I Don't Want To Be Last.

So today I was back to work (boooooo), but managed to get a 13 mile bike in. I really didn't want to, it was an effort. My legs felt ok, a bit heavy, but that was all. I wasn't fast or good in any way, it was an obligatory hour long session of cycling up hills for the sake of general fitness.

My mileage in general might be a bit crap this week as I've had one eye on the weekend all the time.

I'm a bit nervous about that.

I really, really don't want to be last.

Second to last would be fine, I could handle that. But not last.
And I'm a bit worried about my biking. I know my routes so well, when to twist my foot out the pedal and when to change down. I'm scared junctions will suddenly appear and I'll permanently be in the wrong gear and forget to free my feet.

Tomorrow I plan to run and bike. I also plan to see how quickly I can change my shoes, and all the kind of stuff.

On the upside, parent's evening (what little there was of it) went well.
She previously got a good report, so I knew no one was going to say 'She's a royal pain in the arse', but one went as far as to say 'I'd love a class full of Eleanors',
To which I said 'It would be a very messy class and all your crockery and teaspoons would disappear'.
She looked confused.

Double Sporting!

I have double sported on double days.
Yesterday, after the parcel arrival, I went for a little 3 mile run and 9 mile bike on my sore legs. The bike was a little faster than usual, being shorter, so that was nice.

Today I did my long run, then after a brief oily shower (heating oil is leaking into the hot water, plumber will eventually sort it, until then, I come out smelling like kerosene) went straight to the pool for half a mile of basic swimming, and then some drills.

My legs felt way better coming out than they did going in, which is good as I have to survive parent's evening tonight. The appointment system is rubbish, as they only have about 20 appointments each, and a vast amount of pupils. I will get to meet four teachers, art, geography, technical drawing and business studies.
Big whoop.

Anyhoo, the best thing was, as I am doing a duathlon this weekend and so my long run had to be done earlier, I decided to make it shorter this week, and so did 10 miles at a pace of 10.22.
I am happy about this, as although it was only a small elevation (300-odd foot) I remember quite recently being happy at having that as a 10k pace, so for 10 miles, yes please. It makes me think there will be a time quite soon when I can bash out ten miles in nice round 10 min miles, and then start eating into the 9s.

I think it helped I was sore to start with. I started quite slow and still, and so only lost 22 secs over the rest of the run. And now to get changed and go to parent's evening. Gah.

Waiting. Bored. Ironing.

Arrrgghhhh. Waiting for a parcel.
The most dismal way to spend a day.
I've even done some ironing.
Twice my door has been knocked on by people who aren't CityLink drivers.
Twice I have ran to the door with massive excitement.
Twice it's been a plumber who is unhappy about the work he has to do.

After it gets here, or when my daughter gets home from school and so can take over parcel duty, whatever happens first, I will go out for a short run of a few miles or so.
I'm conscious of not over-doing things this week, don't want to wreck myself for the weekend and the duathlon, but still need to get my long run in, and plan to get that done tomorrow.
I have a decent amount of time for these things, 12 weeks to Edinburgh still to go.

I have paid my money and my name is on the start list for my first half-iron length triathlon this year.
It felt very final entering, a real 'put up or shut up' moment. I've been talking about it for long enough so time to get on with it. That is 24 weeks away. Eeek.

The other thing is I've been looking at other people's training stats, and it seems people do VAST amounts of swimming. 8 - 12 miles a week seems quite normal for the serious and professional folk, and 3-6 miles a week seems to be about the minimum for everyone else. Most people seem to bike over a 100 miles a week, but running seems to be around 25-35. It seems the marathon bit on the end is not the part people are focusing on.
Plus running being the most destructive physically, it does seem wise to prioritise training time with the other two.

Cap-less Jellyfish Swim.

I forgot my swimming cap.
That's indeed a terrible thing, as it means that even with my hair tied back, I am swimming with a jellyfish stuck to my head, and everytime I turn my head to breathe, water cascades into my mouth from it's many tentacles.

So, I abandoned my plans to do a steady long swim, and did half a mile continuously, and then another 40 lengths of drills doing as little breathing as possible. I started out breathing every 5 strokes, and pushed that as far as I could go, which ended up being taking 2 breaths for the whole length.
It was surprisingly fun to be that close to death.

Then I came home and found I had missed a parcel.
I have had to order a new track pump as my cheapie one is terrible with presta valves. It has a little adaptor that is rubbish, and it lets out more air than it puts in.
The one I have bought is also not that expensive, although, the reviews on Wiggle are very good. Apparently it twists onto the valve, so no pushing and pulling that lets the air out.
Anyway, I missed it being delivered, so will have to stay in all day tomorrow.
I will go for a short run before 7.30 am,  and hope it gets delivered early on so I can go out on my bike later, too.
Soon I shall be back at work.....*sigh*

I Don't Know Whose legs These Are.

Cos they are not mine.
They don't do what I say.
They have a frighteningly warped mind of their own.
I'm walking like a drunk person after a day of rodeo-ing.

It seems one day between longest bike ever and the long run for the week was not enough time to allow my legs to recover. They were twingey and sore when I started, and at 7.5 miles I had some really weird shooting pains in my left knee, and during the last mile literally every muscle in my legs hurt, and I was practically shuffling.

I averaged 11.03 min miles (oh lordy!) although it was 10.45 until the last two miles, then it all began to fell apart. The part of my knee that got bruised when I keeled over on my bike is all lumpy and swollen. During the run I kept thinking strange nonsensical thoughts about hats and why the word 'goody' annoys me.

However, I managed 14 miles. I wanted to give up and go home but I didn't, and my stomach behaved.
As I am racing this weekend my long run will have to be during the week, so not sure how clever I'll be feeling by then. So, I'll repeat the 14 again, as I have time before the marathon to do that, and I'm not going to do a route with nearly 800ft of elevation.

Tomorrow is swimming. I am very glad of that. Very.

Doing Nothing

A wonderful day of doing nothing (in a warm house, the oil man came last night, I was overjoyed to find a slip in the porch when I let the cat in)

A bit of foam rollering and stretching, a bath, and admiring the rather pretty green and purple bruise on my knee from yesterday, all while watching all five X-Men films. And that was about it.

The present arrived that my brother send from Disneyland. It must have cost a fortune to send, weighs a ton!

Tomorrow is long run day. I'm eating very well today in the hope it helps.
And I need to continue to up my training, and doing more than one thing on each day.

Starting next week I will do more than one activity a day for at least half of the sessions, and there's a duathlon at the weekend I'm doing.
Must multisport.
Or else.
Much getting up early will be involved.

50 Fecking Miles!!

I was freezing when I left and barely warmed up the entire time. I still can't feel all my toes.

It was horrible. Exhausting. But like in line with my zero tolerance on myself plan, I set out to the do the 50 and 50 miles on my bike I did, with 1,214 ft of elevation (it felt like MORE!). I was averaging between 14 and 15 mph for the first 30 miles, but by the end of the 50 it was down to 13.2 mph, and the sight of any kind of hill made me feel quite weepy.

However, I managed it. I am happy. I had two cereal bars and a gel while I was out, at 18 miles, then 35.
And I discovered I am only capable of holding three things in my head at once. As I was approaching the lay by to stop in so I could get my food out of my back pocket without crashing into anything (I'll need to work on this, and get a top-tube bag), I thought I'd better leave the bike in a lower gear, and then my phone rang, and this meant clipping out the pedals was one thing too many, and so for the first time ever, I timberrrrrred over.
Most importantly, there were no cars passing and no one saw me do this.
Very annoyingly I forgot to take a tissue, and ended up asking myself if it was acceptable to blow my nose on a cereal bar wrapper (it is, as long as no one sees that, either)

I initially thought this would scare me for other events, and that cycling 100 would literally result in my death. However, I am not that down-hearted, as the cold was truly the worst part. If it had been even a few degrees warmer, or if I had been wearing more clothes, it would not have been half as bad.

And if I hadn't had to come home to boil kettles to have a very shallow bath in a freezing house, that would have been better, too.
And if my daughter (who is off school due to a few projectile vomiting incidents) didn't announce to me that she'd let plumbers into the house while I was out, and didn't think to remove my underwear which was hanging up to dry on top of the boiler, even when the farmer knocked on the door a WHOLE HOUR beforehand to tell her they were coming, that would have made things better, as well.

However, I burned a mega load of calories, tomorrow is my glorious day of doing nothing in preparation for Sunday's long run, and I feel immensely good about getting past the 50. It's been haunting and daunting me, but no more.

AND I got a message from my brother saying he was sending me a birthday present from Disneyland. I bet it's Finding Nemo related as that's my favourite, hurrah!!