Mission Accomplished

Just over 7 months since this challenge began I finally reached the last event at today's Cardiff Half Marathon.  It's a really strange feeling to have reached number 20 but I'm certainly glad that it's here.  It doesn't seem that long ago that I did the first one, the Pontypool 10k back in February.  Since then there has been plenty of sweat and even some blood and tears along the way.

The run itself today wasn't anything spectacular time wise or performance wise to be honest.  It certainly wasn't going out with a bang but I got around with the help of my Dad alongside me and we managed to match our time from the Newport Half Marathon back in March.  I appreciate that this means I haven't made an improvement in all that time but I haven't been able to do any specific training for this and I've hardly trained at all in the last 2 weeks with various injuries.  I suppose with that taken into account it's not that bad after all!

It's been a fantastic experience doing all these events this year and I certainly taken on things that I would never have thought possible a year ago.  Strangely though I still haven't put everything together yet in my head, it feels like a lot of little achievements rather than one big one. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing to be honest and I'm sure it will start to sink in over the next few weeks.  There is as well the one black mark on the book for me in Wimbleball and I've already signed up to take that on again next year.  I'm determined it won't beat me twice!

I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who has sponsored me because without you then all this would have been pointless.  I also want to say thanks for reading this, for every single good luck and well done message that I have received and also the help and support I've had from so many people in the tri club with my training but especially Ben, Gareth & Nic.  Thanks also to Laura, Paul, Ben and my Dad for keeping my company and dragging me around some of the events.  Things could have gone very differently in some of the events if you hadn't been there.

Finally I want to say a massive thank you to my Mam and Dad who have not only come along to almost every event to cheer me on but also supported me from the very start when I began putting all of this together and throughout the year with my training.

I'll do another update once all the sponsorship money has come in to let you know the final total which will hopefully be in a couple of weeks time.  I'm now going to have a couple of days to enjoy this before I start training for next years big challenge - Ironman Wales!

The Last Of The Triathlons

They Wye not Tri today marked not only the penultimate round of this crazy journey that I started on back in February but also the last of the triathlons.  I've got to be honest I was a bit sad packing my kit last night knowing it would be the last time until next year.  Granted that is extremely tragic but I have really enjoyed all the events so far this year but especially the triathlons.

Anyway, the race itself took place at the diving centre in Chepstow so was nice and local for me and is actually somewhere I've spent a bit of time over the summer doing some training so it was good to be able to do a race there.

The swim itself went quite well.  I was a bit apprehensive at the start because I've still got quite a nasty cut on my knee from Tough Mudder last weekend so wasn't sure how that was going to be both in the cold water and also with the movement of my legs for all 3 stages.  The cold water part was fine and it gave me no problems swimming.

After the swim, there was a run up what I would call a substantial hill to transition.  To be honest, anything other than flat I'd call substantial but it was quite steep, honest!  From transition it was out onto the 2 loop bike course which included 2 climbs of a hill that I'm gutted to say I didn't make all the way up on the bike.  There were 2 small sections that I had to get off and push up.  Although it's disappointing it just shows that whilst I've made quite good progress this year, I've still got a long way to go.  After the hill, the rest of the lap was either flat or downhill which was enjoyable.  It was also really good to go past the dive centre to start my second lap and get cheered on by the supports there including a large number from the tri club.

Finally, the run.  Now the route wasn't for me at all.  It was all off road and a mixture of loose gravel, wet grass/mud and forrest meant for it was uneven and not much fun.  Just after the turnaround point on my first lap I also managed to go over on my ankle.  I was able to carry on after a few minutes hobbling around but since the event it's got a bit worse.  I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it's better by next Sunday for the Cardiff Half.

I don't know what my overall time was but I know that it wasn't anything special or close to a PB but I'm happy that I got around and had fun doing it.  It was also nice to race again with so many people from the club and there were lots doing a triathlon for the first time.

So there's just 1 more event to go now and then that's it.  It's definitely not too late to sponsor me if you would like to.  The address for my donation page is www.justgiving.com/huw2013 and here is the finishing photo from today.

Tough Mudder

Hi everyone.  It's been a little while I know but I was back to it today with Tough Mudder.  I'm not going to do my usual thing for this one for various reasons but just wanted to let you all know that I got around.  On to the next one now which is my last triathlon of the year a week today so I'm looking forward to that.

Parc Bryn Bach Aquathlon

I just wanted to do a quick update about tonight's aquathlon at Parc Bryn Bach. It was a first for me doing on of these events and was also a bit strange not doing any cycling, especially as that got me into the whole triathlon world in the first place!  None the less it was a very enjoyable experience and one that I will definitely be looking to repeat next year.

The swim went well, despite me freaking out a bit at the start.  The weeds in the lake were very thick and close to the surface so it did feel a little claustrophobic in places but I managed to keep a cool head and calm myself down.  I don't know the exact time for the swim but I knew it must have been a fairly decent time by my standards because I knew my run and overall time so I was pleased with that.  It's strange though because the swim always seems to take forever when I'm doing it but so far this year I haven't been disappointed with my times.

During transition from the swim to the run I felt like I was completely drunk (for those of you who know me well, I'm guessing on this!) and was completely off balance when trying to get my trainers on and when I sat down to try and make things easier I got cramp in both of my calves which wasn't a great start to the run.  I managed to get going though and soon settled into a rhythm.  This was helped as well by the marshals being member of the club so not only did I not want to stop out of embarrassment, it also meant I had a lot of encouragement as well.  It must have worked because I managed to run what I think was a 5km PB but was definitely the fastest I've done it at Parc Bryn Bach so I was thrilled with that.

So it's 17 down and just 3 left to go now which is a really strange feeling because it only seemed like 5 minutes ago that me and Laura were lining up in Pontypool for the start of my first event.  Anyway, here is the photo from tonight.  Sorry it's a bit blurry but it is me I promise!

Middle Distance Success!

Ever since the disappointment of Wimbleball there has been one date firmly set in my mind which was today, August 11th. That is because it represented the next chance I had to complete a middle distance triathlon and prove to myself that I could do it.

The day started nice and early with a 4:30 alarm to ensure I was at the lake, set up and ready for my 6:30 swim start. I had mixed emotions last night as I was trying to get some sleep. There were nerves that the same thing was going to happen again mixed with a knowledge that the course was almost completely flat, leading to the how fast can I go question. Thankfully, this morning turned out to be quite frantic for one reason and another so I didn't have too much time to dwell on anything and before I knew it, the starter had gone and we were away.

The swim went really well, even if the lake was a bit shallow in parts meaning my fingers were dragging along the bottom! A good swim is becoming a bit of a regular occurrence for me in triathlons now and I have to say a massive thanks to the coaches and my swimming buddies in the club for really helping me improve in the way I have. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up and improve even more. It also shows that hard work and time spent training really does pay off.

Once out of the swim it was onto the bike and I decided to use my Wimbleball trick of having the lap (every 5 miles) time and distance, rather than the overall so that I wasn't trying to push too hard to beat a certain time but also to stop me getting disheartened if I'd missed a time as well. It seemed to do the trick. The route itself was in lovely surrounding but I did find it a little bit tough mentally in some parts as there wasn't much to look at apart from the straight road in front of you. The only plus side to that though is that I could see how flat the road in front of me was! There was a little hill around half way through the lap which despite being similar in profile to one that I ride up all the time, it did come as a shock to my legs, especially thon the second lap after spending so much time on the flat! Thankfully, I'd been warned about that so was prepared for it (thank you Mr Beck!). The bike was mostly uneventful which was a massive relief and my time was more or less what I was expecting so no complaints at all!

Finally, onto the run route. I knew that it was going to be a tough one for me but I certainly wasn't prepared for how mentally tough it would be. For starters, I definitely hadn't eaten enough during the bike stage which is something I need to work on. After 1 lap of the course I could feel that I had very little energy and was firstly struggling and then finding it impossible to keep even and 11 minute mile pace. I managed to grit my teeth and get through the second lap but the final one was horrendous. I had the shakes and there were definitely some dark moments where I wasn't sure if I would finish. The water station around half way was a very welcome sight and I also made a friend along the way and we dragged each other around that last lap. My overall run time was shocking, absolutely terrible but at the end of the day I finished and that was all I set out to do. My time in the end was 6hours 26 minutes and 45 seconds which is not bad if you consider I'd told my Mam and Dad I was expecting to finish in around 7 hours the night before.

Once I'd finished it was back to mixed emotions though. There was the expected exhaustion along with the pain coming from my legs and feet. There was relief and joy that I'd finished but also a little part of me that felt a bit flat. I always knew that this wouldn't make up for the Wimbleball experience (hopefully I'll be able to do that when I attempt it again next year) but I thought it would at least satisfy me in knowing I could do the distance. Maybe it'll take a couple of days to sink in and perhaps I'll feel better about it after a good nights sleep. At the end of the day, this was something that I thought was beyond me even 9 months ago, so to have finished it is an incredible achievement for me. I think though that the real satisfaction won't come until I've conquered Wimbleball.

Anyway, here is the photo from today (you might be able to see as well that the number 1 from Top Barn is still visible on my awm! and you can still sponsor me if you would like at www.justgiving.com/huw2013  After stating this current run of events on 1st June, I've got a couple of weeks off now so I'm going to enjoy them!

I Would Have Been Drier Swimming

It was another of the late additions today with the Brecon 10 mile run and with the rain pouring down the way it was, I was starting to wish it had never made the list!  None the less, I took to the start line to brave the monsoon and hopefully have some fun.  Although I quite enjoyed myself I wouldn't say it was fun though.  As I'm getting used to now with running events, I quickly fell out towards the back of the field and began quite a lonely run.  There were a couple of other runners I caught up with and passed along the way but the majority of it was spend looking at empty roads so I just imagined this is how the leaders view must be and got my head down!

The running itself went quite well.  I finished in a time of 1hour 45 minutes which I know isn't exactly going to set the World on fire but for me it is quite good.  I also managed to maintain a fairly steady pace throughout which I was pleased with.  To be honest, I was treating this as more of a training run for next weekend's half ironman distance triathlon so to come through with a decent time and no aches and pains is great.  I struggled to initially settle into a rhythm at the start but once I had done so, I seemed to zone out and go into a sort of trance which was quite surreal.  I haven't done much work on my running recently, other than the races I've been doing, so to experience that and kind of float around for 4 or 5 miles was actually quite a nice thought.  Hopefully I'll have the same thing next weekend!

That's all there is to say really about this one.  Nothing really exciting I know but all good work ready for next Sunday when I'll have another crack at finishing a half ironman distance.  Fingers crossed I can do it this time!  Until then here is the picture from today and also the link if anyone have anything they can spare to support the fantastic work that St David's Hospice Care do www.justgiving.com/huw2013

London Triathlon

The London Triathlon, the thing that got me into this crazy world in the first place! I did this race last year and was the first triathlon I signed up for and was also my first one at Olympic distance. Almost one year on (it was held in September last year because of the Olympics) and I was back. It might not be as long or challenging as some of the other events I’ve already done and will be attempting later on in the year but this, like Brecon, had something the others didn’t, a previous time! That meant I was feeling a bit of pressure last week. Granted, almost all of it I’d put on myself but still, the pressure was there. I wanted to beat last year’s time, not by much but just beat it enough to show an improvement.

The swim was held in the dock next to the Excel centre and as soon as the air horn was set off to signal the start I thought I had been transported to a boxing ring. There were arms and legs everywhere! Now I’ve done a few mass starts now so am used to a bit of argy bargy at the beginning but this was on a whole different level. I got caught a couple of times as well which was a first and the one hit to the back of my head had a decent connection to it so fair play to the bloke that threw it, his career in the ring will certainly take off! With the fighting aside, the swim went well although at the time it felt a little bit slow. However, once I’d finished and seen my time of just over 30 minutes I realised it couldn’t have been that bad.

The bike route was slightly different to last year but considering London is hardly full of mountains, I knew it wouldn’t make much of a difference and so my time from last year was still comparable. There isn’t anything really exciting for me to tell you about this part really. I just got my head down and got around the course as quickly as I could. The little nasty downpour that occurred during the bike wasn’t helpful but thankfully only lasted a couple of minutes so I can’t really complain. The bike in total took me just over 1 hour and 4 minutes which I was pleased with.

Finally the run stage which was 3 laps of what was a flat course for the majority with just 1 nasty little climb before entering the Excel centre to either begin the next lap or peel off for the finish line. Now when I say a nasty little climb, it’s not like anything you’ll find in the South Wales Valleys. Compared to that, it was a slight bump in the road but it’s surprising how sapping it was on the legs after I’d been running on the flat for the remainder of the lap. Anyway, that aside the run went really well for me. I got into a rhythm and stuck to it, only stopping to walk through the water stations. Doing laps suited me as well and I got into a little routine along the way. I couldn’t walk through the Excel because of the crowds of people, just after that was the section where all the charity supporters were cheering everyone on so again, I couldn’t walk through there. After that it wasn’t far to the water station so I just carried on until then knowing I could have a little 30 second walk to take on a drink. After that it was a short section to the turnaround point and back through again. I know it sounds a bit daft but having these little sections within the laps helped keep me motivated and keep me going. As I came around to the finish line I even managed bit of a sprint finish before looking up to see the time. I knew I’d beaten last year’s time and that I’d even gone sub 3 hours.

I had to wait then though for my time to come through on text which was an agonising hour or so. Finally it arrived. I’d done the run in just over 1hour and 4 minutes which for me is a really good time on its own, let alone after the swim and bike. Overall it took me 2hours, 47 minutes and 45 seconds which I am absolutely chuffed to bits about and was around 39 minutes quicker than last year. Now I know in the grand scheme of things that time isn’t the most impressive in the world and there is still a lot of improvements that I can make but for me right here, right now, it might as well be Olympic gold!

 

Down Hill All The Way

There's nothing like feeling the pressure and today I definitely did.  When I signed up to the Mic Morris Memorial 10k as one of the extra 4 events for this year, I did it knowing that it would give me my best chance of setting a personal best time.  The course started in Blaenavon and finished in Pontypool so was essentially downhill all the way.  I'd already mentioned to a few people that I'd wanted to go sub 1 hour before hand and just before the race started the nerves started to get to me and also the pressure that I'd put on myself to deliver.  Thankfully I had not 1 but 2 running butties with me today to help drag me around, my Dad and also my friend Ben.

The run itself went quite well although I did find it quite difficult in parts and am really grateful to Dad and Ben for staying with me.  I know that if I had been on my own there would have been stages where I would have stopped.  In the end I managed to break my previous personal best of 1 hour and 1 minute by crossing the line in 56 minutes and 21 seconds, a time I was really pleased with and it was also a relief to achieve what I set out to do.

So that's another one ticked off the list and to be honest it's a bit scary how quickly these are being ticked off now.  It seemed like it took an age for me to get to the half way point but now I've reached it, the second half seems to be flying by.  Saying that mind, the next few events coming up are quite difficult ones so I might not feel the same in a couple of weeks time!

Anyway,  here is the photo of me, Dad and Ben after crossing the line and if you'd like to, the link to sponsor me is www.justgiving.com/huw2013

The Last of The Sportives

Yesterdays Wales Sportive marked the end of the sportives for this year's challenge and it couldn't have been in nicer surroundings.  Starting and finishing in Tenby the route took in some of the fantastic Pembrokeshire countryside including a fair amount of coastline which made for very enjoyable riding.  The weather caused a few problems though because although it was dry (which is always appreciated!) it was very hot and sapping on the energy levels.  I had company for this one though with my friend Paul joining me for what would be his own personal challenge with this 70 mile route being 20 miles further than he had cycled before.

The ride went really well and I've got to be honest, I enjoyed doing the shorter distance compared to what I have done on the other sportives this year.  It seemed to change how I viewed it and was more of a "fun" ride rather than constantly thinking about how much further I had to go.  Timing wise it wasn't a very fast ride but given the heat, the slow and steady approach seemed the most sensible and was needed given the lack of water/feed stations available on the route.  The finish in Tenby town was fantastic as well with people lining the streets to cheer you on the final part.  It felt like being in a proper bike race and was very nice!

So that's the pure bike rides done although I'll still be riding the bike in more of the events with a few triathlons still to come.  I'd never done a sportive before this year and although the first one wasn't the best experience and I struggled with the Wye Valley ride, I'll definitely be doing more in the future.

Don't forget if you'd like to sponsor me you can at www.justgiving.com/huw2013

Ferries and Fun

I’m a bit late doing this sorry but I’m sure you’ll forgive me given the long day I had yesterday.  I’m not complaining though as I had a lot of fun yesterday.  The Wight Ferry Sportive as it is known was one of the first things to get the challenge for this rolling.  I stumbled upon it by mistake a while back and as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to give it a go.  The organisers sold it as being an adventure rather than a bike ride and with 2 ferry crossing involved, it certainly was!

Before I took to the start line though I had a bit of a challenge on my hands to get there.  You might have seen in my last post the picture of my race number burnt on my arm.  What I didn’t realise as the time and what I didn’t find out until Monday evening was just how badly burnt my shoulders were, to the point where they had actually blistered.  Now, I’m not looking for sympathy because it was my own stupid fault that I burnt in the first place.  As you can imagine though it was extremely painful but thankfully after lots of after sun, sudocrem and a fair slice of luck my shoulders were, just about, recovered enough for me to start.

The sportive itself was a lot of fun.  It started with a mad dash to the ferry port to make the first crossing of the day.  I felt like I was in a proper bike race as we all hurtled along at 7 in the morning!  Thankfully I managed to make it and knew this would give me the time I needed to get around the Isle of Wight without any fear of missing cut off times which is what happened back at the Wye Valley ride.  On the Isle of Wight the roads were up and down but nothing too severe and even the two big hills of the day just before we got back to the ferry port weren’t anything I wouldn’t be happy to tackle again.  To be honest, the hardest part was getting back on the bike after ferry crossing back to the mainland because in the hour or so that I was off the bike I’d cooled down and my legs had stiffened up so getting them working again was a bit of a task but I got there after a couple of miles.

Overall the whole day really was good and has definitely been the best of the three sportives that I’ve done so far this year.  I know the weather was a factor in this because riding the bike is defiantly easier when the sun is shining!  I would happily do it again though and if next week’s ride in Tenby is half as fun, I’ll be very happy!  Hopefully they’ll be giving out ice creams at the finish as well like they did yesterday.  You can see form the photo that mine definitely put a smile on my face!

 

The Half Way Point

So, today marked the halfway point of this challenge and there was a slight change of plan to go with it!  Due to a problem with the water for the swim, the race today was changed from a triathlon to a duathlon.  For those of you not familiar with it, a duathlon is in three stages but only consists of 2 disciplines so there is a run stage, a bike stage and finally a second run stage.  This meant that today’s distances were a 3.1 mile run, 35 mile bike ride and a 6.2 mile run to finish off.  This was a new experience for me and isn’t something I have trained for.  It also meant a double helping of my weakest and least favourite of the three disciplines.  That coupled with the hot but windy conditions (I know that sounds like a bit of a contradiction but it was like that I promise!) meant it was a very difficult day.  I’ll be totally honest and say that whilst I’m glad I’ve now done a duathlon, I don’t have any intention to do a second.  Coming off the bike I felt completely drained so the final run was very difficult and also very slow.  I’m sure the weather conditions played a part in that but none the less; I can’t imagine doing one again.  On a positive side though this was a race that the club used to get a many people as possible to attend and despite a slightly reduced number due to the swim cancellation it was nice for me to be racing with so many familiar faces and that aspect I really enjoyed.

It’s on to the next one now which is just the small matter of a 101 mile bike ride on Saturday which should be interesting.  I’m hoping for a dry but cool day but as long as the wind stays down, I’ll be happy!  I haven’t got a photo from the finish line today because by the time I’d finished and recovered enough to want a photo taken, the line had been taken down (yes, I was that slow!).  Instead though, here is a photo of my little memento from today, my sunburnt arm with the only white parts being where my race number was written on in permanent marker.  Now surely me having to walk around for the next few days at least is worth a pound at least!  www.justgiving.com/huw2013

 

Caerphilly 10km

It was back to the running today. Now normally the thought of a 10km run for me is horrible. I know that might sound a bit stupid given what I'm planning to do this year but I'm not the best running in the world and it certainly doesn't come naturally so frim start to finish is hard work. However today I was glad to be going for a run, if nothing else it mean I could get over the disappointment of last weekend and get back into the thick of it in terms of my challenge list. There's not too much I can say about the run really. It was very well organised, was a nice route and I enjoyed myself doing it. I was hoping to do the run in under 1 hour but crossed the line in 1 hour, 1 minute and 20 seconds. Despite being just over my target it was difficult to be unhappy given that it was still a good 2 minutes quicker than my personal best on a 10km so all in all I was pleased. It was also nice to see so many people from the tri club and some other familiar faces there and the local residents were fantastic for coming out onto their doorsteps to cheer us all on. All in all it was a really good boost. Last weekend will take some time to get out of my system, but it's getting there slowly.

I mentioned in my last post that I was hoping to extend my challenge to 20 events. Well, that's more or less confirmed now so I thought I'd give you the revised list. The two things that I want to point out are that even though I didn't do the actual half marathon last weekend, I did go out and do it this Tuesday, so I've left that mileage in there. Also, I know I was 12 miles short on the Wye Valley Warrior but I've reduced that to the 85 miles that I did do, increased the Isle of Wight ride to 101 to reflect that change and also I've switched from a single to a double distance triathlon at Top Barn. This will make up the mileage difference and mean I'm actually doing more than I originally planned, despite not adding any new cycling events. I know it wouldn’t be the end of the world being a few miles short but I just want you all to know how determined I am to meet these mileage totals! Anyway, here is the new and definitely final list:

Pontypool 10km Run - 24th February (6.2 miles)

Newport Half Marathon - 3rd March (13.1 miles)

Gwent Levels Bike Ride - 17th March (46 miles)

New Forest Cycle Sportive - 13th April (87 miles)

Wye Valley Warrior Cycle Sportive - 19th May (85 miles)

Brecon Triathlon - 1st June (0.2/12.4/3.1 miles)

Blenheim Triathlon - 9th June (0.4/12.2/3.3 miles)

UK 70.3 Triathlon - 16th June (1.2/56/13.1 miles)

Caerphilly 10km Run - 23rd June (6.2 miles)

Top Barn Triathlon - 30th June (0.9/34.8/6.2 miles)

Isle of Wight Cycle Sportive - 6th July (101 miles)

The Wales Cycle Sportive - 13th July (70 miles)

Mic Morris 10km Run - 21st July (6.2 miles)

The London Triathlon - 28th July (0.9/24.8/6.2 miles)

Brecon 10 Mile Run - 4th August (10 miles)

Cotswold Classic Triathlon - 11th August (1.2/56/13.1 miles)

Parc Bryn Bach Aquathlon - 29th August (0.4/3.1 miles)

Tough Mudder - 22nd September (10 mile obstacle course)

The Wye Not Tri - 29th September (0.4/12.4/3.1 miles)

Cardiff Half Marathon - 6th October (13.1 miles)

In total I will be covering 5.6 miles swimming, 597.6 miles cycling and 116 miles running throughout the year.

Finally, here is the photo from today and also the link to the sponsor page www.justgiving.com/huw2013

 

A Disappointing Day

I’m sure most of you saw on Facebook and if not have guessed from the fact it’s taken me until today to put a post on here but I wasn’t able to complete the Ironman UK 70.3 on Sunday.  I knew that the cut off time for the swim and bike was going to be tight for me given the bike course.  The swim went really well, I was aiming for 45 minutes but did it in 39 so was really pleased that I had that extra time to take into the bike stage with me.  The bike itself was going well; the first lap took me 2 hours 11, giving me 2 hours 30 for the last lap before the cut off time.  I was confident that I would get that done and drag myself around run.  Then, a bit of bad luck hit.  I somehow managed to puncture both my tyres at the same time.  The time I lost repairing them both meant that I didn’t get back to transition in time for the cut off and therefore wasn’t able to do the run.  As I’m sure you can imagine, I was very disappointed and upset when it happened and still feel the same to be honest, even after a couple of days and some very supportive and kind messages on Facebook.  The punctures are not at excuse.  Yes I would have been made the cut off time without them but to be honest, the time shouldn’t have been that tight and I should have been able to repair the punctures quicker.  It has shown me that I need to work on my cycling because I used to think it was my strongest of the three disciplines but obviously that isn’t the case anymore.

The only thing I want to add is that the worst part about not meeting the cut off time for me was not doing the mileage I pledged to do for the sponsorship side of things.  I just want you all to know that although I didn’t do it on the day and it wasn’t the same course, I have done  a half marathon tonight after work so that my mileage is back on track for what I have said I will do.  It wasn’t a quick run by any stretch of the imagination and after the weekend efforts, it hurt like hell.  It also didn’t take the disappointment of Sunday away but I do feel better knowing I haven’t let down those of you kind enough to sponsor me.

Now it’s on to the next event which is one of the extra ones I’m doing to make the total up to 20, the Caerphilly 10k on Sunday.  Hopefully, last week will be the only disappointment of the year and I’ll have a good run this weekend!

Blenheim Triathlon

Firstly, apologies for no clever or interesting title but I'm beginning to run out of ideas! 

Anyway, Blenheim Triathlon.  Ever since I heard about this one sometime last year I wanted to do it.  It seemed like a great course in a fantastic location and it certainly lived up to my expectations.  The whole day was great fun, even the sometimes boring pre race brief was made entertaining thanks to the very lively guy delivering it.  The triathlon itself went really well.  It was the first open water race of the year and I was glad to get that under my belt.  To be honest, the swim went better than I expected and I was a little disappointed when I reached the end!  The bike and run sections were uneventful really which is good, especially given the drama I've had with my bike this week (long story!)  My finish time was 1 hour 34 minutes 57 seconds which I'm really pleased with and is another race ticked off in the build up to next weekend.

Just a little side note before I finish up, I've had a little look at some more events and am hoping to be able to up my challenge to 20 events, partly because the extra events are ones I really fancy doing and secondly because 20 is a more round number than 16.  I'll let you know as soon as they are all booked up though.

Don't forget the sponsor page is still live at www.justgiving.com/huw2013 and I'll be hopefully getting the total raised updated this week from the sponsorship forms I've got dotted around to give a better picture of how I'm doing.

The Triathlons Begin

The fun of triathlons stated today with the Brecon Triathlon.  I honestly mean that as well, I really do enjoy them.  OK, I enjoy them once I’ve started.  Getting my kit together the night before and the hanging around to start isn’t the best and I always get nervous before hand but I honestly do enjoy them!

Despite this being labelled by the organisers as a “novice” triathlon it is a fantastic one to do and the field is always a mixture of complete newcomers and first timers to highly experienced and competitive triathletes using it to build their form for the bigger races coming up over the summer.  For me there were a few reasons for taking part this year.  Firstly, it’s quite close to home so it means that all the family (and we’re quite a crowd!) can come along and see what it’s all about, have a laugh at me in my tri suit but also cheer me along.  It was great coming up to the finish line hearing them all shouting and cheering and I’m really really grateful to them all for coming to support me.  The other couple of reasons are that it was a good way for me to get a triathlon in before the UK 70.3 in a couple of weeks time but also, because I did it last year, gave me a chance to see how I’ve improved over the last year.

The race itself went well.  The swim stage was in the leisure centre swimming pool, so no open water to worry about, that will come next week!  I wasn’t overly pleased with how it went but despite that, I still improved on last year’s time so can’t complain too much.  The bike and run routes went well, both being long enough for me to get into some sort of rhythm but not long enough to cause any problems or major tests.

My total time was 1hour 33 minutes and 43 seconds which was around 22 minutes faster than my time last year.  I’m chuffed to bit about that because it shows that I’m made a big improvement in the last year and that the training I’m doing with the tri club is working.  I’m also pleased that I the time was knocked off in all 3 stages (2 minutes on the swim, 10 minutes on the bike and 10 minutes on the run) which shows the all-round improvement that I’ve made.  Obviously there were parts today that I wasn’t completely satisfied with and would chance if I could go back and do the race over but that’s part of it and why we all keep training week in, week out.

The events are coming thick and fast now with the Blenheim Triathlon waiting for me next weekend which will be another good tester before the UK 70.3 especially with the already mentioned open water swim!

Don’t forget you can sponsor me at www.justgiving.com/huw2013 and surely the embarrassing photo of me below in my tri suit is worth £1 at least!

 

 

A Tough Day in the Saddle

The Wye Valley Warrior – without a doubt the toughest thing I’ve taken on. It put me face to face with my biggest weakness, climbing hills on the bike and I definitely lost. Ever since I started doing this type of thing I’ve always had a little bit of doubt in the back of my mind that I won’t be able to complete them. Until now, I’ve been lucky but today the luck ran out. Now, don’t get me wrong, I made the finish line, however I didn’t do all 97 miles that I set out to do, instead I had to settle for 85. For those of you not familiar with sportives, when there is more than one distance, the route will split at various points and meet back up again somewhere down the line allowing everyone to start and finish in the same place but meaning the different distances on offer are covered. The reason for the missing 12 miles today was that I missed the cut off time for the final split, meaning I had to follow the shorter route to the finish. This left me with mixed emotions. Partly relief that I didn’t have to do those 12 miles but also disappointment and a little bit of embarrassment that I wasn’t able to finish the job fully. That said, 85 miles isn’t a bad and also I’ve discovered that the Isle of Wight sportive that I’m doing in July is 101 miles, not 95 so that means I’m only 6 miles down on my total and I promise, I’ll make those up before the end of the year, probably at the Wales Cycle Sportive.

Despite the mixed emotions, today has made me realise that I can no longer get away with just saying I’m no good at climbing and do nothing about it. I’m determined to at least give it a shot and see what happens. I can’t get any worse, that’s for sure! The events are coming thick and fast now and I’m looking forward to getting back into the triathlons, especially my first one in Brecon. I did the same one last year for my first ever triathlon so it will be interesting to see how I’ve improved in the last year, especially as I’m sad enough to still have my results page from last year!

Before I go, I just wanted to say thanks to Ben who did the ride with me today. I really appreciate you hanging around at the water stations for me to catch up and only you will understand this, but for not answering your phone after I’d done that hill at 70 miles!

Don’t forget, you can sponsor me if you’d like at www.justgiving.com/huw2013

 

My First Sportive

My first experience of a cycling sportive was a mixed one to say the least.  The day started nice and early with the event kicking off at 7:30.  Having checked the weather forecast last night, I knew that there was rain expected around 10 o’clock so the plan was to get away with the first group to give me as much time as possible in the dry.  The plan almost worked, I didn’t get away until just after 7:45 which didn’t really matter because I was going to get wet either way.  The ride in general was a really nice one.  There were no really massive climbs (there was one 25% gradient but it was so wet and greasy when we got there that the majority of us had to walk it!).  There were however lots of undulating roads with some fantastic sweeping descents and also some long, exposed straights.  There really was a mix of more or less everything you could want.  The one big problem though was the weather.  As predicted, the rain started to come down around 10 o’clock and was quite heavy (or at least it seemed like it!) for a lot of the time.  It was also very windy for the majority of the day, which was great when it was pushing me along but unfortunately for me, most of the time it was pushing me back!

Despite this, the first half of the ride went swimmingly (no pun intended!) but as soon as I hit the half way mark, I noticed that the back end of my bike seemed a bit bouncy.  I pulled over and sure enough, I had a puncture.  The is the first time I’d had a puncture during something other than a training ride and was also the first one I’d had on my road bike.  Now whilst I’ve been very lucky to go a year without one, I was gutted that it happened during the sportive and it did cost me because it took me a little longer than normal to change so I cooled down and found it hard work getting going again.  This had a knock on effect for the next 10 or 15 miles but I’m pleased that I got through it and finished the event.  That wasn’t the only thing to happen between the 40 and 55 mile mark; sadly, I saw the bad side of cycling.

I LOVE riding my bike.  It’s what got to into triathlons in the first place and I guess is therefore the reason for me doing all these events this year.  The thing is though, despite my enthusiasm, I’m not the best or indeed the quickest cyclist in the world.  Unusually as well for a cyclist, I’m not very confident cycling in a group, especially when I’m surrounded with people I don’t know and have never ridden with before and the one thing that makes me the most nervous is having someone on my wheel.  For those of you not into cycling, this is when some rides right behind you so take advantage of your slip stream.  The bad side that I referred to was when someone was on my wheel up a hill and then when I approached a slower cyclist in front; I slowed down behind them as I was unable to overtake with this other person overlapping my rear wheel.  Said person then decided to give me a mouthful of foul and abusive language because I didn’t pull out and over take.  The truth is, I wasn’t comfortable having him on my wheel and I certainly wasn’t willing to tire myself out providing a slip stream for a complete stranger.  The bit about this that upset me was his aggression.  Cycling’s profile and popularity has improved greatly in the last few years and there are now far more cyclists (of varying ability) out and about now.  Shouting and swearing doesn’t do anyone any good at all.  I don’t think I did anything wrong but if I did and he had pointed it out to me like a grown up, I would have taken the advice and even thanked him for taking the time to give me some advice.  I hope that in the same situation again, this is what the person behind me would do.  Maybe this way, cycling can get rid of its stigma of being a bit elitist and cliquey but instead seen as a sport open and accessible to all.
Anyway, I’ll get off me soap box now!  Despite the weather and the events of just after half way, I managed to make it around and even though I was soaked through (despite my new rain jacket and overshoes) I’m glad I did it and I guess I did enjoy it!

So part 4 of the challenge is done.  The next part is the Wye Valley Warrior sportive which will be a different animal all together with it being longer and hillier.  Let’s just hope for some nice weather for it!

Finally, before I forget, I’ve had to change one of my events.  I’m unable to do the Little Woody triathlon in August so I have replaced it with the Cotswold Classic triathlon earlier on in August.  The mileage is the same so in effect nothing has really changed but just wanted you all to be kept up to date!

Now that I’ve got sponsorship forms, the names and the money is starting to build up so a big thank you to everyone who has sponsored me already.  If you haven’t already but would like to you can either see me for the sponsorship form or go to www.justgiving.com/huw2013.

 

 

Back In The Comfort Zone

I was back in my comfort zone today, on the bike.  Cycling was what got me into triathlons in the first place so today was always going to be enjoyable.  Or at least it should have been enjoyable, but I was far from looking forward to it last night!  Now I’m not going to have a moan about being unwell and how severe man flu can be.  All I’ll say is that I haven’t been well all week so it’s hardly the best preparation for a bike ride and that coupled with the heave sleet/snow shower that hit Abertillery last night left me feeling far from thrilled at the prospect of hitting the road this morning.  If you have read any of my posts from Christmas time, you’ll know the experiences I had of riding in bad weather and I wasn’t ready for a repeat.

Anyway, once the rubbish weather had passed, there was a bit of good news for me.  My friend and cycling buddy Paul had rung to ask if he could tag along which lifted the spirits, if I was going to suffer, at least I’d have someone suffering with me!

Come this morning, all the worries about the weather had gone and I even regretted not taking sun glasses with me.  As for the cold, it was still there but was a little better so it was good news all round.  The route itself was 46 miles, starting and ending at Caldicot Castle.  We headed out along the Gwent Levels and then (I have no idea where we went or how we got there!) up through Wentwood Forest.

The first 26 miles flew by and we were going at a brilliant pace.  The roads also allowed me to test out my new tri bars which I had bought with some of my birthday money.  Good practice ready for the tri season!  After the 26 mile mark though the real test began as we were presented with a series of hills to climb.  This wasn’t a surprise to us having done a similar course 2 years ago.  In fact, it made it a bit worse because we knew what to expect!  Needless to say the speed dropped but this time, unlike last, we didn’t walk a yard, we cycles every bit of the way which I am very pleased about.  It shows how much we have improved with our cycling.

Overall I was really pleased with our time of 3hours 45 minutes and it was good to get back on the bike and get some mileage under my belt ready for the next event which is an 87 mile ride in the New Forest.

As usual there is a photo from the finishing line at the bottom.  I have to apologise, firstly for the horrific camera angle that makes me look like a baby elephant and secondly for having my one arm behind my back!  I have a load of stuff in my hand and for some stupid reason though it would be a good look to hide it all.  I was very wrong!  Finally, thank you to those who have already sponsored me and if you haven’t yet but would like to then you can at www.justgiving.com/huw2013.  I’ll hopefully have a sponsor form as well sometime next week so if you see me in person and would like to sponsor me that way, you’ll be able to.

 

 

"It's All Downhill From Here"

So today was the first big test for me and what a test it turned out to be!  The City of Newport Half Marathon, to use its full title was set to be my first half marathon and also my longest ever run by a good 3 miles.  I took the “don’t over train” advice very seriously!  Luckily, I wasn’t going to be alone for this test.  Like last week with the Pontypool 10k, I’d drafted in help in the form of my Dad.  We’ve done a bit of training together and it was going to be nice running a new route that neither of us knew, rather than the now overly familiar training runs where we know every turn, bump and hill. 

The route itself was quite a nice one, heading out from Newport’s International Sports Village and essentially following a foot/bike path along the river to Caerleon and back again.  There were a couple of little hills, but compared to Abertillery, nothing too daunting.  Before we started though I was feeling a little nervous as the furthest I’d ever run before was around 10 miles and that was only once.  The doubts as to whether that had been a particularly good day were playing heavy on my mind and it took me a while to settle into a pace and get my breathing sorted.  By the time I’d done that we were around 5-6 miles in but this uneasiness must be a good thing as it was a PB for that distance!  By this point as well, the front runners were already passing us on their way back to the finishing line.  If any of you happen to be reading this, hats off to you because never in a million years would I be able to achieve that kind of pace, let alone maintain it over that length of time and distance.

The return from Caerleon can only be described as bloody hard work.  The final 3 miles were torture with my calves feeling like they were being electrocuted as the crap set in.  In the end, we made it around in 2 hours 26 minutes.  I had aimed for around 2 hours 30 so was really pleased with that, even if it was just under.  I also had a mixture of feelings that my Dad had done it with me.  Pride that we had completed it but also a bit of embarrassment that despite him having nearly 30 years on me, he was still taking it easy to let me keep up!  I’ll have to get some more training in to put that right at the Cardiff Half Marathon in October!  That said, this is how I feel now that the run is over, this is really just a starting point for me in terms of training.  I now need to maintain and improve on my running whilst also incorporating swimming and cycling ready for the half Ironman in June.

In case you are wondering about the title of this post, that became my Dad’s new catchphrase during the run. When I first started running it was “push yourself!” However, today, “it’s all downhill from here” took its place. From the turnaround point Caerleon back to Newport, that is all that Dad said, even when we were looking up a hill!

With that explained, all that is left to do is put the obligatory photograph here:

 And to say that I now have a weekend off where I will be combining Mother’s Day celebrations with my birthday (I can’t believe I’ve got to share it this year!) before the next event, the St David’s Spring Bike Ride in Caldicot the weekend after.

Also, don’t forget you can sponsor me online at www.justgiving.com/huw2013

And We're Off...

Well, the first one is done and the challenge is underway.  Today was the Pontypool 10km run and it was quite enjoyable!  The morning didn’t start too well when I saw a dusting of snow outside but once that initial panic was over it was all good.  There were around 400 runners in total today which was a really good turn out and being a local race it was nice to see some familiar faces amongst the runners and supporters.  Despite this I was very glad to have my friend Laura with me to keep me company.  I don’t mind doing triathlons and bike rides on my own but I find running a lot easier when I’ve got someone doing it with me and I can have a chat with them instead of checking my GPS every 2 minutes!  I’m very proud of her for coming along and getting around the course, especially when you consider she didn’t really feel well enough to be running and nearly didn’t make the start.  The route itself was quite a nice one with a nasty hill around half way.  There was a bit of a sting in the tail though because we thought we had made it to the end only to realise we had to do a lap of the rugby pitch first!  In the end we did it in 1 hour 9 minutes which I was really pleased with and it has set me up nice now for the half marathon next week.  Well, I say that but my left calf is playing up a little bit.  Hopefully that’ll settle down in time!  So it’s one down, 15 to go.  I’m relieved that I’m finally underway and looking forward to next week now when I’ll face my first big test.  As promised, here’s a picture from today.  Not quite at the finishing line though, it was a bit busy there but it was taken nearby.

Wish me luck for next week and don’t forget, you can still sponsor me online at www.justgiving.com/huw2013

The Plan Is In Place

Sorry that I’ve been a bit quiet on here recently but to be honest other than “I’m still training and it’s going ok” there hasn’t been much else to tell you about. Whilst I’m mentioning it, the training has been going quite well so far although I wasn’t able to stick to my original plan. I think I was a bit over optimistic as to how much I would be able to train but also undervalued the importance of a rest day here and there.

Anyway, the main reason for this post is to let you know that the plan is finally in place for this year and with the exception of 2 things, everything is booked. I wrote everything out the other night and the see it all was a little bit daunting but as the old cliché goes, I’m going to take it one step (swim and pedal stroke!) at a time.

You might have noticed on the right hand side that I have been updating my list as I have been booking things but here is the complete list with distances. For the triathlons the distances are swimming/cycling/running:

Pontypool 10km Run - 24th February (6.2 miles)

Newport Half Marathon - 3rd March (13.1 miles)

Gwent Levels Bike Ride - 17th March (46 miles)

New Forest Cycle Sportive - 13th April (87 miles)

Wye Valley Warrior Cycle Sportive - 19th May (97 miles)

Brecon Triathlon - 1st June (0.2/12.4/3.1 miles)

Blenheim Triathlon - 9th June (0.4/12.2/3.3 miles)

UK 70.3 Triathlon - 16th June (1.2/56/13.1 miles)

Top Barn Triathlon - 30th June (0.4/17.4/3.1 miles)

Isle of Wight Cycle Sportive - 6th July (95 miles)

The Wales Cycle Sportive - 13th July (70 miles)

The London Triathlon - 28th July (0.9/24.8/6.2 miles)

Little Woody Triathlon - 24th August (1.2/56/13.1 miles)

Tough Mudder - 22nd September (10 mile obstacle course)

The Wye Not Tri - 29th September (0.4/12.4/3.1 miles)

Cardiff Half Marathon - 6th October (13.1 miles)

In total I will be covering 4.7 miles swimming, 587.3 miles cycling and 87.4 miles running throughout the year.

So there we are. I just need to get on and do them now.

This is also where you come in. As I said in one of my first posts the whole point of doing these is to raise money for the St. David’s Foundation. I have set up a just giving page (www.justgiving.com/Huw2013) and hopefully I will have some sponsorship forms to carry around with me in the next few days. If you are able to and would like to support me in this “challenge” then any donations will be really appreciated and will give me that extra motivation to keep on going when things get a bit tough and painful as I’m sure they will during some of these events!

My first one is on Sunday so I’ll let you know how it goes and the plan is to have a picture at the finish line of all of these events so hopefully I’ll have that to put on here as well!

First Full Week Back ... Kind Of!

I thought I’d do just a quick update on my first “full” week back in training since Christmas and the New Year.  I’ve put full in inverted commas because even though it was the first Monday to Friday, it wasn’t really a full week of training.  I posted a picture on Facebook around this time last week showing my training plan.  I know that his plan is pretty full on but until I tried to follow it, I didn’t realise just how full on it is.  Needless to say, it has gone out of the window this week!  The evening sessions have more or less gone to plan as once again, working on improving my running has taken priority.  The only blip there has been on Friday night which I didn't do.  I managed to hurt my chest in swimming training on Thursday night and to be honest was a bit frightened to go running as I'd had trouble after that swimming session getting my breath back and was having some pains in my chest as well.  I did however still do the Park Run on Saturday morning and thankfully everything was fine and having spent 3 hours on the bike this morning, there seems to be no problem now at all.  Where I have struggled the most this week though with the morning sessions.  I think this is a mix of the tiredness of getting into running mixed with the fact that I’m still struggling to let go of my Christmas sleep patterns of staying up until around 2 o’clock and then sleeping through to 10.  I’m hoping this week will be an improvement with that and also with my eating.  Again, Christmas habits are proving difficult to beat!

On the upside though the running seems to be going well at the moment.  I’m never going to break work records, especially when it comes to speed but I’m slowly increasing the distances and I’m beginning to feel more comfortable on longer runs.  I’m hoping that the training session with the tri club on a Monday night will help with the pace but I’ve not got any particular time in mind for the half marathon in March, I’ll just be happy to finish it!  The first event I need to worry about my time is the half ironman in June so I’ve got time to work on that.  Speaking of half ironmans, the eagle eyed amongst you might have noticed the removal of the Ireland 70.3 from my wish list over on the right.  Unfortunately it has been cancelled for 2013 with the hope of it happening again in 2014.  I’m really disappointed about his because I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland and of all the events this year, that was the one I was looking forward to the most.  I guess I’ll just have to wait until next year.  For this year though, I still feel that I want to do 2 half ironmans so am looking into alternatives and I’ll let you know how things are going with that.

Finally, I wanted to let you know about an opportunity that presented itself to me just before Christmas.  I have been asked to take part in a 3 day, 300 mile bike ride around Mallorca in October.  This wouldn’t be connected to what I am doing in relation to this blog in that it would be to raise money for different charities to the St David’s Foundation but for me it was an opportunity that was too good to pass up on.  Everything is in the planning phase with it at the moment but I’m very excited about it and will let you know more as soon as the details are confirmed.

Hopefully the snow will stay away now so I can have a good second attempt at a full week of training!

Festive 500 Conclusion

Firstly, Happy New Year to you all.

I just wanted to do a quick update on the Festive 500.  As I’m sure you’ve guessed by the lack of posts on here that I didn’t complete the challenge.  In fact, I haven’t been out on my bike since my last update.  I feel a little bit disappointed about it because it was something I wanted to do but in the end I took a longer term look at things.  Training for my first half marathon in March had to come first and it was no good going into the new year exhausted from the bike rides with a lot of hard running training to come.  My decision to not continue riding over the Christmas break also means that I have had a little bit of a rest and I have already been out for my first run of the year, something I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.  I’ve also had to experience the disappointment that failing the challenge has brought and this will no doubt spur me on to do well in everything I’ve got planned for this year.  So now the hard process of transforming me from a 5km at a push kind of “plodder” into a half marathon runner begins.  This should be fun!