Chaos has a Greater Sense of Order

[Bopomofo]

Not caught up with your thread fully yet, but I spotted this:

I'd ordered Camelbak daysack for the run portion of my A race. It came today so I'll be wearing that on my runs from now on to get me used to it.

Make sure you try it out with race day clothing, too. Last time I did Swashbuckler (middle distance) I wore the Camelbak I had been using for all my long runs in the heat. But I'd always worn it with a running shirt, not a tri-suit.

The bloody straps were rubbing my shoulders so much that I dumped it after the first 12km lap. Cost me a fair bit of time with discomfort, negative thoughts and a needless trip through transition to drop it off.

[Lead Balloon]

Cheers for the heads up Bopo, I'll be cracking a few runs in race kit once the weather warms up to check and test.

The bloody straps were rubbing my shoulders so much that I dumped it after the first 12km lap. Cost me a fair bit of time with discomfort, negative thoughts and a needless trip through transition to drop it off.

Nothing worse than chafing. If it rubs I may resort to the old faithful zinc oxide tape to combat it

[Lead Balloon]

It's been an interesting and eventful week so far. Unfortunately not on the training front though. I spent most of it sleeping on air mattress as the WAT officer, Dexter and I went up to visit my side of the family along with a few other stressful odds and sods. My family seems to be bloody nocturnal which had the pooch growling and barking all through the night. No sleep for a week there. Add to that the fact that Ive been looking after my other half as she recuperates and I've barely had time to even put in a proper long walk with Dexter.

All going well so far then

This weekend was meant to be about getting on the bike again now that I'm home to do some long rides. 60+ was the aim t least a couple of times. I'd normally expect to be waiting a week to ten days to get the call for work but got it at 2300 on Thursday after only a day wait. It's nice to be wanted but it plays havoc with my training

Ironically, since stating this training log this is the worst run of little or no training for me in years. Pretty horrific considering I'm stepping up the distance. Oh well, I'll just have to beast myself with circuits on ship and hope for a decent gym. No cuff too tough

[Lead Balloon]

Well I don't have to worry about going on a diet after that ship, tiny portion sizes and a few cockroaches in the food meant I didn't eat much over the last couple of weeks. I've managed to do a fair bit of skipping as well as making use of the TRX during the transit so it's not all bad. Still, I could really do with the next ship having a treadmill, bike or some other form of CV equipment onboard so I can properly get the heart rate up.

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

[Kevy427]

Skipping with a rope rather than skipping gayley along the deck and singing "It's raining men"?

[Lead Balloon]

Skipping with a rope rather than skipping gayley along the deck and singing "It's raining men"?

What, I can't do both ?

[Lead Balloon]

Yet another quick turnaround with work. Hopefully I'll have better facilities to work with on this transit but if not then it's back singing 'It's Rainin Men' again I've been sorely lacking motivation over the last week or so, with uni commitments taking up most of my time. No excuses now though, I'm all caught up with my work so there's nothing stopping me smashing a few circuits.

Time to squat and lunge myself into oblivion. If I'm not walking like John Wayne by the end of this transit then I've not tried hard enough. (Far too much ammo for you there Kev )

[Lead Balloon]

Wed 6 Feb
TRX circuit 30 mins

Thu 7 Feb
TRX circuit 45mins

Fri 8 Feb
TRX circuit 45mins
Tour of Sufferlandria

Day One - HHNF 17 Feb 21.5mi
Up against the women today to open up the Tour. I got lucky this time with a fairly well equipped gym. There's a beaten up exercise bike that sounds like it's on its last legs, along with a treadmill and various free weights, not to mention a sauna. The food's good and plentiful which means I've actually got the energy to put in some serious training. Hence the attempt on the ToS.

The resistance isn't what I'd like it to be on the bike and as soon as I crank up the tension it sounds like I'm going to rip it apart with my legs (and I've got piddly legs!) but it's got a seat and pedals which was all I was after. Feeling strong on Day One despite the lack of miles in my legs over the last few weeks. There's no air conditioning in the gym so it feels like I'm actually in the sauna next door. I'm sweating about as much as well.

After finishing Stage One I jumped on the treadmill for a quick five minute transition run. Nothing fancy, just enough to remind my legs that I'm supposed to be a triathlete. I start doing my watch routine from tomorrow so I'll be fitting in the Stages in between. Feeling strong but it's early days yet.

Day Two - The Hunted 18 Feb 18.6mi TR 20min 3.05km
Still feeling strong so far although the relative lack of resistance from the bike means I'm having to try to up the cadence to achieve the relevant efforts. Big gear work it is not. Found out that I'm getting off at the next port which means I'm going to have to compress the Tour by a couple of days. Double tapping some of these days should be fun, especially when I look at what the middle stages are like. Today went well though and I even threw in a transition run at the end of it followed by some weights. No point wasting the opportunity when I have access to a good gym, no idea when I'll have the chance again.

Day Three - Extra Shot+Fight Club+A Very Dark Place 19 Feb 37.25mi
Less time than I thought on ship until I disembark so I'm having to double tap a couple of the stages. Today I smashed Stage Four straight after Stage Three (if I'm going to call it a Tour then I might as well go the whole hog, lol) which involved three videos back to back. Even with the limited resistance I'd stopped sweating for a good portion of A Very Dark Place as I'd really been pushing myself in the heat. I didn't get jelly legs at the end but they definitely felt like they'd been sapped of a lot of their strength walking up the stairs. The previous days may be starting to make themselves felt.

Day Four - Angels 20 Feb 17.25mi
I'd planned on double tapping again today throwing in tomorrow's stage straight after finishing Angels. Unfortunately work got in the way with a call up to the bridge to deal with Captain Jack. By the time that was dealt with I had just about enough time to get a shower before going back on watch. Annoyingly I'd held off slightly on Angels with the prospect of two videos back to back straight after. Hopefully that'll mean my legs are a little fresher tomorrow though.

Day Five - The Wretched+Long Scream 21 Feb 25.2mi
Amazingly I realised when I got on the bike this morning that I'd not ridden either of these videos before. Virgin territory for me then. I felt good during the first video although I could tell the last few days was starting to take its toll slightly. I finished feeling strong though and more than ready for the next video. How wrong I was! The Long Scream proceeded to kick me in the undercarriage and perform the chamois dance over my writhing form cackling manically as it did so. My legs were definitely screaming and it was all I could do to hold the effort to the end. I've got to double tap today and throw Downward Spiral into the mix after I get off watch this afternoon. These last couple of days are going to hurt!

Downward Spiral 19.27mi
Bit the bullet and cracked Stage Seven in the evening after coming off watch. After standing on the bridge wings all day my legs felt like they'd give up the ghost before I got on the bike but it all came together. I'd not done this video in a while so I gave it my all, spinning at a fast cadence during the rest periods to try and flush as much lactic acid as possible out of my system. Because I tried to keep a fast cadence throughout I don't think it hurt as much as it would have. They definitely responded better than during the Long Scream that's for sure. Tomorrow is all about There Is No Try and Revolver. I seem to remember crawling and then curling up at the top of the stairs after the first time I cracked TINT and not even having the energy to drag my carcass off the turbo after Revolver. I'm gonna be so deep in the hurt locker I won't know which way is out.

There Is No Try+Revolver 22 Feb 33.0mi
If comfort is an illusion then I was under no illusions with this stage. It's definitely set up for a honking finish with Local Hero the day after this. Time to climb aboard the pain train.

That session was exactly as horrendous as I expected it to be, with Revolver finishing off what TINT had started. My legs were screaming by the 16th interval. Shut up LEGS!!

Local Hero 23 Feb 28.58mi
Finally, the last day of the Tour of Sufferlandria has come. My legs feel strong despite the lactic acid buildup and lethargy coursing through them and I give it my all making the most of the limited resistance. Instead of big gear efforts I substitute for high cadence with as high a resistance as the battered bike can muster. I fully intend to rip the pedals and snap the chain on this god forsaken exercise bike with my churning legs and that's what I set out to do. By the time the sprints come round I'm getting some serious slippage as the bike can't handle the efforts I'm putting in. (This has more to do with the bike than any strength on the part of the rider). As I finish the last sprint and gratefully take part in the cool down I realise it's all over. One day at a time I've made it through the Tour of Sufferlandria. It's kept me focussed over the last few days on ship giving me no excuses to shirk my phys, giving me the kick up the arse that I've been looking for.

Back home for a couple of days now so hopefully I can capitalise on the training and get out on the bike a few times before my next ship.

[Lead Balloon]

Tue 26 Feb
Landed back from India and was back home by 0900. The WAT officer was being proactive and heading to the gym so my male ego couldn't resist the temptation to go along as well. Heaven forbid I miss out on a chance to do some phys, especially when my other half is doing it

Squats 3x Sets
10 Reps Olympic Bar (20kg)
10 Reps 40kg
10 Reps 90kg

Leg Press 3x Sets
10 Reps 50kg
10 Reps 100kg
10 Reps 150kg

Lunges 3x Sets
10 Reps Olympic Bar (20kg)
10 Reps 30kg
10 Reps 40kg

Hamstring Curls

Pullups, Tricep Extensions, Bike, Shoulders on Bosu ball, TRX core work, Stretching.

I haven't been inside a gym in months so I thought I wouldn't push it too hard and simply see how my body responded to the punishment. As expected my legs are stiff as anything with my old friend DOMS but aside from that I feel strong.

Thu 28 Feb
2200m Swim. My gym only has a 20m pool which is less than ideal. I keep on meaning to head to Luton to check out their fabled 50m pool. At some point I'll stop procrastinating and get my lazy arse down there Until then I figured I'd dip my toe back into the water. The last time I did any kind of swimming was an OW swim back in Liverpool at the end of July I know, pretty horrific but like my namesake I got straight back to sinking in no time.

The session went surprisingly well, although I wasn't pushing myself to any record setting pace that's for sure. My shoulders protested somewhat at the lack of swim usage over the past few months but hopefully after a few sessions that should ease off. Now all I need to do is get out on the bike again and I may even get back to where I was at before my last rotation just as I head off on the next

[Lead Balloon]

No training for the next couple of days, the WAT convinced me to go on a trip with her. 3 nite Barbados, so I'm not complaining There's definitely perks to being married to a hostie. Now all I need to do is convince her that getting a bike box and letting me flit off to Boulder for some winter training camps is a good idea

I'm taking my goggles with me so I can do a bit of OW swimming/looking at fishies while I'm there. Otherwise I've got a couple of cycling mags and my kindle and I fully intend to be glued to the sun lounger.