Feeling inspired and determined!

Last night I went to the Tri Clubs Annual Awards night where deserving members get recognised for their successes etc.

I really enjoyed the evening but came away feeling embarrassed about my lack of training especially on the bike! I woke up this morning determined to conquer my fear of the new cleats and my fear of the new bike.

So with no further pondering and no time to make any excuses I got dressed in my cycling gear.

I decided it was safer to brave the bike from a quiet location rather than pedal from home through several sets of traffic lights etc. So I put the bike in the car and drove to a nice quiet road. My heart was hammering in my chest just at the thought of climbing up into the ridiculously high saddle and clipping my feet in! 

Anyhow I wasn't going to let my nerves get the better of me and set off slowly and apprehensively. I was surprised how comfortable the bike and saddle set up was despite looking strange. 

After a few hundred metres I slowed and experimented with getting my feet free - I was pleasantly surprised to find I escaped relatively easily. With my confidence growing I continued on my way periodically stopping to practise removing my feet! Once I felt like I had this area sussed I moved onto the gears!

Although I did get the feel for where the gears made life easier and harder etc I didn't really get to grips with them totally! 

After repeatedly travelling backwards and forwards along the same road I decided I had done enough and headed back to the car!

In total I cycled 7.04 miles - better than nothing and far enough to boost my confidence slightly!

Death by drills again - but this time running!

Tonight I went to the Tri Club run training session which is the first time I have been in quite some time and boy did I know about it!

We started off with a half mile warm up jog before going into a 20 minute drill session, and it was hard work! Hopefully it will make me a better runner at the end of the day!

After the drills we then went for a 4 mile run including some "fartlek" sets incorporating sprints on already tired legs!

Although I found it tough going at the time when I finished I felt I had achieved something and it does me good to push myself once in a while!  I have become a fairly lazy runner!

Altogether we ran 5.09 miles.  Despite not being big miles I was shattered afterwards!

I definitely need to get some more fast miles under my belt!

Death by Drills!

Tonight I went to the Tri Club Swimming Training session where the focus was on technique which equates to doing a ridiculous amount of lengths doing different drills!

My poor arms and shoulders didn't quite know what to make of it all but I pushed on and survived.

I am not sure my technique is improving as the drills don't appear to be getting any easier, but I am trying which is the main thing!

All together I swam 2050 metres which is 1.27 miles.

I am hoping to be super fast and super fit by the time the Summer arrives!

Another fish made in the lake!

Tonight I went for a swim in Windermere.

Despite being cold it was a bright sunny day and the lake was relatively calm!

After discovering the other day that I actually feel better being in the lead, tonight I assumed this position again!

Not thinking about it too much I just swam and really enjoyed it.  

It didn't feel as cold tonight or I am totally getting acclimatised now!

I was chuffed to see that I had swum in a fish shape - again!

Tonight I watched Greg James do his 5 Triathlons in 5 days challenge and he made me feel quite hardcore! He was slightly pathetic when he was swimming in Open Water.  He made a bit of a meal of it and they didn't actually say how far he had swum on all the days!  I believe they were glossing over the fact he didn't do as much as he should!

Club Night!

Tonight was Women On The Run club night run!

After a lovely bright sunny day I posted on our clubs FB wall about being "a perfect evening for a run, sky is blue the sun is shining so no excuses acceptable" and boy do I wish I hadn't!

As we gathered at 6.30pm for the intermediate group run the heavens opened and we got rained on!  I got a lot of ribbing blaming me for the turn in the weather!

However, we were not deterred and pushed on regardless! We did 4.08 miles and thankfully by the time we got back for the beginners group it had stopped raining! The beginners did 3.84 miles.

I cannot believe that they only have one more week before they "graduate" into the intermediate group!

That is 2 groups of beginners I have safely nurtured!

Forced in the pool by rain!

I got up this morning with the hope that the weather would be fair so I could test my bike out!

Alas, as per usual it was chucking it down and blowing a gale!


The bike will have to stay in the garage for another day!

Instead I went to the pool for a swim.

I expected it to be busy - after all it was a Sunday morning and the weather was horrendous - but luckily for me the lanes were really quiet although the main part of the pool was jammed packed with kids!

I set off to do my usual 1700 metre set.

I was still feeling fairly lethargic so mainly concentrated on my form rather than stressing about pace.

I completed this 1700 metre set in 38 minutes 26 seconds, which is an average 2.16 minute/100m pace.

After an one minute rest I continued swimming and managed an extra 900 metres.

In total I swam 2600 metres in 1 hour and 54 seconds, which is an average 2.18 minute/100m pace.

Hopefully my endurance will be improving with continuously swimming longer sets like this.

The weather continued to be horrendous all day so I still haven't ventured out on my bike and tomorrow night is my running club night so that is another day gone!

Pushing it and failing!

This morning I woke up and felt a little more "with it" so decided to go on a short run!

Big Mistake!

The first mile went OK considering it was cold, wet and very windy but then it all went down hill from there!

I really struggled just to put one foot in front of the other and if the weather hadn't been so awful I probably would have stopped and walked!

I plodded on and somehow made it home after running 3.81 miles at an average 9.43 minute mile pace.

Once home I realised just how bad I felt - the world was spinning and I felt really ill!  I even had to resort to a sit down shower as my legs weren't going to entertain standing up for any longer!

After having something to eat and resting on the sofa for a few hours I started to feel "human" again, which is lucky really as I had a bike fit appointment at 6pm at The Body Rehab in Staveley!

I had been really looking forward to getting my new bike fitted to my exact measurements but I was worried I was going to be put through some rigorous fitness tests which I knew I wasn't up to.

I considered cancelling but then decided to "man-up" and go, hoping he would be gentle with me.

I needn't of worried he was very gentle with me!

It was fascinating seeing myself pedaling in slow motion and having all my faults pointed out to me!

I don't think he left anything in it's original place - cleats were moved along with the saddle, brakes and handlebars!

Just from pedalling it whilst there on the turbo trainer it feels amazingly different and the saddle is amazingly high!

Here's hoping we get some half decent weather so I can risk life and limb again out on the open roads and test it out! I am now expecting to whizz past everyone who usually whizzes past me!

I am also hoping that this enables me to wave good bye to all my recent injuries and I can train successfully this year! I can live in hope!

Feeling old!

Yesterday I went shopping in Manchester and met a friend for lunch and a few drinks.

Whilst I felt extremely tired I didn't feel ill ... until I got on the train to travel home.

I started to shiver as soon as I got on the train but just assumed British Rail were being tight and not putting the heating on!  However, once back in my warm house I was still shivering ... and even a hot bath didn't sort me out!

So at 9pm off to bed I went ... and slept until 11.15am! I had over 14 hours sleep which is unheard of for me!

I felt really spaced out and groggy and never really felt "with it" for the rest of the day!

I took the dog for a 2.5 mile walk at around 3 o clock but it was a real challenge despite being a very flat easy walk - and felt far more like a marathon!

I am not sure what is up with me - I can't even blame work as I am on half term holidays this week!

Here's hoping it goes as quickly as it came and I wake up tomorrow fighting fit again!

Another Beautiful day in the lakes ... eventually!

This morning when I got up the weather was horrendous!

I had planned to brave my new bike again and get some miles in but I wasn't risking mixing a new bike, new pedals, rain and wind! 

So I took the wimpy option and went on my old bike which is set up in the garage on the turbo trainer!

However, all was not good!

I really wasn't feeling it and I couldn't motivate myself to pedal through the boredom of staring at the garage door! I literally had to force myself to keep going for the short time I did as I wanted to quit after just a few minutes!

Consequently I only managed to go 3.02 miles in 15 minutes!

Once I got back into the house I was very disappointed with myself and wished I had pushed through a bit longer!  I really must get some cycle fitness back in the next 8 weeks before my first Tri of the season!

Anyhow, the rain continued and I was beginning to feel like all my exercise plans for the day were going be completely scuppered as I had a Lake swim arranged for 5pm and as I am still not totally confident swimming in the lake I tend to wimp out if the conditions don't appear ideal!

However, at around 4pm the sky cleared and it faired up so I had no excuse not to go!

I was so pleased that I did go as the lake looked beautiful in the sunset!

We talked about which route we were going to do and then I just swam without faffing around! For the first time ever I was the leader and I felt strangely happier not having to follow someone else! Usually I need the comfort of seeing someones toes in front of me but today I just went for it!

I felt really comfortable despite the cold and enjoyed the swim! 

The fantastic scenery did help matters!

Last time I swam in the lake my feet stung incredibly afterwards as they warmed up and the pain was awful! I decided to buy some ultra thick thermal socks to see if this would help with the warming up process!  They seemed to do the trick and I didn't get the stinging pain I had experienced previously!

Maiden Voyage on the SPD SL 's!

I don't think I have ever been so terrified in my entire life as I was this afternoon!

I finally got to have a very short ride on my new bike I got for Christmas!

It took me a couple of weeks to buy new pedals and shoes and then the weather has been horrendous! So after it had been sitting patiently in the garage waiting for me for 7 weeks I finally braved the roads today!

I have had experience of "clipless" SPD pedals with my old bike so I wasn't expecting too much of a problem moving up to the SPD-SL's but I couldn't have been more wrong!

I had absolutely no problem clipping my feet in - it was breaking free again that challenged me!

Not only did I have new pedals to contend with, I had totally different gears to work out too!

It was a very stressful ride!

There was a couple of times where I nearly ended up on the deck when my foot just refused to break free; mixed together with getting the wrong gear on more than one occasion and either frantically spinning or hardly moving got the better of me and I headed home after a pathetic attempt and a near panic attack!

I only braved 4 miles but my nerves couldn't cope with anymore!  I truly thought I was going to come a cropper!

So ... its going be little and often for me until I am more comfortable with this clipless lark!

It is slightly worrying me that I have my first Triathlon of the season in less than 9 weeks ... not long to become best friends with my new bike ... and pedals!

This morning, before my nerves had been jangled I went swimming!

I had a bit of a stressful start with regards getting a locker!  

The first locker I picked, I put my clothes in, put the token in but then the key came out but the locker remained unlocked! 

I went to get assistance and I was told to move to another locker and she brought some more tokens .... finally after trying FOUR lockers that wouldn't work I finally hit the jackpot and found one that did!

I think the Leisure Centre need to invest in some new lockers!

I was taking this as a bad omen and was expecting the "lanes" to be busy with OAP breaststrokers but miraculously I had the slow lane to myself!

I swam 2550 metres in 1 hour 11 seconds!  I did my usual swim set of 1700 metres slightly slower than last week at 38:50 - that's because I didn't have anyone chasing me down the fast lane!

With the realisation that my first triathlon of the season is not too far away tomorrow will HAVE to be a cycle day - whether on the turbo trainer or on the open roads!

No excuses!

A beautiful day for a walk!

 The first day of the Half Term Holidays and the sun decided to shine down on us!

It was such a nice day we decided to head for the fells!

We decided to do a route that would take in 2 Wainwrights!  We haven't done much "proper" walking recently due to having such bad weather so it was nice to get out!

We did 4.65 miles and conquered Low Fell and Fell Barrow!

The views were fantastic and it beats working any day!

 Once home I had a cup of coffee and a couple hours rest before having to leave the comfort of sitting in front of the fire to brave the cold evening air to run with my Ladies running club "Women on the run"

At the first group I had 9 ladies turn up and we ran 4.46 miles, followed by 13 ladies at the second group when we ran 3.98 miles.  

Not a bad turn out considering it's half term and a lot of people are away on holiday!

I was freezing cold (but dry at least!) by the time I got home after being out for 2 hours in -1C temperatures!

Thankfully my calf seems to have recovered and isn't giving me any more jip! 

Valentines Day Swim!

Arrrr There are still some romantic souls left in the world!    

This morning I went for a swim in Windermere and what a beautiful bright, sunny and beautiful morning it was although exceptionally chilly, however the views were to die for!

As we made our way down to the lake shore there was already 2 people on the jetty, and then we realised he was down on one knee proposing to her!  What a fantastic day for such a romantic gesture!  I am assuming she said yes as they were looking happy kissing and canoodling until we spoilt the moment by splashing into the lake! 

I felt good swimming along the shore and although it was cold it didn't feel too bad, however when we turned around to return to the jetty waves seemed to appear from nowhere and this really put me off my stroke!  I was trying to remain calm but with the cold now penetrating my bones and the water getting rough I started to feel slightly stressed and didn't enjoy the return at all!  I was just thankful to get back on dry land and get some warm clothes on.

For the first time my fingers and toes were stinging and felt painful which meant I struggled to get dressed however to be positive I am still not shivering!

On the way home my fingers and toes were momentarily in agony and felt like they were going to fall off!  Thankfully this really painful transition from freezing cold and numb fingers and toes to feeling normal again didn't last too long!

One positive I have found from swimming in an icy cold late - I had a natural ice bath and my calf feels a lot better for it!  When I got up this morning I struggled to walk on it, but after swimming in the lake it feels almost "normal" again!

Lake Temperature

Air Temperature

Wind MPH

Survived the race - but only just!

After resting from running since Monday today I ran in the Lancaster Valentines 10K race.  

Read how I got on here!

Tri Club Swim

Tonight I went to the Tri Club Swim training session - which proved to be a hard one!

I am not sure whether that was mainly because I had done a swim yesterday and my arms were feeling it today!

Nonetheless, I gritted my teeth and dug deep and got on with it!

The first few sets were made up of drills (which I always find exhausting!) followed by some endurance/sprint sets!

Altogether I swam 1950 metres (1.21 miles).

Now I get to rest for the next couple of days before running Lancaster Valentines 10K on Saturday!

Fingers crossed my calf plays ball - I am pleased to report it is feeling a lot better today!

A good swim!

Tonight I went to the pool with the intention of getting some lengths in.

My left calf has felt quite sore all day after running last night and I have been slightly worried that it is something more than just tiredness so I have decided to give it a rest from running until it feels better.  I would rather rest it now then do something major to it! Perhaps I did too much dancing in silly heels at the weekend!

So that left me with a swim workout!

I was fairly hopeful of getting a good swim in as it wasn't particularly busy when I first got in.  I opted for the slow lane and started off on my non-stop 1700 metres workout that I have been doing recently.

All was going well until I had been swimming for about 20 minutes and a middle aged lady joined our lane.  I don't mind really slow swimmers in my lane (well actually that's a lie because I do!) but this lady could barely swim!  I don't understand why she was actually in a lane and not just pootling around in the main pool as she couldn't do more than 4 strokes without holding onto the rope or hanging onto the side!

I looked towards the lifeguard with what I hope was a look of exasperation hoping he would have the common sense to tell her it wasn't appropriate for her to be swimming in a lane but he was oblivious to my frustration and therefore oblivious to the fact someone was in the deep end when they could barely swim! After following behind her for a couple of lengths I decided to brave the "fast" lane and ducked under the rope.

I felt under enormous pressure not to frustrate the really fast swimmers but felt I could justify why I had joined them!

I also had the common decency and lane etiquette to let them past at each end of the lane if they were in close proximity to me - something I wish others would do for me!

I completed my 1700 metre set I had set out to do then after 45 seconds rest I continued swimming in the fast lane until I had swum for an hour in total!

I was really pleased that despite the obstacles in my way I still swam the 1700 metres faster than I have the previous 2 times I have done this workout!

I did it in 37:45 with a SWOLF of 48, compared to 39:31 and a SWOLF of 50 so I am well chuffed with myself!  Maybe I need to push myself more by braving the fast lane! Just imagine how well I could have done without the non-swimmer blocking my way!

In total I did 2650 metres (1.65 miles) in 1 hour 6 seconds which is an average pace of 2.14 minutes per 100 metres!

By Summer I WILL be a better swimmer ready to tackle the lakes!

Running Club Double!

After spending the weekend in Liverpool with the girls and over-indulging with food, alcohol and dancing I was feeling rather tired this evening and I had 2 back to back running club sessions to lead!

The first group at 6.30pm is the Intermediate group and Thankfully when we set off it wasn't raining it was just windy and cold. However, about 2 miles in the rain came ... and stayed for the rest of the evening!

The first group ran 3.77 miles and the beginners did run/walk intervals and did 3.97 miles.  Altogether I did 7.74 miles so hopefully all the nasty toxins which flooded my body over the weekend will now be out my system!

My calf is feeling a little sore this evening - Perhaps I did too much dancing on the benches in the Bierkellar on Saturday night! I was just pleased I managed to stay on the bench and didn't suffer any broken bones!

A little dip in the lake!

After a few cancelled swims this week due to the lake being too rough tonight I finally got my swim in!

I stopped swimming in the evenings at the end of November because the pitch blackness of the night freaked me out but tonight I decided to brave it - it was either a dark swim or no swim!

I was pleasantly surprised by how light it was and even more surprised by how calm it was!  I haven't swum in the lake whilst it's been calm for quite some time so I was due a good one!

Obviously due to the lake temperature being so low we didn't stay in long and only swam 315 metres, but we still went in and I really enjoyed it this evening!

Lake Temperature

Wind speed MPH

Air Temperature

In the swim!

Yesterday I was supposed to be meeting a friend for an evening swim in Lake Windermere but he text me about an hour before we were due to swim to say the lake was too choppy to swim in - again!

Not to be deterred I decided to go for a swim anyway - but in the safety of the pool!

I set my watch for an one hour swim and set off to see how far I could swim in that time.

Thankfully the lanes weren't too busy so I didn't get lane rage!

I managed 2550 metres in that time which is 1.58 miles!  I was really chuffed with this distance!  Last week when I swam for an hour I managed 2500 metres and the week before 2450 metres so I am improving!

Tonight I went to the pool again - this time for the Tri Club training session.

Unfortunately for me it was a very hard night made up mainly of drills!

I was absolutely exhausted by the end but hopefully the pain will make me a better swimmer in the long run!

I swam 1900 metres which is 1.18 miles so not a bad distance especially after last nights swim!

Running Club Night!

The weather was horrendous tonight and I didn't expect many ladies to turn up for running club this evening!

The wind was gale force and just to add to the excitement it was also raining.

However, I had 8 Ladies at the Intermediate group run and 14 at the beginners!

The intermediate group ran 4.22 miles and the beginners ran/walked 4.31 miles!

Despite being wet and cold I enjoyed the sociable side of the runs!

Here's hoping the weather improves for tomorrow as I'm supposed to be swimming in the lake tomorrow evening!