Johnny Hall's Travels and Travails

I've joined a triathlon club. You don't need to be a member of a club, especially if, like me, you generally train alone, but it's useful for entering races and generally, for being part of a wider community, to find out about what's going on.

Anyway, I had a few choices but none of them were ideal. Edinburgh Triathletes are a good club but their training sessions are mostly in the north of Edinburgh which isn't too convenient for me. Edinburgh Road Club are too big for my liking. Borders Tri don't seem particularly organised when it comes to training sessions.

So, I've joined Lanark Multisport, which is a new-ish club with only a handful of members, most of whom will be a lot faster and more experienced than me, which means I should learn something. I'm working on a website for them - that'll be my big contribution. Their subs are insignificant as well.

As a bonus, they are registered as a cycling club as well, which makes life a bit easier. Looks like I'll be doing a 3 up TTT with them in March (the week before Coniston), which'll be interesting. Hopefully, I'll be up to it.

I'm training with them on Sunday, on the bike. Should be around 60-65 miles, which is a useful stepping stone towards their annual 112 mile ride at the beginning of March, which I'm hoping to be able to do.

It's January, and things are quiet here - nothing much ever happens in January, does it? I haven't blogged much recently but that's because of the lack of anything particularly interesting to say, rather than a lack of desire.

Training continues apace. I've started my 16 week marathon countdown and my pace seems to have jumped significantly since last year. I've also got a taste for running long and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's 17 miler. On Sunday I'll be riding to Selkirk in a 60 mile round trip and that should be fun too.

If my running and cycling are looking good, then my swimming is there to balance things out. Of course, I'm progressing but it's frustrating nevertheless to be able to do big distances at decent speeds on foot or on two wheels but not be able to swim two lengths in the pool without having to have a wee breather. In saying that, I'm definitely getting somewhere. I am learning to relax my breathing and my kick, and I've been working hard on balance and body rotation (which helps breathing and propulsion). It'll come eventually, I'd just prefer that it was already there.

Emily is doing well. She was 6 months old yesterday and now she is sleeping through the night. I think we'll be moving her cot into her bedroom this weekend, which will be a bit sad but it'll be nice to get our room back. I'll be able to read in bed again! She's also able to sit up now and she smiles and giggles all the time, which is delightful. Becky works hard to make fresh food for her, and she eats very well - fresh vegetables, soups, fruit, natural yoghurt. No teeth yet, so everything gets pureed.

Both my mum and dad have been under the weather recently - my dad had an infection, which set him back a bit and my mum has had flu. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to visit them, for fear of catching something unpleasant and bringing it back home to Emily and Becky. We'll see my mum tomorrow though.

I've moved my office into the spare room, which is working out better for me. My desk is rather small though but there's not much space to have a bigger one, without removing the bed.

So, as you can see, lots of things are happening but nothing much of any real note.

I'm going along to the track tomorrow for the start of my interval training, in prep for Lochaber. I didn't run intervals much during last summer (just a bit of fartlek and some unstructured hill work), so I'm hoping that they'll provide me a nice speed boost.

I'm definitely getting faster without doing them (I ran 11 miles yesterday at about 7:50 min/miles on rolling ground, whilst last year I was probably anything up to a minute slower) but I'm anything but speedy.

I'm interested to see how it goes. I'm only running 3 times a week at the moment, but my runs are going to be strictly pace controlled - one track interval session, one tempo run up to 10 miles and one long run up to 20 miles (3 hours). My aim is a sub 3:30 marathon but looking at the figures, there's a distinct possibility to go faster than that. I won't count my chickens though.

I'm only running 3 times a week (4 really, since I run off the bike once a week but only for about 30 minutes easy) because I have to fit in riding 3 times a week, swimming 4 times a week and lifting twice. The (marathon) training plan I'm following is specifically designed to help you run a faster marathon on 3 times a week running, though. I toyed with it last year but couldn't get to a track so I built my own programme. It seemed to work but this time, I'm ramping it up.

I'd like to get a more respectable 10K time too - somewhere in the low 40s but I'm not going to concentrate on that - it'll just have to be a bonus side effect.

It's time to put down some general numbers to aim for over the course of the year with my running, cycling, swimming and triathlon. 1. Sub 3:30 at the marathon 2. Sub 45 at 10K (depending on whether I run many of these) 3. Keep improving my swimming to the point where 2K is "easy" if not fast 4. Sub 25 at 10m TT 5. Sub 1:05 at 25m TT (going under the hour again would be ideal but I'm not sure how many courses there are in Scotland where that might be possible for me) 6. Sub 2:30 at Olympic triathlon (ambitious) 7. Sub 6 at Ironman UK 70.3 (very ambitious) There are probably too many of them but they will be aimed at different parts of the year. Without them, I might be a bit aimless.

Another year has passed. 2006 was a life-changing year for both of us, and a lot happened. In chronological order, here are my 2006 highlights:

0. Starting this blog. This now enables me to keep track of everything that's been going on and allows all my friends, family and associates to find out too.

1. Taking up running after years of cycling. Step one on my triathlon plan.

2. Completing the Wales 3000s in May. It's been on my to-do list for a while. I also discovered my friend Iain's love of the outdoors too (after knowing him for years), which gave the year's adventures added impetus.

3. Moving to a great new house, out in the Scottish Borders, surrounded by hills and trees. Another big change which has improved our quality of life immensely.

4. Becoming a dad. The biggie.

5. Running my first marathon in October, in a good time.

6. Running my second marathon in October, in an even better time (for the course).

7. Finally getting round to learning to swim front crawl. Step two on the triathlon plan.

It has to be said, 2006 has been a great year. Not everything has been brilliant - breaking my collarbone was a bit of a blow and interfered with some of my plans - but all-in-all, I can't complain.

2007 has started well. Here's hoping it's as good, or better, as last year.

I completed my first triathlon today - the Edinburgh New Year's Day Triathlon - 8 laps (400m) of the Commonwealth Pool, 3 laps of Holyrood Park on the bike and 1 lap on foot. The weather had calmed down a bit from yesterday's wild winds (which cancelled the Hogmanay street party) but it was still barely above 0 degrees and windy and wet. Still, you can't expect much better in Scotland in January. The worst of the rain was earlier on when the kids raced - good for them, they just got on with it. How come children don't feel the cold? Becky was feeling a bit peaky this morning, so she and Emily didn't come down to watch, which was a shame. It was cold though and would probably have been a bit miserable hanging about in the park to watch. My brother and his girlfriend came along, which was good of them. A wee bit of moral support is always welcome. The start time was delayed about 25 minutes and that, combined with getting there early (to get a parking place) meant a lot of hanging about, soaking in the pre-match atmosphere (and getting a bit nervous). My start was delayed to about 1:40 and I lined up for the swim along with others of my (theoretical) swimming speed. The slowest swimmers started first (after the Elites and the Edinburgh Triathletes). I was probably about midway through the field. The swim was a bit odd because of the numbers of swimmers (400) and the length of the pool (50m). Swimmers swam up one lane and down the next and so on, until a 8 lanes had been swum. After starting, I was quickly overtaken by the chap behind me, who then slowed down and prevented my from re-taking him. I was swimming breast stroke (not enough front crawl miles) and he was swimming crawl but I kept up with him with little problem. My swim time was under 10 minutes, which was a bit slower than I'd have liked but I got it done. I was a wee bit breathless after the swim and my transition was a bit slow - my road bike shoes can be a bit awkward to get on - I wore socks too because it was cold and I have a chafed heel. I battered into the cycle and started to pass a lot of riders. It was a wee bit like shooting fish in a barrel and wasn't particularly satisfying overtaking competitors on mountain bikes and tourers. Still, it was quite fun. The bike course was tough, since there wasn't really anywhere to take a breather. The first big downhill to Holyrood Palace was quick but it didn't last long before the steep climb up to the loch. My heart rate was out of control by this point, so I had to back off a bit. Then the course turned around the back of the hill and right into the teeth of the wind. It was like riding into a wind tunnel. As well as slowing everyone down, it also meant that a lot of energy had to be expended at a point in the course which should have been fast and easy. 3 laps down and I passed a lot of riders but only got passed a couple of times myself, which was pretty acceptable. Again, my time was slower than I'd hoped but a lot of that could have been down to the wind (as well as my lack of speed). After another slow-ish transition, it was off on the run. My legs were not happy with the switch and nearly stopped on the little rise up into the park. By the time I found my running legs, it was time to hit the hill for the last time and when that was over with, it was time to run into the wind. Hard work. Again, I passed a few runners but about 4 or 5 passed me. Not too bad - I need to do some speed work this winter. I managed a bit of a sprint (after the last little climb up to the pool) to the finish and my final time was about 1 hour and 23 minutes. Overall, about 5-10 minutes slower than I'd hoped for but considering the wind, not too bad. Once the results are published, I'll know how much of that was down to me and how much was down to the conditions. It was a good, friendly event. The chap I spoke whilst queuing for registration on Sunday (Paul Saddler) gave me a nice bit of encouragement when he rode past me at the end of my run. I've no idea how he recognised me from behind. Thanks, Paul (top 20, well done). Thanks too, to Chris and Fiona for hanging around 'til the end to congratulate me. They were rewarded with a lift home, though. My next triathlon isn't until May, so I've plenty of time to get faster and fitter. I think I'm going to enjoy being a triathlete, even if it is pretty hard. Update: 87th out of 345 entries and 317 finishers (there were 7 teams in front of me, so I was 80th individual). I managed 38th on the bike (35th since a couple of people seem to have missed a lap), which isn't too bad but a summer of marathon training has left me short of speed and I was way down the run field (138th). I probably overcooked the bike too, which slowed my running down. If I'd had quicker transitions, I could have been much further up - 20 places quite easily. Lesson learned. I'll be getting triathlon shoes with my new bike, so that'll save some time. Plus, there won't usually be the need to mess with jackets, gloves and socks. So, reasonable swim (considering I swam breast stroke); good bike; poor run; terrible transitions. I give myself 5 out of 10.

The power went out in the whole of Cardrona last night (great timing) during the bad weather. We're not sure what went wrong but my best guess is that a tree downed an overhead cable.

The lights (and the TV) went out at about 7:30 and the two of us sat in the romantic glow of candlelight until about 10 when it became clear that nothing was going to change. Off to bed we went. Oh well - we didn't have much planned anyway - TV and a wee drink - so we didn't miss out on much.

It was still out when we woke up, which was a bit awkward - the house was cold but we have a gas cooker, so we could sort Emily's breakfast out and make porridge and tea. Power was restored at about 10am, which was just in time - any longer would have been a real pain.

A couple of houses in the village had alarms which went off and stayed on all night. If we had been closer to them, I'd have gone nuts. Small mercies.

So, that's probably been the least eventful New Year's Eve that Becky and I have spent together.