29 Nov 2010

Running:
10km - 54:00 (Z1 - Z3)

First 7km hilly and moderate effort, then 2km fast (4:48). First run in snow this winter - quite enjoyed it.

Oh, and I got a fantastic pair of heated insoles for cycling in the freezing cold for my birthday. Can't wait to try them out!

24 Nov 2010

Running:
60:00 - 10.8km

Easy run with the Up & Running club in Belfast.

21 Nov 2010

Bike:
48km - 1:38

Easy flat bike ride. Legs slowly willing to take on something a bit more daunting...

19 Nov 2010

Running:
9.35 - 50:00

Easy / moderate speed and undulating run. Had to stop early because my eye sight went after 40 minutes. Lack of sleep, I guess.

18 Nov 2010

Back Training 60 minutes

Last session unfortunately. Time to sign up for a gym again, I guess.

Swimming (Technique): 1200m

Physio

Finally went to see a physio about my back and hamstring issue. He reckons that it is to do with a nerve. A few more exercises and a few more sessions and we'll see.

16 Nov 2010

Swimming (Speed):
2100m - 60:00

Quite a tough but good session.

14 Nov 2010

Bike:
36.3
km - 1:20 (180m / 78rpm / 27.2kmh / ???bpm)  

First ride in 4 weeks in very mild conditions. Very pleased with the new (black!) Garmin 500 which has replaced my old Garmin 705.

13 Nov 2010

Geocaching

First attempt to track down a few caches near home. Found the first two, but had to abandon at the first stage of a multi-stage cache. Here's the tracks of the Garmin Oregon 550:

11 Nov 2010

Back Training 60 minutes

Quite a tough session - very good. Left hip not great - need to see a physio.

Swimming (Technique): 1200m

Another excellent session. I was told that I don't use my latissimus muscle while swimming. And that's the most important one apparently...

04 Nov 2010

Swimming (Technique): 1500m

First technique session in the pool. Very, very good, but sometimes hard to concentrate when the coach is the June model of the latest triathlon calendar...

02 Nov 2010

Swimming:
1500m - 45:00

Very easy swim session; a lot of pull buoye usage to give the legs a bit more rest.

31 Oct 2010

Frankfurt Marathon - 4:17:05 [Certificate] [Results]

km
1: 5:12
km 2: 5:25
km 3: 5:23
km 4: 5:23
km 5: 5:24 - 26:48
km 6: 5:27
km 7: 5:18
km 8: 5:30
km 9: 5:30
km 10: 5:23 - 27:10 - 53:58
km 11: 5:14
km 12: 5:20
km 13: 5:23
km 14: 5:22

km 15: 5:22 - 26:43 -1:21:41
km 16: 5:24
km 17: 5:17
km 18: 5:22
km 19: 5:23

km 20: 5:19 - 26:50 - 1:47:31
Half - 1:53:47
km 21: 5:43 (pee stop)
km 22: 5:20
km 23: 5:22
km 24: 5:28
km 25: 5:21 -27:16 - 2:14:47
km 26: 5:12
km 27: 5:19
km 27: 5:19
km 28: 5:29
km 30: 5:28 - 26:50 - 2:41:37
km 31: 5:42
km 32: 6:02
km 33: 6:03
km 34: 7:35
km 35: 6:37 -  31:59 - 3:13:36
km 36: 7:04
km 37: 9:14
km 38: 9:00
km 39: 8:37
km 40: 9:36 - 43:37 - 3:57:13
km 41: 9:09
km 42: 9:12

M40: 1406 (1729)
Men:  5981
(7858)
Total: 6912 (9555)

What a total and utter disaster. Conditions were perfect. 12 degrees, sunshine, no wind. First 25km were like clockwork and bang on time. I then tried to speed up a bit as planned to see how the legs were and I realised quickly that they didn't want to speed up, so I adjusted back to 'normal' pace which was ok until 30km when I started getting cramps in both(!) calves. Things started to get unpleased very quickly and I stopped every so often to stretch which didn't help much. The last 5km must have been the most painful ever as I simply couldn't run. Every time I started in a slow jog the cramps and spasms got so bad that I had to walk again. I guess the km splits say it all. I considered pulling out 35km, but decided not to after last year's exit.

The red-cross people grabbed me as soon as I crossed the finish line, but let me go after a short while. I hobbled into the athlete's area and took a drink of something fizzy after which I got quite sick and back out it went again... The weird thing is that I don't really know what went wrong as I started at a slower pace than usual. I have never had cramps like these before and I can only put it down to 3 things: lack of salt / isotonics (which I didn't take), not enough training (two 25km runs are probably not sufficient) and the realisation that a body can only take so much in one season. It shows again that the full marathon is not a distance you should run unless you are 100%. Marathon #14 was a personal worst - time for a well needed rest period.

Here are a couple of videos of the misery: [Video]