26th August - Run

14km - 58.59

This was 7 laps of the park. Jim cycled alongside for moral support, and to make us look like a gay couple. I felt ok, no need to stop, and managed to get under an hour, which was my target. I was very pleased my last lap is my fastest yet, beating the last lap of my 10km last week. 2km splits were:

9.00
8.15
8.35
8.44
8.47
8.25
7.10

Cold ice bath for 15 minutes afterwards.

26th August - Swim

1km - 29.28

Did not feel great when I got out of bed this morning. The session was ok, had some fogged up goggles mid-way through. Managed to do almost all of this in front crawl. 200m splits were:

4.34
5.47
7.19
5.50
5.57

23rd August - Bike

Hackney to Rotherfield
73km - approx 4 hours

PJ and KT caught the train up from TW so they could ride with us. The general route was: Greenwich walkway > Blackheath > Bromley > Biggin Hill > Westerham > Chidingstone Causeway > Fordcombe > Langton > Eridge > Rotherfield.

Felt great for the first 45km, were some amazing downhills, I felt strong on the rolling uphills and although found it hard, I was ok on the steep ones too. However, we stopped at a pub for a lemonade at Chiddingstone, where I felt great upon arrival, but an hour later when we left I had lost all my energy, and I had very heavy legs. Accoring to Si Richardstone this is known as 'visiting Cafe Bonk' in the cycling world, so I was glad to hear it's not just me this happens to.
Post Cafe Bonk happened to coincide with some horrible hills, especially Langton to Rotherfield.

I played football today though with no huge problems, so recovery looks ok.

July 21st - Swim

0.8km 24 minutes

Woke up a little late so didn't have time to do 1k. Felt ok - not great though. 200m splits were slow unfortunately:

5.23
6.40
6.03
5.58

I did a lot more front crawl than Tuesday, and worked really hard on any technique, focusing on long reach, strong pull, less head movement in the breath, and keeping myself horizontal without tiring myself out. Wasn't easy to concentrate on all of them at once, but getting there.

Looking forward to the Hackney to Rotherfield bike ride on Saturday

19 August - Run

10km - 41.20

I did 5 laps of the mini park. My initial aim was to do 10km in 40 minutes, but mid way through I realised it was unlikely so aimed for under 42 minutes.
I felt good, a little bit weak in the chest at the start, maybe from the swim this morning, but that went after 5-10 minutes. I took lap splits, which is every 2 km, these were:

8.07
8.28
8.52
8.36
7.16

Disappointed about the 3rd lap as I didn't realise I had slowed down. Very pleased about the last lap.
Right calf is still giving me trouble, have stretched and cold bath, but painful.

Jim Poole Quote of the day:
"One World, One Dream"
Plagiarising bastard!

19th August - Swim

1km - 25.03

On paper my best swim yet!
I didn't feel hugely strong, but I felt I worked harder than normal. I decided to take 200m splits to try to motivate me to keep going, and break up the swim. Splits were:

4.50
5.37
6.05
6.10
4.43

Had a few 30 second breaks which added to the 6min splits...but I needed them! Didn't quite do it all in crawl, did switch to breastroke every now and then to get my breath back. I was pleased I managed to do my fastesat split at the end too.

16th August - Bike

Hackney to Chelmsford

48km - 1hour 45 mins

Felt good - the distance wasn't a problem. Uphill sections were a little tough and I need to work on them.
Small bits of traffic here and there slowed me down, and on some parts of the A12 the surface was appalling.
Hydrated myself more efficiently than the Southend ride so no headache after, although the weather was not as warm as that day.
No ill effects afterwards apart from being a little sleepy.

New aero bars are Xc311ent!

14th August - Swim

0.9km - 27 mins
Felt ok - a little achey in my right calf from yesterday, but otherwise all good.
Having swum everyday on holiday last week I was expecting a significant improvement, so I was disappointed I did not get to the 1km point. A positive point was that I did front crawl 100% of the time. Rest points were no more than 10-30 seconds and at the least were every 100m, sometimes more.
It was a shock to come back into fresh water without the bouyancy of salt water.
I found my technique goes to pot when I am tired, with a lot more body roll and slap down of the breathing arm when I take a breath
I went with Claire, who pointed out that my arse is not high enough, and I need to focus on extending my reach (she just wanted to see my ass more).

13th August - Run

9km - 38mins

I did 4 laps of the smaller park, 2km per lap, splits below:

10.53 (includes 0.5km getting to the park)
8.15
9.04
7.46

2.48 (getting back home)

Felt good with a comfortable rhythm. I pushed hard in the last lap as I still felt strong after 7km.

Slight twinge in my right calf near that persisted from midway through lap 3, which is hurting this morning.

This was my first run session. I really enjoy that section of the park, and will probably use it regularly in the future.

Speaking of 'future', time for the James Poole quote of the day:
"The best way to predict the future is to create it"

.....jzimp

2nd August - Brick

Did a short brick session with Jim around Vicky Park:

Bike: 16km - 38 mins
Worked quite hard - felt good
Pushed it very hard in the last km, had 'jelly legs'

Run: 4.5km - 20 mins
Struggled in the first km, was really tough, managed to get in a bit of rhythm but not particularly fast.