Glass man to Ironman

Soon as Dambuster finished I started my marathon training, just to get me in the frame of mind I could complete the marathon at the end of the Ironman, so picked a 16 week training schedule from FIRST which is training 3x a week, anymore and I knew I was asking for trouble with my legs... or so I thought. After 2 weeks it was time to start the Sunday long slow runs, no matter how hard I try I struggle to go slow like the advice is to use your heart beat as a guide so I just did what I thought was comfortable for me, this was 7:30/40min miles which I thought wasn't too bad and once I got into a rhythm I felt like I could go for hours! My target was 10miles which is the longest ive ever run, abit of a jump from 10k, got to 9.5miles and then the wheels started falling off the wagon...first my right ankle started giving me grief so had to slow right down and then some stiffness in my left calf above the achillies. Soon as I got in I hopped into an ice cold bath to cool my legs down and...

Saturday 16th - The Dambuster Triathlon at Rutland Waters. Due to all the recent shitty weather in the UK several triathlon events around the country had been canceled or turned into duathlons, as such the lake temperature was down to 12*, Rumors on the forums had started Friday night that the swim portion was now down to 1k due to the temp, I didn't mind this as swimming aint my favorite part. Woke up at 3:15am, the night before I did a list and double checked everything to make sure I wouldn't forget any of it, this ment going to bed at 10:30pm and only getting 5hrs sleep! I kept breakfast down to a bowl of cereal and a banana, I was thinking if this was enough but i don't work well on a half/full-ish stomach even if I did have 3hrs to go before the race, so woofed it down, packed up and drove the 1h 15mins to Rutland. Apon turning up at what I though was the venue, I just saw a deserted car park and a few banners about, my heart sank thinking they had canceled the wh...

Past 2 weeks I have been suffering with stomach pains, wind and...well the sh*ts every now and again so training had come to a halt while I regained my strength back and my appetite to start eating again, the main culprit I think was my little lad, kids are germ factories and once they get a sickness bug....you know your definitely going to get it! So yeah took my hit and got back into my training, still not done any brick training so to speak off so best do a few sessions before Dambuster. As the weather has been lovely for the past 2 weeks it would of been a shame not to enjoy it in the lakes, so I got my wet suit on and headed down to time how long it would take me to do 1500m....I managed to do it in 42-45mins, which in most peoples eyes is quite crap, but for love nor money I cant do open water sighting! there is no fancy line down the middle to guide you, just the bottom of the lake....until it goes misty. Every time I tried to sight my breathing would go to pot, I loose my rhy...

As the more I train the more little niggles start coming out to haunt and worry me that I wont be able to get through this, so being cautious is the name of the game for me, trying not to over do it if I can. So the list of injuries/niggles I have at the moment that are starting to be of concern are:- 1)Right Ankle - Still getting a niggle on the inside of my right foot after running, but now it don't kick in until I go past the 6-7k mark running, suspected PTT but to skint to afford physio to diagnose. Next day after a run I feel OK, not tried to run with a days rest in between just yet, but think I will start after the Dambuster as the 16 week marathon plan I have fits in nicely with the Mablethorpe marathon I hope to run, this ups my running to 3x a week, 1 long run, 1 tempo and a speed session. This "injury" or imbalance somewhere on my body is also having a knock on effect in my swimming, the coach pointed out during the swimming analysis that my right foot is ju...

With about 7-8 weeks left now until the Dambuster I thought I would give an update on my training...if you can call it that! Unfortunately for me due to working and having a family its hard to stick to a routine so my training is very playing by ear so to speak, the only constant training I would say out the three I'm doing is the swimming due to never being in open water and the fear of getting in the middle of the lake and being out of breath/energy/drowning is constantly playing on my mind, so full focus on that to be able to do 1500m, currently at the moment I can do 900m broken up into small sets with a few breathers in between, then have a rest and prob do another 400m just taking it easy. Some days it will be like wow! I can keep going! other days I have felt like giving up...I go to fast, I struggle, my form goes downhill and I just want to get out the pool. I have started taking gels 20-30mins prior to going in, which I think has helped abit, or maybe i...

Last week I got my first taste of what my wetsuit was like, and I was totally amazed at how buoyant and easy it was to swim in it, totally felt like a cheat! Happy with my wetsuit I have decided just to shed a few lbs just to make sure its a snug fit. Now...yesterday I got a taste of the real thing, I headed down to our local lakes where one of the tri club coaches gave us an intro to open water... now this really was an eye opener!!! Temp of the lake was sitting around 10 degrees and it was raining! But we all headed in an did some basic sighting and drafting skills, I have to admit that swimming in a straight line ain't easy, so need to work on the sighting bit. After 25mins we got out and my hands an feet were dead! Hopefully ill go back for some more sessions before dambuster. Now I thought I would be able to strengthen my feet with the vibrams and vivo neos but I've had to hang them up for now, its too tempting to run long distances in them, I got up to 2/3 miles before I...

After suffering long enough i decided to get my stroke looked at and see where im going wrong, an after viewing myself on cam i can see why! I really look like im struggling...so now the coach is going to give me some pointers and where i should be working on, i would upload the video but due to other people in shot underwater i cant without their permission, i was due to do it in an empty pool but thanks to Lincolnshire county council blocking the road of for repairs i was 30mins late to the pool, but im just glad i got it done :-). Also i now own a wetsuit! See the pic below, feels a tad tight so going to loose a few lbs an see if that helps, if not ill have to get another.