... or have I finally found something worth living for?"
It has been a tough week, which has slightly interrupted the flow of my training and put a few things into perspective. With Becs going to Hong Kong to work for three months I am a very lucky man to be part of two smashing families and to have cemented some great friendships over the years. I have been inundated with supportive texts, e-mails and phone calls over the week. Its going to be a long three months but their support will keep me positive and remind me that it will aid Becs' career as well as helping us hit our targets as a couple.
There are some positives with Becs going to HK. It will mean that I can spend more time on training without feeling guilty at not being home and it will mean I will not be subjected to too much gloating after Wales' hotly contested victory yesterday in the Six Nations. Also, it will mean that our dinning room table will not be full of half completed jigsaw puzzles and all our bowls will be available for food rather than their current use of storing sorted puzzle pieces...
This week has been full of leaving parties for Becs and meals out as a couple which has meant that some of my early morning training sessions have been cancelled; especially on Friday morning after downing my first yard of ale since University the previous night. The weeks total (20th - 26th February) was 5 hours 17 minutes made up of 26.5 miles of running and 45 minutes of cycling. This looks lower than it would have been as I had already decided to have a week break from the swimming pool.
Ironically the the second thing categorised as worth living for has been this blog. Apart from being cathartic it has facilitated me zoning on my athletic vision and goals, helping me track my progress against these specific objectives. This week has seen approval from Google to put advertisements on my blog to earn some extra revenue for Mencap. I get revenue every time someone accesses the blog and additional money if someone clicks on the advertisement. I have been trying to guess which one of my friends asked the anonymous 'childish' question as to whether I have used 'Fitness Singles' but there are more suspects than fellow guests when Poirot goes away on holiday. So, like the Belgium sleuth I am going to bide my time and hope the 'guilty' party slips up and reveals themselves. The answer is no by the way.
The aims with regard to the blog over the next few weeks is: to polish the design to make it look more professional and enable me to upload pictures, work out how I can add products to the side bar so I can generate extra revenue if someone buys these products from Amazon and try and get the blog included within a couple of the running magazines to gain extra exposure. Not sure how realistic the last aim is but its worth a go. If you don't buy a ticket you won't win the raffle as the old saying goes.
The third thing from this week that has been categorised as worth living for is my new Garmin 910XT Forerunner watch. This gadget has been the highest entry in the top 5 list of things that have changed my life for years (the other top 5 were my Sega Megadrive in the 90s, iPod, first bike because of the freedom it allowed me and Sky+ box, in case you wanted to know).
As a Mathematics and Statistics graduate I almost climax every time I use the watch and then upload the data to my laptop. In the short time I have had it I have already learnt more than over the last few years in totality. I now know that my running pace drops off more alarmingly in the later sections of my long runs than I appreciated and my running pace fluctuates. After concentrating on improving my cycling and swimming techniques I need to work on smoothing out my running style so this fluctuation is reduced meaning I run at a higher average pace.
Additionally, it has confirmed what my doctor said at my last MOT that my engine is very good. Basically, my legs are the limiting factor as my heart rate under duress remains quite low. I now need to do shorter fast runs or farteks to improve my leg speed and put my heart under greater strain. Besides, I haven't even used it in the pool yet so I have not benefited from its swimming mode tracking number of lengths, number of swimming strokes per length or the swimming efficiency parameters.
The watch even provided the impetus this morning as, like an excited boy on Boxing Day, I got up at 7 am to play with my new toy despite having a 'few' drinks last night to soften the blow of a poor days sport and Becs' imminent departure to HK. If only the multi-sport watch had a hangover mode where it jumps out of my bedside cabinet, pulls back the duvet and sprays water to wake me up it would be the complete training aid.
The previous weeks training (13th - 19th February) totalled 10 hours 13 minutes consisting of 7,000 metres of swimming, 45 minutes of cycling at a spin class, 1 hour of football and 35 miles of running.
And finally, as the song goes on explain, there are a few other things that are worth living for. But, I am going to have to live a cleaner life if I am going to realise the demanding goals that I have set myself. Besides, I want to "Live Forever", but that's a story for another day...
TTFN
This blog is designed to be a light hearted aide memoir to anyone who is either considering doing the Marathon Des Sables, has already signed up to the race or simply takes pleasure out of someone elses pain. This blog will cover fundraising ideas, training, equipment and the race itself...
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Sunday, 12 February 2012
An exaggeration in length
Before I proceed with this weeks blog update I want to bring two things to people's attention: the explanation of the cryptic title to this blog and the changes that I will be making to this blog.
Firstly, the exaggeration in length, and no I am not using this blog to publicly admit to having a little pecker. This is an admission that I have been overcooking my weekday swimming durations by 10%. On Friday I took one of my work mates, George Karolemeas, and fellow triathletes, to the pool that I use either before work or at lunch times for the last two years. On the bus ride I confidently responded to his question about the size of the pool stating that it was 25 metres. Now, in my defence if you are as short sighted as me and you use one '25 metre' pool you don't question the response of one of the life guards when asked him how long the pool is. Halfway through our drills my mate repeated his question and despite me reiterating my belief that it was a 25 metre pool one of the other swimmers leant across and corrected me that the pool was actually 22.5 metres. The long and short of this is that my swimming session have been overcooked by 10%. The fact that he laughed all day at my lack of attention to detail is making me consider elevating George from critical friend to Nemesis :-). Still on Saturday, at the London Fields Lido, before taking my glasses off to swim I sought out the sign that provides the dimensions of the pool. Thankfully I can report that at least this one is 50 metres long...
The second element to bring to the reader's attention is the fact of changes to the blog. My Director of Communications/Spin Doctor, the very same George Karolemeas, has given me some suggestions. The first is to keep the blogs shorter. I will try to incorporate brevity over subsequent blogs but I think this one will trail on a bit. The second is to post the monthly stats separately, so you will find this as one of the posts this week. This status will also include reference to distance between Barking and specific cities or towns to give perspective to my monthly swimming, running and cycling totals. The final recommendation is to try to use the blog to raise revenue for my Mencap total. Over the next few weeks I will be contacting Google and Amazon to see what rewards I can earn through advertisement on this Google powered blog and by recommending books on Amazon.
Right, onto the blog. I decided to kick on with my training this week to recover from the fact that my last week pettered out so Monday started with a 1000 metre swim followed by a 10k run in 50 minutes on the treadmill, to beat the snow. As I start my speed weeks I will continue to incorporate 10k runs on the treadmill in my weekly schedule with the target to get these down to 40 minutes. Tuesday consisted of a 10.5 mile run home through the melting snow which froze the majority of my extremities and also involved dodging surprises in the snow. Why is that Dog walkers seem to enjoy leaving their dog's feces to be covered by snow to be discovered by some unsuspecting walker or runner?
Wednesday comprised of a back to back session of 700 metre swim followed by 45 minute spin session with Thursday scheduled as a rest day for an early Valentines Day meal with my wife. The meat sweats after eating nearly 550g of steak at Gaucho's was made tolerable by the fact that it has got me a pass of the real Valentines Day to watch West Ham against Southampton. Not very romantic but it is football and it is a big game that will hopefully keep momentum up on Big Sam's promotion bandwagon.
Friday, a 10.5 mile run into work to start the day and the lunchtime swim of 1000 metres that caused the exaggeration in length to be discovered. It was a real shame that I was really busy at work this week, the bastards, as it meant that I couldn't completed as many swimming sessions so Saturday's swimming session became a priority. The 1 hour 24 minute 4k swim was incident packed involving two collisions with some of the neurotic swimmers that seem to occupy the pools I frequent. Still, as I said to one of the swimmers, if they insist on doing tumble turns in a busy lane whilst trying to use the wall to overtake other swimmers then why should I feel guilty that his head made contact with my foot... Saturday concluded with a 15.5 mile run and Sunday consisted of a 1 hour core strength session of dumbbells and ab exercises.
The big change of the week was around my dietary habits. Its seems that the increased training has meant I am eating like a Hobbit. Using Friday as an example I started with a first breakfast of cereals, second breakfast at work after my run of granola, elevenses of tuna, first lunch of a baguette, second lunch of a bagel and cheesecake, afternoon tea of dried mango, a few beers with work colleagues and finally couscous at home. Just typing this is making me hungry... :-)
Weekly totals are 6,400 metres of swimming (revised lengths) and 41 miles of running.
Next week I will be starting my speed training as there is now only 9 weeks to go to the Paris Marathon. In addition I will be beginning to research the expedition food that I will take with me to the Sahara. Hopefully in my next blog I can also report on three more points for the Hammers.
TTFN...
Firstly, the exaggeration in length, and no I am not using this blog to publicly admit to having a little pecker. This is an admission that I have been overcooking my weekday swimming durations by 10%. On Friday I took one of my work mates, George Karolemeas, and fellow triathletes, to the pool that I use either before work or at lunch times for the last two years. On the bus ride I confidently responded to his question about the size of the pool stating that it was 25 metres. Now, in my defence if you are as short sighted as me and you use one '25 metre' pool you don't question the response of one of the life guards when asked him how long the pool is. Halfway through our drills my mate repeated his question and despite me reiterating my belief that it was a 25 metre pool one of the other swimmers leant across and corrected me that the pool was actually 22.5 metres. The long and short of this is that my swimming session have been overcooked by 10%. The fact that he laughed all day at my lack of attention to detail is making me consider elevating George from critical friend to Nemesis :-). Still on Saturday, at the London Fields Lido, before taking my glasses off to swim I sought out the sign that provides the dimensions of the pool. Thankfully I can report that at least this one is 50 metres long...
The second element to bring to the reader's attention is the fact of changes to the blog. My Director of Communications/Spin Doctor, the very same George Karolemeas, has given me some suggestions. The first is to keep the blogs shorter. I will try to incorporate brevity over subsequent blogs but I think this one will trail on a bit. The second is to post the monthly stats separately, so you will find this as one of the posts this week. This status will also include reference to distance between Barking and specific cities or towns to give perspective to my monthly swimming, running and cycling totals. The final recommendation is to try to use the blog to raise revenue for my Mencap total. Over the next few weeks I will be contacting Google and Amazon to see what rewards I can earn through advertisement on this Google powered blog and by recommending books on Amazon.
Right, onto the blog. I decided to kick on with my training this week to recover from the fact that my last week pettered out so Monday started with a 1000 metre swim followed by a 10k run in 50 minutes on the treadmill, to beat the snow. As I start my speed weeks I will continue to incorporate 10k runs on the treadmill in my weekly schedule with the target to get these down to 40 minutes. Tuesday consisted of a 10.5 mile run home through the melting snow which froze the majority of my extremities and also involved dodging surprises in the snow. Why is that Dog walkers seem to enjoy leaving their dog's feces to be covered by snow to be discovered by some unsuspecting walker or runner?
Wednesday comprised of a back to back session of 700 metre swim followed by 45 minute spin session with Thursday scheduled as a rest day for an early Valentines Day meal with my wife. The meat sweats after eating nearly 550g of steak at Gaucho's was made tolerable by the fact that it has got me a pass of the real Valentines Day to watch West Ham against Southampton. Not very romantic but it is football and it is a big game that will hopefully keep momentum up on Big Sam's promotion bandwagon.
Friday, a 10.5 mile run into work to start the day and the lunchtime swim of 1000 metres that caused the exaggeration in length to be discovered. It was a real shame that I was really busy at work this week, the bastards, as it meant that I couldn't completed as many swimming sessions so Saturday's swimming session became a priority. The 1 hour 24 minute 4k swim was incident packed involving two collisions with some of the neurotic swimmers that seem to occupy the pools I frequent. Still, as I said to one of the swimmers, if they insist on doing tumble turns in a busy lane whilst trying to use the wall to overtake other swimmers then why should I feel guilty that his head made contact with my foot... Saturday concluded with a 15.5 mile run and Sunday consisted of a 1 hour core strength session of dumbbells and ab exercises.
The big change of the week was around my dietary habits. Its seems that the increased training has meant I am eating like a Hobbit. Using Friday as an example I started with a first breakfast of cereals, second breakfast at work after my run of granola, elevenses of tuna, first lunch of a baguette, second lunch of a bagel and cheesecake, afternoon tea of dried mango, a few beers with work colleagues and finally couscous at home. Just typing this is making me hungry... :-)
Weekly totals are 6,400 metres of swimming (revised lengths) and 41 miles of running.
Next week I will be starting my speed training as there is now only 9 weeks to go to the Paris Marathon. In addition I will be beginning to research the expedition food that I will take with me to the Sahara. Hopefully in my next blog I can also report on three more points for the Hammers.
TTFN...
Saturday, 11 February 2012
January Status
Running: 110 miles which is the distance between Barking and Nottingham
Swimming: 20k which is the distance between Barking and Brentwood
Cycling: 50 miles which is the distance between Barking and Brighton
Weight lost 5 pounds which is 2.2% of 224 pounds
Swimming: 20k which is the distance between Barking and Brentwood
Cycling: 50 miles which is the distance between Barking and Brighton
Weight lost 5 pounds which is 2.2% of 224 pounds
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Tip of the week... never eat yellow snow!!!
Well the saying is "its a marathon not a sprint" and this week has turned into an impromptu recovery/easy week, albeit I have still managed nearly 7 hours of training. With two West Ham games, two leaving parties, snow storm and my Mum's birthday it has made it difficult to schedule in some training sessions; but my legs definitely feel refreshed after four tough consecutive weeks to kick start 2012.
A few of my triathlete mates think that I am either Don Fink's lover or love child as all last year I kept on spouting on about his book (Be Ironfit) and training strategies. If you ignore the Americanisms about living the dream it is an excellent aide memoir to any training, not just the ironman. He encourages capping weekly increases at 10% and having a easy week every four weeks. He also keeps quality of training high by measuring time and heart rate. I will stop banging the Fink drum as I will create a new wave of people that might also question my intentions, and no am not getting a referral bonus either...
The week (30th Jan - 5th Feb) started out in a reasonably low key fashion; quick 600 metre swim followed by a core strength session. This was designed to help the body recover after a hard training weekend the previous week. Tuesday ramped up a bit with a slow-ish 10.5 mile run into a work and lunchtime 1000 metre swim as I knew that I had my first challenge of the week to my training willpower; a visit to Scandinavia to watch West Ham away at Ipswich.
Now I wasn't expecting it to be warm but the brass monkeys crying at Portmand Road was a bit of a shock to the system; albeit slightly upstaged by both the result and the seating arrangements. Starting with the game, West Ham actually played better than the 5-1 drubbing might suggest. Between the two penalty areas we were the better team but in both areas it was diabolical. We missed a few gilt edged changes and the less said about our defending the better.
I was very appreciative of my best mate at work giving me use of his spare season ticket for free but he wasn't quite as open about the seating arrangements as he was with his wallet. He seemed to omit the fact that I would be using his father-in-laws seat and that he is classified as disabled. I am sure you have guessed but yes our seats were in the Ipswich disabled enclosure. Still, I ignored the stewards inquisitive glances as to what was wrong with yours truly, as I was thankful for the fact that the free match outweighed the daylight robbery of the £72 return train ticket. It also enabled me to get a front row view of the game, players tunnel and the slightly bewildering spectacle of a disabled West Ham fan getting arrested at half time by three coppers for throwing coins at Michael Chopra. All in all I saw it all.
Wednesday was my big training day and I planned the sessions in the evening as I knew I would get back from Suffolk late especially as the train company generously brought on a replacement bus service around 10:30... In the evening I completed my first brick session (back to back cross training) of the year. I used the location of my gym to home to incorporate a swim before my weekly spin class and a run home afterwards. The two and a half hours of quality training confirmed that I am already in Ironman shape with the legs remaining strong at the end of long runs. What I didn't expect was that this would be my final training session of the week.
Thursday was already a rest day as I knew I had my boss' leaving meal at the excellent Lahore Restaurant in Algate but Friday's blow out was a shock. I felt quite rough on Friday morning and cancelled my run in. I then spent longer out on Friday's leaving drinks and it resulted in my Saturday swim being cancelled too. Still, this meant I could catch up with one of my oldest friends from Uni and also provided the surprise bonus of bumping into my childhood sweetheart in Reflex.
Saturday's monster hangover wore off at midday meaning that I was reasonably with it by the time I was presented with the sight of about 2,000 riot police at the West Ham Millwall game. Now I know that the main thing was that the game passed without incident but I still don't know whether it really warranted the heavy handed approach by the police, who looked more sinister than even the most thuggish Millwall fan. It was great that West Ham won to remain top but as I went to the game with my Mum it was also a tremendous start to her birthday. Slight doubts about the winning goal as Faubert took out their goalie in the run up Reid's shot but I don't care a jot!!!
The remainder of Saturday was spent round my Sister's house having a Chinese take away to celebrate my Mum's birthday and preparing for my Sister's first half marathon race when the snow set it. The race was cancelled due to the snow and my Sister was really disappointed with the interruption to her London Marathon training. We are now going to meet up for a slow 15 miler next Saturday to keep up the momentum to her first marathon completion and her dissappointment was outwieghed by my 23 month old nephew playing in the snow on his sledge. Big softy I know :-)...
Sunday was slightly salvaged by a strength training session at home before we sat down to watch the yearly event that threatens matrimonial harmony in the Deane household; The Six Nations. A few weeks to go to the big event of the Wales vs England game but things are starting to hot up with both Wales and England getting of to good starts on the road.
Tonight I am using the snow to postpone my Monday morning run and stay up late to watch the Super Bowl. It will also mean that I will have to spend the remainder of my week in my training kit.
Next week is the final week of the build stage as I will be starting my speed stage on February 13th with only 9 weeks to the Paris Marathon. I am hoping that the speed training will make my target 3:30 more realistic. Additionally, I will be completing planning for my Wine and Cheese fundraiser in June as well as getting cracking organising my five-a-side football fundraiser in March/April.
Monthly stats for January:
Running: 110 miles
Swimming: 20k
Cycling: 50 miles
Weight lost 5 pounds
Money spent/wasted* on training kit, travel and accommodation: £1,050
* depends on whether you are me or my wife...
TTFN...
A few of my triathlete mates think that I am either Don Fink's lover or love child as all last year I kept on spouting on about his book (Be Ironfit) and training strategies. If you ignore the Americanisms about living the dream it is an excellent aide memoir to any training, not just the ironman. He encourages capping weekly increases at 10% and having a easy week every four weeks. He also keeps quality of training high by measuring time and heart rate. I will stop banging the Fink drum as I will create a new wave of people that might also question my intentions, and no am not getting a referral bonus either...
The week (30th Jan - 5th Feb) started out in a reasonably low key fashion; quick 600 metre swim followed by a core strength session. This was designed to help the body recover after a hard training weekend the previous week. Tuesday ramped up a bit with a slow-ish 10.5 mile run into a work and lunchtime 1000 metre swim as I knew that I had my first challenge of the week to my training willpower; a visit to Scandinavia to watch West Ham away at Ipswich.
Now I wasn't expecting it to be warm but the brass monkeys crying at Portmand Road was a bit of a shock to the system; albeit slightly upstaged by both the result and the seating arrangements. Starting with the game, West Ham actually played better than the 5-1 drubbing might suggest. Between the two penalty areas we were the better team but in both areas it was diabolical. We missed a few gilt edged changes and the less said about our defending the better.
I was very appreciative of my best mate at work giving me use of his spare season ticket for free but he wasn't quite as open about the seating arrangements as he was with his wallet. He seemed to omit the fact that I would be using his father-in-laws seat and that he is classified as disabled. I am sure you have guessed but yes our seats were in the Ipswich disabled enclosure. Still, I ignored the stewards inquisitive glances as to what was wrong with yours truly, as I was thankful for the fact that the free match outweighed the daylight robbery of the £72 return train ticket. It also enabled me to get a front row view of the game, players tunnel and the slightly bewildering spectacle of a disabled West Ham fan getting arrested at half time by three coppers for throwing coins at Michael Chopra. All in all I saw it all.
Wednesday was my big training day and I planned the sessions in the evening as I knew I would get back from Suffolk late especially as the train company generously brought on a replacement bus service around 10:30... In the evening I completed my first brick session (back to back cross training) of the year. I used the location of my gym to home to incorporate a swim before my weekly spin class and a run home afterwards. The two and a half hours of quality training confirmed that I am already in Ironman shape with the legs remaining strong at the end of long runs. What I didn't expect was that this would be my final training session of the week.
Thursday was already a rest day as I knew I had my boss' leaving meal at the excellent Lahore Restaurant in Algate but Friday's blow out was a shock. I felt quite rough on Friday morning and cancelled my run in. I then spent longer out on Friday's leaving drinks and it resulted in my Saturday swim being cancelled too. Still, this meant I could catch up with one of my oldest friends from Uni and also provided the surprise bonus of bumping into my childhood sweetheart in Reflex.
Saturday's monster hangover wore off at midday meaning that I was reasonably with it by the time I was presented with the sight of about 2,000 riot police at the West Ham Millwall game. Now I know that the main thing was that the game passed without incident but I still don't know whether it really warranted the heavy handed approach by the police, who looked more sinister than even the most thuggish Millwall fan. It was great that West Ham won to remain top but as I went to the game with my Mum it was also a tremendous start to her birthday. Slight doubts about the winning goal as Faubert took out their goalie in the run up Reid's shot but I don't care a jot!!!
The remainder of Saturday was spent round my Sister's house having a Chinese take away to celebrate my Mum's birthday and preparing for my Sister's first half marathon race when the snow set it. The race was cancelled due to the snow and my Sister was really disappointed with the interruption to her London Marathon training. We are now going to meet up for a slow 15 miler next Saturday to keep up the momentum to her first marathon completion and her dissappointment was outwieghed by my 23 month old nephew playing in the snow on his sledge. Big softy I know :-)...
Sunday was slightly salvaged by a strength training session at home before we sat down to watch the yearly event that threatens matrimonial harmony in the Deane household; The Six Nations. A few weeks to go to the big event of the Wales vs England game but things are starting to hot up with both Wales and England getting of to good starts on the road.
Tonight I am using the snow to postpone my Monday morning run and stay up late to watch the Super Bowl. It will also mean that I will have to spend the remainder of my week in my training kit.
Next week is the final week of the build stage as I will be starting my speed stage on February 13th with only 9 weeks to the Paris Marathon. I am hoping that the speed training will make my target 3:30 more realistic. Additionally, I will be completing planning for my Wine and Cheese fundraiser in June as well as getting cracking organising my five-a-side football fundraiser in March/April.
Monthly stats for January:
Running: 110 miles
Swimming: 20k
Cycling: 50 miles
Weight lost 5 pounds
Money spent/wasted* on training kit, travel and accommodation: £1,050
* depends on whether you are me or my wife...
TTFN...
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