I’ve less than 3 weeks to go until my very first sprint triathlon at Cheltenham Tri in the park. This one is a 400m pool swim, 10Km bike ride and a 5K run, and will (hopefully) ease me in gently before the Cotswold Tri later on in the year. Training has been going really well, in fact I’m really enjoying myself – particularly with the recent good weather – it’s lovely being outside. Doing different things each evening rather than just going for a run, has given me an extra spurt of motivation, as it’s been rewarding seeing my progress over time.
For the last 4 weeks I’ve been going to a spin class on a Monday with a girlfriend to help build my speed and leg strength on the bike. It’s an absolute killer, but I’ve noticed my performance on the bike improve since. I’ve ditched driving to work and now cycle in every day with my boyfriend to get used to my bike. The journey is a 6 mile round trip with hills on the way in. Every other week I’ve stayed out for an hour to get a good session in.
Training before work has been a bit of a revelation for me, I used to find it really hard to get up and train – it always seemed like so much effort. But now, I find it really sets me up for the day and I don’t feel like I’ve a session looming over me. It requires a wee bit of organisation to get all of my gear and work clothes packed, plus a little tupperware pot of bran flakes for when my tummy starts rumbling shortly after!
I’m managing to get out for a run a couple of times a week, and I’ve been keeping up my marathon training schedule – so doing two medium sized run with my long run on a Saturday or Sunday. I’ve taken part in a couple of Park Runs and the Newbury 10K to sharpen up my race pace, so I’ve been able to keep up with my running which is great. My friends have been great company so far this Summer out on my runs, which has meant that I haven’t felt guilty about spending to much time training rather than out with friends as I’ve taken them along! I’m feeling much stronger from doing lots of cross training, more so than I’ve ever felt before marathon training.
My swimming is going well, I’ve found it the most challenging part of the training, purely because it requires a bit of planning on my part to get there before the pool closes after work, so I’ve been trying to get this done on a Sunday morning when the pool is at its quietest. I’ve been building up the number of lengths and can comfortably do between 40 and 50, so I’m confident about the distance, it’s the speed that I’m struggling with. However, I’m concentrating on my technique to get this right and hoping that the speed will come. I’ve invested in a pull boy float and kickboard to get some drills in. Now that it’s getting closer, I’m going to try and ramp things up with the swimming, and get two sessions in a week.
That’s me for now, keep your fingers and toes crossed for the remainder of my training. I’ve a 5 mile hill race this week to keep me feeling challenged and in race mode.
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