Believe to Achieve

So I promised myself that I wouldn't enter next years VLM ballot, and as difficult as it was, I kept to it. Twitter was going mental this morning with many of the VLM family having entered the ballot, and more, it bought back good memories of two years ago when I entered the ballot, keeping it secret from everybody until October when I got the Congratulations magazine. Completing VLM2012 was the best day of my life, not because I completed the marathon, but because I said no more, no more just getting by, no more just completing races and no more looking like I shouldn't be there.

Since then I have changed my life, I am not finished yet and have a long way to go but I am stronger and both my running speed and style has changed. I finally got that sub 30 5k and am now working on that being consistent as at the moment 31 is consistent. I've learnt to swim, and got back on a bike for the first time in over 20 years, which is  good job as my first triathlon is only 2 weeks away!

So back to ballot day! I didn't quite end the day without entering a race........with a crazy target......

I couldn't help myself and it just kinda happened, I specifically promised myself NO MORE HALF MARATHONS! But I guess it's too late now as I made up for not entering the ballot by entering Brighton Half Marathon, and by accepting the challenge from @TheIron_Bear I'm going for sub 2 hours, this is also spurred on by the fact that I've been promised chips at the finish from @DanRunning, who wouldn't run faster for chips???

This target from @TheIron_Bear got me thinking about the rest of the year and my goals. I have never thought I would run a sub 2 hour half marathon, but why not? Why can't I? Surely if you put in the effort, then you will get what you want, get what you are training for? You have to believe to achieve, right??

So, to the rest of the year. Triathlons aside, I have a few races booked. Some for fun, such as the Zest Challenge and the Olympic Park Run but a couple where I have a specific time in mind. Stratford 10k will be my sub 60 10k. I only have 16 weeks to train for this and knock off 7 mins from my 10k time, not a great deal of time but as my training is starting to step up with swimming and cycling this is good cross training and will be kinder to my knees and shins, so should help me to stay relatively injury free and not pounding the pavements constantly in the process, plus with the continued strength training on the glutes and hip flexors it will make me a better runner, without having to run every bloody day, who wants that?? Getting this sub 60 will really put me on track for that sub 2 hour half marathon, and now I have said it, it means I have to achieve it! It will be a full 35 minutes off my PB so it won't be easy, not by a long chalk but like I said, if you put in the effort, you get what you want, which is exactly what I plan to do.

Now, going back to London Marathon. I'm planning on returning to the race and showing the Isle of Dogs exactly what I am made of in 2015. This will be the year that I become an Ironman (what a goal!) so my goal is to knock off at least 2 hours off my PB and go for 4 hours 15. I was reminded by @TheIron_Bear that I might as well go the full hog and go for sub 4. I'm not agreeing to this, but I think it will end up being the goal. If I'm going to go long with triathlons to Ironman distance then anything but a sub 4 won't really be acceptable so I may as well set goals now that may seem ridiculous to me, and probably to you lot too and work my big but rather nice arse off to get them!

A day with Inspire2Tri

A couple of weeks ago I posted that I was nowhere near ready for my upcoming triathlon, however I am pleased to report that today I feel completely ready and prepared. In a matter of days, I've gone from an awfully uncomfortable looking frontcrawl where I would tire after only a length to a technique that has enabled me to keep going and going during my swimming session this morning AND make me look a little like an actual swimmer!

Yesterday was the day of my "Prepare for your first Triathlon" with Mary at Inspire2Tri in Manton, Rutland. I had been pretty nervous about this but Mary had assured me that I would be fine and to bring lots of enthusiasm with me along with my swim gear, bike and helmet.

The day was always bound to start with a hitch, as it's me, so after borrowing a bike rack from Sharon and getting the bike on the back of the car (we looked like the Chuckle Brothers trying to follow the instructions!) I set off leaving myself plenty of time to travel the 60 or so miles to get there. Only a mile down the road I went over a speed bump and felt the bike bounce from the car, so pulled over and the bottom straps had come loose from the bumper. I had to untie the whole thing to lengthen the straps again before securing the bike so all in all this took me around 15-20 minutes, which meant a drive at break neck speed to get to Mary for 1pm, I was about 5 minutes late, so felt really embarrassed but Mary was fine about it which was reassuring.

We went straight over to Mary's endless pool where she had a look at both my breaststroke and my front crawl. The first thing Mary said was that there was potential so this was encouraging, and she wanted to work on both techniques so first we looked at my breaststroke. The most noticeable thing here was my right leg having a mind of its own as I have what Mary called a "screw kick", it really irritates me when swimming as I can feel that it twists me around as I try to correct it, with no luck. After half of the session there was real improvement, I have a video to show it, but it's not to flattering so I'll save your eyes!
Next we worked on front crawl, Mary was really enthusiastic about this and said that I had a good hand placement and catch underwater so we didn't need to worry about that, but after looking at the video I could see just how far my head was coming out of the water which Mary pointed out was the reason I was getting so tired! She asked me to try a few different things to reduce this, which as she was explaining them to me I was trying my best to understand how it could work, and every time it did! When Mary was explaining to me how I would in effect be breathing underwater my head nearly exploded, how would this be possible?! But it worked! Not only did it improve my head position but it was making me much quicker as I kept bumping into the engine! This is the result, which as a novice swimmer, who was scared of the water only 4 months ago, I am really proud of!

Once I had got changed, we went back over to the studio and fixed my bike on a turbo so Mary could do a bike fit, before taking the bikes up through the village to a long cycle path to practice the mount and dismount from the bike from and into transition. This seemed to go well and after a few goes I got it, Mary was also able to given some useful tips that I would have never thought of such as putting pedals in position before racking the bike. We then went back to the studio and worked outside practicing getting the bike in and out of transition and again Mary gave some practical tips for what I would need and how to place my kit etc. I did a couple of simulations which threw up some potential problems such as fiddling with my helmet and potentially taking out any nearby bikes whilst trying to get my bike racked after the ride, all of this information was so valuable as it was all things that I had never thought of before!

We also went for a quick run around the block as Mary wanted to see how I was getting on after the running technique course I attended a few weeks ago and she was pleased to see that I had been practicing, I think it will be a while before I have transitioned fully to forefront running as I have to look after the shins so I will carry on practicing and make it a slow transition. I have to say, that I really notice the difference in my speed and over all efficiency when forefront running so I will keep on working on it over the next few weeks.

Mary took the time to go through everything that I needed to know for the day itself, and answered all my questions so I could come away feeling really prepared for the day, she even took the time to take me through some kettle bell exercises that I can do at home that will work on my core so as my gym doesn't have kettlebells (something that I still feel is somewhat ridiculous) I have some at home that I can use.

I shall definitely visit Mary again. We talked briefly about my future plans for next year and the 70.3 and she was really encouraging that I would do it, if fact saying that at seeing my current level, when I get to where I want to be weight wise I'll "fly" so it's good to hear that I have potential to achieve what I want to! Mary said that she was impressed that I was well researched, something that I had to blame on @TheIron_Bear and his blog, and the constant numbers updates which I never really understand but pretend I do (not very convincingly though!) I'm also looking forward to getting up there to try out some open water swimming, something that only a few months ago I was petrified at the thought of!

I had a great few hours with Mary, I thoroughly enjoyed the day and like I said, came away feeling very prepared and looking forward to a swim the following day, which I nailed by the way!!

I also got the news when I finished that I had got a place in the Olympic Park Run in July, which is great news! I had spent the morning getting increasingly frustrated after the server had crashed, and had resigned myself to not getting a place so I was chuffed that Anne had continued to try when the website was up and running and had got me a place along with a few more of the Regency Runners girls, and some of the VLMfamily from twitter so it's shaping up to be a great day! I'm really looking forward to this and it has set me up for a busy few months over the summer race wise.

Real progress

This weekend just passed has been one of the most enjoyable for a long time. After a very long week at work I was pleased to see Friday night, although by the time I got home from work it was close to 7:30pm, and too late to meet the girls from Regency Riders so I decided to take advantage of cheat night and picked up a mini fish and chips on the way home, of which I ate just over half of before chucking the rest in the bin (is this how you are supposed to do cheat night??)

Saturday morning came and I took myself off to town as I had a few errands to run, including my usual trip to the market. One job on the list was to get new running trainers, as shamefully I am still in last years London Marathon trainers, the reason behind my dodgy shins! I went into Warwick Sports as one thing I truly believe in is getting your running shoes fitted properly every time you need some. They are so helpful and we spent a good half an hour trying on different shoes and trying them out on the treadmill, the owner had a pretty good idea of what I should have and they were the first that I tried on, but still gave me plenty of options to try to make sure I was happy. I have a pretty wide foot so need a D width, and the New Balance 860's were the shoe for me. Unfortunately they didn't have them in stock so are ordering them in for me, excellent service, I highly recommend them for any sports equipment if you live in the area.

After I had run my errands, I went home to get ready for a planned bike ride with @AnneGwilliam. I am happy to say that I was shitting myself as I was yet to promote myself to the roads from the park, and the purpose of the ride was to get me out on the roads and used to the traffic. If I had thought it would make any difference, I would have used any excuse to get out of it, but I knew I just had to bite the bullet and get on with it. Anne was really great and very patient with me. I am more than capable but just need to get my confidence up. All in all we covered around 8 miles, and celebrated with a cuppa in the garden. I say in the garden, however Anne was horrified to hear that the small piece of overgrown lawn in front of my lounge window is as far as my "garden" goes, so, a correction, we celebrated with a cuppa on the pavement!

Anne lives on the route for Stratford Tri so we have agreed that next week I will ride over to her house, about 4 miles, and we will complete a route from there to Stratford and back. In the meantime, Anne has given me some homework to do to go out on the main roads on my own beforehand.

Sunday morning was of course London Marathon, which I had originally planned to go down and shout support at miles 13&23. Unfortunately I had to miss this as a race I had entered had been rescheduled to Sunday morning so the plan was to get the race done and back to the house to watch the Marathon from the comfort of the sofa. 

I was running the race with @Hulahair, and as Warwick Castle is a short walk from my house we walked up, registered then had half an hour or so to chill out before the race started. This gave us just enough time to see the MASSIVE hill leading up to the finish. After the warm up by the crazy aerobics lady, we walked to the start line, where we were set off by an actual Knight. The route included lots of laps of various areas of the castle, which isn't ideal, but it was for charity and something to do on a Sunday morning! We started with a few laps of the courtyard, where Clair seemed to really put her foot down, Clair is much faster than me, but I went with her anyway, why not?! We left the courtyard, down a steep hill and over the bridge to do two laps of the island, which is pretty long grass where you had to dodge the rabbit holes, so after the first lap it was pretty much one of those "fucking hell another lap of that to go", that feeling remained pretty much for the rest of the race. After completing both laps we had that steep hill to climb back up (oh the joys) and taking Clairs advice I just got up it as quickly as possible then headed for the final lap around the grounds, finishing off with that long slog up to the finish. Considering I thought this would be a nice flatish run around the castle grounds, I can assure you it fucking wasn't! It was so tough, that even though I wasn't racing, I was happy with a time just over 34 minutes (the long grass, jumping over rabbit holes and countless hills really slowed us down after the first mile, and proved I much prefer the pavements!) and came in as 3rd women, and 6th or 7th overall! Medaltastic!

After the race I went home and plonked myself in front of the TV and watched London Marathon, whilst stalking the runners that I knew were running via the tracker on the website. Twitter was going mental all day, it was ace! I have to say, London Marathon will forever be special to me, it was the most incredible experience and I would be a fool not to want to do it again, one day. Six months ago I said never again, it takes over your life, but after watching the race yesterday I will revisit it one day, because it is so worth it! Not quite yet though, I have the triathlons over the next couple of years to keep me busy and to get me into shape, but I have a score to settle with that race, a year ago it broke me, I need to show it who's boss. So I will make a return to London Marathon, but this time I will be ready to set a respectable time, and I've been challenged to 4:45, so 2015 here I come!

After an afternoon lounging around stalking my twitter mates (massive congrats to @DanRunning, @StuartAmoryPT, @HelenStothard, @TeamB_O_B, @twentyfourhours and @jlcurrie's brother Stu, along with the 35000 other runners and new members of the #VLMfamily, it's a special place to be) and watching the F1, it was time for my homework.

I had arranged to go for a cycle with Sharon (@buggsie01) on Sunday evening. Sharon had very kindly offered to come to me and to go from my house but in a moment of madness I said no, that I would ride the two miles to her house and we would go from there. Before I had time to talk myself out of it I got ready and pushed the bike out of the house and off I went. Apart from a bus getting far too close for comfort as I pulled off from traffic lights the ride over to Sharons was actually ok. From Sharons we did a further 6 miles back to my house, the route was really nice, I have ran it in the past with Sharon so I knew it well, and involved some right turns, islands and a couple of hills which were hard work. In fact, during the biggest hill I had to stop a couple of times, the road was very narrow so when a car came steaming up the hill I shit myself, then after I got going again I got out of the saddle and promptly steered myself into a bush, so this is me at the top of said hill:

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, apart from nearly crashing into Sharon and taking her out! What I have established is that the part of the tri that I was dreading I no longer need to worry about, because even though you have to be cautious, it's not as scary as I thought.

Sharon asked me a question when I arrived at her house that really got me thinking. What is more of an achievement, completing London Marathon last year, or this? Because as Sharon said, I could always run, I just needed to run further, but with this, I have got over my fear of water and taught myself how to swim, and got myself on a bike after over 20 years and now riding on the roads, all in the space of a few weeks. 

3 and a half weeks to go, I'm not bloody ready!!

I don't think anyone who knows me would be surprised to know that with 3 and a half weeks to go until my first triathlon, I'm nowhere near ready, or at least I don't think I am! This is no ones fault but my own, so I am going to do what anyone else would do and blame work, you didn't honestly expect me to actually take the blame myself did you? Shame on you!

So, with work being the blame for just about everything, this is where I am at with my training:

...........................................well, I can run (if you consider 10 minute miles to be good enough?!) I'm not particularly concerned about the run, it is only 2.5k being a super sprint and I know I have it in my legs so I have a couple of small brick sessions planned just to get used to the transition between the bike and the run, as I imagine that a 10 minute sit down in between disciplines may be frowned upon.

My swimming is coming on well, to be honest the fact that I am swimming up to a kilometer at a time of breaststroke is a miracle in itself, as 2 months ago I couldn't put my head in the water without getting freaked out. My technique is something to be desired and I would love to complete the 200m required with front crawl but try as I might I can not get my breathing right and I tire very easily. I am persevering though and my goal is to complete one length crawl, one length breaststroke in the race itself. I am due to swim tonight so I shall update you later on twitter as to how I get on.

Cycling is a real problem! This is where I really need to go back to basics. I have been out around st Nics Park in Warwick a couple of times since I had the bike last week and again I'm a little bit rubbish at this! My problem is the gears really, so I will be going along to Regency Riders on Friday to run through the basics, all a little bit short notice I know but financial restraints meant I couldn't get the bike as quickly as I would have liked. The ride in the race is about 20k and is mainly on country lanes, apart from one section of the route which is on a busy dual carriageway, my nervousness about cycling on the roads will really be tested here!!

The good news is that I have booked a session with a real life Triathlon coach. This is either going to be a brilliant thing, or I'm getting way in over my head!! The session is up at Rutland Water with Mary at Inspire2Tri, this is where I went for the running technique course a few weeks ago. Mary is going to provide a 1-2-1 4 hour session which will involve everything to get me ready for my first event, so I will be going along next week. Mary has assured me that I have nothing to worry about and that I'll have a good day, I am really looking forward to the session, even though I am a little apprehensive, really because swimming and cycling are both so new to me. I think Marys guidance will be invaluable to me as I feel a little bit lost with it all!

Lastly, I want to say a huge congratulations to @TheIron_Bear who competed in 2 races last week, performing amazingly in both. It's totally his fault that I have got myself involved in triathlons, so if it all goes pear shaped lets all blame him, yeah?

Also, it is a year ago that I ran London Marathon. I sit here today 38lbs lighter after a bit of a roller coaster year and even though I promised myself that I would never do it again (shin splints are not fun) I do feel a little jealous that I am not taking part this year as it really is something special. So, best of luck to the whole #VLMFamily, including @DanRunning, @TeamB_O_B, @HelenStothard, @bobbydazzler. You will have an amazing day, enjoy every moment and smile!

Ok, so I'm off to splash about in the pool for an hour, thats swimming, right?

Don't try this at home kids!

I had been a little nervous in the build-up to this race, secretly I haven't trained for it and I've not covered the distance since London Marathon last year, mainly because of the shin splints caused by said marathon and secondly because I have been far too busy working in the gym and swimming recently that I sort of forgot to train. A classic case of "don't try this at home kids!" I have to say though, I am not the only one who had under prepared for a race, as @TheIron_Bear is competing in a half marathon tomorrow, that he decided to enter on Friday! Luckily, his overall fitness will see him through as long as he doesn’t go mad and go for a PB!

Had this of been any other race then I would have dropped out due to being under prepared, but this is Regency Runners home race, the atmosphere is incredible and the route is great, a little hilly for the first 5k then as soon as your off the golf course its flat all the way. The race is so well supported by the locals in Leamington and Warwick and Spa Striders do a great job at marshalling, being runners themselves, they obviously understand the importance of positive and cheery marshals.



Another reason that I wanted to run today is that we were running to raise awareness for CRASAC which is a great charity based in Coventry who provide support and work with survivors of sexual violence and abuse. This is a great charity and I know that we all seem to give to many charities but if you have a spare couple of quid, I am sure it would be gratefully received. Have a look at the website to see the services that they provide and where your money will go. Here's the charity page if you would like to donate, and thanks, you're ace!! http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/regencyrunners

Ok, so onto the day. We met at Sarah's house whom conveniently lives opposite the start line, so this was perfect for pre-race loo stops and the like. We also had a chance to have our photograph taken before we made our way to the start line. Not all Regency Runners made it to Sarah’s house, but I think a good 60% of us who were running were in the photograph, including Tabby, who had volunteered to be our mascot for the day!:

The weather was perfect, a little chilly but I was comfortable enough in my Regency Runners t-shirt. We headed to the start line and found our positions, I was going to run with Anne, who like me has some injury issues and also like me hadn't done too much training. Anne is also by reputation a very sensible runner and good at pacing, not like me who hurtles off then wonders why I'm knackered at 4km in, so we thought we would make a good pairing.



The first mile was a little squashy, but the Regency 10km is well known for having a bottle neck at the start as you enter the golf course, so it was expected, which I guess is why they limit the run to 2000 runners. There is a hill on the golf course, which you hit the steepest part at around 2 miles in, at this point we decided to walk up the rest of the hill, as we were both getting some pain in our shins. Had Anne not spoken out, I would have kept running, and then regretted it in the afternoon, so I took the sensible approach and stopped to walk for a short time. Getting to the top of the hill is great as you know that the rest of the run is all downhill or flat, usually I love downhill, but not with shin splints!!

The rest of the run went really well, we had another couple of walking breaks to take care of our injuries and helped each other around the course, smiled for the cameras and thanked the marshals as we passed them. We had talked about the finish all the way around and how we both like to wind up and sprint to the finish, but had talked about how it probably wasn't a sensible idea seeing as though sprinting would cause our legs to be more painful! As we ran through Jephson Gardens, we saw Anne's sister and also Team Currie for the second time which seemed to speed us up a little without us realising, then Anne's physiotherapist was cheering us on as we exited the park and again we speeded up. Here the crown support was amazing, something that Leamington should be really proud of and it's great to see so many people come out to support the runners. As we turned the corner into the finishing straight, Anne just said "fuck it, lets go" and we both sprinted to the finish. I thought Anne would comfortably beat me here as she doesn't hang around but to my surprise I managed to stick with her, I think this had more to do with her injury that my ability to sprint!!

So, hooray! Another great Regency 10k! As usual all the runners waited until the last Regency Runner had finished and celebrated with Tanya’s beehive cake and chatted about the race. We also had a group photograph taken by the photographer for the local paper along with Tabby in the Bee costume, who had had a great time supporting the runners and entertaining the kids in various spots along the course. I of course was very pleased with the latest addition to the collection!

Loads of the girls got PBs today, which is great! I was 2 minutes slower than last year, but I'm not worried as I had no intention of going for time today as the pain wouldn't have been worth it, I was simply going to finish, which I did, and thanks to Anne I did it in style! The legs have been iced this afternoon and I have also been in touch with my physiotherapist Cathy so I'll be visiting her in the coming week to have another look at the shins, I am also going to get some well overdue new trainers! These can only be described like tyres in Formula 1 as having "gone off the cliff" and I am sure every time I run in them they do me more and more damage! So those are the jobs for the week.

Another job I have is to by a cycle helmet as my bike was kindly delivered today by Tracey. Oh and seeing as I am only 5 weeks out from the triathlon, I should make sure that I can still ride it!

I know that many Twitter mates are have raced today so a massive congratulations to all runners (far too many to mention! And best of luck to @TheIron_Bear in his race tomorrow evening, as is it is a route that he runs regularly I know he will do great, even if he hasn’t had time to prepare! 

A real life Ironman, in the actual flesh!

As I've posted before I'm not really much of a runner. Yes I run (stumble) and yes I run with a club (more for the social aspect) and yes I've completed a marathon (emphasis on the word completed, not ran) but I still don't really see myself as a runner. My pace is poor, hardly the 7 minute miles I'm constantly reminded makes a runner "awesome" and my technique is shocking, so when the opportunity came up at running club to attend a running technique workshop I jumped at the chance.

The workshop was out at Rutland Water where Mary Hardwick has a studio and runs Inspire2tri. Mary is a Level 3 British Triathlon coach and Personal Trainer, she is also an age group gold medalist and the coach of Zoe Smith, a real life Ironman and 4th fastest amateur women in the UK, so considering my goals this year and next in regard to completing triathlons, meeting her was pretty much amazing!

The workshop was two hours, so after a run around the village and continued warm up in the studio, we set to work for the next hour to work on our technique. This included really going back to basics, but definitely what I needed to get me thinking about how I run! The session was put together really well and Mary explained everything well with Zoe demonstrating to the group so we could try the drills out and get a good understanding of why these techniques are so effective.

After a short break we split into two groups and I stayed inside the studio to be videoed running on the treadmill. We were able to see the results of this straight away and confirmed that I am a mid foot runner but I need to work on lifting my feet more as they are quite low. I also tend to flick my right foot out but I am only assuming that this is a family thing as my sister does it too!!

After the rest if the group had also been videoed, we went outside for a hills session with Zoe, which I was really looking forward to. I quite like hills, but I was especially looking forward to this session with Zoe, purely because she is an Ironman, and a 3 hour marathon runner! Phew!

The session seemed to go really quickly, but this can only be a good thing right? I also found it really inclusive and a comfortable environment to be in, as there was a range of abilities on the course.

The centre was roughly 60 miles away from home so it was a fair drive, but completely worth it, such good value for money. When I got home I got straight on the website to see what else they offer and I'm really keen to visit Mary and the team again as I make this transition into the world of triathlon, so I have sent off my inquiry and am looking forward to hearing from them to get some real guidance with triathlon as I feel a little bit lost with it all, so watch this space!

Tomorrow sees my favourite race of the season, the Leamington Regency 10k. I'm not planning on going crazy, my shins will see to that, but I just want to go and enjoy it, so since those hill sessions earlier I've iced the shins and taped them up so I'm just about ready to go!