in 1 hour 31 min and 24 sec, just a few seconds slower than my 10 mile PB which I had set at this race in 2009. I was very pleased with myself.

A week later I was at Stokesley for the Duathlon, another cool day, this time with strong winds. The course is a nice one, not technical with a couple of inclines on the bike section, the distances are 3 mile run, 21 mile cycle and 3 mile run. This is a great event to try multisport for the first time.  The race went well for me. The first run was 26:33, the cycle was 1:19:17 and the final run was 26:18. My total time was 2:16:43 including transition. Not a PB  but a great try out for my new bike but highlighted a slight gear issue. 

March training totals

125.9 miles running

4.5 miles swimming

198.5 miles cycling

55.2 miles walk

Not bad to say that I had lost my routine and had to find new locations for my training sessions.

April

I found a new routine, 

Monday cycle to and from work, run to pool, swim, run home

Tuesday Ripon Runners

Wednesday Bedale and Aiskew Runners

Thursday Cycle to and from work, run to pool, swim, run back

Friday morning gentle run, 

Saturday Long cycle brick run

Sunday Long run, OW swim.

The routine worked well and April passed quickly with work, home and training. I stopped being a lone wolf with regards to training and started to train with Billy, it was hard, I was always chasing and he encouraged me to cycle bigger hills than I was used to.

April training totals

165 Miles running

7.7 Miles cycling

415 Miles swimming

75 Miles walking

May

The routine continued but on 2nd and 3rd May we swapped Saturday and Sunday training, we ran and swam Saturday, then on Sunday, in horrific weather we put the bikes on the car and drove to Pennington Flash to meet some members of The Ironman Journey group off Facebook to Recce the bike route. The trip was planned by Ian Hood and we gathered in the rain. This was a new experience, I'd never ridden in a group and found it tough riding so close to others. Soon the rain stopped and it got warmer, I had to strip a layer before taking on Sheephouse Lane. I was nervous about taking on this hill, but I found a rythm and was soon at the top. It was a long haul and I won't be breaking any records, but I know I can get up it. The rest of the route was ok, until Hunters, this was a short steep quad burning hill, but I managed it. I feel better than before about the route, but I still need to get quicker to avoid cut offs on the day. I am so glad we went, there is no way Id have found my way round that route without the groups guidance.

May has also brought the start of the Harrogate District Summer Race League (HDSRL) I have been running for Ripon Runners in this series since 2009. Local clubs put on races around 5-6 miles, and then there is a social with food afterwards. I really like these races.

The first race this year was at Harrogate, the route is mainly road and quite hilly. It was cool and quite windy as the runners gathered at the start. For the last couple of years, with this series, because I am training for other events I set off at the back and see how many places I can gain. This year I started mid pack, I soon found myself working my way forwards through the pack, I caught and ran with Jackie a while, hoping she would help me up the last big hill, but soon I was in front, Would she catch me? I ran hard to hold her off as long as I could, I don't know where the strength came from but I crossed the line just ahead of her to bag myself a course PB by 2 minutes 50 seconds. Sometimes I amaze myself.

Week 8 update, half term but no half measures

The year is whizzing past, there often don't seem to be enough hours in the day, so half term is generally a good time to catch up on stuff that gets put off in the house. So this week I've been having a massive sort out and tidy in the house and garden as well as keeping the training going.

I also took my vest to Ripon Business Services to be printed up. I bought the vest in the sales before Christmas for £2, a right bargin. Looks good don't you think. Tracey always does a great job on printing my t shirts.

Training this week has been the usual routine, a daily run, 2 watt bike sessions, 2 swims and Ripon runners Tuesday and Thursday. 

The weekend is all about endurance. Saturday was a 2 hr 30 walk followed by a 3 hr 30 run. Unfortunately Billy is injured at the moment and we usually walk Jed for the walk section. This week Billy said that he would walk Jed, so I decided to do a long steady run, based around the Rowel walk. The Ripon Rowel was a spur, hence the spur (I think it looks like a sun) on the footpath signs.

As the sun was rising I set off along the River Ure and enjoyed the fact that it was a hard frost which made running easier because the mud was hard rather than slippery. My Heartrate monitor wax playing up trying to tell me my heart rate was in the 170's so Ignored it and just ran to feel.

Ripon Cathedral looked lovely in the early morning.

As I ran along the Ure I spotted a heron, who flew off when he spotted me.

The hard frost made running along the canal a real pleasure in the early morning light, it was so peaceful.

At this point my phone/camera started to play up so I turned it off to conserve the battery which it was saying was at 13% when it was at 100% when I had set off less than an hour previously. 

So no more pictures for the run.

I ran along the Ure then around the back of Bishop Monkton then into the village via Ings Lane, along to the caravan site and across the fields to Burton Leonard. As I always do when my training takes me through the village where I spent most of my childhood, I visited my dad's grave before carrying on, up Burton Hill and then down the Limeys. I crossed the beck where I spent many hours as a child fishing for sticklebacks and bullheads, before running up to the Roman Road (as we called it as kids) towards South Stainley. The sun wax well up now and so as I crossed the field to the A61 my trainers got wider and heavier with craggy mud. I crossed the road and ran along the lane to Markington. I saw a red kite soaring along side me as the rabbits played in the fields. I thought that was very daring of them. At Markington I ran around the sports fields and to a farm where I turned up a little pathway through Holly bushes. The first time I ever ran up this path It was on a Ripon Runner excursion where we got the 36 bus to South Stainley and ran back to Ripon. I remembered a conversation with Penny whist running up this path. She had just completed the Ripon Black Sheep Triathlon, I was thinking of doing it, she encouraged me. That was back in 2010 I've done it 4 times now. 

It's a couple of years since I've run this route, and I soon made a wrong turn, It wasn't long before I realised my mistake, instead of running back I turned my phone back on, found where I was on Google maps and worked a new route to Whitcliffe Lane. I was soon on Whitcliffe Lane and heading for Howe Hill. I ran down the hill and turned up to Sawley, this is quite a long climb and the road was really busy. Most drivers were considerate, I tried to get off the road where possible. But one driver did not move out at all, he drove so close and I couldn't get off the road. Shaken I carried on up to Sawley and enjoyed the run back down the lane towards Fountains Abbey West Gate. It was muddy in the woods, yuk.

I then ran up to a Studley church and down the drive, turned up Plumpton and headed back to Whitcliffe Lane via Mackershaw. I had now covered over 23 miles so I walked up Mackershaw, 2 ladies stopped me and asked if I was ok. I said I was but they asked if I was sure. I must have looked rough hobbling with my sciatica up the hill. I explained that I had been running miles and wax just too tired to run up the hill.

So I ran down the cow field and down Whitcliffe Lane and home at last. 26.35 miles in 5:55:05. Tired but happy. Another 2500 calories burned.

Nutrition was 2 x Soreen lunchbox loaves, 2 x high5 citrus gel and 3 Powerbar cola chews..

I saw this on Facebook and really liked it, it's similar to my tatto I suppose.

Today was supposed to be a 4 hr 45 min cycle. The weather forcast wasn't great and I was a little tired and achy from yesterday's run. I walked the dog to loosen off and got my kit ready. I'll be so glad when the weather improves and I don't have to wrap up like a MichelinMan to go out on the bike. As I was putting my Outlaw jacket on the zip misaligned and opened from the bottom. I took a while to put if right. I set off, and realised my brakes were sticking so came home to sort it. After a load of faffing, it was sorted and I set off again. I headed for Leyburn. It was cold and breezy but there were plenty people out and about, mainly in cars, I only saw a couple of cyclists travelling in the opposite direction to me. The hills were hard on tired legs and coming back from Leyburn the wind was a real hindrance, then there was a flurry of snow, definitely time to get to lower ground. I fought the wind and rain showers back to Ripon. I had done around 4 hours, I could gave gone home, I was cold wet and tired, but I decided to keep going, I headed into the wind towards Bishop Monkton, at least then I'd have the wind behind me on the way home. By now it was raining quite heavily and my hands were really cold. I wax glad to get back to the bypass and head home. 

I cleaned my bike off with numb hands, had a coffee then went out for my runstreak mile. It would have been so easy not to do it but I have run everyday for 52 days and was not letting bad weather stop me now, so I went out bringing my runstreak to 53.

Week 7 update, Carrying on regardless

Well what a week, Monday I did my runstreak mile before taking Jed for a Dogjog. I was really buoyed up by the quality of my run the day before at the Muddy Boots 10 km and stopped paying attention to what my sciatic half numb left foot was doing and so the dogjog was going well, until just before we reached home I misjudged a kerb with my dodgy left foot and went sprawling across the pavement, loosing my grip on the lead, fortunately Jed slowed and stopped. I got up quick grabbed the lead and glanced down at my sore knees

That'll be new tights needed then. The trip wax at a busy junction so I waited till I got home before investigating further

Oh great, a flap of skin removed and knees like a 10 year old. I cleaned it up and applied a massive plaster and hid it all with thick tights for work.

After work and a dog walk I changed the plaster for a waterproof one and headed to the pool. I managed 2650 yds in 57.44 minutes. I then went home, grabbed a couple of rice cakes then headed back out, this time to Ripon Cycle Studio for a watt bike session. The session was a warm up, then 4 minutes at 90 cadence then a minute 3-4 gears higher trying to maintain cadence and repeat 10 times. I really struggled with this session. But I tried really hard.

Tuesday means a lie in before walking the dog. I awoke with a dreadful pain in my shoulder which made breathing difficult. After work I jogged to the Rugby club to run with the junior runners. I was ok jogging, but I could not run, I couldn't breathe deep enough, the kids were having to wait for me. One of the youngsters was feeling unwell, I accompanied them back to club at a walk. 

I ran slowly at the back of the adult group, I was fine as long as I didn't try to run hard.

Wednesday, and it was back to an early start with a runstreak mile and a dogjog. I could breathe a bit better but my knee was still bleeding a bit. The runs were uneventful, phew. After work I walked the dog before my swim and watt bike sessions. Whilst on the walk, a dog went for Jed nightmare.

For my swim session I did 100yd sets, I managed 3 sets under 2 minutes, the rest were just over.

I only get a half hour swim session on a Wednesday and go straight to watt bikes. The watt bike session was a long warm up then a 3 minute test. I managed 253 watts, an improvement since last time, not bad on tired legs, I wanted to redo the test another day.

Thursday, almost a rest day a dog walk in the morning and running club training in the evening. The training was 2 x 4 min efforts, then a 400 m effort and then 2 more 4 min efforts and another 400 m effort. It was tough, but good to attempt to run faster than usual.

Friday was again an uneventful runstreak mile and dogjog before work. In the evening was strength and conditioning, in other words a rest day.

Saturday is endurance day. The plan called for a 2 hr 20 min walk at high heartrate followed by a 3 hr 20 min run with a low heartrate. 5 hr 40 min of steady exercise. The weather was nice so I went to Fountains Abbey, so here are the pics

This was a heron in the river on the walk section along the River Ure

I noticed how orange and black the Abbey looked as I did a freedom parkrun.

I love this view, you get it twice on the Fountains Abbey Parkrun

I liked the way the snowdrops and skeletal trees reflected in the River Skell.

There are signs saying no public access to this Fairey Glenn, shame.

I went up to the Banquetting House for the first time.

It was a lovely view from there.

Sunday was endurance ride day, I didn't sleep well with wierd queries going around my head about Equinox24 and how I'd rack my bike with it's Adamo snub nosed seat, and other random stuff. So I got up tired and my legs were tired from the running too. The plan asked for a 4 hr 30 min ride at heartrate 130-140. After walking the dog Billy and I set out seperately. We were both heading for Richmond but my pace would prevent him training effectively, he was going with similar paced friends.

I set off and soon was paced by them, I worked hard to keep them in sight. At Masham they had stopped. Jeff decided to ride with me as Billy and Martin's pace was to much for his training plan.

It was nice to ride with someone for a change, Jeff said he would probably head back at Leyburn. I had to work hard at times to catch up, at other times we rode together. At Leyburn Jeff decided to continue on with me. The route is undulating and hilly with no flats, by Brompton on Swale my tired legs were arguing, I slowed to get some nutrition in me and soon felt a bit better on the long slog up to Richmond. Then it was time to head home more downs now, some quite fast, but there were still a couple of tough hills. We stopped to offer assistance to a couple with a puncture on one of their mountain bikes, but didn't have appropriate equipment. It was now apparent that we had totally over run our planned time, but Jeff had completed his longest toughest ride. 5 hr 35 min was the time it took to complete 66 miles with 3,839 ft of ascent, Jeff did 70 miles because he had to get home.

It was nice to ride with somebody.

When I got home there was still the small matter of runstreak. I struggled around a mile, before cleaning up my mucky bike.

So that's how my week has been, a good training week with a couple of minor incidents.

Week 6 update,

Ok, so here we are, 6 Sundays 39 days into 2015 already and I have managed to run everyday, this is a new record for me, previously I have only managed 34 days in a row.

Monday was swim and bike day, I managed 120 lengths of the 25 yd pool in just over an hour and that was followed by a tough watt bike session.

Tuesday was running club, I ran down to club, ran with the juniors, ran with the adults and ran home.

I saw the physio on Wednesday morning about my sciatica, she thinks it's rooted in my L5/S1 joint at the base of my spine and given me some exercises to strengthen my back, bug I still need to stretch my Piriformis too. She also said to carry on doing what aim doing. I wanted to run the Muddy Boots 10km but wasn't sure until she said that. After work I did 58 lengths of the pool followed by 2 x 20 minute efforts on the watt bike.

Thursday was hill training, what a disaster, I was demoralised at first as my leg refused to co operate and the other runners left me standing, but I pulled myself together and completed the training to the best of my ability.

Friday was rest day, I ran my mile early in the day. In the evening I did half an hour of Pilates

Saturday was a lovely bright day so I got out on the bike for 3 hours, I managed a big hill without irritating my back further.

Saturday evening was the Tri club dinner, what a laugh, it was a brilliant night, eating, drinking and dancing. I had decided not to dance for fear of irritating my back, but I couldn't resist.

Sunday, race day. I was supposed to run for 3 hours and 10 minutes today, but I figured the race would take at least an hour, so I decided to do a 2 hour run afterwards.

Muddy Boots is the first local 10 k that I ever did, it's a great race, undulating multi terrain. This year they have got a new route taking out the bridge in the first half which caused a bottleneck. The new course was more off-road. I planned to just enjoy the run and to walk up the muddy hill. And to gave a gel half way to test it's impact on my stomach.

I set off near the back and ran reasonably comfortably moving though the runners, As I reached the hill, I set off slow running it and soon was passing people, buoyed up I ran it all and noticed some Ripon Runners ahead I started to chase. I had never planned to race it today but just enjoy it. I was racing it and really enjoying it. The course was muddy but not too bad, the sun was shining and it was not too cold. I ran hard and until the last mile, when my back started to niggle, the distance remained constant between me and the other 2 Ripon Runners, but they soon pulled away over that final stage. I had a great race, finishing in 1:01:18 and very happy and the gel had not disagreed with me.

I ate my banana and drank my water as I chatted with friends, then I headed home to drop off my jumper, medal and tea before setting off again.

So about 40 minutes after finishing the race I set out again, this time heading for Fountains Abbey.

It took ages to get going and I didn't feel great, I thought the banana and water would have been enough energy. I ate a dextrose and felt a bit better, but not much, so I had another and was feeling much better, so I had another for good measure and felt back to normal as I ran my regular route to Studley Church. I ran to the visited centre and refilled my bottle before going into the Abbey grounds. It's ages since I have seen so many people visiting, It was sunny and felt warm in the sunshine, it was lovely to see families picnicking and children running and climbing around the ruins. I decided to go up to Ann Bolyn's seat, wow that was a tough hill. It was much quieter so high up and the views between the trees were fabulous.

I ran along taking a few pics before descending through a tunnel back to the water gardens

I then left the Abbey grounds and headed back up to the church

Before running home. 9 miles in 2 hours, and that's today's runstreak well and truly completed.

After getting home I walked the dog to keep everything moving gently.

So there you are, this last week of training.

Getting to the bottom of my sciatica

Well what a busy day, I finally had my long awaited physio appointment, it was at 07:30, so in order to keep my runstreak going and get the dog out I got up at 05:00, after being awake since about 04:00. The downside of having an early night. I just did a very gentle run this morning on a slightly different route. It was very icy on the pavements. I then had breakfast and took Jed for a Dogjog, it felt like it was getting colder bbbrrr!

After feeding Jed and preparing my lunch I went to physio, I expected to be in and out in 10 minutes but it was  more like 40. The physio asked loads of questions and did quite a few checks and gave me some different exercises to do to strengthen the muscles around my spine. She said I could carry on doing what I normally do, (yes, I did tell her that I run, cycle, swim and walk about 20 hours a week.) so that pleased me loads, also she showed me on a skeleton the area of my spine that was most likely to be irritating/pinching my nerve according to my symptoms. All good, because now that I know where the root of the problem is, I can work specifically on getting back to full fitness.

And because I was told I can carry on doing my training, after work and walking Jed I swam 1450 yards before going to Ripon Cycle Studio to do 2 lots of 20 minutes at above 184 watts with a 5 min recovery. I succeeded and averaged 186.5. 

These watt bike sessions may be tough but they measure progression quickly, and Dewi has everyone on their own programme. I really enjoy the sessions.