Ellingham, Hurtbox, Jason Bourne :)

What an amazing weekend

Friday 29/7 - finally got round to tackling about three years worth of filing then Timmie's for a cuppa - gorgeous garden thenoff to the Swan Inn in Lyndhurst with Rose for dinner.

Saturday 3/7 - up at stupid o'clock as Charlotte collecting me at 6:30am to go swim at Ellingham. What a beautiful lake. So clear. 1.2k loop which after cutting a few corners I reckon I swam mabes 1km in 35mins.

Coach Peter and Steve M were both at the lake. So wonderful to see them both. Katherine and Suzanne headed off after tea and a catch up. Speed boat spectator while Charlotte water skied then I did the 2.5km loop of the lake - 18min run.

Brunch at Metricks Guildhall, Tobie joined us. Best club sandwich in Southampton!!!
I had to have a snooze before XX arrived for Saturday evening's an audience with the Southampton Gay Men's Chorus at City College. Great fun :)

Sunday 31/7, again up bonkers o'clock to cycle 10k to Lakeside to meet up with Hurtbox buddies for a social ride at 8am. Ant, James, Roelie, Suzanne, Martin, Steve, Gary, Sarah, Lindsey and Jenny. I did the 47km route so we had longer at Costa in Bishop Waltham for tea and cake!

Suzanne, Jenny and I then did a cheeky 2.5k run at Lakeside 18mins. Utterly shattered, absolutely beautiful ride, blue skies. Amazing views. Wonderful company.

Then cycled home 10k.
Tired.
Vegged.

This eve off to Harbour Lights where Vik and I saw Jason Borne and had pre and post film drinks.

Flat is an absolute tip. All this exercise means I'm way to shattered to be bothered about cleaning. Eeeeeeeeep.

Aah well.
Such a super weekend x

Magic Mile 26/7/16 - smashed it!

Omg!!! 29 seconds faster than last time :)
9.44.09
Smashed it x

Didn't chat as much as I did last time with Tim which may have helped with my faster time. Also Pete who was cycling alongside the last runner (that would be me) we did chat abit but also because he was cycling I think it may have made me run a bit quicker.

I was then on scanning - runners then position bar codes. Really enjoyed that. Those fast boys and girls really are fast!!

Due to tri club's TT running three consecutive Thursdays, coach Huw has offered to run a run session this Tuesday and next. So I cycled up.to the sports centre as figured in for a penny in for a pound.

Great session - 200m gentle/recovery then 200m hard, so sprinting across the finish line, pause to get heart rate down, then 200m gentle jog then another 200m hard. I did it four times, Jo did it five. Was brilliant. Felt so upright and strong as I sprinted across the finish line.

200m gentle / 200m hard / rest
1.19.08 / 1.00.06 / 21.11
1.31.40 / 1.01.38 / 45.42
1.29.30 / 1.02.65 / 36.56
1.24.98 / 1.03.47 / 20.77

Then cycled home via K&S's, sank a bottle and a half of red while we chatted non stop till.the early hours. Such a wonderful end to a super evening. Stayed over, cycled home this morning.

Definitely feel as if I'm upping my training in preparation for the club champs on 21/8/16.

Swimming then Hurtbox. Bit tired now.

Did the double!

7-8pm tri club swimming.
8:30-9:30pm Hurtbox session.
Cycled home.
Had a shower
Ate chicken
Sat in arm chair listening to magic radio for about an hour and half barely able to function.
Brilliant evening!!!

Thanks tri club / runcamp / hurtbox buddy Suzanne for the encouragement to do the double. Great idea. Loved doing it. But I may regret tomorrow... :)

Oh and as you can see from the snap I was def struggling by the end.

Wonderful weekend in Ashtead

Within a fabulous weekend of friends and family I managed to squeeze in a run on the common.

4.5k 34.12.08
Not going to break any records but boy was it fun to be back out running on the common. One of the best places to run - probably due to all the wonderful childhood memories of fun filled days but even so, it is a great place to run. Very beautiful.

Every part of me aches!!!

I was going to go from a bike ride or a run this evening but instead I went to lidls, watched TV and ate chocolate ice cream.

Every part of me aches. The strength and conditioning session yesterday eve has destroyed me.
It was awesome!!!
A chibatta or carbonara high intensity session (I've obviously got the name wrong but that's what it sounded like)

The current in the Itchen was also pretty strong so def had a bit of a workout wild swimming to.

Probably just as well I've done nothing this evening.
Bedtime now :)

Full moon? Let's go wild swimming in the Itchen :)

Fabulous day. Gorgeous sunshine. A very hot running club strength and conditioning session on the common followed by wild swimming in the Itchen.

Loved the bubbles seen through the water under the water when pulling,  so beautiful. Itchen was clear and cool with a wicked current. Reminded me.of the swim leg of my Weymouth Olympic distance triathlon back in July of 2014 when the current was so strong the chap in the safety kayak told me to grab hold of the rope at the back of the kayak and he pulled me to shore. Was wonderful.

Also how fantastic seeing the planes flying in low across where we swam. Felt like we were in a SciFi film :)

First aquathlon for over a year - HOWL 14/7/16

Well...

I'm certainly glad I entered and I did have a wonderful evening - loads of tri club and running buddies plus delighted to be able to support HOWL.

However... The swim was hard. I should have done 750 but managed 450m - I didn't do the last loop of Eastleigh lake. Had abit of a panic, couldn't breathe very well, couldn't get into a rhythm and was right at the back.

When I got to the exit after 15mins knowing I still had another lap I decided to just get out and do the 5k run.

Run was lovely, felt good. About 300m from the end, duty phone goes off :) eeeeeeeeep. Run walking while discussing an incident while everyone is trying to make me run! Luckily tri club buddies were on hand to steer me through the finishing shoot as I had no idea where the end was!

Incident sorted. Love my new buff. STC won the inter club champs. Cycled home. Very relaxed evening of rest and recovery while catching up on the TdF - omg Chris Froome running up the mountain without his bike!!!!! Awesome.

SWIM 15.56.16
T1 3.06.61
RUN 38.25.09

Total = 57.27.86

Brilliant fun :)

Hurtbox session 13/7/16

What a corker of a session!!!

Utterly exhausted at the end. In fact I really didn't think I'd be able to do the final fork and then three mins at 110% effort. I didn't voice my concern though as figured as soon as I said that out loud I'd believe myself and stop. In fact I smashed it. Felt so wobbly at the end and my body felt like it was vibrating. Odd sensation :)

Cycled home
Ate left over chicken and curly kale. I love curly kale so.much.

I've also signed up.to the HOWL aquathlon tomorrow at Eastleigh lakeside. 750m swim then 5k run. It'll be my first OWS of the year and I'm.looking forward to finding out how I'm doing swim wise as it's the club champs 21/8 - 1100m swim at Ellingham lake.

Wyvern 10k weekend 10/7/16

What a fantastic weekend.

Hove to see LC and E - bonus of R&R for dinner as well.

Then Saturday with B&S then Mettricks Guildhall for Rose's bday with Z&T.

Sunday bit drizzly - cycled 9miles to Wyvern College, Fair Oak for their 10k. So many running club and tri club chums were there. I bloody love being part of the Southampton running community :)

Chip time 69.58 my watch 70.09. Very pleased with that time.

Then cycled home 9miles to watch the British GP, TdF, Wimbledon men's final, CFL and European cup final.

Great weekend.

Pink and steamed up.

Can only really mean one thing...

I've been exercising :)

Me having just finished the Marwell Zoo, hosted by Eastleigh, RR10 on  Wednesday 6th July.

No giraffes but still loved the RR10 at Marwell

What a great day.

6miles of cycling for work - our annual away day was in Netley. Brilliant fun. Love my colleagues. Love No Limits.

Then cycled to Marwell for the RR10 - 12 miles, beautiful cycle. The run was about 4.5miles - quite soft under foot (muddy). 53.33.31 - great fun and we did get to see, from a distance, some of the animals in the zoological park.

Cycled home via Horton Heath for a cuppa with Michael. Home by 10:45pm, hot shower then toast and marmite. Perfect end to a fabulous evening :)

Jo's 50th in Burley - 50miles of cycling and shed loads of booze

Tri club swimming Saturday morning - coach Huw as usual gently destroyed us!

Tea at Tudor House with tri club then the anti fascist demo at the Bargate.

Finally left 13:20 for the 18mile cycle to Burley YHA. I had alot of stuff strapped to my bike!!

Usual route to Lyndhurst - had my peanut butter and marmite sandwiches under a tree during the bonkers heavy downpour then through Lyndhurst up the A35 to the old Lyndhurst road - so much quieter than the A road :)

Arrived!!! 15:15 - cracked open the wine by 4pm. Crawled into bed at 01:30 - brilliant fun!! Games, afternoon tea, bbq, champagne, quiz, firepits and just one little rain shower.

Sunday - all off by 10:15am.
Puncture :(
Hoorah for Les and Lizzie who helped me out :) Meant I could then head off for my twenty mile cycle before roast beef at The Swan opposite the Emery Down turning.

Lovely to bump into Robert from tri club in Brockenhurst.

Route - Lyndhurst road from Burley, Oriental drive to Brockenhurst then Beaulieu and up to Lyndhurst = approx twenty miles in two hours. I need to get quicker, I need to be fitter and I need to be leaner. Plenty to work at!

Roast was fab. Ten mile cycle home via Vik's to grab my black bag. Home, shower, tea with balcony door open while watching TV from my armchair. Perfect end to a lovely weekend.

My plan of gently building my base fitness is going well. Will continue through July before starting my marathon training for December. I do though need to keep up my cycling and swimming ready for the club champs 21/8/16

1100m swim Ellingham lake
33k cycle
10k run

My aim is to be easily under four hours hence I need to get quicker on my bike,  keep working on my running and I really need to get more long swims in either at Lakeside via HOWL, and or Hilsea lido :)