Choosing Races For 2014
After doing 2 super sprint races in 2013 and decided to move up to
sprint distance for 2014 and do 2 or 3 of races. The first race I entered was
the Blenheim Palace Sprint in mid-June. As this race sells out very quickly it
had to be entered and paid for the week it became available. I picked it as I
knew the course from the 2013 super sprint and wanted to challenge myself on it
doing the longer distance. I had hoped to do the Keswick triathlon in mid-May
as well. However this event was moved to the weekend after Blenheim because of
problems with water temperatures in previous years. I decided not to enter as I
wasn’t ready for 2 races in 8 days (and am still not). I had discounted doing
the Brownlee Tri in 2014 as if it was at the same venue it would only be super
sprint again. I was happy to find out the 2014 edition of the race had been
moved to Harewood house near Leeds and would be offering both sprint and super
sprint races and would be in September again. I entered it as my second race
for 2014. I know 2 sprint races is not many but I am still learning and don’t
have that much time for training. My 2014 race calendar was set so now I needed
to sort my winter training.
Winter Swim Training
After I had done my second race of 2014 it was suggested to me by
my swimming coach I might want to change the sessions I was attending and come
to his 2 triathlon based swim fit’s on Wednesday and Friday mornings at 6:30am.
I wasn’t sure as I had seen some of these guys swimming and they are good. He
put my fears to rest telling me he wanted to start a third lane in the sessions
for slower swimmers. I decided I would give it a go. The earlier start was a
shock to the system. I can’t just roll out of bed into the car and to the pool
as I have to walk the dog each morning (he will only go with me, silly mutt).
It took a few weeks to get used to getting up early and being organised but I
got there. The swimming is hard but over the winter I improved no end. I was joined
in the slower lane be another few newer swimmers and we made a good training
group. These swimfit’s are all year round so I have continued with them. As I
was now paying full price for swimfit sessions at £5:50 each I joined the gym
at the pool as swimfit counts as a class included in the membership. My
membership is £30 a month so if I swim twice a week I am saving money.
Winter Bike Training
This was an issue. I am not confident on the bike when it is
frosty and cold. I don’t wet and a bit cold but when it we get ice and snow
it’s not my thing. As the weather got worse I stopped going out on the bike.
When it did start getting better I was out of the habit and found it hard to
get back into it. I did do some work on a static bike at the gym but it’s not
the same. What I should have done was get a turbo trainer so I could just cycle
indoors when it was cold. One is high on my shopping list for this winter.
Winter Run Training
As detailed in my previous post I started doing parkrun as part of
my winter run training and it really helped me start enjoying my running. I
built on parkrun base by running another 1 or 2 times a week dependant on the
weather. I made sure that I did at least 1 longer run each week and if I could
fit a second run in I did intervals. When I say a longer run I mean over sprint
or parkrun distance so a least 6.5km if not more. The aim was to use Parkrun to
boost speed and use the longer run to boost stamina. Each interval run I
managed wouldn’t harm either. I also used the treadmills at the gym when the
weather was really bad but prefer running outside if I can.
Where Did I Get To
Over the winter 2013/14 both my swimming and running improved. I
have become faster and stronger on both. My cycling however didn’t improve, if
anything if went backwards. As I came towards May 2014 I was much fitter than I
was 12 months earlier and I had lost nearly 2 stone since starting training 18
months earlier. I was ready for the my first sprint triathlon.
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