I went on Trixie the Fixie into Walker today via a bit of a magical mystery tour up around Killingworth & Forrest Hall (this Gmaps Pedometer map shows the route, but is ~10% light on the mileage). We’ve been living in these parts for nine years now, and even though these places are less...
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I’m getting the feeling that I might be about to be moved up out of the ‘learners’ lane . . . some time in the next few weeks / months anyway! In last night’s session, Peter the coach had us working on 50m repeats, then 100’s, and finally 150’s, and everything seemed to go...
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I’ve updated my cycling progress chart again, in an effort to keep things on track. It’s hand drawn in pen and ink on two pieces of A4 paper stuck together, and I fill it in every fortnight with a highlighter pen. Not as high-tech as the sweat365 training logs, but if I were Linus...
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Fresh from my triumph in the pool yesterday, I headed out for my Sunday bike ride this morning. The alarm went off at 06:00 . . . and I woke with a start at 06:20. It then took me an hour to get going - breakfast of porridge, peanut butter & ginger marmalade, washed down...
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Now here’s a phrase you don’t hear spoken in excited “oooh I’m looking forward to this” tones too often: I’m gonna swim in Hartlepool marina! On my list of goals for this year is to complete a triathlon involving an open water swim. It doesn’t say how long the swim should be (clever, eh?), just that...
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After yesterday’s cycling in the rain, I thought I may have been wet enough. I was also a little sore, having spend four hours on Wednesday on standing on top of a ladder stripping artex from the plaster moulding around the edge of one of our ceilings (the late 70’s / early 80’s has...
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“I feel good when things are going wrong I only listen to a sad, sad song” Actually I’m doing my best not to listen to music like this, which although it’s great stuff, can have rather a dampening effect on one’s outlook! Anyway, yesterday it was tipping down. I mean really raining cats & dogs. Or as...
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I’d planned this week with an eye on the weather forecast, which was for a rainy second half of the week. So I knew that today’s run was going to be wet and windy. To compensate for this, I dressed like it was winter - a cheap tri-suit as a base layer, track pants, breathable...
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I’m pretty mechanically minded - I’ve taken apart my fair share of A-series engines, rebuilt bikes, and don’t mind generally tinkering with stuff. Sometimes it even works after I’ve finished with it. Today I was over at the Bicycle Diaries, and I came across a link to someone doing some wierd stuff to retro /...
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I’ve been thinking about motivation recently. When I get to the “Why” question, the answer that seems to keep coming back is, “Because it’s there”. But I know there’s more than that to it. When I did my first triathlon, my biggest fear was a not completing the race - a DNF. So I worked...
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Just got back from my postponed long bike ride. I went from Whitley Bay to Durham . . . and there are some BIG hills along the way. I took a tube of my banana & honey gel, and 750ml of funky rehydration mix as fuel (which was topped up with 750ml of water at...
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Unlike the folks from Seattle who run Sweat365 (and regularly post / comment at between midnight & 3am local time), I need my sleep. Seven hours is good, eight is just great. I’ve been feeling pretty tired all this week - not so much during the day, but it’s been hard to get out of...
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My Daughter had her swimming lesson this afternoon, so while she was doing her thing, I practiced some of the stuff from the swim session on Thursday night with the NE31 Tri club. I did a bunch of 50 & 100m drills, focusing on keeping the drumbeat of my stroke going to cut down...
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Today I (eventually) got out of bed and headed on out for my first ‘proper’ ride on my fixed wheel bike. Trixie The Fixie is a bit of a saucy minx, made mostly from a Raleigh Record Sprint I bought second hand in 1989 after my (father’s) Dawes Lightning was stolen along with every...
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I’m not one of life’s “joiners”. There’s something about organised clubs that just turns me off. Maybe it’s the fact that I can never remember anyone’s name, or the vague feeling that I’m going to be found out as just “winging it”, but for some reason me and clubs don’t seem to go together. But...
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So as part of my quest to up my triathlon distance, I’m increasing my cycling training distance. Today I had to go & visit a company on Walker Riverside (a 17 mile round trip), and I set out to go the long way round, via Scotswood bridge. That would have made the round trip...
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Now, I just love New Things. Especially when they seem designed for my own personal needs. That’s why I’m relocating this blog to sweat365.com, a blogging site-cum-community forum thing that’s been developed by Zappoman (Mr Brad Hefta-Gaub to the sober-suited buisiness-types that he has to talk to nowadays), Phil Sabin (an (ex?) sober-suited accountant...
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Yes, I will. 2008 or 2009? Now, that I don’t know. My instinct is to go for 2008, as a year later is a year’s further procrastination. But then again, to go from fit enough for a sprint to a full IronMan in 12 months is asking a lot of my body. I’ve had lots of...
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So if I’m going to raise my game I’ve got to learn to swim. Like you haven’t heard that before! Last night, I went to the NE31 Tri club’s Monday evening session at Hebburn baths. Hey, guess what? These guys can really swim. As it was my first session, I got in for free, and...
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I was worried in France that with the extra heat meaning I’d gone down to just a single layer that I’d um, “overcooked” parts of my body. Thing were seriously uncomfortable in the seat area for a few days, and I even went as far as buying a pair of bib shorts (and a...
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Thanks to El Zappoman for reminding me that my . . . uh . . . “fortnightly” update of my chart is a little behind. Since Von SmallHaussen reminded me at the beginning of April, I’ve been pretty much back on track. Apart from the fortnight with the Stratford Triathlon right in the middle -...
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