training results

I'm off season till January. 

In January I'll enter the 36 weeks IM plan. With the IM70.3UK in June as a preparatory race.

These days I'm training. A bit randomly. Some weeks I'm into running, and running is soooo nice. I've completed 26 miles on the treadmill two weeks ago. After that, I needed some recovery from running. And I entered in the swimming phase. Swimming is sooo nice. and I've concentrated my efforts in these two weeks on swimming. And yesterday I completed 4k in the pool. 160 laps in 1h and 20 min. no stops, no recoveries, no drinking water. I was very satisfied. I'm very satisfied. There is no much point in doing training in this way, I know, and from January I'll enter the structured plan. I need to "fix" the bike leg now, I know. I'll go for a very long ride (century ride) one weekend in the spring-summer. And I wish to find another lake for some open water swims in the summer. 

The only problem is the PhD. Dam. I'm finding really hard to juggle work, the business course I have to attend for work (outside working hours, 300 hours till April), training and PhD writing.  Training is fine, writing is not. I just wish.... but it is pointless to wish. On top of this, the PC I was writing the dam thing crashed. I hate Windows and I love Mac. It could be clearer than that. Now I'm trying to recover the data from the HD.

Two weeks ago I've taken another body mass measurement. It is in the gym, with an current-based system. It is not accurate as the DEXA (based on X-rays) I did last year at Bham uni. So, scientifically speaking, I should not compare the two results, as they come from two different machines which use two different methods, and they have two different errors. But. there is a but. The result (attached) showed that I've got 10.8% of body fat. I was pretty impressed, and happy with the result!!!!!!

I've entered in the IM70.3UK (Wimbleball lake) in June!! I'm in now!! the hotel is already booked!

2009

2009.

two races.

14th June 2009, Half ironman uk, Wimbleball lake. I've already booked the race and the hotel.

13th September 2009, Ironman Wisconsin. I've booked the race, but the flight, the box, the car and the hotel are missing.... and the training is missing as well...

I'm worried I not to have time for a proper IM training, with the new job, the business course and the thesis writing (I'm very very disappointed with Mike, and I'm feeling anger inside, which doesn't help at all..). But I'm totally glad to be out of the Watson lab, and of the lab in general!

From January I'll need a more structured training plan.

Last weekend I've run 42k (26miles) on the treadmill. the first 13 miles were more than fine, the second half of the run was not so great. but I've covered the distance. so I was happy and satisfied. 

I've also joined since I've moved David Llyods. A fancy gym, with an heated outdoor pool and spa. And it is soo nice to swim outside, despite it is winter!

eventually I'll get there, with everything... including the life-destroying PhD.

David Lloyd gym

structural plan

I'm looking for an off-season plan, that allow me to arrive in january/february, where the hardcore training will begin.... also, as I'm moving to MK, I'm looking for a new gym, and I'm looking for a 24h gym... which I haven't found yet! it seems all the gyms in UK close at 22! ok, I've got the turbotrainer at home, and this helps a lot. I'll slot in the swims, runs and weight sessions between 6am and 22! not bad. Tesco is open 24h and that is really exciting for me! I can think about going shopping after midnight! food shopping is not a problem here in UK! 

yesterday 13miles on the treadmill, I have to decide what to do today... but without a structured plan I'm a bit lost! 

I'm in!!!!

It is official... I’ve entered the Ford Ironman Wisconsin 2009... 13 september 2009. On Monday, the day after the Ford Ironman Wisconsin 2008, registration opened at 9.58 pacific time (17.58 in UK...).. I was ready. Everything was ready. Registration details, credit card, internet connection... I was already logged in (I’ve done the registration at the website back in January...).. I was counting the seconds. Ready. Go. I was at the phone, and I finished the phone call. I entered quickly all the details, and I’ve sumbitted the registration. In 4 minutes I was in.... I was sooo happy I started to jump around the house. I’m in the Ford Ironman Wisconsin 2009!! I could not believe it! I had such a small temporal window, and I was in!!! now I have to plan tons of other things... hotel registration, flight, bike box, bike shipping, car rental. Right now I’m sooo over the budget. My finances are a complete disaster and I need to start to save money when I start the new job... but the new job means a car, the relocation, a new home deposit, some furniture need to be bought... I think I won’t buy the sofa bed, as originally planned. I don’t need the sofa. I’ll put the bike on the turbotrainer in front of the TV( it is already there...) at the space of the sofa. If I want to watch TV, I’ll need to spin. That might me a good system to put a lot of miles in the bike, and I can save £500 for the flight.
But I’m soo happy and excited... and scared.... This will keep me up and motivated for the next whole year!!!
I have to find a training plan, which will include 10-16h of aerobic exercise per week. I’m looking into it. In the meantime, I’ve started a basic off-season training. This week I’m around 10h. Moreover, I’m loosing weight. It is not intentional, and I don’t want to, but the fact is I’m eating. I’m not starving, I’m keeping my protein high and I’m re-integrating carbs with home made bread, but I’m loosing weight. And honestly, I’m freaking out with this.
The racing plan for the next year is more or less the following. Half Bham Marathon in October, a marathon during the winter/ early spring 2009, the Half Ironman UK 2009 at Wimbleball lake, and the IM Wisconsin. Maybe something else, maybe some time-trails in the summer, some evenings.... plus, I’ll join soon the Team Milton Keynes, to start to train with them (and know new people in the new city). They swim at 2 lakes in the summer, and that is nice... I only hope one of them (hopefully the Saturday moring one) is deep, very deep.... so I don’t see down.... That is a hope.
I’ve got in front of me a really challenge year. I’m so thrilled about it!!
Oh, it is time for Family guy on BBC three!!!!

Swimin Barnt Green

As my parents are here, I've taken the chance for a photo session while swimming!! The water is quite warm, around 18C (64.4F).

London Olympic tri 10.08.08

Here there is the race report....
Saturday it was preparation day. Train from Snow Hill (Virgin was not running), and arrival al London. Than I've cycled from the train station till the Excel centre, 10 miles (16K), all across London, passing all the Docklands. It was not very nice, to be honest, as there was a lot of traffic, and some roads were close for the race. But it went well.
The place was HUGE, and saturday there were people doing the sprint and superprint. Registration was huge, transition area was enormous. . 13.000 competitors in 2 days. It was impressive, and easy to loose the bike.
Saturday I've ranked Scott, I've taken the pictures and I've studied the swim course, the transition, the bike course and the run. I've also browsed the expo, which was big (bigger than the IM70.3) but not massive.

Than, I've checked in at the Travelodge.
I've eaten a take away pizza, in my room, as opposite to the Travelodge there was a pizza place. The pizza was nice. Night at 10.00 pm. there was nothing worth to be watched on the BBC.
On Sunday, I had my "free" breakfast. I could have eaten whatever I wanted from the buffet , but I was not in the mood for big eating. A bowl of cereals and two sausages were enough!
I returned to the Excel in the late morning, I checked Scott, placed the towels, elmet, race number and drinks in transition, and I've waited 14.10, my wave. that was the worst part, waiting without having nothing to do. I was feeling excited, but at the same time I did not wanted to race, and I thought it would have been the last race. I had my lunch, two Powerbar cookies. I did not wanted to eat more, two hours before the race.
Than the start. I checked again everything and we walked down in the water. Deep water, black, with a diesel taste. very nice! In my wave there were 320 persons. Horn. Start. Washing machine. I was kicked, but not too much. I pushed, as I was determined to have a nice time, this time. This race was all about speed, that was my goal! 1 lap, 1 turn. The turn was messy, a little bit of washing machine again. Towards the end, again. But it was ok.
Water exit, a little bit of dizziness. normal. Wetsuit of, packed it in the bag, bike. The bike was flat, 40K, again I pushed. I was higher with my heart rate monitor than usual. 2 laps, one long tunnel each lap. It was windy, but generally ok. Some parts we were racing on a highway, so we had 2 lanes to race. other parts we had just one lane, and it was a little bit packed, and I found difficult, some time to pass people. End of the bike. Quick transiton. Run
2 laps, each 5K. First lap, pain as usual. This time the pain was at the front, lower left. I coped with it. I run in a slow pace. A lot of drinking stations, with Gatorate and water. Second lap I was determined to increase my pace. and I did it. the pain gradually went away with the end of the first lap, and I increased more the heart rate. Now I was around 170 as average (from 150/160 of the bike/swim as average). I was feeling good, and I was feeling the legs were working fine. I was not breathless.
I finished at 2h and 36min. I found out there were (in different waves) 441 persons in my category, and I scored 221, right in the middle! I was totally pleased with my time. totally. My aim was to finish it under 3h and I was extremelly pleased.
The support during the run was great, the general support was great and the organization amazing. I have to admit, the IM 70.3 support was really amazing. this was great, but not amazing. the atmosphere was really nice, the place huge, and it was totally worth doing it. I'm sorry you've missed it, as I guess you would have really enjoyed it, as it is the biggest tri in the world.
Of course it is not my last race!! but the feelings I had right before it were strange. Any way, I'm planning a marathon and Lichefield sprint, as a checkout of my time.

I did it!

I finished the 2008 UK Ironman 70.3 in 7 hours, 6 minutes and 18 seconds. I'll update the full report soon. Here there are some pictures of the event! A huge thanks to Chris and Karis for the great support over the weekend and for having spent the whole weekend with me. I've really appreciated your time and effort! You guys are amazing! 

3 days and the weekend begins.....

... and I'm scared to death.

10 days to go

10 days to go... 10 days to the big event.

I'm tapering, I'm also trying to loose fat and not muscle. And the high protein-low fat- low carbs diet is back. I'm starving, and the consumption of diet coke raised a lot. I'm almost nearby the liter per day. in addiction to all the other food. 

Today open water swim. I need to cover the distance, at least 1900m. As usual, at the Bittell reservoir, in Barnt green. Saturday and Sunday I'll not do much, next week possibly a 5K run, some rest, one swim in open water (again....). I'm tapering but I'm feeling tired. Maybe because I've skipped one sleeping night at the very beginning of the week, thanks to work, and this reflected on all my week. I started to be scared about the racing day. I wish to have more time to train, but I want to race now. It is complicated. And scaring. 

Top Barn II

Today I went to Top Barn. The weather was miserable. They were supposed to host a beach party, with BBQ with the organic meat from the local farm, tennis, runs, you were supposed to try kayaks and possibly attempt a quadrathlon. Nothing of all that. The weather was freeeezing, and it was raining. The air temperature was 16C (60.8F) and the water around 14-15C (around 57F). It was also was very windy, and there were waves in the lake. No beach party. No BBQ. No quadrathlon. Just a quick difficult swim, followed by a long hot shower and a hot coffee. I've taken a shoot of the lake, from the shop window. Maybe it is possible to spot Mark doing his 5th lap. Everybody else (including me...) did 2 laps (1300m).....

Bittell reservoir and graduation cap

Today swim at the Bittell reservoir. the water was 15C, the weather gray and cloudy. Everything went smoothly. I like the Bittell reservoir, as it is deep, the water is clear and brownish, and you can't see plants, or algae or anything else. I was confident to attempt one full lap, 750m. After the worm up, Robin caught me, and we did together the lap. It was fine, but I did it a little bit too quick. The swim pace was a little bit over my pace, but everything was fine. I have to practice sight seeing. At the end of the lap, Robin was really pleased with my swim that decided to "graduate" me and allowed me to exchange my yellow cap with a orange one. Now I can swim alone, as I proved to be confident in open water. I'm not completely and fully confident, but it is quickly improving. And I like to swim at the Bittell. Tauny encouraged me to do a second lap, and I swam with him and Steve. It was more slow than the fist lap, and I've enjoyed it more. At the IM 70.3 I have to remember to start really slow and hopefully I'll find my pace!

Panic

Early Saturday morning open water swim… in Worcester, in the middle of the countryside…. Alarm clock at 6.00am, 5miles bike ride till Harborne, car lift till the place and swim…. The place is called Top Barn, and it consists a farm with a square lake and another building alongside the lake. This second two floors building has a shop at the first floor and changing room facilities on the ground floor. The lake is square, each cross-lap is 650m. The first lap was horrible. I started panicked in the water, something I’ve experimented only once in life years ago. My relationship with open water swim (lake or sea) has been always complicated and with conflict. The problem today was that the water was 1.5 meter deep, so the lake was not deep enough. I was able to see all the trees growing underwater, and while swimming I was touching some of the floating stuff. Horrible. The heart rate went up quickly and I was left without breath. I did most of the first lap in breaststroke, with my head outside the water, trying not to touch anything, and to safely finish as soon as possible. The group I was with asked me how it was going (they are always helpful) but it was not going well at all. I also thought to exit the water eventually, but I carried on. I pushed myself and I finished the lap. Than Steve decided to do a second lap, and I’ve taken the chance. He was swimming just ahead of me, and I was following as close as possible, in order not to loose him. I focused all my attention in following his feet, and his feet were the only things I was looking for and seeing. The second lap was really nice. 650m in 15 minutes, no panic attach, no breathless. I actually enjoyed it. The waster was 19 degrees, so not too chilly. After the shower, the place offered us (and all the Worcester triathletes that were there) some hot tea coffee and a small but free breakfast. The conclusion is that I’ve enjoyed it, I’ve enjoyed the morning, and I hope to go again. BRATs are really friendly, and overall it was good. Good company, good swim, good place, good experience despite the panic attack. Last time it did not happened because the Bittell Reservoir is deep and you can’t see anything down! I’m still learning and making experience…. It is strange how now I’m feeling in peace with myself and in equilibrium…

middle of the week!

Sunday 81K with Scott with the BRATs… again a C ride (the easiest), and the “coach” said I’m now ready to upgrade to a B ride, longer and with a faster pace than the C ride. Probably next Sunday it will be a B ride, if the coach is leading the B ride…. The plan is to use him as a “parachute” (his words…), so he can drive me safely at home in case of necessity… which is a nice thing to think, as we might be several kilometres from Bham, but it is a thing I’ve never thought about… Should I be scared? Nope….  Always on Sunday, meeting in Harborne, to de-brief the morning ride, the races and generally the week. A lot of BRATs raced on Sunday, and one BRAT guy won the Straford on Avon Sprint (59minutes) and that was amazing. I’m learning they don’t race just for fun, they race to win. There are people who race every single week, they just live for race, they are racing machines, and they win. Life and work is something is between training and races. The typical BRAT member is male, 30-35 years old, single and not married; with a nice job with which he can afford a nice bike and a nice kit, the races, the car and the travels to the races. Now I understand why the typical BRAT member is not married. There are exceptions. Younger people (I’m in this category…), girls (or better, super-girls), and some older people (than the typical BRAT member)…  and last (but not least) there are families. That is pretty amazing. There are at least 2 families where everybody is racing and involved in the club. Mum, Dad, son and daughter, cousins…  they are soo competitive, and they win!!! And they slot their life between training and races…

Today 10K races in the morning in the gym. It was really nice; I’m feeling well now, ready to start a new day. The only problem is waking up. Once I’m up it is ok, but waking up is a big problem. I have to set up at least 2 alarm clocks, one away from the bed, so I have to walk up to stop it. Olso on Sunday it is a pain in the ass waking up at 7.00am. I’m not a morning person, but it is nice to wake up early and slot some training in the morning. It is productive, and I feel good for the rest of the day. I just don’t want to go outside the bed! I’m not a morning person.

Tonight BRAT 10K run at the Vale, as every Wednesday. Tomorrow open water swim at the Bittell Reservoir in Barnt Green. And I really look forward to it!! I’ll attempt the whole lake swim, if I can, and I’m sure I’ll find somebody who is willing to swim with me. 

First open water swim

Today, with the BRATS,I've finally tried the open water swim, at Bittel Reservoir, in Barnt Green. I've got a yellow hat, and hopefully I'll eventually exchange it with an orange one after some weeks. The color of the hat represent your ability level. The water was 15C, so we were allowed to swim. It was strange, and I've got an induction lecture to open water swim (what to expect... and what don't expect....) from Debby. She was really supportive, and she watched me and my movements around the buoys from the deck. As I was new to all the stuff, I swam between the first two buoys, number 9 and 4, but next time I'll try at least one full lap, 720m. I did pretty well (I think...), and I was impressed. 15 minutes to put the wetsuit on, listening the others telling me how was going to be horrible and unpleseant... so I was prepared for the worst. The entrance in the water was from a concrete slipway, without any algae, and it was ok. The water was chilly, but the wetsuit was working fine, and I did not feel cold at all. I was really surprised about it! The water was clean, but everything looked brownish, so it was fine. I just got a small cramp after 40 minutes, but that happened also the fist time I went spinning, so I'm not worried now! At the end of the day it was not too bad, it just it took a little bit of courage, self control and will of overtaking some small personal fears.... Next time I'll try at least one full lap!  

Almost there

Almost there.... almost... 22K missing, and I've done it!! today I've tried to "cover the half ironman distance" and I went pretty close, I guess. 68K cycling with BRAT (2h and 40 minutes, including, stops, traffic lights ecc ecc), 21k running on the treadmill (it was raining outside.... time 2h and 18min) and 1.9k swim (almost 45 minutes, really slow....).... But I've almost done it! Considering the times, the stops I had (long T1 transition to go to the gym) and other factors, I'm aiming for 7-7.5h for the IM 70.3, as it is going to be really hilly (really....), while today bike ride was flat and fast.... the IM 70.3  bike leg will take more time. People win the IM 70.3 in 4.5h!!! I'm far far away from it! Any way, I was happy about my long long day. It is true, I haven't followed the swim-bike-run order, as my swim was last, but I had no other choice, as the BRATS meet at 8.30am at the other side of the city and the gym on Sunday opens at 8.00am....But I tried my best! Cycling was fun, a flat road, pretty quick. I went out with the C group (the easiest as length and speed) and next time I'll ride with the B group (longer and faster group that the C group). Running I've seen almost the entire season 6 of Family Guy, and it was really funny. Sometimes I had to stop running because they made me laugh so much it was impossible to run and to laugh at the same time! I guess people in the gym thought I was mad! The swim was really slow, as I was tired, but despite that, I managed to do it under the hour, the maximum allowed time... When I finished it, I relaxed myself in the Jacuzzi for at least 20 minutes, and that was really nice!

I was surprised by several things: to finish it without cramps (maybe I was lucky...), not to have drunken a lot (1 liter of water and 1 liter of glucoside during it, a lot after that) (maybe it was not hot...), to have eaten only a banana and two gels during it.... I still have to learn to manage both  the food while racing, and peeing... I've learned I have to start really slowly, and I have to keep my hart rate slower that in my training. In training I always aim for 150-160, which is around my 80% of maximum. It is fine for training, that is usually short, no more that 2h, but it is too much for such a long race. Racing I have aim for the 140-150 zone. 

When finished I went to the city centre for the usual treat: a Subway sandwich!! I'm considering bringing a Subway sandwich also at the IM 70.3 race!!! Maybe a foot long for that occasion! 

I'm looking forward to thursday, for my first open water swim.... 

Nike

Sometimes in life it is necessary to take some difficult decisions... and deciding what new running shoes to buy is not an easy decision. What do you want? Cushioning, performance or stability? Who does know? I thought I need all three. Nope. you've to pick up one. Now, I've got performance with my really light running shoes I use for the races and some serious training sessions. So I limited the choice to stability or cushioning. Stability is important, but I opted for cushioning, as I'll use the new pair for training and for general usage. So it is expected the new pair is going to be destroyed. After an intense market research I've picked up a pair of white and blue Nike air. I really like the air system, as I find it very comfortable an very "cushioning"..... Trying them, I found there is a huge difference between my old one and the new pair, and I've learned not to wait so much before changing them. The cushioning system goes down after 300/500 miles, and I've run much much more with my old one. That is maybe why in february I started to report minor knee pain, and I thought it was overtraining, but maybe it was just the time to change shoes!

Today I tried them in the gym (10K) and I'm quite happy with the purchase. 

Tomorrow it was scheduled the first open water swim of the season, and I was really excited about it. But I've received an e.mail that the BRAT group is not allowed to swim tomorrow, as the water temperature is 8C, too chilly to swim. The minimum temperature is 11C, and the maximum distance with such a low temperature is something like 500m. But they are organizing a 5k race, instead, and the spicy dinner is still in place! I hope it will be fun! 

I'm also looking forward to the Bank Holiday weekend, in order to train more and to escape mentally and physically from the lab! The plan is another long race on Sunday. I'm also planning to enter two other events: the Birmingham trialthlon (Oly) the 24th of August at the NEC and the informal Birmingham-Oxford by bike, the 6th of July, if I don't have guest that weekend!!!

week ride with Scott

Yesterday week ride with BRAT and Scott. 34K, hilly, but nice. Up and down a circuit outside Barnt Green. Nice, really nice. It is nice to explore the nearby countryside, if the weather is nice... it seems the Spring has finally arrived, so there will be more BRAT training sessions, I hope. Next week the BRATs start to swim in the open water... it is going to be freeezing. The training is going on, slowly. I'm not dedicating the time and effort I wish. And I'm thinking. I'm thinking about the big themes of life. Why are we living, what is the meaning of life. I'm questioning myself, and I'm coming out with my personal answers. I'm coming out with 2 categories that can more or less explain everything we do in life. They are: memory and immediate gratification. We do stuff in life in order to have memories. That's our driving force. Memories. Also experience is gained in order to have memories of what we've done. What does not fell into memory, fells into immediate gratification. We do stuff (secondary stuff) in order to have some immediate gratification. I'm also considering I'm wasting my time living somebody else life, reaching something I'm slowly finding out I don't care so much about, at the end of the day. I'm finding I'm not living the life I like but I'm trying to like the life I'm living. But it is now too late to change direction and to try other routes, and I feel trapped in a prison, prison that, without knowing, I've created myself. And I'm not talking about triathlon, that is my escaping route. I'm talking about everything else. And that's sad. But yesterday ride with Scott was fantastic! I look forward to next ride! 

70K with Scott, weekly laundry and "the place"

Today it was a really long day. Alarm clock at 7.00am, breakfast (pancakes, as usual) and ride till Moseley. Moseley village is the meeting point of BRAT long Sunday run. 3 grups, based on ability, and I've picked up the easy one. I raided with Paul and Emi in the English countryside. The chain went off the on the fist hill, and I fell down. I did not have enough speed to change gear, the hill was already started, and everything went basically wrong. Apart for this small incident (the shop guy said me on Friday, when I collected the pedals, that everybody fells off at least once with the clip pedals, usually at the traffic lamps....) everything went fine. 70K in total (from home and back home), and the view of the English countryside was amazing. Hills, fields, small and narrow roads with no traffic (but wet..), sheep, horses, dogs..... it was just fantastic. I had the chance, while pedaling, to chat a bit with Paul about my training and the races I'm going to do this season, and his tips were quite useful! 

Back at home, I had to clean up Scott (poor guy...) and to do some laundry. I'm learning that heavy training means frequent washes! Here there is a picture of just the T-shirts I've used for just the training over the week. And in the picture are not included the training shorts, and all the other non-training clothes I've used during the week! I felt lucky to have the washing machine and a sort of dryer (which is working really well....)...

At 5.30pm I went to Sally Oak. Every group has its own "place".... BRAT Sunday "place" is "Sally Sausages", in Sally Oak. They go there every Sunday, after the afternoon training session. It was nice, and it is strange to see BRAT people in normal clothing!! they are reeealy easygoing, and reeealy into triathlon. The conversation is all about races, times, equipment, trials, people in training, training sessions, food and diet..... ecc ecc.... They are really into it, and I feel I finally found my world... Staying with them it is really nice, because I don't feel strange, I don't feel I'm doing something wrong or wired, I don't feel I'm acting with a not normal behavior, because they do the same, and they go even far behind the point I'm now... and they don't ask the usual stupid question: why do you do it. 

I hate Bham

I hate Bham. I've always thought that the city was ok. But let's face the truth. The city is not nice, the proper city centre is really small, people are not nice and generally rude. I hate this city. I want move to a nicer and safer city. I want to move away from this crapy place. I want to move to a city where is possible to jog around safely. 

Keo Classic Look

Finally today I received the shoes and the pedals! after one month finally they were delivered to the tr-1st shop and I went down to collect them. I had the choice between Shimano and Look pedals, and I went for look. Now I have to practice to insert the shoe and to take it off. I'm really excited! I'm finally getting ready! Paul (the store manager, one of the founders of BRAT) asked me to join the cycling group on Sunday, if the weather is going to be nice. Tomorrow I'm going to try the bike and the shoes.... I've also fine-tuned the gear, so now it should be better. I'm guessing if the pedals and shoes will give me the theoretical 5% of advantage over the normal shoes....

10K with Scott

Today it was a sunny day.... I finished early in the lab, and I decided to take Scott for a ride in Bham city centre... 10K in 31 minutes, but it was not a proper ride. It was more a tour of the city... a lot of stops, cars, traffic, roundabouts, traffic lamps.... Bham city centre is not ok for Scott. He cannot reach his potential, as on the A51 from Lichfield till Rugeley. Scott is designed for the speed of the countryside, while Fausto (my city bike) is more designed for city tours. Next time I'll ride Fausto. I know, I'm a crazy guy, and everything has names... Hassy is my 30 years old camera, recently upgraded to digital, Gaia is my Nikon D50, Prolinca is my studio flash.... than I've got Scott and Fausto, my road and my city bikes. 

I have to think what to do during the weekend, as a long ride. If the weather is nice, I have two choices: or going to Lichfield for a long A51 ride, or to join the BRAT club for a early Sunday ride... I guess the ride with the BRAT club will push me a little bit... 

13 mile run during the week

13 miles run. in the middle of the week. in the gym, on the treadmill, watching "Crimes and misdemeanors" of Woody Allen. I love Woody Allen's films! they always present you a deep insight of the human nature. All his characters have issues with themselves, with the family, with love, with sex... are emotionally unstable. I'm quite determined to see them all! The Iphone connected to the treadmill or the bike is a great way of training and make my training less boring. I'm also determined to arrive at 10h of training this week. I still can not figure out how people can train for the IM... anyway, today 13 miles, 1h 59min 34sec and I was pleased with it. I know, it was not fast, but I've taken some small pauses, and I'm going for endurance, not speed! And it is middle of the week, after a full working day....tonight chicken, as usual. I'm quite happy with my 150-200g of daily protein... I think I have to reduce my carb intake.... 

Do you lick the lid of life?

69 days to go. this training week is not proceeding very well. I'm busy in the lab, concentrated on monday presentations. This take time, and not much time is left for the training. I had planned some long sessions during the weekend, but again, I'll have to convert them in sessions of medium length. Why? Why I have often to compromise the training? Why I have sometime to compromise the diet? It should not be like that. Everything should ideally fit around the training and the diet, not the viceversa. I tend to justify myself saying: if I wish to finish in time the PhD.... dam. Once you lick the lollipop of mediocrity, you'll suck forever. That's is what is keeping me motivated. Yesterday short run with BRAT, today forced rest (pain....), tomorrow long evening session in the gym, saturday medium session, sunday medium session and spinning class. I hope with Monday everything will be fine again. The mind is sooo powerful over the body, both in positive than in negative.....

Scott in a Subway in Lichfield

Sunday 30 March 2008.... A really lovely day, sunny, warm but not too hot... I've taken Scott and I went to Four Oaks with the train... that I've pedalled till Lichfield. Subway and I carried on the A51 till Rugeley, till it's power station... and return. 30 Miles in total, and I've really enjoyed it. I've enjoyed the bike, the feeling of freedom, the great work out, the weather... It was really nice. And to end well the week, one hour of spinning class!!!  This weekend I have to work, and I won't be able to enjoy such a long ride again. But I will do it again as soon as I can, and maybe I'll post some pictures of the power station. It's chimneys are massive! I guess I'll improve my times as well as soon as I'll receive the cycling shoes/pedals! 

saturday night thoughts...

It is saturday.... I'm back to UK after the Easter break...

the weather is crap... it is cold and rainy. It does not help with the bike training. I'm waiting for the good weather to go out with the new Scott bike. The training is not going as I wish, and I feel bad. I should train more, but the energy levels are low and the mood is bad. These two factors don't help. I also know I can't be always "race ready" and up and down periods are normal. I've joint the BRAT club, and at least this give me some motivation for some hard sessions. They seems a group of really easygoing people, and this gives me hope for the next training months.... I hope tomorrow the weather will be nicer, so I can go out with the road bike. If not, I'll train in the gym. As usual I have 1h spinning class in the evening. That's a good way to end the week! In the meantime I'm listening the opera "Cosi fan tutte" (Motzart) and reading "Siddharta" (Hermann Hesse), hoping this will restore the lost balance....

Taper week

Easter week.... another taper week.... a lot of chocolate, not much training... today 20K with the bike, it was with a tandem bike, with my dad... not a hard session, but a fun one! it is nice to chat while pushing on the pedals!!! tomorrow if the weather will be nice we will attempt a long bike ride, always with the tandem..... Taper week, but I've officially entered in the BRAT club... I went down to their Wednesday running session, and it was really fun.... and really hard, so it is supposed to be useful for training... I look forward to their Sunday morning bike sessions....

Scott Speedster S60

The count down toward the UK 2008 IM 70.3 has started... 89 days to go... the bike and the wetsuit are ready... only the training is missing...