Training for a shorter Tri

I suspect you're a lot fitter than me, Boots, but I do like cycling in the Weald and Downs, so maybe a weekend ride would be possible, once day length improves?

Also, just googled your Hever Tri, and like the look of it. Hmmm.

As a swimmer i thought i would offer little tips for those who struggle counting 

One key thing is to do sets dont just swim up and down coz that is boring, hard to keep count and you wont work as hard. Do sets such as 16x25m, 8x50m, 4x100m, 2x200 & 1x400m.

Its much easier counting in meters then lengths. Also for 200m + swims, i break it down in my head into 4 sections, so in a 200m i'll think 100m down, work hard for the next 50, and steady for the final 50m etc, etc.

Breaking up the session and having pre-written sets are a much better way of keeping track of your meterage and keeping the concentration levels up.

I'd be happy to send people some sets if they are lacking inspiration.

Oh, and one final tip - DONT THINK! thinking or getting distracted is a sure fire way of losing count, again thats why i find shorter sets good as you dont have time to get bored and start thinking of other things.

Vicki - interesting on the thought processes of a swim pro! I tend to count each length and every stroke in my head is going "One... one... one.. one... one.. one..." !!! Even though a watch counts for me, I don't check it often so need to keep tabs a little bit. I think I'm going to go with sets of 200m and 300m for a while since 16 lengths is a lot in my head. I'll perhaps do 400m sets next month. I find on a pyramid section it's easier since I only have to count up to 5 or 6 tops...!

Boots - good plan! I have a 10 mile race I might do on 20th Feb just to make sure I cover the distance more than anything else. I am on the reserve list for Windsor too, but I reckon I'll give that one a miss if they do have a spare place since I already have an Oly lined up for May. I'll perhaps do the distance in training that day though as my HIM will be four weeks away.... ERK!

Might look into the September event you mentioned too. Whilst there are some road running races I quite fancy after July, the rest of the year is a bit of a void at the moment. Would be good to keep up the momentum to the end of the tri season...

Pyramids - are great too, i havent done those in ages! We used to do 1-8 lengths on freestyle then 8-1 on kick or another stroke...think im going to do that set when i am next in the pool!

Had a questions/after some advice from people - i'd like to get a computer thing for the bike, not a fancy one but something that just tells me the speed. Looking for something fairly inexpensive - any recommendations?

Vicki - in general, I might split it into sets, but I need to do 1500m in one go for this installment of winterswim. Also in the tri itself, it'll have to be in one go, obviously.

So I will end up relying on my lap counter for the winterswim, no doubt. I meant to have a go today, but had a bit of an irritating swim, where a class was over-running, so the scheduled lanes weren't available when I got there, grrr. And then I realised that I really needed to have had some elevenses before swimming, as I was feeling weak and hungry, so probably just as well I'd binned the 1500m.

The last installment of Winterswim will just be 400m, so I might try to tag a more structured session onto that, and then make more detailed swimming plans for phase two of the triathlon preparation.

Hope your headcold b*ggers off soon, ST.

Bootsie - looks a great plan!

Vicki - Sounds good too, thanks for sharing your tips. Jevans - i count the same way as you do.

Well, the good news is it isn't broken! Yippee!!! The shadow on the x-ray is left over from when i broke it when I was two. Although still horribly bruised it isn't as painful as yesterday. So I'm not training today and will see how I am before ParkRun in the morning. If the running doesn't jar it I will go. 

Today was going to be a long bike ride. I just have one more week before half term. Having four kids off school, visitors coming to stay and a conference to attend I had pretty much ruled out any training more than 30mins. But then I only have one week before the duathlon and didn't want to do any long distances then either! Well, I've done enough to get round, but I reckon it won't be easy.

Off to plan a little girl's birthday party - see you later!

Good news on the arm Chilibean.

Blimey, we are all in the wars - arms, jobs, houses, blood vessels. Strewth! I'm giving you a group hug right now! Or should I say thread hug?

Is it the time of year? Hard enough isn't it when the weathers crappy, dark evenings, still broke after Christmas, potholes and trying to train too. I'm a tired bunny. Making silly mistakes at work - put my home phone number on a letter to parents of my school instead of the school's number! What a f**kwit.

September is a definite no go for me for the Snowdon event - brutal would probably be OK if I set my sights now and trained for it - 30 miles a day is doable if we took our time, but I guess that's the problem - there's bound to be a cut off time! I'll be working in Dubai then - the term at the college I am working at starts on Sept 11th, and i'm going over there on Aug 22nd.

Tips for training in 45 degrees C sun, anyone?

IM training means I have to do long sets, such as 5 x 800m. Also, our tri club trainer puts together a diffferent set for every Tuesday session, it's always around 4km in total.

Send Dubai Dave a PM, he's bound to have some helpful info for you.

Chilibean

M..eldy has a team for the Chiltern Hundred. Just sign up and put PSOF as the team. There is a Chiltern Hundred thread here and a sportive thread here.

Hmm. Much more affordable than your first suggestion, and some good birding on offer, too, though that could really slow me down.

Certainly not up for the gran, but the medio or corto might be possible.

I went for a 5 mile run this morning and it felt dreadful, the time was surprisingly good but my legs felt soooo heavy

I seriously need to work alot more on my running, as its my weakest im slightly concerned that i'll be going backwards on that leg in a tri lol!