this week i put the stopwatch aside, and approached training from a new perspective: actually enjoying myself. crazy concept i know.
i'm still not following a training schedule, am more working around when it's time to wash my hair. so, what did i get up to this week:
sat: 45 minute run through park/along canal
sun: rest
mon: rest
tues: 2 x 50 minute cycle
wed: 45 minute strength training at gym
thurs: 15 minute run through park
fri: 30 minute swim
the big news of the week - is i've finally found a bike! it's a second hander, and it's being delivered in a week or so - can't wait.
the bad news; for those who know me; is that it's a racer.
i'm prone to falling off bicycles. let's say there's been a few tumbles. some alcohol induced, some not. the worst, without doubt, was The Great Fall of 2006 - during a three day cycle tour in southern france. whizzing down a hill, hitting some wet leaves in the gutter, going down, million miles an hour, cheek scraping along the gravel until coming to a rest at the bottom. i had to be scraped off the road like those cartoons when coyote gets squashed. when i rolled my trousers up, my skin rolled off too. i couldn't bend my knee for a coupe of weeks. still have a bump on my forehead, as a little reminder.
so GREAT the racer will make me go fast. but i have a feeling this is going to take some getting used to, as the sound of my cheek on gravel does tend to flashback when i pick up speed...
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9 comments:
Haha! Lady do you realise the Great Cheek on Gravel Fall actually took place in 2005!!?? Crazy!
You are loaded with courage m'dear - keep it up! AND see you soon for more adventures! xx
2005? am i that old?????
Too late to consider a hybrid bike?? Speedy Racer gears and wheels, but mountain bike style handlebars for non-ridiculous riding position....
Sounds like all is going well. Where's your event?
There is an arguement to say that a road bike position is more natural and comfortable than a mountain/hybrid bike position, as you keep you wrists and hands side on to your body, rather than the rotated position.
hey bob; hope the numbness is fading! event is in stratford upon avon, it's the warwickshire tri.
hmmmm yes the hybrid debate - if i was looking for a strictly commuting bike i would defo go for a hybrid. but seeing as i am looking also for a bike for this tri, and future touring, i'd like something that will get me up hills without wanting to be towed... something light!
Has it arrived yet??
Oh, this has a few good training tips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0wu4Zbfk
ahaha - love it!! spent a good half hour watching all the linked youtube vids about transitioning and so on. really felt inspired by this particular man: what a champion!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-H18AGvsS0&feature=related
p.s. bike not arrived yet - next week maybe??
Dear Al,
I've just figured out what your mum has been sending me random musings at odd hours - it is this blog caper.
So here's my blog for you:
to go from being a bike rider to the lap swimmer i've become this winter took a change of headspace.... when i ride my bike, i never think about the hill that i'm going up , but rather I think about getting across the finish line , or even just getting home in one piece ..... what I mean is that we seem to want to focus on the hill in front of us, yet we lose the perspective of the longer picture... we are constantly told to break down our ride, run, swim into manageable units, but I disagree with this in that the constant reappraisal or thoughts about goals distances you from the ability to clear your mind and find the real meditative groove that we can extract from training...... the point of what you are doing is to get your heart rate to a certain zone, hold that hear rate for the length of the triathlon, then cross the line feeling that you did it at your absolute limit.... you need to transcend the idea of getting to the end of the swim, then refocussing for the bike, and allow all disciplines to form one thing that your body can work through ..... there is a certain "mindlessness" to these sports.... think only of breathing and your brain will switch off .... back to lap swimming .... as you may well know, the problem with most lap swimming is that you only ever focus on getting to the end of the pool, with no thought put in to thinking about and preparing for the next lap (hence the bobbers at the end) ...... this is what I mean about on the bike when its not so much the next hill , but about getting home - its not about this lap, or the next lap, but about the length of swim that you intend to do..... imagine that you go from swimming 25 or 50 m laps to swimming across sydney harbour ..... you could swim the 2 kms or so in the pool and break it down into laps, but could you do the same swim when the other side seems interminably far away ??? forget the laps, ignore the bobbers and transcend the confines of the pool to the bigger picture of the length of your swim ...... you already have the technique, and the pacing and speed will follow.....
with the running, forget about how you look when you run.... get loose, let your arms hang low in their sockets and your ankles to feel like they can roll around in all directions...... let your head roll right around shake your fingers loose..... and forget about how you look (this is the hard part ) .... we always try and run like we want people to look at us and think "now there's a runner" but it restricts out movements, shortens our stride and makes our diaphragm rise up..... relax, let your gut hang out and let your own style come through ...... forget about the next telegraph pole and think about the next 40 or 50 minutes or two hours where you are going to be out running, with your gut hanging out, only thinking about your breathing until you forget about everything, except for how nice it is just to be out in the world doing nothing but running .....
love what you are doing
lovebrett
loveyourworkbrett. interesting thoughts on the gut hanging out while running, must admit i do very much run in a style, partly dictated by the eye of others. i like the idea of focusing on the very end, the finish line and the couch at home. of forgetting myself in the moment and just falling into the pace of the run/swim/bike. i find this much easier in swimming, but running is still a battle with my head. so many bad thoughts collating - someone suggested humming a song in my head... do love the thoughts master brett
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