Climb every mountain.....

Danielle was watching a documentary about the Von Trapp family on Sky+ at the weekend and inspired by their Alpine skipping through the flower filled fields I decided today was the day to start hill training.

I'm still trying to keep my heart rate under 140 in training to focus on fat burning. It's an odd term fat burning. It's not like we put a flame to the flab but it must be because of the heat created whilst training but to be honest I have no idea. So if you know the technical fizz (physiology) stuff then please post a response to inform this uneducated soul.

I started the day feeling a bit clearer so headed down to the gym, aka the front room, and completed 30 minutes of light weights. I suppose when people think of Ironman they think of muscle clad giants in tight fitting lycra not podgy 50 year old blokes who could scare an alien invasion if clad in lycra. I spend most of the time doing upper body stuff using my big exercise ball as a bench for sit ups and bench presses. It's good because it works the core whilst working off the moobs!!

That left me feeling pretty fresh, so as it was a run day I decided to introduce the Von Trapps to my work out. Outside the village is a superb hill for training and having climbed it on the bike on a good number of occasions re-named it the grand sounding Col Du Carnock. So today, I set from the house and ran up to Oakley, down onto the bike track and back up to the Carnock turn off. Once you turn back over the bike path you follow the road to the 40mph posts that mark the start of the hill climb training. I started with a short session which I plan to build week by week increasing the effort by 10% every week. So today I ran as fast as I could from the speed limit posts to the first tree, approximately 25% of the way up the hill jogging back down to the post to recover.

The second effort saw me sprint (massive exaggeration) to the third tree on the right which was approximately 50% of the way up the hill followed by a jog to the bottom. By this time the effort was beginning to take its toll but once you start something you can't give up so the third effort took me 75% of the way up the hill. The pace had dropped from the first effort and the breathing was heavy but it was done so I recovered on the jog down to the post for the final push.

The last of the climbs was less sprinting and more Spotty Dog. Those of a certain vintage may remember the Woodentops and the stiff legged Spotty Dog character, if cardboard cut out cartoon dogs can be called characters! The legs were wooden, the spring was out of the step but with a final Von Trapp like skip I'd completed the set. I felt vaguely satisfied until I considered how easy the set had been in the past even on the second run.

A few of the Dunfermline CC guys are biking tomorrow which makes me very envious as the weather is set cold and fair I believe but I have a conference call and a number of meetings. My training will have to wait until the evening.

I re-joined Carnegie Harriers again today having let my mebership slip. It's good to support the local clubs and although I'm not a regular attender I still like the contact with local runners and cyclists.

I may even risk a swim tomorrow having not been swimming since Lake Placid so that could be an interesting session. Can an Ironman have a secret fear of water - sure not!!