First Triathlon Completed!

I feel like I've just won my first triathlon (I came 31st out of 105)

It's a great feeling, I stuck by it had loads of help along the way but now I've completed my first triathlon

So i was fully prepared physically on Saturday night, i had tried to be really good with my food intake and making sure my body was getting everything it needed, i wasn't so prepared with actually getting there, on a second inspection of the race details we would need to be getting up at 3am on Sunday and leaving the house at 4am to get there for final chance registration at 6am-ish, so i was packed and ready Saturday night, let my dad know (who was going to come and see me) that the event was actually 2 hours away (and not the 30 mins i had first thought) that i didn't mind if he couldn't make it, then got an early night

Up early at 3 the next morning, we checked, double checked then went through everything again to make sure there wasn't anything we had forgotten one last time

We got to the venue a little earlier than expected, there didn't seem to be anyone on the roads at 4 in the morning on a Sunday, weird! Dani drove while i got some more sleep (Thanks Dani)

After getting everything i needed into the transition area i realised my first problem, to save time and baggage i wore my running shoes there, but then had to leave them in the transition area meaning i had to walk around bare foot till the race

Then my Dad and his wife Pam showed up, I really didn't expect it and it was a great boost just before the race

I took on board a shake 2 hrs before the race, thermo, quickspark, nrg tablets 30 mins before the race and had prepared a H30 / Niteworks / liftoff energy drink for my water bottle now attached to my bike

First the swim, it was very cold in the lake which was actually a huge positive for me as i overheat while racing so i knew that would be fine, there were legs in front of me, arms scraping my legs behind me, it was a mess of people all swimming together, like salmon upstream, i found the swim really easy, my pace was slowed by the person in front of me who i couldn't get round, but i think with the slower pace i didn't get tired at all

The transition was a flurry of runners looking for their bikes in the 600+ bike rack

Then off on the bike, after a couple of swigs of my H30 / Niteworks / Liftoff energy drink i dropped my water bottle, I panicked, do i go back for it or continue without any more fluid for the rest of the race... I continued, i couldn't bring myself to stop cycling, the cycle was long but on fairly flat roads, i overtook a few people which was another boost for me and about three quarters into the race i was getting tired i hadn't overtaken anyone in a while and was feeling a bit low, so i picked myself up and tried to think of something to do to raise my moral, so what should pop into my head at this very moment? that's right the theme tune to Gladiators "Do you feel the power of the Gladiators?" The song was in my head and then i found myself singing it out loud whilst cycling along, it really did help me, my spirit lifted, i started smiling and went hell for leather, overtaking a few more riders

The second transition was faster, without a wetsuit to get off i was out in under a minute

The run started very SLOW, my calves had started to cramp when i got off my bike (something the H30 / Niteworks drink would have prevented, Grrr) but i lifted my knees up and after a minute they were back to normal and i was on the run, i overtook a few racers here as well, more boosts for me to carry on, i also heard some of the racers encourage others on their way round

round the bend and over the finish line with a total time of:

1:02:09

Belated birthday post

Today is my birthday, okay so it was actually on Friday but I didn't have time to blog then so here it is:

Today is my birthday, I'm now old... 27 years old in fact, now I would be the first to say that i haven't done much in my 27 years, stopped world hunger, go to outer space or even done a volunteer litter picking in my local community, but in 2 days I can at least say that i will have completed my first triathlon (I know that i have the power of hindsight as i have now actually done it but bear with me here) so whats that got to do with world hunger, space flight or helping people... Good point! it hasn't but it does mean that i can say that i have now put my mind to something and planned it, booked it, told people about it and probably the most important actually done it (okay I'm getting myself confused here, am i writing in the past or the present or what? Erm... bear with me i guess)

(Back to the past now)

So I'm all excited about my birthday and my triathlon (remember we are back in the past now at a point where i haven't completed the triathlon yet)

For my birthday i got lots of triathlon and ironman stuff but most importantly for the immediate future is that i got a wetsuit for the triathlon on Sunday (the 4th, don't worry i know it's now Monday the 5th)

Later that day...

I went out in my wetsuit to the only open swimming pool available and went in my wetsuit, i was amazed at how buoyant it was, i no longer had to worry about swimming horizontally as the wetsuit took care of that bit, i found swimming not only easy but loads of fun, the problem was that the swimming pool was an indoor heated pool, with lots of people in it and in the wetsuit i was baking hot, but it gave me 2 new experiences, swimming in a wetsuit and taking off the wetsuit as quick as i could which will be useful in the triathlon transition

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday messages

Lots of love

Old Billy

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

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?

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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

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

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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!!

...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

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


...


...


...


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

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

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

Tri Suit Arrived!!

Here is me in my new tri suit, yeah i know i know we should have spent the money fixing that hole in the wall

It felt weird putting it on for the first time, i've never wore anything like it, it's really comfortable though when it's on

I've bought the best triathlon bike in the world

As the title says I have actually bought the best triathlon bike in the world, there isn't another bike on the market like it, it's totally unique, only 1 made, it's the (wait for it) Giant Defy 3 2011

Whoa! I know what you're thinking that is NOT the best triathlon bike in the world, it's not even a triathlon bike at all it's a road bike

However this my friend is where you are wrong and I'll tell you why...

It is going to be MY bike

It's going to be the bike that i ride on to compete in the Silverstone Duathlons

It's going to be the bike i use for the Cotswold Triathlon in Sept

Like i said it's totally unique, I'm not going to be riding any other bike, only this one (until i upgrade it of course) we're going to have great days together and we're going to have bad days together but this will be my bike that sees me through it all and one day it will be worth quillions, trust me

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On another note i went swimming again today, but this time without Dani, don't panic it's all cool, she's gone off to do her Supporting Artist work (Extras to you and me) I think i done about 20 lengths, trying my hardest to keeping doing at least 2 lengths at a time and then having to stop for a short breather

I didn't feel that i done that well, although i was swimming more my technique was a little off and i had some trouble getting my legs and arms working together again, i think next time i will start with the float again as i found that really helped get coordinated

Possible early race day

Ok so i went to the chiropractor yesterday, i was a bit nervous as i've never even had a massage before and it felt a bit weird knowing that some guy was going to be rubbing oil into my back

But the appointment went well, he said that there wasn't anything really wrong with me which was good and he showed me a few exercises to basically take care of myself at home and wouldn't need to come back, which was all good

He gave me a lot of information to take in but said that if i got stuck i could email him for some training tips, he also suggested that instead of doing endurance work on the resistance machines i should focus more of muscle strength and then when i'm running, cycling and swimming that should be all the endurance work i need, he gave me a tip on cycling as well that when training i should do short bursts of fast pace then continue at normal pace during the rest of the time, i can't remember the type of training he called it though

I've now got a possible race day today over at Silverstone tonight, My dad called me yesterday saying that they needed someone to run a 2 mile run and then cool down while someone does a 10 mile bike stretch and then i'll need to do another 2 mile run, it still need to be confirmed yet but it's another competition that i can compete in which can only help for the 4th of September

It does mean that my weekly plan that i only blogged yesterday might now be wrong but nevermind

Planning my week ahead

With only a 70 something days remaining i've decided to write out this weeks plan of my training

Everyday
Get up for 0630
Have a healthly breakfast shake
Drink at least 2 litres of water while sitting at my desk
Take my vitamins 3 times a day with food
Get to bed for 2200

Monday
See Chiroprator after work
Go for a walk

Tuesday
Go to Fitball class after work

Wedesday
Go Swimming in the morning
See if i can join the 5k run at Sweatshop
If not
Go for a 2.5k run at the gym later
Then try a 20k cycle after the run

Thursday
Go for a 2.5k run at the gym
Then work on the fitball ready for Tuesday

Friday
Go Swimming in the morning

Weekend
Pre-filled up with family stuffs
Try and get to the gym or just go on a 5k run

Weekend weekend!

Had a great weekend, didn't manage to get much training though

Went to the Gold Coast Festival in North Devon and saw the likes of Ben Howard, Ed Sheeran and Seasick Steve (my Photo with Seasick coming soon...) It was a great weekend

I did manage to get some competive cycling down though, about 3 mins worth overall, i tested my skill against the best that north devon had to offer... well the ones that weren't competing in the real sporting events such as the swimming for god-knows how long in the sea or surfing all day or beach volleyball but all the others that had come to listen to some awesome music and feast on the delights of Mexican or Hotdogs or 300 Medley bars, out of these people i came level first with the faster biker... on a virtual cycle route in the back of a VW van (Again photos will follow when i get time)

 - - 00:01:04 - -

Yay, my first victory. Now i have the taste for it i'm psyched up for the triathlon now, i even got a prize for my meager vistory, an orange tri shirt with my name on the back, it wasn't the prize that the virtual cycle uys were handing out, Dani bought it for me for nearly dying after the cycle

I'm a real athlete now

I can now call myself a real athlete now as I've had to stop my swimming this morning due to... You've guessed it an injury
My achey achey arms have now got to the stage of just one arm not being able to move much, it must be after the workout on Friday as i haven't done anything after that

I'm contacting a Chiropractor at the moment to see if they can look at it for me

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Went swimming after work anyway as my arm ache had calmed down by this point, feeling it again now though

I'm getting frustrated with my swimming technique as i don't appear to be picking it up quick enough, i was the same when i started rollerblading, i know this sounds like me reminiscing on my childhood but it isn't i only learnt to Rollerblade about 8 months ago when i got Rollerblades for my 26th birthday, i also got snowboarding lessons for the same birthday but i haven't attempted that yet either, it's on my to do list

Anyway getting back to my swimming, i appear to be going forwards and backwards at the same time, picking up on moving my arms right and then completely forgetting to breath so i then come up for air and then forget to move my arms right

I'm still doing 1 length at a time and somehow I'm supposed to do 400m by September and then I've got to cycle and run as well afterwards

My achey achey arms

On Friday i thought I'd push myself a little

I'd watched a video on YouTube of Will Smith quotes and he says that he pushes himself everyday to do his best and when he sets his mind on a goal he will achieve that goal no matter what

So i was down the gym and going on the running machine i noticed that my stomach muscles couldn't continue much after the 1km mark so i stopped running to ensure that i didn't get injured, feeling slightly let down by my abs i got on the resistance machine (the one where you push your arms up above your head whilst sitting down)

I had the machine on the 5kg setting (the lowest one) and began to do 100 reps, once I'd finished those i thought that i could do another set, i got to about 20 before my arms asked me to stop, when i got to 50 my arms asked again, by 80 they were screaming at my me but i got to my goal of 100 again (yeah thanks Will)

After my arms were loosened up i thought I'd better get my legs moving again with engaging my abs too much so i went on the sit back cycle machine, it's like the normal cycle machine but you sit back in the chair and let your legs do all the work

For my triathlon i need to do a 20km cycle route so i set myself the goal of getting to 20km just to see if i could and then to see how long this was going to take me

When i got to 5km i thought i should probably stop but that damn Will Smith video echoed in my ears and i just couldn't stop at 5 km i had to go all the way to 20km, it was thought going but i did it and i felt so happy that i did, i got a real sense of achievement form it, setting a goal, struggling with the goal then finishing the goal

It took my 35 Min's to do the full 20km but afterwards and even now my legs are fine with it, it's just my arms that are a little stiff this morning (it's always the day after the day after a workout for some reason)

On Saturday i rested my body and ate healthily to help recover, this morning i was going to go to the gym for a swim but the way my arms are I'm leaving it till tomorrows early morning session

Here's the Will Smith video: http://youtu.be/pfWGoLj1JCM

My 1st Retweet

I asked @220triathlon to retweet my news of booking my 1st Triathlon and they did, thank you @220triathlon much appreciated

Also i've update my blog so that it should now work on Mobiles, it's the same address blog.bsknowles.com

Morning swim and results from fitball

Got up bright and early this morning, had to drag Dani out of bed but got us both to the gym on time for a morning swim

It's been a few days since my last swim so i really tried to get the technique right

Had problems with my breathing again but I'm finding that I'm recovering quicker and am able to start almost doing 2 lengths at a time before having a short breather

I found near the end of my swim that i wasn't keeping my head down and that was causing me to bring my head up instead of to the side for air, I'll need to work on this, I'm also starting to inhale water as I'm swimming so might need to get a nose clamp thingy

had a shake and Niteworks before and another shake (with protein) and vitamins afterwards and my recovery is getting much better

A good way to start the day i feel much more awake by the time I'm getting to work and ready to start the day

Oh yeah, after the fitball exercises yesterday and I'm guessing the training overall I'm finding that sitting with the correct posture is feeling more comfortable and 'Right' than sitting slouched at my desk, i guess it's because of working my lower back and core has made my body want to sit correctly, weird! I wasn't even going for a posture change but it's like a natural development of working out :)

Big News

Ok i'm booked in!

I'm going to be competing in this triathlon:

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

It's the same one as i mentioned before, this site just had a little more detail about the race