Picture taken during a wee cycle

Since my last post I’ve managed to get in a few cycles which climbed a lot of hills!! I haven’t been exercising as much as I should have and have only really started training properly again last week, with a couple of swims, a couple of cycles and a couple of runs.

Last weekend I was at a Christian Conference in Castlewellan Castle, @TheCastle is a great bible teaching weekend and well worth going to. We were looking at 2 Timothy and I was really challenged about how I approach my leadership roles.

Dave at Spelga

This weekend coming I have my first cycling event of the year. The Coastal Challenge is a 100Km cycling round the Ards peninsula. It’s my first time doing this run but with 700 people I’m sure I’ll find a group going at my speed to sit with. I’m not even gonna try and keep up with Nev, Steve and co.

My Car was due it’s MOT  yesterday and I don’t have a date for it until tomorrow so I’m making the most of the good weather by cycling to work. It’s lovely but would be better without the wind, when did Northern Ireland get so windy, it was never like this when I was a lad and wanted to play with my stunt kite.

Chai Seed with Weetabix

So you’ve read the title and you’re wondering what Chia is? Well it’s a type of seed. It’s a wonder food with lots of great stuff in it. Read here for more info at Raw Living, Healthy Fuel and I bought it at Funky Raw. The great thing about them is the slow releasing energy, this is great for long events or even just to help me not snack.

I’ve found it’s best to take it on it’s own after the food but it’s great when added to a smoothy.

My race preparation for this triathlon included spending the weekend before it in bed with some sort of chest infection (it’s still causing the odd cough three weeks later) and about two weeks with minimal exercise. On the plus side the lack of exercise meant my calves weren’t sore.

The event was organised by the Triangle Triathlon Club and based out of the Roe Valley leisure centre. Here’s the report:

Organisation / Route

I arrived at the centre about 15mins before the advertised registration time and the organisers were busy setting up the transition area / finish line. I went in to register, there were no signs but a few Triathletes who were helpful as always and pointed me in the right direction.

After I registered I headed outside, got my bike and went round to the transition area. It was well laid out considering the space available and partly on grass which is always nice when you’re going to be running in bare feet. Once set up I went inside and found a locker (the advantage of being based in a leisure centre). The organisation was a bit ropey here as lots of people were running round wondering if they and missed the briefing but it turns out they were doing it just before each wave at the poolside. As for the waves this is where the organisation shined, it went like clockwork and we started on time.

The bike ride was well signposted and marshalled/policed, it was a lot more hilly than I thought it would be and on the day very VERY windy. It was out and in so at least every hill we went up we knew we got to come down it. The return into T2 was well marshalled also, but there was quite a distance to do on very cold bare feet before I got on to the grass (the Portlouise Tri had carpet all the way).

The run was nice and flat with a slight incline out but again this meant we got to come down it on the way back. It was marshalled at every turn except one and I know I wasn’t the only one to miss this and be corrected by passers by / car drivers.

Competitors

A good mix of experience and novice people at this one. Once more there were plenty of the fitter competitors offering encouragement to this fat boy.

Supporters

There was lots of people round the pool and a good handful made it out to the entrance/exit of the transition area. Karys Wilson was there to see a few people she knew and was in great voice, hearing her in the pool, and transition was a much needed boost.

Freebies

We were promised a T-Shirt but got a CD of some local country singer instead I like free T-Shirts but I guess they didn’t get it organised in time.

My Race

Like I said I wasn’t feeling great and had through of pulling out but then realised I was actually a man so got on with it. Here’s the breakdown:

Swim - 14:47 (90th)
I didn’t feel great in the swim but was in a lane full of people faster than me so I just tried to not be over taken much.

T1 - 1:24
Once again I took too long to get my shirt on over my wet back.

Cycle - 44:11 (113th)
I crossed the mount line gingerly got on the bike and the chain came off, rather embarrassing. I didn’t feel strong on the bike either and the wind made for a tough ride. Only got over taken a few times and actually over took a few people myself.

T2 - 1:34
My dismount was much better than my mount but my feet were cold and it was very sore on the concrete (I know I’m a wouse). Got my shoes on quickly and I was away.

Me leaving T2

Run - 24:52 (122)
The first half of the run I was happy enough but not overly pushing myself, when I got to the half way stage I realised that I actually felt really good and had loads of energy left. So I picked up the pace a little and actually kept under 8min/mi for the last 2.5Km (that’s good for me).

Overall - 1:26:45 (114)
With 158 competitors I was once again in my 2/3 – 3/4 the way down the table position but I knocked 3mins off my time in the last triathlon, however I’m far from happy with it. I had been putting in good swim times and cycle times before this and would liked to have been much faster in both. After I finished I spent about 10minutes coughing but felt okay apart from that.

The next day my calves were still fine and in fact the sorest part of me was my back from the go-karting I did after the Triathlon.

The past two weeks….

Through Karys I’ve made two more Twitter friends who were doing the Triathlon @lisam75 (windymillar.posterous.com) & @austinslide (couchpotatotoironman.blogspot.com/) they are both newcomers to the sport so it’s interesting watching their training. They’ve put me to shame over the past few weeks, keep it up you two. It turns out as I was leaving I stopped to offer @lisam75 help to get her bike into the car, it’s nice to make a good first impression but the crowd at Triathlon’s are always offering each other help and encouragement, it’s a very friendly sport.

It’s been two weeks since this triathlon and my cough has cleared up but I’ve not been doing much training, I haven’t swam yet, and yesterday was my first cycle. I have ran a few times and it’s been good. I’ve done a 3.4mi @ 8.13min/mi and a 1.5mi @ 7.08min/mi.

I’m planning to hit it hard the next few weeks. I’ve the 100Km Coastal Challenge on the 20th June so I need to get a few miles in before that and I want to work on the running see if I can get the 7min/mi to last for the full 5Km or get up to 10Km without the calves going.

I really need to start being more careful with what I eat to get in shape as I’ll be booking my second triathlon of the year tonight, it’s another Sprint and is in Derry on 15th May.

A friend wanted updates so here we go with an update on the past month….

I passed semester one of my PCDFHE and am currently trying to get this semester’s assignment rolling. Life in the new school in work is good but I’m still spending most days helping the ICT guys set up and fix the new networks, I’m looking forward to the upcoming redesign of the school websites in my beautiful 27′ iMac.

I’ve tried to keep up exercising over the winter months but after a couple of weeks of slacking I decided I needed to set myself a focus so I’ve signed up for a Sprint Triathlon on April 10th 2010. Tomorrow I’m heading into work a little later to get the dawn light and cycle as I’m busy all day Saturday and wont get out on the bike for the third week running.

Tonight is Liverpool vrs Arsenal round at Shanky’s, tomorrow is the school formal, Friday is a fun night with my nephew and Saturday is band practise followed by some bag packing fund raising in Sainsbury’s. Then it’s Sunday and playing in church.

That’s all the exciting news from my life and I think you can see why I don’t update often these days.

I’m now rushing out the door so I’m not even going to proof read this for speeling mistooks.

I got a quick catch up with Dave Allen last night as he, Stacey and the family are over for a wee trip. Was good to see them and I hope we’ll see a little more of them over the holidays.

It’s that time of year when we reflect so here’s my reflections and targets for the next year. No resolutions just targets.

Tri an Mhi 09 - Three Amigos at the finish line

The past year has been an interesting one: I’ve lost (and kept off) 2.5stone, completed two triathlon sprints, passed the first half (PGCFHE) of my teaching qualification and seen the engagements of a few wonderful friends.

The plans for next year are:

1. Finish my PGDFHE
2. Find a teaching job
3. Read my Bible more
4. Lose at least another 2.5stone
5. Complete in an Olympic triathlon
6. Improve my time for the Quarryman Sprint Triathlon
7. Spend less money
8. Redesign the @TheCastle website

n.b. they are not necessarily in order of importance. As you can see Facebook and Twitter will once again be full of updates about running, cycling and swimming but hey it’s better than the stupid random updates seen on most pages.

I’ve been keeping up some training since the summer and have thankfully got out for a cycle most weekends, and until recently at least one run a week sometimes more. Unfortunately training over Christmas will be limited to swimming and biking as I’ve to take a break from running while I’m attending physio to sort out my calves. I’ll not be on the bike for the next few days either because my calves are very tender after taking a real bashing from the physio yesterday, there’s a few bruises and lot of pain. I’m such a wouse! LOL

Well I met a girl and we have been dating for about a month now….

Now that I’ve got you attention, unfortunately for that mythical girl, I made that bit up to grab your attention. I’ve been working hard lately and it’s kept me rather busy.

In the normal job I’ve moved the three content managed web sites over from our Windows, Apache, MySQL & PHP server to an externally hosted dedicated Linux, Apache, MySQL & PHP. This was hard enough with it being the first time I’ve done it and the databases deciding to change a load of symbols to goblegook but as of yesterday they were all moved and happily living in their new faster, safer environment and all that just in time before today ETI inspection. I’m still waiting to heard how that one went but for my part they were impresed at the speed of the VLE and the chat I had with the assessor was very pleasant.

This was my second ETI inspection in a fortnight as just 13 days ago I was teaching in UUJ on a new course that was having it’s ETI inspection that week. Thankfully it went well and the team got a very favourable report, here’s hoping today’s went as well.

Out side of work, when not preparing for the classes I was teaching in J’town or researching tips for the website moves, I’ve not done very much by my usual busy standards as I’ve been tired. I tend to spend a lot of time thinking and analysing before and after any events and this leads to poor sleep and periods of tiredness. Lately I’ve had the new praise rotas on my mind, which have been implemented and while not pleasing everyone I think are the best match of talent and attitude we’ve had. I”m just praying that people have room and time to grow in their abilities and more so spiritually. I’ve kinda had the worry of the carol service but Elia will be mostly heading this up as he is the musical one. I’m also doing my Post Grad Diploma in Further and Higher Education bu st to be honest it’s has been taking a back seat which has been playing heavily on my mind. All these combined with work and the teaching at UUJ have kept my mind very active. Thankfully I’ve had a few opportunities to get out on my bike or running and help blow away any worry and stress. If I could eat more healthily I’d be really very fit but as it is I’m just sustaining my summer’s weight lose with the balance of hard work and unhealthy eating.

I’m doing sound this weekend at a Christian Conference, which as a conference I’ll enjoy but I’m never that happy on sound as I’m very sure it’s not one of my gifts just something I can get by on. The weekend studies are on the book of Job, a book I quite like. I’m hoping my legs will have recovered from Tuesday night’s run/football so I can go for a run round the lake on Saturday morning with the super fit Dave.

Anyway that’s an update on my little life, hope you’re getting in the mood for Christmas as I currently am.

Run Round Middle Dam

After setting and completing a few fitness goals (100k cycle & two triathlons) over the summer and losing about 33pounds along the way, I’ve been taking it easy over the months of September. Very easy in fact, since the last Triathlon and up to today I’ve only done 1 swim,  no runs and a few cycles (one being off road on a new mountain bike ). I’ve also been eating fairly unhealthy and unsurprisingly I’ve put on a couple of pounds.

So today marks phase two of my fight to fitness. I started the day with a 25.5mi hilly cycle with Mark before church and then forced myself out to the dams for a run round the 2.5mi loop.

I’m planning to do more triathlons next summer but until then I want to set a few goals to keep me focused. I’m still working on them but so far I have a few short term:

14 Pounds in sugar

• Swim at least once a week
• Cycle at least 20miles/week (Turbo Trainer if needed)
• Run at least once/week
• Lose 14pounds in 2months (cutting out rubbish again)
• Take part in the Race over the Glens on News Years Day

Let’s hope stage two goes with as few injuries as stage one.

For next year I’ve set my sight on doing at least:

• Tri an Mhi Sprint in September (The last one I did this year)
• The Mourne Triathlon Castlewellan in early August
• And another Sprint Triathlon early in the summer.

I’m also going to looking into doing the Causeway Marathon even if I only do the 10K.