Cycling up to work this morning, minding my own business (albeit wearing a road-safety vest with a hedgehog on it!) Nom suddenly braked at an amber light like the good adult that he is. I continued, braked sharply with my 'keen' disc brakes, flew over the handlebars and fortunately flat out onto some nice soft grass.
Not so lucky with the bike. Investigation by the adult revealed that the back wheel had actually come off!
Enough said. Halfords - bleh. Epic fail.
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Monday, 29 December 2008
Pedal splosh pedal
Yes, I was going swimming today; in fact cycling to Spenborough and back with another epic swim session in the middle. Lucky we didn't go for the run that was joked about afterwards. Rest day tomorrow, thank gravy.
And hopefully the Corporal's toe hasn't exploded.
And hopefully the Corporal's toe hasn't exploded.
Sunday, 28 December 2008
Question.
Just cycled to work and back today, despite it being a Sunday, but Nom was going like wotsit off the proverbial Teflon stick, so a very tired Veg with non-working legs had to calculate interest rates for three hours. At least I was sitting down.
So to the question. Corporal, are we cycling tomorrow, and if so, how about a cycle-swim-cycle at lunchtime before the after New Year rush kicks in and we have to find a lake?
Yay tri suit! Yay new swimming costume! Yay new road safety top with a hedgehog on it! People were very kind at Christmas! Now I just need a heart-rate monitor. And gravy.
So to the question. Corporal, are we cycling tomorrow, and if so, how about a cycle-swim-cycle at lunchtime before the after New Year rush kicks in and we have to find a lake?
Yay tri suit! Yay new swimming costume! Yay new road safety top with a hedgehog on it! People were very kind at Christmas! Now I just need a heart-rate monitor. And gravy.
Saturday, 27 December 2008
Dressed to Tri
Who put Nom in charge of the route?
An afternoon cycle to blow away the cobwebs sounded lovely until Nom took the A-Z right out of my freakishly long fingers to plot his own fiendish route.
We went to Horsforth, to visit TRIangle, a lovely little triathlon shop with some very beautiful wares. The problem was that it was up a hill, then on the flat, then up a hill, then down a hill, then UP A HILL, then DOOOOWWWWWWNNNN a hill, then...well, you get the idea. Extreme undulation.
BUT I NOW HAVE A TRI SUIT!! Although I was told off by the Corporal for it being black, not red, so I won't go faster. Yay tri shop. Now all I need is a heart rate monitor and some shiny new tri shoes.
We had to go to the pub for tea as we didn't have enough food to keep up filled. Yay steak.
An afternoon cycle to blow away the cobwebs sounded lovely until Nom took the A-Z right out of my freakishly long fingers to plot his own fiendish route.
We went to Horsforth, to visit TRIangle, a lovely little triathlon shop with some very beautiful wares. The problem was that it was up a hill, then on the flat, then up a hill, then down a hill, then UP A HILL, then DOOOOWWWWWWNNNN a hill, then...well, you get the idea. Extreme undulation.
BUT I NOW HAVE A TRI SUIT!! Although I was told off by the Corporal for it being black, not red, so I won't go faster. Yay tri shop. Now all I need is a heart rate monitor and some shiny new tri shoes.
We had to go to the pub for tea as we didn't have enough food to keep up filled. Yay steak.
Saturday, 20 December 2008
39:25
Finally got my timed cycle in today, after Wednesday's farrago. 9 miles on the (relatively) flat Greenway in a time which you just might be able to predict. Tremendously happy with this, as it now means I've met all my targets for 2008: 300m swim in 7 mins (6:45), 2mi run in 18 mins (16:53) and 9 mile cycle in 45 mins (39:25).
On a heap of junk, as well. With almost entirely ineffective brakes. 75% of my brain capacity is now taken up with daydreaming of new bikes. Ones that aren't made from bricks.
On a heap of junk, as well. With almost entirely ineffective brakes. 75% of my brain capacity is now taken up with daydreaming of new bikes. Ones that aren't made from bricks.
Friday, 19 December 2008
No internet access - sob!
I have no internet access at home and so am trying to type this post in the 3 minutes that are left of my work lunch.
Swimming tonight.
Running around like a lunatic on Saturday.
Hopeful bike ride on Sunday then swim in the afternoon.
Lunch over! :(
Swimming tonight.
Running around like a lunatic on Saturday.
Hopeful bike ride on Sunday then swim in the afternoon.
Lunch over! :(
Thursday, 18 December 2008
a new 3 stage plan
After discussions with the Corporal I have developed a new 3 stage plan to the Triathlon.
Stage 1. Agree to make a plan
Stage 2. ???
Stage 3. Win triathlon.
How can I fail to succeed?
Stage 1. Agree to make a plan
Stage 2. ???
Stage 3. Win triathlon.
How can I fail to succeed?
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Ilkley Tri 2008 - in stats!
Okay, first off, I'm aware that my love of stats is not shared by the rest of you. Additionally, I know that Nom and Fromage profess not to be bothered about their final positions next year (I'd be willing to bet real money that this isn't the case by next September). I even know that the information presented below might make Veg a sad panda-ess. But you should read anyway, because I'm awesome.
Anyway. What I did tonight (after getting bored with Arsenal living up to the first syllable of their name in the Champions' League) was get all the results from the Ilkley Tri 2008 (from a .pdf file on the LTB website), take all the relays out (because they don't really count), and play around with the numbers. What I wanted to find out was which discipline has the greatest effect on finishing position (more or less the same as finishing time).
I was confident beforehand that the bike leg would be the most important. It's the longest, after all. I was right:
How to read the table: r^2 is basically a measure of the relationship between two sets of data, 0 being no relationship, 1 being an exact relationship. A bike rank - total rank score of 0.911 is really, really close.
A graph? Here:
If my A-Level physics experiments yielded graphs like that, people would think I'd faked the results. (They'd probably be right.)
What this means for normal people, of course, is that the bike leg will be vitally important for those trying to get a good result next year.
In other words, lots of cycling in 2009!
PS. The bit which might make Veg a sad panda-ess is the fairly weak relationship between swimming and finishing position. I suppose the problem with the swim is that the difference between a good swim and an average one is about 2 minutes, which really isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things. So that's something for Nom and Fromage (and my shoulder) to feel good about.
Anyway. What I did tonight (after getting bored with Arsenal living up to the first syllable of their name in the Champions' League) was get all the results from the Ilkley Tri 2008 (from a .pdf file on the LTB website), take all the relays out (because they don't really count), and play around with the numbers. What I wanted to find out was which discipline has the greatest effect on finishing position (more or less the same as finishing time).
I was confident beforehand that the bike leg would be the most important. It's the longest, after all. I was right:
| r^2 | Swim | Bike | Run |
| Time | 0.447 | 0.808 | 0.764 |
| Rank | 0.444 | 0.911 | 0.810 |
How to read the table: r^2 is basically a measure of the relationship between two sets of data, 0 being no relationship, 1 being an exact relationship. A bike rank - total rank score of 0.911 is really, really close.
A graph? Here:
If my A-Level physics experiments yielded graphs like that, people would think I'd faked the results. (They'd probably be right.)
What this means for normal people, of course, is that the bike leg will be vitally important for those trying to get a good result next year.
In other words, lots of cycling in 2009!
PS. The bit which might make Veg a sad panda-ess is the fairly weak relationship between swimming and finishing position. I suppose the problem with the swim is that the difference between a good swim and an average one is about 2 minutes, which really isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things. So that's something for Nom and Fromage (and my shoulder) to feel good about.
Monday, 8 December 2008
Blogging, then, up to me...
...not a particularly good thing for it to be.
Happy Birthday, firstly, to Veg, who celebrated in style. With gravy.
This contributed to the reduced weekend schedule, with just a brick session on Sunday, including a route of fierce hills as devised by Nom, cackling manically as he went. Grr. Still, I'm sure it will have burned off at least one of the birthday baguettes.
I somehow managed to drag myself out of the house today for a run, the same 2 mile run we'd done previously. Was v. happy to finish it in a shade under 17 minutes (target 2 for 2008 completed), especially as I got a bad stitch for the second day running (a-ha-ha). I might need to do something about that if it persists, although I've not had this problem in the past.
All of which means that I only have a 9 mile cycle in 45 mins to get through before New Year. Not entirely sure whether I'm looking forward to doing that on my increasingly inadequate machine.
Bah, humbug.
Happy Birthday, firstly, to Veg, who celebrated in style. With gravy.
This contributed to the reduced weekend schedule, with just a brick session on Sunday, including a route of fierce hills as devised by Nom, cackling manically as he went. Grr. Still, I'm sure it will have burned off at least one of the birthday baguettes.
I somehow managed to drag myself out of the house today for a run, the same 2 mile run we'd done previously. Was v. happy to finish it in a shade under 17 minutes (target 2 for 2008 completed), especially as I got a bad stitch for the second day running (a-ha-ha). I might need to do something about that if it persists, although I've not had this problem in the past.
All of which means that I only have a 9 mile cycle in 45 mins to get through before New Year. Not entirely sure whether I'm looking forward to doing that on my increasingly inadequate machine.
Bah, humbug.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Boo, no internet :(
Major internet failure at Veg/Nom Towers means that I won't be able to update as often as I once was. Hopefully will be rectified soon, but may have to pay £75 for the privilege (long story).
The Corporal has a squiffy shoulder: so squiffy in fact that he is having to retire from swimming for two weeks. Boo. Poor Corporal; hopefully his saluting arm will be back to full strength soon; that is if he hasn't died of boredom on the exercise bike.
Nom has a puncture, and an inner tube that doesn't fit his pump.
It's too cold outside for Fromage.
The Corporal has a squiffy shoulder: so squiffy in fact that he is having to retire from swimming for two weeks. Boo. Poor Corporal; hopefully his saluting arm will be back to full strength soon; that is if he hasn't died of boredom on the exercise bike.
Nom has a puncture, and an inner tube that doesn't fit his pump.
It's too cold outside for Fromage.
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