Just as I thought

I think I'm doing really well at my swimming and I take Dani along and she tells me all the things i'm doing wrong, and I can't thank her enough for it, last night I started slow to show Dani how I was doing the 400 meters I'd done a couple of nights ago and she showed me exactly where I'd gone wrong

Then we had a race, and I won it (Dani you did know it was a race right, I remember it clearly, you had just set off and I whispered it into the water, it's a clear indication of the one and only race that we'll be in together, sorry it's one of those can never be repeated situations)

But it really showed me what I needed to be doing and where I was going worng, my body was along the top of the water I was kicking with my feet and I was swimming properly, now I just need to do this for 400 meters, easy!

It's only next Sunday and I skipped the gym this morning, my body needed to recover a little as i've kind of thrown it in at the deep end again and gone hell for leather with the training

Almost saw an alien

"Do you really like it, do you really like it
We're gymin' it, gymin' it, gymin' it
We're gymin' it like this"

Back down the gym this morning, but i didn't go swimming last night although the whole world was trying to make me, I decided to go to the cinema instead but it wasn't to be

Firstly, couldn't decide on either 'Cowboys and Aliens' or 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' went for Cowboys, then Dani said that she was going to take us out for dinner so we looked up vouchers for cheaper dining out and found 40% off Pizza Express, awesome! Then the printer wouldn't print the voucher, Grr, then it did, awesome, then on route to the cinema, we remembered that we forgot to take our vitamins to take with dinner, Grrr, then when we got to the cinema I forgot to get the 'Pay and Display' Ticket, Grr, ran back and paid for it, Grr, while Dani went to get the Cinema tickets, awesome, then my unlimited card couldn't be used for Deluxe showings (Hmmm, yeah we also used the phrase 'doesn't sound very unlimited does it' and got greeted with a confused look) So we had to pick another showing, the lady behind the desk didn't know what the other showings were and appeared to just make up a few times on the spot, Grrrr, went to another register and asked for the next non-deluxe showing, it was only 40 mins after the one we wanted to watch so we said we'd have that one then, awesome, then the unlimited card won't go through, Grrr, so they said that they would call head office for us to clear up the issue, awesome, then they came off the phone and said the direct debit hasn't been setup yet (Note: i have been using the card for over a year now on direct debit) Grrrrrr
Took my very limited 'unlimited' card from the 12 year old (looking) 'service guy' and went to blockbuster instead and rented 'Your Highness' and had a good night in

On the up side I'll be saving £15 each month by not paying for an unlimited card now

400 meters done!

Back down the pool last night and I wasn't taking any prisoners this time 400 meters or bust

I didn't want to tackle the full 400 meters straight away so I started with 130 meters then another 130 meters then 2 more 130 meters, so by now I'd done more than I needed to but they were broken up into chucks with short breaks between them, why the strange 130 meters lengths? well the pool that I am swimming in is 33.3 meters long so each 4 lengths takes me to slightly under the 130 meters mark

After a quick trip to the loo I was back and ready to tackle the big one, I took it very slow at first and I just concentrated on each lap individually, not focusing on how many I had left just feeling great after each one I completed, I counted to 10 laps and knew that I could do another 2 easy so I carried on and didn't stop, I'm not sure exactly how many meters I swam in the end but it definitely over 400 meters, I still don't know how long it took me but at least I'm confident that I can actually do it now and what 400 meters straight feels like on the body

So I just need to combine that with a 20km cycle and finish it off with a 2.5km run and it's happy days

My recovery time is my most surprising aspect of all this training, I remember when I was going down the gym before and pushing myself I would be dead for the next few days, but now I'm going to the gym in the mornings and then going to work then going swimming later on, I'm doing 3 Herbalife shakes around workouts and training and I'm never feeling tired, I'm pushing myself harder and harder and I'm feeling stronger and can see my muscle growth getting bigger in such a short amount of time, My stamina is getting longer and longer, when I first started swimming I was struggling to do a length and last night they had to kick me out of the pool because I wouldn't stop swimming, everyone else had left 10 minutes before the end

Triathlon Kit

I've already got my trainers and socks, bike and helmet, tri-suit, goggles and nose clips

Things that I am looking at getting or will need are:

Wetsuit - Been looking at the Orca S3
Swimming Cap - Anything bright orange will do me
Drinks bottle holder for my bike
Sports Watch - Looking at the Timex Ironman T5F821
Triathlon Aero bars - Possibly with Aero drink holder as well
Quick release laces
Bike Shoes

I think that's about it, well possibly a Gold Medal as well but I guess i'll have to earn that one :)

Race Info Is Here

Argh the race info is here:

http://www.triferris.com/cotswold/raceinfo.html

This means it is a real race with real people now, before it was just something I was training for, something that I was working my way towards, now it's real and fully booked

I need to go and see the venue beforehand to get my bearings sorted for the race, getting nervous now a little

Went down the gym again this morning, more muscle training and abs workouts, was back down in the pool last night, my breathing in the water has definitely improved this last week, I was doing 100-130 meters non-stop last night and at the end of it I was breathing fine, so I'm feeling a bit better for that, i was swimming for the whole hour this time though, just with small breathers here and there

My goal for this Thursdays swim is to time myself doing a true 400 meter non-stop swim, it's roughly 16 lengths in the pool i'm training in at the moment

Ironman

Awesome film, loved the bit where they...
Okay I'm not talking about the film here people, we all know where this triathlon training is heading 'Ironman' now the question is do I work my way up the ladder and start on sprint triathlons then standard triathlons, then do a couple of half marathons?

No I didn't think so either, I want to do an Ironman so after the sprint triathlon I will begin my training for 'Ironman' I might allow myself 1 or 2 standard triathlons along the way, maybe a charity event or 2 but my eyes will be on the prize as they say

So what are the facts you ask, well Ironman UK 2012 is almost here, it's on Sunday 22nd July 2012 and it costs £375 to enter, I think thats all the info we need, oh right the distances, well a standard Ironman is:

Swim 2.4 Miles, Cycle 112 Miles, Run 26.2 Miles

I can't see a problem here to be honest and if i'm right the hardest part will be the .2 Mile run at the end so the rest by definition is easy right

Monday Mornings

So how did you start your Monday morning?

Well I went down the gym and done some more training for the triathlon

BORING!!!!

Okay so I flew a space shuttle around the world and saw 2 monkeys arguing over a peanut both in mid-fart, when I saw a flash of light as a giant bouncy castle exploded on the surface of Mars which insidently made a thousand stars implode simultaneously and leave behind exactly 15 versions of the very same puffin book that I read when I was at school

Does that sound more interesting?

---

Don't ask where that came from, Had a great weekend went to see my girlfriends uncle get married, didn't get to witness any fights though, sorry

I was caught off my training guard by some Pimms mixed with fruit and lemonade before I remembered about my healthy body and then stuck to water for the rest of the night, wasn't bored though, had a really good time, great company, food and location

I've not done any form of training since Thursday nights swim, I started to notice less and less people coming to the gym in the mornings, there used to be at least 10 people there, i'll put it down to Monday morning today

I'll need to start timing myself on the swimming soon so that I can judge how fast i can swim 400 meters

Why am I not an Iron Man yet?

Oh the struggles we face, I went back down to the pool last night, I got in a half hour earier so that I could get my £3.60's worth

I noticed that after about half hour in the pool I still wasn't up to Iron Man standard, is it just me that when they start to exercise/train they want the results to be as quick as the decision to start exercising/training, hey come on now I started a whole half hour ago why am I not Arnold Swarchenegger yet?

I made some real progress yesterday despite my moans, after making some changes to my breathing pattern and starting to actually kick with my legs when I swam, I was swimming pretty much non-stop for the whole hour and a half, I must have done well over 400 meters, I have to admit that I did get a bit disheartened though when 3 Iron Man triathletes got into the pool fully kitted in Iron Man class wetsuits, goggles and caps and wondered why I couldn't keep up with their pace, I think I overheard one of them say at the end that they had done over 2.2km already

It was the second day of training on my own due to Dani being ill, not that I have that much time to stop and talk during training but it's good to have someone with you to let you know where you're going wrong and provide motivation

I got up this morning ready for the gym but my body told me that a day of rest would be good for me, I was feeling a little tight and thought it would good to let me body recover a little before putting it through anything else

We've also got family over this weekend so training is going to have to fit around them as well, but I figured as long as I get up early enough, it won't get in the way too much

Last years Results

I've found the results for last years Cotswold super sprint Triathlon:

http://www.triferris.com/results/supersprint10.htm

So I'm aiming for a sub 1 hour finish time :)

Lost, Dazed and Bewildered

"...And I wonder...When I sing along with you...If everything could ever feel this real forever...If anything could ever be this good again..."

This is my new intro song when I walk into a room (It's Everlong by the Foo Fighters), much like the "dum-dum-dum  dum-de-dum  dum-de-dum" that Darth Vader has whenever he is close by

Anyway, last night I found myself walking the corridors of a strange building my body ached all over and I was staggering left to right and right to left, I looked the shattered remains of someone left in the desert and who had had to make their way to the nearest oasis, I had just completed an hour of nearly non-stop swimming, all I can say is "Damn that Will Smith"

If you haven't seen the inspirational video of Will Smith on YouTube you need to look it up, i'll see if i can post it on here soon, in the video he talks about work ethic and setting yourself goals and sticking to them no matter what (well thats what i got from the video and i know what you're going to say, didn't you know that already? well yes but he says it in an inspiring way, seriously look it up)

I'm not sure how long i swam for in distance but I definately done over 400 meters, it wasn't easy mind, at the end of every length i had to argue with myself to do "just one more length" following this strategy i managed to keep on going

---

Which brings us to this morning, it's strange i used to love lie-ins, the alarm would wake me up at 7:30 and i'd snooze it all the way till 8:00, don't ask me why i didn't just change the alarm to 8:00 in the first place, i guess i liked the feeling that i should get up earlier but "sleeping in" till eight made that extra sleep feel so much better

However when the alarm went off at 6:30 i knew it was time to get up and off down the gym for me, i managed to get a full hour in doing resistance training and then a 10 min power cycle set to almost the highest resistance level, it was hard work and my body told me to stop after a minute had gone by but i kept pushing on, i used the same strategy as i did in swimming the night before "just one more minute"

Had a shake before and after and it's almost time for my third of the day, feeling awake energized and raring to go

I'm back for more

Well my holiday was great, I tried to get some short distance runs in between the opening of the locks (I was on a canal boat for a week) the week started off well with shakes for breakfast and niteworks for my night-time drink but eventually the holiday spirit got the better of me and along came the fried breakfasts and ciders for my night-time drinks, D'oh!

But now that I'm back I've kick started my training off again, an almost hour long swimming session last night and an almost hour long gym session this morning before work, I now get to see 2 x 6:30's in my day

I've hit the shakes again after my workouts, I asked my team of experts for some shake tips (Thanks BIG team) and I'm feeling energized and ready for the triathlon again

I probably should have done my stats before and after my holiday to see what happened to my body while resting but I didn't (Note to Self: do this on your next holiday)

I weighed myself at the gym and I'm showing as 70 kg so I've probably lost some muscle so I'll need to build this back up again

Well it's good to be back and i'll keep you updated as the date gets ever nearer, argh!!

Heritage Motor Museum

...More like once a week

Ok so again I’ve not been blogging and I’m soon to be going on holiday where I’m probably going to be blogging even less

So last you heard i was picking myself up after a slump of no fitness, well i'm back on track and feeling the push towards TRIATHLON

Went swimming twice yesterday, once in the Newport pool and then again later at the wolverton pool both are 33 1/3 meters long but Wolverton is outside, Brrr!!!

I must have done another 200 meters worth of swimming before we realised what I’ve been doing wrong and why I am finding swimming any distance a struggle while others around me are completing 400+ meters with ease, I mean it's not like I’m unfit or I’m carrying too much extra weight, it was down to floatation and swimming horizontally

Now I know what you are going to say (why aren’t you blogging anymore? No not that the other thing… Oh how the hell were you swimming then if not horizontally? Yeah that one) well I think I was swimming diagonally, my legs where deep in the water not doing very much and when trying to turn my head to breath I would always take in lots of water, then I would cough, splutter, hold my breath as best I could, panic and eventually stop half way across and breathe again and then hold my breath and quickly panic swim to the other side and wonder why I was finding it so damn hard all the time

But with my new way of swimming I’m finding that I could easily swim about 100 meters or more (Note: because of time in the pool I didn’t have time to swim 100 meters or more horizontally as we figured out my diagonal swimming problem about 2 minutes before having to get out, D’oh!)

Been keeping up with some strength training in the gym as well, so now I’m all excited again about my triathlon but I’m about to have a week on a relaxing barge holiday, I’m planning on going for some runs as well to keep exercising

Till next time