Glass man to Ironman

Well its been a while since I have been on here to update my progress, In my last entry I mentioned about the splitting up from my partner of 8 years, I never would of imaged how much stress this would of put on me and stop completely in my training tracks. Past 2 months I have been very sparadic in training with no set plan and just doing runs here, swimming when I can, and cycling errr....never! So with less than 9 months to go till Ironman UK ive had to really crack down and get a plan of action sorted and stick to it so I am in the best condition ever when I toe the line. Currently im going between two houses until the ex can move out, so this is having an impact as having to stay in the house to look after my son 3 nights of the week...So whats the best alternative to no training? training in-doors! its not the ideal situation but its better than nothing right? So looked on wiggle for torture device 1 ie Turbo Trainer, I already had one but it sounded like a plane taking off and...

IRONMAN UK Yes I have signed up for my first IRONMAN!!! I was going to do the Outlaw Triathlon as it was closer and cheaper than an Official Ironman event, Outlaw = £250 Ironman = £375, but due to its popularity it sold out in 5 days flat! I didn't have the funds to hand to get booked in so missed the boat.I was gutted as I knew there was no way I was going to get the fee for the official Ironman, so I looked at the charity positions going and was tempted to sign up with SCOPE for £100 entrance fee and a commitment to raise £1k. During the registration for the place it then came to the golden question as to why I wanted to do the race for that charity, the obvious was the fact that I wanted the cheap entrance fee and probably could raise the money  but I felt like a fraud, so backed out and started thinking again as how I was to get in, luck would have it my dad agreed to go half with me after I told him how much I wanted to do the race and to raise some money for charity. So I am...

I turned 32 on Sunday an decided to keep that day as a mile stone for my first half marathon attempt....turned out I overslept and missed my calling to get the run in before we went out for the day to celebrate my birthday...so I did it on the monday just before I went to work, as this would give me a faster time as I knew I had to get back in time ready for work!! So up at 4:50, quick gulp of water, out the door! took a gel with me for that 10k pick me up. All smiles, comfortable 4:40min/km pace until I got to 19km and just wanted to get it over and done with, boredom was starting to settle in, now this was my worse mistake...I went a little too hard and started to get the mother of all stiches!!! I tightened my core and pushed on, then the niggles in my lower leg started coming on, the wheels on this wagon was starting to come off! Heard the delightful 21km beep in my headphones and then slowed down....1h 40mins, quite chuffed with that to be honest as it was my first attempt but I n...

After seeing physio about my dodgy leg, I have been doing alot more stretches as my right hip and hamstrings are quite tight, still getting a few niggles when going over 10k running but the next morning I dont have any pains or anything sore, Im not sure if that is a good sign or not? I dont mind as long as I can keep on running. Another thing I have decided to do was use one of my 3x runs a week to use one to run in my Vibram barefoot running shoes...now I know I keep switching between the support shoes and the minimal ones, each has there own downfall at present...the support shoe allows me to get away with a very relaxed running form, so I use these for my long and medium distant runs, the Vibrams I am just using very slowly to increase my distance in them because too much or switching to them completely always cripples me as I get too carried away and overuse those dormant muscles. So far Im having a 13k long run, 1k-2km Vibram Run and a 5/8/10k tempo run, increasing my long run ...

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...