In praise of Triathlon

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Wow. Good luck with it and I hope the training goes well. 🙂 Keep us updated on how things are going.

As you say nutrition is very important. I find it hard work balancing everything to do with my diabetes and look on enviously when on the bike at a cafe as other cyclists eat what they want without a second thought or have a gel when they need a boost. Whereas I have to check my blood all the time, may feel hungry, do I want to risk any insulin if I eat something?, can I have a gel, do I need a gel, what's my blood sugar doing etc, etc. I sometimes think it isn't fair and woe is me - however I soon get over that and on my way - makes me push myself that bit harder. 🙂
 
Good luck Chris, that is an amazing challenge you have set yourself! 😱 🙂 I think it becomes a whole different territory regarding nutrition for such a demanding event - hard to anticipate and probably impossible to duplicate in training. Stay fit and healthy, and don't forget the rest days! 🙂
 
I'm very lucky in that my condition is now so mild that I'm almost normal. I only check my glucose levels about once a week now and it is always between 4.5 and 8. This is true even when I test after a major event. I'm hoping this holds true for the 140.6 distance, I would hate to get a DNF* after doing all that work, although in a sense the preparation is the actual point because it means that I have to stay so fit. At the moment, my more immediate challenge is the Hull marathon which is now two weeks away.

*Did not finish.
 
Chris Hobson said:
I'm very lucky in that my condition is now so mild that I'm almost normal. I only check my glucose levels about once a week now and it is always between 4.5 and 8. This is true even when I test after a major event. I'm hoping this holds true for the 140.6 distance, I would hate to get a DNF* after doing all that work, although in a sense the preparation is the actual point because it means that I have to stay so fit. At the moment, my more immediate challenge is the Hull marathon which is now two weeks away.

*Did not finish.
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Good luck in Hull! 🙂 Bit of a training run, really... 😱 🙂
 
Update. I've just completed the Hull Marathon in 4:33. My legs are really hurty and stiff and I would say that the marathon was tougher than the Half Ironman. I've just checked my blood glucose level and it was 8.5. After so many energy drinks and gels I think that this is OK because it means that I am metabolising my carbs reasonably well and it also means that I got the required energy doses about right.
 
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Chris Hobson said:
Update. I've just completed the Hull Marathon in 4:33. My legs are really hurty and stiff and I would say that the marathon was tougher than the Half Ironman. I've just checked my blood glucose level and it was 8.5. After so many energy drinks and gels I think that this is OK because it means that I am metabolising my carbs reasonable well and it also means that I got the required energy doses about right.
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Well done Chris! 🙂 Terrific job, and that's a great BG to finish with 🙂 Hope the legs recover well, I'd suggest a short jog on Tuesday to help recovery. Good luck getting up, and particularly down, any stairs for the next few days! 😱 🙂
 
I've just taken delivery of a turbo trainer and a Charge single speed road bike so that I can keep up the cycle training in the gym. I ordered both from Wiggle on Sunday evening, the trainer arrived on Monday and the bike arrived on Wednesday. My old spin bike was offered 'free to a good home' on the Facebook page of my wife's running club and was snapped up within seconds. There are one or two technical problems to sort out in setting it up which will have to wait until weekend. The Charge bike is really cool. It has an old school steel frame but it weighs sod all due to its simplicity. I will probably ride it on the road as well as using it indoors. It will be really good for hill training because the area where I live is fairly flat, so climbing hills on a single speed bike gives an additional challenge. I've also joined a private health club so that I can go swimming before work. My plan is to swim every weekday morning during the winter as my swimming desperately needs improvement.
 
Chris Hobson said:
I've just taken delivery of a turbo trainer and a Charge single speed road bike so that I can keep up the cycle training in the gym. I ordered both from Wiggle on Sunday evening, the trainer arrived on Monday and the bike arrived on Wednesday. My old spin bike was offered 'free to a good home' on the Facebook page of my wife's running club and was snapped up within seconds. There are one or two technical problems to sort out in setting it up which will have to wait until weekend. The Charge bike is really cool. It has an old school steel frame but it weighs sod all due to its simplicity. I will probably ride it on the road as well as using it indoors. It will be really good for hill training because the area where I live is fairly flat, so climbing hills on a single speed bike gives an additional challenge. I've also joined a private health club so that I can go swimming before work. My plan is to swim every weekday morning during the winter as my swimming desperately needs improvement.
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Good luck with the training Chris. 🙂 Wiggle delivery is pretty good. With the coming cooler season I've just ordered myself some DHB thermal bibtights. The Wiggle DHB stuff is great quality for the price.
 
Well done, Chris. I've always found Wiggle delivery good. I worked on my last triathlon of the season, Roade kids and adults, last weekend,
 
My turbo trainer requires quick release wheels to mount it, the Charge bike, being a stripped down to basics design, doesn't have them. Left work at 15:30 and went straight to the bike shop and shelled out on some clip-less pedals, and hollow wheel spindles with quick release skewers. Installing these was really straightforward and I managed to get in a quick spin on the road before it got dark. Mounted the bike in the turbo trainer and found that the hardest setting is like riding up the side of a house. The medium setting is much better. All that is needed now is to fit a cycle computer to the rear wheel so that I can tell how many imaginary miles I'm doing.

Matt, don't you know that you should be buying your summer gear now? I've got some really cosy winter leggings that I bought in spring. I find DHB to be excellent value too, Muddy Fox gear is also good value but I think that DHB is better.
 
I always look out for the out of season reductions but they seem to go really quick. It's always the odd sizes left - XS and XXXL, alright if you're a dwarf or the size of a house side. 🙄

Weather still okay with shorts at the moment. I can cope if it's a bit cold but last year on one of the first really cold days we had - hard frost on the ground etc., I was on my bike and I'd got full winter gear on and I saw one bloke on his bike coming the other way in shorts and short sleeved summer top, no gloves. Must have been mad. 😱
 
My wife and I did the Goole sprint triathlon today. Both of us posted slightly worse times than we did last year. I am still pretty happy that these days I can complete a triathlon, OK a short one, without doing any actual training at all. Still recovering from the Hull Marathon, over the last two weeks I have done a couple of very gentle swims and ridden my bike to work (11 miles each way) three times, that's it. Oh yes, almost forgot, yesterday I did a ten mile ride on the single speed bike. Last year's time was about 1:15, this year's time was about 1:19.

We now have a 10k run booked later this month and then we are done for this year. Well I think we are, my wife has a habit of spotting runs that she fancies doing, booking us both in and then telling me about it.

Regarding the single speed bike, I found it great fun to ride. The gearing demands that you ride it at a really brisk pace and, being so light it really flies. At first I thought that I must have set the computer up in kilometers rather than miles per hour. Just once, on a straight bit and into a slight head wind, I reached for an imaginary gear shift to move down a gear. What you actually have to do on this bike is get out of the saddle and adjust your speed to match the gearing. The little hillocks that you encounter around our way require a rapid run up and, once again, standing on the pedals to get over the top. The process leaves you breathless in a way that simply downshifting and spinning fails to do. I'm really glad that I bought it and would recommend any keen cyclist to add a single speed bike to their stable.
 
Wow...I can't tell you how impressed I am with your athletic achievements. Inspired by @MattCycle I rode 25 miles this morning and felt really pleased with myself.

Note to self...must work harder! 🙂
 
Always better to do a triathlon, run, bike ride or anything than stay at home one sofa! Well done Chris and your wife 🙂
 
Thank you all for your support and encouragement, it is very much appreciated. Any aspiring triathletes from the North who want to do an entry level event could do worse than entering the sprint tri at Goole. It is really good value, well organised, and finishers get a T shirt and a medal.
 
'Cause nothin' lasts forever,
And we both know hearts can change,
I wimped out of doing a Parkrun,
In the cold November rain.

Time for an update because I have just been for my six monthly check up which included tests on my blood and widdle. I have now been off medication for about a year. After the first six months my HA1c reading did go up but the specialist nurse decided that it was worth giving it another six months in the hope that my better fitness levels during the summer would keep it down. This summer I have done a Half Ironman, two half marathons a full marathon and I have lost count of all the five mile, ten mile and ten K runs that I've done. All these events are like the tip of the iceberg when you take into account all the training that goes into preparing for them. Has it all been worth it? I went to my consultation fully expecting to be put back on the pills. As it turned out there has been a significant drop in my readings and I am free of collecting repeat prescriptions for another half a year.

Now, about the Guns 'N' Roses paraphrase. I don't think that the human body is really designed to maintain such high levels of fitness continuously. Younger athletes can probably get pretty close but I am 58 years old now, so I think that a certain amount of easing off during winter is probably desirable. Fortunately this need to ease off coincides with a time of year when it is pretty difficult to get yourself motivated anyway. The problem that I have is the difference in HA1c readings for my winter and summer training levels. As a result of this line of thought, I have decided to do my best to keep training as well as I can during the short days and crappy weather. The Brownlees say that, though they hate having to train in the cold and wet, they prefer this to the crushing boredom of training indoors. Speaking for myself I'll take the boredom every time. Maybe this is why I will never be an Olympic champion. My cosy and compact gym is set up with fan heater, flat screen TV with built in DVD player, i pod dock and digital radio, usually tuned to Planet Rock. Despite all this, it does seem as though time slows down to a crawl while I'm pedaling away on the turbo trainer or running on the treadmill. Anyway, I'm off to a good start today, having done a 2.4 mile swim (in an indoor heated pool rather than a disused quarry), A virtual 20 mile bike ride, and a virtual 3 mile run to make up for my failure to make the Parkrun.
 
Chris Hobson said:
'Cause nothin' lasts forever,
And we both know hearts can change,
I wimped out of doing a Parkrun,
In the cold November rain.

Time for an update because I have just been for my six monthly check up which included tests on my blood and widdle. I have now been off medication for about a year. After the first six months my HA1c reading did go up but the specialist nurse decided that it was worth giving it another six months in the hope that my better fitness levels during the summer would keep it down. This summer I have done a Half Ironman, two half marathons a full marathon and I have lost count of all the five mile, ten mile and ten K runs that I've done. All these events are like the tip of the iceberg when you take into account all the training that goes into preparing for them. Has it all been worth it? I went to my consultation fully expecting to be put back on the pills. As it turned out there has been a significant drop in my readings and I am free of collecting repeat prescriptions for another half a year.

Now, about the Guns 'N' Roses paraphrase. I don't think that the human body is really designed to maintain such high levels of fitness continuously. Younger athletes can probably get pretty close but I am 58 years old now, so I think that a certain amount of easing off during winter is probably desirable. Fortunately this need to ease off coincides with a time of year when it is pretty difficult to get yourself motivated anyway. The problem that I have is the difference in HA1c readings for my winter and summer training levels. As a result of this line of thought, I have decided to do my best to keep training as well as I can during the short days and crappy weather. The Brownlees say that, though they hate having to train in the cold and wet, they prefer this to the crushing boredom of training indoors. Speaking for myself I'll take the boredom every time. Maybe this is why I will never be an Olympic champion. My cosy and compact gym is set up with fan heater, flat screen TV with built in DVD player, i pod dock and digital radio, usually tuned to Planet Rock. Despite all this, it does seem as though time slows down to a crawl while I'm pedaling away on the turbo trainer or running on the treadmill. Anyway, I'm off to a good start today, having done a 2.4 mile swim (in an indoor heated pool rather than a disused quarry), A virtual 20 mile bike ride, and a virtual 3 mile run to make up for my failure to make the Parkrun.
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Good stuff Chris. Your gym sounds great. 🙂 I need to get myself a turbo trainer. However, weather's looking okay for tomorrow (better than today anyway) - cold but dry.
 
Really interesting post Chris. Now that I'm no longer on the diabetic register I don't go for a 6 monthly HbA1c test. Consequently, I self test regularly in order to maintain good levels. This year I found that as soon as cold weather descended there was a slight but noticeable increase in my readings...which seemed completely independent of my pretty constant rate of physical activity. I wonder if the same is true of you. Regardless, your home gym sounds like an excellent setup and I look forward to hearing about your achievements during 2017.
 
Well done Chris 🙂 You've certainly crammed more into the past 12 months exercise-wise than I have! 😱 🙂 I'm 58 too, and though I have been a runner for 33 years now (first marathon 1984 😱) these days I find that quality counts more than quantity. I aim for two or three runs a week, with a longer one on Sundays. I do this chiefly to avoid injury, so am including more rest days, and have managed to remain injury-free for the past four months (touch wood!). I also find I'm running faster times with more rest in between. November's not too bad, but it's from late-December to late February that see a massive decline in motivation for me, almost purely down to the dark mornings - I like to run very early, before my brain realises what I'm asking my body to do! 😱

Earlier this year I bought a Concept II rowing machine, so that is now going to replace some of my running - good, all-round cardio and strength, and I don't last long enough for it to become too boring! 🙂

Hope you have a good winter, and some good Spring events to look forward to - you'll be raring to go! 🙂 Well done on all your efforts, I'm sure many people will find them inspirational, and I for one do not underestimate the pure hard work you have put in to achieve all this! 🙂
 
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