Johnny Hall's Travels and Travails

That was a good day even if it was a tough one for my first multisport event. The Bangcock (email me to find out why it's called that) was a hard duathlon, based around Tinto above Biggar. 2 mile run up and down the hill, followed by a 20 mile cycle round the hill, topped off with run right to the top and back down again. There were only 50 entrants and (being the time of year it is) quite a few less starters. However, because of its timing and toughness, everyone that entered was a serious athlete (unlike me). There were quite a few hill runners too, and that was where large amounts of time could (and was) lost. Unfortunately, I have no running speed at all at the moment, having been marathon training all year, so I didn't push it going up the hill the first time. I probably should have warmed up and then went out harder - I might not have been the second last to start the cycle! I guess it gave me a few to pass on the cycle. I really enjoyed the ride - the conditions were pretty good - not much wind, no rain, not too cold. Time trialling on a road bike can be hard work but I quite enjoyed myself. I think I must have overtaken around 15 on the cycle but a few of those went past me as I fannied about in T2. I was a bit indecisive with my kit selection. I had a little group of about 5 or 6who were ahead of me for about 5 miles who were bunched together,which, truth be told, p*ssed me off a bit, so I was determined to catch them. I did but, as I said, they all passed me in T2. The second run was a bit better for me, since I didn't have to feelbad about not going hard. It was mostly a nice easy jog, or a long stretched out run (advantage of being tall - walking fast up hill is easier for me, doesn't help my running though). I got overtaken by a couple of fell runners on the way down but I was going quite hard so I caught one runner. I'm not sure of my position (1/2 way or a bit lower) but my time was just under 2:09, which was quite a bit better than I had expected. It did confirm to me one thing - I'm a better cyclist than I am a (hill) runner. I'm going to do some speed training this winter in preparation for Lochaber, so hopefully I'll redress the balance a bit. I'm going to do some time trialling this year - it'll be interesting to see if I can get close to the hour for a 25 once I get me new TT bike built. All in all, it was a good event - well organised with a nice goodie bag - beer, cake, discounts and a free lunch. Good to meet a couple of guys from the Tri Talk forums, too - they made me nice and welcome. It's my second multisport event (the NYD triathlon next Monday) but I'm not going to be ready to swim crawl (I'm not relaxed enough yet), so breast stroke it is. Oh well, it's only 400m so I shouldn't lose more than a couple of minutes (and some face). Update: 25th out of 40 starters. 19th on the bike. I think I suffered for my leisurely transitions!

I had to sell the best mountain bike I've ever owned, this week. Unfortunately, now that we're in a bigger house (with a bigger mortgage) and we are a family, rather than a couple, I have to watch what I spend. Becoming an Ironman is proving to be a wee bit expensive - swimming lessons, gym membership, wetsuit, race entries (very hefty for IM) and now, a new time trialling bike. It all adds up, so my Ellsworth Truth had to go. The money will go to a good cause though. It was a lovely bike - it cost me a small fortune ("you could get a car for that!") a few years ago, and it instantly made me a better mountain biker. However, I have had 2 mountain bikes and the other one is newer and a bit more versatile (and heavier, unfortunately). I'll probably decide I want to race mountain bikes in 2008, so I'll have to get another race-oriented full suspension bike!

Yesterday was my third (three hour) lesson at Swimshack. I'm a bit tired now - three hours of swimming is a lot, even if it isn't continuous.

It went well, I think. I seem to have progressed pretty nicely. I had a couple of things that needed to be corrected, so the lesson was timely. My kick was too frantic and was taking a lot of energy, so we worked on that to make it more relaxed. My core rotation wasn't really happening (this has been probably the hardest thing for me to get right) so that needs work. The last big thing I was doing wrong was my recovery, which need to be led by my elbow - I knew this but was getting it wrong.

We also worked on the catch, which we hadn't done before. I now have a nice list of things to work on in order to become a smoother swimmer - kicking, core rotation, elbow-led recovery and a strong catch.

On the positive side, I had a quite a few things that were more or less fine. My aquatic breathing is now comfortable and automatic, my balance is good, particularly now my kick has been altered and my body position is good.

So, lots to work on. I have to be able to swim 400 metres at the New Years Day Triathlon but after that I have a lot of time to work on getting my stroke as close to perfect as I can manage, whilst building up the distance I can swim. (target = 4000 metres).

It's a minor thing really, but I managed a bit of a breakthrough in my swimming technique today when I managed to integrate breathing into my stroke on my onside (right). It was the last (major) piece of the stroke jigsaw and now it means that I am finally able to swim "properly" rather than swimming a few strokes and then having to rotate head up to breathe.

It sounds like it should be relatively simple but it isn't - not if you want to do it properly. I had to learn how to breathe correctly, how to position my head (to ensure that I don't lose balance when I breathe) and finally how to establish a rhythm. Now I have to do the same thing on my offside (left). I'm still some way from perfect but I can now practice, whereas before I was nowhere.

I've still got a long way to go but I can start to build my endurance by swimming longer distances. Normally I'm out of breath after a length because I spend most of it head down - now I'm breathing on every stroke cycle I found that I don't feel as bad at the end of a length.

Apart from trying to improve my stroke and balance, I still need to work on my kick timing and improving my catch, as well as increasing the distance I can swim (in one go). I'm building towards 500m by the end of the year.