Looking back to look forward

Now on the way back from a glorious few days of training in Mallorca the reality of the 70.3 is begining to sink in. The count down is into single figures!

Every time I have wanted to quit a training session over the winter i have thought about how it is making me stronger, faster fitter for this race.

I am going to try and do something I have rarely managed in most of my races so far, and that is enjoy the moment. Its going to be hot, hilly and windy. But it wont be like that for just me, everyone is going to be baking out there!

My trusty mule is coming along for this one, which will be nice. He can take some of the emotional strain, as well as some of the baggage! I have found sometimes you just need someone to confim that yes, registration is at this time, and yes you have got everything. Doing it all yourself can be quite emotionally draining.

My week in Mallorca was fab. Sa Calobra concoured, Formentor ran (again) and a bunch of swimming with the fishes in the bay at Peurto Pollenca. I have also dabbled with the GoPro this week, so standby for some holiday footage! I have about 2 hrs of video, which I know ideally needs to be condensed into 3 mins, else no one is going to watch it, or care! I remember having so suffer my Grandads terribly dull holiday videos as a child....many, many hours of them!

I have some good miles in my legs on the inside, and some horrendous tan lines on the outside, so now its time to taper and hopefully not go too mad! Got a sprint in the diary for the 19th April, hopefully I can remember what to do! 

Training Overseas - I need a list for everything!

Before you go:

Bike service
Check bike box is booked on flight

Check insurance up to date

Check passport expiry date

Check if you need a visa

Tell your bank you are travelling

Unblock your mobile if needed

Sign up for Skype, Viber, Tango or What’s App for free communication with home via wifi

Download stuff to watch on phone/tablet on the plane

Essential personal items and electronics:
Passport
EHIC
Credit Card/Debit card
Cash
Flight details / boarding card
Electrical stuff and chargers (Phone/tablet/camera/bike computer etc.)
Plug socket adaptors

Personal items:
Wash kit
Insect repellent
First Aid Kit
Chamois cream

Plastic bag for wets and dirties

Camera

Suncream

Aftersun

Talc

Sudocreme or nappy rash cream (hopefully you won’t need it, but if you do you’ll be glad you have it!)

Pillow (this sounds ridiculous but some European hotels have very flat pillows, or none at all! I know I need a big fluffy one for a good nights sleep, if you squish it in your hand luggage you can use it on the plane too)

Surviving the Flight

Eye mask and ear plugs for flight

Reading book/Tablet/Mp3 player

Ear phones

Travel pillow

Casual Clothing:
Beany or hat
Cap
Jumper/warm jacket
Underwear
Sleepwear
Towel
Evening shoes/flip flops

Compression clothing

Ride kit:
Helmet
Cycling glasses
Cycling cap or thin warm hat
Cycling shorts or bib shorts 

Cycling tights or bib tights
Short sleeved jersey 

Long sleeved jersey

Waterproof Jacket
Gilet
Windproof Jacket or Race Cape
Socks
Buff
Shoes
Arm warmers
Overshoes (might not need them if its going to be hot) 

Waterproof pouch for phone

Nutrition

Energy bars/products
Hydration tablets

Mini concentrated squash bottles

Protein (recovery)

In your saddle bag or on your bike:
750ml water bottle (x2) & bottle cages
Multi tool with chain breaker
Pump (you cant take CO₂ cartridges on an aircraft)
Tyre levers
Powerlinks for chain
Small bike lock
Lights
Bike computer

Spares and useful bits:

This is dependent on where you are going, if you know you can access a good bike store then leave some of the heavier items behind. If you are going to be out in the wilderness, you might be grateful of some of these spares. 
Brake pads (2 spare sets or more)
Inner tubes (4+)
Chain

Duct tape
Zip ties
Cleats and bolts for cleats
Tyre (may want to bring wet weather option)
Tool kit (Allen keys, chain splitter, x-head screwdriver, pedal spanner, spoke key, adjustable spanner, crank extractor, cassette lock ring tool, puncture repair kit, chain lube)
Foam roller

Hiring a Bike

If you are hiring a bike you need to bring the following for familiarity and comfort:

Cycling shoes

Pedals

Saddle

Helmet

Your bike measurements

Run
Trainers
Socks
Talc
Shorts/tops
Sports underwear

Swim 
Swim costume/sport bikini
Wetsuit
Goggles
Swim hat
Swim toys (pull bouy, kick board etc. dependent on what you have planned) 

Sportive numbero deux

Two weeks and 2 sportives!

Yesterday I did the 'Just Racing' Quattro around the hills of Northamptonshire. I have to say it was a lovely route, not the most lovely day though. A little bit overcast throughout the ride and as soon as I got back in the car...BINGO Sun out!

The exciting thing about this ride  was it was the first time I have taken the Go Pro for a spin...product to come later!

So....onto the ride.

The event was organised very well, with a map and natty waterproof pocket for it to go into dished out at registration (very sensible).

TOP TIP! Another grassy car park and I learned my lesson about walking on grass in my bike shoes and I brought 2 plastic bags to go over my shoes to prevent water to get in! I got a few funny looks and a couple of envious ones as others complained about wet feet!

There were plenty of signs throughout the route and it was very clear which way to go depending on which route you were on.

At the aid station there was lots of what you would expect, water, NRG drinks, gels, mini sausage rolls, sausages, flapjack, brownies, crisps and of course because its easter, hot cross buns!:)

My First Sportive

 Is it wrong to decide to do a sportive because it has cat in the name?

I was supposed to be racing the Elite Duathlon Champs, however with illness leading up to the event and some less than perfect personal circumstances I really didn’t feel in the mindset for a race with all the spotlights on! Also my first middle distance triathlon is most certainly looming on the horizon, now inside the month countdown! 

Apparently the Cheshire Cat Sportive or ‘The Cat’ as it is known to the cool kids is one of the biggest events in the UK, and is in fact the largest ‘season opener’, with over 3000 riders.

This is the first sportive I have ever done! Now I did really want to have lots of lovely pictures, however it was so wet, there was no chance I was getting my phone out to take any pics! I think It may have stopped raining for all of 10 minutes during the entire 80 miles!!

 I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it though. It was really nice to chat to a few different people, and join in some mini pelotons along the way. Despite the atrocious weather and the threat of the event being called off, it went ahead without much drama.

 The feed station was great. The mini ham sandwiches were a welcome treat and the flapjack was d-lish :) I have to say the freebies were ace too, AND 2 medals! 1 for finishing and 1 for conquring Mow Cop! The notoriously steep (25%) hill which is in the book ‘100 greatest climbs’ too!

As someone who doesn’t group ride often I really enjoyed practicing drafting a riding in close proximity with other riders.



Kind of wish I had ordered one of the jerseys now too….oh well. Ill have to do it again next year!

Fleet Half Marathon

Another year, another Fleet Half Marathon.

I love this race for so many reasons. And I also hate it because it is a painful half marathon. As it is the Inter service and RAF Championship event it is always in my calendar. I think I must always be one of the first people to register in October, and I start planning training. Like all good plans its all about different colours, and highlighters and symbols, I think of all the revision planning I did during my A levels, and how much time I could have actually spend revising! In this case my training plan took a lot of re-writing due to being injured, and not running at all from Aug- early Nov.

Over the winter training dribbled on, and come the beginning of march I was feeling pretty good. I raced a duathlon on the 8th, and then….2 weeks of illness. I got a stomach bug and then a virus which mean almost 0 training for the 2 weeks leading up to the race. So in the lead up to the race I cant say I was in the best frame of mind. I just kept telling myself rest is good, then the over training deamon on my shoulder kept telling me that it was terrible….and I might as well not bother! Common sense won in the end! A great session of yoga the day before really helped, and some wise words resonated in my ears, about accepting my body where and how it is today.

Race day came, which meant big yummy breakfast and being chauffered by my ever supportive other half.

I was very pleased the sun was shining. My warm up went well and I exchanged hello’s with the other RAF runners.

I vowed not to make the mistake I did last year which was to start in my predicted time area. All that happened was I spent the 1st mile weaving in and out of joggers, and

bannas. This time I started more towards the front and had a bit more clear space, which allowed for better pacing in the first few miles. I was pretty happy with the pace and progress was good. I was definitely feeling heavier than I would have liked due to my 2 weeks off, and I was certainly carrying around a couple of extra kg’s I didn’t need.

The first loop was over very quickly which was great, this means running through the town again and seeing the fantastic crowd! The RAF vest always gets lots of attention and cheers which is great to experience and be a part of.

Off into the countryside I was running with a group of Gurkahs who were impeccable at pacing! 6 min miles every mile….perfect! I then got some quite bad stitch and dropped off their pace abit. Come mile 10 I thought “this would be a great place to stop”. I hung on for the last few km. in the final km seeing out TM cheering on her bike was great.

The revised finish lay out was much better, although I totally missed where the clock was! Never mind, I pretty quickly received a text with all the info.

Thanks a million to the organisers, the lovely people of Fleet for cheering, and being patient with the road closures!

The first Multisport race of the season!

As the first ever 'proper' triathlon I did, the Dambuster Triathlon will forever have a special place in my heart (aaaw). However I have never done the duathlon. This was definitely a race of firsts for me, as someone who is still relatively new to the tri/duathlon scene. I had not attempted a standard distance duathlon before, and I had not done a race quite so early in the season

Early March is pretty early and I was expecting it to be very cold! It also crept up on me, and I hadn't been prepared enough to ride my TT bike, I thought the first time on it this year in a race, probably wasn't going to be wise, and it was blooming windy! Hats off to those who braved it! 

As always its a nice early start, register and get everything set up in transition. Duathlon always confuses me a little, as you start with your trainers and race belt on already...sounds simple, but with race brain engaged, anything can happen! 
 The fact it was the beginning of march made me a bit paranoid about the cold, and possibly the addition of a jacket on the bike was too much, but better too hot than so cold you are delirious (which I have experienced before, and it was not pretty) The race itself went OK ish. Unfortunately I was a little worse for wear, which I just thought was general tiredness after a busy week at work, but on Sunday I discovered it was a full blown virus. So after being a little disappointed with my performance on Saturday, and pretty horrified about the standard of my bike effort. When reflecting on Sunday in between vomiting and sleeping, it didn’t seem half bad! 


It was great to see the other RAF athletes out too and as always there was loads of support from the spectators and general public pottering about. One man even shouted Royal RAF Air Force, which made me smile at least! J This was also the first outing for my birthday present to myself, my Garmin 920XT. Since user error and me thinking about racing, rather than my watch, meant I didn’t get any splits or anything, the event is now logged as one giant 55km run, until I can work out how to edit it on Garmin connect….cant be that hard surely! Things I can say about it though are it is beautifully slim compared to the 210 I was using before, which means sleeves on and off are no drama (I can see this being a massive plus when it comes to a wetsuit). The display is beautifully clear too.
 

More rest for me until I'm 100% better, and hopefully a good run in a few weeks!

Spring is here!

Tired - very tired 

Eaton Dorney,
2012 Olympic rowing venue

March is apparently the first day of spring-hurrah, so here is the Jan/Feb update.

These past 2 months have been full of ups and downs. I very much felt like I was emerging from my winter cocoon all through Jan, and I was really wondering if I was going to train and compete at all this year. Injury, coupled with quite a vicious illness which meant I couldn't eat properly for nearly 2 months in 2014, along with being diagnosed with depression have all been a huge strain. I am going to write about these in more detail later.

Alsager 5 

I am very pleased to say I pulled my man up pants on, with the help of my closest friends and family, and I am now in a much happier place. A new non shift, non underground job is also helping me manage my depression a lot easier, and I finally have some continuity in my training. I have raced a couple of times too which has been really good, no pressure and just enjoying running again, relief! 

I have been incredibly fortunate this last month to spend 3 weeks at the regional rehab unit at RAF Halton, with the hope of getting my achilles back on track. I can honestly say it has probably been some of the best weeks I have spent in the RAF. I have learnt so much about my body. Both in the book learning sense, but also in terms of how much I can push myself, not the sweaty lung busting pushing, but in terms of stretching and intricate control work. Just because you are not working your ass off with your HR nearing 200, does not mean what you are doing isnt beneficial! I have been well and truly reunited with my glutes! Lots of clams, bridges, mud walking...pain!


I have learn the importance of stretching and foam rolling. Yep it hurts, but its a necessary evil people!

I have also been experimenting with other recovery stuff, magnesium and beetroot juice. More to follow on these soon so watch this space :)