Did a lunchtime spinning session too which I haven't been to for a while so that was a shock. Supposed to be hitting the road tomorrow morning for a 90 min ride. Praying for rain. ;-)
Monday 26 July 2010
Monday Swim
Around 7k in the lake tonight with Heath. Felt good and was nice to be swimming in the rain. Shoulders holding up so looking good to do Windermere. There has been some talk about the lakes up north being pretty cold so we are now wondering how we will cope in c. 15 degree water for around six hours!
We Have Support
For the swim it is incredibly important that we have a support kayak with us in order to make sure that we are safe and also to ensure that we stop regularly to drink and eat to keep the energy levels up.
I contacted Gill at Windermere Canoe and Kayak who will kindly be our support for the swim which we are incredibly excited about.
This now makes Heath and I their number one fan and you all must stop there next you are around!
Many thanks to these excellent people and especially Gill!!
Sunday 18 July 2010
Sunday Cycle - 61 miles 18/7/2010
As this was our nominated main training weekend we were committed to do a long cycle on the Sunday the day after our long swim. Aching limbs were pulled from beds and we left from Marlow with the aim of doing around 60 miles at 8:30am.
I had learnt from my previous outing and took with me 2 bottles, 3 x energy gels, 1 x kit kat and 1 x banana. I taped the banana and an energy gel to my tri bars and soon found out that with the banana that this was not such a good idea as the vibrations from the road quickly freed it from the tape and I had to be quick to rescue it from the impending doom of being crushed under my tyres. This was another good lesson which I am sure will stand me in good stead in life...when taping bananas to your tri bars use lots of tape!!
The ride started smoothly and we were feeling good and not suffering from the swim the day before. We were stopping every hour for food and energy gels and generally feeling good. We were doing a fair amount of climbing and at around 30 miles in I started to feel absolutely knackered. At this stage I went into survival mode and told Heath that we should stop off at the next pub for a longer break (well it was after 11!). I knew that about five miles up the road was a decent pub in Christmas Common where I could have a lemonade and rest for 15 minutes. We pulled in and Heath realised that the driveway of the pub had gravel (which does not agree with skinny road tyres) so slammed on the brakes and managed to just get unclipped. This all took me by surprise and as I was about a metre behind Heath also slammed on my brakes and pulled a front wheely (the kind you see those 10 year old kids do on bmx's with the back wheel in the air). Whilst I may have looked pretty cool doing this problem was that I was still clipped into my pedals and have historically had a lot of trouble getting unclipped which has resulted in me falling off my bike (whilst still being attached) in very public places. So there I was with the brakes on, back wheel a couple of foot in the air thinking that it was going to happen again when I amazingly managed to unclip my one foot, control the landing of the bike and not feel off. This would have been all worth the effort except the pub was not yet open. Instead of a refreshing lemonade with ice and and a slice we had to accept filling up our water bottles from the hose laying next door to the pub dog's water bowl. Classy.
After the refreshment break we rode onto Henley with heavy wind and rain in our faces which made for an unpleasant ride. Heath tucked in nice and close behind me and was happy to slipstream me along the Fairmile at which point he was also starting to feel knackered.
We cut up to Hambleden for the last climb of the day and stopped for lunch at the Royal Oak pub one mile from home. A big lunch was required and a steak burger with chips and pint seemed to fit the bill nicely. I was extremely disappointed to find out that the burgers did not come with lids!! The waiter did not really see the funny side when I asked when my lid would be coming.
After the final mile was done the watch registered 61 miles! Not a bad weekend's work.
Stats:
Distance: 61.24 miles
Moving Time: 4hrs 18 mins
Max Speed: 37mph
Avg Speed: 14mph
Elevation Gain: 4,209 feet
Max Gradient: 11.7%
Long River Swim
We were kindly assisted by my sister, Vicky, who paddled a canoe in front of us clearing the way and alerting rowers to our presence. Vicky was also responsible for ensuring that we kept to a regular feeding pattern as we were looking to stop every 30 mins for a quick drink and every 60 mins for food.
Feeding will be an important part of the Windermere Swim as it will be essential to keep energy levels up. It is not overly easy to eat in the water so you have to fairly sensible in your food choices as a chicken sandwich could soon end up being rather soggy! We opted for bananas, raisins, chocolate and energy gels. All of which was easy to eat and was looked forward when we knew that the next feeding slot was approaching.
We entered the water at The Ferry in Cookham at 8:10am and the first two hours went smoothly. So smoothly in fact that we were travelling much quicker than I had predicted as the stream was not really slowing us down too much as it was particularity weak. I took us about two hours to get to the point where we normally train from in Marlow and were faced with the decision as whether we stayed in the same stretch of water in order to try and reach the four hour mark or push on up past Marlow which would mean navigating a lock.
We opted for the latter and proceeded up to Marlow lock watching out for boats which by now had made the river a lot busier. Fortunately it was quite easy to climb out and carry the canoe for Vicky round the lock (well we are gentlemen!!) and plop back in the other side and carry on. I cannot begin to describe the bemused looks that we got walking past the locks with our wetsuits on. A number of people thought that we must be swimming the length of the Thames but were all interested in what we were up to.
We then went past the Compleat Angler and past Higginson Park where there were even more people pointing and asking questions to Vicky in the support boat. It was quite funny to see everyone's reaction especially when joggers running alongside the river bank just stopped dead when seeing us in the water. This passed the time for me but I was a little surprised at the fuss.
We went from Marlow up to Hurley lock and after a final feed turned round (this time downstream) went back through Marlow and navigated the lock for the second time. More questions from boat owners going through the lock and after diving in the other side we ended with the traditional sprint finish to the jetty. Vicky didn't realise what we were up to as she was (rightly) more concerned about us not being run over by the steamer heading directly for us. Vicky manoeuvred the canoe to head me off and direct me into the bank but seeing that Heath was getting away from me, I dived under the canoe and carried on the race. I just thought my sister was dishing out some traditional sisterly and looking to give Heath the advantage! The steamer eventually saw us and steered to the other side so all's well that ends well. It is a good job that we are not competitive eh?
We swam 7.5 miles mostly against the stream in 4 1/2 hours. We were really pleased with the trial long swim and this is easily the longest I have swan in one hit. The stream probably added on another couple of miles so not too far of the Windermere target.
Special thanks to Vicky for manning the support canoe and doing a fantastic job and Mum for support from the river bank.
47 Mile Bike Ride - Sat 10/7/2010
Having realised that I need to up my mileage on the bike given that the challenge is now nearly a month away I set out this morning to do a 40+ mile ride. My previous best had been 30 miles. On the second day of the challenge we are aiming to complete 100 miles of riding so I have been some way short of this target to date.
Things did not get off to the best of starts with a puncture before I had even left home but this gave me the opportunity to practice changing my tire (new bike you see) so I will know what I am doing if I have to do this during the challenge. I am sure the pros can fit a new inner tube in a matter of minutes. It took me 15 but I reckon I will be faster next time.
Once fully inflated I set off from Wycombe into Marlow and me with Peter my riding partner for today then up to Christmas Common before dropping down to Henley and back into Marlow via Frieth. I was feeling great up until about 2 hours in and then started to become a bit more fatigued. I am sure that this was due to not taking anything with me to eat and refuel with and will not make this same mistake again. I also had to eke out my water supply as stupidly only took one bottle. Especially stupid as the weather was hot. Another lesson learned.
The last 3 miles were a pretty slow affair and I was pretty chuffed to get home for a sit down after riding 47 miles! I barely had the energy to stand up in the shower but after scoffing down a load of food to replace the energy I felt a lot better.
Good day for learning lessons!
Stats:
Moving Time: 3 hrs 20 mins
Max Speed - 37mph
Avg Speed - 14mph
Elevation Gain - 2,960 foot
Max Gradient - 9.8%
Summer 2010 Challenge
WHAT
On August 13th we are planning to swim Lake Windermee which will be a tough 10.5 mile swim. We will be swimming from North to South (gravity should help) which means we will start at Ambleside and swim down the east side to Newby Bridge. We will then be getting on our bikes for the first leg on the 160 mile bike ride down to Snowdon which we will be climbing to cap off the weekend.
WHO
I will be doing this challenge with Heath Freeman a good friend of mine who was in the same Channel relay team as me last year.
WHY
Why not!? But the real reason is to raise money for Heath's chosen charity - Naomi's House a children's hospice.
FUNDRAISING
If this sounds like a good cause then we would welcome your donations at the following page...
I shall try to keep you donated on some of the training in the lead up to the big challenge.
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