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What up bloggersphere! Cannot believe it has been a month since I last posted! Lots has happened… But one of the biggest is that I have signed up for a HALF IRON MAN event along with a couple of sprint events!! The half is taking place over my birthday weekend at Eton Dorney (where the Olympic rowing took place). I am to be completely honest with you very nervous about doing this now! Anyway… As you might of guessed from the title, I have just been majorly busy! Also you might have guessed that I have been up to quite a lot since I last wrote. That being said, lets start with that…
At the start of the month I found myself in Zurich, Switzerland for some training on a new product that was going to be implemented in Luxembourg, which myself and Dave (work colleague) would be leading. The training itself was pretty interesting as it was a product that I have never had any experience with before. Also it was really nice to be back in Zurich as I haven’t been there since I first started with my company. It is a place that I have completely fallen in love with, unfortunately though it is STUPIDLY expensive so I don’t think I could ever afford to actually move there 😦 Also it was snowing most of the time that I was there which made it even more beautiful, whilst also making training a bit interesting… Running in the snow! That was certainly interesting, there was more than one occasion where I nearly fell flat on my arse, but luckily I didn’t. Also it was nice to get back to the swimming pool, where my originally arch nemesis would swim. Originally when I first started training, for a sprint triathlon distance, this guy would be a much better swimmer than me. We would both only swim breaststroke as well. Near the time I was leaving Zurich I had started to swim alternative front crawl/breaststroke. So I would find myself actually being quicker than him. This time however he could not cope with me 🙂 as now I swim only front crawl and I absolutely flew past him. Especially since I have worked a lot on my technique recently (more on this later).
After 5 days in Zurich, I was straight off to Leeds for a weekend with the Uni lads to celebrate both Crutes and Gagz birthdays. MESSY! That one word completely sums it up. After arriving the first thing we did was a Jeff Stelling Challenge, as you can see from the pictures, me and Tom did a pretty good job… Crute on the other hand, not so much. And basically on from that point on it was just constant drinking throughout the day until the proper pre drinks session started. Then the drinking games came out, with the main event being Beer Pong… I don’t want to blow my own trumpet or anything but I was immense! After the pre lash, we headed out
into town to a place I have no idea what it was called. All I can remember about the place was spending money on more drinks. That is it! I cannot tell you the name of any song or anything that we spoke about. Its fair to say I was SMASHED! The train journey back to London the next day was both possibly the best and worst journey ever. Worst because I was hanging out my arse and couldn’t close my eyes to sleep, best because it was
just hilarious! Clearly I was in a ‘I don’t give a shit what people think’ mood and was just laughing the whole way home with Crute. Mostly at classic Friends quotes such as ‘DAMN IT MONA’, ‘I haven’t had sex in a very long time’ and ‘Feels so good’… Most of them were Ross quotes. Just so funny! This video basically sums it up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdcfCz6IYbU
The next week was a fairly quite one as I was in Luxembourg with a standard week of
work and training. But during this week I did complete my first ever 1 hour swim and run! And also I did 1km under 4 mins, 50 mins into a run on a treadmill. Both of which I was really proud off. Also Metal Gear Rising was released that weekend. Being a massive Metal Gear Solid fan I figured it was only right that I played and completed this game regardless of how skeptical I was about it. I was pleasantly surprised that I really enjoyed the game, apart from *SPOILER* the last boss plot, which was a bit ott… My weekend was cut short however as I was off to Geneva on Sunday for a consulting course
The course which lasted from Sunday to Wednesday was very interesting and hard work. Still being relatively new to the company I learnt a lot of the companies processes and some Consultant do’s and don’ts. Also there was some hard work, which even had us working as a small group till 2am in the morning. Of cause I also met up with some people that I haven’t seen for a while and also some new faces all of whom were really cool people. After the course I was in London for Thursday and Friday, preparing for the following week back in Luxembourg. Given the nature of the course and the fact my body could do with a rest as I have basically been training solidly since July, I took the whole week off from training! This was strange to say the least…
Also given the fact that I was working in London for a change (and not training) I wasn’t completely knackered come the weekend, so on Friday after a few drinks with people from work, I headed off out to Oxford Circus with Kie, Naralie, Jen and Crute. Crute has just had his 6 month review (which he passed, so still has a job) and finished at 2pm. We eventually met up with him and he was smashed! Was so funny watching him for the evening as I relatively sober for most of the evening apart from at one point when I was feeling it, unfortunately it didn’t last too long. But that didn’t stop me buying drinks for ever bugger around (If you ever see me on a night out, just say hi to me and more than likely I will buy you a drink). The next day Kie come over for the football and we were quickly joined by Naralie and Lyness. Later that evening after Kie won over £300 on his football accumulator we had a games night playing Cluedo and Monopoly. Sunday was a fairly standard Sunday involving the normal Sunday chores such as washing and cleaning *yawn* but I did start working out again and went for a 1 hour swim as basically I just felt fat from not doing anything all week and not eating as good as I normally do.
And finally we are now to this week…
Before I actually talk about training this week, I think it’s worth mentioning my swimming. I have recently bought a book called swim smooth, and oh my it made a massive difference after just my first read. It dropped my 25m average time by 2 seconds! It basically just improves swim efficiency and position in the water to keep more streamlined.
As for this week, I was back in a surprising sunny Luxembourg. Due to the nice weather I was able to get outside to run twice (once after work, and once at lunch time), along with sessions in the gym. As you will be able to see below, my week hasn’t exactly been my best in terms of the amount of sessions I have done, and this was due to a calf problem which, really effected my running especially. Also I didn’t mention that I am also getting a my bike professionally fitted on Saturday, and figured that it was probably best not to be injured going into this…
Monday – Long Run – 70 mins (PM)
Tuesday – Medium Bike – 105 mins – Sufferfest Video: The Blender (PM)
Wednesday- Short Run – 42 mins (AM)
Thursday – Off
Friday – Bike fit (going to cycle there and back), Long Swim – 70 mins (PM)
Saturday – Medium Swim – 56 mins (PM)
Sunday – Short Swim – 42 mins (PM)
Also since I have signed up for a couple of sprint triathlons, my first being on Easter monday, i have decided to buy my self a tri suit… I hope you enjoy the pictures… Surely them alone are worth a little donation?? Or maybe a donation to never post pictures like this ever again?
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
My sponsorship page once again is http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/GeorgeBanks
You stay classy San Diego