Bike to work!

Yes it is more commuter madness on the bike for me. I am trying to ride my bike into work everyday this week while the weather is nice.
It is very handy way to get some mile in that does not impact much of your day. As some of you know already i live 12-13 miles from work. It takes me 25 mins to drive to work and about 40 mins to ride my bike to work. So not much of a difference! It also is a super great De tresser on the way home after work.
I have still been getting my runs in to. This morning i ran for just under an hour. Took my shower then rode my bike gently to work so i would not get too sweaty. I will ride it hard on the way home when i can get a little more messed up.

Tomorrow will be a little more challenging as i have a swim workout planned. So i can ride to the YMCA do my swim and hopefully shower and carry on to work. I do have a group ride after work tomorrow i hope to go on so it could mean a whole Lotta miles tomorrow:)

After coming off the Half Iron Man i am deciding what to do next. Well i think i found it. There is a 94mile bike race i am hoping to enter called 'Race around the lake'. It takes you right around lake Winnebago in Wisconsin. Sounds like allot of fun. I am not going to set any speed records it will be more about fun.

Here is a link  http://www.midwestsportsevents.com/racethelake.html

On July 4th i am in a 5k with my family http://www.foxtriclub.com/fox5k/index.htm
I am walking it as my 8yr old and wife are in it. So i want to be there for them to have fun and encouarge them. It is a great event they have parachuters come in and it is put on my my Triathlon Club.

Have a happy and safe July 4th!! (Weird thing to say coming from a Red Coat British guy)

Victories are won every day.

Firstly i wanted to thank all the people that wished me well and the kind words from all of you on my blog and on twitter. It means ALOT to me to get those comments!!!! Below is me on the left about 4-5 years ago before i got started. I think i actually gained weight after this picture to. It pains me to put it up here but it is to encourage others.

I feel a little weird after finishing the Half Ironman. It was a huge accomplishment to do it but the victories come everyday for me. I remember finishing my first ever 5k running race in about 45 mins and that was EVERY bit as huge as this race for me. Going from 440LBS you feel like it is hopeless to even try and put goals in your head to try and hit. It is everyday out there training that makes the biggest difference.
Every time i did not want to get up at 4am to go and slog it out in the pool or on the treadmill, especially being so overweight in the beginning. That is were the real victories are. The crowds cheering at a race and the people saying they could never do that is one thing but it is just the everyday training where the real victory comes. It seems like yesterday i was doing the Couch to 5k program and a 3 min run was torture.

I feel a little worried that people that are over weight or struggling with there health may put me into a different category now but i a not. Everyday can be a struggle to lose weight and gain in health but you CAN do it.

Some days you will fail. You just have to pick yourself up and keep going. I have had many many excuses not to be able to exercise on any day. I travel for work allot, i have a busy family that need me home, i have to work long hours in the office, i have to go out on business dinners etc...It can all be overcome.

Yes people will think your weird for getting up at 4am or going out to run or walk at 9pm while everyone else is sleeping or watching the TV but you have a choice. Do not let the big corporation of this country mold you into what makes them allot of money.

Also.
As i do triathlons and I watch the equipment people use. Now please do not get me wrong, if you have 2000-5000 to spend on a bike absolutely do it. Way better to spend it on something that makes you fit and you enjoy it every time you get on it.
But i want you to know not everyone has that kind of money. Me being one of them. My road bike cost $675 brand new. That is extremely entry level for a road bike. It handled the Half Iron Man just fine and i am sure it could handle a full Iron man too.
Could i have gone maybe 5 mins faster with a mid level $2500-$3000 bike? Yes probably but who cares! I just want to be able to this.
I am shifting my thinking away from setting Personal Best and placing in my age group to actually enjoying myself, getting healthy and losing weight.
I am almost sure Lance Armstrong could bet the winner of the race on my bike no problem.
I still have a way to go in my Endurance but i know there is always going to be someone faster and better than me.

Also i want you to know that in no way do i feel any less excited about someone finishing there first 5k or even there first mile run. If your goal is to do a 5k i am with you all the way!!!

I now have a whole new respect for anyone that can finish an Ironman too! That is a long time to be out there on the course. The pain doing that race was extreme. Even though i paced myself as slow as i could in the swim and cycle there was no way i was going to get around the pain of the run. I kept thinking about my wife and kids and dedicating the race to them. I want to be an example to them and show that you do not just have to fit in to the bad health lifestyle the corp bigwigs want you in. Even though they could not be there that day they were with me.

What is next?

I am not exactly sure. I have signed all 4 of us up for a 5k on the 4th of July. There is a local Triathlon (Sprint) in the town i live in i may do. In August there is a 94mile bike race i think i would like to get in on also.

I have been thinking about doing a Self supported Half Iron man, using my house for the drink station also. Ragnar Relay interests me as i would like to be part of a team.

If...big IF...i think i could do the training then Ironman Wisconsin in 2011 would be a huge goal. I am just afraid the training will take me too far away from my family duties.

Half Iron Man Report

Where to begin?

Pre Race

I got up at 2.45am after not getting to much sleep. Luckily i know for experience the night before a big race is going to bad for me so the night before that i try to get extra sleep. I still had a balloon i wanted to pick up and some kind of bar i could eat on the bike portion. I picked up an Elmo Balloon and a South Beach Bar. I also grabbed some flip flops that i could trash if i need to (they were $2).

The park charges $7 to park your car and you can just park outside the park and walk/bike the mile or 2 in but i had no idea how i would feel afterwards so i paid my money. Last year i did the sprint here so i knew how it worked. My car was parked by 5.30 am and the race was due to start at 7am. I headed over to packet pickup right away as i did not have a chance to do it the day before.

 I took my time using the bathroom as i knew the line would be huge later as it was last year. Hear is picture of the line at about 6.25am way way after i had been there and there was no line!

I got my transition set up and used the tricks i had learned before. This is a big race so it is hard to find your bike when you come in. This is where the Elmo Balloon comes in VERY handy. A guy near me was doing the sprint and it was his first. He asked me about pinning on the race number and if he was doing it right. I had my spare race belt and i gave for him to use and told him how much easier this would make it for him. I always bring spare things for just such an event. I normally bring a spare bike helmet, spare swim cap and spare goggles in case someone around me has forgot. Here is a picture of my bike set up and a general pic of transition.

After i got that done i took a walk around. There was a free Yoga for runners class going on that i was tempted to join however not ever having done yoga before i chickened out fearing i would look like a complete fool. See below picture.

I took a walk around to try and find anyone i knew that was doing it. I found absolutely no one. Either they were all hiding from me or there was just too many people here to find them. So i was on my own for this day. I did get a few shoots of the area that were kind of nice.

The weather was predicted to be windy and 75-80F with lots of Sun. Sure enough you could feel allot of wind already. The swim is in the biggest lake in Wisconsin (94 miles around) it it was getting allot of chop. The waves were 3-4 feet high. I tried to capture them on my camera but it was kind of difficult. Here is the swim area.

You can see some of the waves above. The temperature was not that cold but i did not measure it. At 6.50am transition close and i moved down the the swim start in my full wetsuit (thank you wetsuitrentals.com!)

The Swim

I was in wave 5 and the first wave went promptly at 7am and the played the national anthem. Watching my heart rate monitor i saw my HR get up to 85 and i was just standing still! I closed my eyes and focused on getting it down. Relax..you going to be OK. I wondered how i would deal with those high waves. I found someone to help my zip up the back of my wetsuit. I was looking around as the waves went in but still i could not find anyone i knew. I had worn my $2 flip flop down to the shore and talk them off and set them to the side when as i was about to start. Then i was up.

The start was very surreal. I could wade for a good bit in the water and felt like i was walking along. I knew this was going to be the start to a very long day. The waves were 4  feet now sometimes. As i got to the swim position i settled into my stroke. Sighting was difficult as the buoys would disappear with the high waves. You almost had to swim in a 45 degree direction to where you wanted to go as the waves kept sweeping you in. I was SO glad i had done all that swim training as i felt strong and my pace felt good. There were times i would bump into people but nothing major. Allot of the times i just followed people and let them sight hoping 10-20 of us were not of course! I had used ear plugs as i hate the water going in my ears and also had found this would make you less dizzy.

I had meant to take off my wedding ring but had forgot. It has been getting loose lately but it is not worth sizing as it was pretty cheap. It is not the ring i got married with and i think it cost me $26. It kept slipping down my finger and i would have to move it back up. Sure enough half way through i felt it fly off. No big deal, i told myself this is not bad luck just bad planning. So now it is on the bottom of lake Winnebago some where. I have to get a new one anyway. I felt OK in the swim but thought all these waves are going to make my time very slow. It is one big loop and when i got back out i looked at my timer and it was at 30mins!!! Wow i fully expected it to take 45mins on a good day! YES! There were wetsuit strippers to help me get my suit off in no time, then a run up the hill. I was worried about my suit getting stuck on my timing chip so i took it off before they stripped me, then slipped it back on. I had been intending to hide a dollar bill somewhere to tip them but i had forgot that too. I just wanted to see if they would be shocked. So the extra time here include the run up the hill and the suit strippers helping me.

Actual swim time : 31:42.5

T1

Not bad really, the thing i struggle with here is always getting socks on my wet feet. So i had put talc powder (baby powder) in my socks already and i dropped some on my feet to. This works great. Helmet on shoes on and go. No need to put a jersey on or arm warmers today!! I had strapped my cycling cloves on to my handle bars so i could put them on later. It was a long transition area so it took my a little while to run through it. I ran in my bike shoes and it is a grassy area.

Total T1 time : 3:02.2

Bike

I knew the first thing on the bike is the huge climb. I was not going for any hill climb records here so i took my time on this climb. The winds were 10-20mph and when they were behind you it felt super fast. Of course experience has taught me riding the other way is coming! The ride was good, i passed by allot of people as i had got out the swim so fast. No problem. I took it easy keeping my HR at 140BPM. It was sunny but the wind made it feel just right. I ate my first gel at 30 minutes in then i would drink every 30 mins and Nathans electrolytes every 30 mins. Had my second gel 1 hour after the first. They had places on the course you could grab bottles of water or Gatorade from them and toss you old ones. I didn't know they would be doing this as this is my first Half Ironman.

In my head i would just concentrate on how long was my next feeding or drinking interval. I also made sure i had fun! I was thinking i have been training for a whole 6 months for this one so make sure you enjoy it. I saw cows, horses and very beautiful scenes of the lake.

One fellow had has brake rubbing on his front wheel at mile 5 so i told him how to release it or he was going to get a blowout from the heat of the friction. Then i told him how to shift the whole brake hub over and his rubbing was gone. Told him to be REALLY careful on the heels if he only had a rear brake now.

The course was well marshaled.

I came up upon a woman standing with her bike by the side of the road at mile 9. Asked her if she needed a tube or a tool. Then i noticed she was crying. She said she just wiped out and her saw her leg bleeding a little bit. I told her i would send someone back for her. I felt really bad for her and i wonder if she kept going or not.

I saw one guy pull over ahead of me into the grass and i wondered what he was doing. Well he put down his bike and started to go into the bushes. Wow you see some crazy stuff on these longer distance Triathlons :). When you have to go you have to go.

The only time i stopped was to refill my water bottle at an aid station. I had a good time on the bike. Made sure i enjoyed the scenery and even sang a little.

At mile 7 my right knee was hurting a little bit so i kept my gears light as i did not want to have trouble in the run.

T2

A fast T2. I grabbed some sunscreen and at the aid station i made a volunteer rub some on my shoulders, it was just a free little bottle i had got at another event this year so i did not mind losing it. Sunglasses with my and i am ashamed to admit it because it does not make me sound hardcore but MP3's were allowed on the run so i grabbed my ITouch.

Total T2 time : 3:00.8

(my T1 and T2 were almost exactly the same!)

Run

The run was amazing. All on trails and shaded in the woods mostly. There were sections that were not shaded but they were not too long. I love trail running. I used the long striding method i have been practicing lately and i could not believe how fast i was going when i hit mile markers. I ate a little bit of banana on the run, grabbed some Gatorade here and there but kept a fast pace. The only pain i had i was in my back. My lats were hurting so i need to do allot of pull ups before i do this distance again (if ever). The push ups i have been doing helped me on the bike but i can see i need to get a stronger back to help me on the run. No cramps or anything. I was on pace for my fast 10k time last week. In fact i was breaking my 10k pace. I tried to get my HR down a few times but it was not having it. So i let it go. I could not believe how fast my run was!!!!!

total Run time : 1 Hour 34:13.3.

I do not know if i can ever ever do a run that fast again. My Half Marathons are normally just over 2 hours. The run seemed like a blur to me and i was very worried i would collapse near the end.

The End

I got my medal, and i knew there was no way anyone i knew had hung around after the sprint. So took my time and ate some fruit then packed up. Called my family to let them know i made it then went home. House was empty which was a bit weird but at least i could make a mess and not feel too bad about it.

I started feeling sick and think i defiantly got some heat stroke, a cool shower helped with this a good bit.

My total time was

5hours 34:35.8

I did not place in my age group. I was 44th in men 35-39. I thought i had chosen Clydesdale but i would not have placed there either so no big deal. I got my finishers medal. It feels weird to know i can do that distance.

Just less than 3 years ago now i weighed 440LBS and now i got an Ironman under my belt.

Sorry this one is kind of long. Look for the podcast soon!

Shakin it up

Last night i went mountain biking with one of my good new friends!! I felt really good to shake up my training a little. I have not been proper mountain biking since last year! It was too wet and Muddy to get a really good run on the tree roots and i ended up coming off at one point. Probably not a good RIGHT before my Half Iron Man.

It had rained like crazy all day yesterday and had made the trail very muddy and slick. I totally shocked myself though. There was a 3 foot high log at the end off a down hill that i manage to jump off and i really planted the landing!

It takes a while to build your confidence in mountain biking. Once you realize you can do certain things you can get better at all of it. I had a great time and got my heart rate up really good. I can not wait to go again.

Tonight i am hopefully off on another slowish group ride. Thursday night rides are meant to be slow so it should be gentle. I want to try a headband out when i sweat on the bike as i am having a problem with sweat going in my eyes allot and not being able to see!!

It is freaking me out a little bit that i have not really swam or ran that much because i am meant to be tapering. It makes me feel like i will forget how to do long distance. It is meant to be sunny 79f but windy on Saturday. The wind freaks me out a bit but everyone else will have to deal with it to. Hopefully it is behind me on the way out and switches on my way back!!

A bought an extra bottle cage as i am thinking one bottle might not be enough on the ride. I did find out they are going to have Wet Suit strippers on my HIM!!! Yaaay for that. Tomorrow i will have to take it very easy as my legs are feeling a little tingly today. I may go up and do packet pick up before the race.

Bellin Run report.

Yaaaaaay. Another good run. It was an amazin race. Over 18,000 people joined in! Unbelievable numbers.

I went up there on Friday night to do my packet pick up and do some leaf letting for the upcoming race around the lake and the Oshkosh Triathlon

http://www.midwestsportsevents.com/oshkoshtri.html
http://www.midwestsportsevents.com/racethelake.html

Then i was back the next morning at 5:45am do give out some more leaflets and to get ready. I had put my pace down as 10min miles as with that many people it was a wave start. I did a 2 mile warm up before the race to get my legs ready. Basically i ran 10 mins away and 10 mins back to it. I meet a few friends there and got to my wave start. I felt ready for this race. I had my HR monitor on and watched as it just went up from 65BPM to 85BPM just waiting to go.

So i was off! I went out hard holding about a 155-160 BPM for the first 5k. I let it sneak up to 165 for the second half. It was overcast and stated to rain a little at the end.

My overall time was 52:12. Last year i came in at 59:01 so this was so good improvement!!

My split 5k mark time was 26:04 so i did fade just slighty on the second half but only slightly. I think there was more hills on the second half.

I had a great run and a great event!

I came 210 out of 621 in my age group so that is top third!!
I came 2663 out of 15059 runners!!!
The average runners time was 1hr 13mins.

I would HIGHLY recommend this 10K to anyone coming into Green Bay. It is just huge! The crowd support is fantastic too. There is not one part of the course where there is no support. You feel like a superstar on this one!

Bellin Run Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the Bellin Run. So today i am Tapering. It is a 10k in Green Bay. Number are at an all time record this year with 17,000 registered and even more expected to show up on the day. I read somewhere this is the 4th biggest 10k in the country! Hope to beat last years time of 59:01. We shall see.
Rain could be in the forecast but i really do not mind the rain. With this in mind i have not trained today. My legs feel much better after yesterdays 15miles. The link for the Bellin is : http://www.bellinrun.com

Above is a dedication picture to my dog Buster. He has shots this week and has been very sluggish the last two days. Feel better boy!!

Tomorrow will be just one week left until my  first ever Half Iron Man...eeeek. I still feel like i need to get 2 more 50 mile rides in but i think that it might only come down to one with only 8 days left! I am wishing i had got more 50mile bikes in before now. It is very hard trying to fit in a 3-4 hour ride in at the weekends with all my family duties. The only way i can seem to do it is if i get up at 5am on a Saturday. I really can not see how i would fit in the training for a Full Ironman.

Diet: I was doing great this week but i am feeling weak today. I have no clue why. When i look back it seems Fridays are a bad day for me and i want to eat lots of junk. I know i have not been eating as many fruits and vegtables as i should be today. This afternoon i am going to make sure i get plenty of water in so i do not go off course.

I may pick up my race packet tonight as i am meant to be doing some race leafletting. I will get back to you and let you know how the 10k went as soon as possible.

Run to work week 3

Today was my long run to work. I wanted to go a bit more than the 12.5 miles it takes me to get here. So i got up at 4am, got my 100 push up challenge workout done and managed to get out the door by 4.20am. It was dark still but getting light fast. I ran 1 mile away from my house and then 1 mile back to my house so i could begin my journey to work. I took 1 GU gel pack with me and i already had water hidden on my route to work. Temp was 57f and my hands were a little cold but not cold enough for gloves. I knew as soon as the sun was up they would be warm again.

I had my cell phone clipped to my shorts in case i got in any trouble and had to call my wife for a rescue. I make sure i know where the bathrooms are along my route and sure enough i had to use one of them on the way. One of co-workers drove past me and gave me a little beep.

Nearing the end my feet were not coming up high enough and i clipped a crack/curb in the sidewalk and nearly went over but i pulled it back. I fixed my stride and kept more of an eye out.

I made it into work in 2hrs 30 mins. My ipod was showing 16.67 miles but i think it was more like 15. Forgot to drop work shoes off at work when i dropped clothes off here earlier in the week so i am in office clothes and my running sneakers.

My wife is bringing in some of her AMAZIN Vegan Chili for lunch so i am looking forward to that!!!!

Monday Night Group Ride

After work on Monday i went for my group ride. Sometimes this group breaks into a slower and faster group but i noticed no one slow there at all on Monday! Crap, this meant i was going to HAVE to keep up with the crazy fast guys (22-24mph avg). I had to use all my concentration for this. This going to mean going even deeper into the pain cave!! My legs were still a little blown up from the day before Olympic Triathlon.

I kept at the back of the Pelton (this is hardcore bikers term for group of bikers). There were about 12 of us. I hung with them!! I guess it makes extra motivation that if they drop me i would be lost! as i still do not know the route. I managed to stay with them the whole 20 miles and right at mile 20 on a hill i started to fade. My heart rate was at 160BPM but i kept slipping back. The last 2 miles they were in front of me but only by 100 yards.

Good result overall, we normally leave at 5.30pm and i make it back to the car park by about 7:05pm. It is a 22 mile run. This time i made it back by 6:50pm but we left at 5:35pm.

Above you can see a picture i took of them all coming up the hill. I went first so i could turn around and grab a few shots before tagging on to the back of the group.

I lost 1 pound in weight this week. Not that much but at least it is steady. I am breaking the 230 mark now!

I did it! The Green Bay Triathlon is all over. I finished it on Sunday and it was a great time. I will give you a run down but there is also a race report here :

 http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=211543

I got to site in a time that i thought was early at 5:45am however plenty of people were already there for the 7am start time. I had already picked up my packet the day before in they very cool expo. My kids got to do an obstacle course and i got plenty of free samples. There was also plenty of running gear on sale there.I got my shirt and race number. Here they are and my kids in super action

After finding my bike spot i got set up with my balloon hanging on the rack so i was easy to spot on my way into transition and found some of my friends doing the event. The setup was really small but i have done worse. It was time to get my wetsuit on and get ready to go.

The swim was fine and i finished in 12.09 was was about 30 seconds of improvement from last years swim. It was 800 yards. You can walk about half of the two loop swim so it is great for newbies. I did see a life guard dive in for someone but i do not know what the outcome was. I draughted off some fast swimmers for a little ways. The water is a man made bond with a beach. The rain had started but by the end of the swim it stopped again. It was very overcast and i hoped it was not going to rain on the ride.

I took some Extra time in T1 to put my arm warmers on as it was still cold. The talc power in my socks trick worked fantastic getting my wet feet in them. I should of put some in my arm warmers too. T1 was 5:01. Long i know but last year was 6 minutes. The bike went good. It was 29 miles. I MADE myself go slow for the first half keeping my HR to 130. The second half i let my HR get up to about 140 then at the end i gave it all and got my HR up to 150. Total bike time was 1 hour 35min 20 seconds. This was an improvement of 4 minutes over last years time. Not amazing but i think the wind was stronger this year.

Wow the picture of me in black with black arm warmers is funny! Next it was on to the Run. Through my running shoes on and pulled my arm warmers off.  The run was fantastic! It was a meant to be a 10k but i think it was more like 10.5 or 11k. I started slow like my plan had told me to. Kept HR 130. Halfway through i was feeling good so i upped it to 140 and started overtaking people which never happens on my runs! I worked hard at the last 4K and got my HR to 160 and kept it there! I was amazed to go this fast! I felt great and finished the run in 54:23. One of my best 10K times and this was after a 29mile ride.Last years 10k was 1 hour and 3 mins! This was a pace of 8:46 mins/mile.

I grabbed some audio from the event and i just need time to put the Podcast together. It should be coming out this week. Overall i was AMAZED with my running speed. I had no idea i could keep up a heart rate of 160 for that long. I used to HATE HR training but i think it is making me a faster athlete now.

Total Time :2hrs 48:35.3   Last Years time : 3hrs 4:15.3

Divisional : 4th Place  Last year: 8th Place

Next event is the Bellin 10K this weekend! Here are some more random photos of the event.

Triathlon Weekend!

So this weekend is my first Outdoor Triathlon of the season!!!! Waaaaaay haaaaay! It is also almost time the the Football 'Soccer for Americans' to start!! I can not wait.

I am scheduled to Race Olympic distance at Green Bay Triathlon. Here is a link http://www.midwestsportsevents.com/greenbaytri.html

I did this event last year and the year before. Last year i did my first Olly here and the year before this was my first ever sprint Triathlon back on my mountain bike days!!How time flies.

I only walked yesterday as i forgot i had a School dinner thing to go to with my daughter. They served Egg noodles and Beef tips with no Vegetarian choice. Ah well no big deal. I just ate when i got home.

Note: I had a crappy eating crisis yesterday. I was craving White Chocolate so bad. I had some but i put the points in to my WW log and accounted for it. This is one of the HUGE reasons i like Weight Watchers. You do not have to have all or nothing Mentality. If you mess up or you want some chocolate you can account for it and move on.

Last years total time was 3hours 14mins and 15.3 seconds.

2nd Weekly Run to work

IT has been a busy weekend.
Firstly my plans to go to NYC fell through. :( I had to ditch 2 airlines tickets but they were free tickets anyway, i did not lose any money just some free tickets. Not to dwell on things though.

So Friday was a scheduled rest day and i just did some gentle walking and talking with my wife. The weather was great so we did allot of talking.

Saturday i was wanting to go on my group ride in Green Bay but i had plans with my family. So the only way to get my bike ride in was to get up early. I was up at 5am on a Saturday (SO Wrong!) and i managed to do 33 miles in about 1hour and 55 mins. not to bad. Then we got on the road and went on a factory tour of the Jelly Belly plant. Very cool. I got samples of Skunk Spray, Rotten egg, Canned Dog Food, Booger, Baby Wipes, Barf, Moldy Cheese and more flavors for the people in my office to try!

Sunday i put in a long ride. I wanted to get 50 miles in. I knew i was in trouble when i found myself zooming along at 24mph with not much effort going north. I am NOT that good. I knew it had to be wind. Sure enough on the way back 8-12mph!! Huge headwinds. I had to stop and get off the bike twice but still made it in 3.5hrs.

Monday - Running, a fast 1 hour run and some walking.
Tuesdays - More running. 45 min and a 45 min swim session.

Today
Yes it is run to work day again for me. Left clothes at work and hide water bottles on my trail the day before, pretty sneaky and i would not have to go into gas stations. I actually looked forward to finding them on the run like it was some kind of hunt. I had a GU Gel halfway through and made the 12-13 miles into my office this morning!

Some Tips

• Hide water on your trail if you can, beats carrying it
• Make sure you have something to put calories in you if your run is longer than an hour
• Enjoy the scenery! At 4.45am the world is a surreal place
• Have you Ipod FULLY charged if your going to use one 

I put out a short Podcast at the weekend but my mic was not so good. I have total lost my voice recording device so i had to go buy another today!

It is only 3 days to go til Olly Triathlon at Green Bay for me on Sunday!!!!! So excited!!!