First OW Swim
by Matt on May.22, 2010, under What
Got over to Broggie on Saturday morning for my first OW swim. Met up with some of the TeamMK guys who were great and helped myself and a few other newbies in our first foray into lake swimming. Broggie is obviously really popular on a Saturday morning as the carpark got quite full with swimmers. There were probably about 10 TeamMK’ers and maybe 20 or more from Boxfit Tri Club (it’s one of their ‘home’ lakes). Many swimmers had turned up with bikes so were clearly planning on brick sessions.
Brogborough Lake
We swam about 400m out to a platform by which time I’d warmed up nicely and was getting more accustomed to the sensation, it was a little off putting to see plant life below me though as we approached the platform! The swim back to the shore was much more pleasant. I’d adapted to the wetsuit which encourages a more gliding style of swimming and easily built up a rhythm. In total we probably only did about 800m but that’s by far the longest I’ve swum without touching the bottom / side etc.
All in all a really good first OW swim – I think Saturday mornings at Broggie will become a fixture, and hopefully another morning during the week too.
A decent week training
by Matt on May.22, 2010, under What
Finally getting my arse in gear. Got a mile swim done in the pool on Monday lunchtime, the usual 5mi (quickish) run home after work on Tuesday. Wednesday rode the 7mi to and from work on the hybrid (note to self – needs a service, metal on metal grinding is not good). Thursday another 45 mins in the pool doing various drills, would have gym’d on Friday (but didn’t) and then this morning met up with the TeamMK guys for my first OW over at Broggie (Brogborough).
Tomorrow I hope to get another long ride in and a quick run afterwards.
The good thing about this week is that none of these activities required a massive change to my usual day. I’m hoping this can work as a basis for a routine week and then I can look to increase the distance (take the long way home) or fit an extra run or ride in where possible.
New Wetsuit
by Matt on May.16, 2010, under What
I’ve picked two upcoming local Tri’s that feature an openwater swim (rather than Pool sprint). So obviously a wetsuit is a necessity (in this country). So I’ve got myself an Orca S2 from Wiggle and a tri-suit for underneath. The S2 is usually £99 from Wiggle, but currently I’m on their platinum discount scheme and got a bonus day so made a 15% saving. Also you can return the suit at the end of the season and get a refund mean a season’s hire is just £50.
Having never worn a wetsuit before I’m hoping it’s the right size. I struggled into it and it’s certainly tight – but not uncomfortably so. I’m yet to swim in it but the arms and legs seem flexible enough. Taking it off took an age too! Once I’d put it on and take it off in the comfort of my own home I tried again, this time a bit quicker – so I think it’s all down to technique. Perhaps it’ll be easier when it’s gotten wet too.
After I’d expended several gazillion calories getting in and out of the S2 I headed down the gym for a bit of a swim (without the suit) and some core / stretching work. My swimming has suffered a bit as I’ve been focussed on my bike / running recently with the Duathlon, it showed in the pool as I never really clicked into a rhythm. I need to work more swimming back into my schedule, and hopefully get some open water swims in with the TeamMK folk, probably early mornings so it doesn’t come as a complete shock to the system when I get to a race.
Upcoming Races
by Matt on May.13, 2010, under When
Realising that actually booking a race is a useful motivator I’ve picked on two that feature open water swims.
First off I’ve got sprint race on 4th July,
Cowman Sprint – 750m swim, 20k cycle, 5k run.
Then later in the month its back to Emberton for the MK Tri on the 2th,
MK Tri 2010 – 1500m swim, 40k cycle, 10k run.
My priority before these races is to get some open water experience. I’ve neglecting the swimming recently preparing for the Duathlon so it’s time to head back to the pool. My wetsuit is on order so the plan is to meet up wit the Team MK people at Haversham or Brogborough and get from 0 to 1500 in the next couple of months.
I’m also tempted to book a place at the Beverley 2010 Sprint Tri – it’s a pretty market town I used to go to school in and near to my parents home… so a bit weird to run round it in some wet swimming trunks.
Votwo Silverstone Duathlon
by Matt on May.13, 2010, under Results
My first event of the year. I’d never attempted a Duathlon before so this was an opportunity to get out on the new bike without any swimming concerns – plus a chance to ride the famous Grand Prix circuit.
Myself and Chris got there in ample time and were relieved to see that some people had mountain bikes so our fears about coming last were rested slightly. On the other hand transition was quite full of some serious bike porn. It was clear that the chance of wide smooth traffic-free tarmac had attracted quite a number of competitors who’d be looking at very quick times.
The schedule was a little worrying, pre-race briefing at 18:50, race start and 19:00, prizes at 20:00! Maybe I could wave at the medal winners whilst I completed my last couple of laps! Then during pre-race briefing the organizers explained that the revised GP circuit now meant the bike leg would be 12 miles rather than 10.
Anyway, the race started well I did my first 2 miles at a quick (for me) 7.04 and 7.16 before heading through T1 onto the bike. T1 wasn’t too bad, but I failed to clip in properly on the mount line which is just before a steep hump back bridge. The bike flowed quite easily and sharp corners for cars became fast bends on a bike, I think my splits probably got quicker over the 3 laps. I’d planned to spin down approaching T2 but enthusiasm for the speed got the better of me and I came in quickly then tackled the bridge again. This left me completely ruined for the 1st lap of the 2nd run, by the second lap I’d got my breathing back and felt some power come back into my legs.
All done at 1hr10m46s, which for me was a great result – especially considering the bike stage was longer than expected.
Things I can take from this race
- First run pace was good.
- Need to practice clipping on with the new shoes
- More biking required, I’d only done a little over 100 miles ever prior to this
- Stick to the race plan, a few seconds of over enthusiasm prior to T2 may have cost me minutes on the second run
Brick Session
by Matt on Apr.18, 2010, under What
Reduced the bike distance slightly today and introduced a running session to give me a 1hr/1hr brick session. I haven’t done a whole lot of running recently so this was a refreshing (and tiring) change.
I’d also switched my Specialized MTB shoes and SPD cleets for more rode oriented Wiggle dhb R1 road shoes and Look system pedals. They’re much harder to get on with as the lack of grip of the shoes and the smoothness of the pedals means there’s no option to pedal whilst unclipped (something I’d gotten used to approach junctions with my SPD setup).
Anyway the bike went well, I thought initially I was quite slow but then realised I’d been in the top cog for the first few miles anyway so pace was good (17mph average, even with some slow traffic through Newport). The run was also good, with no knee issues at all – although I should have taken a drink with me as a few sips during “transition” weren’t really sufficient after an hour in the saddle and then nearly an hour on the paths, given it’s only mid-April it was quite a hot and sunny day.
A good session anyway, I’ll hopefully get a long ride in next week but still try to put some sort of run on the end of it.
Re-assessment of goals
by Matt on Apr.18, 2010, under What, When, Where
So far this year my work load seems to be a stumbling block to any significant training. To tackle something serious like 70.3 or full IM and need to be able to fully commit to training for it and that isn’t happening right now. Given that I’ve been re-assessing what’s realistic – especially given that I’ve only recently had a proper road bike and I’ve yet to even begin open water swimming.
The likelihood of any open water swim being possible until May is low given the cold water temps right now. I’ve decided to start off with a Duathlon at Silverstone race circuit. A 2.5mi Run, 10mi Ride then 2.5mi Run. Silverstone is relatively close to where I live and offers a chance to compete on the famous motor racing circuit.
Following on from there of I’ve got a list of a few more ‘possibles’,
June 6 – Big Cow Sprint 750/20/5
June 29 – Silverstone Duathlon 2.5/10/2.5 (2nd race in the series)
July 4 – Cowman 1.9/92/21 or Cowman Sprint 750/20/5
July 25 – MK Tri 1.5/40/10
August 12 – Silverstone Duathlon 2.5/10/2.5 (3rd race in series)
August 15 – Beverley Tri 400/20/5 (my old school town, close to my parents)
Some of these are open water. I’d like to do at least one this year.
Update! New bike..
by Matt on Mar.28, 2010, under What
Wow, seems like I haven’t posted anything since Mid-January. Nothing much has changed, a ton of work from the office has meant I’ve not had any motivation / energy to get out a do anything. So I’m pretty much doing the same old every week. In addition a couple of my long runs have been spoiled by a recurrence of my knee problems which isn’t good for moral. On the positive side though my swimming is improving as I’ve been putting in 1 mile swims on Friday evenings (in the pool).
In an (expensive) attempt to give my motivation a kick I took the plunge and bought a ‘proper’ road bike. After weighing up the options (see earlier post), I did what everybody does and bought something more expensive. In the end I opted for the Focus Cayo Ultegra 2009. Same full carbon frame and forks as the 105, but with an upgrade to the Ultegra group-set. 220-Triathlon had given in a 10 out of 10 in the ‘mid-range’ price bracket – so I’m hoping it’ll see me through the next few years.
So Today I switched my Sunday long run for a ‘first ride’ and actually felt much more settled than on my short test runs. I wasn’t pushing on particularly, just getting used to it. On the open road it’s great and when I remember to pedal through the full motion I can really feel it surge on.
Currently I’m using my Shimano SPD pedals whilst I’m waiting for some Look Classics and new road shoes to turn up… for once I managed to avoid speccing up, although the dhb R1 carbon road shoes for only £80 from Wiggle were very tempting.
Anyway – ride 1 done. I’ll have to try and get out on the roads more now the evenings are lighter.
New shoes…
by Matt on Jan.17, 2010, under What
Ran home in the snow on Tuesday – which was great. Conditions had conspired against me over the past couple of weeks and I thought I wouldn’t get the opportunity, but luckily the snow held out (as did my knee). It was a good run, not quick, but very enjoyable. Shame it couldn’t actually snow whilst I was out thought – that would have been fun.
I got a swim in on Friday, just shy of 1600m – I got a cramp in my foot a couple of lengths from the end which was annoying, but what was encouraging was that I could even get that far having not swum for several weeks.
Finally closed out the week by trying my new Mizuno’s out on my Sunday run. I told Laura that I wouldn’t be long as I was wearing new shoes and probably wouldn’t push it (plus my previous knee issues). I planned on doing about 5mi, but whilst out realised that it would be closer to 6 when I got back. Then approaching 6 felt good and put a bit more on to take it closer to 8. Then right near home decided that since I was having no problems, and the conditions were good I’d put an extra final loop of the lake on taking me up to just over 10! Excellent. I hadn’t gone prepared for that though so didn’t take any water, otherwise I could have probably gone on further.
Mental note. Don’t leave it to 500mi before replacing shoes again.
Time to get a (proper) bike..
Quick update
by Matt on Jan.11, 2010, under What
Ran 6 miles on Sunday in the snow with no problems (although took it quite easy pacewise). 5 miles is the critical distance as this means I can put in a run home from work this week hopefully without any problems.
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Matt's Blog
My attempt to record my progress in completing an IronMan event.
GarminConnect- Early morning swim @ Broggie September 6, 2010
- Double digit run September 5, 2010
- Foggy swim @ Broggie September 4, 2010
- Ride out to Harrold and back September 3, 2010
- Just a run September 1, 2010
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