Tonight I had another swim in Lake Windermere, this time from Millerground!
It was a cold cloudy evening but it looked calm on the lake so I got in feeling fairly hopeful!
The water temperature however felt a lot colder than last night!
How is that possible in 24 hours?
However, I told myself to man up and managed a mile.
On the way back we experienced some really big waves, so big in fact that at one point we both stopped swimming thinking the Steamer was going past but very strangely there was absolutely no boats around!
At least now I can remain fairly calm and not let the waves upset me too much!
It is definitely mind over matter!
I am going risk a little run tomorrow night and see how my calf behaves!
Fingers crossed all is well!
Wednesday 24 June 2015
Tuesday 23 June 2015
Wow! Where has the time gone!
I cannot believe I have been so lazy as far as blogging is concerned!
In case anyone is thinking that I perhaps drowned in The Great North Swim - I didn't! I am still alive and very much kicking and one day soon I will get my act together and do a race report about it!
The problem is its coming up towards the end of the busiest term of the year in school and I can barely keep up with what I need to prepare for that, then mix that together with Tri Training, meetings and courses and I don't have enough hours in the day!
So a quick round up of the past 10 days!
The day after The Great North Swim I ran The Liverpool Rock n Roll Half Marathon. It was exceptionally windy and I was disappointed with my time but after Open Water swimming the day before I suppose it can only be expected! I will hopefully get a race report written about this one too very very soon!
On the Monday after Liverpool I did school running club and ran the cross country course with the kids and then immediately afterwards thought it would be a good idea to drive to Windermere and cycle around the lake! This is 27 very hilly miles and unsurprisingly my legs felt very tired and not very cooperative!
This is the bike route for the Windermere Tri, and I am not convinced I will be able to run 10K after cycling up those hills!
On Tuesday it was back to Windermere but this time for a swim in the lake from Cockshott Point with the Tri Club! Although it was quite a nice evening the lake was fairly choppy! Since we didn't have our usual kayak support with us we decided against crossing the lake and just swam parallel to the shore instead! We did just under a mile and then enjoyed cake and coffee afterwards!
On Wednesday I had another trip to Windermere for another swim in the lake, this time from Millerground with a friend. However, in my infinite wisdom I decided to combine this with a recce of the Windermere Tri Run route! The route is actually a 1 mile circuit repeated 6 times!
This could be exceptionally mentally challenging when exhausted after swimming and cycling on the day!
I successfully did 2 laps and then disaster struck towards the end of the third lap! I had a very painful twinge in my left calf! I stopped, stretched, walked for a bit and then tried to run again! But my calf was not going to play ball, so I hobbled back to the car and headed to Millerground in plenty of time to meet my friend to swim!
Although the lake didn't look it, it was frighteningly choppy, but I persevered and wouldn't let a few waves get the better of me! Its all good mental preparation for the day!
There was one point when I got ever so slightly anxious however - when a boat was heading straight towards us and from the way it kept coming I don't think it could actually see us despite having bright swim caps and tow floats with us! We decided it was probably a good idea for us to swim back towards shore just in case! I think we were probably hidden from view in the swell of the waves but thankfully we managed to swim to safety in time!
Again I swam just under a mile - seems to be my standard lake distance!
On Thursday my calf appeared to be OK so I decided to go for a little run to test it!
It wasn't OK at all, and I only managed half a mile before hobbling back home feeling very stressed and depressed!
I immediately made an SOS call to my physio who informed me he was on holiday until the 3rd July! How dare he be only holiday when I NEED him! However, I did manage to find an alternative physio and booked an appointment!
Fridat was a well needed rest day, and on Saturday I decided to test to see if my calf would object to a bit of pedalling and ventured out on my bike!
Thankfully, I felt no pain at all and managed 17 miles at an average speed of 14.3 MPH!
So with running being off the agenda completely, on Sunday I went for another ride, and did 33 miles at 15.2 MPH, which is a speed I am delighted with!
Last night I decided to have another go at cycling around Lake Windermere, and found it just as hilly and as hard as last week - but at least I now know where all the hills are and can prepare myself for them on the day! I even met a fellow lady cyclists part way round who was also doing a recce of the route for the tri! This time I did the 27 miles at an average speed of 14.3 MPH!
Tonight, I went to see the new physio! Thankfully, she doesn't think I have done any serious damage to my calf and after a good massage and some stretching exercises she thinks I will be good to run on it again on Thursday! Fingers crossed for that one!
Straight after physio it was back to Windermere to have another swim in the lake with the Tri Club from Cockshott point! There was 17 of us swimming tonight so we thought we would be OK to cross the lake with the kayak as support! After last weeks near miss with the boat I was feeling slightly anxious about being in the middle of the lake with nowhere to hide but it certainly made me swim faster to get back to the safety of the shoreline!
So all in all a very busy week and now just 11 days until my first standard tri!
In case anyone is thinking that I perhaps drowned in The Great North Swim - I didn't! I am still alive and very much kicking and one day soon I will get my act together and do a race report about it!
The problem is its coming up towards the end of the busiest term of the year in school and I can barely keep up with what I need to prepare for that, then mix that together with Tri Training, meetings and courses and I don't have enough hours in the day!
So a quick round up of the past 10 days!
The day after The Great North Swim I ran The Liverpool Rock n Roll Half Marathon. It was exceptionally windy and I was disappointed with my time but after Open Water swimming the day before I suppose it can only be expected! I will hopefully get a race report written about this one too very very soon!
On the Monday after Liverpool I did school running club and ran the cross country course with the kids and then immediately afterwards thought it would be a good idea to drive to Windermere and cycle around the lake! This is 27 very hilly miles and unsurprisingly my legs felt very tired and not very cooperative!
This is the bike route for the Windermere Tri, and I am not convinced I will be able to run 10K after cycling up those hills!
On Tuesday it was back to Windermere but this time for a swim in the lake from Cockshott Point with the Tri Club! Although it was quite a nice evening the lake was fairly choppy! Since we didn't have our usual kayak support with us we decided against crossing the lake and just swam parallel to the shore instead! We did just under a mile and then enjoyed cake and coffee afterwards!
On Wednesday I had another trip to Windermere for another swim in the lake, this time from Millerground with a friend. However, in my infinite wisdom I decided to combine this with a recce of the Windermere Tri Run route! The route is actually a 1 mile circuit repeated 6 times!
This could be exceptionally mentally challenging when exhausted after swimming and cycling on the day!
I successfully did 2 laps and then disaster struck towards the end of the third lap! I had a very painful twinge in my left calf! I stopped, stretched, walked for a bit and then tried to run again! But my calf was not going to play ball, so I hobbled back to the car and headed to Millerground in plenty of time to meet my friend to swim!
Although the lake didn't look it, it was frighteningly choppy, but I persevered and wouldn't let a few waves get the better of me! Its all good mental preparation for the day!
There was one point when I got ever so slightly anxious however - when a boat was heading straight towards us and from the way it kept coming I don't think it could actually see us despite having bright swim caps and tow floats with us! We decided it was probably a good idea for us to swim back towards shore just in case! I think we were probably hidden from view in the swell of the waves but thankfully we managed to swim to safety in time!
Again I swam just under a mile - seems to be my standard lake distance!
On Thursday my calf appeared to be OK so I decided to go for a little run to test it!
It wasn't OK at all, and I only managed half a mile before hobbling back home feeling very stressed and depressed!
I immediately made an SOS call to my physio who informed me he was on holiday until the 3rd July! How dare he be only holiday when I NEED him! However, I did manage to find an alternative physio and booked an appointment!
Fridat was a well needed rest day, and on Saturday I decided to test to see if my calf would object to a bit of pedalling and ventured out on my bike!
Thankfully, I felt no pain at all and managed 17 miles at an average speed of 14.3 MPH!
So with running being off the agenda completely, on Sunday I went for another ride, and did 33 miles at 15.2 MPH, which is a speed I am delighted with!
Last night I decided to have another go at cycling around Lake Windermere, and found it just as hilly and as hard as last week - but at least I now know where all the hills are and can prepare myself for them on the day! I even met a fellow lady cyclists part way round who was also doing a recce of the route for the tri! This time I did the 27 miles at an average speed of 14.3 MPH!
Tonight, I went to see the new physio! Thankfully, she doesn't think I have done any serious damage to my calf and after a good massage and some stretching exercises she thinks I will be good to run on it again on Thursday! Fingers crossed for that one!
Straight after physio it was back to Windermere to have another swim in the lake with the Tri Club from Cockshott point! There was 17 of us swimming tonight so we thought we would be OK to cross the lake with the kayak as support! After last weeks near miss with the boat I was feeling slightly anxious about being in the middle of the lake with nowhere to hide but it certainly made me swim faster to get back to the safety of the shoreline!
So all in all a very busy week and now just 11 days until my first standard tri!
Friday 12 June 2015
Feeling nervous!
The weather has been fantastic all week, and this was what the lake looked like this morning!
I only hope it looks like this tomorrow too!
Please Please Please be calm in the lake tomorrow! I've been subjected to some horrendous rough and cold swims in preparation for this so I know I can swim in anything but I really don't need tested tomorrow!
Currently the weather is looking dry although not sunny!
That will do me just grand! No wind and no rain!
Fingers crossed!!!
Wednesday 10 June 2015
At last ... the sun is shining and the lake is calm!
After far too many freezing cold, rough, choppy and scary Open Water Swims in Lake Windermere, this week I have been blessed with sunshine and calm waters!
I have had 2 fantastic swims this week, which is great for my confidence as they are my last 2 swims before The Great North Swim on Saturday!
Last night I went with the Tri Club, swimming from Cockshott Point. With it being a nice evening we had a good turn out and even the less hardy swimmers made an appearance! There were 15 of us, all very mixed ability swimmers so we split into 2 groups. A 1 mile group and a 2 mile group! I didn't have to consider which group to go with - I am most definitely not ready for 2 miles in Open Water - YET!
On previous swims we have kept close to the shore, but last night we actually crossed the lake to Belle Isle, then swam to the end point of the island before returning! The 2 milers came with us to that point and then they continued around the island! I was slightly nervous swimming across the lake for the first time! I had images of ferries and boats heading for me, but having that image in my head certainly made me swim faster! We shouldn't have a problem as we are all highly visible with florescent hats and fluorescent orange tow floats, but the possibility of meeting careless and inconsiderate lake users is always there!
Despite it being a nice evening the lake was still cold at around 13C but we managed just under the mile and I really enjoyed it! You can view our swim here!
Tonight I went to Windermere again but this time I swam from Millerground with a friend. Again the lake was calm and it actually felt considerably warmer than last night! Surely a days worth of sun couldn't have heated it up that rapidly!
The main problem with the sun shining is all the local teenagers think the lake is a great place to hang out and get drunk! This in itself is not a problem but the fact they litter the lake with cans and bottles is unacceptable behaviour!
Anyhow I managed to swim to the half mile point without stopping, all in front crawl, and then after a couple minutes rest managed the entire half mile back! Altogether I did a mile in 36 minutes!
I will be pleased if I can do a similar time on Saturday!
Fingers crossed the sun keeps shining until then, although rain is forecast! I'm hoping for once they are wrong!
Monday 8 June 2015
Track Running!
Tonight I went to Windermere to a running club I have recently joined ... and for my second time ... I was the only one ... for the second time!
This is great for me as it means I get a 1-1 PT session for a fraction of the price of an official PT session so life is good!
We started off doing 3 laps of the track for a warm-up before going on to do drills and then some speed sessions!
I find sprinting so hard but I was pleased to have paced myself well during each repeat and I got the exact same time for each one! This surprised me as I felt like I was crawling round during the last one!
My legs didn't feel too bad either - I thought they might have felt heavy after Saturday's race!
Swimming in the lake again tomorrow night ... only 4 days until the Great North Swim - YIKES!
This is great for me as it means I get a 1-1 PT session for a fraction of the price of an official PT session so life is good!
We started off doing 3 laps of the track for a warm-up before going on to do drills and then some speed sessions!
I find sprinting so hard but I was pleased to have paced myself well during each repeat and I got the exact same time for each one! This surprised me as I felt like I was crawling round during the last one!
My legs didn't feel too bad either - I thought they might have felt heavy after Saturday's race!
Swimming in the lake again tomorrow night ... only 4 days until the Great North Swim - YIKES!
Sunday 7 June 2015
Friday 5 June 2015
Exhausted.com!
Thankfully today is a rest day before I hit the hills tomorrow at the Grasmere Gallop 17K Trail Race!The way I feel at the moment the last thing I want to do is force my weary body up a bloody hill but its booked, its paid for, so I'm doing it!
On Wednesday evening I met my Open Water Swimming friend David and had another dip in Lake Windermere.
I think the waves and the cold I experienced on Tuesday must have traumatised me more than I had realised as I really struggled to relax into my swim!
Although it was a nicer evening than the previous one, we had had an awful lot of rain in the preceding 24 hours which must have made the lake even colder with all the water running off the fells etc because it felt shockingly cold!
I could only do about 10 front crawl strokes before having to go into breaststroke to settle myself before trying again! I was truly pathetic for the 1/2 mile outward section, but thankfully I managed to swim the entire 1/2 mile back in front crawl!
The water was so cold my fingers started to cramp, and I was slightly worried they were going to go into the painful spasms I have experienced before!
Luckily they didn't and I was pleased to get on dry land, however, I was cross with myself as I had swum 4 minutes slower than last week! I got a severe case of the shivers and struggled to actually get my wetsuit off and my clothes on! My hands and fingers felt old and arthritic! It took me all evening to actually feel warm again!
On Thursday I think we had our "for one day only" day of Summer! I took the opportunity to go out on my bike in the evening sunshine! It made a pleasant change to be basking in the sun instead of shivering in the wind and rain whilst riding!
I rode 17 miles at an average of 14.6 MPH (15 MPH moving speed if you cut out all the traffic lights!) which I am pleased with!
My gears felt better too after taking it back to be rechecked, although I didn't go up any hills big enough to test out my granny gear!
So what do I expect to do tomorrow?
I have very low expectations because I truly do not feel run fit at all!
If I enjoy it I will be happy!
If I get a sub 1 Hour 50 minutes I will be ecstatic as well as amazed!
Tuesday 2 June 2015
Choppy! Choppy! Choppy!
Tonight I went swimming with the Tri Club in Lake Windermere!
I must admit I did have second thoughts about going - It has been freezing cold, windy and wet all day! Not ideal conditions to swim in Open Water!
Anyhow I decided to "man-up" and give it a go!
Luckily by the time we got to Windermere at 6.30pm the rain had stopped - we just had the wind and cold to contend with!
I struggled to get into my rhythm tonight! I think both the cold and the choppiness got into my head and my confidence vanished!
I have been told many times at Tri Club training sessions to practice breathing on one side only - I struggle to do this at the best of times in a warm pool but tonight I desperately wanted to succeed as every time I breathed to the right I got slapped in the face by a wave - it felt like I was swimming in the sea not in a lake! It wouldn't of surprised me if my Garmin had registered the waves as elevation gain!
I did settle into it a little but never felt comfortable and I only managed 600 metres before deciding to call it a day! I felt really scared at times and freezing cold!
Hopefully I won't have to swim in such rough waters again anytime soon!
I was actually blue with the cold when I got out - thankfully a roaring log fire, a steaming mug of coffee and a big slice of cake made the cold choppy swim seem much more bearable!
I must admit I did have second thoughts about going - It has been freezing cold, windy and wet all day! Not ideal conditions to swim in Open Water!
Anyhow I decided to "man-up" and give it a go!
Luckily by the time we got to Windermere at 6.30pm the rain had stopped - we just had the wind and cold to contend with!
I struggled to get into my rhythm tonight! I think both the cold and the choppiness got into my head and my confidence vanished!
I have been told many times at Tri Club training sessions to practice breathing on one side only - I struggle to do this at the best of times in a warm pool but tonight I desperately wanted to succeed as every time I breathed to the right I got slapped in the face by a wave - it felt like I was swimming in the sea not in a lake! It wouldn't of surprised me if my Garmin had registered the waves as elevation gain!
I did settle into it a little but never felt comfortable and I only managed 600 metres before deciding to call it a day! I felt really scared at times and freezing cold!
Hopefully I won't have to swim in such rough waters again anytime soon!
I was actually blue with the cold when I got out - thankfully a roaring log fire, a steaming mug of coffee and a big slice of cake made the cold choppy swim seem much more bearable!
Monday 1 June 2015
Flaming June and it's Blowing a Hoolie!
I am feeling down and depressed!
I'm not sure whether it's due to the weather - it's the 1st of June, it blowing a hoolie, it's freezing and very soon I am going to need to build an Ark just to leave the house!
Or
whether it's because I am back at school today after enjoying a week of freedom!
Or
whether it's because I am beginning to feel like a complete failure as far as running and fitness is concerned!
Tonight I forced myself out the door for a run (I wasn't keen due to the weather as described above!) and although I tried to push myself my body was not having any of it! I felt slow and sluggish and I am beginning to feel extremely stressed about my upcoming events!
I managed just 3.59 miles and was worried the entire time about the trees which were waving manically in the wind! I was on high alert in case one decided to crash down on me! Just to make matters even worse the torrential rain turned to HAIL! I ask you - who has ever heard of hail in June? It stung my face as it came down at full force!
I gritted my teeth and tried to keep going!
Whoever said cross-training was good for you was talking PANTS!
I am currently doing more exercise (cycling, swimming and running) than I was this time last year when I was just running but I feel my fitness levels have plummeted drastically.
Last year I was running at an average 8.20 minute mile pace, now I struggle to do a 9.20 minute mile pace!
I look at everyone around me and they all still seem to be climbing up, getting better and getting results! I feel I am working as hard if not harder than everyone else and I am not being rewarded with anything good!
Just to make matters worse today I received my swimming cap and number for the Great North Swim in Lake Windermere!
Last year when I did this event the lake temperature on the day was 17.5C, it is currently still less than 12C! I don't think its going to get much warmer in less than 2 weeks!
I am fed up of being cold,wet and blown around all the time!
Surely it's not too much to ask for a little bit of warm weather! I don't want hot - I just want to be able to sit down without wearing several jumpers and shivering!
I don't think I want to enter any events next year! Then if the weather does a repeat of this year I won't have to do any training at all!
Hopefully I will have got all the negativeness out of my system and tomorrow it will all seem so much better!
Not a happy bunny!
I'm not sure whether it's due to the weather - it's the 1st of June, it blowing a hoolie, it's freezing and very soon I am going to need to build an Ark just to leave the house!
Or
whether it's because I am back at school today after enjoying a week of freedom!
Or
whether it's because I am beginning to feel like a complete failure as far as running and fitness is concerned!
Tonight I forced myself out the door for a run (I wasn't keen due to the weather as described above!) and although I tried to push myself my body was not having any of it! I felt slow and sluggish and I am beginning to feel extremely stressed about my upcoming events!
I managed just 3.59 miles and was worried the entire time about the trees which were waving manically in the wind! I was on high alert in case one decided to crash down on me! Just to make matters even worse the torrential rain turned to HAIL! I ask you - who has ever heard of hail in June? It stung my face as it came down at full force!
I gritted my teeth and tried to keep going!
Whoever said cross-training was good for you was talking PANTS!
I am currently doing more exercise (cycling, swimming and running) than I was this time last year when I was just running but I feel my fitness levels have plummeted drastically.
Last year I was running at an average 8.20 minute mile pace, now I struggle to do a 9.20 minute mile pace!
I look at everyone around me and they all still seem to be climbing up, getting better and getting results! I feel I am working as hard if not harder than everyone else and I am not being rewarded with anything good!
Just to make matters worse today I received my swimming cap and number for the Great North Swim in Lake Windermere! Last year when I did this event the lake temperature on the day was 17.5C, it is currently still less than 12C! I don't think its going to get much warmer in less than 2 weeks!
I am fed up of being cold,wet and blown around all the time!
Surely it's not too much to ask for a little bit of warm weather! I don't want hot - I just want to be able to sit down without wearing several jumpers and shivering!
I don't think I want to enter any events next year! Then if the weather does a repeat of this year I won't have to do any training at all!
Hopefully I will have got all the negativeness out of my system and tomorrow it will all seem so much better!
Not a happy bunny!
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