Too.much.food.

It's as if I haven't eaten anything for a week. I'm inhaling food. It's utterly ridiculous. 

My brighton marathon training starts now. I have to tip the training to cake scales back to sensible. 

This eve helped as did circuits at work then cycled to Tauntons for LRR  S&C session. 

Monday morning

Alot less stopping today :)

End of week 18

Well I managed 3 HB sessions - Monday was 20 mins but managed the whole session the other two days. Wednesday  I wanted to stop but was doing the session with coach Jo so couldn't!!!!

Thursday I did 2 fitness classes at the Mayflower gym - pilates and express HIIT. Then hopped on the treadmill and did a 20min interval session - 2k.

It was our Hove Christmas this weekend. Wonderful fun but no exercise. 

Let's see how I do next week...

Lose 20lbs in 20 weeks to be 20 mins quicker at Brighton without any training.

Well... not such a great start. I've managed to put on 1.75lbs. 

I'm not actually managing to do much running which I'm guessing is the main reason for my lack of a loss for this week.

Let's see how this week goes xx

Ran today for 35mins

As I cycled home from wide lane I k ew I had to go out for a run as soon as I got home otherwise I wouldn't actually go out.

35mins running up and down the roads around me in old town then stretches. Yesterday's hurtbox session - nearly did quite a lot without stopping! 

Do I want to do a half Ironman next year? I'm not sure... Weymouth was so stressful. I didn't train enough but I'm not sure if I want that worry hanging over me for the whole year. £220 entry plus accommodation etc would probably take the weekend to £400. I don't think I'll be renewing my American football season ticket so that's about £650/700 I've just saved. 

I do know I want a new bike so Mabes I've just made up.my mind :)

Goals for the bike

If only I could have averaged just 2km an hour quicker on the bike all of my Weymouth stress could have been averted. I am loving my winter training plans for hurtbox hurtbox and more hurtbox. 

As Katherine had always said - train in the winter collect the medals in the summer. Finally this off season I'm going to actually train train and train some more.

Weymouth 70.3 finishing snaps

Hardest thing I have ever done - 17/9/17 Weymouth 70.3 half Ironman. 

Chasing the cutoff the entire day. So stressful. How fast done need to go now, how much do I need to save for later, done need to eat now,  do I need to go faster now, do i hurt enough to stop. 

But then when I turned right into the finishing shoot. What an amazing feeling of utter and total joy :)

Friday morning musings on upcoming goals

Bailed on hurtbox as not feeling 100% so cleaned bedroom instead. Am now sprawled on the bed looking out the window thinking about the weekend and plans for next year :)

Parkrun in the morning. Then kazzie is down in the afternoon. Tri club meal Saturday eve and a long run Sunday. I'm not counting my chickens yet but I think my training mojo has woken up from her horror induced sleep from Weymouth 70.3!

What I'd like for 2018

1. Sub 30mins 5k

2. Sub 65min 10k

3. Sub 2:35 half marathon 

4. Sub 6 hour marathon. 

5. Swim 2k in under 50mins

6. Cycle 56 miles in 4 hours.

7. Lose 20lbs by the Brighton marathon on the 15th April.

A week of hurtbox

Of course the best bit of hurtbox is the cool down period. The rest of it I just endure :)

Chatting to coach Peter on Wednesday about how do you manage the cycle leg of an Ironman.  It's the training. 

And then it's the cycling 56 miles in under four hours and then upping your cycling until you can do 100 in 8 hours. 

But mainly get out and cycle.  Cycle 3 hours - don't worry about the distance.  The focus at the moment in time. 

Made a lot of sense.

For now I'll keep doing hurtbox and start thinking about fitting in some three hour bike rides. 

Fatigue is alot in the mind...

Of course i did the Hurtbox session, and yes I did back peddal abit. One of these days i won't stop for the entire session.

I am still tired from the GSR and i did run and swim yesterday so asked Lindsey to drop my ftp. 

It's weird, but knowing i can stop means i do... I'm hoping that as i get fitter i'll be able.to minimise the stopping... 

Also it's obvious i could keep going because i never finish unable to walk so i've obvs got somethibg left in the tank. I think my issue is i'm too cautious. It's like i'm refusing to go more than three quarters empty  on a full tank before i fill up again!!! 

Plenty to work on over winter months xx

And so it begins... Off season training

I'm so excited for this off season. I'd like to see how fast i can run, cycle and swim next year which means one thing. Training. And today feels like the start of my winter training.

Did 5x 3mins with 90sec recovery each set. 31mins of running / walking before work.

Then SUTri swim session this eve after work

Omg. 

100m in just under 2mins. Thought i'd collapse. Had to have a breather! 

Feeling very positive :)

GSR revisited 22/10/17

Six years ago i signed up for the Great South Run. About four months later i started my blog operation fit and healthy because my training up till May 2011 had consisted of eating chocolate and drinking red wine. 

And now six years later i've just finished my second GSR with my mate Pam. We loved it.

2011 2:10.38

2017 2:10.24

We chatted the whole way round, whooped and cheered at every mile marker, hugged friends & loved ones, ate jelly babies and enjoyed a scenic ten mile jaunt around Portsmouth and Southsea. 

For Pam it was her first major race of any description and for me it was a perfect last race of what has been a fabulous season.

I'm back properly from my ThunderRun 2015 all over excited not looking where i was going turning my ankle rocking the moonboot DNS sadness of 2015 into 2016. And i feel fabulous. 

I beat the cutoffs at Ironman Weymouth 70.3 and got my finishers medal. 

And now i've completed the GSR again - back to where it all started; and as in 2011 i got to race it with a very dear friend :)

2017 has been brilliant. New challenges, lots of change and loads of feeling epic. 

I'm one huge smile as i ease into a winter of training and i really can't wait to see how much quicker i can be in 2018.

Denmead 10k

Denmead 10k - smashed it :)

1:16.55

Hilly, I just kept going. Lucy ran with me then walked the hills then caught me at the top. 

Great views, lovely marshals, freddos at the end as well as water and a medal. Loved it.

Ant and Jo H first man and woman. 

Suzanne 40-49 AG champ.

Jenny 60-69 AG champ.

Felt okay. Def ready for the GSR. Won't be quick though.

My focus for this off season is def gettibg quicker on both bike and running.

We decided to do this run back in August when celebrating Suzanne and Jenny's Vichy half ironman. Time can go so quickly. 

This tine four weeks ago - just finished the Weymouth 70.3 and now i'm excited about laying down my winter based training.

This weeks training - start of RCUC

I've joined RunCamp Under Construction RCUC to keep me motivated through to end of dec - lying down a strong foundation for 2018. 

Sub six hour Brighton marathon here i come 

Finally back running!!

And she's baaaaaack!!

This time three weeks ago i'd just finished Weymouth 70.3 :)

I then spent two weeks recovering and last week i had a cold. So today really is my first run since the half marathon at the end of the half ironman. 

It was okay. 

Took awhile to decide i was enjoying it but then i remembered what "dig in Dan" my PT for the Great South Run in 2011 said about running and that it takes about 20mins for your body to warm up and relax so anything before 20mins will feel hard.

So glad i went out. Approx two miles in 24.46.93 and then 6.01.49 mins of stretching. Am now eating apple cake round Vik's. 

30.48.42 mins of exercise 

2 pieces apple cake

1 cup of tea.

It's great to be back.

Oh and the pic is my view half way through my run x

Day nine of Weymouth 70.3 recovery

A weekend in London.

Runleading Monday eve - cycling all over the common while group A did a parkrun then tri club. 

50m - time 54seconds with 50 strokes. 

Today S&C the HB - a grinding it out Alpine session which i did 35mins of.

I have no work stress and no big scary sporting events looming. 

I feel wonderful :) 

I'm so excited for a winter of training then a spring and summer of running - Southampton 10k, Brighton marathon, Swansea half, Endure 24 to name a few. Some long rides and some swims. But no stressful half Ironman to worry about!

I have arrived at a lovely place as a triathlete and i can't wait to find out how fit and healthy i actually can get. 

Day five of Weymouth 70.3 recovery :)

Obviously a race report will be done but currently i'm just gently recovering from my eight hours, twenty four minutes and twenty seven seconds of intense racing - utterly exhausted. Soooo stressful chasing the cutoffs. What a day.

Monday eve popped along to group A LRR and gave out car passes at tri club. Basically showed off medal and wore my ironman tee :)

Tuesday 15mins in the pool at work.

Wednesday 45mins at HB 

Thursday - 34.04.94 on the track - 11 laps, 4.4km. Happy with that - Jo, Nicki and Lois joined me.

Friday - just done 25mins HB and scoffed some crispy duck. Am still very tired. But thats okay as it's approx 7-10days at least recovery from a half ironman. 

Off to work in a bit. 

I'm in awe of how well i'm recovering. I must be alot fitter than i give myself credit for. 

Smashed it at Lakeside

I'm ten days away from Weymouth 70.3 and i'm a bit nervous.

However...

Coach Huw reckons i'll be absolutly fine on the swim and this evening i did x3 laps of the lake in 22.28. Muts reckons each lap is at least 300m so thats 900m in 22.28mins. Very happy with that.

I then helped marshal the go tri mini aquathlon. Love marshalling so much. In fact i love marshalling and supporting just as much as i love competing :)

Lovely to see Katherine and Pammie and chat Kona with Alex 

Focus back onto Weymouth 70.3 after Vichy

Vichy was amazing. Suzanne, Jenny, Aron, Rob, Tracey all doing the half with Ian, Marcus, Paul,Mark and Zoe doing the full. Utterly inspiring. Ant, James, Richard, Lucy and I out to support and holiday. Brilliant brilliant fun.

So now i'm back with first full day of training after a week off. 

Hurtbox 9:30am session then straight to The Quays for 80 lengths 2k in 45.11.56

1km 21.38

500m 11.06

500m 12.28

When training for Challenge Weymouth at this time in my training i did 1500 in 43mins so mabes i'm in better shape than i realise. I really hope so as quite nervous about cutoff times

1.9k swim 1:10

90k cycle and swim 5:30

Leaving 3hours for the half marathon 

I guess we'll see where i am on the 17th Sept... 

Some Hurtbox updates

Here are the rest of August's. Did an alpine session that i had to change kickers on - think that was the one i stopped the least on!!

Ramping up the sessions i can do as weymouth is a few weeks away plus with shift working i can now do every 9:30am session for my two weeks of noon and late starts. 

I still don't enjoy doing them but i love that i do do them.

TT #3, massage, NLs, cuppa with Muts, Indian Restaurant with STC gang.

What an awesome day!!!

Lie in.

Miche massage - left calf was actually tighter that the right calf. I didnt cry but omg was soooooooo painful. 

Popped in The Ave for a cuppa. 

Then popped into The Advice Centre for another cuppa.

Luncheon then Solent Print Room for another cuppa but with Muts this time.

Cycled to Lyndhurst. 

10m TT 39.40 - was going so fast until the left hand turn at Ipley Cross cross roads. 

And then - wind. So much wind.

So actually really delighted that i was only 40seconds slower!!! 

Lovely shower at Jo&H's

Indian with the tri club gang then cycled home. 

A brilliant day. 

Approx 35 miles of cycling :)

Update :)

27/7 - out with the old dillons gang - so fabulous to see paaaaaaaaaat!!! 

28/7 - eeeeep, right calf started to hurt while on the treadmill at the Mayflower Gym :(

29/7 - Ellingham with the girls - 1.9k in approx 50mins. Then off for my IV visit and Mark's BBQ via cycling from Effinghan Junction, seeing dad and a cuppa at mum's 

30/7 - morning tea with Phil and Nessie in the Brewery then off to Dorking to see Nic. Watched the pro's doing Ride London. Was amazing. 

31/7 - work was bonkers!! Then a quick 400m in my pool x

01/8 - 1k worth of swimming in the pool after work

02/8 - HB before work, then met A and Jenny at my pool after work for a swim. 

Spectating Brownsea Island - we could have been in Greece!!!

Katherine did the 6.5km swim round Brownsea Island Sunday morning and i went along to watch.

Omg!!

Loved it.

Weather was amazing, Brownsea Island i've been wanting to visit for ages and i love being around people doing sporty stuff :)

Katherine smashed it 2:24 or maybe 2:26.

Simon from tri club did it in 2:10 - so lovely to see him and his family.

Watched the start from the little ferry, walked around the island, convinved i saw Katherine, had a cup of tea.

Katherine finished, we had a packed lunch with Elly, Nigel, Ellie then it stopped being Greece and returned to being good old Blighty again as it pissed down.

Left the house 6am, returned 3:45pm.

Tired.

Very happy. 

Making sure i'm getting bike stronger

Hurtbox is brilliant - i try and go at least two times a week minimum and it's def doing wonders for my cycling.

Tuesday's session was fun - trained with Rob from STC. He didnt stop once i don't think the entire hour. I however stopped alot. My legs were so tired. I'm wondering if Sunday's spectating of the Brownsea Island swim plus the early start Saturday has taken more out of me than i realised? 

Did 42k in about two and a half hours this eve with Tamsyn and Charlotte - loved it. Although some bits were so hard. Unlike at Hurtbox where if its too hard i can.just stop, out on the road you have to keep going. Bloody hell, so tough.

Am i ready for Weymouth? Good god no way.

Have i got time to get ready? Yes. Loads. Eight weeks. I can so do this :)

LRR Magic Mile 9.39

Had a twenty min warm up run on the treadmill at jsc which def helped!!!

Was wanting to stop within 200m. A mile is a really tough distance to run as it's just going to hurt. And we willingly enter events where we know it's going to be horrific! Quite quite bonkers :)

Hard to breath by the end. Wayne from Hedge End dragged me round. Loved it. But tough. 

Putting last weeks sea swim to bed

Jenny, Suzanne and I went to Ellingham lake Saturday morning.

1.2km 31.20

700m 19.55

Total = 1.9km in 53mins

Felt okay. Didnt love it but also didnt hate it. I need to be stronger though as that doesnt give me much wiggle room for a choppy sea and a 1:10 cut off.

But plenty to be happy about. Also lovely to see Steve M and Marcus at the lake.

Back at Jenny's had some toast which i then ate while watching parkrun 

1st ever proper TT Thursday 20/7

Omg, I had no idea what to expect - loved it.

Usual 10miles TT course that we use for TWD. I've yet to crack 40mins.

Cycled out from work, dropped off bag at H's and then headed to the start. Got my number 1 to pin on my back and headed to the start.

At about 7:02pm i was given the one min warning then counted down from about 15sec. Then i was off. 10miles, head down, ringing my bell and whooping :)

39minutes 

Pleased with that 

So did approx 30miles of cycling Thursday evening. Just got to add another 26 and i'm ready for Weymouth! 

Is back on track.

Monday - LRR run leading but then needed to finish some bits and bobs for my new job.

All done :)

Tuesday - had it all planned out - swim after work then cycle to the common for strength and conditioning following by Hurtbox. The swim happened. Nine mins of strength and conditioning happened and then as the rain got more and more torrential i was like oh good god no way i'm done. 

Got even more soaked though on the cycle home. Then spent alot of the rest of the night sat in my armchair stark naked wrapped in a towel wearing my slippers with my wooly cardy and hat on. 

Needless to say i blew out Hurtbox. Aah well.

Today was so much better!

30mins on a rather flash treadmill at my new gym - Mayflower gym then over to Hurtbox for the 7-8pm session. 

Loved the run. Will def try and get on the treadmill at least two or three times a week. I'll aim to build up my running to at least an hour. Also Josh from LRR group A gave us all an amazing top tip. When using a treadmill - press the up arrow every minute so your speed goes us 0.1km/hour each time. Such an awesome tip as the treadmill run was brilliant fun. Plus the flash treadmill at my new gym had me running along to the Golden Gate Bridge which was fun.

Hurtbox was okay/fine/good. 

Lots of 80s music while chatting to Lindsey who ensured i smashed it!! Yes i did stopping and it was tough but i also had sections of keeping going and ignoring my chimp who keeps banging on about i just need to stop cos i'm knackered. 

Now thinking it's time for bed.

Such a great day :)

Bustinskins standard distance triathlon - sea swell fail

Was so excited for this triathlon. Me and Suzanne stayed over at Jenny's last night as we needed to be on the road by 5am as bikes needed to be in transition by 7am.

The sea looked lovely. Weather seemed perfect. All was great.

And then i started swimming. 

1500m is a really long way when doing it in one huge loop! Plus, Hello... Who ordered the sea swell?? I felt so sea sick :( I lost all strength in my arms. I defaulted to breast stroke. I seemed to be going nowhere. 

So i had a little think and assessed the situation. I decided i just didnt have it in me to continue the swim. Felt an immediate sense of calm and beckoned over one of the safety kyacks. 

OMG 

I was then the lead performer in a five minute comedy sketch entitled "trying to haul myself up and in to the safety boat". 

I'll paint you the picture...

Imagine if you will a seal in prescription goggles wearing a little green swimming cap. Now imagine said seal trying to leaver herself using her useless floppy fins up the side of a boat. 

Hilarious!!! 

So i then used the kyack as a half way staging post to then be hauled into the boat. NB - in transition i'd applied a very generous layer of vasoline on neck, wrists, ankles so i was rather slick...

The poor chap in the safetyboat didnt have quite as much traction as he maybe thought he had for hauling me into his boat. Siiiigh. 

(Both he and the kyack chap were lovely and the buskinskins gang were also lovely. Just one of those things)

I cheered in Suzanne and Jenny from their swims then headed off to the cafe for a cuppa and some snacks. Had a lovely half hour / 45mins run along the sea front then back to the finish to cheer in the girls. Both Suzanne and Jenny totally smashed it!! Vichy is going to be brilliant :)

So what do I need to do?

Ear plugs have been suggested.

I'll try and get along to Calshot for some of the tri club's sea swim sessions.

I'm hoping to get to Ellingham lake next Sat morning 

Will try and swim after work as much as possible

Need to sort out my HOWL membership as i'll be over in Wide Lane in the middle of Aug so easy to swim before work Tues morning and after work Thursday eve.

And of course to keep getting to as many of the coached tri club swim sessions as i can.

Ultimately though i need to do longer swims where i'm not able to have a cheeky rest by hanging onto the side of the pool after every 100-200m. 

Lizzie Lou needs more time in the water :)

Weymouth was lovely today. 

Still had such an awesome morning and afternoon. 

Plus lets face it, who wouldnt relish the excuse to add 'go to the beach alot more' to their training plans???!!!

HOWL Aquathlon - brilliant fun

Race prep started at Pam's with half a slice of yummy tiger bread and a bowl of fresh pasta. A quick change then cycled to the Lake.

Lake temp was about 23c so we were all in skins. Loved it. Felt relaxed, strong, smooth, no panic. Also wasn't too tired. 750m so 2.5laps of Eastleigh Lakeside. Then a 5k run which also felt great :)

750m swim = 21.00.64

Transition = 1.34.55

5k run = 33.39.05

Grand total - 56.14.24

Really happy with that :)

Then cycled home via A's for a glass of white.

All in all a top evening's entertainment x

Getting down to some training :)

I think i'm back on track... 

I took my swimming stuff to work today so i could have a 20mins or so swim after work!! 

I LOVE MY NEW JOB :)

Aquathlon tomorrow will be interesting - i know i can do 750m as i did a 1300m swim last month. I'm more worried about the 1500m sea swim Sunday and of course the 1.9k sea swim at Weymouth in September. The being able.to swim before and / or after work is going to hugely help my swim endurance. 

Then HB - just me and Lindsey. Started off strong then got tired. I reckon one of my areas to work on is getting that flipping chimp off my shoulder as all she seems to be saying is "eeeeep bit tired now best stop."

Hmmmm.

But def feeling as if i'm getting back to my training.