Variety is the spice of life

Well my life certainly isn't boring. I write this from the train tonight following a discussion dinner I went to with Will Hutton, political journalist and commentator. Really interesting and enjoyable evening even if arriving in Piccadilly did make me realise how much I've grown out of London. Some call it vibrant; it felt downright claustrophobic to me.

Since the last blogpost, lots has happened. Did a turbo session last night even though it hadn't been scheduled and had already run in the morning (as I knew I wouldn't be able todo it tonight). Also had another rude awakening at 4.45 and 5.45, a swim as there was no point going back to sleep and, biggest of all, the closest Ironman quitting wobble I've had yet. Probably just the tiredness but just felt pulled in so many directions and it made for lots of eye water!!

But, have got a grip and realised that if celebrities with dubious training pedigree can cycle from John O'Groats to Land's End in a relay over 80 hours at -15, then this is still wide open to me. I just need to be better at asking (and paying for) help.

So, still in the game but do think a full night's sleep wouldn't go amiss. On the way to the dinner tonight, had to be woken up by a fellow passenger at Waterloo. Oh, the shame of it!

Pain barriers

Nice rest day yesterday - even felt like I could have trained most of the day. Did hit me in the evening though just as I was about to do the ironing. Just couldn't face it so left it hoping the elves would come....they didn't.

Terrible night. Dora whimpered for about an hour and a half solidly. Went in a couple of times and did as much as I could for her but there's a tooth coming front bottom row and I think it's giving her big grief. Last time I looked at the clock was 3.35 and then the alarm went off at 6 for my swim. Decided to sack that and run instead.

As soon as I started I got really painful stomach cramps and it took me about 5 minutes to run upright. Luckily it was a beautiful late winter morning with the sun and mist rising above the racecourse and I had taken my iPod so I ran through it. it's all good practice training through the pain as I'm sure on the day, there'll be plenty of that. Managed the 45 min session and when I got back Dora, Chris and Elsie were still out for the count.

So glad I pushed through and that the session is done. Now just need to find an hour to swim today....

Danbury Training Camp and other stories

Feels like an age since I last updated the blog. Been a busy old week and no mistake. Bit of a highlight week at work but it also generated a fair amount of stuff to do and Chris has also been working hard so have needed to plan carefully.

Had decided to buy a treadmill so that I can still run if there are no childcare options. It arrived (when the delivery driver finally got his a** out of bed) but, typically, came with a million screws and instructions so my plan of a brick on Thursday had to be abandoned. Sorry but on that score, happy to defer to a man. No matter, as I managed to do a run which included efforts instead. Then on Friday took a half day and got out on the bike and then a run straight afterwards so brick got done eventually. Should have listened to the woman in the bike shop when she warned about wind though. She must have thought I was either a legend or a waffler when I announced that I thought the journey there was all right. It was literally like cycling into a brick wall on the way back.

Then, bright and early on Saturday, Dora and I headed off to Jona and Susan's for the Danbury Training Weekend! Alice and Paul came too and Team Austria 2010 headed out for our 2.5 hour ride leaving Susan doing her children's entertainer bit. We were really lucky to get a gap in the weather and it was dry. Great ride with lots of lovely quiet country lanes and great company. Flew by compared to the monster turbo sessions. Also got a top speed of 28.7mph out. Woo hoo!




Got back and Susan had done an awesome job - the girls were very excited as they'd done dressing up, Play Doh, playing in the wendy house and general chasing about!




All celebrated with a greedy curry and bumper bags of M and Ms. Great evening even though Chris was working hard again and didn't arrive till 7am on Sunday.

Took a little time to get going this morning after late night and restless children.



But, a plan's a plan and the 4 of us went running in the woods for an hour which was seriously muddy but lots of fun.

End of a great week and lovely to see and train with friends. Don't feel half as depleted as I expected to. Perhaps the programme is paying dividends...

Rest

Rest day was lovely - all about chocolate really. I'm actually in danger of becoming obsessed with the stuff. But, looking at the heart rate monitor on Sunday night and seeing that I had burned around 5000 calories during Week 11, who the hell cares?!!

The other bit about rest is that I need more of it. Dora has suddenly reverted to helpless infant and Monday night had to go into her 7 times, last night 4 (and Chris 2). I might get her to read the section in the book about the importance of those around would-be Ironmen being energy 'givers' and not 'takers'....

All that said, I've pressed on. As she gave me an early alarm call yesterday, I decided I might as well get up and go swimming. Did 2k so short of what the plan said but not bad in 39 mins (inc rest). Also managed a run at lunchtime despite the foul, precipitous weather.

Today I'm going to need to shift stuff around. No chance of getting to the club swim and going to save the brick session I'm supposed to do until tomorrow when my sparkly new treadmill arrives!!!!

God is an Ironman..

...apparently. That's what Chris said today anyway on account of the luck I've had with weather this weekend.

Had a good weekend training. Saturday did 3k in the pool - 171 lengths at our pool(!!) which was fine although Aqua aerobics was on and the bit where they ran round in circles quite literally made it like I was swimming against a current!

Then when Chris got back from personal training and D went to sleep, I got out on the bike. Beautiful, sunny day although a bit nippy on the feet. Struggled for the first hour due to the hills but then seemed to get better as I went on. Did 36.5 miles.

Today, we planned to take Dora to the park as she was desperately in need of air and open space. When we got in the car, it was absolutely tipping down and none of us were particularly in the mood. Had a snack in the cafe and, as if a magic wand had been waved, when we came out the sun was out. I ran while Dora and Chris played in the puddles and looked at all the ducks.


Even though I had a moment during the ride yesterday when I just still could not get my head around how I am going to survive the bike, I have finished this week feeling good. It was also lovely to turn training into a family outing and we both agreed that if it wasn't for training, we probably would have taken the lazy, sitting around option.

Speed surges

The Build Phase of the plan introduces more intensity into the training programme. It is introducing it very gradually and so only amounts to about 5 mins out of an hour session so far. I am not being lulled into a false sense of security though as I know the frequency and duration will increase. The beauty part of Don Fink's plan though is that is so gradual that it doesn't shock the system too badly as is never more than 10% per week.

Had a lovely run at lunchtime on Wednesday. It was a beautiful, sunny day and was able to get along the canal towpath just near the office. Ticked along nicely and, as it was flat, the efforts didn't kill me.

The turbo yesterday wasn't quite as incremental though. Had to work hard and was sweating buckets. Legs pretty wobbly after and still are today but I definitely feel fit at the moment. Hoping to get the bike out on the road tomorrow to give it the acid test. Fingers crossed for no weather/spouse working curve balls.

The starvation is mega too. I literally cannot stop eating! Just saw off full lunch AND creme egg.

If you're going to get ill, may as well do it on a rest day!

Well, Gordon Ramsay did us proud. Despite us being heinously late, they were very welcoming and attentive and, despite my worries beforehand, they had a high chair.

Dora was mostly very good although got tired towards the end so we skipped pud which was just as well as I hadn't managed to crank out my run in the morning.

When we got home Chris needed his bed in a big way and so I dropped Dora with my lovely friend Liz (Dora's 2nd Mum at the moment!). I was supposed to do 1.5 hours but there was no way with a belly full of Roast Pumpkin and Ceps soup, Leek and Pea tartlet, handcut chips and a glass of champagne! But, a run after a monster turbo the night before is a run so managed just over 45 mins. Felt good despite the slight stitch caused by the aforementioned.

Felt fine on Monday until about 10am when was overtaken by some horrible sickness thing. Felt sick as a dog all day but managed to hang on at work till about 4 and then just went home and slept. As quick as it arrived, as quick as it left and woke up this morning feeling normal which is good as Build Phase starts today. Eeek! Chris home tonight so decided to do the Wednesday brick. So, just back from spinning at the gym followed by 15 min treadmill run. Filthy, wet night outside so was the best place for me and nice to see a bike heart rate at 160bpms! Worked hard.

Fighting Demons

Well, the bike ride in Northampton didn't happen. Mum is still pretty out of action and it just wouldn't have been fair to expect her to look after Dora for 3 hours while I cycled. We did all go together to Virgin gym in Northampton though. Dora and Mum sat having hot drinks and snacks while I managed to do a 2k swim. So nice to swim in a 25m pool again. But I do realise how much swim fitness I've lost in just 3 weeks since training with the club. Going to have to bite the bullet and get a babysitter on Wednesday nights.

Chris taking Dora and I to Gordon Ramsay for Valentine's Day (so lucky!!!) so knew today was going to be hard to fit in a 3 hour ride. So, had to bite the bullet and get on the dreaded turbo. As it was a sort of last-minute decision, I hadn't made any dinner as it was 7.30 and didn't want to be finishing the session at midnight. So had a handful of wasabi nuts (that traditional energy snack?!!) and got on with it. It was gruelling, to say the least. Even though I had finally set up the DVD player and was going to watch Series One of 'Gavin and Stacey', I was even fed up with that after Episode 2. Had to go back to the iPod in the end. Somehow managed to drag my weary carcass through the session although can honestly say I only felt good for about 20 mins of it. On the day, I'm probably looking at at least another 5 hours on the bike and I'm really beginning to wonder if it can be done. I NEED to get out on the road.

So, off to Dora's swim class and then our eating fest at Boxwood and then need to shoe-horn a 1.5 hour run in somewhere before Chris goes back to work tonight. Poor him, he's working so hard at the moment. Record late finish this morning....he got home at 8.15am. : (

Post Script

Before I forget and disappear for the weekend, Chris has told me to log that he thinks I've worn out my bottom bracket. Apparently this should mean something like me becoming a cyclist or something. I just hope it doesn't mean I cream in on the Northamptonshire roads at the weekend!

On the up

Have worked out that I actually think the training is getting addictive. As mentioned in Monday's post, I felt really down but it occurred to me as the clouds lifted on Tuesday that the last 3 Mondays I'd been a misery. I know Mondays generally aren't anyone's favourite day but I'm putting it down to missing my endorphin rush. So, all restored now. Have had to juggle the plan around a bit this week as London meetings and Dora being cared for by lots of different and lovely people (she's so flexible, bless her). Tuesday night was all set for a long, fast spin when 15 mins in, Chris walked through the door. Wholly unexpected and the first night he'd been home from work before 11pm for about 2 weeks. I made the most of it and turned my spin into my brick so managed to turbo for 45 and run for 30. Felt so strong on the run and no niggles. Sure warming up on the bike is the biggest reason triathlon works for me.

Yesterday not so fortunate though and he wasn't home till 11.45pm so had to bite the bullet and do the spin. Don Fink's upped the ante a bit this week in preparation for the build phase which starts next week so the session was 1hr 15. Went OK though.

Dora and I off to Mum's tonight for Uncle Ron's funeral so feeding Dora, packing all our overnight stuff (inc travel cots, high chairs etc), bike, bike gear and running stuff when I get home from work will be a challenge. Exhausted just thinking about it.

Down in the dumps

That's how I'm feeling right now. Although I managed to salvage a fair bit from last week's plan, including a 1 hour 15 run in beautiful Bushy Park yesterday, I just feel a bit worn out with training, life and juggling everything. Hoping it's just a 10-week itch and perhaps a rest day will mean I can catch up on sleep and break the back of the work pile that seems to get no smaller. But, worth recording the highs and lows.

On a positive note, at least the cleaner's been so the house looks nice and D got on fine at the new childminder's!

Finding inspiration in the strangest places

I'm going to get slagged for this but 2 hours 45 minutes on a turbo does strange things to people.....

The night's entertainment was its usual mixed bag of rubbishness - Channel 4 News, Take Me Out (yes, again),the National Lottery Show (???) - so I went back to the iPod playlist. Was going through a bit of a rough patch when little Joe McElderry piped up with lyrics that just seemed to hit the nail on the head and drag me out the other side:

"I can almost see it, that dream I'm dreaming but there's a voice inside my head saying you'll never reach it...but I, I got to be strong, just keep pushing on".

Before I got on the bike tonight I really was questioning this whole project. Now I've done this week's long 'ride', my head's back where it needs to be. Thanks Joe/Miley (although still think Olly had the edge).

Goodnight zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Work Sandwich

Woke up feeling slightly restored so decided to test the water by dividing today's run up. Left the car at nursery and ran back. Worked (like a dog) all day and then ran back to pick them up. It was a good way of doing it illness- and injury- wise and also meant it happened because I certainly couldn't have taken an hour out of working this lunchtime. It is beyond busy at the moment so after a trip to the vet and Dora's bed, it was back to the grindstone. Fairly gutting for that reason and the fact that Chris working meant I couldn't go out for my NCT girls' night.

However, the night perked up somewhat when my lovely Chris got some chocolates delivered to me by a courier. Valentine's Day has come early, chez Spink! Question is, will there be any left in a week's time?

Should have listened

to my body. Have had this cold this week and thought it was minor but it's a grower! Felt fine running on Tuesday but last night when putting D to bed, I felt so sluggish. Was really torn about getting on the turbo but something in my head wouldn't let me not train.

I thought about doing just half an hour but after about 20 mins felt much better so did an hour.

But, am paying the price today. Full of cold and having a day off training. : (

Week 9

So, only 2 weeks of the base phase left. Bit daunting but have purposefully not looked at what is in store day by day in the Build Phase. Crossing bridges when we come to it and all that.

Rest day on Monday was welcome and woke up on Monday morning with cold no. 2 of the IM plan. How annoying. It doesn't seem to be too bad and certainly not as bad as the December one. Have avoided the swim so far this week but tested the water with a run last night and felt OK. My friend and (old Ranelagh sparring partner, Jo, was over from Boston for a few days so we went for our first run together in about 6 years. It was great. The hour flew as we didn't stop talking and we think we did about 8 miles. Awesome. The really great news is that, after all this time, she is moving back to Blighty and is going to live in Windsor so am very excited about that. She's already talking about more triathlons so plenty of opportunity to lead her astray!

Off the beaten track

The Sunday run this week was wonderful in Week 8. Chris managed to get the day off (hurrah) so he stayed at home with Dora while she slept and then they both ran to meet me for a Starbucks.


Did a route that I discovered on the wonderful Green Belt Relay a few years ago. Started at Walton Bridge and ran along towpath and along Weybridge Lock. After about 5 minutes, I almost had the place exclusively to myself. Running felt good too. Struggled to keep heart rate in Z1-2 as was so fired up. Also experienced something that is starting to be a regular thing. On my Sunday runs, I always start off a bit sluggish but suddenly about half way through, I get an energy burst, shivers down my spine and can visualise the Finish Gantry on 4th July. With this week seeing the start of Week 9, that day of reckoning getting nearer and nearer!

The title of this post is 'monstrous' given how much I seem to have used it to describe the week.

The fact that the blog hasn't been updated since Tuesday speaks volumes. Despite more days off to look after Dora, it has been 100mph. But, am only 30 mins adrift on the planned training which was a run but probably not a bad thing as that stepper did monstrous things to my calves. It was in a totally different part of the calf from the niggle the other week but it was like the stiffness you get after running after a long lay-off.

Dora had her first sesh at the gym creche which went OK for her after she was reunited with bunny (bad Mummy left it in the bag). So, have done both my swims this week. First one was steady state 2.5k. Well timed out on doing it all but did about 2.1 in 37 mins which isn't too shabby. At Virgin that means 118 lengths (and a lot of tumble turns) but a London Irish player was pretty in awe so it can't be bad!

Mum came back from America yesterday and the ankle is in a pretty bad way. She's also getting used to crutches and being incapacited which isn't easy for her. As she was here though and Dora was in bed, I managed to escape for a run on the road without the baby jogger and felt strong.

As it's a recovery week this week, the Sat ride dropped back to 2 hours but I was determined that would be on the road this time. 2 monstrous Sat turbo sessions in a row are neither desirable nor fun. Fate was smiling on me, it seems, as the family offered to babysit and also woke up to blue skies and sunshine. The added bonus that an impromptu text to Alice meant I got a cycling buddy. Hooray!


We started off in Windsor and, even though neither of us could feel various extremities, we were bathed in sunshine.


I then managed to lead us onto a lovely dual carriageway towards Bagshot so we had our fair share of dealing with muppets devoid of spatial awareness.

1hr 20 in, I checked in with home and Mum was keen to get her ankle looked at the hospital so I headed back and Alice carried on for a bit. So, that left 2 options for the day: 1) Sack the planned training at 1hr 20 or 2)make up the time on the turbo after Dora's lights out. Being the model trainee that I am, I opted for 2) but lesson learned tonight, for God's sake give up 'Take Me Out'. It really is so painfully awful. I feel for all the people on there as the talent is absolutely pitiful. Most the blokes that are on it get their nails done (and wonder why they're single) and tonight some dude came on and did a Billy Elliot ballet number stumbling all over the place. Cringeworthy. So, DVD next week.

Right, monstrously long post and monstrously tired so time for hot powerbar drink, electric blanket and wondering which side of midnight I'll see my husband tonight. One more run to go and then rest day and SLEEP!!!!!!!!!

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

I absolutely promise this photo wasn't staged. What a legend that girl is.

Resourceful or mental?

All kit was laid out ready for a 6am run this morning but when Chris got home from work at midnight last night, he said he had to leave at 6.30 so that was out of the window. Had meetings all day at work so no chance for lunchtime run and no babysitter tonight so decided I would try and do an hour on the Reebok Step our friend Jane has lent me.

Well, I managed 17 minutes and pretty impressed with that tbh. Calves felt like tennis balls so had to get on the turbo. Have decided to turn today's session into tomorrow's brick (even though it was in reverse).

Praying the boss man lets him go in normal time or later tomorrow as a swim and a run down. Failing that, I'm in the market for a treadmill (although I shall not be buying the manual ???? one from Tesco Direct).

Finishing the week off on a high

Well, the 5am start didn't happen! The training load took its toll and just took forever to get going on Saturday - even had to go back to bed when Dora had a nap which is pretty unheard of for me. Then the afternoon was spent with Dora and her little friends Cordelia and Josh at a kids show and had a lovely time. It did mean, though, that I had my 2.5 hour bike session hanging over me all day! Discussed swapping days with Chris to do the Sunday run but he reckoned it could be bad news for my shins. So, at 6.30pm I got on the turbo and turboed through Total Wipeout, So You Think You can Dance and Take Me Out (not having learned from last week). It actually wasn't as boring as I feared but that's because I think I'm getting used to repetition. Also followed 2 structured sessions within the time so that made it a bit more interesting. Also had the curry Chris had ordered to look forward to at the end and that went down a treat.

Then at lunchtime today, rounded off my week with a 1hr 19 min run. C and D joined me on the first lap and she fell almost straight to sleep so they left me and I carried on. Felt really sluggish for the first couple of miles but then felt great. Even did a little over what I was supposed to do.


So, all done and feeling good. That's not to say I won't enjoy my rest day and recovery week (ooh - a whole 1 hour less to do - wow!).

(Ooh edited to say that the other high of the weekend was getting into my favourite jeans - unworn since November 2007. BACK OF THE NET!!!!)