The Faringdon Triathlon...
I completed the Faringdon Triathlon today - it was brilliant I really enjoyed it. The course was an 800m swim, 56km (an extra 6km because of a road works diversion) cycle and 8.5km run. The swimming was well organised and I was able to do breast-stroke because they group you on your estimated time. I knocked 3 minutes off my previous best in training for the swimming. The cycling was the best part, it was a sunny day but not too hot during the cycling, and the course was undulating, but no really big hills. I did reasonably well in the cycling and swimming, but was let down by the transitions and running. I was feeling confident until I went into the run transition and could hardly stand up! I found the run really difficult, which is my fault for not doing enough training, but my goal this time was to complete the course and I did. There was quite a steep hill on the run, which caught me out, and it was really hot for the first few kilometres but I' pleased that I managed to finish the course.

I will definitely do some more triathlons next year. I'm planning swimming lessons to improve my freestyle stroke, and a lot more training, now that I know I can complete the course.

- posted by Bill @ 2:06 PM

 
Feeling restless...
I'm feeling restless again - after a lot of thought I've decided against doing a Masters degree, it's a lot of money and I can't be sure I will benefit from it. I've decided to continue with the Open University and go for a second degree, a Bachelor of Arts with Honours this time. I've found an interesting looking level 3 course for next year - DD304 'Understanding Cities'. It has an environmental theme, which I'm particularly interested in.

I'm also apprehensive about my first triathlon which is only a few days away! I haven't had the chance to do the preparation that I wanted, but I'm hoping to just complete it, and use it as a starting point for future training. I have managed to time myself over the three disciplines - I'm really pleased with my Garmin Forerunner personal GPS. It's light and I don't notice it while running. My bike setup seems OK, I'm getting used to the shoes and pedals - I will just do the best I can in the race and take it from there.

My S260 Geology course is going well, I really enjoyed doing the last TMA, and my feeling of apathy during the summer school seems to have receded and I feel spurred on to try and do better with the course overall. Block 4 was particularly interesting because it covered my favourite part of geology - fossils. I still have the summer school cma to finish before the 21st September, and a S260 cma before 1st October, but now I can start to concentrate on revision.

- posted by Bill @ 8:09 PM