As a challenge I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.

Day Six

If yesterday was an example of how to fit the challenge around working in the office, today was an example of how to fit it in around working from home. I have a bike set up behind to my computer and, when running short on time, it’s great to be able to use my lunch to go straight from ‘office’ to ‘gym’ just by turning around. Today was my daughter’s first birthday so as well as work there’s a party to have and sweets to eat so the challenge had to take place before I ate too much of the party cake!

How was it? I like to use the training programmes in Zwift to provide a bit of structure. My favourites are the ones which have short fast bursts followed by long easy stretches. The fast sections don’t seem too bad when you immediately have an easy section after it.

As a challenge I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.

Day Five

Back to work today and a chance to swim before going to the office. One good thing about lockdown is that when I do need to go to the office I know it’s easy to get parking nearby as the city centre is empty, which also makes it easy to drive to a swimming pool first and then start work as there’s no traffic either. On pre-lockdown days I would never drive as it would take longer to get to the office than it would to jump on the train. Lockdown has been a big help for swimming – well, except for the 12 months when the pools were closed. But, apart from that…

How was it? I’ve been swimming 2 – 3 times a week for the last month and today felt like a breakthrough as I wasn’t lap counting to try and hit a target, just enjoying the swim while I aimed to hit 1k.

As a challenge I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.

Day Four

I haven’t changed any settings but, when I start an activity on my Garmin watch, it suggests a training run. Today, it suggested 7 x 10 second sprints over 44 minutes. Given I’ve got 31 days I thought I might as introduce an element of surprise to the challenge and I do whatever my watch tells my to do. So, seven 10 second sprints it was. Three minutes of running then beep, beep, sprint. Normally, I only spring in Glasgow when I realise I’ve run down the wrong alley.

How was it? One of those nights where it’s cold enough that it’s impossible to sweat but not cold enough to have to worry about patches of ice on the pavement. I love running in these conditions so it felt easy to be out today.

As a challenge I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.

Day Three

If it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen. So, when I forgot my watch I had to make very sure of the number of laps I was swimming so I could update Strava when I finished. The tricky bit is that the pool I was swimming in was 21 metres and not 25m, which makes it trickier to work out laps when every five laps is 104m and not 100m.

Top tip for the rest of the month – remember watch. Or get better at maths.

How was it? An almost empty pool with only one other person swimming. An otherwise easy and relaxing swim.

As a challenge I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January.

Day Two

D’oh! I realised today that this isn’t day two, it’s actually day seven as I’d also ran, cycled or swam the last five days of December too. If you’re thinking of starting a challenge then don’t do what I’ve done and start it without thinking of having a break first. I bet Edmund Hillary wasn’t halfway up K2 when he decided to tackle Everest the next day.

How was it? The hardest part of cycling in January is the weather. Most days feels like part of a musical: miserable. But, when you get a good day, it’s great to get out even if it’s just in the city. No heavy legs today but I was more ambling and rambling than racing around.

As a challenge I’m going to run, bike or swim every day in January. I’ve tried Marcothon, the December challenge to run 5k each day, but quickly decided my legs were not up for running daily. So, instead, I’m going to multi-sport it and challenge myself to spend run, cycle or swim each day this month.

I tried to think of a cool name for the challenge. Tri-anuary? But that would just link it to a specific month rather than something which can be done anytime. So, instead I’ve called it the 31 day challenge, which means it can be completed anytime except obviously February, April, June, September and November. Maybe I should have just called it the one month challenge to be more inclusive?

Day One

How was it? Tired heavy legs after a large meal last night. Really didn’t want to run but went out because it was warm, sunny and remarkably un-January like.

When you’re inside do you really want to be reminded about it? For me, the best programme of the year was ‘Long Way Up’ on Apple TV. A nostalgic revival of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s previous trips around the work but this time a challenge to cycle from the tip of South America to Los Angeles. To watch it now was to be reminded not just of their previous trips but also what it was like to just travel for the sake of travelling, something we can’t do anymore without re-creating the opening of Stephen King’s ‘The Stand’.

But if you had to be reminded about the pandemic then the three best programme were Bo Burnhan’s ‘Inside’, an epic musical, nervous breakdown, or possible piss-take, set inside a single room. The not at all pandemic related ‘The Terror’ about two boats trapped in the ice as something that may or may not be supernatural stalks the ice. But while ‘The Terror’ may not be directly about the pandemic it did show what happens if you’re stuck indoors for two years. And BBC3’s ‘Pls Like’, which saw series 3 struggle to film a mock documentary in the middle of lockdown while pretending to be serious while also being deeply silly.

Honourable mentions:

Continuing the nostalgia theme: the so far excellent return of serial killer Dexter Morgan in Dexter: New Blood and season 2 of ‘Justified’. For new stuff I watched Loki and Wandavision (but not Falcon & The Winter Soldier); and the obvious candidates of Succession, Mare of Eastown and Ted Lasso.

Every year I download an info-graphic of my Strava training stats from https://veloviewer.com/infographic

You can see last years here https://twinbikerun.com/2020/12/31/2020-report-iain/

This year I made it as far as Baku. I googled “interesting facts about Baku” and discovered Baku has more mud volcanoes than anywhere else in the world. Although, a mud volcano is not technically a proper volcano as it doesn’t produce Lava.

The aim for the year was to Celtrman. That didn’t happen due to my father passing away in the spring. He died on April 1st. He would have appreciated the irony of leaving us on Aprils fools day.

There was another big event in the family. My granny turned 100 and got her card from the Queen. This is the first time in western isles history the royal mail have successfully delivered a letter on time.

I’m not saying the Queen hates Scottish people but you can get a 100th birthday card from her in Welsh or English but when we asked for Gaelic she replied “Get to f**K Jocks! Know your place and bow down before me before I set Prince Andrew on you all”

I did complete a few races – dramathon, two triathlons and Toddman. Andrew is still claiming I cheated to win Toddman but I won fair and square https://twinbikerun.com/2021/09/08/toddman-2021-film-iain/

We wrote a book. We’ve not really mentioned it here 🙂 The aim was to sell 50 copies before xmas. I’m pleased to say we managed to sell nearly 60. Interstingly 99% of sales has been the paperback. I would have thought the ebook would be more popular as its cheaper and so many people have kindles. I was wrong. https://www.amazon.co.uk/DNF-Swimming-brothers-attempted-triathlon-ebook/dp/B09KTCL3G6

The main thing I learnt this year was that I’ve been eating Bananas incorrectly since for ever!

WTF – My mind is still blown by this….

Overall, I got through the year happy and injury free and I can’t ask more than that.

Happy New Year Everyone.

DNF – Did Not Finish is available to order now… https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09KTCL3G6

Is is our story of 20 years swimming, biking and running. Every one of our results tells a story, even the races we did not finish.

It is a story about finding the joy in racing whether you come first or last.

It contains stories such as ….

I discovered my local triathlon club, Glasgow Triathlon Club, had a Sunday night swimming session for beginners.

I thought it would be a welcoming environment full of like-minded beginners. It wasn’t. Triathletes lie about their ability and they are really competitive

I discovered this when the coach said: “I’d like you all to swim eight lengths of the pool at 70% race pace. I’ll time you. Who wants to go first?”

No one volunteered to go first.

“Come on! Who’s fastest?”

Everyone looked at each other in the same way a lift of strangers looks at each other after one person has farted. Who is it?

I looked at the man next to me. He was solid muscle. His back had the classic v-profile of an Olympic swimmer. He wore tiny Speedos that were so small and revealing they looked like they’d been tattooed to his crotch. His swim goggles cost more than my last car.

“Hurry up! Someone has to go first!”

The only time I’d been mistaken for a swimmer was when a hairdresser said to me “Are you a swimmer?” I beamed with pride and replied “yes” thinking it was because of my swimmer’s physique – but my pride was quickly punctured when the hairdresser said “I thought so – I examined your hair. It is in terrible condition. It is dry from chlorine.”

I did not even have the right equipment for a swim. My swim shorts were run shorts. There was no point buying one pair for running and one for swimming. It meant my run shorts got a wash. My goggles were whatever I could find in the lost and of found bucket of my local pool. I was not a swimmer.

He looked at me again. It wasn’t that he was in a different league to me. It was that we aren’t even playing the same sport.

He said: “You first, mate”

I replied, “No thanks. You should definitely go first.”

He thought about it and said, “no – I think you are quicker.”

So, I went first. I had a five second head start. On the sixth second, he caught up.

I went as fast as I could but he kept having to stop to wait for me.

After we’d finished eight laps the coach said, “are you all happy with your time?”

The man who couldn’t have been more like a fish even if he’d had gills said, “I could have gone faster but I got held up!” Maybe if he hadn’t lied about his ability he wouldn’t have got held up.

If you are good at something, it’s ok to say you are good at it.

I then looked round and saw everyone else. It was like the scene at the start of Saving Private Ryan. Bodies were strewn in the water. People screaming in agony. One man looked like he’d swum himself into a heart attack.

The coach asked, “Was that 70% effort?” No-one replied. They were all completely f&%ked! At last the man having the heart attack said through wheezy, definitely non-competitive, gasps of death “I think I went 65%!”