February 2009
Posted by trytotri on April 6, 2009
A frustrating start to the month as the English weather conspired to keep me off my new road bike. I did manage a few swims and a few runs but it didn’t really cover what I had planned.
I did eventually get on the bike and did a 20km loop which was very enjoyable. It wasn’t super quick as it was a big change from my commuter bike. My hands felt really uncomfortable so I have adjusted the set up so hopefully it will improve for my next ride.
I have finally made some plans for the year signing up for some interim races to build me up to the Olympic distance in August. I have decided to do three sprint distance tri’s: I will be competing in the Newmarket Sprint in May, the Braintree Sprint in June and the Norwich Sprint in July. it’s all nicely spaced out and will allow me to keep up the training in between.
I have also taken the plunge and joined a triathlon club. I am now a paid up member of Born2Tri. I joined them for my first swim session and managed to swim about 1000 meters all front crawl! It was a really good session and bodes well for the rest of the year.
Another significant is that I have signed up to support Dr Barnados, a charity based in Essex who support children all over the country. It is also my company’s supported charity and they have agreed to match my sponsorship fund so if anyone fancies digging in their pocket you can donate your readies by going to www.sponsor-me.org/andywalkerlondontriathlon
As the month progressed I built up my bike mileage completing a 20 mile run out each Saturday I also completed a mock triathlon on a midweek day off. I swam 400 meters, drove home, jumped on the bike for 20km and then pulled on the running shoes for a 5km run. It was the hardest 3 mile run I have ever done as running off the bike was a very strange experience. My legs felt dead but I managed to plod around in just over 9 minute miles, not far off my current normal run pace. Overall I completed the sprint distance in 1 hour 23 minutes and 10 seconds. I was happy to have completed the distance but to beat the 1:30 mark was a big bonus.
So the training is progressing I have knocked a minute per mile off my run pace, my swimming is coming on really well thanks to the coaching from Mark at Born2Tri and I’m really getting on well with my new road bike although some foot pain on the last ride means I haven’t got the set up right just yet!
