June's Events, Fund Raising and Training Update...

Abersoch 10km finish line

After spending the last week of May in Abersoch on holiday with family and friends I discovered the Abersoch 10km run was scheduled for Sat 1st June whilst we were still down there. I haven't done much running so far this year but decided to give it a go as I'm considering doing the inaugural Abersoch Half Marathon later this year in October. The 10km is a great course with a comfortable enough number of runners for it to feel like an event without feeling hemmed in. A lovely day for it too! Finished on the beach in a fairly respectable time of 53mins 35seconds which I was quite pleased with!


The RNLI Triathlon Relay Teams

This was followed up the following weekend by the Findel Triathlon Team Relay challenge I organised as this year's RNLI fundraiser on Sunday 9th June. Helped by eleven friends and colleagues from work we managed to put together four relay teams to compete at the Capesthorne Triathlon. Due to a last minute illness, I ended up covering the cycle leg for the Findel Education team as well as the planned swim leg for the EGL team. 

The Swimmers!

The swim was pretty awful! A 750m swim ended up for some reason being just over 1,000m!? Consequently the time of 23mins 54secs a bit disappointing (I've been swimming 750m in about 17 to 18 mins).

The cycle leg though was excellent, probably my best ever performance in an event. It's not been unusual for most folk to pass me on the bike but this time I powered past a lot of folk including a couple of guys on serious looking time trial bikes! I completed the 26km course in 51mins 10secs averaging 18.8mph! :-)

Congratulations to the Findel Group team who took the honours on the day and a huge thanks to everyone who supported us with a donation! £955 raised for Abersoch RNLI so far!  The donation page will remain open until 9th September for any late donations! ~ http://www.justgiving.com/Findel-RNLI-TriTeam-Challenge

The remainder of the month was spent with the sobering thought that I've got the Prudential Ride London 100 cycle sportif in just over a months time. I say sobering as
       a) it's a 100 mile cycle ride and the largest single ride I've managed so far has been
          45miles (even on last years Coast to Coast the longest day's cycling was 68
          miles with an hour stop for lunch), and...
       b) I now need to start fundraising for the very worthy Isaiah Trust only a few weeks
           after doing so for the RNLI...

Training and event log for June was as follows, with the back end of the month focusing on getting cycle fit...

01/06/13 ~ Abersoch 10km run ~ 53mins 35secs
06/06/13 ~ 1500m Open Water Swim at Boundary Water Park in 42mins
09/06/13 ~ Capesthorne RNLI Tri Swim stage ~  '750m' swim in 23mins 54secs
               ~ Capesthorne RNLI Tri Bike Stage ~ 26km Cycle in 51mins 10secs
                  averaging 18.8mph
13/06/13 ~ 750m Open Water Swim at Boundary Water Park in 18mins 01sec
16/06/13 ~ 43mile bike ride around Rode Heath, Winterley, Crewe, Nantwich,
                   Middlewich, Holmes Chapel back to Sandbach in 2hours 32mins averaging
                   16.6mph
19/06/13 ~ 8mile early morning weekday cycle around Hassall and Winterley in 29mins
                  23secs averaging 16.5mph

Bike ride to Harlech Castle

21/06/13 ~ 8mile bike ride to Brereton and back in 29mins
                  48secs averaging 16.4mph
24/06/13 ~ 8mile bike ride to Brereton and back in 27mins
                  09secs averaging 17.9mph
26/06/13 ~ 7.5mile bike ride around Sandbach in 26mins 18secs
                  averaging 17.1mph
29/06/13 ~ 65.5mile training ride for Ride London from Abersoch
                  to Harlech Castle in 4hours 8mins averaging
                  15.8mph

May Training Update

The weather improved a bit during May, but still unseasonably cold. Glad to finally get some Open Water swimming done but bitterly cold water, particularly the first swim at Salford Quays in 12'c water and 9'c air!

Some good cycle rides done this month including a good climb up Mow Cop getting the closest I've ever been to cycling it all... I will crack this! :-) Also had my first bike fall in over 30years this month clipping a kerb and landing heavily on elbow and knee. Fortunately no damage to the bike!

RNLI fundraising is going well for our Findel Triathlon Team Relay challenge... £250 raised so far! Donate here if the mood takes you ~ http://www.justgiving.com/Findel-RNLI-TriTeam-Challenge

Here's the training update for May...

The folly atop of Mow Cop

~ 02/05/13 ~ 13.5mile Bike loop around Sandbach, Malkins
                      Bank and Haslington in 47mins 57secs
                      averaging 17.2mph
~ 04/05/13 ~ 750m pool swim at Total Fitness in 18mins
                      41secs  (SWOLF =53)
                   ~ 45mile Bike ride up Mow Cop and around Rode
                      Heath, Crewe, Middlewich, Holmes Chapel
                      back to Sandbach in 3hours 20mins averaging
                      13.5mph
~ 05/05/13 ~ 3mile run along Pwllheli sea front in 30mins
                      40secs
~ 06/05/13 ~ 20mile mountain bike ride from Pwllheli to
                      Criccieth & back in 1hour 34mins averaging
                      12.3mph

A chilly Salford Quays!

~ 16/05/13 ~ First UK open water swim of 2013 at Boundary
                     Water park. 820m in 19mins 34secs (15'c water
                      temp)
~ 18/05/13 ~ First open water swim at Salford Quays of 2013.
                      820m in 20mins 4secs (12'c water temp!)
~ 19/05/13 ~ 22mile bike loop around Holmes Chapel,
                      Middlewich, Crewe and Winterley in 1hour
                      18mins averaging 16.9mph
~ 23/05/13 ~ 750m Open water swim at Boundary water park in
                     16mins 25secs
~ 25/05/13 ~ 35mile bike ride around Rode Heath, Crewe,
                     Middlewich, Warmingham back to Sandbach in
                     2 hours 5mins averaging 16.6mph. Fell 4miles
                     into the ride when I clipped the kerb... Ouch!
~ 27/05/13 ~ 45mins cycle spin at Gimblet Rock Gym
~ 28/05/13 ~ 45mins cycle spin at Gimblet Rock Gym
~ 29/05/13 ~ 6mile run around Pwllheli Marina in 56mins 37secs
~ 31/05/13 ~ 9mile Mountain Bike ride around part of Pwllheli Tri Bike route

April Training Update

It seems Winter continued into April this year with temperatures remaining cold. The much anticipated start of the open water swim season being delayed until May due to the cold. A real shame as it's traditionally this time of year that it gets easier to get out and about! Looking forward to the warmer weather!

The RNLI team triathlon challenge I've been organising with colleagues from work is taking shape, 4 teams and 12 participants confirmed! Thanks all concerned for pitching in!
The event is Capesthorne sprint relay Triathlon on Sunday 9th June ~ http://www.cheshiretriathlon.co.uk/ 

Thanks also to Kevin Sharpe who agreed to let us use this stunning composite image he created from a photo of the Eastbourne Lifeboat crew. It now adorns our fundraising donation page here... http://www.justgiving.com/Findel-RNLI-TriTeam-Challenge

Not a full month of training but some good outings when I've been able to squeeze them in, here's the summary, aiming to pick it up a few notches in May!

~ 07/04/13 ~ 30mile bike ride around Sandbach, Crewe & Middlewich in 1hour 56mins
                      averaging 15.6mph
~ 14/04/13 ~ 30mins Weight Training at The Warren Gym in Abersoch
                  ~  6 mile run around Pwllheli Marina in 55mins 40secs
~ 15/04/13 ~ 7.6mile bike ride around Sandbach in 28mins averaging 16.3mph
~ 18/04/13 ~  3 mile run around the Wheelock rail trail in Sandbach in 28mins
                      56secs
~ 20/04/13 ~ 1 hour spin class at Total Fitness gym in Crewe
~ 21/04/13 ~ 13.5mile ride around Sandbach and Winterley in 51mins 11secs
                      averaging 15.9mph

March Training Update and a plan for the year...

A bit of a struggle with motivation to get out early in the month prompted me to get my ass in to gear and get some events organised, so...

http://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/ is entered for Sunday 4th August. It's a 100mile cycling 'sportif' ride following much of the London 2012 Olympic road race route out from the Olympic park, through Surrey and back to finish on Pall Mall in London. I'm riding to raise much needed funds for the work of the Isaiah Trust and am sure it's going to be a blast... Can't wait!!!

I've decided on a change of tack on the fundraising front for the RNLI this year. Instead of a challenge all my own I've asked for help from friends and colleagues at work to join me. We're putting together a few relay teams across the Group to compete in the Capesthorne sprint distance Triathlon on Sunday 9th June in a team challenge... Huge thanks to everyone who's helping out by giving this a go!!

I've also got my sights set on a couple of events for myself towards the end of the season. The Salford Triathlon returns after a couple of years out on Sun 18th August and as the swim circuit is at Salford Quays where I regularly swim with Uswim probably counts as 'home ground'. At two weeks after the Ride London 100 cycling event I'm hoping my legs are in best shape for a good bike time!

Later in the year on Saturday 5th October is the inaugural Abersoch Half Marathon. Having done the Abersoch 10km a few times I thought I might give this stunning route a go!

The training has been embarrassingly sparse this month. Took a week off after Mexico to catch up with jet lag and then missed over a week at the end of the month with the worst Flu I've had in years! Here's March's very brief training summary... Must try harder!

10/03/13 ~ 3mile run around the Wheelock rail trail in 26mins 52secs
15/03/13 ~ 40mins weight training
               ~ 400m pool swim with pull buoy in 9mins 8secs (SWOLF 53)
16/03/13 ~ 1 hour spin class at Total Fitness
18/03/13 ~ 4 mile figure of 8 run around Sandbach in 38mins 45secs

On a lighter note, our new puppy Ollie is getting me out for plenty of walks! A mile and a half each night and 2 to 3 miles Sat and Sunday... We've covered about 45miles of walking this month!

February Training Update & Mexican Holiday!

A really cold wintery month broken up by a holiday to Puerto Aventuras in Mexico where I was proud to be appointed God Father to my Great Niece Ruby!

A really fab 12 day break basking in 30'c sunshine catching up with family and friends over there.

Got the opportunity to take in a couple of days scuba diving in the clear Carribean Ocean with my wife and daughters, a fishing boat trip, a couple of days on the racing catermaran 'Raiatea' as well as some early morning training runs and swims before the sun rose!

Back down to Earth with a bump on our return to the continuing cold, wintery weather!

I still haven't sorted out any fund raising events for this year yet so really need to get my skates on and choose something! The training has been ticking over... Here's the February training summary...

~ 02/02/13 ~ 13.3mile Bike ride around Crewe and back to Sandbach in 51mins

                       averaging 15.6mph

~ 03/02/13 ~ 5mile run from Sandbach to Middlewich (5'c) in 45mins and 45secs

~ 07/02/13 ~ 1300m pool swim with pull buoy at Total Fitness in 32mins 43secs
                       (swolf = 56)

                    ~ 10km Bike machine

~ 09/02/13 ~ 1 hour Spin class at Total Fitness

                    ~ 400m pool swim with pull buoy in 9mins 40secs (swolf = 52)

~ 13/02/13 ~ 2.5mile run around Puerto Aventuras Marina in Mexico (23'c) in 24mins
                       58secs

~ 14/02/13 ~ 2.5mile run around Puerto Aventuras Marina (21'c) in 24mins 47secs

~ 16/02/13 ~ 670m open water pool swim at Secret Waters pool, Puerto Aventuras
                       in 17mins

~ 17/02/13 ~ 460m open water pool swim at Secret Waters pool, Puerto Aventuras in
                       13mins 52secs

~ 23/02/13 ~ 2mile run around Puerto Aventuras Marina (25'c) in 20mins 5secs

Welcome to my 2013 Training BLOG! ~ January 2013

Happy New Year!

Welcome to my 2013 training BLOG, tracking as the title suggests this years training up's and down's for the Sports fundraising challenges I'll be taking on this year. At the time of writing this I haven't actually deicided what I'll be doing this year although I am mulling over some ideas... Watch this space!

A great start to the year on my birthday with the Abersoch RNLI New years dip for my adopted charity who came to my aid in 2007. A massive turnout of around 500people including spectators... A very very bracing start to the year! :-)

Started the year with a broken finger and ruptured tendon injury picked up in December last year which has curtailed the swimming and cycling. Along with a fair share of snow and ice there hasn't been much running either so I've been focussing on a new past time of Spin classes at the Gym which I've discovered are hard!

The splint I've had on my finger for six weeks came off on the 21st Jan but it looks like there is still some repairing to be done. It has though let me get back out on the bike which was great!

Here's the January training summary...

~ 01/01/13 ~ 11 seconds open water sea swim in Abersoch!!! :-)
~ 04/01/13 ~ 1 hour Spin class at Total Fitness

~ 06/01/13 ~ 3mile run around the Wheelock rail trail
                        in 9mins 03secs

~ 08/01/13 ~ 45mins Spin class at Total Fitness

~ 11/01/13 ~ 4mile figure of eight night time run around
                       Sandbach in 38mins 39secs.

~ 12/01/13 ~ 1 hour Spin class at Total Fitness

~ 19/01/13 ~ 1 hour Spin class at Total Fitness followed by 1km
                        treadmill run in 7mins 3 secs.

~ 20/01/13 ~ 10km bike m/c, 1km treadmill run, 40mins weight
                        training
~ 27/01/13 ~ 3mile run around the Wheelock rail trail in 27mins 26secs
                    ~ 6.6mile bike ride around Bradwall in 25mins 41secs avge 15.7mph
                    ~ 400m pool swim (with pull buoy) in 9mins 25secs (swolf 55)
~ 30/01/13 ~ 5mile night time run around Sandbach in 45mins 14secs