Life gets in the way of training

So many things have been going wrong in the Optician Editor's houshold its difficult to know where to start.

Suffice it to say the boiler is fixed, the terrace is done, the floor's not wet, the shed has been replaced, the brambles have been cut the allotment weeded and strimmed, the leaf store moved, the broadband re-LANed but sadly the pond is empty, as will be my bank balance when all of the above are paid for.

So before impecunity sets in I have splashed out on some tribars. Not the best picture of them ( the left hand is just about to grab the brake) but my middle son was in charge of the photography and my blackberry had been in my back pocket for an hour or so before being brought out into the chilly Box Hill air.

I'm looking forward to the King of the North Downs Sportive this weekend and by the look of the profile I don't think I'll be spending much time in the aero position anyway.

At least I can cycle the 112 miles and ten hills safe in the knowledge that all of those little jobs have been done....or have they.

In the Swim with Eagle eyes

It's difficult blogging about the swim element of the Ironman. For one I can't stand indoor 25m pool swimming and secondly you can't take photos to illustrate your posts.

Sadly I will have to use this one from Monaco. Now that was a pool, 50m, salt water outdoor and on the med, fantastic.

You can't quite see the goggles here but they are Aqua Sphere Eagles. As with all goggles after a couple of years of heavy use the lenses get a little tired. As I recently stopped using orthok and now find it quite nice to have prescription goggles so I popped in some Eagle prescription replacement lenses.

The first thing that struck me was how easy it was to change the lenses. So easy in fact that I thought I must have done something wrong, but no, they were water tight and in place. And what a difference, crisp, clear and corrected.

Having missed the lido ( see previous post) Iwant off to the local pool to do a 140 length session, 3.5km of 25m lengths. Not a lot to look at ( and some things I'd rather not see) but it was all in focus and crystal clear.

I also have the new Aqua Sphere Kayenne goggles to try out which I will take to the lido when I eventually get there.

Triathlon pond life

My training volume was really moving around the bank holiday weekend. A long swim on wednesday then another of Thursday, a long run Friday, and a big cycle Monday..... and the swim. That was planned for Tuesday night at Guildford Lido.

On Monday I been asked by Mrs Optician editor to clear out our garden pond which I went at with a little too much gusto. Tuesday the water level was dropping fast due to me have put a spade through the liner while dividing up the water lillies. By Tuesday night some action was needed.

So the lido had to wait. I will think of that during IM UK while I am ploughing through the clear waters of Rivington Reservoir.

King of the Downs

As part of my preparation for the UK Ironman in August I have entered the mother of all cycling sportives. The Evans Cylces King of the North Downs takes in ten climbs over 112 miles on May 17th so I ventured out last weekend to try and ready myself.

The sportive takes in two loops either side of Crawley so I decided to do the western loop.

Seven hills and 54 miles later I emerged pretty well unscathed if a bit tired. The scarier stats included on my Garmin GPS device readout (Birmingham Optical Group supplied the Garmins for last year's Optician Ironman Team) included.

Calores burned 5,300

7,000ft of climbing

Max speed 48.7mph. And yes I did start braking, that feels fast on a bike.

The best part was the scenery. It was a glorious morning and my ride took me up Leith Hill and Box Hill, past Ranmore Church and down towards Ewhurst. The bluebells were out in the woods ad the birds were singing. It didn';t stop me cursing the hills on the way up though.

Monday morning legs feel fine. bring it on.

What a beautiful day

My fellow Optician Ironman team member Fiona finished the London marathon in an amazing 3hrs49 l;ast Sunday. She is really beginning to worry me now. My running isn't good at the best of times so, as the weather looked so great this morning, I decided to run into work. Not a bad effort. 12 miles in about an hour and fifty minutes. Best of all, no major blisters.

I'm collecting the bike this afternoon complete with new tribars so I hope the legs hold out for that.

I decided not to dress up a la Disney. Running past three schools and a college in lycra is tough enough as it is.