Thinking about Triathlons

So May was a very interesting month. since January all I have really done is run. I think this is due to the fact that running burns off the most calories and its the one sport I really wanted to get in to and see how far I can push the boundaries. I now start thinking about triathlons again, I dipped my toe in to the sport back in 2010 where I did my first sprint triathlon in Lincoln. I really enjoyed the event but never really had the opportunity to do any other events as I was out cycling all the time and in May 2013 I cycled 600 miles to Paris and back raising money for Breast Cancer Campaign.


So back to the Month of May. My training has certainly ramped up now, probably due to the nice weather and trying to make the most of the daylight hours. I had started to go out on my bike a lot more and done some running after my bike ride to see how I felt. I have also been swimming a few times and also went to a lake in Lincoln to have a go at my first open water swimming. I wanted to hire a wetsuit from them and they didn't have any left so for my first attempt at swimming in a lake I'm there with my swim shorts and just getting on with it. I had gone down to Lincoln park run that morning and the weather was amazing, it was really warm and hardly any wind with not a cloud in the sky. after park run I headed down the road to the lake and enjoyed my first open water swim.


For some reason I thought I would give kick boxing ago. I thought that this would help more flexibility and my core strength. I signed up for a six week beginners course and really enjoyed it, by the end of the six week I decided that it wasn't going to be. I really enjoyed the training but I had my heart set on getting in to triathlons and decided that my focus was required more in the other 3 disciplines.

I was at by a friend if I would like to have ago at doing the RatRace dirty weekend a 20 mile obstacle race. I had no idea what to expect as I had never done anything like this before. The thought of running 20 miles was more than enough for me let alone throwing in 200 obstacles. Such a great event with such a great atmosphere from all the supporters and all the marshals. I managed to finish this event in 4:02hours.
http://www.ratracedirtyweekend.com/
  

April 2014

So at the start of January I started attending Lincoln Park Run, this is a nationwide event that happens every Saturday at 0900hrs. Its a 5km run and is a free event and is ran by volunteers. My first Park run time was 24:14 and my time in April 14 was 21:18. I am really pleased with the way my times are coming down and after each park run I always feel like I'm never going to improve as I feel like I have nothing left in the tank.
http://www.parkrun.org.uk/lincoln/

So in the month of April I have Lincoln 10km as my event it's one event I want to hit a sub 50 mins time. I have ran this event before but with no proper training and always feel like I'm going to collapse at the end of the event. I was looking forward to this event as my training had been going well over the last few months.

I completed the event under 50 mins official time was 47:12 so I was really happy with my result. however I did not pace myself at all. I started way too fast and at the time I felt really good but got into the 3km mark and I was suffering. I had to slow right down and hope for the best. Next part of my training was to look at my pacing and stick to my plan. Its so easy to get caught up in the event and everyone around you and just go with the crowd.

Four months in to my training and I'm loving running, never thought I would be saying that. I also managed to knock another 2 mins of my 10km time in a training run, this is how I should have ran the Lincoln 10km. 

April Stats 13 hours 124km

March 2014

March 2014

March 2014 and training is going nice and steady, I have changed my diet slightly and I have slowly started to increase my running distance. I had Grantham half marathon which I really enjoyed. There was 1 small hill and two larger challenging hills. I managed a time of 1hr 50 mins for the run so managed to knock 2 mins off my previous half marathon attempt.


Total training for March 7 hours distance 83km