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!