27th Oct - Swim

London Fields Lido

1.5km - 29:18.3

Felt fine, first pool session for a while.

9:17.0
10:02.2
9:59.1

19th Oct - Run, Half Marathon Race

Maidstone Half-Marathon - 1:28:04

Felt ok, pretty easy, enjoyed the hills and was pleased to recover pretty quickly. Not a bad run given lack of training recently. Don't really rate the course - the first 5 miles are alongside busy roads. Averaging 6:43 / mile.

Mile splits:-

6:21.4
6:11.9
6:53.0
6:18.0
6:51.7 (5 mile split - 32:35)
6:55.7
6:57.8
7:06.2
6:56.9
6:25.5 (10 mile split - 1:06:58)
6:48.6
6:50.8
6:46.6
40.1 secs

16th Oct - Run

Vicky Park road laps X 2

5 miles - 32:58.8

Feeling good. Easy first lap, good tempo on second lap, reasonably quick recovery.

2.5 mile split - 17:44.4
5.0 mile split - 15:14.4

12th Oct - Bike

Biked to Richmond Park, did 3 laps (with Maurice and Brett) then rode home

50 miles - 3 hours

Felt pretty shitty, hardest session for a while: very tired, felt like yacking for most of it, headache. Brett (Crazy-horse) kept dropping me on the hills. Probs too little sleep the night before - stayed up to watch Ironman World Champs in Hawaii - awesome but late.

11th Oct - Bike/Swim/Bike

Cycled to Parliament Hill Lido (9.4 miles)
1.5km Swim
Cycled home to Hackney (6.6 miles, different route)

2 hours.

Water was super-fresh, probs only around 12ºC. Swam in wetsuit but had to rest at the end of the each of the first 4 laps to reduce brain-freeze!

Fine on the bike.

5th Oct - Bike

Biked to Richmond Park, did 3 laps (with Maurice and Brett) then rode home

50 miles - 3 hours

Felt fine, a bit cold, weather was pretty damp!

2nd Oct - Bike

Mont Ventoux ... Le Géant de Provence ... fuck yeah!

I climbed the mountain from Bedouin - 1hr 30:03 (22km, ascent 1,617m, average gradient 7.43%)

Felt great. It's a really tough climb and I was pleased to tick one of the great climbs off the list. Si (my pro cyclist mate) had a tough one but still rode 1hr 9:00, just 5 mins down on Lance Armstrong's time in the Dauphiné Liberé a few years ago!

I was pleased that I got within 30 mins of his time and especially chuffed that Wikipedia says that most pro cyclists do the ascent between an hour and 90 mins, and that 'trained amateurs' take between 2 and 3 hours!