Another Playlist

So here we go again.  Another early morning run playlist, courtesy of the shuffle fairy.  OK it's not totally random, it is a selection from my "My Top Rated" playlist.  Yes I do rate all the songs I listen to and group them all in multiple playlists.  What was that?  Anal?  Moi?

So this morning in a dark and dingy woodland and a lovely empty Brocket Hall golf course, I listened to the following eclectic mix:

Map of the World - Monsters of Folk
Sparks - Coldplay
There She Goes - The La's
The Drugs Don't Work - The Verve
Fade In-Out - Oasis
Lovesong - Adele
I'd Do It All Again - Corinne Bailey Rae
Pretty Amazing Grace - Neil Diamond

And it was a very pleasant run, about 6:40 in the woods, nice and quiet, not even the dog walkers out, just a sad old jogger, all red-faced and sweaty - yes, me!

So, there we have it, another day, another training session, another escaping of injury, another reason to celebrate.

Another reason to celebrate would be your sponsorship.  Go on, give me a reason!

A Quick One

Quick update on the weekend.

Woke Saturday morning with a pain in my left calf and the neurotic in me kicked in with all sorts of worst case injury scenarios.  Happily, got up, stretched, ran just short of 5 miles and no reaction, so that's good then...

Sunday morning, 28.5 miles on the bike, all good, no problems, sun shining.  Actually went over part of the triathlon cycle route and remembered that it is really quite hilly.

Sitting here now getting through a bowl of apple and hazelnuts in natural yoghurt, having just had my morning 1km swim and feeling very virtuous!

That's all folks!

Video Blog

First attempt (and probably last) at a video entry to the blog.

A Routine Matter

Or rather a matter of routine.  That's what this training lark is, routine, and without routine I'd be struggling.  If you know me, you know that I'm a creature of habit (Friday night dinner etc.) and my training/fitness routine is very much evidence of that.

Take this morning: alarm at 05:59 (somehow more invigorating than 06:00), tea in bed with Julie (I make it - the tea), read a few pages of a book, leave house shortly after 06:30, arrive pool just after 07:00, swim 1km (about 30 mins), shower, work by 08:10. 

At the moment that's every Monday, Wednesday and Friday circumstances permitting.

The whole routine, you want the whole routine?  This then, because you asked, is my current training regime. (subject to change due to anything from work appointments, Jury service, children on work experience, visits from family etc etc)

Mon - swim 1km

Tues - run 3-4 miles

Wed - swim 1km

Thurs - cycle 8 miles

Fri - swim 1km

Sat - run 4-5 miles

Sun - cycle 25 miles

It's all there for the triathlon, every element, so on 2nd October, 7 weeks from now, I should be ready to go.  And a s a by-product, i'm feeling well and healthy and fit, which at my age is a very pleasant side-effect!

Time to Take it Seriously

It was about this time last year that I started to take the training for my Triathlon challenge a little more seriously.  Happily, this year, currently injury free, I've been pretty serious for a little while now.  So hopefully won't look quite this bad when I cross the finish line this year!

Last Summer, I spent 2 idle weeks in Florida.  This summer, 1 week in France and went running 3 times while away.

Last Summer (and right up to the event) I only had one good leg, and ran only indoors on a treadmill.  This summer, I'm outside and "running" 2 or 3 times a week.  So all looking pretty good so far.

Using Runkeeper to track all my activities (except the swimming) and looking back you and I can see that I'm much more active this year than last.  So all in all I'm in pretty reasonable shape for a bloke approaching 48 years old (so hard to believe, I know).

Now I'm after sponsorship, and so I will be reporting more frequently on my activities/progress/health etc so those of you kind enough to donate to Hope and Homes for Children can at least track your investment.

When the Runkeeper servers recover, you will see that since my hol, (back in the UK since Tuesday 9th) I've been out on the bike 3 times (just short ones) and been running twice.  I intend to be fitter and faster than last year, and though I've not been swimming nearly as much as last year, I have 7 weeks to put that straight, the running and cycle legs of the "tri" should both be significantly faster!

So please, click on the link above and sponsor me.