Thursday Jul 31 |
 | Note | |
| (rest day) |
| Still a bit tired, and had a lot of work, so figured I'd take another rest day. Decided to take the next few days really easy and see if that helps. If not, then I'll have to think harder about what's up. |
Wednesday Jul 30 |
| Note | |
| (rest day) |
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Tuesday Jul 29 |
| cycling 35:00 [3] | |
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| Was really looking forward to this ride, but when I got on my bike my legs were hurting from the go. I really don't get why I'm recovering so poorly at the moment, and it's getting a bit annoying. Cut the ride short and will dial in a rest day tomorrow. |
Monday Jul 28 |
| strength (gym) 48:00 [3] | |
| weight:61.5kg |
| Slowly making progess maybe. Had an appointment to get to so didn't do quite as much as usual. Hopefully I won't be quite as tired or sore as has been usual lately either. |
| running 28:00 [3] | |
| |
| The plan was to do some terrain stuff in Shotover, but I figured if that remained my plan it would probably never be executed. Went out for a run to the parks, but legs were again feeling pretty crap. Actually turned around after a minute, but then decided to stop being soft so turned around again and kept going. Am missing orienteering though - took a map. |
Sunday Jul 27 |
| cycling 2:20:00 [3] | |
| |
| Oxford - Islip - Bletchington - Tackley - Astons - Heyfords - Bletchington - Islip - Oxford. 27 degrees and still when I left, so perfect for cycling. Legs still not feeling stellar, and with the route a little more up and downy than I remember I was suffering a little by the 2 hour mark. Still, quite an enjoyable country doddle on the whole. Don't really see any reason for me to ride any longer than this at the moment. |
Saturday Jul 26 |
| Note | |
| (rest day) |
| Body was just telling me it was tired, so I listened. Actually, I listened to a wise old Australian orienteer who once said that he trained as much as possible until he was tired, and then rested. It sounds fair to me, I just have to accept that my body might be tired after less training than I would like. |
Friday Jul 25 |
| running 47:00 [3] | |
| |
| Rode over to the Binsey industrial park and ran up through Raleigh Park to Youlbury and back over the hill. This route is defo my favourite run in Oxford - almost all of it is away from roads, and there are times when all you can see is the gravel path heading through the meadows between the wooded hillsides. Took a map to read. |
| strength (knee strengthening) 10:00 [3] | |
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Thursday Jul 24 |
| strength (gym) 1:00:00 [3] | |
| |
| Didn't have a lot of good vibes going into this session (I was motivated only by the fact that if I skipped it, next time I went to the gym I would be sore again for two days afterwards), but once I got going it was good. At least the gym was cooler than my office. |
| Note | |
| |
| Had planned a ride, but felt really empty after the gym session. Took a nap instead, figuring I'd rather feel fresher for the run I've planned tomorrow than struggle through a ride today and feel crap all weekend. |
Wednesday Jul 23 |
| running 13:00 [3] | |
| |
| Warm-up around the kidneys. Felt pretty decent. |
| running 11:58 [3] 3 km (3:59 / km) | |
| |
| Don't really have any idea where my running is at the mo', so thought I'd do like the cool people and run a 3k on the track. The last time I can remember running on a track was at high school, and without having done any speed stuff for a while I was satisfied with the time. The humidity didn't seem to bother me as much as I thought it might - maybe after living in England for 4 years I'm starting to adjust. Splits:
42
94
96
97
100
99
98
94
I wasn't really sure which line I was supposed to start at, so it's possible the first 200 was a little short. Hopefully I can build on this to run a sub-20 5k in the next 6 months or so. |
| running 10:00 [3] | |
| |
| Warm-down. Could probably be classed as a jog :-( |
| strength (knee strengthening) 14:00 [3] | |
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| First time doing everything for a while. |
Tuesday Jul 22 |
| cycling 1:22:00 [3] | |
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| Short chain-gang route with Yosh. Took it fairly easy, as legs were a little heavy. Beautiful evening. |
Monday Jul 21 |
| strength (gym) 50:00 [3] | |
| weight:61kg |
| Felt still a bit weak but not too bad. |
| Note | |
| |
| Finally back in Oxford with no plans to leave again for a while! Really looking forward to getting back into a routine, with hopefully enough rest to keep me energised, enough exercise to keep me strong and happy, and enough work to stop me feeling bored and useless. It's been a good few months since I've had anything like the right mix.
So maybe now's a good time to note down some goals. Orienteering-wise, I think my main goal is to be strong and fit enough to run elites at the JK next year. In the mean-time, I'd like to work on my navigational techniques, and terrain running. Another goal is to remain serious-injury-free. For now I'll aim until after JK, but of course it is a lifetime goal really! Lots of prevention work needed. I'd also like to keep up a decent level of cycling fitness, and do a few of the club races once term starts again in October. And slowly work on the strength, to be back to where I was pre-broken wrist again by easter next year. |
Sunday Jul 20 |
| Note | |
| |
| Feeling a bit better than yesterday but not great. Went for an easy cruise on the hire bike and 10 min jog back from the bike return place. Resting heart rate was 36, which is a bit weird as normally if it is under 40 I have to be pretty fit. |
Saturday Jul 19 |
| Note | |
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| Had planned to go for a ride around Lueneberge Heide, but the weather was shocking and I felt even shockinger. Absolutely exhausted, shakey and weak. Slept a fair bit. |
Friday Jul 18 |
| cycling 1:00:00 [3] | |
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| running 42:00 [3] | |
| |
| Down through the parks to the harbour, and back through the Hamburg Neustadt, with a short break after 30 mins to check out some festival that was going on. Pretty tired today and legs were heavy. Had some soreness in the breathing mechanism, which I hope will go away after some sleep. |
Thursday Jul 17 |
| cycling 1:00:00 [3] | |
| |
| Same as yesterday, though I got slightly less lost. |
Wednesday Jul 16 |
| cycling 1:00:00 [3] | |
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| Rode around Hamburg for 1 hour in themorning trying to find the way to the conference location, and then 45 mins home again. Due to all the traffic lights it wasn't very hard, and I don't know if I should count it (no cleats as I couldn't get the pedals off my bike at the strain station as I was leaving Oxford), so it gets 60 mins. |
Tuesday Jul 15 |
| running 42:00 [3] | |
| |
| Evening run in Hamburg. Through some park, which had absolutely the nicest flower gardens I've ever seen, down to the harbour. This whole place is flat as a tack, and not particulary inspiring (yet). Felt pretty crap in the middle, but my legs came back a bit towards the end. Can't remember the last time I ran with legs that felt good! |
| strength (knee strengthening) 7:00 [3] | |
| |
| Didn't do much coz my legs were stuffed and ankle a bit tired. |
Monday Jul 14 |
| strength (gym) 51:00 [3] | |
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| cycling 1:20:00 [3] | |
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| Short chaingang route. Pushed it a little, I think because I wanted to get home for dinner and legs felt pretty average. Going up hills it felt like I had fully loaded panniers on. Still, nice to be out. Felt a tweak in the ankle pulling up the Horton hill, and it was a bit sore afterwards, but overall I am (pleasantly) surprised how good it is. Maybe all the ankle exercises I've been doing are paying off. |
Saturday Jul 12 |
| running 38:00 [3] | |
| |
| Over to South Park, 3 times up the slope and around the top a bit then back. With map. Legs felt OK, but tired a bit toward the end. |
| strength (knee strengthening) 9:00 [3] | |
| (injured) |
| First time for a while so did about 2/3rds the reps would normally do. Near the end landed on a rough bit of ground and turned my ankle. I think it's just a slight strain and hopefully won't be too much of a problem. Got the bandage on it pretty quick. |
| |
| C • Ankle! 4 |
Friday Jul 11 |
| cycling 1:12:00 [3] | |
| |
| Wrist-breaker loop. A bit shorter because started and finished from Marston rather than Summertown. It felt good to be riding with cleats again, and actually just nice to be out on the bike. Felt pretty good. |
Thursday Jul 10 |
| strength (gym) 45:00 [3] | |
| weight:60kg |
| Fun. Did a little more than last time but still not flat out. Left side is still a bit weaker than my right after the broken wrist, but not too bad. |
| Note | |
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| Meant to go out for a ride tonight, but once again was too tired and, after napping for an hour after work, couldn't quite summon the will to get out the door again. |
Wednesday Jul 9 |
| Note | |
| |
| Had planned a ride or gym session, but it didn't happen. The non-stop rain all day didn't inspire me, and I feel so tired today that it makes me ill. Took an hours kip instead of gym. Can't even get my tenses right ... |
Tuesday Jul 8 |
| running 35:00 [3] | |
| |
| Over to the Uni parks from the new place - only took 4 mins! Had planned a fartlek but my legs felt pretty crap, so I just ran around a few times trying to keep up a decent running style. I suspect I just need more sleep and rest, but today is cleaning the old flat day. Also have a few sore bits from my gym exploits on Sunday, particularly shoulders of course but also hammies and lower back from the dead-lifts. |
Monday Jul 7 |
| Note | |
| (rest day) |
| Lots of unpacking. And so, so sleepy ... |
Sunday Jul 6 |
| cycling 1:20:00 [3] | |
| |
| Up through Cumnor to the quarry and back. Lots of pretty thatched cottages, green grass, white sheep, whiter swans - I must be back in England! The weather was very windy with at least 5 variations on the concept of drizzle, which pretty much confirmed it. Also saw a weasle and 3 weaslets, which was cool. Legs felt good, though it was weird to be riding my touring bike again. |
| strength (gym) 35:00 [3] | |
| |
| First time in the gym for a couple of months. Just took it easy, and only 1 set. |
Saturday Jul 5 |
| Note | |
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| Packing day in Oxford. Haven't had quite enough sleep lately either. |
Friday Jul 4 |
| running 25:00 [3] | |
| |
| Quick run down to the park. Legs felt pretty crap so I almost stopped this run before I started, but they got a bit better. I think I probably didn't eat enough yesterday because I missed afternoon tea hanging out with some german guys in the Pantheon, and then the conference "banquet" was hardly enough to feed a mouse, even though I ate my bread roll and that of the person next to me (with their permission!). |
| strength 5:00 [3] | |
| |
| Found a small crapless bit of dirt and did some sit-ups. |
Thursday Jul 3 |
| running 15:00 [3] | |
| |
| Jogging around looking for a place to do some strength stuff. All the parks seemed to be closed at the time I was there (they open at 8 or 9), and all the edges of the pavement were of course covered in dog/homeless person crap. Did a few semi-pushups on a block of cement, and some knee-ups on a bench but not enough to bother entering. |
Wednesday Jul 2 |
| running 37:00 [3] | |
| |
| Run from the hostel in the morning. Tried to make it to the park but got a bit lost so the whole run was on bitumen. Legs felt pretty OK. |