Possibly the longest transitions imaginable…

My employer is very generous, so as well as having Good Friday and Easter Monday off work, I also have today and Thursday off, which means that I have some time to catch up with training, blogging, coaching planning and housework.

My new coaching schedule said that I needed to do 90 minutes of swimming, 90 minutes of cycling and an hour of running today, so essentially, I had to do a triathlon, but I decided that there was time for some breaks in between each element.

I didn’t want to get up too early, but as my hay fever is still making it difficult for me to breathe, I ended up getting up just after 7am. My plan was to do 90 minutes of swimming before meeting Chris for a bike ride. Unfortunately, I wasted some time at home and didn’t get to the pool until nearly 9am, so I decided to curtail my swim to 60 minutes. I had thought that I’d manage to keep swimming at a reasonable pace for the full duration of my session, but I’m clearly much more tired than I thought. I found it really difficult to swim more than 50m without a break, so instead of focussing on speed or distance, I decided to work on my technique, making each length of the pool as efficient as possible.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve been in the Uni pool (not since some time in 2013!), and I had forgotten how cold it feels. Fortunately, the pool was very quiet, so I was able to do the workout of my choosing. I started in the middle lane, as there were only two other people there. However, towards the end of my session, some other people joined the lane, so I switched to the slow lane which was empty. My Garmin recorded 875m, but I know that’s not correct as I got in and out of the pool at the same end! I think I may have done 1000m, which isn’t much, but I was feeling absolutely shattered. Upping my swimming is clearly having an effect on me.

I rushed home from swimming, but got stuck behind someone who decided to drive at 20mph down the main road, which was incredibly frustrating. I picked up the essentials and got out on my bike as quickly as possible.

It was the first time that I’ve worn my Champion System Embrace Sports bib shorts, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to try them out. I also decided to try out the Bellwether mitts that I bought last year. I’ve thought about trying the mitts before as they look lovely, but my Claude Butler mitts are so comfortable, that I don’t want to try anything else!

I managed to meet Chris just after 10:30am, and we headed off down the Avenue towards Chilworth (the posh part of Southampton). Along the way there are a couple of big hills. I think I’m making progress as I managed not to brake at all whilst going downhill on today’s ride 🙂 The weather was absolutely gorgeous, but there seem to be a lot of road works going on, so we had to stop frequently at traffic lights. Chris planned and timed the route perfectly (I had suggested roughly 30-35km in 90 minutes) and was great company. When we got back to the Bellemoor, we stopped for a drink in the sunshine.It was nice to see Meg and Maz go past with their babies.

The new bib shorts were very comfortable. The elastic around the legs is a little tight (not in an uncomfortable way, but in an unsightly way) and they have more padding than I’m used to, but they were fine for a short ride –  I think I prefer the minimal chamois in my Team SOAS tri shorts. The new mitts were slightly tight, so after riding for an hour, I found that the fingers started to pinch. I think I shall use them again for short rides, but I won’t be using them for anything over 2 hours.

After I came home, I spent a bit of time tidying and dealing with emails etc. My training schedule said that I needed to go out and do a club running session, but I didn’t feel very motivated.

The weather is nice here, so it’s definitely shorts weather. When I opened my drawer, I saw these lovely green shorts that I bought at the end of last year. I’ve only worn them a couple of times, but they’re very comfortable and I love the colour. unfortunately, they don’t have a draw string, so I worry about them falling down, and they’re also a little bit short for my chubby legs. I rummaged around in my t-shirt drawer and managed to find a green t-shirt that Stuart gave to me last year. I think it coordinates perfectly with the shorts… I just need some matching shoes.

I decided that I would got to the session and if I struggled with running then I could be Ben’s assistant or a back marker. We did a warm up and then a few exercises that were quite fun to do. The main part of the session was a pyramid with 4 minutes of running anti-clockwise, a two-minute break and then 4 minutes of running clockwise. we then repeated this with 3 minutes, 2 minutes and 1 minute. It was quite tough going, but I managed to complete the full set and felt quite pleased with myself but exhausted). I’m also really pleased that I managed to run 1km in 4:54, at the end of the session, which is better than I’ve managed for a long time! Next Wednesday evening will feature a cross-country race, but after that, I’ll be back at Ben’s training session.

Tomorrow is a relatively easy day as I’ve got a triathlon on Friday. I only need to do one hour of cycling tomorrow… but there’s plenty of housework and laundry for me to do!

What are your plans for the Easter weekend?