last night I started to plug some numbers into my DW pace calculator and it does not make pretty reading. I put in our pace from the DW last year and we potentially have a problem. Due to the very early high tide time at Teddington (04:32), then even if we leave at the earliest opportunity on Saturday (07:00), the pace that we go at we will still arrive over 2 hours into the tide window.
In theory, that should be fine as we will therefore arrive at the peak of the flow back to Westminster but it means that if for any reason we slow up, get injured, have too many capsizes or just generally don't get a move on, then we can potentially end up missing the tide, which is not a nice thing to contemplate.
Quite simply, we are going to have to get faster.
Monday 30 January 2012
Thursday 26 January 2012
The boys are back
Adam and I had a stonking paddle last night. Wednesday night has become a regular session with us meeting up with a few others training for the DW. We went out in the Mystere while Laurence and Rob joined us in Laances. We were meant to do 4 efforts between Kingston railway bridge and Teddington Lock but the weather was lousy with strong gusts making it hard to keep any kind of rhythm in our stroke, so we focused again on our technique and staying relaxed. In those kind of conditions in the past we've got really tense and struggled to focus on what we needed to do. It just feels completely different to how it was this time last year; despite the weather being pretty grotty we really enjoyed the paddle and had real confidence in ourselves and the boat. I don't think we worry about having to paddle all the time either. We're more ready to brace if required, ride out the bumps and then get going again when things have settled. We would not have won any speed prizes last night but I genuinely think it was one of our best paddles that we have ever done and with the two of us being creatures of confidence then that counts for an awful lot. We threw in a couple of portages as well, to try and remember what to do and we managed to not drop the boat so we must be doing something right.
We still have a lot to do however. Our support crew is still very much work in progress but we have a plan and hopefully by the time of the next post we'll have one lined up. It's only 72 days to go which realistically at best, leaves us with somewhere between 20 and 30 training paddles left. :-/
We had a bit of a boost as well, from the DW legend that is Brian Greenaway. Last year Adam and I set up a facebook page as we were paddling for charity. Anyway, we kept the page going, basically so that we could insult each other on a public forum and the other day Brian decided to LIKE our page. That is very cool.
In other news....
#Jantastic is coming to an end and thankfully so is my cough. I only have 2 more runs to do this week to keep my 100% record of 5 runs per week in January, so I have had to set my Febulous targets. I am maintaining my 5 runs but I now have to give a distance for a longest run each week, so I've gone 10,12,14 and 12 miles. Hopefully that will also help to remove the bit of extra weight that's started to form around my middle.
I have set a new record this week with 3 turbo sets. Well, 2 and a half. This evening's brick session was curtailed by a puncture (a puncture, indoors, on a turbo, sheesh....) Anyway, it's a start. The winter plan, after a 6 week delay, is finally underway.
We still have a lot to do however. Our support crew is still very much work in progress but we have a plan and hopefully by the time of the next post we'll have one lined up. It's only 72 days to go which realistically at best, leaves us with somewhere between 20 and 30 training paddles left. :-/
We had a bit of a boost as well, from the DW legend that is Brian Greenaway. Last year Adam and I set up a facebook page as we were paddling for charity. Anyway, we kept the page going, basically so that we could insult each other on a public forum and the other day Brian decided to LIKE our page. That is very cool.
In other news....
#Jantastic is coming to an end and thankfully so is my cough. I only have 2 more runs to do this week to keep my 100% record of 5 runs per week in January, so I have had to set my Febulous targets. I am maintaining my 5 runs but I now have to give a distance for a longest run each week, so I've gone 10,12,14 and 12 miles. Hopefully that will also help to remove the bit of extra weight that's started to form around my middle.
I have set a new record this week with 3 turbo sets. Well, 2 and a half. This evening's brick session was curtailed by a puncture (a puncture, indoors, on a turbo, sheesh....) Anyway, it's a start. The winter plan, after a 6 week delay, is finally underway.
Sunday 22 January 2012
Lurgy
I have limped through this week, metaphorically and actually. Last Friday week Adam and I finally paddled the Mystere down from Walton to The Royal and as happens with these paddles, what with mucking about with cars it ended up being a late night and Adam and I were not off the water until gone 10.30pm. The paddle was wonderfully uneventful and we were both pleased at how comfortable we were in the Mystere despite very little K2 paddling in the last 6 months. The next morning though I woke up with a raging sore throat which left me being utterly zonked for the rest of the weekend. On top of that my left foot began to ache again. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself.
My cold well and truly developed this week. Initially not too bad but as the week progressed my head got thicker and my nose runnier. Being involved with the Jantastic Marathon Talk running challenge I dragged myself out to complete my 5 weekly runs. Lots of slow 20 and 30 minute shuffles, which were horrible to start with but seemed to get better as they progressed. So, I've done my runs but there was absolutely no quality in them. I guess it beats doing nothing, but at times, I was not so sure.
Adam and I got out for a paddle on Wednesday evening, unfortunatelyy missing the DW group from the Royal. They were just coming back as we left. I didn't have the energy to do intervals as scheduled by Bob, so we did a solid tempo paddle up towards Hampton Court, turning around after 30 minutes to complete an hour on the water. The first 10 minutes were rubbish; tense and twitchy, the next 50 were pretty good.
This week, I am looking forward to getting back on my bike. I spent half an hour or so this afternoon watching a few IM and DW videos on Youtube to get some mojo back into my system and realised that I am missing my bike and I want to start getting some miles in on it. I am very pleased that this week is done with and that the next one can only be better. :-)
My cold well and truly developed this week. Initially not too bad but as the week progressed my head got thicker and my nose runnier. Being involved with the Jantastic Marathon Talk running challenge I dragged myself out to complete my 5 weekly runs. Lots of slow 20 and 30 minute shuffles, which were horrible to start with but seemed to get better as they progressed. So, I've done my runs but there was absolutely no quality in them. I guess it beats doing nothing, but at times, I was not so sure.
Adam and I got out for a paddle on Wednesday evening, unfortunatelyy missing the DW group from the Royal. They were just coming back as we left. I didn't have the energy to do intervals as scheduled by Bob, so we did a solid tempo paddle up towards Hampton Court, turning around after 30 minutes to complete an hour on the water. The first 10 minutes were rubbish; tense and twitchy, the next 50 were pretty good.
This week, I am looking forward to getting back on my bike. I spent half an hour or so this afternoon watching a few IM and DW videos on Youtube to get some mojo back into my system and realised that I am missing my bike and I want to start getting some miles in on it. I am very pleased that this week is done with and that the next one can only be better. :-)
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Butterflies
Last week was very nearly a complete write-off; by Thursday evening my foot had swollen considerably and I could barely stand on it, let alone walk or run. But I hit the rehab as hard as I could and by the weekend I was able to do a couple of short runs on the Saturday (15 mins max) and then two more short ones on the Sunday. Being involved with the rest of the Tritalk team helped to get me out the door, which is precisely what the #Jantastic challenge is all about. Yesterday and today I increased the duration again and it seems that everything is back to normal, although I will wait until next week before starting some serious speedwork.
The focus is now firmly on our DW preparation and I am getting that excited feeling you get with an impending big event. We were due to do the Luzmore Race from Elmbridge to the Royal but with my foot playing silly beggars it seemed highly unlikely that we'd get on the start line. As it was, we could have ended up doing it but on Saturday night Adam and I paddled up to Hampton Court for the first time this year. A solid 8 mile paddle in the Laances, again focusing on technique. That was backed up with another short paddle on Monday night; a quick 45 minute paddle to Raven's Ait and back and on Friday night we will be finally paddling the Mystere down to the Royal from Walton. I think both of us are going to try to paddle more independently in order to get hopefully, three paddles in per week.
Unlike last year where we did quite a few tempo and interval sessions, I think it'll be better to focus much more on steady, DW paced paddles. I think that will help us to learn to paddle properly with the most efficient technique possible, rather than paddling like madmen with rubbish technique. Bob has offered to help us with a training schedule so we can discuss that with him and see what he has to say about that. Paddling fast(er) is more fun but it might not actually help us to get to Westminster.
We're hoping to do a few races in preparation, but I know that Adam is not as keen as I am to have another go, but I really do think that we should. It's just actually fitting it all in. We should be able to do either the Waterside B and/or C and the Runnymede to Royal race in March. Ad's not around for the Waterside D, so we are going to have to do that on our own. We are both keen to paddle the nighttime section again in training runs, i.e. Marsport to Shepperton and I think that is going to involve some very late night Friday paddles. We just can't see a way to fit them in at any other time at the moment. There is however one other big stumbling block; we found out a couple of weeks ago that we do not have any support as Phil will not be available. That's a pretty big headache that we have to resolve but I am sure that we can find someone who can throw the odd hot cross bun at us.
85 days to go. Bollocks.
The focus is now firmly on our DW preparation and I am getting that excited feeling you get with an impending big event. We were due to do the Luzmore Race from Elmbridge to the Royal but with my foot playing silly beggars it seemed highly unlikely that we'd get on the start line. As it was, we could have ended up doing it but on Saturday night Adam and I paddled up to Hampton Court for the first time this year. A solid 8 mile paddle in the Laances, again focusing on technique. That was backed up with another short paddle on Monday night; a quick 45 minute paddle to Raven's Ait and back and on Friday night we will be finally paddling the Mystere down to the Royal from Walton. I think both of us are going to try to paddle more independently in order to get hopefully, three paddles in per week.
Unlike last year where we did quite a few tempo and interval sessions, I think it'll be better to focus much more on steady, DW paced paddles. I think that will help us to learn to paddle properly with the most efficient technique possible, rather than paddling like madmen with rubbish technique. Bob has offered to help us with a training schedule so we can discuss that with him and see what he has to say about that. Paddling fast(er) is more fun but it might not actually help us to get to Westminster.
We're hoping to do a few races in preparation, but I know that Adam is not as keen as I am to have another go, but I really do think that we should. It's just actually fitting it all in. We should be able to do either the Waterside B and/or C and the Runnymede to Royal race in March. Ad's not around for the Waterside D, so we are going to have to do that on our own. We are both keen to paddle the nighttime section again in training runs, i.e. Marsport to Shepperton and I think that is going to involve some very late night Friday paddles. We just can't see a way to fit them in at any other time at the moment. There is however one other big stumbling block; we found out a couple of weeks ago that we do not have any support as Phil will not be available. That's a pretty big headache that we have to resolve but I am sure that we can find someone who can throw the odd hot cross bun at us.
85 days to go. Bollocks.
Wednesday 4 January 2012
Tadworth 10
I have issues with this race. I did this event three years ago and in the aftermath of if, I then spent the best part of eighteen months injured and I attribute it to my race that day. It's a particularly hilly affair with a long one mile drag up Ebbisham Lane on a muddy horse track, but harder than that it has a short, fast descent through Tadworth which puts a lot of stress on weak lower legs and hamstrings. I blame the race, but of course it's my legs and my lack of care of them in the past that led to that 18 month spell with an injury cloud over my head. Actually, I only have myself to blame. But this year, I want to race more, because I know that I will push myself much harder in a race than I ever would in a training session and racing is fun. I have always enjoyed ten miles as a distance; it combines the need for speed (quoting Top Gun) with real endurance and therefore in my mind, it's a perfect race / fast tempo session for an up-coming marathon. This is no pb course with its hilly route and sections of off road track, but it's local and friendly and a good way to kick off the year.
Ideally I was looking to aim to beat my previous time in this race (69:xx) and while my training had been unfocussed over December I had been getting three to four runs in per week so I felt confident that I could beat that time. It was a big field and once again I was too far back. The klaxon went and I immediately ran into the back of a girl who didn't hear it at all because of her ipod. Grrr..... As we dropped down and then back up Ebbisham Lane, trying to hop over enormous puddles from the previous day's downpours that I found myself overtaking a steady stream of runners and it was a good 2 miles into the first lap before I was where I should have been. Most of the first lap was run at an extended but comfortable pace and towards the end of the lap I found myself running on my own, with a small group containing the lead female some 50 metres up on me. I resolved to try to keep them in sight and then if possible work my way to them over lap two. As I hit the descent in Tadworth I felt the first twinges in my left foot, signalling my plantar fascia was working harder than it would have liked but soon enough we were on the next hill over the back of the downs to start lap two.
Lap two!! Again, another small hill to run over as we followed to road around Tattenham Corner but this time it was the wind that slowed me up but I gathered myself for the next long climb up Ebbisham. I got about a third of the way up and just imploded. My form disintegrated and I began shuffling. The group in front didn't seem to be pulling away but as I reached the steepest part of the climb I was overtaken by three runners who looked strong. The rest of the climb was damage limitation and while I felt pretty rugged at the top I was able to regain my composure as we hit the flat section out the back of the loop and tried to keep the three runners in my sights. Again, the fast descent had my foot aching but I was determined to use the hill to keep me in touch. During the rest of the loop as I climbed back over Tattenham Corner I felt I was gainimg on two of them but I just coundn't reel them in before the line. It was annoying to find out that all three were in my age group, which dropped me from 6th to 9th in the MV40 (39th/554 overall) with 68.22mins. A good run, but it highlighted my lack of strength when running up hills.
Since the race I have had two day's rest. My foot is extremely sore but I know that it'll get better soon enough, with plenty of ice, stretching and rest. It is vexing because I have been looking forward to the #Jantastic Marathon Talk challenge. When I posted on TriTalk to see if we could put a team together I thought that we would get maybe 10 or 20 people sign up, but to have over 50 members, all encouraging and bantering with each other, and helping each other to achieve their run goals has been really nice to be a part of. I even managed to rope Adam into it, so he's comitted to three runs per week. (currently ahead of me, the swine).
Only 92 days to the DW; where did that time go!!?
Onwards and upwards.
Ideally I was looking to aim to beat my previous time in this race (69:xx) and while my training had been unfocussed over December I had been getting three to four runs in per week so I felt confident that I could beat that time. It was a big field and once again I was too far back. The klaxon went and I immediately ran into the back of a girl who didn't hear it at all because of her ipod. Grrr..... As we dropped down and then back up Ebbisham Lane, trying to hop over enormous puddles from the previous day's downpours that I found myself overtaking a steady stream of runners and it was a good 2 miles into the first lap before I was where I should have been. Most of the first lap was run at an extended but comfortable pace and towards the end of the lap I found myself running on my own, with a small group containing the lead female some 50 metres up on me. I resolved to try to keep them in sight and then if possible work my way to them over lap two. As I hit the descent in Tadworth I felt the first twinges in my left foot, signalling my plantar fascia was working harder than it would have liked but soon enough we were on the next hill over the back of the downs to start lap two.
Lap two!! Again, another small hill to run over as we followed to road around Tattenham Corner but this time it was the wind that slowed me up but I gathered myself for the next long climb up Ebbisham. I got about a third of the way up and just imploded. My form disintegrated and I began shuffling. The group in front didn't seem to be pulling away but as I reached the steepest part of the climb I was overtaken by three runners who looked strong. The rest of the climb was damage limitation and while I felt pretty rugged at the top I was able to regain my composure as we hit the flat section out the back of the loop and tried to keep the three runners in my sights. Again, the fast descent had my foot aching but I was determined to use the hill to keep me in touch. During the rest of the loop as I climbed back over Tattenham Corner I felt I was gainimg on two of them but I just coundn't reel them in before the line. It was annoying to find out that all three were in my age group, which dropped me from 6th to 9th in the MV40 (39th/554 overall) with 68.22mins. A good run, but it highlighted my lack of strength when running up hills.
Since the race I have had two day's rest. My foot is extremely sore but I know that it'll get better soon enough, with plenty of ice, stretching and rest. It is vexing because I have been looking forward to the #Jantastic Marathon Talk challenge. When I posted on TriTalk to see if we could put a team together I thought that we would get maybe 10 or 20 people sign up, but to have over 50 members, all encouraging and bantering with each other, and helping each other to achieve their run goals has been really nice to be a part of. I even managed to rope Adam into it, so he's comitted to three runs per week. (currently ahead of me, the swine).
Only 92 days to the DW; where did that time go!!?
Onwards and upwards.
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