Welcome

I started this blog in 2010 when there were 11 weeks to go before my next Ironman triathlon. People have found it interesting (mainly my Mum!) so I continue to write.
The Ironman is a long distance triathlon; Swim 2.4miles, Cycle 112miles, Run 26.2 miles (marathon). I have competed in one every year since 2004. I hope this blog can help others see what is involved. I find the process of writing it makes me more accountable and motivates me to do the harder sessions when i'm not feeling like it!

Saturday 5 July 2014

Rollers 150min

Lots of jobs to do at home and wanted to watch the start of the Tour de France. I have a friend Monty who is doing the whole thing for charity a week before - he's around 1/3 of the way in now - see "the fullmonty" on Facebook.

So basically 10 lots of 15mins. Spend some time fixing the drum brake on Ella's commuter bike. Then took a look at what I was going to do in terms of changing the cranks over. Had a go on the time trial bike just in case but there is no way I can keep the position for 112miles this year. Discovered the special washer for removing the self extracting crank is missing - so trying to work out how to go about that. It's always like this before a race suddenly a million things to do. I always say I won't leave it till the last minute next year but that never happens - and this is the last!

Thursday 3 July 2014

Rollers

60min - hot and humid today so little energy for much. Put a load of shims in the shoes to see if it made any difference. The right leg is pretty fixed in its abnormal movement pattern.

Behind the scenes i've been looking into how to address the wobbly crank. A replacement is £500 which I can't really justify. It seems however that you can mix and match campagnolo and shimano equipment to some degree - see www.drivetraincalculator.com so I plan to take the compact crank off my time trial bike and put it on the road bike. Just need to work out the gear ratios now (see sheldon brown)

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Brick
Rollers 30min

Run 8 Km

Probably the best run yet. Maybe something happened after the massage - we talked about my previous strength and conditioning routine and i've started to do it again. I'd like to think it's making a difference. 

Tuesday 1 July 2014

Massage 

Rollers 30min - after the massage to see if anything had changed. Moved the saddle up to where it used to be - I figure it's easier to bring my leg up and through if I give it more room.

Swim - 3km

1250m x2 on 30sec
250m x2 at 60 strokes a min and 65 strokes a min

Swim was great for the confidence - did the 1250m at a really comfortable pace. Had loads left for the last 250s.

There's a few bike issues I need to sort. I wanted to use the time trial bike but there's no way I can keep the position. The road bike has a wobbly crank - I used it last year but need to sort it this time - it's only a matter of time before it goes. It's just difficult to spend the money it deserves when I don't really need top of the range stuff anymore - not much time to research though.

Monday 30 June 2014

Weigh in 68.6 Kg

Rollers 2 hours

Did this in front of the TV - I could see the reflection of my legs and notice the asymmetry. Put a few shims in the right shoe to see if it would help - seemed to do the trick. I think all that turbo time taking away the balance component of cycling hasn't helped.

On call tonight and Will's first day at school so rushing around with all of that.

Sunday 29 June 2014

3 weeks to go

Rollers

45 min when got back from weekend away.