It’s ages since I even looked at this blog. In August 2021 I started writing a review of the Yorkshire Lass cycle sportive. I never finished the post. A few days after completing the longest bike ride in my life I broke my ankle. My friend and I had decided it would be good to try Stand Up Paddleboarding. My social feed was full of people enthusing about SUP accompanied by pictures of them gliding serenely across smooth blue waters….
Looking back on the last 2 months it’s hard to believe how much life has changed. We were due to fly to Lanzarote on Sunday the 15th of March for a week of training and relaxation at Club La Santa. I’d been looking forward to it for weeks, desperate to get away from the constant rain in Manchester. I’d started planning my activities. I was looking forward to getting off the turbo trainer and outside for some long bike rides….
I’ve always loved sport. Watching it that is. As a young child I was fascinated by the Olympic games, avidly following as many sports as I could. I still have the scrapbook I kept from the 1976 games in Montreal. My father was a keen cricket fan and summers were spent listening to Test Match Special and watching the Sunday League matches on TV. But we weren’t a particularly sporty family. Dad was very much an armchair fan. Fishing was…
When I entered (and completed) my first triathlon back in 2016 it was meant to be a one-off. Something to tick off the bucket list. A challenge I could feel proud of achieving. Over 3 years on and it has utterly transformed my life. Days of the week now revolve around exercise. Saturday – Parkrun and swimming. Sunday – long bike ride. Wednesday – running track. I’m now exercising 5 days a week and often twice a day. It’s far…
After months of training, anticipation and nail biting, it was finally here – my first triathlon. The idea of doing the triathlon came from a lovely group of ladies I “met” on Facebook. Some had done the event last year and were keen to have another go. So team “Flat Friends” came about. Of course no endurance event is complete without the pre-race pasta party, so on the Saturday evening we all met up in Maidenhead for a hefty dose…
Sunday was the big day, my first triathlon – and I did it. I managed the Super-Sprint at Eton Dorney in 2 hours 6 minutes & 55 seconds. Well within my target of 2 hours 20. I’ll post a proper review soon but here are just a few pictures from the day. The 400m swim was challenging (!) The 21km bike ride was fast and flat but with a tricky wind across the lake. I had to walk most of…
Just a week before my triathlon and I’m starting to get nervous. Things haven’t really been going to plan. Nothing disastrous, but I’m not feeling as well prepared as I’d like. After my trip to Spain I was aiming to get a good bit more training in the following 2 weeks before taking it easier in the week running up to the race. But my body was telling me otherwise. I felt tired after the holiday and a hectic week…
Warm weather training. It sounds good doesn’t it? Like a proper athlete. A few months ago I received an email which contained a link to a triathlon training camp. Out of curiosity I had look, thinking that it would be way above my level of fitness/competence. Which is how I discovered the lovely Mas Pelegri near Girona in Catalonia. The organised training camp sounded a bit too much like hard work but you can book a stay and then take…
At the end of April I finally managed to swim 400m (the super-sprint triathlon distance) non stop in the pool. But my triathlon event is at Eton Dorney and the swim takes place in the olympic rowing lake – quite a different prospect. With the weather approaching something that looked almost like Summer, I decided it was time to get outside and have a go at swimming in open water. I’m very fortunate that there are plenty of open water…
When I signed up for the triathlon I wasn’t sure if I wanted to use it to fundraise for charity. But after some thought I felt that it would be a wasted opportunity if I didn’t. I’ve been supporting MSF (Medecins sans Frontieres/Doctors without Borders) for the last few years and I’m in absolute awe of the work they do. Going into the most difficult situations and helping people in desperate need. From being bombed in Afghanistan to working on…