Back on the Bike

The weekend just passed was IRONMAN UK weekend, the Ironman branded event that takes place in Bolton. I supported Dean there last year and would have been there this year had he not deferred (right decision, but one it took a while to reach). But ten of my triathlon club mates took part and many more went up in support. I just watched from afar via updates to Facebook and the tracking app. There had been a lot of controversy around the event this year as the bike route had to be changed, and shortened, due to fires in the area. Many people said it wasn't a true IM event if it wasn't the full distance and the cutoffs should have been proportionally altered. Despite all of that, every single one of my club mates completed the event after months of training, and I am proud and inspired by them all. Almost dangerously so.

Cycling with the girls

I feel so far away from my ironman achievement these days, still just five weeks ago, which isn't long at all really. I'm still trying to hang on to that sense of exercising for the love of it, rather than because I have to but with a couple more events looming I'm finding that increasingly difficult to do. I've been out on the bike twice with friends and dabbled in a bit of pool swimming. I'm running gently once or twice a week and following a yoga DVD now and again if I can't get to a class. But gosh am I tired! Am I still recovering, or is it to do with the heatwave we've been experiencing recently? I stopped taking my iron supplement shortly after Lakesman as I ran out and didn't bother to get more, thinking I wouldn't need it as much but perhaps I do!


Whatever it is, it's frustrating. Coupled with the tendonitis I think I've developed in my left foot I'm not a very happy bunny when it comes to being active right now. But that's not to say there haven't been some lovely fun and positive things going on of late. I've learnt to crochet thanks to my friend Cathy who needed a lift to her meet up following a hip operation. There was a lazy weekend spent in my parent's garden soaking up vitamin D and eating lots of lovely laid back buffet style meals and a return visit to Thames Lido. Barnes Fitness had their annual get together in the form of a pool party, which was absolutely fantastic fun, so much so for the kids that we struggled to explain to them why we had to leave. Several books have been consumed, cakes have been baked (and shared) and long-forgotten embroidery projects are being dug out. Life is more than training now.

New hobby - crochet!

That said, in just over a weeks time I will be joining thousands of others, including many from my triathlon club, in RideLondon100. It's the penultimate in my Anthony Nolan events this year and one I'm growing more apprehensive about the closer we get. The event is a 100 mile closed road ride from London to Surrey and back again, taking in both Box and Leith hills. Working out how to get to the start in good time has been a bit of a headache but now that's sorted, having gone through four iterations, the excitement is building. Riding that sort of distance on closed roads with so many people will be an incredible experience, like nothing I've done before. And in theory I should be more than up to the task, having ridden further during Lakesman and conquered some very hilly routes in my training. But I've not ridden much since then and I'm hoping it won't hurt too much. If I keep in mind that I've done more than this before, and look out for the signs that I'm not eating enough (my usual downfall when riding long distance) then it should all be fine. I'm still raising money for the charity so please visit my JustGiving page to donate if you've not donated previously, every little helps!

My last charity event of the year will be Swim Serpentine, the two mile version. Doing an open water swim of that distance, in it's own right will be new for me too. I won't be holding back on energy for a bike ride or run afterwards and previous stand alone open water swims have only been a mile. It will be good to see what I can achieve over the two mile distance.

It's certainly been a bit of a year already yet we're already planning our events for 2019 with two already entered. Ironman may not feature for me again but I can't see myself leaving triathlon behind for some time. I've learned so much about myself in the last six or seven months, not least how important looking after myself is. So in that vein I'm off to roll my foot and start a new book.
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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

Swimathon, Sportive, Slumps

The last two weeks have been a bit of a mixed bag. The euphoria of Brighton carried me through a few days. Training was meant to recommence on the Tuesday but I felt I needed an extra rest day, so I took it, sacrificing a track/interval session, and felt no remorse. Instead I got pummelled by the lovely Georgina under the guise of a sports massage. My poor thighs!

Wings for my trainers! A celebratory gift from the lovely Cathy.

I actually enjoyed doing a few big swims and I even got out on the roads for a 40 mile bike ride on a sunny Friday afternoon, meeting a friend at Dinton Pastures for some of it.  It felt like a bit of a breakthrough session. Being the slightly more confident of the two of us somehow made me step up a bit so together with being familiar with the route and not having to navigate many junctions, it was a delight. The ice cream at half way probably also helped!

Halfway ice cream at Dinton Pastures

Week beginning 16th April 
Swim : 7,650m
Bike : 73.43 miles
Run : 2.08 miles

It seemed as though I had more time in my days. I was able to read, to go to the cinema and meet friends for breakfast as well as do my training. I was feeling more energetic and investing time in looking after myself. Iron supplements and magnesium spray now feature in my daily routine. There was another visit to the osteopath which was all very positive too. Saturday saw Dean and I take part in Swimathon for the fourth year in a row. It was my second attempt at the 5km distance and I was aiming to improve on my 2017 time of 2:08:11. Under two hours was the aim and I was delighted to complete the distance this year in 1:54:17! Another PB! Training looked to be paying off and I can only thank Ellie Gosling for that.

So where are the negative parts? Well I suppose there are only two dark spots in the last two weeks, one of which has only come to pass this afternoon. The first was on Friday. Ellie had uploaded my next four weeks of training plan into Training Peaks on Thursday night and asked me to take a look. There were some big numbers in there... 75, 90, 100 mile bike rides, and all cycling to be completed on the roads from now on. One swim a week will now be in the lake and I saw many days swallowed up with training. I wasn't wholly unprepared for this, I know what I need to be building up to, but I wasn't prepared for how much this played on my mind all through Thursday night, leaving me tired and overwhelmed on Friday. I tried and tried to turn it around. In the end a sob, a big bowl of pasta, a glass of wine and a resolution to only think a few days ahead seemed to work.

Wise words from Des'ree

The second dark spot has crept up on me this afternoon. Following on from Swimathon yesterday Dean and I were both signed up to an Evans Cycles RIDE IT event today. We'd booked the medium distance or 60 miles to fit in with my training plan and dutifully landed bikes into the car and set off for Pangbourne just after 8am. It was cold and the skies threatened rain that came to pass quite early on. We got to around 10 miles with numb toes, rain covered glasses and an intense desire to go home. We'd layered up but it wasn't enough against the headwinds and side winds (no tailwinds of course). A niggle in my arms picked up on the swim the day before was making itself known too. At the feed stop at 19 miles we decided to drop down to the short route of 34 miles. Not what I'd set out to achieve but I reasoned with myself that it was still time in the saddle, I'd been stronger on the hills, better with gears and fuelling and so not all was wasted. In those last 15 miles I got panicked in slow moving traffic, almost came off my bike on a hill, was less than sensible at junctions just to avoid having to stop and unclip to the point where Dean has threatened to swap my cleats back to toe cage pedals. And so I got back to the car feeling it had been the right thing to do. I'd made my peace with not completing 60 miles.

The route map. 

Then we reviewed our training diaries from 2017. This time last year Dean and I had done parkrun *and* Swimathon on the Saturday followed by a 65 mile sportive in the New Forest on the Sunday. Suddenly I felt as though I was so far behind where I was a year ago, wondering whether I should be giving up on Lakesman. But my overall training volumes are bigger. My times have improved left right and centre. And I remember how different it felt on the bike in the sun just last week, to in the rain and wind today. The weather makes such a huge difference, not only to effort involved but mental state. So I will be resting for the remainder of the day and carrying on tomorrow. New day, new achievements. I've been very honest about how I'm feeling in this post, but there's no point hiding it. This is what Ironman training is like, ups and downs, doubts and euphoria, and it has to be just one step at a time.

A medal. Not wholly earned?

Week beginning 23rd April
Swim : 8,000m
Bike : 59.63 miles
Run : 5.2 miles

I've raised a total of £592.48 so far - thank you to everyone who has supported me so far. There's still a way to go but I appreciate all the support for me and Anthony Nolan.I'm lucky to be able to do what I do, not everyone can.

Event Review : Liphook sportive

Last year, inspired, coerced and influenced by Dean, I took part in my first sportive event. For the uninitiated a sportive is a cycling event, non-competitive, but with full organisation. I am not, and probably never will be a "cyclist", although I wish I were. As such I am not used to cycling any sort of distance and the thought of having some company, a planned route and a reward at the end seemed like a good idea, an achievable, not-too-scary sort of challenge.

There are a whole host of sportives to choose from, various terrain, distances, with or without medals and so on. I chose the Evans Cycles Road Sportive in Liphook. This took place in August around a very beautiful area in Hampshire. There were four distances to choose from, Fun (15mi), Short (30mi), Medium (60mi) and Long (90mi). Prices ranged from £7.50 up to £25 for fully marked routes and well stocked High5 feed stations along the way. No medal or goody bag at the end but refreshments were available.

I decided that 30mi was enough for me, paid my £20 and shoehorned my bike into the car on the day in question. It was easy enough to find the place and get registered. I was given a map of the routes and directed to the start line. This sportive had a very laid back feel and riders were being set off in waves all morning. I was fairly late to arrive and my start group was small with a mix of serious looking riders, leisure riders like myself and a few kiddies. I wobbled away from the start apprehensively but reassured that I had others to ride with who seemed to be of a similar speed. The first few miles were lovely, signs were evident and I was feeling safe on the quiet country roads. 

The short and fun route followed the same path for a while but there was a point at which they diverged, marked, I was assured, by clear signs. Alas they weren't as obvious as claimed and a small group of us were left consulting maps and scratching heads as it seemed we may have missed the turn. I wasn't sure I'd missed it and ploughed on, only to find myself back on familiar roads and back at the start all too soon. I'd completed the fun route and was't allowed back out to try my luck again, as I was told that the signage was being taken down and they couldn't be held responsible for my safety. I was gutted., but it wasn't really anyone's fault.

Deflated, I stuffed the bike back in the car, unwilling to try riding on unfamiliar roads to make up distance, and drove home where I stubbornly rode around the roads of Crowthorne until I'd made up the 30 miles. There was some small sense of satisfaction to be gained from that.

This year I've once again been persuaded to enter another sportive, as part of my triathlon training. This time I'm taking part in the New Forest Spring sportive organised by Wiggle. A 50 mile ride on a Sunday with a medal at the end sounds lovely and this time I'll be doing it with Dean and other friends. I'm anticipating a more positive experience although it will still be a heck of a challenge.

Although my experience of the Evans Cycles sportive wasn't the best I do still believe these to be excellent events for cyclists at any level. Just make sure you have and can read a back up map, just in case!

Have you ever taken part in a sportive? Ever had a mapping mishap?

This Girl Can Swim for Sport Relief

A week ago today I took to the pool for the first time in, oooo, months! I didn't give myself time to think too much about it, heading there straight from teaching the early morning class at the gym and promising myself left over pancakes for breakfast if I didn't bottle out. Getting back in the pool after so long made me a bit apprehensive. What if I'd forgotten something vital, like goggles? What if the water was really cold? What if I got in the wrong lane and either held everyone up or had to keep hanging back? What if I'd forgotten everything I learnt when I took swimming lessons for front crawl this time last year and looked like an idiot? None of these things happened. The pool was warm, I managed a reasonable front crawl and found three pairs of goggles in my bag. And I got my pancakes for breakfast.

Swimming isn't something I tend to choose to do even though I generally really enjoy it when I get started; I need a purpose, a goal. So when Get Berkshire Active got in touch to say This Girl Can were teaming up with Sport Relief and encouraging ladies to challenge themselves, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get back in the pool. Sport Relief are hosting runs, cycles and swims up and down the country and encouraging everyone to get involved and raise some money. You can do anything from a 1 mile walk to a 50 mile bike ride, so there really is something for everyone. I'll admit that my first choice would have been the 25 mile cycle at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park but logistics put pay to that idea. The 6 mile run didn't feel like a challenge so swimming it was. I took part in Swimathon last year and was delighted to be able to complete the 1.5km distance entirely with front crawl so what better challenge than to attempt the next distance - 2.5km!

Post Swimathon 2015

So how am I going to train for this? Well I started by committing myself to swim by buying a block of 10 sessions at my local pool. By prepaying I avoid thinking about the cost per session as a barrier. I've also signed up for a free session at a leisure centre a bit further away that has just been refurbished and finally I will be dusting off my Thames Valley Triathlon membership card and getting to as many of the training sessions as I can. I signed up last summer and have not been to one single session in any discipline since. Ooops!

I've planned out exactly when I'm going to go to the pool and put them as appointments in my diary. No excuses for forgetting, allocating the time to other things or putting it off because I can't be bothered to go home to get kit after work. Organisation, packing kit the night before and being accountable are key. I've swum 3 times in the past week and am feeling stronger each time.

I'll be attempting my swim on March 19th at midday and I will, of course, be writing a bit more about my training in the lead up to it, and letting you know how I get on afterwards.

If you fancy a challenge, why not head over to the Sport Relief events page and sign up for something yourself! Or perhaps you'd be kind enough to sponsor me for my efforts. Give me a little extra motivation for getting to the pool before breakfast. It's all for a great cause. Thank you.

Getting Children Active : Dinton Kids Duathlon

The habits and values that children develop when they're young often stick with them well into adulthood if not for life. With that in mind it's important that these are good habits, like being kind, eating your vegetables and being active. Not all children are inclined to do sports of course, I know I certainly wasn't (maybe more on that another time), but the more fun it is, the more likely they are to keep it up.

Ellie and Ian at Barnes Fitness run a tri club for children and teenagers between the ages of 8 and 16, which emphasises fun whilst building their skills and confidence at triathlon disciplines. On Good Friday they held a Kids Duathlon at Dinton Pastures which I was delighted to be a part of. There were four races of different distances depending on the age of the participant.

	Run	Bike	Run
Tristarts (Age 8)	400m	800m	200m
Tristar 1 (Age 9 – 10)	1.2km	2km	400m
Tristar 2 (Age 11 – 12)	1.6km	4km	600m
Tristar 3 (Age 13 – 14)	2km	6km	800m

It was just like any other race I've been to; marshals, briefings, timing, photographer and every finisher got a fantastic goody bag. Bikes had to be racked, the rules about wearing your helmet when in contact with the bike and the mount/dismount lines were enforced. There was some rain but less than was forecast. All in all it was a great way to introduce youngsters to racing.

There was a real mix of abilities, just as there is in races I take part in. Some children had mountain bikes but there were several that looked significantly more impressive than my own. Some wore fairly regular clothes, leggings and t-shirts, but some were in tri suits. They jostled for position. I saw one or two in tears in transition after the first run and felt relieved when they came back from the bike  leg with dry eyes and determination to finish. It was a joy to see them all get over that finish line, especially the very last lad. Unfortunately, because families tended to leave after their child had finished, there weren't many spectators for the final race but he had every marshal on duty that day gathered at that finish line cheering him in.

I remember one eight year old asking lots of questions about the course before the briefing and demonstrating his knowledge of triathlon rules. He proudly announced that he was a Tristart but was moving up to Tristars after the summer; absolutely melted my heart.

I must confess that I don't know whether there are many of these sorts of children's events around but I'm pretty sure there should be more of them. As I acknowledged at the start, not every child likes sports and not every sporty child is competitive but the joy of these events is that it gives them an opportunity to try something out on their own terms and having fun with it.

And that's what the emphasis should be on. Fun. Of course teaching them the rules around competing is great but it still needs to be enjoyable. Parents, by all means encourage your child, but be mindful of how you do that. I heard of one girl announcing herself a "failure" because she didn't come first. How sad!

Barnes Fitness are putting on a kids triathlon at Dinton in June but other events around the country are popping up all the time. Start them young but keep it fun!

Sheep, Storms and Soppy Dogs

Life is still mainly eat, work, train, sleep, repeat but I have managed to have a bit of life outside of that. Saturday was a happy mix of a speedier-than-planned parkrun, the arrival of some proper vinyl to listen to (music is right up there alongside food and running in terms of things I love) and a marvellous dinner with some family. I sort of bounced from one thing to another on Sunday; from Kent to Berkshire to dog-walking to cinema to run to zombie-watching to conversation with a far-flung friend. It was mostly ace.

The ace parts were taking my godson to see Shaun the Sheep (which I probably enjoyed more than he did) and getting to walk a beautiful soppy black lab called Jasper for a couple in my capacity as volunteer for the Cinnamon Trust. We took a walk across some local heathland in the sunshine, getting vaguely lost. I think he might be game for a bit of jogging!

Silly soppy Jasper

The not so ace part was my run. The only time I had to fit my run in was in the only part of the day it was due to be wet. I was meant to be out for 2h15. this did not happen. I was prepared for the weather but even so the sheets of rain that I encountered after only 5 minutes and the subsequent drenching my a car provoked a few profanities. I found myself in a quickly darkening forest and with stomach cramps that reduced me to a walk. I got home as quickly as I could and counted myself lucky I rarely have sessions like that.

About to brave the storm

So including the aforementioned runs, the last seven days of training has consisted of a strength session, 15.75 miles on the bike, runs totalling 31.2 miles and my swim lesson which focused on crawl technique and breaststroke turns. Not too shabby!

Juggling teaching/coaching, work, training and downtime has been pretty tricky this week though. With regards to training it's not that I can't manage the sessions themselves, it's trying to physically fit them in that's proving tough. I'll be sending my coach a revised schedule of commitments to try and address that. What's becoming clear is that I'm going to have to make some fairly big decisions soon. probably sooner than I'd hoped.

Early morning sunrises 

Please tell me I wasn't the only one caught in a storm at the weekend? Anyone else secretly love kids films?

Bike Maintenance Class

I am not a bike person. Despite having done a few triathlons a duathlon and one other cycling challenge I'm fairly clueless about bikes. I've owned various second hand hybrids over the years but when I bought my first road bike, despite the relatively small amount of money I spent on it, I was determined to learn how to look after it properly. Fast forward a few months and I've taken advantage of some cycle training provided by my local authority but I still really know next to nothing about the workings of the machine, or what to do if things go wrong.

I have a book on vehicle maintenance and have read several articles on how to fix a puncture but it's never sunk in. What I needed was some real-life demonstration and hands-on practice. There are quite a lot of bike maintenance classes around once you start to look. They range from free or cheap Council run initiatives to pricier evening classes. I looked at the offerings at my local bike store and council but couldn't make the dates so decided to try out the class offered by Evans Cycles.

The Evans Cycles FixIt! classes run regularly, last one hour and cost £15. You cover the real basics of bike maintenance and get sent home with a home maintenance starter kit worth over £15 and a training manual. You don't even need to take your bike along. My availability meant that I ended up in a women only class. I would have been just as happy in a mixed class but I know some women may feel more comfortable with asking questions in this environment.

Instructor Ella

Classes are kept quite small but there were only two of us booked in this particular evening. Our teacher was the lovely Ella, who was very friendly and approachable, she didn't assume we knew anything but didn't patronise us either; the tone was spot on. After the offer of a cup of tea we were shown into the workshop area of the store where a bike was set up in a stand ready for us to practice on. Ella went right back to basics, teaching us about the components of a bike and how to carry out your pre-ride or 'M' check before moving on to cleaning and re-lubing, changing an inner tube to fix a puncture and brake and gear adjustment (the thing I was most keen to learn). Plenty of demonstration and chances to try our hand at various tasks too.

Practicing adjustments.

As the class was so small we covered the material pretty quickly which left plenty of time for asking questions. I learnt how many lumens you need to see by (200 minimum), whether it's ever going to get any easier to get my feet into my toe clip pedals (no, I'm probably going to have to be brave and get cleats), how bike shoes differ with price and what all the cool kids are wearing in terms of hi-viz gear these days.

I left at the end of the hour feeling so much more confident. I now feel capable of fixing that annoying clicking noise my bike's been making and equipped to clean and look after it properly. This was a great introduction for the nervous cyclist and well worth doing. If you're a more competent cyclist then you probably won't get much from these sessions and would be better off looking at one of the more comprehensive courses on offer with another provider. I'd highly recommend checking out your local bike independent shop to see what they offer.

Goody bag

Have you ever taken a bike maintenance class or have you just picked things up along the way?

Event Review : Dinton Duathlon

The alarm goes off at 6am and I lie there for half an hour, playing with my phone, checking the weather report, making calculations, finding every excuse not to get up and trying to shoot them all down again. Eventually I drag myself out of bed and climb into my trisuit but it's not until I've made a strong coffee and some choco-nana porridge for breakfast that I accept that I'm actually going to attempt the Dinton Duathlon.

I don't usually um and err so much about events but I'm not a confident cyclist and ever since falling off at cycle training I've even more nervous about it. I can cycle. I've cycled the exact distance I was to complete at the duathlon, at each of my triathlons, but I'm inexperienced on the roads and I hadn't trained at all. Add in to that an early start on a cold, dark, foggy Sunday and it was a hard won battle to even get to the start line. Would I fall off? Would I hate it? Would I feel guilty if I didn't even try?Would I get lost? Could I live with forgoing the entry fee? Would I come last? Well someone has to... In the end the deal I made with myself was that if I didn't attempt it I would have to paint my bathroom and do a long run but if I did I could watch films all afternoon. And it'd all be over by 11-ish. Deal. For once my bike goes in the car easily and I'm treated to a gorgeous sunrise on the way to Dinton Pastures.

As regular readers will know, I've participated in the 10k series several time at Dinton in the past so was familiar with the run route and level of organisation to expect. This event was no exception to the fun, friendly and excellent organisational standards that I'd come to expect. Parking, although not free, was a stones throw from the transition area, start line and race HQ.

Collecting my race pack was quick and easy and I had plenty of help with attaching numbers to various bits of kit and racking my bike correctly. The marshal in transition was especially helpful and reassuring, telling me there were plenty of other first timers and to "cycle to smile" when I explained how nervous I was. What a wonderful piece of advice. I had another bout of nerves just before the race briefing and turned to a lady in registration for some more reassurance. She was ever so sweet and I made it to the start line feeling a bit better.

There were around 150 entrants including a few relay teams and so the start line felt quite intimate. The fog was clearing, it wasn't too cold and the rain was staying at bay; and then we were off! One girl tripped on the timing mat and several of us help her up. Ah, that's the sort of event it was going to be. Taking this is a sign to watch my footing I resolved to take it steady but still found myself comfortably at my usual 5k pace. The km markers appeared quickly and the cadets marshaling the course were in high spirits for teenagers up so early on a Sunday. This was the easy bit.

Actually taken on the 2nd lap. Credit Chris Drew

It seemed no time at all before I rounded the corner to head to transition, to find my registration lady looking out for me to say she looked forward to seeing me there again after the bike section. She got a huge grin in return. Helmet and gloves on, quick swig of nuun and I was wheeling my bike to the mount line. I took my time to get my feet in the pedals then I was off. Although on open roads the course was mostly quiet and about as flat as you can get with very few turns. Those that there were, were well signed and marshaled. For me it was just about perfect. I was lifted by the fact that I could see people in front of me; I'd expected to be on my own by this point. I was ecstatic when I managed to over take a couple of people. That's never happened before! A guy I recognised from Woodley parkrun over took me but I managed to keep him in sight. My bike was making all sorts of clicking noises because I'm not knowledgeable enough to know how to adjust my gears (I'm booked onto a bike maintenance course next month) but I was doing this! I was cycling! I wasn't falling off!  I wasn't going to let down my registration lady. A little mantra came into my head: "concentrate, foot down" i.e. keep your head down and just keep pedalling.

Credit Chris Drew

It worked. It got me to the end of the 20km cycle with a huge grin on my face. A marshal asked me how I'd found it and I managed to string something semi-coherant together about being so pleased. I wobbled my way into transition again. Rack bike, helmet and gloves off, another swig on nuun then force my legs to carry me back out onto the 5km run loop. It took a full mile before my legs felt as though they belonged to me again but I kept plugging away, over taking a couple more people and knowing that my post-cycle run is usually much quicker than it feels. I was back in my comfort zone and knew I'd finish.

My registration lady. Credit Chris Drew

And finish I did, in 1:51:49, a full 40 minutes after the winner. I didn't care, as far as I was concerned I'd won. I'd beaten the part of me that was scared and didn't want to do it. My registration lady was waiting again at the finish line with congratulations and my goody bag that contained a lovely medal, pen, granola bar and ever so useful thermos mug. I thanked her profusely but it didn't feel like enough.

I left on a high, but not before congratulating other first timers and people I had seen on the course. Even the battle to get the bike back in the car (it's as if it doesn't want to go home) couldn't diminish my sense of achievement. Doing the duathlon has definitely given me back a bit of confidence. I might do another in the future but cycling certainly isn't my forte or preference.

If you're within hitting distance of Dinton Pastures I recommend it as an event location and Barnes Fitness as event organisers. It felt as though there were almost half as many marshals as entrants, results are available immediately and event photos are free to download from the flickr group. HUGE thanks to Ellie Barnes for another great event. I'm hoping to take part in the aquathlon next year to complete the set.

My take away tips:

• Ask for reassurance if you need it. No one wants you to fail and you will encounter the most wonderful support. 
• Break down the challenge. You just need to get out of bed, then have breakfast, then get there, then run... etc...

My stats:
R1 29:15
T1 1:07
Bike 52:11
T2 0:41
R2 28:52
Total 1:51:49

A Week of Over-Excitement

This week has been considerably better than last week. In fact it's been off the scale.Firstly I took and passed my Client Psychology and Motivation module for my PT qualification! I'm really chuffed. I've been studying a couple of modules simultaneously but this is the first one I've taken an exam for so now it feels I'm really making progress.

I started the week with a mini triathlon in the gym before work consisting of 24 lengths in the pool (in my new cozzie and GOGGLES THAT DON'T LEAK!), 25 minutes on the bike and 10 minutes on the treadmill. It was good practice for the Weekend Of Race Madness next weekend.

Anita got herself a fancy-pants new bike for the triathlon we're doing on said weekend and also in anticipation of signing up for the Etape de Tour next year but had yet to take it out on the road. I've not ridden my bike since I moved house a few months ago so we decided to brave it together. After battling with my bike to get it in the car without removing the back wheel, Anita's struggle to get to grips with clip in pedals, subsequent falling off the bike twice (resulting in a bruised wrist) and a change of shoes we managed a 7.5 mile ride at a leisurely pace around some fairly quite roads and cycle paths. We both enjoyed it immensely and were full of resolutions to "do this again sometime". It was so much fun just riding, without real purpose, building some confidence again. We discovered a field of falabella ponies and that it gets dark much more quickly than we anticipated. Lights need to be purchased!

Wednesday was undoubtedly the highlight of my week, having been invited to the Lunges and Lycra late summer social event at the Soho Hotel. I was so nervous about going but it was the best fun. I got to put real names and faces to twitter handles, had some great chats and came away buzzing with inspiration and intent. Fitness Playground put on a brand new kind of session for us, a sort of scavenger hunt around central London with clues being texted to our team leader on where to head next. Fueled by innocent smoothies and nakd bars, war paint duly applied, we headed out to cause chaos. My team, the Pink Ladies, came in second :) I think the best part was being cheered on in very enthusiastic fashion by a bunch of workmen near Leicester Square.

The Pink Ladies

Back to the hotel for amazing food provided by Honestly Healthy, lashings of champagne, talks, fun, games and prizes. I had a great chat with the Fitness Playground boys where I lamented the fact I didn't live in London and so couldn't do their sessions. Hopefully they'll be expanding soon. I came nowhere near to winning the wall-squat challenge (kudos to the ladies who did - legs of STEEL!) but we did all get to go home with a fantastic goody-bag with treats from Sweaty Betty, SmartShake, nuun, Purition and Nakd to mention a few.

Chilling, chatting and drinking after terrorizing the streets of London.

Amazing goody bag!

I don't think I got to sleep before 1:30am so my PT session at 7:30am was challenging, especially as we started with stair runs! Ever the glutton for punishment I then gave J her PT session after work before dashing off to my first Scouts meeting and then driving back to my parents in Kent where I'm spending the weekend. J is making sterling progress and I'm so proud of her. She's been seeing dramatic changes and I'm so pleased I've been able to help get her there. Don't know about her but I'm certainly aching today.

I'm happily not doing ANYTHING today (oh well ok I might try the Sweaty Betty online Frame Rave class) in order to have a fighting chance of a good performance at the Women's 10k and Run to the Beat half marathon over the weekend. Frankly it's going to to be brilliant fun, whatever, and I'm mega excited.

This post has been brought to you by adrenaline, excess enthusiasm and caffeine. How's your week been? What's gotten you fired up this week?