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. 

It's a tough session when you havent worked out for awhile!!

What with starting my new job last Monday 3/7 along side socialising and partying, tonight's HB session was pretty tough!!

Loved it of course. But a fair amount of back pedderling - unlike the indoor cycling class i took last week at work and was able.to call it work. No back pedderling on those machines. Really tough!!! Enjoyed it.

I love my new job.

Customer care / reception for Southampton University's sports dept. I'm taking my swimming cossie to.work tomorrow and will be working out at the Mayflower Gym soon. 

I'm quite worried about the half IM in September so absolutly delighted i'll be able.to practically swim every day :)