Preparing To Eat The Elephant

Have you ever been faced with a huge (perhaps mammoth - ahem) task, the size of which leaves you paralysed with anxiety over how on earth to even BEGIN such a thing? Has some bright spark then asked how you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! The idea being that rather than look at the overall task, you focus on one little piece of it, get that done, and keep doing that until the whole thing is complete.

And that's how I'm going to approach Lakesman at the weekend. I can't quite believe it's finally here. Perhaps I'm sort of hoping it's all a mistake, a dream, that I don't actually have to put myself through it, but on the other hand I'm kinda excited about it. The past week has been a week of lists. Packing lists. Household chore lists. Class cancellation and notification lists. Race strategy. The last of the training sessions are being ticked off one by one. Most of them anyway. Last week I had a bit of a wobble with a couple that I ended up skipping. It all looked perfectly reasonable three weeks ago when it was set but I was tired, I'd run out of time and they didn't feel very "taper-y". I reasoned that any sessions I do now will do very little to improve my performance and it's the only time I've really questioned what my coach has set for me.

This week has felt like a proper taper with a pool swim plus a couple of gentle runs and bike rides. In preparation for event day I've cut out caffeine and alcohol and I'm trying to eat more fruit and veg. The meditations are still a regular feature and I booked myself in for a floatation session on Thursday. I'm reading over my race strategy each day and trying very hard not to fret about my seemingly slowing swim times. Each section of the race, and indeed the night before, morning or and night after, has it's own section in my race strategy. By reading through it regularly I hope to fix it in my mind so although I will only be thinking about the "bit of a swim" on race morning, all the other sections will come to the fore of my mind as I get to them. There's no reason why I can't complete the event but as ever there are elements I won't be able to control, like the weather, so I just have to prepare as best I can, keep a positive mental attitude, remember my training, and keep fuelled and hydrated!

We're travelling up to Keswick today where we'll check into our guest house before finding some food. Tomorrow we will register, drive the bike course, rack our kit and attend the race briefing. The evening will feature kit sorting, a pasta dinner and an early night. We'll be starting the swim at 6am (fog permitting) and trundling on through to the end.

Week beginning 4th June
Swim : 3,200m
Bike : 31 miles
Run : 13 miles

Riding Three Counties and Starlight Swimming

After writing about struggling so much with my positive mental attitude last time, I'm happy to say that I'm in a much better place now. There have been a few things that have been instrumental in this change...

I was still suffering with my outlook up until Wednesday last week, when I met Cathy for lunch and a catch up. No matter what's going on in her life, she always seems to have something encouraging to say to me; I'm lucky to have people like that in my life. She also has very good ideas that really I should have thought myself but sometimes I just can't see the wood for the trees. Boredom has been a big limiting factor recently so Cathy suggested that it might be worth the effort to travel to somewhere different for some of my runs and rides. A change is as good as a rest, so they say and this proved to be excellent advice. That very day I drove to Thames Valley Park to run 5k along the canal and felt all the better for it. I have also run around the lake we swim at and returned to Bracknell parkrun for the first time in ages. It beats running around the roads of Crowthorne!

That Wednesday also featured my final appointment with my osteopath before Lakesman. We talked about the emotions I'd been feeling as physically I've been doing quite well. Some time was spent releasing my neck and shoulders, she did some cranial work and stuck needles in my shoulder again. She also suggested that I try and find time for some mindfulness or meditation, something I've done in the past but hadn't occurred to me to do recently. So I've re-subscribed to Headspace and have been working through their "motivation" pack. I've also been writing down my race strategy, my motivations and packing lists, all of which have helped me to focus and feel calmer.

All the big training sessions are now firmly ticked off! If you read my last blog you'll remember I wrote about my failed 100 mile attempt and how I was planning another attempt at the 3 Counties Cycle Ride... well I did it! Dean and I set out on Sunday morning, loaded with peanut M&M's and flapjack, to cycle to Garth College in Bracknell to ride the 54 mile loop of the event. It's a low key affair run by the Rotary Club but is always popular and well spoken of. I'd not ridden it before but had been keen to so it was a happy coincidence that it fitted with plans this year. It was a beautiful day, we saw lots of our club mates and friends there and rather enjoyed the route. Although there were some hills, it was nothing like the sportive I'd attempted the week before! All marshals on the route were great and the water stations well placed and stocked.

When we arrived back at the start we were given medals, a certificate, water and a mars bar. I spoke to the organiser to check when they would be packing up, letting slip that we were heading back out to do the short loop again. I figured out that we had enough time, knew that one water station would be closed but the other should be open long enough for us to make it there. It was a hot day and we were needing to top up bottles on the way round. So we set out on the 33 mile loop. Some early signs had been taken down but all the marshals were still in place and we were making good time. However the water station we had expected to be open had closed about an hour earlier than advertised! Luckily the first aiders were still at the stop and were kind enough to give us some water, which we were very grateful for. We certainly amazed a few people when we arrived back at the start for the second time. Our photo was taken and we were topped up with more water before a gentle trundle home again. All in all we covered about 98 miles, close enough to the 100 for me and a breakthrough in how I'm feeling about the cycle leg of Lakesman!

Breaking the distance down certainly helped, as did having the company. I was able to test my nutrition again, practice hydrating on the go and workout which devices would last the course for recording or at least keeping track of my time at Lakesman.

This week things are starting to ease off a fraction. A little voice has been suggesting that whatever I do now will make precious little difference to how I perform at lakes man, which hasn't always been helpful in getting myself out of the door. I've resorted to inviting peer pressure on days like that, posting on Facebook that I don't want to train and then hauling myself out when several people tell me to suck it up and get on with it. My favourite training sessions recently have been my swim/run days. These have been 8x400m in the lake (fast/slow) plus 2 laps running round the lake, 6x400m in the lake (fast/slow) plus 1 lap running round the lake and a couple of running laps of Black Swan Lake at Dinton Pastures followed by the 1500m Starlight Swim.

I took part in this last year and loved it. I mean what's not to like about swimming in a lake as it gets dark, the only light coming from glowsticks, helium balloons and fairy lights? These are still small events but I hope they grow. I wasn't best pleased with my performance, feeling sluggish after the run and coming in 15th out of 24 with my slowest swim in the last three weeks, only just beating a lady doing breaststroke. But it was a great experience and I've something to improve on next time.

This weekend I'll be doing the Secret Gin Run in London with my mum for some light relief before starting to make final preparations for Lakesman. Tapering will be in full effect. I will be rolling, stretching and meditating daily, reviewing my strategy, packing (not just for the event but the spa afterwards too) and looking forward to a floatation session I've booked for Thursday. I'm starting to get excited!!

Week beginning 28th May
Swim : 3,200m
Bike :133 miles
Run : 22 miles
SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

I Would Ride 100 Miles...

And I would ride 100 more, if only my head and legs would get in the game at the same time. My last big milestone before Lakesman is the 100 mile bike ride. I've done 82 miles... how hard can 100 be? Um, very, as it turns out. I had signed up to the Surrey Hills Cyclone Sportive, epic distance (102 miles) on Saturday 26th May. The benefits of this were that I would have a route planned out for me, people to ride with, aid stations along the way and a medal at the end. The downsides were that although I could plan my own route and save myself £40, I would have had to borrow a bike computer again and potentially have no one to ride with. I could have tagged on to a social ride that day, there are plenty about at the moment, and added more miles to the end but I have very poor will power when it comes to these sorts of things and usually slope off home instead.

Ready for the off!

So it was that at 7am on Saturday morning, I slipped out of the house whilst everyone else slept (even the cat) and drove down to Lingfield race course, the start of the event. Dean and I had taken part in this event last year, at the 30mile distance, which at the time I thought was pretty tough, and so I was a little apprehensive about the "hills" aspect, but nothing ventured nothing gained and I'm much stronger this year than last. If I could do this, then Lakesman should be a breeze and at the very least I would get to practice my nutrition strategy. Registration was satisfyingly easy and at 8:30am I was on my way.

There had been threats of rain so I was carrying my rain jacket in my back pocket, my arm warmers were on and I had on the bike and about my person an array of energy bars, peanut M&M's, flapjacks and cheese sandwiches in bite sized pieces, dates and energy gels. I was NOT going to "bonk". There were three feed stations on my route and I intended to make use of them all to top up on flapjack, energy drinks and tortilla chips.

I would have had more flapjack with me had the cat not taken a liking to them!

The first major hill happened at about 12 miles. It was the biggest on the course and boy was it a killer. I managed to cycle up around half of it and joined others in pushing my bike the rest of the way. A few hardy souls made it all the way up but they looked like pros. The downhill was epic! I think I got up to around 34mph without freaking out. But the hills just kept coming; a mile or two of uphill grinds at a time, which scenery just didn't help to distract from. I managed to get up all the other hills I encountered without getting off and pushing but it was energy sapping. I was doing relatively well at eating little and often but as I found I needed to pay more attention to the roads, so the frequency of my eating slowed.

Looking bright at feed station 1

I was hyperventilating my way up one hill when a fellow rider, who looked remarkably better than I did, announced it was only 3 miles to feed station two. Hurrah!! I pulled in, dismounted rather inelegantly, and promptly started sobbing into the fig rolls. A lovely chap, Jez, who was helping to man the feed station, sat me down, topped up my water bottle and had a little chat with me about how I was doing and what my options were. I hadn't realised I was feeling quite so depleted, and the thought that I was only half way filled me with despair. We talked through the elevation. I'd done the worst of it, nothing was as bad now, but I had options. I could get a lift to the finish now if I wanted, or set out to feed station 3 and call for a pick up if needed, or get "bumped" to feed station 3 and carry on from there. Reader, I could have hugged Jez.

The specs hide (some of) the emotion at feed station 2

I mentioned my poor will power earlier and I'm afraid it came into play here. I felt absolutely certain that I wouldn't make the remainder or the route under my own steam. I wasn't even sure I could ride the 30 miles to feed station 3, and the indignity of getting a lift to the finish was just unthinkable, so I opted for option 3... get a lift part of the way. At least then I could ride over that finish line and still have 70 miles in the legs, effectively the standard distance route. And that is what happened. I waited about half an hour for a lift, during which time I ate a lot of snacks and regained my composure. I crossed the line, got my medal and collapsed on the grass. I had not done 100 miles, but I had done a lot of hills, spent several hours in the saddle and learned a lot about my mind can completely sabotage things.

Another medal but not for 100 miles.

The day after my 100 mile attempt I had a review with Ellie. We talked about how I'd been feeling, physically and emotionally, what the last few weeks might have in store and my strategy for Lakesman. I explained how tired I was, how the training was a chore, how I wasn't enjoying anything much any more and I just wanted it all to be over. Apparently all perfectly normal. Next on the agenda... was I going to attempt the 100 miles again? Apparently yes... by signing up to the 3 Counties Cycle Ride, doing the 54 miles distance, then sneaking back on to the 33 miles and tagging on miles by riding to the start and home again. Although a flatter course there are some hills, but I've already done them on other rides so I know I'm capable. Dean will also be with me to haul me out of those dark moments and I also get a certificate!

Otherwise most of my sessions now are much more manageable; some swim and run brick sessions and a couple of run-as-you-feel days. I also got a whole day off on Bank Holiday Monday! I specifically asked for this so that Dean and I could spend some much needed quality time together. We did everything on our own terms, no appointments or demands. I didn't train at all but when Dean decided he wanted to swim at the lake I went with him to sit on the bank with a magazine. It was utter bliss.

Throwing in some fun things is so important. Dean and I managed to get out for a run together recently, something we've not done for goodness knows how long, and I ran 5k with my mum recently too. That along with keeping on top of my general well being (the osteopath appintments,  massages, supplements, epsom salts, diet and stretching) is just about keeping me sane.

I WILL be on the start line for Lakesman, but what the day holds, I don't know. What I do know is that this will be my one and only attempt at iron distance triathlon and even when my head has gotten in the way, I have done my best during training. Sometimes that best is a physical best, sometimes a mental, and every session has made me stronger in at least one of those areas.

Week beginning 21st May
Swim : 1,200m
Bike : 92 miles
Run : 7.14 miles

Let Sleeping Cat Owners Lie

"Darling, we need to talk about the cat..." not a conversation I thought I'd be starting with my husband on a Friday morning. We've been accidental cat owners for the last 5 months. Accidental because we never planned to get a cat, it wasn't on our radar at all, until a friend got in touch looking to rehome their gorgeous Bengal who is affectionately known as Fang. Now this little bundle of fluff, who frustrates and charms us in equal measure is part of the family but something has to change.

Fang at rest

You see you don't really own a cat, the cat owns you, and never is this more apparent than at meal times. That is, the meal times that *she* decides upon. In the evenings this can be a bit flexible. It's easier to ignore a cat winding around your legs and meowing when you're trying to cook dinner, less so when you're eating though so we've become strategic with evening feeds. In the morning, however, nothing wakes you up quite like a cat stomping on your bladder or walking across your pillow and sniffing your face to see if you're still alive. This can happen anytime between 5:30am and 6:30am. Ignoring her leads to meowing and knocking over the bedside lamps. Shutting her out of the bedroom results in scrabbling at the door. We've tried an automatic feeder, which opens at a set time and has helped a bit but not entirely and does rely on one of us remembering to set it.

Pretending she's find of me

As I've been struggling with sleep and energy levels recently, Dean volunteered to take responsibility for morning cat feeds for a few days. But somehow, on the days the feeder hasn't been set, I'm still the one waking up to feed her. My husband is a heavy sleeper. So we're now having a conversation about the value of actually doing something if you say you're going to. A plan is in place! Earlier to bed whenever possible (10pm, and no later than 11pm), setting the feeder *every* night and an elbow in the ribs if he's forgotten to set it and isn't waking up. I can't cope with my current work load and training volumes on 6-7 hours sleep a night.

Longest ride this year

And boy is training ramping up now! I've been feeling tired almost every day which is why quality sleep is SO important. Just two days after Swimathon I was back in the pool for almost 3km and this week heralded my first OW swim of the year (brrrrr). After a frank conversation with Ellie about my cycling, speed, confidence and aborted sportives, it's clear that things need to change and quickly. So instead of a 20 mile time trial this week I spent an hour at a disused runway with Ellie practicing my stops, starts and manoeuvring and getting some tweaks to my bike fit from Ian. All of which made my second brick session of the week *much* more comfortable and confident.

Getting an informal bike fit

It's now just two weeks until Outlaw and six weeks until Lakesman. My cycling has improved in terms of skill, confidence and endurance in just this week alone which is reassuring. I'm feeling ready for Outlaw but there's still work to be done before I feel similarly ready for Lakesman. I'm not sure I will feel ready for it actually but I a few days of double training sessions, longer rides, tired running and some cold swims are going to put me in the best shape I can be on that start line. Provided I get some more sleep too!

Week beginning 30th April
Swim : 3,700m
Bike : 97.14miles
Run : 15.34 miles

The Week Before Brighton

On Sunday 15th April I will finally be running the Brighton Marathon. It's been a real rollercoaster of a few weeks not only in terms of what I've achieved (or not) with training but emotionally and mentally. Let's have a bit of a recap...

Week of March 12th
Swim: 1,600m
Bike: 51 miles
Run: 8 miles

It feels like lifetime ago that I walked the Sam Run course in the snow with Jackie, the race organiser, and Amy, one of the other ambassadors. I've organised some training runs in the lead up to the event which you can find out about here, and it just so happens that until April 19th you can get a discount on race entries! Just enter code Discount5 or Discount10 at the check out for the 5km or 10km race respectively. It was also the week I went out for a friend's birthday and to see Bill Bailey with Dean and my parents. It was a great week and one of my highest mileage weeks on the bike (all indoors though).

Post-floatation tea and sorbet

Week of March 19th
Swim: 4,200m
Bike: 41 miles
Run: 30 miles

Along the canal

A busy week of trying to look after myself with a floatation session mixed in with a social run, helping out at the first Barnes Fitness event of the year (see their website for more events - I particularly recommend to Dinton Series and Starlight Swims) and some long ol' distances across the disciplines! I tackled my longest run in this training cycle to date, 20.7 miles along the canal from Newbury to Reading. It was a lovely if somewhat muddy route (and I didn't have my trail shoes on) but it gave me a chance to practice my nutrition strategy (aka what I will eat and when). I also got out on actual roads on my bike! Shock horror! Only a few heart palpitations at junctions and aside from not eating anything on the 27 miles ride and almost collapsing from hunger and adrenaline at the end it went well.

A much needed snickers bar!

Week of March 26th
Swim: 1,850m
Bike: 49 miles
Run: 10 miles

Another big mileage week on the bike, although it was all on the turbo trainer where I wussed out because of the weather or on a spin bike. I had a free Monday evening which enabled me to get to one of the 3CTri spin classes, which I find so beneficial. Continuing the theme of looking after myself I had both a massage and an osteopath appointment and am seeing improvements in my posture and knotted muscles.

On Good Friday I ran the Maidenhead 10 at a pace I didn't think I was capable of. I don't run many 10 mile events but it was a huge 10 minute PB for me and a massive confidence boost to boot! If I wasn't sure before, it's shown me in no uncertain terms that training is paying off. The rest of the weekend was spent running the kids around outside between rain showers and grinding out miles on the turbo trainer whilst working my way through 4 Rocky films.

Week of April 2nd
Swim: 5,500m
Bike: 24.5 miles
Run: 16.5 miles

Which brings us almost up to date... Last week I hit my biggest swims of the year with a 2,500m and 3,000m swim. The latter was at Thames Lido where I spent a happy Thursday afternoon with Cathy for swimming and tapas with recovery in the hot tub and saunas. I've never swum a lido before but I can't wait to go back!

I'd squeezed in a brick session (2 hours on the bike plus a 45 minute run), track and the other swim earlier in the week and a 7 mile run first thing in the morning prior to the lido on Thursday and frankly I was good for nothing the rest of the week. I'd only done one thing differently to what was in my plan (7 mile run was meant to be on Saturday) but I was so much more tired than I felt I should have been. Not only was I fatigued but emotional, dithering about the simplest of decisions, falling asleep stupidly early and getting upset at teeny things. I took the rest of the week off (with the exception of a Zumba Gold course on Sunday afternoon) and felt much better come Monday.

My swimming is still ramping up this week but the bike and running is tapering off in preparation for Brighton. I'm really excited to see what I'm capable of and will of course report back!

In the mean time if you'd like to donate or simply remind yourself why I'm putting myself through this, please go to my Just Giving page. I'm so grateful to everyone who has sponsored me so far. I still have Swimathon, Outlaw and Lakesman to go!

Snow, Stetsons & Socialising

The last three weeks have been eventful to say the least! The week after the Wokingham half marathon was a mixed bag. I had to shuffle my training sessions around a lot to allow for work and a weekend with the children. As such my "recovery run" became a 10 mile "comfortable run" which I nailed - felt really strong and had some good pace. It all fell apart a bit after that mind you. I had a sports massage on Wednesday and also a review of my training plan with coach Ellie. We discussed the outcome of the race and how I felt about it, what was coming up in the weeks ahead and as such my training plan has been tweaked and a couple more events signed up to (for training purposes only).

Two hours of ice skating for a child's birthday treat... better than a long run?

I routinely shift longer sessions planned for the weekend, to during the week. This isn't because I necessarily have more time but there are chunks of time where I'm not working and I'd rather train then than take time away from Dean and the kids on the weekend, so this is something that is changing in my plan. I also struggle with going outside on my bike. I freak out. I don't know where to go, worry about traffic and a number of other things, so turbo sessions are becoming more structured and I've signed up to a sportive and some social rides.

Monday 19th - Rest day
Tuesday 20th - 10 mile comfortable run
Wednesday 21st - Rest day (skipped track session)
Thursday 22nd - Swim & bike intervals
Friday 23rd - 2h bike ride & Tri club swim session
Saturday 24th - parkrun
Sunday 25th - Rest day (skipped bike intervals)

Reading with the cat

The week of the 26th was the week of the Beast from the East, with snow that caused a fair amount of upheaval. The beginning of the week was fairly straightforward, swims, cycles and so on all completed but several sessions got cancelled due to the snow and I felt unnecessarily guilty about that. Out of my control but I hated missing sessions when I had the energy to do something. I switched track for strength work (which I don't do nearly enough of) and my rest day on Thursday coincided with the snow laying thicker on the ground and the organisations I freelance for deciding to cancel all classes. It was like having a mini holiday! I read, caught up on some admin and drank copious amounts of tea. I completed my turbo session on Friday but got a notification later afternoon that the triathlon club swim session was cancelled as the sports centre was closing early, by which point I couldn't get to any pool to do any kind of swim, and there was no hope of fitting it in at the weekend!

Strength and stretching kit

Dean and I joined some friends on Saturday for a snowy run in the forest, punctuated by walking breaks, photo stops and much chatter. I know full well neither of us would have gone out on our own on the roads or in the woods and having committed to meet up with others meant we couldn't back out. And a snow mile is worth at least 1.5 road miles right?

Monday 26th - Swim
Tuesday 27th - 1h15 bike & 20 minute run
Wednesday 28th - Strength training (track session cancelled)
Thursday 1st - Rest day
Friday 2nd - Bike intervals (swim session cancelled)
Saturday 3rd - 11.5 mile comfortable run
Sunday 4th - 2h bike intervals

Breakfast at Carluccios

Last week was a great week training wise. I knew I was spending the weekend at the C2C country music festival at the O2 with acts starting around 10:30am on Saturday and Sunday and so would only have time for shorter sessions early morning. I'd discussed this with Ellie previously and she had adjusted things accordingly. For the first time in I can't remember how long, I completed every training session last week, getting up early on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to fit in my training. Not all went according to plan... I couldn't hit the heart rate zones in one ride, cadence monitors failed and a swim had to be cut short, but all in all I was really pleased.

I had another session with the osteopath who reassured me that my posture is improving and I have been more diligent with my stretches since. I found time to meet up with friends for lunch and breakfast and booked a flotation session for a few weeks time. I drank too many cocktails at the festival and ate out more times that I was truly comfortable with and have had a string of very late nights but all in all a good week and weekend.

Sunday's early morning run

Monday 5th - Swim
Tuesday 6th - 1h bike ride
Wednesday 7th - track session (fartleks), osteopath
Thursday 8th - 1h bike ride
Friday 9th - Swim
Saturday 10th - parkrun
Sunday 11th - 1h negative split run

Lattes with a friend. Poncy lattes. They were very good.

This weekend I'm doing the Finchley 20 on Sunday, provided we don't get the rumoured snow to disrupt things. I'm going to use the event to practise my marathon pace and nutrition strategy. I'm feeling quietly confident at the moment!

How did the snow disrupt your training if at all? Did you accept the time off or find alternative things to do?

Race Recap : Wokingham Half Marathon

My first event and target for the year has been ticked off the list. On February 18th I, along with a couple of thousand other people, took part in the Wokingham Half Marathon. I'd set myself the challenge of a sub 2-hour half marathon but it became clear in training that I wasn't going to be able to maintain the speed to do that so I re-adjusted my goal to achieve a PB, anything below 2h10. It had been a long time since I'd been quite as nervous before an event.

In the week and a half leading up to the event, my training went mostly to plan.
Thursday 8th - Rest day
Friday 9th - 1750m swim
Saturday 10th - Zumba Basic and Zumba Gold instructors course. A 10 hour day with a lot of dancing but I'm now qualified!
Sunday 11th - 1hour ramp run and an hour on the bike
Monday 12th - 1950m swim
Tuesday 13th - 45 minutes of fartleks and a couple of easy miles in the evening with clients
Wednesday 14th - Got talked into skipping track my the husband in favour of a Chinese take away on the sofa for Valentines day.
Thursday 15th - 1h10 on the bike
Friday 16th - 1hr on the bike and 1750m swimming
Saturday 17th - Rest day
Sunday 18th - RACE DAY!

The race started at a very civilised 10am. Car parking was located around the town with a 10-15 minute walk to the start. We ended up cutting it slightly fine with just enough time for me to visit the portals (plentiful) and Dean to do the bag drop. Lots of people, a well set out race village and plenty of shouting from the Race Director to tell us how little time we had left before the start. I placed myself roughly where I thought I needed to be in the start pack, Dean placing himself some distance behind me so I could concentrate on my race. We took about 3 minutes to cross the start line and it felt as though there was less jostling for position than usual. There was plenty of support along the entire route, from marshals, clubs and general public. It was a closed road event, on wide roads, country roads and taking in two motorway flyovers... twice. Otherwise it was largely flat.

I was aiming for 9:40 per mile for the first 8, which I managed relatively comfortably, edging a little quicker at times. Then miles 9-12 fell apart. Rather than speeding up I was taking an extra 45 seconds per mile. Shocking. I tried to dig in, pick my heels up, took my gel slightly earlier than planned... nothing worked. I feared a repeat of Oxford Half Marathon. A couple of shout outs helped but the photos from the race show grimaces and appalling form. Eventually I hit the last mile. A couple of women I knew drew alongside and told me Dean wasn't far behind. I swore a bit. I kept the feet moving as best I could, sped up a fraction and crossed the line taking 2 minutes off my previous PB time. And promptly collapsed on a nearby fence.

Dean crossed the line shortly afterwards, having completed the course in 2 hours 6 minutes to my 2 hours 8. We gathered medals, space blankets and bags (no goody bag for this event) and hobbled back to the car. I have to admit, despite the result I felt disappointed with my performance. It shows I rarely truly race events, completing them in relative comfort. And that's fine. If I do that from now on (after the events I've got goals for this year) then so be it. I'd rather still enjoy running than fear it. But it has opened my mind to what I can achieve.

I've learned a few things from the race:

• Pace at the beginning of a race is crucial, especially when racing
• Setting A, B and C goals helps to avoid disappointment, and sometimes that means readjusting goals before you get to the start line
• It's hard to train for speed whilst training for endurance events
• I am capable of more than I thought and with some more training a sub 2-hour half marathon is possible
• I need to work on improving my running form 

I ran the event for the Anthony Nolan charity. I'm trying to raise £1,500 for them via my events this year and I would be so grateful if you could spare a few pounds for the cause. You can find my Just Giving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/vikki-robertsan

The next event is Brighton Marathon which I'm aiming to complete in 4 hours 30 minutes. Why not donate the amount equivalent to the time you think I'll actually run it in? For example £4.30 or £4.40. If you get it spot on I'll send you something as a thank you!

A Message, Motivations and Making Time For Myself

A couple of weeks ago I was checking my email between classes and saw one from Anthony Nolan. It was entitled "Message from your recipient". After donating white blood cells, my second donation for my match, I sent a short message to my recipient via the charity. I had no way of knowing if my recipient was in the UK or if she would want or be able to return my message, but needing white cells led me to believe she was doing ok and I felt compelled to get in touch, even if my message was rather clumsy. I had no idea what she's going through and even less what to say. Nervously I clicked on it and the content left me feeling very emotional. All communication is anonymous and I'm not able to share it with you but suffice to say it was a beautiful message and it seems she's doing really well. It was a good reminder of why I need to look after myself, and why I'm putting the effort into training this year.

It's been with some trepidation that I returned to training on the 5th of January under the watchful eye of my coach but I seem to be doing ok. I've been giving plenty of feedback on how different sessions have felt and although I've substituted rest day Thursdays with yoga for the past two weeks (thereby only having one day clear of any activity since the 5th) I've found it a useful part of my routine, something I really enjoy that I also consider part of my self-care routine. For the first week or so, training felt like a novelty again but it quickly becomes another thing to fit into the diary so keeping the driving factors in mind helps. My motivators are that I've signed up to big events this year that I don't want to fail at but perhaps more importantly because I am hoping to raise £1,500 for Anthony Nolan by completing these events. I also use bribery to get me through training sessions! Promising myself a chocolate bar after swimming for instance (see above), or spending the last 15 minutes of an uncomfortable turbo session discussing the relative merits of gin versus wine as a post training beverage with Dean... I went with gin.

I was less smily at the end of the session.

This leads me neatly into an update on my self-care resolution for 2018. In addition to treating myself now and again (I must stress that I don't give myself a reward after every training session) I've already managed to cook from two new recipe books this year, even getting Dean to accept that tofu isn't all that bad.

Vietnamese Pho from the Mindful Chef cookbook

I've met up with friends once a week or so (something that got rather neglected at the end of 2017) and allowed myself a guilt-free hour or two each day to watch something on TV. Sometimes that's been while I'm training on the bike... I can catch up on my Nordic programmes despite the noise from the turbo trainer thanks to subtitles! I've also been reading more, substituting time on the phone in the morning and on occasion TV in the evening for a book. My favourite one to dip into has been Lagom... very much in keeping with what I'm trying to achieve this year.

That's all been for my mental wellbeing. For my physical wellbeing I've indulged in bubble baths, had my monthly sports massage (tight lower back, calves, quads and forearms), booked in to see an osteopath and gotten a flu jab. When I've felt tired I've rested or had an early night. I'm taking my vitamin supplements and trying to eat well. Oh I know perhaps at the moment it's all sounding a bit smug. I'm not looking for any recognition here or to guilt anyone into doing anything, it's just a snapshot of my life at the moment. This blog has always been about documenting my endeavours including the ups and downs of training and how I deal with those. If it helps or inspires anyone, that's a bonus as far as I'm concerned!

Afternoon treat of scone with blackberry gin jam!

To that end, are you getting to the end of January on a high or a low? What's your driving factor this year and how are you staying focused?

Mrs Roberts-Caiger Misses Training

I flopped on to the sofa on Friday night at around 7:45pm. I'd just finished packing for our honeymoon, made up the kids room, welcomed said children into the house and still had dinner to cook. Swimming would have to wait until another week. It's been a bit of a theme in the past two weeks, since our wedding and spa trip, that exercise has taken a bit of a back seat. I've read the post-training session Facebook posts with some sadness; all these awesome sessions with my club mates that I've missed out on.

Mr & Mrs mugs and simple dinners have reigned

We had a wonderfully relaxing few days at the spa but since then we've both been under pressure to get work to a state where going away has minimal impact. For him that's hitting sales targets, for me that's planning and promotion of classes and packages for next year, getting training plans written and handing over classes. I've run three or four times with clients and splashed around in the pool with the kids on the weekend but had to abandon the club track session due to a coughing fit. The cough has lingered for two weeks now, disturbing sleep and rendering me speechless at times. I was beginning to worry that it might be an infection and have an impact on my ability to do the hiking and so on that we've got planned for honeymoon, but the verdict from the Practice Nurse was that it was viral and it'll get better on it's own.

Gorgeous trainer tags from Forever Treasure, a wedding gift for our Costa Rica Marathon!

Lack of sleep and exercise has been frustrating but I'm so looking forward to our honeymoon in Costa Rica. It's now been almost a month since I donated white blood cells for Anthony Nolan and I've definitely managed my recovery better this time around. I'm not sure it took quite such a toll in the first place but by taking time off of training and listening to my body, I'm feeling strong and ready for all the adventures in store. In fact although the cough may well have been linked to a slightly weakened immune system, I've been more concerned about that than any lack of energy or endurance. As well as hiking in Costa Rica we'll be horse riding, biking, caving, kayaking and running a marathon on our last day - so excited! We pooled most of the John Lewis vouchers we got as wedding gifts and bought a Go Pro camera (which we've still got to master) to try and capture our adventures. If we figure it out we may even post some updates while we're away. I also had a catch up with Ellie in the past week to discuss my training plan which I took a month off from but will be returning to in December. We've earmarked a few events to keep me on track for my main events and I'm feeling ready to attack it again.

The training is of course for the events I'm undertaking as part of my fundraising efforts for Anthony Nolan. the first of which is Brighton Marathon in April 2018. I've already raised £260 towards my target of £1,500 but there's still a long way to go! Please do visit my Just Giving page to donate and read more about why I'm doing this. Thank you.

I've not scheduled any posts while we're away so I'll be back in December - stay tuned!

Hen Do's and Hospitals

The week following the Eden Project half, was my last week of proper training for a little while. My quads were rather sore on the Monday so I was glad to only have a swim to do in the morning. Even better, breakfast was a free latte from Waitrose and a cinnamon bun brought back from Eden! That said, swimming felt hard and I couldn't find my speed no matter how hard I tried. At least I had a lane to myself for floundering around in.

Tuesday was meant to be a ramp run but despite a Body Balance class in the morning my legs were still sore in the afternoon so I did a spin class instead. By Wednesday evening, although I was pretty tired, I rocked up to track session for 30 minutes of 400m relays and my legs decided to play the game. Thursday started with PT and a 1-2-1 run session which I'd planned to follow with the missed ramp run from Tuesday but although I started it, I only managed the first slow 15 minutes. Friday swimming was far more successful. Ellie had set me a kick set, which left my legs feeling sore later that morning, but in a really satisfying way.

Don't mind if I do!

Friday marked the start of my hen weekend! I was collected by mum and my cousin Amy late afternoon and ferried off to Alresford where we met my Chief Bridesmaid, Alex, and sister-in-law-to-be at a cottage they'd rented for the weekend. There were bubbles and attempts at pizza making on Friday night, trampolining with a few more hens on Saturday afternoon and a murder mystery dinner with men more hens on Saturday night. It was absolutely fantastic, I had an absolute blast and got a bit emotional at seeing some friends and family I'd not seen in far too long. Despite having so much fun I really did miss Dean and only got to see him for an hour or so on Sunday as I swapped hen do clothes for fresh overnight kit ready for a hospital visit on Monday.

Cakes by mum

Murder Mystery outfits

The previous week I'd gone through a medical examination in advance of a second donation of cells for my Anthony Nolan match. As it's only a few months since the first donation I didn't need another ECG or chest x-ray but there were still blood tests and so on to go through. I only donated lymphocytes this time around, so no pre-donation injections to stimulate extra cell production as we already have these in abundance in the system, but in essence everything else was the same. I managed to avoid another calcium crash as I was more aware of the signs of it coming on, and I'm hoping that along with the lack of pre-injections it will be speedier recovery as the body isn't under as much stress. I still felt pretty tired afterwards for a clear 48 hours.

Because I didn't truly know the effect this was going to have on me, I agreed with Ellie only to do what I feel up to in the next few weeks in terms of training. It's been a busy week of work though so having the excuse to step back from training is rather nice. I only had three classes on Tuesday but it was enough to leave me falling asleep on the sofa at 9:30pm. I'd agreed some weeks back to teach Boxercise for the half term kids camp again so Wednesday included two hours of kids classes followed by four hours of other classes. I didn't feel as drained as Tuesday but I wasn't going to risk the intensity of a track session. I did adhere to one element of my training plan this week though... rest day Thursday! Morning PT and kids classes all went without a hitch and I was all set to put the B-FITS class through their paces for the last class before I get hitched only to be surprised with a takeover! They'd put together a wedding-inspired playlist, decked my out in veil, sash, garter and rosette, and devised their own session plan to include all sorts of fun vaguely fitness-related games. There was even a little bit of fizz and a lot of cake afterwards. It was immense fun and I was truly touched by the effort they'd gone to. Thank you ladies!

Today is my last Friday class before the big day and I'm intending to try a swim session with Tri Club tonight and parkrun tomorrow... but we'll see. I don't want to suddenly find myself exhausted with effort but I think I'm ready to try a bit of exercise. Each day will be taken as it comes.