In hot water.

The heating is back on!!! Last night I had my first bath in nearly two weeks (in this house annyway) and this morning I didn't risk hypothermia just getting out of bed.

I'm feeling a little bit under the weather at the moment and so last night and this morning I only ran 1.5 miles. Nothing serious, I just don't want to make it any worse.

Bike fixing day.

Other than mopping out the cellar this morning, after a frozen waste pipe caused the washing machine to back-up, today was mostly spent fixing bikes.

• I tightened up the chain on my motorbike.
• I fit new brake pads, replaced a cable and straightened the rear mech on my Slayer. The cable had pulled through the bosses and was causing the mech to move with the suspension. The most noticeable effects of this were an inability to switch into the lowest gear and the mech interfering with the spokes.
• Straightened the rear mech on my winter training bike. I rode this bike only twice after getting knocked off it last summer and the main reason was because the shifting was messed up.
• Tightend up the crank arm bolts on my tandem (all four of them). They were creaking horribly last time we went out on it.

With the winter training bike fixed I put it on my turbo trainer and did a 30 minute session immediately before I went for run.

Longish run.

After tiling for most of the day I managed to get out for an 8 mile run just before the sun went down. I took a few snaps with my phone which I've uploaded. One of the sun disappering below the horizon, some cattle in the Duke of Portland's flood meadows, Clipstone Colliery - almost completely demolished now except for the headstocks and finally a frozen lake.
I ran in my fell running shoes because my normal trainers are still wet from a run last weekend on a Welsh mountain, no heating makes it had to dry stuff. The fell shoes have next to no cushioning and by the end of the run I felt like I'd run a marathon. Hopefully, I'll get out on one of my bikes tomorrow...

Tiling.

Spent most of my day sticking tiles to the wall. Much easier than I expected.

Gym Again.

Earlier this year I tried to use the gym but it was so full of people trying to burn off hristmas that I turned around and went for a run instead. On Monday night I tried again and on this occassion I was actually able to get a workout in!

On Tuesday I did an early morning 3-miler and backed it up with 2000 slow metres in the pool. This morning I've done the same 3 mile run and will have to wait to see what the Tri-Club has in store for me this evening at the pool.

Review of Annual Goals.

At the start of this month I thought that I should briefly review the goals I set at the start of the year.

Firstly, I decided to look at what I had actually been spending my time doing and what has been working for me.

• Running everyday.
• Blogging regularly.
• Focusing on the Ironman and looking forward to the training ramping up.
• Practicing the guitar when I can.
• Riding my motorbike to work when the weather is right.
• Revising for the motorcycle theory test.
• Watching my diet.
• Getting more sleep (7-8 hours).
• Preparing the garden to grow veg.

There is no mention of side projects or learning new technologies and if I'm honest with myself that sort of thing is difficult to fit in when you've recently moved house and are attempting to train for an Ironman. The technology goals were borne out of a desire to be more effective in my day job, but on reflection that will be better served by being more relaxed and less stressed about trying to fit everything in. Being fit, healthy and not too tired will also help me get through the work day. I've been really enjoying squeezing in a little guitar practice and whether or not I eventually start advertising as a teacher I will try to play more. I've been eating better but most of the food was quite simple such as meat or fish with a green salad. I think sleep is really important too and so getting enough will be a new goal.

Secondly, based on how things are going I'll write revised goals (less detail this time unless there's a major change).

Sport

• Ironman UK
• Performance Testing
• Run Everyday
• Keep a training log
• Low racing weight for Ironman.
• Get 7-8 hours of sleep most nights - Sometimes this won't be possible but I'll try hard.
  

Life

• Keep up wedding fund
• Blog 'nearly' everyday
• Grow some veg
• Continue to eat a healthy diet - as opposed to cook more. Note : I bet Ann-Marie that I would eat no chocolate until after the Ironman!
  
• Play the guitar more often - as opposed to teach guitar.
• Watch Less TV
• Sort out our new house - tiling next weekend, and finish off the amateur carpentry I started in our bedroom.

Learning

• Pass my motorcycle test - the theory test is booked for early March.
• Learn some Greek - not yet started, nearer the time for this one.

Hopefully, I've made my goals a little more achievable. We'll see.

Another morning in the stone age house...

Still no heating or hot water. It's so cold this morning that our cat has wedged himself between my leg and the laptop to keep warm. He's going to be almost as disappointed as I will be when I have to get up for my strip wash.

Cwm Carn

Today I went to Cwm Carn in South Wales, it's only 15 minutes from where we were staying at Ann-Marie's mums house, and home to some pretty hard core mountain biking. It's the first time that I've used my mountain bike since October last year and unfortunately it wouldn't go into the lower gears which is an issue when you're dealing with the Twrch trail which begins with a massive climb. After much frustration going up, and a maximum heart rate of 183 bpm, I hit the descent with relish. There are some amazing bermed sections of singletrack and a few rocky bits, although no Coed-y-Brenin style rock gardens. The route is only 15 km so if I hadn't struggled so much with the climb I would have probably gone around twice. I followed the ride with a quick run but because I was at the bottom of a valley it was inevitably uphill. I always forget how battered I feel after a tough mountain bike ride, it's a true full body workout.

Stone Age

Our lives are in dis-array at the moment because our central heating boiler, serviced by British Gas not three months ago, has just been condemned by the very same. That means no hot water or heating for ten days at least. This can be added to the growing list of disasters which have befallen our new house including our bathroom fitter buggering off on holiday for a month having only fitted half the bathroom and our plasterer getting knocked off his bike a couple of days before he was due to start work. I went running this morning so that afterwards I would feel warmer during my 'character building' strip wash.

Other than that bombshell it been a fairly quiet week mostly recovering from the half marathon last weekend. This weekend I'm off to South Wales to look at wedding venues and so I should get some quality mountain biking done while I'm there. Cwm Carm or Afan Argoed? Decisions, decisions....

Watford Half

This morning I made my annual pilgrimage to Watford in Hertfordshire for the Watford Half Marathon. It's a tough undulating course but it's where I got my half P.B. back in 2004. Since then I've got gradually slower until this year when I finally saw some improvement and got a 1:48. I started off running eight and a half minute miles and then waited for the slow down but it never came. In fact when I got to the halfway point I felt pretty good and went for a negative split. That's the hardest I've run in years.

Snow & Panic

This morning when I poked my head out of the front door to check for motorcycling suitability the only reason I didn't get on the bike was the wind. It wasn't too cold, there was no rain, snow or even a frost. Then it all changed! The three pictures above were taken over the space of a couple of minutes. My usual route that skirts around the outside of Nottingham was blocked and so I turned around and braved the city centre traffic. It was a good call as it was all blue skies and flowing traffic. The 'city folk' had no idea what was happening a few miles outside of the city limits. I saw several abandoned cars, the aftermath of a crash and lots of emergency vehicles heading in the opposite direction and all because of a few minutes of heavy snow. The picture below is the view from my office window when I got to work - there's a little cloud but the sun is bright. Hopefully, we'll have no more snow until tomorrow when I can take advantage of it with some slippy mountain bike action!!!