NE31 Tri Club

So after just too much trouble with leg cramps when swimming, I went to see my doctor on Tuesday. It turns out that ther’s good news and bad news on cramp: Good News: It’s surprisingly common, though most people get it in bed rather than when swimming. Bad News: No-one really knows what causes it. But all...
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The triathlon season’s pretty much upon us. What that means at the NE31 Tri Club is monthly time trials in the pool. Every last Monday of the month, we get to swim 400m under the gentle encouragement of the coach, Peter. The time you clock then determines your times for the next four weeks’...
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A couple of years ago, just after I’d bought my sturdy commuting bike, I was riding along Newcastle’s Quayside with my friend The Irishman. We cycled along the empty bus lane, and at the end were going to continue along the pavement, which is wide & generally used as a mixed bicycle / pedestrian...
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Yet another tough session in the pool tonight - one that involved the full range of toys at our disposal. After the warm-up, we did 400m of hand paddles, which I’d never used before (did I mention that I’m quite new to ‘real’ swimming?). Interesting things - you get to really feel it when you...
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This evening was a tough session with the NE31 Tri Club. A 550m warm up, followed by 20 x 50m, on 80s start times. Basically this was supposed to be a ‘Level 8′ speed session (10 = flat out, 9 = race pace, 8 = just below), and I was doing fine up to...
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I went for a ride this morning with Simon, one of the guys from the NE31 Tri  Club. It was a long-ish, slow ride along some pretty grotty roads, which allowed us time to try and figure out what’s the most embarrassing thing to do on a bike . . . Fall off during a...
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Yet another tough session under the NE31 Tri Club’s coach’s sadistic gaze. A 250m warm-up, followed by 800m alternating between level 6 & 7 on each hundred, and then 200 kickboard, 200 pullbuoy, 200 kickboard and another 200 pullbuoy. There’s obviously something badly awry with my kicking though - it was like I was stationary...
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