Wednesday 27 July 2011

Swimming times for training

23/07-02/09
Tuesday - 21:30-22:30 - adults (lanes)
Wednesday - 21:00-22:00 - adults
Friday - 20:00-21:00 - lanes

Where have all the blogs gone?

It's okay you've not missed anything, I must confess i haven't blogged in a while due to lack of training, therefore lack of anything to write about

So what's been happening? Well we've made plum jam (nothing to do with training) we've made plum vodka (again where is the training?) we've also been out picking plums to put into the jam and vodka, been sorting out the garden, it's all setup for vegetable harvesting now and I've done a bit of sitting on the sofa eating snacks

(oh my god you must have been ill or something, what was it? are you okay?) well no I haven't been sick, I've been lazy again, with the time rapidly reducing before my next duathlon and also my triathlon, you would have thought that i would be spending time sorting out my training

My excuse? well I'm human like the rest of you and I've just felt like sitting on my arse for a bit to be honest, training is hard work, you have to believe in yourself, you have to try hard and you have to want to be better than you were before

I was a bit crushed with my previous race position and i know that not training isn't going to help my next race but that's what i went with

I felt a bit pulled in a few directions, I'm busy at work, I'm started a part-time job, I've got to do strength training and learn to swim outdoors as well, i know that I'm just making excuses but its the truth of the matter

Okay where do i go from here, I've got 2 options give up or carry on


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Okay I'll carry on, what have i got to lose? Dani has said that she would like to start going to the gym in the mornings to start the day off well, so I'll start there, i then need to start swimming again so i need to find somewhere to train again and buy a bulk load and then i need to start a heavy strength training regime

lets get back on that horse and start a fresh, I'll get my new stats up soon so we can see where we are starting from again and step to it

I'll get the swimming times ready so i know when i can train

I'll get a new personal best on the runs and bike ready for Silverstone

Watch this space people

Monday 18 July 2011

Rainy Weekend, Challenges and Meetings

What a rainy weekend!

But for me it was a very long weekend, not that I had much extra time just that it seemed longer than usual

Friday night saw me and Dani (Dani has been picking holes in my grammar on my blog so 'Dani and I' just for her, probably still isn't right) going round fellow Herbalife friend’s house for a few drinks, not being a big drinker and having the excuse of being 'In Training' (both of which are true) I drove us there and back again, had a very good night while having my toes bitten by a little kitten (Don't worry there's no personal cutesy names here it was in fact a small few week old cat biting at my feet) After probably staying past our welcome (Seriously people we don't know when to leave, kick us out when you've had enough of us) we went home

Saturday was the beginning of our challenge weekend, Dani and I (Me and Dani for the rest of us) thought we could see how many days of only Herbalife food we could eat (now for the uninitiated Herbalife is a company that we are both associated with, they make low calorie yet uber high nutrition food, so that you can eat it say for breakfast and lunch and you'll lose weight as your consuming less calories without sacrificing your nutrition) so I got up early as I personally (sitting on my backside) need to consume roughly 1800 calories for the day (Do you remenber the page on my Stats? It's Here, the Basal Metabolic Rate is the stat i'm talking about), now this is easy when you take the average diet, but with Herbalife only foods it can be a bit of a challenge, I was eating all day and got up to roughly 1600, I had 4 different chocolate bars, 2 soups, 2 or 3 shakes and still was able to trim 200 calories from my diet on Saturday, Dani done 1200 which is about right for her
Saturday was also Harry Potter catch up day, we only had enough time to get through the first 2 as we were out and about for some of it looking for a George Foreman for healthy grilling, Couldn't find one though

Sunday we went to a meeting with more Herbalife friends, it was a great day out and got to meet up with some readers of this blog, hello people, feel free to say hi in the comments section below

Friday 15 July 2011

Photos







Stats

When checking my body stats before the race:

Body fat was down to 13.9%
Visceral fat was down to level 2
Metabolic age was down to 16

My race results and times:

Position 93rd out of 108
Shirt number 49
First run: 00:13:41
First Transition: 00:00:49
Bike: 00:33:17
Second Transition: 0:00:37
Second run: 0:17:01
Final Time: 01:05:25

Full race results: http://www.votwo.co.uk/results.htm

Look for: USN Silverstone Duathlon Race 3. July

Well done to the winner Phil Holland with a final time of: 00:44:22

Duathlon Completed!

Well I did it!

I’m quite happy with my times just not very impressed with my position, Out of 108 I came in at 93
It was a lot tougher than just doing the runs but I feel again that I have learnt a lot from doing it by myself this time

So I got to the venue all ready to go, I had my Niteworks made and my Quickspark to hand, the problem was that I didn’t have any way of securing my drinks bottle with H30 in it to my bike, so I knew that this was going to be fairly exhausting on my body

The first run went well I felt that I had a good pace, I didn’t just shoot off like I did last time, I was still getting overtaken by people and again I find it to be the most demoralising feeling to see people just running past you when you are trying your hardest to keep up, but I guess that will just come with race experience

Onto the bike next and I felt quite good about my transition time, I managed to take a couple of gulps of H30 before setting off, because my legs were shaking trying to get them into the pedals was a bit of a challenge but once they were in I was off round the main Silverstone track, while remaining focused at all times I did let the child in me come out when passing the grand prix finish line by pretending to win, putting my hands in the air and cheering (I done this on every lap, there were 5 laps)

I found the second transition much harder, I could feel my legs cramping up and I knew if I stopping moving my legs they were going to go and I wouldn’t be able to complete the second run, so keeping my legs flopping about while putting my bike back and gulping down some more H30, I started the second run

This was the worst feeling, my legs were cramping up and I had to try and just run it off, I started pretty much jogging slowly trying to stretch out my muscles, I got into a fairly comfortable pace half way round and eventually completed the course

I would like to thank my support team again, this time it was Pops, Pam and Dani, these people took time out of their evenings, to stand and wait for me, watching proper athletes, thank you so much for coming, I appreciate your time, I hope you didn’t get too bored

And lastly where were you Brian? Get back on the bike and get your running shoes ready and I’ll see you on the 2nd August

Tuesday 12 July 2011

15km Cycle

It’s now Tuesday, where does the time go, Went out for a cycle last night for a bit of endurance training to get ready for this Thursday, I Worked out on MapMyRun.com that I done about 15km on the bike, I was pedalling hard but I had no competition this time to push me

I’ve now registered online for Silverstone race so there’s no backing out now, I’m quite confident in my ability to complete it, I’m just worried about my times now, I’m hoping that the element of competition will help me go faster (but with a good pace as well so I don’t push it too hard)

Should I be this excited already? I’ve still got 2 days to go, I still need to get a bike helmet yet

Dani the race starts at 7 so I was thinking of getting there for 6 then warming up properly

Friday 8 July 2011

Training Cont...

With less than a week now till my first full Duathlon at Silverstone, I've been getting ready for the challenge, last night I ran 4.1 km in 20 Min's then when I got back I got straight onto my bike and cycled for 9km again in just over 20 Min's, not recording breaking times I know but hey I've got to start somewhere, half way through the cycle there was another guy on a white mountain bike, I overtook him early on but then I could hear him gaining behind me, I was really pushing it on a light road bike so I know he wasn't just cycling behind he must have been pushing it as well to keep up, the racing element really made me push with everything I had, he carried on behind until he almost overtook, a quick change in gears and I gained speed and was ahead again, I couldn't let him pass me on a mountain bike, eventually though my route meant I had to turn off as he continued on forward
I went out in my Triathlon suit, it's a strange feeling, you kinda feel a bit exposed but it really helps with the run and when I got on my bike the saddle wasn't as hard to sit on due to the slight padding in the bum of the suit

I been thinking about the training I have been doing and think that it is more exercise than actual Triathlon training, I've got less than 2 months before the Cotwolds Triathlon and this week I haven't swam once, I've got the number of my local Triathlon club, I've just got to pull my finger out and give them a ring

It's weird I've got a full-time 9-5 job, I'm starting a part-time job around it, I'm trying to keep fit and train for competitions and although sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed by the changes I've made, it still feels good to do it, especially as I've come from working 9-5 then watching T.V. from half 5 till bed it a big change for me

Wednesday 6 July 2011

Tiger Shiplap Apex

The Tiger Shiplap Apex wooden shed is one of Tiger Sheds more prominent and popular products. Its classic design makes it one of the most popular garden buildings in the UK.
Welcome back to shed week here at blog.bsknowles.com, okay that's enough of the shed stuff

Went to Circuit training last night with Dani, active lifestyle seems to be eating up our evenings a bit and we don't appear to be getting what we need from the classes anymore, when in the class we are exhausted and couldn't do much more at the time, our recovery is quick and we are finding that we could even go to the gym afterwards, i like the structure of the classes as you're not just aimlessly going to the gym and working to your "limit" i put limit in quotations as i find that when i go to the gym I’ll work as hard as i feel i want to on the day, in a class however you're always trying to keep to their timings and you work till they say stop

I'm thinking I’m going to need someone to give me a gym program to stick to instead of thinking i know best

Oh yeah before I go I found the Tom and Jerry tune I was talking about, I didn’t need to listen to Radio 3 could have just gone to YouTube:

Tuesday 5 July 2011

National Shed Week

Are you serious! You saw a link for National Shed Week and you clicked on it???

I only found out while listening to BBC Radio 3, I think it’s taken over classical FM, yes I know I’m sad I listen to radio 3, but have you heard what’s on radio 1 these days, I can’t keep up, I think I’ve only started listening to it in a rare hope that I might hear a tune/song/score/bit of music from a Tom and Jerry cartoon, it’s the child in me trying to get out, I also find it stops me from speeding in my car and allows me time for my thoughts

Anyway with that out of the way, I’m started trying to eat little and often to keep myself at a steady energy level, so far it appears to be working, I realised the other day that I think I’m now eating more than I ever was before yet getting slimmer/fitter, it’s crazy sometimes how the body works, I’m now having a shake in the mornings (with my vitamins) a small snack mid-morning, then lunch (a bit smaller than I used to have + Vits) mid-afternoon snack then dinner (again a bit smaller than I was + Vits)
It has also been brought to my attention that there is a MK marathon next year sometime, I’m not sure if I’ll be at that level by then but I might start training for that obviously after training for my Triathlon is finished due to fitness level required and endurance training required

Should be off to either Fitball or Circuit training tonight, the last training I done was last Fridays swim I think, unless you count carrying Dani on my back to the meal on Saturday, I think I will

Monday 4 July 2011

Friends, Free Food, Ferraris and Fighters

Well what a weekend I’ve had, I’m currently wearing a ‘going out’ shirt at work due to not having enough time to actually do any clothes washing yet

Had to get an early night on Friday to get up early on Saturday for a meeting the other side of London, I mentioned before that I was reading a book by a guy called Luigi Gratton, well he was at the meeting doing a presentation on eating healthy and nutrition, it was great, he had only a few hours in the country before going off to somewhere in Europe, he is a really friendly guy, I got to get his autograph and a photo with him and Dani (I’ll post it in a sec) Also got a photo of Dani in a Ferrari but that’s later

Then a whole group of us went out to dinner, Dani had qualified for a meal with a few of her group in Herbalife, I heard that it was free food so I got Dani to smuggle me in, it was also great, we talked, we laughed, some homeless guy selling roses tried to pull one of the partners, seriously Dani you picked the worst time to go to the loo, spaceships landed and we all went on a magic carpet ride okay so the last 2 didn’t happen but the homeless guy thing did

When we got back from the meal Dani wanted to sit in David’s Ferrari (He paid for the meal, he is also Dani’s sponsor in the biz, keep up) For some reason he left the keys in the car and Dani started revving the engine, it sounds just like you’d expect it would but better

The journey back took us through the heart of London (that’s right, on a Saturday night of all nights) we got to see all the sights at 1 in the morning and at a very slooooow pace, I think we got back in at about half 2 in the morning

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So Sunday then, we got up late due to the half 2 thing, got ready and then off to see the Foo Fighters at the bowl in MK, it was packed to the brim (65,000 people) The support act were Jimmy Eat World and Biffy Clyro, both great, then Foo Fighters came on and they were awesome, their encore included a jam session with our old friend Seasick Steve (Vocals and lead Guitar) John Paul Jones (From Led Zeppelin on Guitar) and Dave Grohl (On Drums) mental, just mental

The Foos ended their encore (and in my opinion best show ever) with Everlong, with fireworks in the sky as well

Got back to the house at about 1 in the morning ready for Monday morning at work

Friday 1 July 2011

Swimming and Biking

Went swimming this morning with my new nose clip thingy-ma-jig and new speedos goggles, the goggles are a vast improvement over my last pair, technology in the swimming goggles field has obviously undergone a mass overhaul since they found out that Billy Knowles is swimming now, they don’t fog up as quickly, I was able to get at least 6 lengths before I noticed they needed a bit of a clean

Swimming must be one of those things like maths, if you don’t do it often enough you forget things but when you start doing it again it comes back to you pretty quick, I haven’t swam since Monday morning as I missed the Wednesday early bird session, it took me a couple of lengths to get back into it and get used to my nose clip, I can now start to see at what point I was breathing water in through my nose as the clip tightens around my nose whenever I try to breath in though it

I’m finding that really focusing on how I am swimming helps with my technique, I’ve never really understood focus before, I guess because I haven’t needed to, but looking forward and squinting isn’t focusing its just squinting, I’ve found that really clearing my mind and concentrating on nothing else but my swim gave me the lengths that I was after, it’s a difficult thing to explain
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I was on my bike last night bombing around the streets, I must have looked like I was 10 again on my first bike, all wobbly getting used to pedals with cages and handlebars that go downwards, embarrassingly the only thing I couldn’t get working was the computer on it, anyone know a decent IT tech? As I came round the corner I saw Dani trying to call me as she’d seen some thug looking guy on a bike just like mine speeding off on it, she thought I’d been beaten up round the corner and this guy had stolen my bike, ah bless, I’m not actually 10 years old Dani (I just paid the guy my lunch money and he was happy, I got to keep the bike, lol), I reluctantly let Dani have a go, off she went round the corner (I was waiting for the crash but nothing happened) I’m really pleased with it