Let the Taper Begin!

So here we are, week 29 of 30 and well into taper.

It's been an incredible 6 months, starting over Christmas week (and yes I did train on Christmas day) enjoying every weather the British climate can throw at us... snow, rain, hail, fog, lovely sunshine and just about everything in between. Whatever the weather on 7th July I have the security of knowing I've trained in it.....except the 28 degrees forecast for next Sunday....Better stock up on the suncream.

After the big push weekend I was surprised to have over 9 hours in my training schedule, but was down to a little over 5 hours last week.

So what have I been doing with the extra time? I've no idea, but I've been considering what might go wrong and planning for it, visualising putting on my goggles and swim cap, getting in the water, turning the first (and last corner on the bike), thinking how I'm going to cope with 8 hours in the saddle without the girls for company and what will get me around those last miles when I hit the wall on the run but most importantly how amazing it will be to cross the finish line.

The highlight of the training week has always been my Saturday morning KVG ride, I love the club ethics of looking after to each other, sharing hours of pain (and pleasure) in the saddle, and most importantly never leaving anyone behind. Only this week we lost someone, my fellow Outlaw in training and illustrious Saturday leader Paula. Whoops, sorry chick but in fairness it wasn't our fault.

The advantage of short rides meant I was back home in time to watch the first stage of the TDF, and as Sophie pointed out, nearly as many crashed as we had in Belgium.

On Sunday the sun came out to play, and oh my goodness it took some serious will power to go out late in the afternoon, but perhaps good prep for next Sunday. Now added dehydration and sun stroke to my list of worries....

Afterwards I sat down, took a (very) deep breath and watched the TV programme from last years race which my fabulous boyfriend has kept recorded for me for the last year. I felt extremely sick watching everyone slipping into the lake, the start gun going off, running through transition, but it did help me get my head around the race and I might have been blubbing by the end as the last runner came in at nearly 11pm.

So bring it on, the training is done, the packing has started and I'm about as ready as I can be. I'm scared, I'm nervous, but I'm calm and I know I will give it my best shot. Strangely I'm looking forward to it!

If you are able and want to, supporters in Nottingham are VERY welcome, the more the merrier. Race starts at 6am at Home Pierpoint, but if you want to be out on the bike course or by Notts forest football ground in the late afternoon please do come.

If you want to track Paula and I online on the day you can at: http://www.onestepbeyond.org.uk/the-outlaw-triathlon-live-results.php  and search for competitors 104 (me) and 206 (Paula) (plus Olly our token Kent Velo Boy at 539).

Thanks for reading, it's been great sharing the journey with you and I'm looking forward to telling you all about it :-)

Back on the Wagon

As you might have fed back, I've been pretty poor at writing my blog for a few weeks (ok bit more than a few)....

Firstly there was the week that I ran over 40 miles (still reeling from the shock of that one... as are my knees!).

Followed by the epic KVG L'lle Tweps tour (four countries, three days) which saw horrific weather, and a dastardly railway crossing which took down 8 out of 14 riders, smashed poor Jenny's rear mech (thank goodness for Paula's spare bike) and saw the van crew have to rescue half of us with only 10 miles left. All that said, it was an amazing trip (with some beautiful routes if I say so myself, ahem) with the best company you could ask for. Never have I seen so many people work as a team to make sure that the last day, albeit shorter than the original plan, happened without a hitch. For the full story see our blog: http://kvgabroad.blogspot.co.uk/. Thank you to everyone involved but especially to Paula, Naomi and Emma for their hard work planning the trip and Tim and Claire for being the most amazing support crew ever.

At the end of May I went on one of Giovanna Richards Tri faster courses (highly recommended) and picked up some excellent tips for the following day's race: my second olympic distance triathlon (first being Barcelona last October) at Dorney Lake, and got a personal best by over 8 minutes despite being flustered after being stuck in traffic on the M4 on a Bank Holiday weekend (curse those legolanders).

After another couple of standard 12-15 hour weeks, I got up last Saturday, put my kit on, sat down to breakfast and never finished it. Let's just say that my stomach and I were not on the best of terms for several days resulting in 5 days of complete rest (from a training perspective) and one very grumpy triathlete.

On Thursday I tentatively got back on the turbo trainer and what should have been a relatively easy session was tough but mentally I felt so much better by the end. Which was a relief, as the weekend ahead was scheduled to be the three hardest and longest sessions I have ever done.

The sun was shining on Friday evening which offered a false sense of security, so that the water temperature in the lake was a bit of a surprise. The furthest I've swum in one go in training is about 3 km. The race is 3.8 km (2.4 miles for those of you still working in old money). So it was time to go long. The lake was the clearest I've ever known it (although fortunately I missed the plastic skeleton put there to make things more interesting for the divers - I'm scared to death of seeing it and freaking out). I didn't want to push too hard after being ill so I took it steady, watching my stroke, concentrating on not kicking too much and cruised around the perimeter 3 times. Getting out of the lake I was a little disappointed to have taken 1:34 but reading the routes marked out I did some extra distance by hugging the bank so it was probably more likely around 4 km.

The heavy rain woke me up about 4 am on Saturday and I just had to hope it would blow itself out before morning. It was beautiful and sunny when I set off at 7:45, but the clouds started gathering the nearer I got to Hilden. To add a bit of distance I headed down Powder Mills and ran into my fellow Outlaw in training, spun around and as we headed back from Leigh to Hildenborough the heavens opened up. Then the hail started. Soaked through we arrived cold and wet to find most of the others cowering in the coffee shop trying to delay going out (the sun was shining again). Needless to say they were given short shift and told to get on their bikes, some of us had mileage to do. After a fabulous 29 miles with the girls (thanks to Paula for leading and to Sophie, Hatty and Claire M for your company - especially Sophie for sharing unspeakable tales that make me feel so much better). Quick pit stop to use the bathroom and refill the water bottles and Paula, Claire and I set off again for another 30 or so, this time with a hellish headwind. At 72 miles we parted company and I set off on the next leg alone. Things had been going far too smoothly, 8 miles later I got stung on the leg (though my shorts!) followed by a flat on the back. After a quick change of inner tube I headed for home and changed the gas for air before setting off for the final leg. A total of 113.5 miles for the first time ever.

Sunday was never going to be my idea of a good time especially on tired legs and the going was slow as I set off running, but after around 8 miles my legs seemed to remember what they could do and my pace picked up to its normal speed. Big thank you to the guy in Kings Hill who shouted "You Go Girl" from his van, to the old man in the Poet's estate in Larkfield who said "Keep going, you're doing great" and the person in the black BMW estate who pipped at me twice (once by Morrisons in Larkfield and again coming out of Kings Hill) - no idea who it was but I appreciated the encouragement. To hit 20.1 miles for the first time in my life (3:40) has given my confidence a massive boost. I might actually be able to do this race!

So if you haven't already sponsored me (enormous thanks to those of you who have) and would like to please check out my just giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/Helen-Hardware/ 

Viva La France...

Back on the wagon after the recovery week, I had an easy start with just a swim on Tuesday morning. Stripping my stroke right back I worked through each element until I found why I was getting slower and slower.... finally I realised that I wasn't engaging my core and extending my reach. So now I know what it is can I fix it in time?

Dashing home from work and throwing (not literally) my bike in the back of the car I set off for Dover. My fabulous cousin had arranged a hotel room for me at the Best Western Spa - luxury - everyone else was in the Premier Inn next door, but I got down there far too late to socialise. The look on the receptionists face as I strolled through reception with the bike over my shoulder was priceless. He quickly offered to keep it in reception over night (not so much an offer but an instruction) which was firmly declined, my baby stays with me. As the chef held the door open to the stair case he asked if it would be given the bed... he clearly knows a cyclist!

Awake before the alarm I dragged my sorry carcass out of bed at 4:45am and set off for the ferry. 48 Kent Velo Girls (and Boys) set off for sunny Calais. As we put on our pink stripy jerseys complete with string of garlic around the neck plus baguette and vino in the back pockets someone pointed out that we looked like  a group of pink convicts. We couldn't have picked better weather and the sun beat down on us and the views of the coast were sensational as we headed down to Wissant before turning inland.

Lunch was a splendid feast of bread, salad, ham, cheese plus lots of cake, shortbread, pringles and haribo. Lunchtastic :-) Next came a climb up the iconic Cassel cobbles which was tremendous fun (although it appears that I stopped very slightly short of the top of the Strava route... not that I'm competitive.....).

The ride leaders were moved around throughout the day and during the last section there was a slight mix up and I ended up with the fast group. In zone 5 within 10 minutes of setting up I really thought there was no chance of keeping up with them. Eventually I decided it was just panic setting in, and settled in with the group (although I have to admit to being tucked in nicely so I wasn't taking the strain) which was fortunately when we got to the 8 miles of the headwind from hell (thanks to those who took the front, Olly and Bee).

Overall we hit 105 miles (including the last bit into the port) a very good day in all. I even brought back a little souvenir... a pair of sun burnt knees. Whoops.

A little recovery day on Thursday (I couldn't face another 5am start) and I was back in the pool on Friday morning for a quick (or not quite so quick) 3km.

Just a 25 miles KVG ride on Saturday seemed ridiculously short (nice little jolly over to the Pilgrims Way) followed by a training free day on Sunday to go to Jo's beautiful wedding.

On Bank Holiday Monday I was up and out early for my first run, I'd love to say it was to avoid the heat but in reality it was just my body clock telling me it was Monday morning. Afterwards I headed over to Holborough lakes and did an assessment for my open water swim licence. It's much smaller than Laybourne Lake but the water quality is 10 times better. After flying around doing chores and supermarket shopping I popped out for the second run of the day and had to make an emergency stop in the Larkfield industrial estate (so no doubt someone's CCTV captured me peeing in a bush). A very successful week.

Less than 9 weeks to go!

Thank Goodness for a Recovery Week

After ending the previous week so exhausted a recovery week was such a relief.

My swim was a 20 minute time trial, and I might have hit my 50 lengths a few seconds under 20 minutes if the girl in front of me understood the concept of fast, medium and slow lanes.  I appreciate that we are all of various levels of ability and I am often far from being the fastest in the fast lane, but some people really do spoil it for everyone else.

On Friday I decided that it was time to tackle my demons as I pulled my trainers on. As I warmed up I felt great which was a relief. I wondered how fast I could go for 3 miles. The last session was about 27 minutes I think, shaving a minute off of my PB. Not fast by some standards, but good for me. Flogging myself to my absolute limit I shaved another 2 minutes off finishing in 25:16. The residents of FOG must have thought I was mad as I ran up and down the main street in the village.

Saturday wasn't as warm as the previous few days which might explain why there were only 7 of us out. Trying to ascertain whether my Garmin issues were user errors or just a duff toy Valerie kindly uploaded a route for me, the idea being we would both have the route if mine went wrong. Not quite sure what happened, but we ended up off route and over all did just over 29 miles. That's fine whilst we are riding on local roads, but I'm starting to worry about the imminent trips to France, Holland and Belgium! Looks like it will be back to good old maps.

Heading out for my only run on the day on Sunday the sun was out and it was lovely to be off road again.. until the stomach aches started at 35 minutes. It certainly helps with the sprint to get home, believe me, you don't want to read any more details than that. Passing my front door at 57 minutes I made a quick pit stop, then went out for another 3 minutes just to make sure that I hit my target time :-)

Only having the one run has given me some time back in my day, so I have used it productively and set up a justgiving account.  If you would like to sponsor me, I am fund raising for the Jane Tomlinson Appeal as Jane has long since been a hero of mine and it's such a worthy cause:  https://www.justgiving.com/Helen-Hardware/

Thanks for reading :-)

Highs and Lows - 15th to 21st April

After 3 days of being ill with an upset stomach and hearing that several other friends had also been ill I eventually decided that I had a bug... and in the end I only missed one day of training.

A couple of days away for work saw me trapped in a hotel gym, but when I got talking to the girl on the next bike it turned out she lives in Tickhill... it's a small world (for those of you down sarfff that's a tiny village in South Yorkshire about a mile from where I grew up). The pool was a whole 11 meters, and the guy who ran the sports facilities was deadly serious when he said "If you swim diagonally you get an extra 3 strokes". It was so small that I couldn't push off from the wall or else I reached the other side without actually swimming.

On the Friday I was excited to get out on the bike after work for the first time this year, and wearing shorts too! After a lovely 23 mile tootle on my own I was nicely warmed up for Saturday's fun.

The was a nip in the air when 3 groups of riders left Hilden Golf Club at 8am on Saturday morning but there was a hint of summer in the air.  I realised pretty quickly that the route on my Garmin was nothing like what we should be doing and fortunately I've ridden down to Rye several times in recent years so we were riding from memory. Riding past Tonbridge School we turned left and as we approached the traffic lights I looked over my shoulder before pulling out. There was a Royal Mail van behind the last of my girls. As I pulled out so did the van, onto the wrong side of the road, and accelerated towards and through the lights as they changed to amber. Clearly his shift was over he wanted to get back to the sorting office, but there's no excuse for that sort of driving... fortunately Emma knows the Chairman of Royal Mail....and I have the registration. Can't imagine what we might do with that information....

After a quick pit stop at Paula's we cruised down to Rye, over taking Sarah and Hatty's group somewhere near Rolvenden. The sun was out in full force by the time we plonked ourselves outside the cafe in Rye ordering cheese and ham toasties. The motor bikers at the next tables asked if they could have a head start if we wanted to race them.

It was a beautiful day with fantastic company and a lovely ride and for once there were no punctures!

Getting home I did the quickest turn around in history and headed up to the big smoke for Jo's hen night and a great night in Bar Salsa.

On Sunday morning I was tired, but following the training schedule I put my trainers on and headed out into the orchards. My legs felt like lead and my usual 9:40 minute miles had deteriorated to 11 minutes plus. After 2 miles of beating myself up I realised that this was perfect race day training and simply switched off and enjoyed being out.

After doing the washing, cleaning up the house, doing the shopping, I was told to stop procrastinating and get out for the second run... I got 3 minutes from home before bursting into tears. Ringing Tim I broke down and admitted that I was SO tired, I couldn't manage another 5-6 miles. Turning around I went home feeling pretty low and sorry for myself.

However it was probably one of the most sensible things I have done, had I have pushed on at that point I would have undoubtedly injured myself, and I've still got more than 2 months of training to complete.

Post Race Blues

Training started again last Tuesday morning with the usual early morning swim and it felt good to stretch through the water although I suffered no aches and pains after the half marathon.

Unfortunately my meetings over ran and I missed the early train out of London meaning that I wouldn't make Paddock Wood Athletic Club. Walking through the door I quickly changed and walked back out again. As I ran up Whetstead Road and over the railway line my legs felt light as a feather. Things started to change about a mile in, although I couldn't put my finger on it I just didn't feel right. Back at Mote Farm I considered taking a short cut back to the house but ploughed on across the fields. When I got back to the main road about 5 minutes later I felt awful, stomach cramps, nausea, and my head was spinning. Needless to say I turned left and headed home.

On Wednesday I still didn't feel right, but I hopped on the turbo to see how not right I was. Things felt OK, so I completed the planned session, 2 short bricks, back to back. Tim's comment as I ran out the door "it's raining slightly" really didn't do the torrent justice, and it was only after I had finished that I realised I hadn't been cold running in cycling shorts...perhaps the weather is turning.

By Thursday morning I was feeling all right again as I slipped into the pool. I had to flog myself to hit the 3km in 60:41, but by late afternoon I started with a migraine. It never came to anything, it just floated around being annoying.

Friday night it was another wet one as I hopped back onto the turbo and Saturday morning saw my beautiful carbon bike sitting at home whilst Doris (my heavy winter aluminium bike) and I went out. To get the mileage up without interfering with the normal Saturday rides we took the normal 25 mile groups, my turn for the hills as I stole the route Paula plotted last week (great route Mrs V-S!). It was mild and sunny, and a pleasure to be out after months of freezing miserable conditions. After a quick lunch stop a bunch of us headed out for a second ride, and some familiar faces joined us. Noshowjo bailed after a lap of Powder Mills, and Heidi joined us for the first half to test her lungs, it was great to see both back out on their wheels (and yes Mrs F of course you need a new bike...). We were at Edenbridge when the rain caught up with us, but after what we have cycled in it had little effect on morale. The garmin had a nasty habit of pausing itself though, I didn't reset between rides and that may have caused it to get confused.

I woke up late on Sunday and felt guilty that I wasn't at the KVG Sportive. The warm front which had been forecast had miraculously arrived and it was 15 degrees by 9:30am. Heading out for the first run of the day I regretted wearing full length Ronhills, this was shorts weather! Whoop whoop. I couldn't face doing the same out and back I have been doing for weeks so I set off to run some routes which I haven't covered since I lived in Kingshill 4 years ago. After running through West Malling high street, I turned off into the country park, only to find that it was a mud bath and about as slippery as an ice rink. Turning back out of the park I cut back across the dual carriageway and carried on in an eastward direction. Finding a public bridleway I turned off of the road, and 5 minutes later had to get my phone out to work out which way I needed to go. After lots of twists and turns, (plus a few google map checks) I ended up in East Malling (yey, back on track!) and headed back in. It hadn't been a quick one (I'm blaming too much time spent checking the map) and I'd only covered 8 miles in 90 minutes but it was a pleasure to be out in such beautiful weather.

After a nice lunch with Tim, and a window shopping trip to a couple of local bike shops (trying on lots of shorts as I need some new ones for the Outlaw), I was back out again for another 50 minute run. Looping around Laybourne Lakes the container which is used as a changing room/reception was open, so I stuck my head around the door to ask how "warm" the water was...9 degrees.. hummmm... won't be in without a wetsuit that's for sure! Unfortunately my stomach kicked in about half way through, when the only option was to keep going and the rest of the night and the next day was spent suffering from cramps and sudden sprints to the bathroom. 

Half-a-Marathon-Hardware

After the slog of last weekend I was a relief to have a day off on Tuesday. It was glorious and sunny and it lulled me into a false sense of security.

As the train pulled into Paddock Wood on Wednesday night the heavens opened up - with snow. I might have guessed. I was down for a brick session, therefore where the trainers go, the snow goes. Putting the bike back onto the turbo I settled in for a twin set of 20 mins spin, 10 mins run.

Thursday morning I was up and out with the lark to the pool and then started to taper for the weekend.

Driving to Hilden on Saturday morning to do just a regular Saturday 25 mile it crossed my mind that this was what normal life felt like. A lovely, pretty much flat ride out to Edenbridge with Claire, Jo, Angela and Jenny, no mechanicals, no punctures, not even any moaning about the route from Noshowjo. Bliss.

It's taken 3 years to get to the start line, and as I lay in bed contemplating running 13.1 miles pre-race nerves struck. When we pulled up in Paddock Wood station car park, being able to park in my normal car parking space made me feel more reassured and suddenly the nerves were gone.

As horn sounded the crowd surged forward and we were off. About 3 miles in I caught up with Carol looking splendid in the green and black jacket of the Natural Running Project (run coaching with the NRP is something I would recommend to anyone looking to improve their technique, avoid injury or just get faster - without Matt's coaching last year I would never have got to the start line). Carol was setting the perfect pace so I stuck with her for a few miles relying on the metronome she had merrily ticking along.

There were some familiar faces on the course and it was great to feel supported. There were spectators along the route cheering and shouting words of encouragement.

By the 6 mile sign I was comfortable with the 9:20-9:30 mile pace and I was pretty confident I could keep it up. I realised that I was looking at a 10km PB at 56 minutes.

Just before the 8 mile sign I realised that I was slowing and my biggest regret was that I hadn't taken any gels with me. Just when I was wondering how I was going to get around the next 5 miles Carol caught me back up and kindly gave me a High5 gel. For those of you who ride with me regularly you know how much I hate gels, the only ones I can stomach are isotonic, but that gel tasted as good as it could possibly get. Thank you once again Carol. Once the sugar had hit my system I felt great again and was back on the target pace.

Shortly after 9 miles I realised that I was in uncharted territory, which gave me a bit of a buzz.

There were little kids handing out sweets at about 10 miles which was great except the fruit pastel stuck to the roof of my mouth and I was still trying to deal with it by the next photographer. Goodness knows how bad the shots will be. I picked up the pace around 11 miles and tried to keep it under 9 minute miles.

Before I knew it the route turned back into Paddock Wood and it was the home stretch. As I ran past Evendens I pushed hard up the hill over the railway line and then turned into the industrial estate to the end and pushed into a sprint, looking at my watch I was managing 7:25 miles and I knew I could push over the finishing line and still feel relatively fresh.

I am ecstatic with an over time of 2:02:47 (that is 2 minutes 48 seconds I need to be faster by next year) and needless to say that after a quick bath a very nice Sunday roast followed at the Poet in Matfield.

Thanks for all your words of support and congratulation it meant a huge amount.

Recovery Week?

Firstly apologies to those who have complained that my blog is a week behind... I will tri harder to get it back on course....

After something in the region of 18 hours training the week before last week's recovery period started with 3 days rest. In other words 3 nights of catching up on chores. Looking back I've no idea where the time actually went and the wash box is over flowing yet again.

Up at the crack of dawn once again on Thursday and in the pool by 7:20 am. I'm not quite sure how my swim sessions are calculated, and I don't think I always get the splits right but it's a great way to start the day. After a short session I was at work by my normal time and the end of a 4 day week for Easter.

I'm not sure what was "good" about Good Friday. It was freezing cold and as we huddled over our bikes at 8am at Hilden I just prayed that I didn't get the girls lost, as I've never led 60 miles. From the go my Garmin wouldn't work so we were in from a magical mystery tour. Somewhere near Penshurst it totally switched off (and yet I know the battery was charged) and when I turned it back on it was another 5 miles before I realised I hadn't pressed go.

At Eridge the route showed a cycle path under the A26 which was surprisingly there. Only problem was that after it crossed the main road it turned into an off road path only suitable for knobbly tyres. The road I had actually plotted turned out to be a driveway to a private house with "No Entry" signs posted everywhere meaning that we ended up on the A26 afterall and turned off to Bowles. I was working off of instincts now and knew that we needed to avoid Boars Head, as we cycled past the sign for Boars Head Road... Turning around at the top I'm not sure my "extra hill training" was that popular but we finally found the road to Marks Cross and were back on route. At the cross roads in Wadhurst, where the sign to Lamberhurst said 5 miles we went straight over and up (yet another) hill, at the top I was unsure of which road to take to go straight on. Sadly we picked the wrong one (team choice) and ended up in Frant - where the signs to Lamberhurst now said 6 miles.

We were 30 miles down so it was time for a tea stop in a lovely pub with a roaring log fire. Hatty picks some lovely places to have punctures so we had plenty of time to warm up and down a few bowls of chips whilst poor Hatty ran in and out trying to drink her tea before it went cold. A quick recalculation meant that we could head up to Kipplings Cross, through Matfield and Brenchley and back via Yalding on the flats (which had been part of the original plan). The snow started to get heavier as we left Frant as it slapped us in the face. All in all a very successful ride and we even managed to work some magic and produce some (almost) warm sunshine towards the end to fill our token Weather Girl's demands.

Saturday on the other hand.... was meant to be warmer, brighter and generally nicer. Someone lied. It was even colder. The snow was falling from the off and the winds were bitter. I questioned my sanity in taking my summer bike. For the first time in years it crossed my mind that I didn't have to do this. I turn around and go home if I wanted. Failure of course was not really an option. However when Paula got (the first) flat 4 miles in and the gas froze in the tube as we tried to inflate the replacement it was awfully tempting. One emergency call out (thanks to Christopher) later, we were off again, just running a little behind schedule. When Paula got her second puncture on Pilgrims Way I tried to arrange a call out but with no success. Whilst we fixed it the girls took turns to pee behind the bushes (no naming and shaming....). It was poor Emma's first ever lead and we did a quick recalculation before agreeing on a slight diversion into Snodland for a hot drink. The Shell garage didn't know what hit them. Paula managed to break the coffee machine (why do these things happen on our rides?!) and after we had eaten all the hot sausage rolls, pies, pastries etc and used their facilities (nicer than a bush) we were off again.

By the 30 mile mark we were on uncharted territory, making it feel like an adventure. Despite the weather we were feeling brighter and so long as we kept moving not too cold. We slowly climbed the North Downs and got nearer to our half way point. With 5 miles to go there was another cry from PVS... and yes... another puncture. By the time we got to Emma's for our tea stop everyone was ready for a rest. It felt like so much more than 40 miles! Huge thanks to Emma who having ridden as far as hard as everyone else flitted around the kitchen producing toasted bagels and hot cross buns for us to refuel on. Given it was after 2pm we would run out of daylight before we got the planned 90 miles under our belts, so we agreed to head back in, which would put us about 60 miles. The snow started again as we left Eyensford but as we wound around the M25 the sun (briefly) flirted with us. Climbing Ide Hill on the last stretch made me realise how much easier it was than when I rode up it in January and at the top we celebrated Claire's longest ever distance. The hop skip and a jump back to Hilden around Bough Beech felt easy by then but the weather meant that the light was fading and everyone was glad to get back to their cars. Thank you to Paula, Emma, Sarah, Jane and Claire for a terrific ride.

On Sunday I was paying for it. My summer bike set up had been tweaked the week before and the new set up had put a lot of strain on my legs. The words "listen to your body" went through my head and for once, I listened to it. Mainly because it was hard just walking up and down stairs, so I switched my rest day and had a day chilling with Tim.

Bank Holiday Monday meant that I had to get back on track so after procrasting as long as I possibly could I put my running gear on and Tim pushed me out of the door. Following the same route as the previous Sunday I realised that I was about 2 minutes ahead of myself as I passed the previous half way mark. Monitoring the speed I knew that I was in for a PB, and indeed hit the 9 mile mark for the first time with a time of 1:27. Bring on Paddock Wood Half Marathon! 

KVG Training Camp 2013

Kent Velo Girls runs an excellent "stay at home" training camp each March, in 2011 we were wearing short sleeves and factor 30 suncream. In 2013 we were praying that the snow stayed away long enough to actually get out. After Saturday's debacle with torrential rain it was just a pleasure to be back in the saddle in dry clothes, and new Rapha ones at that :-)

Monday was a pleasant 40 miler which skirted the pilgrims way and came back past the deer in Knole Park. All in all a pretty ride, and would have been even better without getting a puncture at the bottom of Bayley's Hill (every time I get a new jacket it gets filthy changing a flat!). I spent the rest of the afternoon going through routes for the 4 countries in 3 days tours trying to find pretty cycling paths that would save the riders legs, only to dash home, change kit and dash out again for a swim session. Am I really the only person who finds swimming with a pull buoy slows them down?

Not having to be up just after 5am on Tuesday morning was rather splendid, waking up at 6:30 and having a lay in, drinking tea in bed and reading the metro online felt rather a luxurious way to start a training day.

Back in the saddle we set off down to the Ashdown Forest, it's always a hilly ride but I wasn't expecting to be climbing Kidd's Hill, AKA The Wall. It's been on my list for a while so I was rather pleased to finally get another tick the Top 100 Climbs in the Country book. 125m of ascent over about a mile, there's no twists or turns; what you see is what you get. And that looks like a solid wall. All the training seems to be paying off though as my first thought was "yup, I can get up that" which of course I duly did, as did everyone else in the group.

Wednesday saw us all driving over to Surrey for the infamous Box Hill time trial, plus another 30 miles of hills immediately before, including a little ditty through Leatherhead (no road closures/air ambulances this year). I had demons to conquer on the time trial, having been about a minute slower in 2012 than the year before. In fairness I swallowed a fly half way up last year and the year before ended up pushing myself so hard I had an asthma attack at the top (I also had to deal with suicidal squirrels). 

As tempting as it was to roll out the carbon bike that would give me an unfair advantage on the 2011 time. It has to be like for like or it doesn't count. So Doris and I set off to conquer.

From a standing start my gears were clunking and I couldn't quite find where I wanted to sit. The section to the first bend is the worst of the climb and I saw Hatty up ahead, as a target to aim for (sorry Hatty) but she was climbing really well and it took until after the second bend for me to catch her. After that I just got my head down and tried not to watch the clock, with a final time of 9:27, 19 seconds faster than 2011 and a very happy Helen although I was quite shocked to be told "You beat me, bitch" from Bee! That entitled me to a well deserved lunch with Naomi and Katharine (and of course the future world cycling champion, baby Alexander).

Thursday morning swung round early, and we were off again. This time on a 60 mile ride, including a half way stop at Chapel Down Vineyard. The pace was nippy and for the first time in the week it crossed my mind that I couldn't sustain the pace for the whole 60 miles but I was dammed sure I wasn't going to admit it. Fortunately someone else broke the speed with a cry of easy, and everyone sighed with relief. We were extremely spoilt calling at the Vineyard, and Viv had staff outside in the freezing cold pouring us cups of tea, with a beautiful array of brownies, flapjacks and savoury crackers. There were a few groans as we set off for the second half up a steep hill but it was a great way of warming back up again quickly. The rest of the second half was mainly flat and we got our heads down to finish with an average speed of 14.5mph.

On Friday I mistimed the drive to Cyclopark in Gravesend, and as I drove up the downs at Wrotham it started to snow. I was sat in the freezing cold car for ages waiting for everyone else. Friday is race training. I won't lie, it's not my cup of tea, and it's too stop start for freezing conditions. That said we all learnt some new things which made it worth while.

The curry on Friday night with the girls (including the award for the most improved rider) was a great way to wrap up the week  (even if Sarah did moan that my blog was a week behind schedule - Sorry!).

After the intensity of the week it was almost a shock to the system not to get on my bike on Saturday and my legs were still complaining when I went out running on Sunday. It was slow and painful, but my longest ever run, 1:30 to do 8.44 miles (plus a second run later in the day).

Cold, wet but not so miserable

Last week saw the return of Arctic conditions to the south east and as the train came out of the South Downs on Monday night it was shocking to suddenly discover we had arrived in Narnia. Not such a problem for a Monday being a rest day but I was slightly nervous that the weeks schedule would be interrupted.

Fortunately the trains were running on Tuesday morning (therefore no excuse to miss swimming) and as I stood shivering on the platform waiting for the 6am train I decided I need a warmer coat next winter! As darkness fell on Tuesday night the paths were still icy and I got a text to say that Paddock Wood A/C was cancelled. After a panicked email to my coach I was told strictly not to get on the turbo as I had suggested. So I spent my 'night off' cooking food for the next few days.

On Wednesday, despite praying for a blizzard turbo training was not cancelled, which meant only one thing: Threshold testing. For those of you who don't know that is 20 minutes as hard as you can to see a) what your maximum heart rate is and b) what your average is. The data can then be used to calculate what your heart rate zones are. It's not pretty (yes the beads of sweat did drop off of my face) and despite that annoying little voice in the back of my head saying "I don't want to do this" I completed the session, and managed to do it without coughing once. Plus I got a new threshold. Result :-)

However Thursday morning my legs were tired and objected loudly as I got back in the pool and warmed up. After the previous week's 61 minutes to get to 3km I was determined to get it down and kept pushing despite screaming legs. At 60:10 there's still room for improvement.

By Friday night I really didn't feel like getting back on the turbo but after work I duly completed another hours set of drills. The rest of the night was spent cooking for my personal mechanic (whilst drinking his cider) as Tim fitted new brakes and tyres onto Doris, my winter bike to try and prepare it for the onslaught the next day.

I laid in bed on Saturday morning questioning my sanity as I listened to the rain falling on the roof. It sounded torrential and it was. However it was the last week of the 50 mile course so there was no backing out. We were all wet through quickly, although morale was high for the first few miles. We soon reached the stage of hard slog through the puddles, but it was the freezing winds that made the going hard on the flats. Nobody wanted to stop and open their cereal bars so energy levels were falling fast. Just outside Horsmonden we hit the hill with a bang, and one (experienced and competent rider) hit the wall and bonked. We took a warming rest at Paula's and ate home made brownies (thanks to Ruben the master chef) and rang our gloves/socks out, but the second scare of the day came as another girl turned blue and couldn't hold the tea mug. Thank goodness we had a former paramedic on hand, even if he was otherwise occupied making us all tea (cheers T1).

There was talk of abandoning the ride, if we scooted down to Paddock Wood we could hop on the train back to Hilden (For about 5 seconds I seriously debated riding home and going back for the car on Sunday) but I still felt fine, and besides, it could be that cold and wet in Nottingham on 7th July! So there really wasn't any other option but to put the wet clothes back on and get back in the saddle. As we got back down on the flats 2 riders peeled off to the station and the rest of us decided to head straight back in, which would still leave us with 40 miles under our belts. The rain began to lighten, morale rose and in the end the spirit of the blitz stuck in, so we added the miles back on and got our 50 done. The tea back at Hilden was most deserved. Well done to everyone who got out of the bed and trained that morning, it would have been easy to roll over and pretend that the ride was cancelled.

Unfortunately my training schedule had an additional 45 miles pencilled in so I went home, put dry kit on, and hopped onto the turbo trainer. It was a good way of getting warm again, although I only managed 30 minutes (to later be told I needn't have done any!).

It was a massive relief when I got a message saying Sunday was a rest day, with 5 consecutive days cycling looming I needed a day off. Not sure I ever get any rest on a rest day though as I frantically washed and dried my kit for training camp.

Forgive me father for I have sinned... It has been 3 weeks since my last blog

I thought you might be getting sick of a weekly list of I swam, ran, cycled, swam, cycled a lot and topped it off with a couple of runs, so here's what's been happening over the last 3 weeks.

First of all I had a recovery week which was timed nicely with my hospital visit to investigate my coughing, and I couldn't train for 24 hours before, so running the night before was off the cards.

The hospital wasn't exactly my idea of a good day out (made worse by having to get off the tube at South Kensington with a million families on half term days out to the museums). However my lung function test was remarkably good (apparently I should be about 80% - I was 112-120%) at one point I had to sit in a sealed glass box and blow down a tube. The worse was the camera down the back of my nose (yes gross) giving a room full of doctors and nurses (am I a lab rat?!) a delightful view of my larynx whilst I span at 100rpm with increasing resistance on an exercise bike as old as me. The verdict was reflux, and the treatment is prescription strength Gaviscon (yes really) which tastes just lovely, but that's better than most other options.

At 2am the next morning I woke with a raging sore throat, my first thought was that the anesthetic had worn off. Nope. A nice dose of man flu. Saturday morning saw snow and ice so cycling was out of the question, but foolishly I decided I was well enough to go for a blast on Sunday morning with Paula. Initially I felt great, but paid for it later, and ended up in bed all day Monday. Somewhere outside Yalding we passed a puddle which had sprayed all over a bus on the roadside. As the water dripped off it had formed hundreds of little icicles and was pretty amazing.

After a few days of taking it easy I was back in the pool pushing PB's although I to remind myself on the Saturday ride when I felt tired at about 40 miles that I been ill most of the week.

Last week saw everything back on track, and for the first time I hit 3km in the pool (but it 61 minutes, gotta shave that minute off) and the first of my Sunday runs saw me hit the 8 mile marker for the first time ever. It never gets easier going out for a second time on a Sunday but it brings the week to a perfect close.

Bruised knees for Valentines

Perhaps spending the whole of my rest evening cooking multiple meals for the week (and writing up my blog)  last Monday wasn't the most relaxing way to spend my rest day last Monday, but it did make me feel better about the week ahead. Plus I had some yummy soup to look forward to.

Tuesday morning dawned far too early as it always does. However the pool was relatively quiet and the drills were straight forward. 2680m later I was back in the office ready to eat a horse...

I am rapidly discovering the use of mid-morning coffee in the working day after a 5:20am start.

After work I was still starving when I got to Mascalls School after work and the weather bitterly cold. After 12 reps of 2 mins flat (7:30 minute miles!) out followed by 2 minutes recovery I was starting to fantasise about the pancakes awaiting me at home. Thank you to my personal chef for cooking such a delicious post training meal. Chocolate icecream pancakes... the food of ironmen :-)

For some reason I always approach Wednesday with some in trepidation. Its pretty much a given that KVG turbo sessions hurt. Plus they make me cough lots. However, apart from the freezing cold room it was actually a pleasant evening for once. Cadence sessions rock, definitely better than heart rate sessions!

Thursday morning saw a wet miserable sky and as I walked into the sports centre I fell down with a hard bang on both knees. By the time I got into the water 5 minutes later the brusing was already making itself know. In the water I faced sets of 400m in under 7 minutes. The drill session said spend the rest of the 7 minutes resting... what "rest of 7 minutes"???? I know I'm improving but even that is beyond my reach. Surely Bee meant under 8 minutes? I am pleased to say that since I started triathlons I have shaved about 2 minutes off of my 400m time, but that still leaves me at 7:40. A bit of a come down but then again I did 140 lengths (plus the 4 before that when my poolmate wasn't picking up but they don't count) in 63 minutes so it wasn't all bad. Roll on Friday for another rest day.

Saturday was cold but dry and after riding over to Hilden (this time I remembered that it took 45 minutes and left early enough not to need to flog myself) I took the girls out on week 3 of the 50 mile course. We did a fabulous route which I recalled well from when I did the course 2 years ago, at the time I was training for the 3 Peaks Race and had done 17 miles the day before so I was barely able to walk before I got on the bike. Before we were quite back I got a message that the beginners course was short a leader and could anyone help... my afternoon of decorating went out of the window...

On Sunday morning I was tired. Extremely so but after the first coat of paint there was no excuse not to go out for a run. With Tim riding with me I was struggling to keep my normal pace of about 10 minute miles, he was almost able to cycle faster than I can run ;-) 30 minutes in I had to admit that I needed a gel, something I generally avoid, after which I was like Tigger bouncing around Ditton quarry. Thank you to Tim yet again for looking after me.

Another coat of paint later and I was off out again on my own this time. As I was happily plodding around Laybourne Lake I realised that I was averaging about 9 minute miles, so I thought I would see how long I could keep it up for. 3.35 miles apparently. OK so I might have been pushing around Z4.4 (I know because I started to cough) going up hill at the end, but that's a good time/distance for me, especially at the end of a tough week.

Thank Crunchie I'm heading into a recovery week.....

Rest and be Thankful

Firstly thank you to all of you who have said you have read my blog, I am somewhat in shock, I really only started this as something to keep my mind focused, and to prove to the Doncaster contingency that I really am doing this (and why I can't always make it back up north), I didn't actually expect anyone to read it! I have to give my dad a special mention at this point for insult of the week when he asked if I had help writing this.... cheers dad. Glad to know my education wasn't wasted.

Last week was a mixed bag. Monday was somewhat illuminating, when the respiratory specialist advised that he didn't think I had exercise induced asthma, but exercise induced laryngeal obstruction. According to Net Doctor and Mr Google that means my voicebox closes up and restricts my breathing. Apparently it's not uncommon, but it's not well known and it might mean that I can stop taking inhalers after 15 years. I have to go back for more tests but it's given me hope.

The 5:20 alarm kicked the training week off of Tuesday morning and I sort of forgot how early it was as I was texting from the station platform at 6am. Sorry to the Veysey-Smiths.

In true muppet style I did the Thursday morning swim session on Tuesday... whoops (although it worked out quite well in the end) followed by my second session at Paddock Wood Athletic Club. 45 minutes of pyramid training sessions in freezing cold sleet. Oh what joy. However I've started to recognise the odd face, and after living in Kent for nearly 6 years I'm starting to feel part of the community.

I suspect Wednesday night's turbo session was designed to bring on a coughing fit (my Doctor asked for a video) and it was (as always) a tough slog, I pushed hard although my coughing seemed to stop me being able to get above Z4.8 no matter how hard I worked (to the extent that I thought I was going to be sick at the end of the session).

The pool was packed on Thursday morning and having completed the Thursday session earlier in the week I took advantage and maintained a nice steady pace that I thought I could do during the race without tiring myself. 60 minutes later I had covered 1.67 miles and felt fresh as a daisy which gives me hope for completing the swim element of the race (2.4 miles) in an hour and a half.

Tim "assisted" with my core session on Thursday night, which involved sitting on the sofa, counting my reps whilst holding a stop watch and telling me that I wasn't working hard enough when my press up turned into a face first splodge into the living room rug.

To get a second rest day on Friday was a novelty, but come Saturday morning I was bright and breezy when the alarm went off at 6:45. A small group of hardy KVG's started the morning off with a 10 mile loop of Powder Mills, followed by week 2 of the 50 mile course which should have been 30 miles. My garmin wasn't helpful with directions and we ended up doing 33 miles but there were no complaints (for once!) from the girls. Not forgetting the 2 miles back to the car :-)

On Sunday it was hard to get out of a nice warm bed when it was raining out, and I went out later than I should which meant that I couldn't get my second run of the day in before we had to dash off for Sunday lunch. I followed a lady who must have been in her late 70's for the first mile and she set a nice pace, so I was a bit disappointed when she turned off my route. It was a great and steady run, although cold and wet, and I managed 6.5 miles in 62 minutes.

So here we are again... Monday... and it all starts again tomorrow!

Headwinds are Hard Work for Hardware!

So this week I started my formal coaching with Bee. I don't know if I'm excited, relieved or petrified?! Probably all 3 at once.

After spending an hour and a half talking about what I was doing/wanted to get out of all of this on Tuesday the diagnosis was the same as Paula's; too much too early! Yey I get some time back in my week. Or I did until my second rest day was replaced with core work. Dam.

The training week got off to a fantastic start with a 2.5km swim (that's 1.5 miles in old money) in 60 minutes. On race day I will have to do 2.4 miles so that really gave me a boost that I stand a chance of doing the swim in well under my initial target of 2 hours.

On Wednesday I was treated to a day out of the office at a Group conference to listen to executives talk about our company's strategy. You are no doubt yawning at this point, as was I although it started with a rather cute video of a kid on a BMX starting in Edinburgh and riding through Halifax, Leeds, Bristol, and down to London to pay his £10 into the Bank. I admit even I've not thought of tackling that route. Then after lunch, major joy when Chris Hoy walked onto the stage (I was on row 4) for a 30 minute interview. Far more interesting.

Unfortunately being trapped in a dark room with flashing lights all day triggered a migraine and I had to exchange the turbo trainer for my sofa all evening with the lights turned off. If you are going to get to rest surely it's only fair that you are well enough to enjoy it?

So that meant catching up on Thursday night and I completed the most hellish turbo training session yet (when the title is "Very Hard Hill Set" you know you are in trouble), and at one pointed wondered which was closer, the bathroom or the back door if I was actually sick. Friday was a tempo run, and saw a PB for 5km in 26 minutes (2 mins less than my previous PB).

Saturday dawned bright and sunny and for the first time in months I rode over to Hilden to meet the girls. As I turned left in Golden Green I picked up 3 guys and rode to the end of Three Elm Lane with them, determined to hang on to the wheel in front of me (the guy behind was drafting off of me, so I needed all the pull I could get). The headwind was hellish and I had to fight my way over, knowing that the route also went back the same way so I had to ride it twice!

This week was the first week of the Kent Velo Girls 50 mile course which I was helping with by leading a group. It was no more than a standard Saturday ride this week but about 20 miles in (i.e. 30 for me) I realised I was shattered. The headwind was back and I was on the verge of bonking. The girls were fabulous and supplied real food (as opposed to the shot bloks I was carrying) and we all made it back in one piece.

Finally this morning I had to do 2 runs! Yes 2! After a very muddy and slippy 4.56 miles in 56 minutes (with T2 back on his bike off road for the first time since he smashed his knee) I had a lovely cuppa and put my trainers back on. Not sure which was harder the running or the will power to get back out....

Text Book Turbo

So far the mantra has been "follow the book". If I follow the book closely enough all will be well. Paula may have told me off once or twice for doing more than is prescribed in the book, but on the whole I've been following text book.

As you know we started last week white over, and on Tuesday Paddock Wood was still 2 inches thick in ice, so I decided for once, to be sensible and not attempt to run. Yak Trax wouldn't have helped in this case as some pavements were clear, others were a nightmare so I substituted my hours run for an hour and five on the turbo trainer. Turbo training at home on my own equates to watching paint dry. My glasses slide off my face, which means I can't see the TV, and besides which I can't hear it over the roar of the turbo which sounds like a small jet engine taxiing down a runway.

Wednesday night is my KVG coached turbo training session. It's an hour of hard slog and pain. I can't say I enjoy it, but I endure it and go back for more because I know it's good for me. Unfortunately I've been finding that the harder I work, the more I cough. Every time I raise my heart rate, I have a coughing fit.  Before Christmas I scared our coach by turning blue during a particularly tough session (at this point my mother is probably about to have a coronary as I've neglected to share that nugget of information).

In early January my GP raised my steroid dosage to a level that gives me the shakes, and the only way I can get through a tough session is to take multiple puffs of my blue reliever. This isn't right and it's not going to make me an ironman. So on Thursday I had a good talk with myself.  Something has to change if I am to get to the start line and survive the race (OK, so perhaps relaying the "Death before DNF" mantra to my mother was a bad idea). Therefore I have decided to sign up for some proper coaching. I have also decided to try and get a referral to a respiratory specialist.

Don't think that means that I haven't trained, after a night off on Thursday I was in the pool by 7:20am on Friday morning, back on the turbo for an hour after work, out with the girls on Saturday morning and I even managed a 5 mile run on Sunday between coats of paint but there is still a long way to go..... 140.6m to be precise!

Running in a Raymond Briggs Cartoon

For those of you who don't know, my friend PVS and I have signed up for the Outlaw, Iron distance triathlon on July 7th 2013. That is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile cycle and then a full 26.4 mile marathon. Yes, all in one day. In under 17 hours in fact and yes, I wonder where our sanity was when we signed up for it, but here we are. We have spent the money, our names are on the list, we just need to train now.

So this is the end of week 3 of Ironman Training... I could fool myself and claim it's week 4, but honestly, I don't think Christmas week counts.

This is the Base Phase of training. We are training 6 days a week (twice 2 days a week), and we are tired, and I can't speak for PVS but I am constantly hungry! We were not unfit to start with, having reduced our training levels a little since we completed our first Olympic distance in October 2012, but this is a whole new ball game.

We have our training bible, Don Fink's "Be Iron Fit" (thanks to Melanie for the tip off) and so far things are mostly going well. I pulled a muscle in my leg on last Sunday's run but that seems to have recovered nicely with some ice and avoiding running for a few days.

However this weekend winter hit Kent and we got a wee sprinkling of the white stuff which meant that the usual Saturday ride was cancelled and I had to do my Sunday run without T2 cycling with me. Great run though, it might have been slow plodding but the views were stunning and I felt like I was running in a Raymond Briggs cartoon. Now for a nice hot bath :-)