Struggling to be Half as Good

First, a number of apologies. I’m sorry I’ve not posted any updates on my progress for a while; I’m sorry that I haven’t set any new challenges; and I’m sorry that despite promising a while ago that I wouldn’t go on about various aches and pains, I’m now going to do exactly that!

I was always aware that the half as good challenge was going to be a tough way to gain some fitness after being well mashed by a dozy car driver. I thought that it would be tough in a good way though. I thought that it would be challenging, but also push me to get active again and gain some strength and stamina. For some of the activities, that has been true. The swimming and the cycling have been great. To be honest, I think that those are activities where I have the experience to be able to push myself through technique without resorting to strength. I certainly found the swimming tough, but it was my breathing and general fitness that was holding me back more than my physical state.

In contrast, the running (even though it was only 100m) left me in a pretty sore state! I was really surprised how long I hurt after those few sprints. And as for the shot put… Well, it was a nice thought that it would suddenly make my shoulder feel better. In fact, what it has done is underlined the fact that the road to recovery is long and winding and it requires quite a few stop-offs on the way. At the moment I can’t seem to make my knee any better and I’m sure my shoulder is getting worse.

I’ve been putting off admitting it, but I can’t hide it any longer. I’m not up to the half as good challenge. Not yet. For this year I’m bailing out.

This doesn’t mean that I’m buying a flat screen tv and living the rest of my life on the sofa. At the moment I’m going to yoga once a week. I’ve also bought a mean massage machine to batter myself into shape, and I’m going to start swimming again.

I think I might give it six months and try again. Anyone interested in The Half as Good Decathlon 2014?

The Shot Put goes on!

Well, the shot put challenge has been a tough one. I’ve had a go, but not put much effort into it. Now I’ve run out of time, it’s well into another month, and I’ve not set a challenge for the new month.

So, I’ve made an executive decision that the shot put is going to go on for another month. It’s such a tough one and there hasn’t been a lot of interest from others… Apart from Winston ‘Half Brick’ Plowes who has had a go at the challenge!

In the last week of this month – probably Thursday 26th – I’m going to go to Leeds Road playing fields to have a final go at the half distance with as heavy a weight as possible… It would be great if some people could join me….

Meanwhile, here is Winston’s report:

This month’s challenge reminds me what sport is about for me. It is the fun of taking part in something different! I will not be good at this but that’s irrelevant. Actually I have enjoyed dipping my toe into the world of field athletics more than the other challenges so far.

For my attempt I selected a wooded lane with a gravel surface and a slight incline. The woods gave me peace and quite and the surface a means of marking the throwing and target lines by scraping with a sturdy stick. All throws were made ‘uphill’ to negate any beneficial effects of the slope. The location was also chosen, as there is a good supply of rocks and stones nearby. Lines measured and scraped and first ‘shot’ selected. Throw one landed 3 ft short from a standing start. For throw two I adopted the shuffle and glide technique and was successful (and by some measure) ‘Shot 2’ selected. Felt heavier in the hand but to eliminate effects of differing densities of stone I fashioned a rudimentary balance from a round and a square section stick. After verifying it was indeed heavier it took three attempts to get it over the line, the second hitting the overhanging trees. Shot selected and ‘weighed’. A half-brick, roughly broken. Attempt 1, I was in the zone now and confident enough to deploy a cry upon release. I had watched some footage of Geoff Capes by way of preparation/inspiration the night before and thought that if it worked for him… Crouch, shuffle, and glide. Whooh red van about 30 ft away. Stood aside and acknowledged the drivers raised palm which said he was more than glad I had managed to arrest my motion. Right, give it everything. Crouch, shuffle, and glide Whaaaaarrr, release. Success with the half brick! It landed bang on the line. Bring on the next challenge.

First try at Shot Put

this month is going to be really tough! I visited my dad this evening and found, in his shed, a little bit of old lead and a small soft football. Seemed like a good chance to kick off with throwing around a heavy object – so I chopped the lead up into little squares, made a slit in the football, and posted the bits in!

I started with 2kg of lead snips in the ball. Measured the distance. Limbered up, and had a throw… Right on target! The perfect length, though only just. I had another go and put more effort into it. Didn’t really make any difference.

I put another 1kg of lead into the ball. It’s about half full now! I thought it would be a lot harder, but reassuringly it didn’t make any difference. My shoulder hurt after I threw it, but I got the same distance. Success at 3kg!

I can tell that this pattern isn’t going to repeat! My technique will get better. I might even get stronger, but I don’t think I can throw further, and I don’t think I’ll manage to throw a lot more weight. If I manage 4kg I’ll be pleased with that. Half as good as the women’s result in the last Olympics!

First try at Shot Put

this month is going to be really tough! I visited my dad this evening and found, in his shed, a little bit of old lead and a small soft football. Seemed like a good chance to kick off with throwing around a heavy object – so I chopped the lead up into little squares, made a slit in the football, and posted the bits in!

I started with 2kg of lead snips in the ball. Measured the distance. Limbered up, and had a throw… Right on target! The perfect length, though only just. I had another go and put more effort into it. Didn’t really make any difference.

I put another 1kg of lead into the ball. It’s about half full now! I thought it would be a lot harder, but reassuringly it didn’t make any difference. My shoulder hurt after I threw it, but I got the same distance. Success at 3kg!

I can tell that this pattern isn’t going to repeat! My technique will get better. I might even get stronger, but I don’t think I can throw further, and I don’t think I’ll manage to throw a lot more weight. If I manage 4kg I’ll be pleased with that. Half as good as the women’s result in the last Olympics!

August’s Challenge – The Shot Put

After much deliberation, it is official… This month’s Half as Good challenge is the shot put.

This one, I think, is guaranteed to be an all round failure! I’m happy to be proved wrong, but I think that it takes years of fine training, and possibly a very special diet, to hurl a 7kg weight over 20m. It’s not really something that comes in useful in everyday life – in fact, I found this great article article on the web asking how useless is the Shot Put?

I contemplated buying a shot put (only £15 on eBay, but the postage adds on a bit more!), or making a shot put (cast from lead!) but I’ve had a much better idea.

Considering how difficult the challenge is this month, I’m going to make the distance fixed and the weight variable. Start with a tennis ball, move onto a cricket ball, progress to heavy stones, half a brick, and then maybe the metal weights. Here’s how it’s going to work:

The world records come from an era when (in Olympic throwing events) men were men, and women were too! The distances we’ll be using will be from the 2012 Olympics. They are 21.89m for the men, 20.70m for the women.

Take a piece of string, and measure out half the distance(10.95m for the men, 10.35m for women). Put a tag on each end of the string at the right distance, so you can see where to stand, and where the shot should land.

Go to a quiet bit of parkland, field, etc (not a sports stadium – see last post) with your light weight, throw the distance, then try again with something heavier. Weigh what you’ve thrown (take kitchen scales to the park!), and report in with your achievements!

The weight to work up to (good luck!) is 16lb for men (7.26kg) and 8.8lb for women (4kg).

One final thing – the shot must be ‘put’ not thrown… The shot must be placed against the neck and then not go lower than the shoulder during the throw. You can’t stand with your back to the field, and swing it from your knees over your head! Shame….! You don’t have to do a standing start – either a spin or a glide are fine, but don’t step past the start of the string!

Anyone who manages to get up to the full weight gets straight onto Team Half as Good, and gets major kudos! The best attempt in the men’s and women’s category also gets onto Team Half as Good…

Good luck – and watch out for small dogs!

The Challenge for August

Thinking about a possible field event for this month, I visited the John Charles Centre for Sport Athletic Stadium. It’s a fine facility on the outskirts of Leeds with indoor and outdoor athletics areas. Perfect for plenty of Half as Good challenges.

Reception couldn’t help much, but they suggested that I chat to the Leeds Athletic Club who use the facilities each week, and were over in the athletics and bowling building.

I went to find them and have a chat. It seems there are a lot of rules. Very important rules. And memberships, and competition numbers. You can’t just do, say, the high jump and measure it. It has to be a competition for any activity to be measured. And we’re nearly at the end of the season, so not many competitions left. It seems a very serious business and I was clearly, politely, not welcome! I suspect that Usain Bolt would not be welcome either, certainly not at the beginning of his career.

As a member of the most relaxed climbing club in the area – which is so welcoming to new members – I despair of this Olympic legacy which seems to be set against people giving new things a go. Rather entertainingly, they actually mentioned health and safety, protecting coaches, and governing body rules. I’m sure the sharp end of a javelin isn’t a comfortable place to be, and a shot put dropped on your foot isn’t going to be great for you, but are those the real reasons behind not wanting to get new people involved?

Meanwhile, my search for an event for this month continues. I will post the challenge by the end of the weekend!

Wish me luck!

Sarah cycles the Time Trial

Guest post from Sarah Broscombe – Welcome to Team Half as Good!

“Women, you have 37 minutes and 35 seconds to cycle 14.5km. An average of 23.2km/hr.”

I have never been on a road bike. I really wanted to give this half as good challenge a go. On my mountain bike I generally average around 15kmh, though to be fair that usually includes a significant hill or two and with bits of knobbly off-road. So I had NO idea whether I could a) stay on a road bike, which to me looks like doing the Luge on a razor blade, and b) average anything over a laughable 17kmh or so. The women’s half-as-good Olympic challenge is 23.2kmh- 14.5km in 37m35.

Lake Annecy, then, the Greenway, about 29C and getting windy. A hired comp bike (skinny tyres but straight handlebars with recognisable gears). I’ve got no speedo so B comes with me, which is fantastic for road crossings as well as information. First thing I notice is that it’s a firm ride, on skinny tyres with a saddle that looks like a prehistoric pelvis fossil and feels penitential.

Second thing I notice is, it should be called the GreenGATES, not the Greenway. Entry and exit pairs of gates across each road, farm track, entryway or path. The gates are slanted so you lose a lot of speed approaching as well as going through unless you can whizz through diagonally at speed. Which I can’t on my wheelie razor blade. As you can see from this chart, I had to slow down considerably 7 times, plus a further 4 complete stops for traffic passing. Clobbers your average, that.

Third thing I notice is that after 3km I’m knackered and really, really dehydrated. No bottle cage, but on this wafer I’m riding I daren’t let go of the handlebars anyway. Problem solved when B starts spraying bits of water in my mouth from his water bottle. Now THAT’s chivalry!

From 5km to 10km the path rises gradually but steadily. After 8km I reckon I can’t finish. I’m just not used to maintaining speed like this. After 10km when it stops ascending I reckon I can do it- but the last 2km is just gate after gate, and all the sudden deceleration and fierce acceleration after re-starting is taking it out of me. My head is bobbing like a ducked apple by the time I get to the last km.

We pull up in the shade. B reads from his speedo- I’ve done the 14.5km in 32 minutes 7 seconds, an average of 27.1kmh, taking 5 minutes 28 seconds off the goal time. I’m so happy I get all sniffly. Can’t quite believe it. We ride the 18km back into the wind rather slower (19kmh, though, still not bad), but I’m getting steadily more excited. I think I might be the first woman to join Team Half as Good, and it’s very nice to feel as though I did indeed earn it. The buzz lasted for about 3 days!

Success on the Cycling Time Trial

Last week I did a lot of cycling! I made it out to Paris on the train, then drove down to Annecy, and then the base of Alpe d’Huez just in time to cycle up the Alpe for the Tour de France double visit. That was a great experience – not only watching the race, but also cycling up the Alpe with thousands of spectators alongside the road, cheering everyone who cycled past. To see the pros go past at double the speed later was even better. A really impressive experience.

The next day I cycled Col d’Epine and then Col de Forclaz – a long steep climb with torrential rain and lightning crashing all around. The day after, Saturday, I cycled up to Semnoz, Annecy to see the finish of the last stage of the Tour in the Alps. Fantastic.

That just left the Time Trial for Sunday. I chose the cycle path which runs from Annecy to Albertville. I thought that it would be good to do the challenge without having to worry about cars. I also figured that the path would be fairly flat and in good condition.

Well, the path was in good condition. Nothing else really went to plan! I realised before I even started that the path was going to be absolutely packed, and I was completely shattered. So I put the challenge off for a day and prepared to do the ride on Monday!

On Monday the path was still looking busy, so I started away from Annecy, just past the end of the lake. Despite a few groups pedalling along slowly I wasn’t held up. I did notice that I’d started on a gentle uphill slope, rising away from the lake, but it didn’t seem too bad. There was no breeze at all. The real problem, which I soon noticed, was that at every point where a road crossed the path there were metal barriers. Even where I could see the road was clear, I had to slow down to 20km/hr to get through the barrier!

The path flattened off and my speed picked up a little. I was getting up to around 40km/hr and maintaining it. Things were looking good.

I then realised that the path was beginning to drop a little bit. I’d reached the watershed and was now heading down away from Annecy. I was getting a downhill advantage! There wasn’t much I could do, and I figured that the slowing down for barriers probably cancelled out any benefit I was getting. I pushed on hard. As much as possible I tried to drop my head right down to the bars, just looking at the white line passing under my front wheel for 5 long seconds before looking up to make sure I wasn’t going to cycle into anyone else.

After about 16km I knew that I was going to beat my top target of 36km/hr, but then I hit a crazy bit of cycle path. The path had sharp turns, a small wooden bridge, and a cyclist right in the middle of the bridge, knees out wide, drifting from side to side! I managed to squeeze past (sorry!) and get round the bend off the bridge, and then sprint back up to race speed.

Shortly after that the cycle path joined the road. Not a problem – it was a quiet road. It did start to go properly downhill though and I really started to feel guilty. I went straight on at a roundabout, no traffic to worry about, and carried on through a junction. It was at that point, about 19km into the trial, that I realised I was quite a way down a slip-road onto the auto-route! I saw the no cycling sign as I shot past, and quietly swore to myself.

I paused, had a quick look round, slowed down, did a quick u-turn in the road, and started sprinting back up the slope. My legs burned and my lungs heaved. This was real hard work. I got back up to 40km/hr, but then had to loose speed to navigate the motorway junction again! Back up to speed, but then I started flagging. I only had another km to do, but I was really struggling. I saw my speed had dropped to 35km/hr and pushed on hard again, back to the roundabout where there was a car, right at the wrong time. I slowed to 20, and then painfully accellerated back up to 30km/hr before slumping over the imaginary finish line, drifting and losing speed, as my speedo registered 22km.

Over the whole ride, the course averaged -0.5% gradient. It took me 37 minutes 21 seconds to complete, an average of 35.4 km/hr. I really wanted to get an average of 36km/hr, and it would be really nice if I could do it on the flat. It’s way past the ‘half as good’ target of 26km/hr, but this is going to be my strongest sport. I’ve now got a week left – maybe I should have another go?

Time Trial Guest Post – From Winston

My attempt at the 22km test was a little different to most. I am used to cycling but short on time at the moment so I thought I would build my timed 22km section into a longer ride. Setting off at 8am from Hebden on yet another blisteringly hot day I reached an inconspicuous hump backed canal bridge where the Selby Canal goes under the road near West Bank (south of Selby). The wind was against me but light and the sun melting the tarmac. I thought the little bridge might make an ideal starting house and ramp, so pausing to start the mobile phone stop watch on the bridge I was interrupted by a beep! A car waiting for me, now stationary on the narrow bridge. I didn’t even try and explain why I was stopped in such a ridiculous place but instead made a faltering start at a time in the day when I was having a bit of an energy gap. Still, it should be easy enough… The course was flat. I had to stop once at a busy crossroads and again to open a gate. but apart from this made good progress. Encountered two other cyclists and overtook without drafting. Energy was lacking and half way through I was really feeling the presence of the invisible enemy, the clock on my back and thought I wasn’t going to make it. Speeded up in the second half of the race of truth and come the last 10 mins was in full time trial mode. Although I am now too fat to comfortably maintain a position on the drops I was taking no prisoners at Airmyn rounderbout and arrived at Warlde Services petrol station to stop the clock at 49:25. What was supposed to be a measured effort within a longer ride turned into an intermediate sprint but there was a deal of satisfaction and later sunburn (see pic) in knowing that I am more than half as good ad Eddy Mercx. I completed the 200km in 11 hrs.

That’s 2 of 2 events successfully completed (I can’t swim so claim exemption from month 1) Whats next I wonder?

Time Trial Results

 

 

On Tuesday, after a rest day, the Tour de France had its first individual time trial this year.  It was quite a fast course, a little hilly, but with a strong wind blowing from the right direction for some, if not all, of the course.  The distance was 33km, from Avranches to Mont Saint Michel.  A stunning place to finish a time trial.

The current world time trial champion, Tony Martin of Germany, won the time trial in 36 minutes and 29 seconds.  An average speed of over 54 km/hr.  He would have done the 22 km challenge in 24 minutes and 20 seconds!

Meanwhile, Ben – star runner from last month’s challenge – has managed this month’s time trial.  He covered 22km today in 45 minutes 25 seconds.  An average of 29 km/hr.  He also used a hilly course.  Good result, and the first person into Team Half as Good for this month!

I’ll be making my attempt towards the end of next week – hopefully around Lake Annecy, on the flat, without a breeze!

Wish me luck!