PM. Run 16km/1:16 steady, HR 150(160)
Steady run after work. My PF left heel’s still sore, but of course it eases up after a few miles. Drizzly and cold out, spent my time weaving through the heavy xmas traffic, head-down pedestrians and unlit pavement cyclists. Saw Chris Smith cycling home from work and waved hello. Don’t think I’d enjoy cycle commuting on days like today, but you’ve got to get the miles in somehow. Passed my 1000th running mile (1609km) of the year – another milestone.
74.1kg
PM. Cycle 30km (turbo) inc. 3×6km (2km rec.)
5km w/u
6km/11:50 (30.4km/h) __ HR148(152)
(2km)
6km/11:50 (30.4km/h) __ HR152(155)
(2km)
6km/11:47 (30.5km/h) __ HR154(158)
3km w/d
At lunchtime today I took my trike over to www.trykit.com to have Geoff convert it to two wheel drive. I’m hoping that it’ll make it easier to control over rough roads and also even out the wear on the rear tyres. I felt like I wasted a bit of energy on the minor roads in both the 12h and 24h TTs this year merely trying to keep the drive-side wheel in contact with the ground and trying to even out my pedalling effort. I’d also like to be able to run nice, light Veloflex tyres on both rear wheels and at the moment I’ve got a fairly heavy-duty Continental on the drive-side. When I got there Geoff was in the process of brazing some new tubing into a trike frame repair. He showed me a couple of other frames he was working on – his craftmanship is excellent.
Upper body a bit stiff from last night’s weights, so I hopped on the turbo after work. Bored with just ploughing through an hour in zones 2 and 3, I did some sub-max “intervals” (zone 4 starts at 148 bpm). Today I clocked my 11000th km on the bike for the year.
74.0kg
Lunchtime. Run 10km/46, HR 147(154)
Really good lunchtime run. It was cold outside, and a little dampness was hanging in the air. I bounded along, felt good. My left hamstring was a bit tight – something I’d forgotted about at last week’s marathon where it’d tightened up over the last 4 miles or so but the ache from that had been insignificant compared to the other painful bits of me at the time. Something else to take care with in stretching over the next week or so. My left heel had a dull ache but nothing worse.
Weights 1h15
5 minute erg warm up, then 5 sets of 20, 12, 12, 12, 12 reps on shoulder press, seated row, chest press, lat pull-down, with a set of abominal exercises in between each station. Then 4×15 tricep pull down and 4×15 forearm curls. Then it was time to cycle back home in the cold and wet.
74.1kg
Stayed over in Devon, got up late and didn’t feel like gong out for a run (although I’d brought my kit with me). We had a good breakfast and then packed the car for home. We were dropping my brother off in Watford on the way back – it’s a bit off our route so it was quite a long day in the car.
I was knackered from all that driving when we got home so the cat was fed and then Jules cooked dinner while I collapsed onto the sofa for BBC Sports Personality of the Year. I was a bit disappointed that footballer Ryan Giggs won it. Yes, he’s a great advert for football and has won much with Man U in the last 15 years, but what’s he done in the past 12 months to justify that award? There was a notable gasp from the audience when Jenson Button only picked up 2nd prize. My vote went to Mark Cavendish – a star already and a great character on and off the bike.
?kg
AM. Erg 12km (5km + 5km + 2km, 2min rec.) Steady
5km. 19:33.2 (1:57.3) r22, HR139(148)
5km. 19:30.6 (1:57.1) r22, HR149(155)
2km. 7:49.8 (1:57.5) r22, HR148(155)
Early morning erg before we set off on our way to Devon for my family’s xmas get-together. A bit tired from yesterday’s bike ride, I lost interest after 2km on the last rep and put the handle down. It was time to wrap up the last few xmas presents and pack up the car anyway.
73.1kg
PM. Cycle 119km, Winslow, steady. HR 136(158)
I was done with most of my work by lunchtime and the rest of the department was off for their christmas lunch at Browns, so I took the afternoon off and went out on my usual Winslow route. It turned into quite a reasonable afternoon with the odd ten minutes of sunshine here and there. The roads were slick with mud and crap so I took it pretty cautiously on the bends although I had some new tyres fitted: Michelin Lithion – they ride like a heavier-duty version of the old Pro Race 2 and have a file tread on the shoulder which should make for a more progressive slide if they were to break away – I didn’t test it ;-) .
72.9kg
PM. Erg 10km (2×5km, 2 min rec.) Steady
5km: 19:22.5 (1:56.2) r22, HR143(153)
5km: 19:21.7 (1:56.2) r22, HR152(158)
Steady erg after work. It was going to be 3×5km, and I certainly had the energy for that today, but my quads were just beginning to feel a little odd towards the end of the second rep so rather than risk any damage I called it a day.
73.9kg
PM. Cycle 27km Turbo, 1:01:15 (26.4km/h), steady easy HR133(140)
Sat on the turbo for an easy hour’s spin after work today. Legs felt much better for it.
Wild swimming
We watched the Robson Green show about “wild” swimming (linky). It was good to see such a thing on TV although he does have a slightly manic presenting style which can get a little irritating. I’ve done the odd bit of wild swimming myself, once, memorably, going for a skinny dip in an Austrian mountain lake (cold! but it was the summer). Apart from the bits where he was wearing a wetsuit there seemed to be quite a bit of emphasis on just how cold it all was, so I doubt he’ll spark many people’s imagination! Fair play to him though for completing 1km in some icy cold Welsh lake, and he looked like he could, at least, swim reasonably well.
74.1kg
Another day off. Legs a bit less stiff today. Left heel aching a bit.
Seth Lakeman
Went with Jules and her friend Jenny to see Seth Lakeman play at the Oxford Town Hall. A bit of a strange venue – I’ve never seen a gig there before. Seth commented that it was a bit like playing inside a wedding cake. The sound was very echo-y, but the band coped OK and they played well. We got the classics and a few new numbers from an album to be released next year. Had a pint in the Royal Blenheim before heading home. At least I could cycle up the hill on the way back home now.
73.2kg
A day off training. My quads are as stiff as boards and I can hardly get down stairs (going upstairs is not much better). I used the lift at work today without guilt.
Bright Star
We went to the Ultimate Picture Palace to see Bright Star in the evening. The (later) life of Keats, as seen through the eyes of Fanny Brawne, with whom he had an affair of sorts. I quite enjoyed it; a romantic tale, well filmed. Worth a look if you’re in a non-cynical romantic frame of mind. However, Keats appeared to be suffering from a mild form of man-flu rather than TB though, so the fact of him being in a terminal decline (Jane Campion spared us the gory details) from a ticklish cough was a little ineffectual.
My legs were too stiff to cycle up the hill to get back home – one of the downsides to having a single-speed town bike. I had to walk the last hundred metres!
72.5kg
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