building up the mileage and losing weight

since we last spoke my body has slowly transformed back in to the shape of a runners or may be a triathletes rather than rowers. the fact is that while i do feel i could be ugely successful as an oarsman i feel more at home training outside in the fresh air rather than in the confines of the gym on the ergometers. if the rowing club do finally get back to me with the chance to row for them then obviously i would be foolish not to give it at least some consideration. but for the time being the emphasis is on running cycling and swimming, the main priorities to get my swimming up to scratch which is some thing that i will need to do if i want to row any way and to get a racing bike with a frame that fits me. i'm training with portishead running club tonight but thats about all there is to report at the moment

a long time since we spoke and a lot to report

since we last spoke my life has been an endless succession of injuries and illnesses, infact i can probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of days i've been free from any sort of ailment. i have though stopped using the rowing machines, and i am now training with portishead and clevedon triathlon club, well swimming training at least and it is providing a challlenge to say the least. i was at least comforted by the fact that many of the triathletes who come from a running or cycling back ground struggle with the swimming or at least that was the gospel according to the clubs swimming coach jackie and it was backed up by many of the stories i heard from former runners i knew from my competitive running time who couldn't swim 50 yards when they started and can now cover the full 1500 meters needed for an olympic distance triathlon. at the moment the aim is merely to get my self fit and to get a triathlon bike as well! i've had such a poor winter that the thought of doing any thing spectacular this winter is well and truly banished to the darkest areas of my mind.

the reason why am not rowing any more is purely because the local rowing club (bristol) were being funny about when novice rowers joined them and i was frankly getting bored using the machines in stale gyms. although they get you fit they don't stimulate you mentally in the same way that running or cycling does. i only knew of the triathlon club through a guy i know through work so i decided to give it a go. everyone who has made the switch says that the training is so much more fun and it is a challenge that i am very much looking forward to.

the swimming sessions were run along very different lines to the running sessions with mike in that the shorter repetiitions come first and we gradually build up to longer reps at the end of the session. more importantly though there was some very pretty females in bikinis which always helps to make time go by quickly.