Last night…

R: 3 * 1km at 10, 10.5 & 11kmh

S: 5 * 200m

Everything was easy enough. The pool was still a little crowded, but not as bad as Tuesday. Ankles and knees a little sore this morning, so will see how things are this arvo. Might skip the run and just do the swim.

R: 3 * 1km at 10, 10.5 & 11kmh.

S: 200m

Easy running this week to get back into the swing of things. Swim was a pain in the arse. Too many people in the pool, and no fast lane. Also too many people thinking they could swim in the “Medium” lane when they should have been nowhere near it. Ended up having to stop behind someone at least once per length, so called it quits. Might have to switch to swimming in the morning, but I’ll see what it’s like tonight first.

Had a bit of a disastrous session at the gym last night. The plan was to do some running, then a bit of a swim. Treadmills were full, so I started off on the elliptical cross trainer. My legs were knackered after 12 mins or so, presumably from weights last night, so switched to a now free treadmill. Ran at 11kmh for about 8mins, but then had to give up as I was too exhausted. Could be anything really, from not stretching enough after weights, to not having eaten/drank enough that day, to taking up smoking temporarily during my weeks holidays. Oh well…

Weights: the usual 2 * 15.

Feeling a bit out of shape after not being in the gym for the last week or so. Should be able to get stuck into it again next week, barring unforseen circumstances.

Back in the gym last night too, after too much food and too many beers on holidays ;-) I now have an extra 2kg to get rid of.

Weights: the usual 2 sets of 15.

Weights this morning: 2 sets of 15 as before.

This getting up early and going to the gym in the morning doesn’t work too well. It’s 9:45am and I’m exhausted already. I suppose going out for a few Belgian beers last night didn’t help.

Weights last night: 2 sets of 15

Squats, Leg Curl, Calf Raise, Bench Press, Incline Bench Press, Pec Dec, Chins, Dips, Lat Pulldowns, Seated Row, Standing Row, Tripcep Extension, Bicep Curl, Situps, Back Extensions.

Exhausted by the end of it ;-)

I’ve decided on my first triathlon. The Star City Triathlon Series is being held in Sydney. Starting in January, there is a race every 3 weeks or so until April. I’m going to aim for the first race, on January 18th. It’s a relatively easy 300m swim, 8km bike and 3km run, so finishing won’t be a problem. Tom, John, Kevin, Neil, Niall and Billy are also interested, so hopefully we can get a big gang together. Should be fun.

R: 9.5min @ 11kmh, 1min @ 6kmh, 9.5min @ 11.5kmh

Row: 10min @ 2:03.5

S: 250m

I had intended to do more swimming, but was reminded how important it is to stretch properly after a weights session. My arms were still exhausted and very tight after yesterday, so I could hardly swim anywhere.

Back into the gym last night for a weights session. Had forgotten how weak I am ;-) Nice and sore today, so a run or row should loosen everything out again.

S: 400 easy, 3 * 200m, 1 with paddles

YTD: R: 32.1km, S: 6000m, B: 9km

Up bright an early this morning for another easy half hour down the gym.

R: 3 * (9min @ 10kmh, 1min @ 6kmh) HR:145 Dist: 4.77km

YTD: R: 32.1km, S: 5000m, B: 9km

Easy day at the gym last night. Decided to try and do many sessions, but not much in each session. Not very time effective, but once I get used to it, and have established a routine, it will be easy to up the volume by just doing an extra 5-10mins each session.

Cross-Trainer: Level 7 ‘Fat-Burner’. 30mins, 450 cals.

Had a bit of a twinge in my knee, so decided not to run on it.

Well, did a proper weigh-in yesterday. I have a set of scales which tell me my body fat , so I read up on how that’s calculated, and it turns out that being dehydrated results in an overestimation of body fat. Now, I usually weigh myself in the morning and I’m always somewhat dehydrated, so I decided to do a weigh-in after work, and to make sure I was fully hydrated. So, the verdict is in and I’m 90.1kg with 19.6 fat. That gives me a lean body mass (bone, muscle etc.) of 72.5kg which means that I have to lose 2kg in order to get into the non fat b*stard category. Two to three weeks of training should sort that out. After that, it’s another 4kg to get into the ‘Athlete’ category. I like the sound of that ;-)

It turns out that I need approximately 150g of protein per day, which is almost two 300g steaks. I’m not eating anything near that amount of meat, so today I went out and got some protein powder. It comes in a 1.5kg tin with loads of sciency stuff on the back. Even just having it in the house makes me feel like I’m on ‘roids or something! It’s quite funny.

No gym work today or yesterday. I can feel a cold coming on again! This really pisses me off. Just when I’m getting back into the gym, I start getting run down again. I figured that I must not be eating properly, so I took a look at The Triathlete’s Training Bible to see what it had to say about nutrition, and it is highly likely that I’m not getting enough protein. I’ll have to start eating more meat, and beans. I’m sure the lads will love that ;-)

Joe Friel’s Triathlete’s Training Bible covers everything a triathlete needs to know about training. Now, I’m no triathlete, but I did want to find out how to go about training, information on V02Max, heart rate training bands and the like. This book covers all of that and much more. It sets out to give the reader all the information he/she will need to design their own annual training program, including macro- and micro-cycles. There’s nutrition information, technique information on running, swimming and cycling and so much more. In short, if you’re thinking of training yourself, or would just like to understand more about why your coach has you do certain things in training, this book is for you.

R: 4 * (9min @ 10.1kmh, 1min @ 6kmh) = 6.42km

S: 300 easy, 6 * 50m on 1:00 (avg: 38), 200 easy

Run felt quite good. I’ve been working on technique and seem to have eliminated the shin splints problem I normally had. Hope to go 5*(9/1) at the weekend.

YTD: R: 27.33km, S: 5000m, B: 9km

Swim: 100, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200, 100, 1min between each. Avg. Pace: 1:32

Up nice and early to get a swim in. Legs felt pretty good after last nights run, which was a relief. Swim went pretty well. Arms were pretty tired towards then end of the 300s and 400, but I had expected that. Managed a total of 1600m in approx. 30mins, so I could probabaly still swim 2km in 30mins if I didn’t stop for rests. I’ll consider myself fit when I can do it in around 25mins.

YTD: R: 20.91km, S: 4200m, B: 9km

Run: 4 * (9min @ 10.1kmh, 1min @ 6kmh) HR: 150

Swim: 800m easy various.

Longest run I’ve done so far. Had to step down to 9mins continuous in order to get around the 30min restriction on the treadmill. However, stepped the pace up to 10.1kmh and didn’t really notice it. I plan on adding 0.1kmh per week, so hopefully by Christmas I’ll be running an hour at 12kmh. Swim was just a warm-down to loosen up after the weekend boarding.

YTD Totals:

Run: 20.91km

Swim: 2600m

Bike: 9km