10 mile run!

Did my first 10 mile run this week, I should be quite pleased I guess. I felt like I could have gone further but thought it was probably wise not to, don't want to be getting any injuries.

Feeling better...

Feeling much better over the past few weeks.
Been riding with the triathlon club regulalry, and have been running every other day. Just need to set foot in the pool now!

Fed up!

I haven't been sleeping well for two weeks now! I have been off work for most of that time and I don't get paid for it!!
As well as the tinnitus my ears feel blocked, they make squelching and popping noises and I am having dizzy spells. I feel like jacking in all this training at the moment as I am mightily pissed off with these setbacks. I have been to the doctor's and he has given me some steroid based nasal spray and extra strong anti-histamine, which have done fuck all so far (as I expected). Currently waiting/hoping to get to see an ENT specialist.
I don't know how long I can hold it all together, my head feels constantly blocked.
Hopefully I'll pass through this phase, I've been here before and it's difficult to see any light when you get this low.

Bollocks.

I went for club ride yesterday with Barracuda Tri club, 30 miles. I felt really rubbish, tired and pissed off when I got up. It really was touch and go whether I would go or not. Anyhow I forced myself out and I was probably one of the quickest riders on the day, certainly uphill, though I could feel my legs wanted to cramp up which I put down to fatigue. Not fatigue from too much exercise but fatigue from lack of sleep I think, another of my mental victories. I think I am spurred on more during a group ride, I wouldn’t have ridden so hard on my own. The extra motivation was just what I needed.

Went for my first run since the duathlon, I felt ok but a bit tired. Just did a slow 3-4 miles. Looking forward to smashing my PB time at the Howden 10km on Oct 10th.

Humber Duathlon 10km run - 40km bike - 5km run

This was my first mutli-discipline event, the Humber duathlon, 10km run - 40km bike - 5km run. Sounded like a doddle as I regularly do bike rides of up to 100 miles. I only started running in february however and I know that I am weak in this area, my first 10km event back in June was completed in 47 minutes.

It was a 8:00am start this morning and I hate running that early! anyhow I started at the back and plodded away, slowly picking off a few people and saving myself for the bike which I am pretty confident on. However, 5 minutes into the bike ride my calves started cramping up! Oh dear I thought and it crossed my mind that I may not finish, maybe I'm just not used to the transition from run to bike etc....? anyhow I just slowed down the pace a bit on the bike, got some energy gels and drink down me and my calves eased a bit and I was able to keep a decent-ish pace for the remainder of the ride. This was also my first ride with aerobars and what a difference they make! I had no trouble with controlling the bike, though I did lose a water bottle at one point!!

I could feel my quads start to cramp up towards the end of the ride and thought that I was going to be in for a painful last 5km run. How I wish I had been wrong! the first climb up to the Humber bridge had, now what is that wee muscle called, just above your knee, before your quads??!! anyways they were locking up good style!! Again I briefly thought that I may not be able to finish ( though mentally I knew I wouldn't quit unless I was literally floored through agony). Those muscles of which I cannot recall their name really were locking up, agony is an exaggeration, but hell did they hurt. Eventually they calmed down and I was able to finish with a steady plod, though all the pain made it feel like I was really working hard.

My times?

Total time 02:26:00

10km run - 00:46:51 (PB)
40km ride - 01:09:19
5km run - 00:26:53 (this hurt)

I was pleased, I was thinking it would take me 3 - 3.5hrs. But everyone set off at such a pace, I couldn't help but try to keep up. Maybe I should have done my own race and finished without the pain, maybe I just need to train more?

Anyway, it was a good day (I am number 20 in the below photo).

Update: Just a note to say how I am feeling in general. Still feel tired a lot of the time, but sleep is getting a bit better. My ears are playing me up a lot lately, they feel blocked and make popping and pulsing noises. Sinuses also don’t feel too clever, when I am sat around I feel like I’m not getting enough oxygen at times, hey-ho. I’m sure it could be sorted, poxy NHS.

I didn’t feel particularly good during the duathlon, I just kind of plod on in my determined way.

That said, now my legs have recovered (3 days later), they feel stronger than they have since my health took a down turn three years ago. I never give up on getting back to FULL fitness.

New trainers = more speed!

Finally broke the half hour mark for my local four mile run :-)
A run which started out at nearly 40 minutes two months ago is now under half an hour, progress is progress and all after a 66 mile bike ride yesterday.

I did 66 miles today so not far off my target, a beautiful day for it too. A hilly route out on the Yorkshire wolds. Finished feeling fresh too, so a good couple of weeks training. Just need to do more runs and of course start swimming!

Another good week, two decent bike rides after work in the sun, and my quickest four mile run yesterday (30m 45s).
Hoping to get a long, long ride in tomorrow, maybe 70 miles or so.

Had some good days over the last ten days. I've done three six mile runs in the past 10 days, which is probably too much to be honest as each six mile run takes nearly an hour (though I got the last one down to 55mins), which in running terms is classed as a long run. You should really only do one long run a week, so I will in future and in between I'll do shorter runs and speed work.
I have also had about three bike rides in the past ten days too, lovely ride out this afternoon to Brantingham where there is the killer 'Spout Hill', I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest!
I've still not done any swimming, though I have bought some new trunks and some goggles so that is a start.

Training tired.............

Because of not sleeping too good I haven't been getting much training in, I'm ok but to really push hard it is obviously best to be well rested. The frustrating thing for me is that I am often not well rested due to lack of sleep. That is the reason that I orginally stated that the Ironman seems almost impossible as rest and recovery are just as important as the exercise itself, for the muscles to recover and grow.
So, what can I do? sometimes there's only one thing for it, I go out and train when I'm knackered which goes against all the rules. However, whether it is right or wrong, it is a massive mental boost to acheive something when you are tired. And for me it isn't just a night or two with no sleep, it is a culmination of weeks and months of poor sleep. This may seem self indulgent and a bit like I'm dwelling on it, but it isn't so, this is just to remind myself how much I've struggled to get to this point when I look back on it in the future. Hopefully it will make me realise that you really can do anything if you really want it.
I was was pretty tired today but felt like training, so I biked home via Beverley, Walkington, Little Weighton and Skidby. So I will continue to train when I'm tired, and push extra hard when I'm well rested, I can't really do any more than that.

The Ironman feels a long way off on days like this, I'm tired out and haven't had much quality training at all.
Update: 07/04/09
Went out for a run in the sun today, did my first 10km run, without having to stop. It's good to see progress after just two months of running.

Just been out with the local Triathlon club

Had a good ride today, only about 30 miles but not too fast, not too slow. It was a friendly bunch of mixed ability but they were generally pretty fit.

Here are some pics of my new bike.

New bike imminent!

I've had another set back this week, I've had a bloody cold! there's loads of it flying around at the minute, so no training again. Oh well not to worry at least I've been sleeping well which is good and the cold has just about gone, I went for a run yesterday but only did two miles as I felt crap, so I'll give it another day or two.
Unexpectedly my new bike is being delivered Monday so I might get chance to give that a go as I have the day off. The only problem is it could be delivered any time between 8:00am-6:00pm!

Running finally feels good!

After six weeks of running it's going quite well, better than expected if I'm honest. I went from two miles up to four miles and each run hurt quite a lot. My legs are strong from the years of biking but my lungs struggled to keep up with my legs as the breathing is completely different to biking. Plus your body takes time to adjust to running as it's high impact. Anyhow the last run I did was another four miler and I've knocked five minutes off my time in two weeks. I'm now at 33 minutes for four miles and it will only continue to drop, in fact I expect it to drop quite a bit over the next couple of weeks. I'll see how it goes but I might move up to six miles soon so I'm quite happy with my progress. [Edit] Just remembered, I have also gone down a waist size and have virtually got rid of my love handles, in fact there is almost a six pack down there. So get running if you're tubby!

Can't wait for my new bike to come, it's one of these:-

Cannondale CAAD 9

:-)

When the new bike comes it won't be long before I'm knocking out a 100 mile ride, I could probably do it tomorrow to be honest, at a steady pace.
I've yet to start my swim training, I was going to go today but I've woke up with a cold, Sod's law!

Latest training

My current road bike has died on me so I've ordered a new one.
As a result I have been mainly running, in just a couple of weeks I have gone from a 34 to a 32 waist and the time for my four mile run is now ten minutes quicker than it was three weeks ago!

After a fairly encouraging first week’s training, this last week has been pretty rubbish as I have woken at 4:00am every day! As a result I have been too knackered to train properly. I have been to work on my bike a few times though I don’t count this as training. I feel good today as I generally sleep well at the weekends so I am going to go for a run this afternoon and bike ride tomorrow.
I have just received a book TRT (Tinnitus Retraining Therapy) which is by leading experts in treatment of tinnitus and half of it is science. The tinnitus and perception of noise has virtually nothing to do with the ear itself, although slight hearing loss is the trigger for tinnitus.
It is all to do with the neurological pathways between the ear and the brain, and the auditory nervous system. Basically when the tinnitus started the nervous system sees it as an unwelcome threat and puts the body into ‘fight or flight’ mode. Which explains the difficulty in getting back to sleep, my body is literally ready to get up and go. Apparently these signals from the brain to the nervous system cannot be changed by conscious thought alone which explains why no matter how hard I try I cannot change my sleeping patterns with any amount of routine change. At least now I know this, it helps you to understand what is going on and I guess I am lucky that my tinnitus doesn’t drive me crazy even though the after effects are deep rooted into my auditory nervous system, and also my limbic system, which I had no idea existed until yesterday!
I said I wasn’t going to discuss tinnitus in here but after a week of being tired I’ve nowt else to report.
Is anybody actually reading this?
CLICK THE FOLLOW BUTTON IN THE TOP RIGHT!! OR LEAVE SOME COMMENTS!!!
Otherwise I’ll just keep it as a personal training log.

Just been on my first proper road ride for years, I was a bit apprehensive as I thought I might be really disappointed with my fitness as the last time I was into road riding I was really strong. Road riding is all about fitness where as mountain biking, although it keeps you fit, it's a bit stop start but good fun and more of a buzz.
Anyhow the ride went really well and has left me feeling very positive, just so long as I can keep some consistency in my training.

I am currently riding this old thing which I paid a tenner for!






Though I have my eye on one of these:-




Unfortunately I'm not allowed to buy it till we move house!

I've knocked 2.5 minutes off my four mile run already and have a swimming lesson booked for next Wednesday with Barracuda Triathlon club.

First hurdle...

Had about 1-2 hours kip last night so fit for nothing today. I'm not going to dwell on this bloody condition in this Blog though as it's just depressing, it likes to draw you in but it won't beat me. I'll mention it as little as possible as this should be about what I can acheive towards the Ironman. On days like this, it feels like an impossibilty!

I know, I'll do some Yoga, essential for the Ironman wannabe according to training legend Joe Freil.

First day of training

Though I don't like to call it training anymore. I'll have to think of another description, I haven't slept well for the past two nights, but you know what, it wasn't tinnitus. It was alcohol consumption! I should know better really as alcohol in amounts more than a couple of beers or glasses of wine makes tinnitus worse. I am going to see how long I can go without getting pissed, I'll still have the odd beer or glass of wine but no more than a couple. It will certainly be for the best.
Anyhow, I'm a little tire today but ok. So I will be doing a 4 mile run later this afternoon, I am only just getting back into running so have just been doing a couple of miles over the past month to ease myself into it.
I forgot to mention that my swimming will need the most work, I have terrible technique.

UPDATE: Just done my first 4 mile run in years, on schedule then, not long now.
;-)

Why!?

I have had tinnitus for ten years but two years ago it got much worse seemingly over night. Tinnitus is basically a noise in the ears that can be a ringing, buzzing, hissing or popping noise, it varies from person to person; it can also be pulsating, i.e. in time with your heart. It can drive people quite literally mad, even to the point of suicide. Imagine having noises in your head that you cannot stop, there is no medication or cure. It is left to the individual and how best they cope with it, thus it can lead to a massive sense of isolation, frustration, despair etc, etc.....
My tinnitus is a kind low toned ringing. When it first got bad, around January 2007, it hit me very hard. There were many sleepless nights, with what seemed a very loud constant ringing in my head, both ears. I have had to have weeks off work as I have been exhausted through lack of sleep. It is something that is also difficult to explain to people, how it effects your life can be incomprehensible to others. It has led to depression, not surprising really, as when it kicked in I had never been fitter. I had been racing mountain bikes, for a couple of years before and was so strong, yet I took it all for granted, never again. I have just come out a of a particularly bad phase, feeling very positive. I have always kept biking and running as and when I could over the past couple of years and do my best to keep fit. Before the tinnitus got bad I trained every day, sometimes twice a day. Now I manage a couple of times a week and generally feel tired and struggle when I'm training. But things are getting better, I have habituated to the tinnitus and luckily for me, it doesn't bother me anymore, yet the fear of not sleeping has become a subconscious thing, a side effect of a couple of years of having little sleep.
I can see light at the end of the tunnel.
I have been reading through some tinnitus forums lately and seeing how people's lives are being ruined by it, literally. People lose their jobs, their homes, their relationships as they struggle to cope with tinnitus. They feel lost and hopeless as there is little help available and no cures, and it takes so long to habituate, years and years, sometimes never.
I want to give people suffering from tinnitus some hope, I have always wanted to do the Ironman, which is a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112mile bike ride followed by running a marathon, all in one go. I have decided that I am going to do it before I am forty, it may take longer than that, or it could be quicker but that is the plan. I am often exhausted yet need to train my body to it's limits for this event.
I can visualise it, so I am already on the road to my goal. It's going to be more, much more mental than physical. I am in no doubt that my body is capable of it, but the tinnitus is affected by mood and stress.
Sorry for the long first post but people have to understand a few things first.