Biker Boys.

Today is about trying to improve my 5k time. 10:05 minute miles is my best recent time, so shall be looking for 9:55, and if I come out with 10:00, I'll be happy.
Today is also about going to the dentist.
I know which one will be more fun.
It's only a check up, but they always lead to bad things, and my dentist is incompetent.

I gave my arms a day off yesterday, so will also be blasting them with weights later.

To stop myself ending up in a sit-com style situation, I shall be seeing Biker A on Saturday night, and Biker B (also known as Boxer Boy) on Sunday night. A table has been booked for Saturday, apparently there's a special Christmas tapas on. I do like a man who thinks to book.
He's 42, so maybe it's the sensibleness of years.
Biker B is 33. It may all be a waste of time as I'm not sure what's going on in his head. Especially since he texted me to tell me he'd just totally shaved his head. So not the weather to be doing that!
I think I might buy him a woolly hat...or a wig.

This one would also keep his neck warm.

2013 - Year Of Awesomeness

While I hate the whole new year party shenanigans, I do like the goal setting and fresh start aspect.
So I have new notebooks at the ready, and a brand new set of goals that I WILL achieve.

45 min 10k
2 hour half
4 hour marathon
Swim a mile in 40 mins
10 chin ups
Cycle 100 miles

The events I want to do are Mintlaw 10k, at least one duathlon, Ythan Challenge (but is hard to get into, very popular) Garioch half marathon, Baker Hughes 10k (I hate it, but need to get a good time so I can ignore it from then on) at least one standard triathlon and one middle distance (half Iron) triathlon, Moray marathon and towards the end of the year, another duathlon. There is a winter series that I shall be doing one of the last of early next year, and so to do one of the first ones at the end of next year should show a marked improvement. Something I can really measure. 

I also want to shift 20lbs, and get really, really good at yoga. I want to do the yoga teacher training course in 2014, and the one I want to do is a 200 hour residential intense one that anyone can do, as they say you don't have to be able to do the poses to be able to teach them safely.

However, I do want to be able to complete all of the poses. I do think a teacher should be able to practise what she preaches.

 My swim yesterday was rather good. I don't think I was much faster, but I felt stronger, and like I could go on forever. If anything I was slower, but the steadyness and concentration was almost zen like, and I didn't come out feeling as dead as usual after the same amount of time.

 The other thing is I'm in the process of arranging a date for this weekend, but I'm already booked to go out with a bloke on what is a 'kind of' date. I was thinking of making them both the same day, as one (the more date like one) has suggested dinner at a venue of my choice (The Beautiful Mountain, thank you very much) and the other is a drink at Slains Castle (a pub almost opposite) and it would save petrol to only go to Aberdeen once. However, that could all end badly. So we'll see.....I might err on the side of caution.

It's going to be difficult and confusing enough as it is, both are rough biker types, both oil engineers, both do a lot of travelling, etc. 

Super-Dooper-Nutrified!!

AGAIN with the green stuff.

Today I decided to make it an orange juice heavy smoothie, in the hope that the strong flavour would make the raw spinach more bearable.
It did. This bubbly concoction is spinach, orange juice, banana and protein powder.
And the vitamin C from the orange will help me absorb the iron better.

I'm aware this looks very much like yesterday's picture, but it tasted a hell of a lot better, and the straw is a different colour.
And I took garlic capsules amongst other things, and made a lentil and vegetable stew for dinner (again, looked like vomit, but tasted nice)

I am also considering going back on the pill as it makes things more predictable, and when it comes to events, I can manipulate my cycle by not taking a break between packets.
Also, nature has cursed me with a 21 day cycle.
Great if you want to have lots of babies, and are happy to lay 15 eggs a year instead of 12, not so, if you don't.

Today is a multi sport day. I will bike fast, and swim slowly. I'm still going through drills and only doing about 20 lengths of normal swimming. And I will eat more brown rice and tofu, and lift more weights, drink more spinach (shudder) and strive, STRIVE!
Strive at my goals like a striving thing.

Clean (And Green) Eating

I feel the urge to eat well.
Junk food is not appealing, as so today nothing processed (well, not very processed) has passed my lips.

Yesterday I had porridge for breakfast, protein shake and some pasta for lunch, and brown rice with tomatoes and tofu for dinner, and various dried fruit bits and pieces. I didn't take any pictures of the meals as generally plates of mixed ingredients look like vomit.
However, this is a smoothie I made today as I fancied something green, and according to a woman on the internet, this is a non-healthy tasting spinach smoothie, that is healthy.

Spinach, dollop of peanut butter, a banana, rice milk.
And it tastes like spinach, dollop of peanut butter, a banana, and rice milk.
Straw to the back of the throat. Gulp it down with as little to mouth-to-smoothie contact. Done.
Thinking of Popeye the whole time.

And if I ever use the words 'clean' or 'detox', that does not mean I will be excluding tea or chocolate, or bread, etc. It means nothing really junkie or processed like Coke, biscuits and chips.

This is the week of the bike.
There's been a lot of swimming and running going on, this week I will bike lots, swim once and run twice, a 5k and a 10k, and will do 5 sessions with my weights.

Aim High, Fall Slighty Short.

Well yesterday started out rather awesome. I did stick in the 10.45 min mile bracket (or rather, 10.20 for the first 5k, all over the place for the next, still getting the hang of pacing) and came out with an average of 10.48, and took 1 minute 32 seconds off my 10k. The best part is my legs were sore and heavy when I started (and screaming and swearing at me by the time I finished) and it was still a result.

There's this friend who wants me to do the winter duathlon series with him, and he will be offshore for one, and I was thinking of having a go at it then, as I get the feeling he only wants me there to ensure he doesn't come last. I wanted to get a head-start on the whole thing and do myself proud.
He timed himself on a dummy run and came out at 1.42. Then he suddenly decided to do the Inverurie one this weekend and came out at a respectable 1.35 (the slowest person on previous results is about 2 hours), so plenty of people behind him.
He sent me a joyous text shortly after finishing, and said he'll be emailing me a full race report and he can't wait until the next one.  I said lots of congratulatory things and told him I was proud of him, but was thinking 'Oh bollocks' in a sour grapes kind of way.

This will be the first time I enter anything almost certain in the knowledge I am going to come last, and that really sucks all the fun out of it.

And as a total contrast, Martin (East Coast Runner)  ran the Seattle Marathon in 3:03:09, with jet lag.
Just, wow! He will be at Aberfeldy when I do my first middle distance triathlon. He'll be finishing so far ahead of me he can wait at the finish line and be ready to help peel me off the tarmac, and help me to my car.

Feel The Burn!

Bit of a crap bike yesterday, 20 miles at an average of 15 mph.
The only upside is, the 20 mile circle I do is 75% uphill. One part is so horrible I'm happy to be able to climb at 7 mph, and that goes on for nearly 2 miles. I'm going to see if I can find a flatter route, or at least and out and back, so I'll get as much uphill as downhill, and see how they go. I had really been hoping to sustain a 17mph pace for the full 20 miles, even with the hills.

The main thing was I felt frozen the whole way round. The road was icy, my gloves were not good enough, and I just couldn't warm up. My skin was bright red with the cold, and became insanely itchy in the hot shower. I was like a big itchy, lobster.

Today is about trying to improve my 10k time, although my legs feel a bit fried, so not sure how that is going to go, and tomorrow I'll go for a swim, as I think my legs will be needing it.

And my arms were burning when I woke up yesterday morning, I could almost feel the heat coming off them, felt kind of awesome, really.
Increased bloody flow. Yeah.

I (Slightly) Rock.

A little more progress :)

The plan was to do 5k yesterday, and to try and keep the Garmin between 10 and 10.15 min miles, which I managed nicely, and averaged 10.05, and so cut exactly 30 seconds off my time. It's still a far cry from my fastest, but the constant improvement is encouraging.

I've been reading about 'Less-destructive training'.
There's a book I will buy myself after Christmas, when my mechanic has stopped bleeding my dry, on marathon training, by Nikalas Cook. I plan on doing a marathon in 2013, and as I want to do everything I can to minimise the risk of injury.
I seem to be surrounded by injured runners, people waiting for surgery, people having MRIs, and the 30 second improvement today I'm sure was helped my giving my legs an easier week with lots of swimming. As a triathlete, Cook is apparently all about using less destructive training as a way to prepare for a marathon. I think 'prepare' might be the operative word, rather than 'win' or 'sub 3 hour', but that's fine with me. 

I will bike today, and then do a 10k tomorrow, with the aim of 10.45 min miles. I'd like to say 10.30, but that might be a bit ambitious, as 11.03 was my time last week, so to knock nearly 20 secs off a mile will be enough to make me happy.

Possibly going out next week with a boxer type boy (but who is also an engineer working in the oil business, as most men round here are). I'd like to take my gloves and get him to do some pad work with me, but that might not be appropriate.
He seems quite normal, and I'm really hoping there will be no Guinness burping.