Too Old...?

My rest day yesterday consisted of me having fun with the girls! Lunch and Cocktails and still home to be in bed at a decent time!
Definitely the less tiring way to party!

Consequently when I woke up this morning I felt fit to go!

The weather forecast for today was appalling with high winds and torrential rain predicted!  Therefore, when I looked out the window this morning I was pleased to see it was dry although the sky looked very menacing and the trees were swaying manically!

I decided to brave going out on my bike!  I need to start cycling in any weather!

I wore my waterproof jacket (just in case!) and set off with absolutely no idea where I was heading!  I felt like I was doing wind resistance training with the wind blowing me all over the place!  I decided to do a figure of 8 type loop in case the torrential rain came - I didn't want to be stuck miles from home fighting gales!

Thankfully I only experienced a few short light showers and did 15.61 miles at an average speed of 13.1 MPH, which isn't too bad considering the wind I was battling though!  


At one point I saw a mobile speed check machine flash "slow down". I had a swift look around to make sure I wasn't being followed by a car but no ... I was alone! I am slightly impressed that I had enough speed to activate it!  There is a first time for everything!

Not long after I got home the heavens opened - luckily I had just escaped getting soaked!

This afternoon I decided to experiment with making some "go faster food"! 

I 'm hoping to find some miracle food that will fuel me through my next triathlon!

I made some Chia Seed Energy Balls which were really simple to make and contain dates, dried apricots, sultanas, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, runny honey and sesame seeds!

These energy boosting bites tasted very nice but were slightly too sweet for me!  Perhaps I will try and make them without the apricots and use nuts as an alternative!

I have just less than 5 weeks to get it right!

Someone said to me today that I was too old to be doing Triathlons, and this should be my last! 

I disagree!

I will never be the fastest (I AM too old for that!) but as long as I am still enjoying it I will be doing it!

A week later ...

Wow I can't believe a week has passed already!  

Where did the time go?

As promised I have been training hard this week!

Despite the weather forecast looking horrendous for the week I don't think we did too badly - considering!  Although it has stayed chilly we have had mainly dry weather which has been good for getting out and about!

Last Saturday was a rest day and I went to Manchester to see Take That at the MEN Arena!  I wasn't really sure what to expect with there only being 3 of the left in the group - but they were absolutely fantastic!  They played a good mix of songs and everyone was up dancing from the first song - not so much of a rest day for me as I was exhausted with all the dancing and arm waving - but well worth it!

We stayed over in Manchester on Saturday night to enable us all to overindulge in Cocktails (which we did!) and got home on Sunday just after lunch!

Just enough time to take the dog for a short walk and then for me to go on a little run!  I tried to push the pace and run slightly faster than I have been doing recently but my legs were having none of it!

I felt slow and sluggish but managed to run 6.29 miles at an average 9.14 minute mile pace.  I was very disappointed with this as I had been aiming to keep it under the 9 minute mile pace but it wasn't to be!

Too much food, alcohol, dancing and a late night had put paid to this!

On Monday (Bank Holiday) we went fell walking despite it being a wet and windy day!  We managed to do 4 Wainwrights including Longlands Fell, Brae Fell, Great Sca Fell and Meal Fell which was 5.52 hilly miles! 

When I got up on Tuesday morning the weather was looking fairly good so I took the opportunity to go out on my bike before it changed!

I stupidly decided to cycle to Windermere which is a nice ride on quiet roads and cycle tracks, however, once I got to Bowness it was Bedlam!  

It was choca-block with tourists, both in cars and pedestrians who didn't think twice about stepping out in the road in front of me!  I made very slow progress through Windermere and onto Bowness before I was thankfully on the road heading back! 

The road back was very hilly and despite getting my bike serviced last week my "granny gear" would not cooperate!  I desperately kept trying to change gear to make the hills easier but my bike wasn't having any of it!  My legs were burning at various points with the effort!  However, I made it home without getting off and pushing and managed 25 miles at a very slow 10.9 MPH!  I blame the stop start traffic, the hills and my dodgy gears for making me so slow - nothing to do with my fitness!

When I got home I was straight on the phone to the bike maintenance bloke and I have to take it back in on Monday for him to have another look at it!  Before it was serviced I had a 50/50 chance of getting it into the "granny gear", now I have zero chance!

On Tuesday evening I was back in Bowness swimming in the lake with the Tri Club!  I managed to forgo my wetsuit gloves but kept my wetsuit and wetsuit socks on!  We swam a mile in total and despite the water being rather chilly it was fairly calm (until a steamer went past!) so it was a pleasant swim! We had coffee and chocolate cake afterwards as it was someone's birthday!

I'm the front one in the green hat!

On Wednesday it was another dry morning, so despite not being able to use all my gears correctly I still went out on my bike!  

I was drawn back to Windermere with the aim of cycling around the lake which is the 25 mile route I will have to do in the Windermere Triathlon in just 6 weeks time!  

I put the bike on the car and drove to Windermere.  

I set off going anti-clockwise around the lake thinking I knew where I was going!  

Evidently I didn't!  

I missed one vital left turn which changed my 25 mile bike ride into a 39 mile bike ride!  I was shattered and not very impressed with my navigation skills but made it back to the car 3 hours later tired and hungry!  I hadn't expected to be out so long so I hadn't taken any food with me!  It was a very hilly route and had been a fairly windy morning but I managed to maintain a 12.8 MPH speed which I am happy with under the circumstances! You can view my route here!

On Wednesday night I was back in Windermere yet again, this time for another lake swim with a friend.  I wasn't too sure whether it was a good idea as it was a very cold and windy and the lake was choppy.  However, my friend convinced me that I needed to practise in naff conditions in case it was rough on the day!  Before I could change my mind I was in swimming!  

We decided to keep fairly close to the shore due to low visibility, although we were highly visible with our fluorescent tow floats (we didn't want to risk being run over by a boat!) but in actual fact there were no other lake users daft enough to be on the lake!  

I had to do a lot of self talk to try and keep myself calm as waves smacked me in the face!  I was amazed and delighted with myself that I actually managed to swim a mile in such awful conditions in 42 minutes! You can view my swim route here!  I had even braved discarding the wetsuit socks and gloves but felt extremely cold when I got out!  I struggled to get dressed as I was shivering so much!

Thursday was a running day and I was lucky that the weather was fair again!  I opted for a slow off road run!  I zig-zagged my way up and across Scout Scar and Cunswick Scar trying to avoid the cows!  Altogether I had a very enjoyable but windy 8 mile run at a slow 11.22 minute mile pace!  Sometimes pace really doesn't matter when you are surrounded by beautiful scenery!  I took photos as an excuse to have a breather!

Today I did a run/swim brick session!  I must have been feeling far to energetic as I even incorporated some hill reps into my run! 

Altogether I ran 5.58 miles at an average 9.24 minute mile pace. Not too shabby considering that included some hills!

Immediately after running I went for my first pool swim in ages!  

Not such a good idea on the last day of half term!  

I seriously think the pool was probably over the safety standards for over crowding!  I could hardly see an inch of water between swimmers!  There were 2 lanes roped off for serious swimmers but these were full of kids who obviously decided they wanted to swim but couldn't due to the crowds in the main pool.  

I considered turning around and going out again but decided to get in and have a quick swim!  My first 10 lengths or so were horrendous - I spent most of the time standing up waiting for the swimmers in front to get out the way! 

Thankfully after this most of the kids got out which meant I was able to swim properly!  I think I was fueled by anger and frustration as I ended up swimming 1650 metres or 1.02 miles!

So that's been a quick round up of my Half Term training!

Altogether I have run 19.87 miles, cycled 63.81 miles, swam 2.86 miles and walked 7.66 miles!  

I'm tired just typing it!  

What an active girl I've been!

Tomorrow is a rest day!

I'm going out for lunch and cocktails with some friends as a late celebration for my birthday which brings us full circle to another hungover training day on Sunday!

These things must be done!

Before I go I must share a photo I took this evening!  

I think this must be the most stunning rainbow I have ever seen!

Its Half Term!

After an exceptionally busy week at school I am pleased to have made it to Friday night ... and the start of Half Term!

On Wednesday night I went out on my bike to test that all was good after it had been in for a service! 

It was an exceptionally cold and windy evening - its hard to believe it nearly the end of May as it feels so Autumnal.  I have a very short memory and went down a road that I NOW remember vowing never to cycle down again!  It's exceptionally narrow and twisty with grass growing down the middle!  I was anxious about meeting a car as there is no way we would both fit through!  I was pleased when I emerged back on to some better roads!  Altogether I cycled 13.62 miles at a average 13.1 mph pace!  Not as fast as I hoped but considering the roads I was on its as fast as I could safely go!

On Thursday I managed to fit in a double whammy session!  As soon as I came in from work I went out for another ride and it was another cold and windy evening!  I did 10.62 miles again rather slowly at an average 13.2 mph! 

As soon as I got home it was time to head out to Windermere with my wetsuit in tow to meet the Tri Club lot for a little dip in the lake!  It was exceptionally cold in the lake and rather choppy!  I tried to stay focused and not let the waves slapping me in the face put me off!

I managed around half a mile before I started to shiver and feel numb!  Thankfully I could get warm afterwards around a nice log fire before travelling home!

Today the weather has finally decided that perhaps it should warm up!  Although the temperatures had soared compared with previous days it was still very windy!

I had decided to do a 10 mile trail run and had a route in mind.  I used my hydration pack the "Ultimate Direction Women's Ultra Vesta" (which I got for my birthday) for the first time and was delighted with it!  
It was very comfortable and didn't wriggle or jiggle at all!  I was glad I had 2 drinks with me as I needed it in the heat!

Altogether I ran 10.3 miles at an average of 10.53 minute mile pace.  Slow but considering the number of stiles and gates to get over and through its not too bad really!

I will be having a well deserved rest day tomorrow before I really push myself next week during the holidays!!!

Run, Run!

After a rest day on Sunday I have got straight back into training after The KMF Triathlon. 

Afterall I don't have any time to waste as my next triathlon is less than 7 weeks away!  

This is Windermere Tri and will be my first Olympic Distance Tri! This consists of a 1.5K (0.93 mile) swim, 43K (26.72 miles) cycle and a 10K (6.20 miles) run.

I need to up my brick mileage as I have never run further than 3 miles off the bike!

Anyhow my bike went in for a service on Monday so I haven't had a cycle option for 2 days.  As I have a couple of Open Water swims planned later in the week I decided to get a couple of runs in!

Last night I decided to be brave and ventured to a running club in Windermere for the first time.

I met the young lad who was the leader and waited for the other runners to turn up ... they didn't!

I was on my own! 

A personal training 1:1 track session!

Probably not the best timing 2 days after a tri but I threw myself into the session whole heartedly.  After a warm-up and some drills we did some sprint sessions around the track.  Initially I did 5 x 300m efforts with 70 seconds rest inbetween, followed by 3 x 200m efforts with 30 seconds rest inbetween.  I really enjoyed the session (once it was over!) and we did a few laps of the track as a cool down!

I felt like I had pushed myself and will definitely be back for more - hopefully with some running company next time!

Tonight I went for a run with one of the lads from the tri club! We did a very very muddy and wet trail run along the river!  Despite having tired legs I really enjoyed it and the sun actually shone down on us too!

We did 6.2 miles at a slow 10.36 minute mile pace!  There are so many stiles to climb over and fields of cows to tiptoe through its difficult to do a fast paced run on this route!

That leaves more energy to gossip and to enjoy the scenery!

I got my bike back tonight and thankfully it had no issues so I am back onto bike training tomorrow if the weather allows!  

Although I should go out on it whatever the weather to get used to it, as you never know what the weather will do on race day!

I need to toughen up!

My 1st Open Water Tri

Yesterday I survived my first Open Water Sprint Triathlon.

You can read how I got on here!

Ready to go!

In just 12 hours time I will be in Keswick ready to embark on my first Open Water Triathlon!

I have my tri suit and clothes laid out ready to throw on in the morning. 

My transition box is packed and checked (double and even triple checked!) and my swimming bag with my wetsuit and goggles is ready!

I have eaten Spaghetti Bolognese for tea, hydrated well with water and relaxed with my feet up in front of the telly!

Every time I start to thing about anything triathlon related my heart beat starts racing and I start perspiring and feeling sick! 

I have been trying to put it out my mind all day!

Now all that is left to do is TRY to sleep!

My alarm is set ready for me to get up bright and early!   I will have plenty of time to do a final pump of my tyres and final check of my bike and force some breakfast down my throat!

At the moment the weather is atrocious - torrential rain and high winds!

The weather forecast for tomorrow states cloud with sunny intervals!

I really hope on this occasion they are right!

All I need to do is my best ...

and I need to remember its supposed to be FUN!

Bricking it!

Tonight I did my last brick session and my last exercise before the big day!

I wanted to remind my legs what a brick session feels like so opted to do a very short cycle followed by a very short off road run! I did 4.7 miles on the bike, followed by a 1.13 mile run.  Altogether I was out just 36 minutes!  

I need to reserve all my energy for Saturday! Hopefully it will go some way to helping my legs overcome "THAT" feeling on Saturday!

Despite the fact I have harped on about just wanting to finish and survive this Tri I have found myself setting a goal finish time! 

So if all goes to plan and the weather is perfect I would be absolutely delighted if I could finish in 1 hour 40 minutes!

My "DREAM" goal time is made up of:

400m Open Water Swim: 12 minutes
Transition 1 (wet suit removal!): 4 minutes
20K (12.42 miles) Cycle: 55 minutes
Transition 2: 2 minutes
5K (3.10 miles) Trail Run: 27 minutes

Finish Time which dreams are made of: Sub 1 hour 40 minutes.
Realistic Finishing Time: Sub 1 hour 45 minutes.
Will be happy with: Sub 1 hour 50 minutes.

I have a full day at work tomorrow, hopefully followed by a restful evening and an early night so I am fully recovered and full of energy for Saturday ready to achieve my goals!

I CAN

I WILL

END OF STORY!

Last dip before the big day!

Time is passing - a little too quickly for my liking and the big day is nearly here - My FIRST Open Water Triathlon!

Once I am out of the lake (and out of my wetsuit!) I will start to relax and enjoy the event (I hope) but at the moment I feel highly stressed about swimming in a lake I have never swam in before! 

I am STILL incapable of getting my wetsuit off in anything less than 10 minutes!  I will definitely put on a good show for any spectators as I hop from one foot to the other trying to get the big black monster to loosen its grip on my flesh! Transition times could be interesting!

Anyhow, this week is supposed to be a tapering week so on Monday I had a rest day!

Last night I headed back into Lake Windermere with the Tri Club and we swam 0.28 miles from Cockshott Point.  It was much calmer in the lake than last week but all the recent rain had also made it even colder!  However my confidence is slowly growing and I only had to resort to breaststroke on a couple of occasions whilst I composed myself!  Afterwards we enjoyed coffee and biscuits around the fire looking out onto the lake! I am definitely becoming jealous of the friends who live in this idyllic location!

Then tonight I met my new OW FB friend again in Lake Windermere and we swam 0.60 miles from Millerground. I actually enjoyed it tonight and felt fairly relaxed although I braved it without my wetsuit socks and gloves and my hands and feet were a tad cold afterwards! This will be my last dip before the big day!

I have somehow managed to cram 6 Open Water Swims in in the past 2 weeks, swimming a total of 1.9 miles!  I am hoping that is enough to get me confidently and swiftly through the 400m swim on Saturday! 

Scared doesn't even begin to describe how I feel! 

I CAN DO THIS!

It's raining again!

I am glad I went for my cycle ride yesterday as when I got up this morning it was a rather wet morning.  However I decided not to let a little bit of rain put me off my run and went out in it to try and run off my hangover from a very good night out last night!

I opted for an trail run (its a good excuse to run slowly!) and squelshed through quite a bit of mud!

I was even brave and ran through 2 fields of cows!

I managed a slow 5.85 miles at a 10.26 minute mile pace!

Despite the rain, mud, hangover and cows I really enjoyed this run and it felt good not to stress about pace!

This time next week!

Yikes, this time next week I will be out my misery and it will be all over!

But for now its full steam ahead to cram some last minute miles into my legs!

When I got up this morning the ground was damp as if it had been raining heavily in the night but thankfully it had faired up and despite being very cloudy and fairly windy it was dry!

I took the opportunity to get out on my bike before the weather changed its mind!

I tried to stay on some fairly main roads as I wanted to try and keep at a fairly descent speed which I struggle with on narrow country roads - too scared of pot holes and meeting tractors head-on!

Anyhow, despite the wind and some flooded bits of road I really enjoyed my ride today and managed to cycle 29.6 miles at an average 14.6 MPH pace.

You can view my route here!

Wet again, but no lake!

I cannot believe that the weather can change so drastically in 24 hours!

Last night I was basking in Lake Windermere enjoying feeling the heat of the sun on my face and then tonight ...

I am running in torrential rain not enjoying feeling the cold rain seeping through my trainers and clothes!

However, I gritted my teeth and ran on!

Despite getting soaked by passing cars going though puddles at high speed, paddling though flooded paths and avoiding scatty head-down pedestrians under umbrellas with a mission to get home as fast as possible regardless of who they take out on the way I actually enjoyed this run tonight!


Although I was still fairly slow at an average 9.21 minute mile pace I felt 100 percent better than I did running on Wednesday evening!

Altogether I ran 6.27 soggy miles!

I really need to do some cycle training tomorrow - lets hope its better weather!

Just a week to go until Keswick Triathlon .... YIKES!

Fantastic!

Tonight I went for another swim in Lake Windermere with The Tri Club!

It has been a really nice sunny day so I was looking forward to a much calmer swim than I experienced on Tuesday!

I wasn't disappointed!  I had a fabulous swim in the beautiful sunshine with the most fantastic views!  

I feel extremely lucky to be able to experience swimming in such a scenic lake.  I didn't even notice how cold it was tonight!

Unfortunately the others got out way before I was ready to!  I just wanted to keep on swimming!

Perhaps I am finally going to start to enjoy this Open Water Swimming lark!

Counting down ...

I am now on the final countdown to the Keswick Mountain Festival Triathlon - my first Open Water Tri which is now less than 2 weeks away!  
In actual fact I just have a mere 9 days to panic (and train)!

And panic is what I am doing!

On Saturday I went to Keswick to have a recce of the cycle and run route of the tri, with the logic that if I know the terrain I will be tackling on the day I will have more confidence.

It was a very slow meander as I had my husband tagging along on his bike, but it was a lovely route with some fantastic views! I am pleased I was forced to cycle slowly as I could really appreciate the scenery which I am sure I will miss on the day! 

Once we got back to the car and loaded the bikes, we changed into walking shoes and set off walking the run route!  The first part was on a nice track (rocky in places) through some woods but then after about a mile and a half the route seemed to go across private land.  

We spoke to the lady in the ice cream shop (a good excuse to buy one!) and she confirmed that the run did go that direction but it was only open to the public for the day. So we had to return the same way we came and the rest will have to be a surprise!

The only thing we didn't do was swim in the lake!

I had been waiting for the weather to warm up slightly before braving the elements and donning my wetsuit for the first time but then realisation dawned - that wasn't going to happen and I desperately needed to get some practice in if I had any hope of completing the swim successfully.

So in my high state of panic I posted on 2 Facebook sites - one called the "Lake District Open Water Swimmers" and  "Kendal Tri Club" asking for anyone willing to take a novice OW swimmer out into a lake - any lake!  Obviously it's not something that is safe to do alone so I was reliant on other people!

Anyhow I was amazed by the generosity of spirit of people.  I got 2 offers from complete strangers and also the tri club said they would arrange a club session especially for me!

As these people had been kind enough to offer I didn't want to turn anyone down so I ended up swimming in Open Water 3 days on the trot!

My first experience was on Sunday afternoon in Capernwray which is a quarry lake and primarily a diving centre.  I have never been swimming here and one thing that made me nervous was the fact I had been told the water was "crystal clear" and it is very very deep!

Anyhow, I put all negative thoughts out my head when I met my 2 new friends Jean and Francis who had very kindly offered to help me!  As I struggled into my wet suit I noticed that they were just stood waiting for me in just their swimming costumes.  I tentatively said "are you not wearing a wet suit?"  and they laughed and said "No we swim all year round in all the lakes and never wear a wet suit!".  

My first thoughts were "barking" but I just smiled politely and finished wrestling with my wet suit!  We made our way down to the edge and they pointed to the buoys and the route we were going to swim.  

I immediately realised that with it being a quarry there was no way to get out if I needed to escape!  Once I was away from the edge there was no getting out!  

Not only was I wearing a wetsuit but I was also kitted out in a neoprene swim cap underneath my usual cap, wetsuit gloves and wetsuit socks!  The water temperature was just 8C and I'm a wimp!

Even fully kitted out like this the cold water took my breath away initially and I found myself gasping for air!  I was gasping even more when I realised that the water was in fact crystal clear and there were fish eye-balling me!  I have never swam in clear water before and seeing the fish unnerved me somewhat, so much so that I resorted to closing my eyes that made sighting a tad difficult! 

It took me about 150 metres to settle myself down and get into a proper stroke and breathing pattern!  I didn't want to shock my body too much by subjecting it to the cold for too long so I just did one circuit of the buoys which was approximately 450 metres which is further than the 400m swim in the tri!

When I got out the other 2 continued to do another 2 circuits whilst I enjoyed a nice hot shower and got into my warm clothes!

I was pleased that I had survived my first open water swim this year without too much panic!

On Monday evening I met a man called David who took me swimming in Lake Windermere from Millerground! 

He reckoned the water temperature was approximately 10C and he was another all year round non-wetsuit swimmer!  He told me not to bother with my socks and gloves as they made swimming more difficult! I reluctantly obeyed him and paddled slowly into the lake from the shore whilst he dived in off the jetty!  I didn't feel any colder for not having the socks and gloves on and swimming definitely felt easier without them!  It was a lovely evening and the sun was even trying to shine on me.  Thankfully the lake was fairly calm. 

David was a lovely man, very patient and encouraging.  He waited for me whenever I got left behind and I felt very safe and comfortable with him!

It felt good to be back in murky water and I welcomed not being able to see anything at all!  We swam approximately 530 metres and I felt fairly confident after the first 100 metres or so!

Last night I went swimming with the tri club and it was a very different experience. The weather had been horrendous all day with high winds and torrential rain. Luckily by the time we went swimming it had stopped raining and the wind had subsided!  We swam in Lake Windermere but this time from Cockshott Point. 

This time everyone was fully kitted out in wet suits, socks, gloves, hats so I didn't take too much persuasion to be a wimp again! The water felt considerably colder than it had the night before - how is this possible in just 24 hours?  I didn't last very long in the water it was exceptionally cold and very choppy!  I didn't feel as confident as I had the night before! I managed just 240 metres before I decided it was time to get out! Luckily for us, one of the tri club members lives in a house right next to the lake so we could get changed in the warmth and recover in front of the log burner with a steaming mug of coffee looking out onto the lake!  Idyllic! 

Tonight I decided it was time to get my trainers on and go for a run since I have neglected this badly recently!

It felt like extremely hard work and I was tired after running 7.10 miles at a relatively slow 9.14 minute mile pace!

I really must try and keep up with all training and not neglect one discipline in favour of another! 

I just don't seem to have the time to do justice to all three!