Still aching a little across the arms and shoulders from Saturday’s obstacle race, I gave the swimming a miss on Monday but got on the turbo – 30 minutes @29.6kph. I also have slightly sore ribs. Saturday’s race included a zip wire across a lake and I was rather over-zealous with ‘lift the legs to go further and faster’ and careered into the tyres on the far bank, having largely missed out on the braking effect of legs in the water.
The other thing I did on Monday was to enter (along with my friend and training partner) the half ironman race in July.
Tuesday morning I took the car to the garage to get the wheels with the winter tyres swapped out (I hope I’m not being too hasty) and to get a sensor checked – clouds of dust from many miles on a newly gritted road on Saturday must have gunged something up, judging by the Christmas tree of dashboard warning lights. A slightly sore calf, so no running but 30 minutes on the turbo later @28.4kph.
Soon after my wife recovered (we hope) from her bad knee, I shared my man-flu with her. To get her back into running we did a gentle village loop on Wednesday, then I did a second loop – just 7km. I’m still on three handkerchiefs a day and coughing up muck. Later up to London for various errands.
Thursday started with an hour in the gym, followed by a visit to a fete, with a plant sale, in the neighbouring village (and then the planting of the many plants we purchased).
Part of the aim to get to the gym on Thursday was to be able to go into the bike shop earlier on Friday to work on one of my own bikes that needed new brakes/shifters fitting, recabling and a puncture fixed. It’s ironic that the more I work on other people’s bikes at the shop, the less I work on my own. After that, I mowed all the grass.
On Saturday, I did some tidying in the house ahead of friends coming on Sunday and then shifted a large pile of rubble – very hard work. I thought that was going to be me done for the day but the weather was good so I got the road bike out – the first time since Ambleside last October (and, yes, neither it nor my cycling shoes had been cleaned). A fairly gentle loop of just 33km but the bike works and I haven’t forgotten how to ride it – but, my goodness, the state of the roads is bad.
My wife’s knee had not reacted to Wednesday’s run so we ran again early on Sunday morning – a gentle 3.8km. Later I’m off to the bike park to take another children’s cycling session. In the evening we have friends for supper and to watch the final episode of the first series of ‘Vigil’. Really looking forward to it.
(Half) Ironman angst
Unkindly, the race has cut-off times: swim – 1 hour 10 minutes (with 10 minutes to get out of transition and on to the bike); bike – 5 hours 20 minutes after the race start; run – 9 hours after the race start.
As the first (and probably most concerning) cut-off, the swim needs some focus. My two open water triathlon swims (of only 750m) suggest a bit under 50 minutes for 1.9k (assuming I can maintain the speed). It’s possible but little margin for error.
A lot of training is needed in the 10 weeks available. I haven’t found any training plan that is as short as 10 weeks and I do not see myself devoting the time and effort required for even a 16 week plan. I may be in trouble here – but, happily, I have no targets beyond completing the event.
Interesting stuff this week
1. African wise words: Rising early makes the road short
2. BBC News website: The truth, some of the truth and an approximation of the truth
Developers of the upcoming Marvel Rivals game have apologised after content creators were told they could not give it negative reviews and were asked to sign a “non-disparagement” clause in a contract with the developers.
It said gamers agreed not to make any public statements that could be detrimental to the game’s reputation, such as a negative review, “belittling” gameplay or making “disparaging or satirical comments”.
Following the backlash, Marvel Rivals said it was sorry for the “confusion, suspicion, and frustration caused by these excessively restrictive terms”.
3. BBC News website: Run it up the flag pole and see who salutes
The heads of the Tunisian swimming federation and the national anti-doping agency and seven other sports officials have been arrested after the President reacted with fury to the absence of the national flag at a swimming competition on Friday.
The World Anti-Doping Agency had banned the Tunisian flag from competitions, and it was covered on Friday during a championship organised by the national swimming federation. Hours after the incident, the President visited the pool, raised the flag and sang the national anthem.
Calling the flag-covering an “act of aggression”, he said: “Tunisia cannot tolerate this.”
4. BBC News website: When the chips are (not) down
Shares in the Silicon Valley firm Nvidia rose more than 4% in morning trade on Friday, meaning its market value touched $2tn (£1.58tn). The company became worth $1tn less than a year ago, and now ranks as the world’s fourth most valuable publicly traded company, behind Microsoft, Apple and Saudi Aramco.
The company is benefiting from advances in artificial intelligence (AI), which have powered demand for its chips. Turnover at the firm more than doubled last year to more than $60bn, and boss Jensen Huang told investors this week that demand was “surging” around the world.
5. BBC News website: …and on a slightly less hi-tech note
Each day, a member of a spiritual group that runs a small ashram (a religious retreat) in a village in the north-western India collects around 50kg (eight stone) of fresh cow dung.
Once collected, the cow dung is mixed with water and put in the bioreactor, where it produces enough methane for the ashram’s kitchen. Installed in March, it has replaced the 20 litres of natural gas that the ashram used to buy every month.
8 stone of cow dung per day, wow
6. BBC News website: Here come the brides?
The planned mass wedding of about 100 orphans has sparked widespread outrage across Nigeria. The orphans, some of whom are feared to be underage girls, are set to be married off on 24 May in the north-western state of Niger. They have all lost parents to attacks by armed bandits, who regularly target civilians across the state.
Nigeria’s Women’s Affairs Minister has filed a court order to stop the ceremony, expressing concern that some girls may be younger than 18, or being forced to comply for financial gain. The Minister said the girls “deserve better” and that her department was looking into who the 100 girls are, their ages and whether they consented to the marriage.