Slowly, slowly..................

Up to 12 lengths in the pool now and reckon on adding 4 more per week until I get pain in the shoulder, at which point I will have to stop. At this this rate I will be doing the IM distance in about 35 weeks which is no good as IM is in 30. So there has to come a point where I just stay in the pool and keep going maybe adding 5 lengths per session? wow...frustrating stuff.

Have decided it really is new bike time once I have swam 40 lengths in a reasonable time. Dilemma between a Cube Agree and a Kuota Khama. Sorry Colnago but you are just too pricey v value for money at the moment.

Back in the pool - just 20 mins but felt great!

5 minutes slow front crawl followed by an even slower 10 mins breaststroke.

3.8km seems a long way off............but good to be back and got a nice welcome from the TTL guys after nearly a year's absence!

Sucker for punishment

Just signed up for New York marathon 2011 - well, they say pain is temporary.....so next year I am all set for the two BIG CITY marathons.

New York and ..................Leiden.

New York Marathon

Home in one piece after the new York Marathon in a PB time of 3:53:55.

Mixed feelings really as I was expecting to run 3:50 but the course was simply brutal in some parts and the Queensboro Bridge (see picture taken by my running mate NE) at 24-26km was so tough that simply getting over it felt like an achievement.

Reaching First Ave however made the climb all that more satisfying because the support was awesome.

Here are the stats:

Place 12008
Age place 1415
5km 26:21
10km 51:53
15km 1:17:56
20km 1:44:47
Half 1:50:51
25km 2:12:39
30km 2:40:11
35km 3:09:59
40km 3:40:45
ave 8:56 per mile

Splits on the day up to 30km were bang on target. After that the hilly nature of the course made it so tough that I inevitably slowed. In fact Central Park was more like a cross country!!

Superb marathon and the support was out of this world. Would I do it again? Yes, you bet!!

Good weekend training and........

That was a goodie......105km cycled (ave 30km/h) and 21km ran (ave 5:32 min/km). Sore achillies could not dampen my delight at a great weekend.

Just need to get the swimming back and I'd be happy. Next attempt at swimming 1 Sept.

And saw my beautiful girls after a long break.......I love you and miss you guys so much......love Dad xxx

2011 and beyond

Signed up for the Pirate shindig at Ironman Germany (Regensberg) for August 2011 so hope my shoulder is fixed by then!! Just about to order a new bike ........won't be ready till October so if a long waiting time means a good bike it should be a cracker. IM Germany looks a litle lumpy so am going to need all the help I can get.

NY Marathon training starts in earnest next week - going to do a mix of running and cycling so see if that works.

And just come back from a trip to China where I climbed the Great Wall on my day off. Awesome experience. And I am told that there is a Great Wall of China Marathon........now that's tempting maybe for 2012 if I can find someone to join me. That reminds me I must call NE........

First Duathon

Bit of a first last week as I did my first Duathon - run 5km, bike 28km and run 2.5km. Had no idea how slow/fast I would do it but came in after a respectable 1:24:38 without any training and little planning. So might do one again.

Swam for the first time last night in 4 months - no good - shoulder still bad and I am now told it looks like I chipped a bone in the shoulder when I fell of my bike in Feb. That will teach me to cycle in sub zero temperatures. Looks like a long haul on this one but have decided to keep swimming and to just take it very, very easy.