Glass man to Ironman

Well I have started back on the training, first few runs of 5k was great, really enjoying it and getting a new PB for it, decided to push the boat and do a 8k on my lunch break, after hitting 6-7k mark I felt a twinge on the underside of my right foot and the left side of ankle so have given the running a rest for the week and will try going up the km slowly, last thing I want to do is give myself a case of plantar fasciitis. I always get injuries from my right knee downwards and guess i should really go back to the physio or go for a biomechanical imbalance test to see whats causing these injuries, but its the £££, so going to crack on with the core strength exercises some more and work on the hip exercises again as I have stopped doing them since moving, fingers crossed it will improve but if not I have no choice but to seen professional advice, also I think it might be time for some new trainers....more £££!! Swimming is coming on fine, really getting a feel for the water now, j...

Well as new years resolutions go, mine fell at the first hurdle....the aim to be better with time and eat healthy ended on the first day back to work...overslept and had to grab some junk food to keep me going through out the day as had no time to prepare anything...oh well. So my training is starting back up again anyhow, first swimming session back last week ripped me apart, so out of shape for 2 months no swimming, but soon got back into the swing of things. Running...did a 5km last week just to get the DOMS over and done with so I can get back to regular running and then up the millage. Cycling...soon as I get our shed base down and order one I'm going to do long bike rides to build up to 40km, currently I'm doing 20k a day going to work at back, but would like to use my tri bike and get used to it more if i could...maybe when its abit warmer? Right best do some stretches as off for a nice 5km run, under my foot is twinging abit so might just take it steady :-)

Well I have finally moved into my new house and i have to say its has been the most stressful 2 months ever! I couldn't think about training or keeping my diet on track, it was just a nightmare! so it just came to a griding halt and now its Xmas I cant see me training until new years day (new start, diet ect...) So whats the plans for 2012? Hopefully money available the races this year are:- Lincoln 10k - Aim for a sub 40, or a sub 45 at least! Dambuster Triathlon - Oly distance, open water, eeekk! David Lloyd Triathlon - Wouldn't mind another crack at it, beat last years time. Notts Marathon - Prep to see if I can go the running distance for the Ironman in 2013 - also one of my friends has bet me that I can't run the marathon! Not as many races as I would have liked, but money is going to be tight with now having a mortgage and having to pay out more getting to training with the tri club (petrol bills ect due to moving) but on a plus note I now have a good long...

I cant remember the last time I went for a run, swim or cycle (only to and from work) its got to be over a month now? Reason being....Well, after searching for the past few months we have finally found a house and looking to get on to the property ladder, so training has gone right out the window and been replaced with stress, lack of sleep, dizzy spells, crap diet you name it. Currently we are stuck in the middle waiting for everything to be finalised so we can move in, just hoping it all goes to plan. I feel once we have moved in and settled I will be able to get back into the swing of things as I feel my life is on hold at the moment and cant fully focus. The best thing about where I am moving to is that its near a local swimming pool, its a nice distance to cycle/run to work, the water sports center down the road is available for open water swimming May-October next year so ideal for practice for next years Olympic distance race which currently is looking like the Dambuster Triat...

After doing a few runs it looks like all the regular injuries are out the woodwork again, the most annoying thing is that they all happen on my right leg... sore Achilles, hamstring feeling tight, cramp in calf an interior shin splints. I looked up on the net to see if there is a muscle imbalance somewhere in the chain, so I started from the top of my leg an worked down, straight away it was obvious my hip muscles are in terrible shape! So this is could be the weakest link an the cause of my over pronation. So now I'm following some basic exercises to strengthen my glutes from this article:- http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=18359&PageNum=1 Did one set yesterday and that wasn't so bad.... today I did two sets an I think I'm gonna have doms tomorrow! Going to do them everyday and see if the injuries subside :-).

Well I managed to stay up till 2:30am to watch the finish to what was an amazing race! I did contemplate going to bed around the 10/11pm mark due to nodding off a few times on the sofa while watching the live feed on the laptop, but I persevered and kept going. I would give a race report but I'm sure its on the net somewhere anyhow. Getting to Hawaii and doing the Ironman is most probably the pinnacle race of any triathlete, but the road to get there is not an easy one having to be in the top 3-5 in your age group at any Ironman race to qualify (Kona slots vary on the age groups and the location of the race). After looking at some of the results about 1,100 managed to go around the 9hr mark! I would love to do but a reality check is needed, it takes alot of commitment (and money!) to do it, maybe ill get lucky and do the Kona Lottery to get a place?  haha. On the other note of training I have started running 3x a week, but already my legs have started twinging in places to remi...

In a bid to try and get faster I bought a heart rate monitor to work out which zone I am in for each type of run ie long slow, interval or tempo. So this morning I decided to do a 8km run (was tempted by 10km but dont want to risk injury since its been a while since last did a 10k)....now, going by the test I did a few weeks back I estimated my max heart rate to be about 202 going by some advice on the triathlon forums, this puts my long slow run heart rate to be about 131-151bpm. After about 5-8mins into the run I was struggling to keep my heart rate down, it was more 160-166. So I slowed down even more to the point I felt like I was going to just do speed walking!! didnt feel all that good, so I stuck at 166bpm with what I would class as a steady jog, not pushing it at all and just taking in the sights from up the top of the hill, (beats running along a busy road on my other 10k route with all the traffic fumes!) Any niggles? Well so far the bottom of my calfs feel abit tight, so wil...