Summer Time

So the summer is seemingly over and the Olympics are finished.
I watched London 2012 win its bid 7 years ago and this summer witnessed the greatest show on earth.

 I was incredibly lucky with tickets (into lucky read organised in the beginning and then having a very tenacious friend at the last). I managed; Hockey, Equestrian, Diving, VolleyBall, both road races, Mens Timetrial and both Triathlons as well as Track Cycling, Paralympic Athletics, Waterpolo and Trampolining test events.

I held a torch. I saw the opening ceremony dress rehersal . I was gutted for Mark Cavendish and ecstatic for Bradley Wiggins. I cried with Jess Ennis, hid behind my sofa for Mo Farah and watched with awe; Richard Whitehead, Victoria Pendleton, the Brownles's and coutless other magical moments. I cheered myself hoarse. I waved Union Jacks till my arms hurt and never learned the second verse of the National Anthmn. I waited in countless queues and staked my claim on prime pieces of grass and tarmac. I shouted at screens big and small and watched triumphant athletes "float" in central London.

I was proud and emotional, sometimes angry and I #savedthesurprise.
I lived pretty much every moment of the Olympics and I am so lucky that they came to town in my lifetime.

With all this being involved something had to give and it was the training. September is almost done and no triathlon has been completed so that goal is being moved to next year. London Triathlon in September is the aim. As always fingers are crossed for the London Marathon ballot which is revealed in early October. I will also have another go at the Asics Super 6 (which is responsible for starting this blog in the first place).

It does take a bit of a mental kick up the arse to get back into training after such a sporadic August so I had a bit of a think about why I do it. I came up with the following list:

1. Enjoyment. I actually do enjoy it. Well I enjoy the running and the cycling. I think I enjoy the smug feeling I get from going to the gym more than the actual gym but there is enjoyment associated nonetheless! I like seeing life go by as I'm running along. Lots of different stuff going on out there. This is the reaosn I like longer slower runs; more time to see the world around vs. concentrating on running fast.

2. Body shape. We all know at this point that diet has a huge effect on your overall size and you can't be skinny on excercise alone but the tone that comes from excercise can't be beaten.

3. Challenge. I like aiming for something and then going out there on race day and knowing that it all builds up to this one moment. Open water water swimming was a bigger challenge than I bargained for though (see Time to Tri).

4. Eating. Lets face it, number 2 aside, I can eat more bad things the more excercise I do. The only problem is, the more serious the racing becomes the more strict I want to become on my eating; I find myself having little conversations around whether it would be easier to run that time if I wasn't carrying that extra weight  and blah blah blah. This conversation has seemingly not had an affect on my eating so far but the little voice is getting stronger...!

5. Meeting people; runs/races/triathlon/parkrun. Excercise collectives tend to be a pretty friendly bunch

6. Energy. Excercise = Energy. Fact

I'll have a read through in a couple of months and see if its been enough to motivate me back into a regular training regime!
Hopefully next post I'll have some serious training to report ....;-)

And lastly - just because I love it......
BBC London 2012 Montage

Tri'd Hard

So the Windsor Triathlon................that wasn't :-(
Unfortunately due to the fact that our entire winter's rain fell in the early part of June, Windsor were forced to call off the swim part of the Windsor Tri for safety reasons. Although the swim is by far my least favourite discipline I was disappointed as I wanted to experience a full distance triathlon with an open water swim.
However, it was a fully justified decision on the part of Windsor who utilised their back up plan and ran a duathlon instead. It was also my first one of those so at least I got to do something new :-)

So to the race itself. The first run (in place of the swim) was 1km. Not in itself particularly taxing and not much to say about it really. Transition went smoothly and then onto the bike which was hard. Spent the first 20-ish miles flying along then  felt like death for the remaining 6. Lot of pain generally on the bike which does need sorting out in terms of position (and probably training!). Was actually very pleased with the amount of people over-taken and with my eventual time, which probably rather flattered my actual abilities on the bike but adrenaline is a wonderful thing!!!! Slightly hairy moment when I got a little carried away and hit a rather large pothole but the fiB and I remained together and intact  for the remainder of the bike phase.
The run was very difficult. The course is very different to anything I have seen in my previous running background. 3 loops making up the 10km is quite difficult mentally and running up (and down) the same hill 3 times is just mean!!


So to the hard numbers:
Run 1 (1km): 0:4:35
Bike (42km): 1:16:44
Run 2 (10km): 0:45:34

Total (inc. transition): 2:09:38
Overall position: 434
Category position: 6

Was rather pleased with the whole thing. I know I couldn't have given more on the bike and the run2 was a pretty decent 10k for me even on fresh legs.

So the plan is still to complete an Olympic Distance triathlon this year. It'll probably be one of the Human Race events at Eton Dorney in September. Training will focus on longer bike rides with running off the bike. Although I did quite a lot of running after bike training this time, the thing I struggled most with was the sheer distance I really needed to be riding on the bike and hence simply just fitting in the amount of training required.

Best Novice

So to add to my list of things I haven't blogged about I thought I'd enter the May Bank Holiday Thames Turbo Sprint Triathlon to have at least one experience of a triathlon under my belt prior to Windsor.
This is a pool triathlon, aimed at beginners - hence the prize on offer for the best novice (male and female competing in their first triathlon). Distances: 426M pool swim, 20K bike and 5K run. Thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. Pool took it out of me more than I expected, bike was good and run was fab (can tell which of the disciplines I like the most right!).

Swim (white hat) - 9:13:

 Bike - 43:02 :

 Run - 21:18:

...and I won best novice!!

Total time (inc. transitions) :1:16:13
Not bad for a first timer :-)

Part of my prize was £50 voucher from Sigma Sports. Yet to spend it but might invest in some aero-bars. Might make that bike a bit quicker.

Time to Tri

So the blogging has gone well hasn't it!
I have been regularly updating on my progress and now have a full record of my training over the last few months. Oh...wait... thats someone else - doh.
Anyway Windsor Tri is almost upon me. Over the last few months I have been cycling and running more times a week than I thought possible. Scariest of all I have been open water swimming. Never thought through how much this would freak me out! Cold, murky water and hard to keep straight, it wasn't a particularly nice experience. 2 sessions in water around 12'C was enough to get me thoroughly worried about the whole thing but gradually it has come right. I have been to a coached session with RGActive which got me more efficient and importantly got me sighting where I was going! The water has warmed up and I have also manned up!!! I won't be quick but I hope I won't let my bike and run down.
Best place so far for Open Water has been Shepperton Lake. Dedicated to swimming vs. boats or waterski, it is lovely and it helps that it all came good there!

Reading Half Marathon

At the end of March I was offered someone's place in Reading Half marathon. So on April 1st I lined up with about 15000 others to run around Reading. Have run this half the last 2 years and have always enjoyed it as a race. Its a nice course -couple of hills but nothing dramatic and plenty of support. After the success of Wokingham I was up for a sub-1:40 time but didn't quite make that and ran a respectable but slightly disappointing 1:41:30-ish. Mistake was lining up a bit to far back at the start and spending too much time being held up by in the first 3 miles. This makes it quite hard to get into a rhythmn so once the road has cleared its hard to start running your intended pace. Enjoyed it again though and will probably be back next year :-)

On marathon note, Andy and I went to see the London Marathon on  Sunday. As usual the Elite were amazing as they calmly sprinted by followed later by the rest; some having a ball and some not quite so much! Does make me want to run it again though so on Monday I shall be noting my name in the ballot along with 120000 others.
Very sad to hear later on Sunday about Claire Squires but simply amazing the amount of money that has been raised in her memory.

The last thing to mention is I have finally started my swim training for the triathlon. The good news is I have found I CAN swim a mile - hurrah. The bad news is that the mile is in open water and I have only swum in a pool so far. The WORST news is that I managed to miss the first open water coached session of the season so now I'll be catching up on swimming in my wet suit and the joy that is apparently swimming in a group of people. Although it may not be a problem as seemingly mum has banned me from swimming in the Thames anyway!!

BST (almost)

So new resolution for summer is to post more!
There have been frighteningly few posts in the last couple of months and while this is mainly due to work being crazy it does NOT mean I haven't been training. In fact a gym has been joined! Fitness First in Teddington are now proud to call me a member and running and tri-training are to be boosted by the fact I shall now be doing some weight training a couple of times a week. The plan is not to do much cardio in the gym - that'll be left to the bikes and the runs; but a couple of hours a week with some weights should take care of the toning and also apparently makes the muscles needed for running stronger and more efficient.
So I am investigating kettle balls, power bags and suspension systems and other strange items that were not present the last time I was in a gym for any serious sessions. Actually the last gym I was in was Matt Roberts but not being able to afford a small fortune for a PT session my visit was actually limited to a PT's friends lecture on Strength and Conditioning and then I left suitably humbled by the kind of fitness environment I couldn't afford :-)
Either way I shall now be found twice a week working on the guns at Fitness First and maybe trying a class or 2; circuits and the living hell that is spinning come to mind!

fiB gets stylish

For the uninitiated fiB is my bike. Not normally given to naming inanimate objects (except a friends car which I named Gertrude!) I gave fiB her name simply because its written on her frame. It actually stands for Female Informed Boardman; Boardman being the manufacturer and Female Informed meaning a different frame geometry from the men's bikes. This does NOT mean a step through frame so we can delicately mount our bike whilst dressed in voluminous skirts but does take into account our shorter reach, narrower shoulders etc.. making sitting and riding more comfortable and effective.
So fiB is white with standard factory wheels in black. Given these wheels have done around 8oooKM at this stage Andy thought she should have some new ones and her lovely new WHITE rollers were ordered and received last week for the bargain price of £120! Yes, these really are a bargain; it is possible to spend £1000 + on a set! So she will be all white for about 10mins until the road dirt gets to her but she will look beautiful for those 10 mins :-)

Luckily the new wheels went on after I had a crash on the way to work so I didn't manage to bang them up within 2 mins of putting them on. Bike did take a little bit of a beating as did my elbow and hip but I did manage to get to work so it wasn't that bad. More shock and pride hurt than physically. Having to pick yourself and bits of your bike off the road while the drivers patiently wait is not great for the ego.

Talking of crashing and expensive wheels, we went to the Cycling Test Event a couple of Friday's ago at the Olympic Velodrome where the bikes on display probably cost more than my salary. Its a simply amazing venue; small (only 6000 people) so every seat has a great view and built with a low roof so the noise and atmosphere are amazing. The cycling was great (we won 2 golds and a bronze on Friday),  the size of the thighs were massive but the crashes were actually fortunately few!!

NEW PB!!!

So after months of focus on the Wokingham Half marathon the big day finally came on Sunday.  Ever since Andy bought the race entry for my birthday in October I have been seriously working for a PB for this one. Fast, flat course with a small field - what could be better? Conditions were also perfect. Bright sunny, cold-ish day with no wind.
I have never been so focused on a time in my life. I actually warmed up before hand (don't tell anyone but I rarely do a warm up which is bad bad bad). I checked my watch every mile to make sure I was on target and even made sure I ran the shortest line round every bend. The first half was great - everything on track including fuelling. The second half was, in short, bloody hard work. The only thing that kept me going was that I'd only have to do it all again in another race if I gave in now so I might as well carry on! Cheering from Andy and Harrison at mile 8 and 9 was also great and really lifted me but mile 10 was the worst. Now bear in mind that Wokingham is flat. Pancakes have more bumps. But I knew there was a hill between mile 10 and 11. I could feel the thing in my legs. All form went out the window but the legs kept moving and I made it up the "hill" and into mile 12. Once I'd achieved this anything was possible and the finish came relatively quickly bringing a cup of tea and  a new PB: 1:34:55!
Previous PB was 1:36:36 at Reading last year so absolutely over the moon with the new time. Not sure where I'll find any more speed to run faster but lets not think about that now! Lets just bask in being a sub 1:35     half marathon-er.
Oh and that hill? I checked my watch when I got home - total elevation of 30ft, over a mile! I think my garden has a bigger gradient. To be running up something that small and still know its a hill? Thats when you know you're working hard :0)

Running at Work

Running at lunch time is definitely the way forward. Not only does it de-stress ready for the afternoon it also means you are done once the working day is finished which is especially good in the winter when its hard to drag yourself out on a cold dark night when the sofa and lots of stodgy food are calling! Ran round Virginia Water Lake on Friday in the sunshine and it was just lovely. Starting to feel my right knee a bit which is a pain so need to be really good on stretching at the end of every run and make sure those ITB problems don't come back.

So to my observation for today. Had to walk a fair distance to pick up the cat this morning. He had decided he'd had enough of being home alone while we were out in London and took to sniffing around in the gutter outside our local. Our local is on a relatively main road and one of the regulars thought he might be in danger so picked him up and took him home. Nice but did mean I had to walk to pick him up as I wasn't in any state to drive the following morning. So Cav and I are wandering home and we pass a runner. Not so unusual in Twickenham but this guy did catch my eye. He had obviously decided that running was to be his thing. No expensive gyms for him in a recession, he would run and it would be cheap and he would be fit!
Now obviously before you can pound the pavement you must kit yourself out. This makes sense. But he felt the need to kit himself out as if he was going to an Addidas photo shoot on what to wear whilst running. All the Addidas green gear, over the ear headphones and a rather dashing headband to keep them in place and the tops of the ears a little warm. All this gear being sported whilst running along looking a little lost at the speed of a active walker. So this may sound like I am mocking this man. Mocking does come rather naturally to me and I am do succomb frequently however this is not the case on this occasion. Yes he did have all the gear and what looked like no idea but at least he was out doing it! He had clearly decided that this was the thing for him, had equipped himself and was now getting out there. Maybe I was still a little drunk but the sight of him did make me feel quite happy. It really doesn't matter what other people think or how good or bad you are; if you want to do something do it and if it helps to buy all the kit then do that too; you'll make Addidas shareholders very happy as well :-)

More crazy people....

Working from home yesterday so the lunchtime  run was around the local park.
2 mins into the run and there's a man brandishing a sword! Screw the golf club I saw a few days ago,  this guy's got a blade. What's the world coming to?

Crazy people

Reason for running a red light on a bike no. 1:
Crazy person, dirty and talking to himself (well actually arguing with himself) comes towards you while you're pulled up at the kerb actually brandishing a golf club. Yes ladies and gentlemen an actual golf club, slung over a shoulder looking quite menacing
Now to be fair he didn't attack me and it may been a perfectly normal way to transport a golf club along feltham high street but I decided not to take a chance and off I went

Sent from my iPhone

Happy New Year!

So New Year, New Post.
As usual the festive season means running takes a bit of a hit. I never mean to but it always happens. There's just so much going on.
I did manage a short run on Boxing Day (to pick up the car from a friends following  Christmas Eve festivities) which went onto the path by the sea. Would've been lovely except for the whole world marching into town to hit the sales. Hence this turned into dodging multitudes of children on new (and hence out of control) scooters, bikes, in-line skates, normal skates, go-karts, skateboards, flexible skateboards and  some weird scooter-esque thing that makes them looks like they are snowploughing while skiing! Who knew there were so many wheeled objects that small people can propel themselves along on! Oh, I forgot wheelies - now those are something I wish I'd had as a kid - they look like a lot of fun. I particularly like the very young children who are just so happy with the fact that they are moving anywhere under their own steam that they'll just plough straight into you without a care as steering and/or stopping may make them lose that precious momentum. Generally funny especially when accompanied by rolled eyes and an apology from the parent. Less funny when you've just successfully hurdled the family dog (equally no concept of right of way) and are just recovering your balance and mentally patting yourself on the back for not booting their canine in the teeth and not prepared for another knee-height missile on a metal framed object.

Since then I have also completed 2 less exciting but longer runs however that is pretty much it. Therefore, running needs to take a priority again as there's the Wokingham Half at the end of Feb to train for and with SnowBoarding 2 weeks before there's a lot of training to be done and not a lot of time to do it in!