Archive for March, 2007
March 25, 2007 at 16:24 · Filed under life
To make up for Saturday’s laziness, we enjoyed some amazing sun and went for our long run of the week. On the menu for Harriet, 14 kilometers, the farthest she has ever run before. On my menu, an apparently comfortable 18km.
I left the house, and headed straight up the “hill” from Nyon all the way up to Trelex. I made it to Trelex and looked up the hill and made a split second decision to continue going up! Next stop, Givrins. Of course, I started out the long way to Givrins, so had to cut back. It felt great challenging myself to go harder than I had previously planned. After getting to Givrins, I shot back down the hill towards Dullier and then around Prangin’s local ‘airport’ to the Plage de Promothoux and then home via the Chateau de Prangins. I looked at my watch and decided I would not be going further than 1:30:00. I kicked it in the final 1200m, and felt strong at the end. Came home and measured everything on www.gmap-pedometer.com and to my surprise, I hit 20km exactly. Whoo hoo.
Harriet joined me a few minutes later, having stopped about 300m earlier as per her running schedule. She finished in good form and we celebrated each other’s successes.
If you are interested my the route, check out http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=800177
Spring is coming back. Thank God.
March 13, 2007 at 12:17 · Filed under life
Week 1 of training is complete!
I really enjoyed myself, even though the wind was absolutely rediculous towards the end of the week. I went for a bike ride on Sunday and had to push HARD to propel myself forward at even a mediocre pace. La Bise was in full effect. On Saturday, I did 14km of which the first 12 were all seemingly into the wind. I love how ‘mother nature’ seems to play with you. If you turn north, the wind is blowing from the north. If you turn south, of course, its blowing from the south, and finally, if you turn east, you betcha, its blowing straight into your face! (that was my recent experience!) I have also enjoyed getting back into the weight room once a week, and am looking forward to my second session this afternoon.
The family is really enjoying the spring weather, and the amazing sun we have had now for the past four days! Harriet is in full training for her half-marathon on 6 May, and yesterday, completed her longest run ever, of 1:10mns!!! I was extremely proud of her. Her knees aren’t, yet.
LABELME is moving forward, with several tutors now trained and ready to go, and more potential clients almost every week. We are so grateful to everyone who has put in time and effort to make this what it is becoming! Otherwise, we are busy being busy. Love to all. S.
March 6, 2007 at 23:47 · Filed under life
Swiss life is so exciting. Yesterday, I got down to business planning my triathlon training season. I focused on four key elements: 1. My goals, 2. My strengths and weaknesses, 3. key races, and 4. periodisation.
You can take a look at my season here.
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My main goals for 2007 are:
- To run 1:05 in a sprint triathlon. (I did 1:02 in Zug a few years back, but the swim course was only 450m)
- To run 1:24:59 in a half-marathon. It would obviously have to be a flat course, and hope to hit that in October in Lausanne.
- To (finally) go sub 2:10 in an Olympic distance triathlon, either Zug or Geneva this year. I hope to be in the right shape to accomplish this by mid June. This may be an unacheivable goal for 2007, but I like to set the bar high.
My weaknesses are:
- Bike base/pace
- Running well off the bike
Consequently, these are the two things I will be working, focusing on getting in the mileage on the bike, and making sure I am doing at least 1 brick a week.
My key races this year are organised in “Priorities A, B,C, and D”. My main races are Zug and Geneva, with my secondary races being Preverenges and Vallee des Joux. See www.datasport.ch for info on these races.
Finally, I have made an initial attempt at periodising my training with an increasing 3 week structure and then 1 week off. This will coincide with the different phases of my training, categorised as base, strength, race prep and race. (in base training, emphasis is put on miles, and building aerobic capacity. In strength portion, the emphasis is put on building power, and shorter intervals and increasing oxygen consumption. In race, prep, the emphasis is on longer intervals and bricks, and finally, in the race part, its all about working specific areas and maintaining what I have built up since the beginning of the season.
I hope this is encouraging to some of you who might be considering triathlon this year but aren’t sure how to proceed!
