Post trumatic calf strain

 So after a good week last week things seemed set to go well again leading up to some races I have planned this summer.

 Unfortunately work threw a spanner in the works with me needing to take the car two days in a row. Sunday and Monday should have been okay as I had a cheeky day off but both days kind of fizzled out. Sunday got a bit of a gym session and Monday I was taking driving Miss Kittie to her exam and to her chosen restaurant reward for passing.

 The weeks exercise only really started with the exercise class we had booked for Ex-bike (Spinning by any other name is still spinning). I was pumped up going in as I needed to do something as I was very aware of the nothing so far done for 3 days. I really wanted to blast the bike so was pushing the limit on all the exercises. Going as fast as I could or turning up the resistance a little higher then I normally do. The instructor had chosen a good mix of tunes. Mostly dance tune remixes of 80s songs.

 The final charge was to Queen's "We will Rock you!" and I smashed out the last two minutes gleefully expending the last of my energy.

 I got off the bike a little wobbly but totally feeling the runners high.

 Next day I resolved to do brick runs at the daily commute using the MTB. Dropping Kittie off at the park and ride and running back to the house just over a mile away. Bike to work get the boring bit of actually working out the way and head back and sprint to beat the bus. I managed this Thursday but the run back to the park and ride was hampered by a tight pain in both my calves. I got there but it hurt.
 Rolling out the muscles helped but I was a little worried I'd picked up a training "niggle". Yes the niggle that you know you should rest to sort out. But rest is not in the training plan. But if you injure yourself....

 Friday was going to be a repeat of Thursday and the calves still held tension as I headed for the house. At work I "googled" calf pain and got a good running physio blog

http://www.running-physio.com/calf2/

 Yep basically, rest it and strength exercises. I'd obviously rocked it too much on the spin class. Doh!

 I've done my calf raises for the day although no where near what the physio says I should do. Oh well at least I have time to write.

Taking the Thickets Crown

I went for a blast to try and take the course record for the "Thickets" in  St Ives.

 Here is the link to the segment on Strava.
Thickets
 
 I pushed as hard as I could all the way through feeling like I was going to collapse but I did it. By over a minute from the previous CR. 09:07 from 10:14. Felt so elated want to go out there and smash some more.

 Great confidence boost for the races coming up hope this is going to be a good omen. Just got to work on my recovery. This was only a 1.7m course going to need more than that to damage the standard dualthon distance times.

Curses

 Will the a run back to the car yesterday I need to get out early and run back to work.

 Kirstie does her usual trick of being ready in 15mins compared to my hour and a half morning routine but we are still 20 mins behind schedule. Kirstie is unceremoniously thrown from the car as i head for the park and ride.

 Darn legs won't get in gear to start with and i have to settle with a plodding pace until they wake up. To help i duck into the "Thicket" a local wooded area on the side of the hill were the river has carved through it producing some entertaining single track. Its not very long but the harder hill climbs and undulating terrain wakes the legs and I'm able to settle into a higher pace (well it felt that way).

 Arrive at work 15 mins late to when I wanted and slurp down some water.

 I need sugar but I need to cut it out of my diet. Its a complete contradiction.

 So the opportunity to exercise at work passes me by with nothing other than a quick sprint up to the 2nd floor canteen for some potato fish cakes. More potato then fish.

 The ride back promises to be standard fare. Not that interested in going to the gym because its been a hard day.

 Trawling through traffic I found myself blown away by another roadie intent on self destruction going head on to the queuing traffic. How dare he overtake me. Time to test the racing speed.  The traffic moved and we were off. He was 3 cars in front. Both of us following in chain. We were let off as the traffic peeled out at the mini roundabout and i was stuck behind a car which turned after him and accelerated. I punched the afterburner. Legs pumping push pull scrape the foot through the bottom of the pedal cycle. Eyes on the target. A car holds him up at the co op and i make ground. He's not getting away but I've stopped gaining on him. Damn same top speeds. I dive into the corner onto the bumpy back road towards common lane. Legs are tired but if i can get close enough he'll have to pause at the gate. The afterburner is running out. Legs have gone. I'm out of energy. Ground is lost. At the second gate he catches a break. Another cyclist hold the gate for him and I'm too far behind to get there before the gate slams shut. I try one last effort going from the zero enforced from the gate pushing hard up the small incline. Switching to try and get down on the aero taking advantage of the new smooth tarmac on this stretch but he's still matching my top speed.  I can't hold the pace and as i come through the village there's no sign of him. Either ducked into a side road or off in the distance. I try to keep up as much pace as possible. Use the race for a good time on the runkeeper spreadsheet but its all over. I make it through the rest on auto. I don't know if it was fitness, the morning fun or the heavy back pack. The other roadie had a small bag unlike my mini bergan.

 Then to cap it all off the bloody runkeeper app wasn't working until after the race was over so i can't even post analyse. Doh!

 Really don't feel like the gym now. Curses!

 

Ouch!

 Last two days have been a bit of a success.

 Sunday saw Kirstie and I hit the gym and pound on our core till it hurt. Sit-ups and Russian twists leg raises while hanging from the bar. Knee kicks on the punch bag. Great fun that.

 A few years ago I got the Xbox kinect to help my winter workout blues and bought a MMA workout game which was not a great thing. The movement sensor was a bit quirky and didn't measure true movement so you can cheat on a bad day. It did give some great format for work outs. Might have to dig it out again to so if some of it can be integrated into the workout with the bag. Might even get some knuckle pad gloves to bash the bag.

 Mountain climbers is what I can remember most about it. After slogging it out doing a 30 second rep of mountain climbers burned the shoulders and the back.

 Our workout felt like the workout in the game very core oriented with little cardio. It was what i was aiming for with the gym. Speed intervals on the treadmill are good but i should do cardio outside and get used to pushing myself. Noticed my alpha state running is slower then it should be.

 I should point out how awesome Kirstie is. With a stomach ache she was taking me to school in how to do this kind of workout. There was barely a break between exercise and no wimping out of that third set. Yeah her weights were less but proportionally we were the same. So like i say. Awesome.

 Then today after a full blown under the duvet feeling sick she still goes to her PT session. What a gym buddy.

 Not to be outdone and with the onset of a lovely spring shower I felt the need to go for the run back from work with Monday out of the way I felt I had enough energy for that. No doubt that will change soon. Another six miler back home pounding out the tarmac was what I felt like rather than battling with the cars in the usual stressful .

 I always think if you look out for them there is something funny to see every day. Today was no exception. Running is not as quick as the bike but allows me to observe my fellow human beings as they rapidly approach and then fade into the distance. Today O found myself running behind two ladies of a certain age riding their bicycles no doubt for their health. I've been a cyclist for a while and i try to learn from my past mistakes and be courteous and nice to anybody sharing the path with me.

 These two ladies didn't seem to have got the memo on that. They rode side by side and nothing and no one seemed to be able to shake their impression that there was nothing wrong with them doing so through blind bends and overtaking. Following just behind after they had overtaken me passing just a few centimetres from my pumping elbow  I thought they should be a bit more careful. If I had had to move right for any reason I would have taken the old dear out. I remained silent on the subject. People never like the obvious pointed out to them. The real hazard came as they approached the blind bend ahead. A man in commuting bike attire and on a MTB appeared bouncing into the verge having had to dive out of the way of the terrible twosome. His friend behind also slowed and headed for the grass as they wobbled about neither getting out of the way or shifting to single file.

 Next a trio of laughing teenagers were ridden down. Slightly more of a immovable object they presented another obstacle to the terrible two.

 Things got worse as the path narrowed. Another MTB had to come to a full stop to prevent gliding into them as they refused to give way and a different young whelp took to the mud in a masterful evasive action pre-empting another wobbling confrontation.

 

 It amused me as I followed them along to hear them exchanging comments of how everyone was trying to hit them. Tuts were exchanged.

 As they left the footpath and headed onto the road one can only hope they made some concession to oncoming motor traffic.

 My run finished in no glorious fashion. I managed to get across the main road by sprinting after the bus to catch the lights. As I came up to the car I noticed  two red spots on my white jersey.

 I’d been so into my run I had failed to notice that the bag and jersey combo had acted as a cheese grater and my poor nips had borne the brunt. Might need some plasters for tomorrow. Ouch.

The running day

I find myself up early this morning and the old urge has taken me to go for a run before the day starts to heat up. I've made the fatal mistake to eat breakfast before legging it out the door. I've found through unfortunate experimentation that I need to leave time between eating food and running to allow for the digestion to take hold before I jump up and down or a stitch and indigestion will follow.
 Therefore I find myself curled up next to Kirstie writing this blog that I've been meaning to get back into (or just start).
 Plan for the run is to hit the tarmac at around 09:00 (Saturday) and head round my new local route. Having moved to St Ives from Huntingdon I've not tried out a lot of routes and today is not a day to experiment. I've found a nice route that goes through some villages across the river and under some trees. Only problem with it is that it has too much tarmac with a short section of woodland mud. I prefer to mix terrain to allow my legs a break with some soft ground and then firmness to get up to speed again. Total route length is only about 5 miles so won't be too taxing though it has a nice hill to pound up and down.
 Training off late has picked up with starting at the St Ives One leisure gym, "Impressions". Kirstie and I had decided to join after cutting out the gym membership last year to save money as we weren't getting the benefit from the Huntingdon gym. Commuting left Kirstie very tired in the evening and the allure of a quiet night in always seduced us from our workouts. Kirstie had kept up her training with her Personal trainer but wasn't happy with the results so we resolved to train more often.
 Setting up our own little workout room at home started off alright but left very little room with two of us working out in there. There was lots of moving into different rooms and having to change weight to fit the other person and you couldn't fling things around as there was always something to me mindful of when toting the barbell around. Furniture, computer, walls, ceiling, Kirstie....
 Swimming was another reason. I haven't been at the Tri club at all this year (didn't re-up my membership) mainly because of time. Club hours meant I'd have to take the car to work with the wetsuit or bike and I wouldn't be able to pick Kirstie up. We did try a few last year but found it such a rush we were always late which stressed me out which in turn made me un pleasant while swimming with Kirstie. We tried box end open water swimming at the weekend but that was even further and more expensive and we weren't getting a good training session as we needed pool time to work on stokes and endurance.
 Riding would be less of a problem with the club but its now a 45min cycle over there or 30mins in the car. Expensive or turn up for a beasting session already tired.
 The new gym is working out a lot better. Kirstie has less of a commute so a bit more energy to go and the gym is on her bus route although we're finding it easier to meet at the park and ride and drive there than mess about meeting up then going back for the car. They run a good Spinning class and Kirstie is very good at those. I've even done a few myself if you do it right they beat the hell out of you. I'm back on the treadmill doing interval training and was pleased to see that my cruise and sprint rates were still at the level as before. In my ignorance of KpH vs Mph I'd actually set my speeds faster!
 The machines there use a wireless chip to record distances and times and weights but I've not played with any of the analysis there to see if its all worth while. Trying to input all the exercises on the free weights in afterwards is a slow and annoying process that I'd rather just use Fitocracy on my phone for.
 Well its nearly 9. Time to hit that tarmac.

I'm going to try and write this thing again as an aid to my exercise life. Things have changed I'm no longer in Huntingdon, I have a wonderful girlfriend who I've bought a house with in St Ives and somehow in the last three years I've turned from a dyed in the wool Runner with a bit of MTB wannabe into a semi serious road cyclist that does a good side line in triathlons and running.
 Most of that change I think goes down to Triathlon. I've done a couple of years of it now and enjoyed every second of it but if you're not good on the bike you won't compensate on the run or the swim.
 There have been many adventures. I did a half ironman (just ankle problems on the run killed me). National club relays, Olympic tri's with mis counted laps. Lots. I can't write it all down now, mostly because I've forgotten the details.
 I'm going to focus on what's been occurring more recently.
 Time and commuting in the last year have reinforced that. I commute to work 6.67 miles everyday there and slightly less back. (inside curves) to pick up Kirstie at the bus from Cambridge. Kirstie arrives at 18:00 so if I leave at 17:30ish I've got half an hour to travel it.
 This is a baby run right? 6 miles pah! I could do that in my sleep. Only its not 6 miles straight on the road. Its 6 miles twisting through a bumpy back road through 2 gates avoiding traffic, pedestrians (and their dogs) fellow cyclists and all the other  horrors. I have a record of 20 minutes 4 seconds. If you'd like a go on Strava.com and try the "Godmanchester to Hemmingford" and Hemmingford Grey to London Road" segments back to back.

 So where am I. Not as fit as I was 2 years ago. I've missed training runs stopped my gym membership. I blame work. After a heavy day of putting in info I don't feel like spending my spare time away from Kirstie. We've tried training together but we're too different and if one of us wants to drop out the other will dutifully follow.

 I want to get back on the training horse. Its a question of time. When to ride run or swim? This is what my week looks like. 06:00_06:30 up aim to drop Kirstie at the bus for 7. Run back to the house. Fake transition onto the bike and ride the standard 6 into arriving before 8 to look like the dedicated employee. Work hard and leave on time at 17:00 ride to the house. Run to Kirstie.
 Kirstie is also being  good and since the new year has been training with a PTI. Which lets me do something extra on the days she does that returning a 19:00. Recently I've either gone for a long ride down the Cambridge busway or tried out the local running routes.
 The weekends are never utilized properly with only an occasional trip here or there.

New Horizons

A lot has happened since April. I've now moved to Huntingdon! Yes no more commuting 20 miles. I can start to run in the morning again. I'm close enough to St Neots to join in a lot more of the training exercises with the tri club AND I've got my own personal space to control my diet better. Of course there are some down sides. Most notably I now can't get to the gym in Peterborough without a lengthy trip and the membership rules say I have to give 3 months notice. This means I'm out of pocket unless I head back there on the weekend. Grrr. Also removing the commute has removed my main cycle training. I'm going to have to get out and do "pleasure rides" rather than just getting to work and back. Should be more interesting though.
 I've also completed my first Triathlon in the "St Neots Nicetri Sprint 1" event finishing 8th in a time of 1:15:36 out of 141 competitors.  It was a real leaning experience. I thought I had the transition thing down from the wadenhoe. Nope. I got into the water with my new wetsuit on which is a triathlon specific 2XU T:2 and did a few warm up lengths in the river to get used to the water.When the start blast came I'd gone deliberately to the back of the pack so I didn't get in the way of the faster more experienced guys. I got bumped a few times but mostly because I was catching up with line in front. I got pushed wide on the way back which slowed me down a bit. When it came to getting out of the water I hit a problem. I was really dizzy. I could barely stand. Fortunately Keith had placed two guys on the bank to throw people out. They really had to help me as I was all over the place. I then had trouble in the transition. I could n't get the wetsuit off. I'd practised but the damned left foot wouldn't come out. I cleared transition in a super slow time of 2:56 when everyone else was less then 1:30. If I could have made that same time I would have been challenging for 3rd or 4th place.
 I did well on the bike once I finally got to it. I had competition in the first half with number 126 a chap named Stuart Dickenson. We were having a ding ding battle all the way to the big hill at the halfway point. He had the advantage on me on the flat but he couldn't stick with me on the hills. The big hill knocked him off and I was able to hold him off until the next transition line. Fortunately here I'd got the transition right and had the boots on nice and quick.
 The run wasn't my best. I was feeling the change from bike to run. I managed to lock onto a guy from Stamford Tri and pushed to get past him which got rid of the leg lag. There was a guy in front I was starting to close in on but he had the legs on me and I couldn't get him before the end.