I started the week with hill reps again – 8 reps for 8.35km and 277m of ascent (5.2 miles and 910 feet). It’s good to get them out of the way early in the week – then the evening swim doctor session.
The swim session was as hard as ever – for me, 500m of drills as a warm-up rather suggests that it’s not going to be easy. That made for a tough start to the week but my friend and training partner and I agreed that we’d go to the lake for an open-water swim on Tuesday, my first of the year.
The water was about 18°C (64.4℉) and felt fine in the wetsuit. The water was slightly choppy but we swam a kilometre – my friend swam well and I swam badly with much of the technique I’ve tried to learn in the pool deserting me completely. I hope that was down to it being my first taste (literally and metaphorically) of open water for 7+ months – fingers crossed it improves next week.
At least I delivered in full when it came to my total inability to swim in a straight line.
The ultra training plan ramps up to 55km this week, spread over 5 runs, with a longest of 25km. It’s not that I was putting off a longer run but I decided on a shorter one with my wife on Wednesday – 7.2km (4.5 miles). The excuse reason was that we were out in the evening to see the tribute band ‘Rumours of Fleetwood Mac’.
On the basis that they were introduced by way of a video by Mick Fleetwood, it seemed likely that they were going to be really good – and they were. I know that I’m strange in this but, although I like a lot of types of music, the music I really prefer to see live is opera – but it was a very good evening nevertheless.
With the gym and two swims, I didn’t think the 5 runs in the training plan was a great idea so (probably a worse idea) I decided to try to do the distance in 4 runs. I set off on a long slow run on a warm Thursday to try to break the back of the remaining 40km.
It was a foolish attempt as I’d not eaten well on Wednesday, had a late night and didn’t prepare on the Thursday morning. Despite that, I ran two large loops which did at least mean I got a drink and a gel after 19km – and I pushed on to just over 32km (20 miles). I lost 2.5kg (5.5 pounds) during the course of the run – insufficient fluids, and I need to be more sensible.
Friday was, as ever, the gym and then my stint in the charity bike shop. I was very grateful that my current emphasis in the gym is with arms, shoulders and core – the legs would not have been keen to play. Oh yes, inevitably, later some mowing.
Laps of the old hill fort at Badbury Clump on Saturday morning, plus a couple of reps of the usual hill. A run of just over 12.5km (7.8 miles) to make it a little more than 60km for the week. Later (you guessed it) more mowing.
I felt pretty good on Sunday but I knew a rest day would do me more good that any training. I drove up to London (because we had been contacted by some other flat owners in the building about possible drain issues) and even managed to resist the temptation of going for a run along the Thames Path, one of my favourite routes.
Happily, the drains seem to be sorted but in any event we were completely unaffected by any problems there might have been. An evening out with friends to look forward to now, a great way to round off a week.
100k corner (an occasional place for ultra news, worries and plans)
The ultra marathon training plan has a cut-back week next week – that’s handy as my first triathlon of 2022 is next Sunday. I’ll do the 25km of running in three outings (including the triathlon itself), swim twice and reintroduce myself to the bike.
| Week | Event’s training plan (km) | My actual (km) |
| 13 (of 20) | 55 | 60 |
| Cumulative total | 449 | 559 |
Interesting stuff this week
1. African wise words: Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand
2. BBC News website: Bottle of scotch to sell for well over £1 million at auction
The 32-year-old Macallan is the biggest bottle of scotch in the world, and expected to become the most expensive. It holds more than three times as much liquid as an average bath, around 100 litres or 444 standard bottles.
3. BBC News website: Couple sue son and his wife for not giving them a grandchild
Sanjeev and Sadhana Prasad used their savings raising their son, paying for his pilot’s training, a lavish wedding and his honeymoon. Now, they say, either they are given a grandchild or are repaid $650,000 (£525,000).
“In India, marriages are between families and not just a couple,” explained an Indian social anthropologist.
4. BBC News website: Big moment for Nasa’s Perseverance rover
The rover made its spectacular landing in the middle of Mars’ Jezero Crater in February 2021. Since then it’s been testing its tools and instruments, flying a mini-helicopter, and gathering a general impression of its surroundings.
Tuesday saw the six-wheeled robot begin the climb up an ancient delta feature in the crater where it landed. It will stop to examine rocks and, on its way back down, will collect some of the rocks, placing the samples at the base of the delta to be retrieved by later missions in the 2030s, for detailed inspection.
Hard to believe it’s been there over a year. Our local authority is considering levying parking charges on Mars.
5. BBC News website: History made on stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia
On stage 10 of the Giro, Eritrean rider Biniam Girmay, making his Grand Tour debut at the race, made history as he became the first black African winner of a Grand Tour stage. The 22-year-old beat Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel in a sprint for the line.
Chapeau!
Post script – Sadly, he had to go to hospital after popping a prosecco cork into his left eye while celebrating on the podium. He returned to enjoy the victory with his team-mates, but was unable to make the start the following morning.
(an Old Man in Lycra) 
Looks like, despite the wiggly lines swimming, the training is going well. I’ve had a complete fail of a week while in Norfolk, but enjoyed it! Good luck in the Triathlon.
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Thank you. Good luck too with the assignment for the university.
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I’m glad to see now that the great sporting injury was not, after all, yours. Never mind about the open water swimming. Swimming is, as we know, all about breathing and not drowning, so if your number of entrances into the water equals the number of exits, we’re all good. Swimming in a straight line is for unbearable show-offs. Ignore them. But do factor in that you are essentially training for two events, and don’t be surprised if the body has an occasional work to rule.
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You’re right – and I always need to remind myself that still being able to do this stuff at all is the real win. I can handle the work to rule, it’s the coming out on strike that’s the concern.
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Yep. The trick is to take it as far as possible industrial action that is headed off at the pass with full and frank discussions, followed by a few days off and lots of hot chocolate.
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