Week 1 Triathlon Training

I’ve bitten the bullet and joined my local DW Fitness so I can use the swimming pool. So far so good, it’s not the cleanest but it’s much better than the public swimming pool.

This week there are 6 training sessions timetabled for the first week all of which I think are achievable. Today is Wednesday and I’ve completed two swims and a run so far. My arms and elbows are aching from the swimming but I have quite enjoyed getting into the pool and doing a few laps. There isn’t another swim scheduled until next Monday so that will give me a few days to recover. Towards the end of my swim a couple started walking up and down in the swimming lane as I was trying to do my cool down ….. grrrrrrr …….one of my pet hates!

I did a 5k run in monsoon conditions with The Sweatshop Running Community on Monday evening, it was more like a swim in fact and I had to wring out my clothes when I got home but it was actually enjoyable.

Anyone out there who is thinking about starting running I highly recommend the SRC beginners group, it’s free and a great way to get into running. There are Sweatshops all over the country, have a look here : http://www.sweatshop.co.uk/stores

I’m hopefully going to go for another 5k run with the SRC social group tonight. I’ll let you know how that goes ……

The Wednesday night run was another wet one but despite this I achieved my quickest time for the route we ran. I think I just wanted to get out of the rain as fast as possible which made me run at warp speed (for me!).

I had a rest day on Thursday and did another swim on Friday. Saturday mornings these days generally involves going to Parkrun at Willen Lake in Milton Keynes and this week was no exception. Really enjoyed the run and as soon as I got home I went out for a sixty minute bike ride even though it was blowing a gale.

Sunday was another day of rest, naughty but nice 🙂

My Strava summary for the week was :-

Onwards and upwards 🙂

Following the Program

After our first couple of runs it became apparent that our trainers/sneakers that we had found in the back of the wardrobe were not really up to the job. We were both suffering with sore feet and knees!

Off we went to Sweatshop in Milton Keynes to get kitted out in some proper running shoes. After having our gaits analysed – the husband is a neutral runner and I under pronate apparently! We were given a selection of shoes to try, I opted for some Mizuno Wave Connects and the husband went for some Brooks Glycerin.

Yay, we had proper shoes and then the shop assistant told us about The Sweatshop Running Community, SRC. They run four times a week, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. You register on-line and fill in a disclaimer in store the first time you run and off you go. We joined in with a beginners group who were about half way through a zero to 5k program. We were hooked from our very first outing with SRC, such a friendly bunch of people, we soon made friends.

Around about this time we decided that we needed a goal to aim for and a commitment we couldn’t renege on to insure we didn’t give up. Oh I thought, how about the London Duathlon for Macmillan Cancer Support on September 14th, we could opt for the Super Sprint distance of 5k run, 11k bike, 5k run. An achievable challenge if we put the training in and for a good cause as well.

We followed the Run Double program and got to the end of it, it works! Whoop, whoop, I’ve gone from staggering through a 60 second run to now being able to run 5ks, I never thought I would be able to do it and it just shows what a bit of perseverance can achieve. I’ve also graduated from the Sweatshop beginners group into the improvers group and have my free yellow Adidas Sweatshop Running Top which I am always proud to wear.

We have also added Parkrun to our weekly training schedule. http://www.parkrun.org.uk/

Parkrun organise free, weekly, 5km timed runs around the world. They are open to everyone, free, and are safe and easy to take part in.

These events take place in pleasant parkland surroundings and they encourage people of every ability to take part; from those taking their first steps in running to Olympians; from juniors to those with more experience; everyone is welcome.

Milton Keynes Parkrun takes place at 9am at Willen Lake on a Saturday. It’s free, well orgainised and super friendly. I like volunteering for it as much as I like running it.