I Conquered the Clash

Well it was a very successful weekend all round - a PB on Saturday and my longest training run to date on Sunday!

We got up early on Saturday morning and headed off to Eltham College for this year's Clash of the Tritons aquathlon. Being quite a slow swimmer and unable to do 500m of front crawl I had an early start time to enable me to go in the nice wide lane they set up at the beginning for those doing breaststroke. The swim went well and I got into a good routine of one length front crawl followed by a 'recovery' length of breaststroke. I also managed to overtake the two other swimmers in my lane which is always a good feeling! Then it was out to the transition area to get my trainers and number belt on for the 5k run. Always difficult to gauge how well you are doing in these things when you're not wearing a watch but my legs felt quite tired and it was quite windy and overcast out - decided half-way round the first lap that I had probably been a bit over-optimistic in grabbing my sunglasses after the swim! Fortunately the marshalls on the course offered great support as I was running round with lots of clapping and cheering, especially the ones just after the bottom of the playing field who were very enthusiastic with their cheers! And so after 20 lengths of the pool and 2 laps of the park, I was finished. But what of my time? Well, the event used chip-timing and very efficiently there was a computer set-up at the end where you could type in your number and get your results immediately and joy of joys, I'd done it in 37 minutes - nearly six minutes faster than last time! :-) Mr W also got a PB and oddly our swim times were identical, although he ran somewhat faster than me. Finished the morning with a post-race sports massage (ouch!) and some yummy cakes.

And so, onto Sunday's sporting efforts.... we were rather late up on Sunday after going to see U2 the night before and so we opted for an early evening run when we were hoping it would be a little cooler. Unfortunately that ploy didn't really pay off but we did have a lovely run from home through Farnborough, past the church, across the fields to Downe, through High Elms and up the horrid steep hill so that we could run down the long footpath along the side of Cudham Lane South, before returning home along the A21 with a short detour along Shire Lane bridleway and past the church again to make up the mileage. Total distance covered was 8.3 miles in just under 90 minutes - the furthest I've run in a long time (probably since the Grim in December 2007, which was as the name implies and took me considerably longer than 90 minutes!)

Haven't run since then but decided I should probably have a rest last night after a race and a long run, plus tonight is the Orpington Road Runners vs. Petts Wood Runners mob match so I wanted to be on fine form for that or at least with enough energy to get round the course without being last!

Countdown to the Clash

Well I have been very virtuous since my last post and have done some sport every day, ok so I only ran on three days, but I do think there is value in cross-training plus I needed to get a swim in in preparation for the Clash of the Tritons aquathlon that we are doing tomorrow.

Anyway, back to the running - had two lovely 4-mile runs with Mr W on Sunday and Monday evenings. The routes were similar through the fields and along the bridleways local to our house, although on Sunday we took the car up to High Elms and did a bit in the woods as well. We also ran through the fields and the woods when we went out with the running club on Tuesday night, although we went a bit further (~6 miles). Felt a bit sad though as we were coming back on Tuesday as the light was starting to fade around 9pm meaning that our days of evening runs in the countryside are rapidly running out for this year. Such a shame as you can't really beat running across the middle of freshly cut field in the evening sun....

I haven't run since Tuesday but I did swim 24 lengths at the pool on Wednesday evening and went to Bodybalance last night. Part of me fancies a run tonight but my sensible side is saying 'don't do it' as we'll be up early tomorrow for the 'Clash'. This is a local aquathlon featuring a 500m pool swim followed by a 5k run. I'm really looking forward to it! We first did it in 2007, then I had to miss last year's event because I was ill , so this is my first opportunity to try and improve my previous time of 43 minutes. I'm hoping it will be possible as I think my swimming has improved over the last two years, even if my running hasn't, but at least since I can't wear my Garmin in the pool I'm not going to find out until the end and so that's one less stress to worry about during the race! I'll let you know how I get on! :-)