Bonk Breaker

After today's run, I need some of these!

Cross Country

3 Points if you can spot 2 RAF Triathletes in this pic!

3 points if you can tell me the names of 3 RAF Triathletes in this pic!

I ran in the Lincs Services Cross Country League yesterday; my first outing on the mud for quite some time. I have never been a fan of this type of running. However, yesterday the ground was not too bad and there were some decent stretches where you could get some flow into running. Not that I felt brilliant but I managed 6th overall. I think that the field was depleted due to the Christmas run up. Fellow triathletes Daz Sharpe and Pete Norris were missing, so there are 2 places that would have been in front of me! I chatted to Mike Taylor too. Now he is a decent runner and has potential to do very well at triathlon - just stay injury free! Clearly on the come back trail, I think he was just behind me. I am sure that normal placings will resume soon and he will be far ahead!

It was good to get a sustained hard run completed and my legs do not feel too bad today. I managed an hour easy this morning before work. Normally, my legs are screwed after a race of any sort but there was just heaviness today. A spin on the trusty single speed should sort that out! Snow is on the way, so the forecast predicts! So perhaps cycling outdoors will cease before long.

I reckon a review of 2011 is on the cards for the next Blog post. It is hard to imagine that it was only a few months ago that I was racing triathlons! For now, the run focus continues but I fear that age is telling as I am feeling quite slow 8-(

Stealth Training

Stealth training. I don't mean training in a secretive way. I mean chugging away training with no real structure and you realise that you've strung together a few decent weeks of effort. That's me at the moment. It struck me on Tuesday as I was doing a track session (running). It felt slightly more comfortable - still not fast but I was moving at speed (relative speed!) without feeling awkward. I suppose this is a good sign. But as normal, injury is only a sharp intake of breath away. I felt a twang during the last rep of the session and I had to pull up and jog back to the finish line. To be honest, the strain doesn't feel very good and I will rest up over the weekend. But also as normal, I tested the injury with a tempo 6 mile effort today. I ran with a guy from work; guess what? He's older than me! But still a tasty runner and training for the London Marathon. We cruised round in 39 mins and I felt quite perky, with lots in the tank.

So in a sort of stealthy way I feel in reasonable shape, apart from the thigh strain. I hope to run the Lincs Services Cross Country League at St Neots on Wednesday so let's see if I can round that race in one piece. It's a run focus at the moment so not much swim action going on. Biking is single speed fun and gazing at the Specialized Transition Pro that resides with me in my Mess room!