Running

On yesterday evening’s run, I was wearing my cheep & cheerful HRM. And I’m worried about what it was telling me. My calculated HRmax is either 183 (220- age) or 184 (the formula that also uses resting HR). For much of the run, I was in the high 150s, or about 80%. But every time...
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So on Sunday we drove down through France. The 07:00 ferry meant an 04:45 start, and then it was 700 miles of mainly motorway driving. Some really bad weather in the plains before the Massifs Centrale (rain like you wouldn’t believe), left us all really tired by the time we arrived in Gabian. After last...
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Shockingly enough, Tall Friend beat me, and by only 19 seconds! The splits (which include T1 & T2 somewhere) were: Karl: 209th out of 542: Swim 10:01 / Bike 46:59 / Run 22:24 / Total 1:19:24 Tall Friend: 203rd out of 542: swim 8:07 / Bike 48:13 / Run 22:45 / Total 1:19:05 So on the face of...
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Well here we are - my race is run, and having been so giddy with excitement, both I and Tall Friend managed to forget to start our stopwatches at the ‘off’. So neither of us have any idea of out total times, splits, or which of us clocked the fastest time. I guess we’ll...
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These last two weeks have been murder . . . too much to do, too much time in hotels, and too little time to write about it. I’ll be posting individual details rather than one long rambling stream of drivel, but for now, the highlights include . . . A road trip to Manchester to...
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I’ve been struck the last few days about how much of a role technique plays in changing your race day from an ordeal into a tough, but very enjoyable experience. In swimming, my freestyle is really starting to come together (I know you’ve heard that before, but it’s true), so much so that it’s now...
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First race of the season is in the bag. Done. Finished. Well and truly run. The weather was great this year for North Tyneside’s (third) annual 10k road race. By great, I mean a whole lot better than last year’s howling gale and rain. It was bright and sunny, but the predicted 10-15mph tail wind...
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Today is a rest day, as tomorrow morning it’s the North Tyneside 10K road race. This is a great run for an Easter Sunday, but not very fast partly because of the course (always into a headwind - I’ve no idea how), but mostly because of the scenery, which isn’t condusive to concentrating on...
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I had a great session this afternoon - a full 25k bike and then 5k run. Setting off from Walker, at just after noon, the weather was just perfect. Sunny without much heat, so that I knew I wouldn’t get too hot. I was wearing some long cycling trousers over my ever so attractive...
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I’m getting toward the race season now - my first race is a 10K on Easter Sunday. So the training intensity is increasing, with longer and more strenuous workouts. After the mess I got myself in earlier in the year, I want to avoid over-training. The key to this is taking the appropriate rest periods...
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