Racing hard, training hard and a small getaway

It's been a few weeks since my last blog update, and in that time I have raced, trained hard and am currently sat writing this on a few days break away with my friends in the north of France. 

St Neots triathlon was on the agenda for a few weeks and I was really looking forward to racing again after having not raced since the end of last year, but also was the first outing for Fruit Salad! Will and I rocked up to St Neots Riverside park (with the usual early start, early breakfast, and hour long drive there). It was to be a lovely day with the weather, but also was a great opportunity to catch up with the tri community, seeing our racing friends Alex and Michelle of course, but also Jono and Kat, Andrea and Sam Anderson. With such a lovely race spot, transition right next to the water, it was bound to be a good race. I had met Keith the organiser a few weeks earlier and he reassured me about the water temperature and the race being well organised (biased of course!). Having racked and wetsuited up it was time for my first Open Water swim of the year (in a race!). It was bloody freezing, and the obvious signs of this was the fact that NO-ONE put their faces in the water until the hooter went off! I managed to get near the front, however I seemingly increasingly so find myself just off the back of the leading pack of swimmers, but ahead of the majority of the pack. Anyway I soon managed to find a few feet to draft off, and before we knew it we were swimming back towards the exit and out of the water in no time. Wetsuit was off in a flash (quick for me) and I was soon hot on the heels of Andrea out of T1. The bike course was lovely fast and flat, and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, soon thinking to myself that I was placed highly as there was hardly any ladies that I passed, mainly men, and I was making great time coming into T2 after 46 minutes! It was however the run that I was most dreading. Having not really run for a long long while properly, and still having issues, I knew that the swim and bike were all I had to base the majority of the race on, with the running training being so limited. Another weird thing that I did at this race was not use a watch so was all on feel. Still I managed to finish well (despite the vomiting again at the end!) and placed around 13th! Happy with the result, with Sam winning the race, Michelle coming a very close second (and feeling rotten ill with cold!) and Kat and Andrea both finishing in the top ten! A great first race back in the game. Not a good race for Will however, as he managed to come out the swim first, but in the confusion of the super sprint race happening first, he managed to end up riding on the super sprint course, adding another 2-3 miles onto his route! Mistake learnt and not forgotten by all of his friends! 

The past couple of weeks have been all about the bike really! Although this week having been stationed in a beautiful French house with friends I have been running both days and really enjoyed it! I have run 3 miles each day and not seen more than three cars (total!). It has been lovely to relax in the run up to this weekend which will be my first Olympic distance triathlon at Grafham water again with Nicetri events. I found their organisation and their friendliness second to none, and with the water warming up nicely, I have planned to swim at Rutland Water with Mary (Inspire2tri) Saturday morning in my nice new Helix Wetsuit that I purchased last week. Hopefully the swim times will steadily improve, but I have to work hard on the swim training, which I have had to painfully say has been really neglected of late. I am not really massively motivated to swim (and get up early to do so) where as I am loving the cycling training and the strength that I am getting from cycling so much. I have enjoyed the running here in France, but I am unsure whether the injury is getting worse on my ankle. It seems to be ok... but I am keeping the runs short and simple. 

A shortish blog but we are just enjoying the last evening in the sunshine here and my G&T is calling me..... Happy training until next time! 

A silver lining to every stolen bike

It's been a long while since I last blogged and there is no real reason apart from being busy! 

Lots has been happening since I last wrote, namely my increase in cycling and decrease in running! Also I had my beloved race bike (my Felt F5) stolen out of the back of my car when I was just about to ride it again after 6 months of being tucked up asleep for the winter. 

I literally had popped into a friend's house for a quick catch up and it was gone! I couldn't believe it, my pride and joy was gone. The police support and general friends support over social media was instantaneous and very helpful, however the prospects of retrieving the bike were very low and I knew from the outset that the bike would unlikely be handed back to me. Immediately I began researching my next wheels of choice, and after looking around briefly, I decided upon the new Giant Envie (or Fruit Salad as she is now called!) and having some exceptional insurance, and also a massive advantage in working for a cycling company, I chose the bike with great advice from Will. It is ladies specific and an Aero Road bike, with some great aero features, and a great price tag! I just have to say that I am really glad that my bike was insured, because even though I had it locked in a car, they still took it and it was worth over £2000 including parts and accessories. Luckily I have friends in the police who are also cyclists who were very kind to me and supportive, but otherwise I have a feeling that they wouldn't have looked very far... I have to say that if someone broke into your house and stole £2000 then it might be a different story. Also keep photos of your bike, with all upgrades etc as that was useful for verification of the bike's value. 

Using my discount to my advantage, I also managed to get a bargain on some tri bars, and pedals, a really sweet ride and certainly better than my old bike in terms of spec. A real delight to ride as it is stiff, responsive and light as anything. I do need to upgrade the wheels, but my bank balance is craving some rest at the moment. 

As for the running, this has been almost non-existent up until last week. My right ankle has been playing havoc with me, which I twisted way back in February when I went skiing. I have rested and rested and rested it, and finally on Friday I decided to go for a little run, and although it was mainly pain free initially, afterwards it was a little bit sore. I have accepted that the probability of running training this season is going be to very limited, and therefore focus on the bike would be more important. I have been attending a few local Bike TTs to try and improve my sharpness ahead of the races I have lined up this summer. I have been a bit more conservative about the races, especially given that my A race is the Vitruvian at the end of August. I want to conserve my legs but also my wallet! Having said that, I have literally just put my registration in for the 2014 edition of the Mallorca 70.3 Ironman event. This is something which I toyed with doing for 2013, but with the London marathon it was never going to fit. Having seen the responses from the people I know racing over there this past weekend, I am keen as mustard to give it a go, and have just received my confirmation email ...

I am planning on racing this coming Sunday at St Neot's triathlon, sprint distance, just to give the legs something to smash out, but after that it's the following races:-

• 22nd June Dambuster Olympic Triathlon- aiming to improve on my performance from last year
• 30th June Oakham Sprint Triathlon- on my own doorstep and on the roads I cycle on, so will be a good event to support! 
• 21st July Deva Divas Sprint Triathlon- a relay event with my Mum and has become something of a tradition!
• 31st August The Vitruvian Middle Distance Triathlon- my first ever half iron distance event!

Other than those races, I did have a couple more lined up, but having just paid the entry for Mallorca 70.3, I think that those few will be enough! I have a few long distance rides planned, and hopefully I can get stronger on the bike, and post some faster bike split times given the past 6 weeks of cycling! I am managing at least 3 rides a week, and have averaged over 100 miles per week. I am trying my best to keep the bike work going, and given that I have a bike fit scheduled for the week (check out http://www.rutlandcycling.com/article/777/professional-bike-fit.html) I had better get performing! 

In other news, my other half Will competed as part of a team at the weekend in the Rat Race: Dirty Weekend at Burghley House, Stamford. It was a 20mile course of obstacles such as climbing through cars and over 6ft high walls! He really enjoyed it! Credit to the team (Photos below) as they did fantastically well despite the toilet queues, and poor organisation!

150m of monkey bars though was a bit destroying.

 Will and his teammates: Paul, Michelle, Alex and Heath

Happy Training Everyone!

It's been a while... a long while

Hello all, 

You might have noticed that I have been a little bit inexcusably quiet for a few months. I suppose there are a number of reasons for my absence, one of them being a new job, the other being trying to find myself in triathlon again. I picked up a nasty Achilles injury as you all know, and this has subsequently led onto dropping out of the London Marathon. With not really enough time and not enough fitness due to a few weeks off running, I decided that the best thing would be to pull out this time. I am gutted obviously as I cannot defer another year. It really is a big blow for me after months of winter run training. So in an effort to concentrate on bigger things, I have entered the Rutland CiCle Classic Sportive which coincidentally is something which in my new job is something that I have to promote! 

I have recently joined the team at Rutland Cycling as their marketing coordinator, so I am combining my love for bikes with work, which is awesome. Part of my job involves triathlon (to some degree) and cycling of course, so it is really cool that I am getting to work on and with bikes for a living! 

Job aside, the training has taken a bit of a turn for the worse with the last week being completely resting up due to a horrible chest infection which I picked up. I am still trying to struggle it off my chest, but other than that, I have a week off this week and Will and I are trying to pack in the training before we go back to work. It was this time last year that you might remember the pictures I posted up of our week off with a packed week of training. What a difference the weather makes! As you are probably all aware, the snow has bitten back in the UK with winter making a ferocious bite even this late on in March. We went out for a cold cold ride yesterday, and even though the roads were (mostly) clear, the snow drifts on the sides of the road were so high! It was my first bike ride outside in a while and I really struggled with the cold and the hills and the wind! Luckily Will and our friend Heath were there to help me through those tough spots. I really felt that I need to improve my cycling, and by quite a lot!

In other news, I have entered a few triathlons for the season ahead, but fully intend on concentrating my efforts on the bike. I really don'w want to struggle so much, and want to be stronger, so am going to do as many TTs as possible and concentrate on the miles and quality sessions on the bike. Also keeping injury free for my A race in August: the Vit. 

There is not really that much more I can tell you about other than I ran the Silverstone Half Marathon which really wasn't that much fun with a twisted ankle (courtesy of the ski trip I took earlier this year). I didn't think it was possible to twist your ankle in a ski boot, but I somehow managed it twice, on the same foot, on the same day. Even now it is giving me some twinges which are really not that pleasant! 

So it is onwards and upwards and trying to get fitter and faster! Hopefully this year will be an accomplishment year and hopefully I manage to get somewhere with this triathlon lark! 

Happy training everyone (hopefully the spring weather will come back soon!)

Kerry

My Achilles Heel

How is everyone? Long time no see, and I am very sorry for that! I have been training like a Trojan, when I can and also have a new job on the horizon! A very busy past few weeks has seen me hand in my notice for Pearson after being handed a very appealing job offer with a company that is very forward thinking and involves my passion for triathlon to some degree. I am going to have to be very covert at this stage, but I shall let you know when things are good to go and tell you!

Up until Christmas training for the London marathon was progressing very well, up until the weekend before Christmas when I began to feel tightness in my left calf and eventually a stiffness in what I can now confirm was the Achilles. After some thought and advice, I decided to leave running for the actual week of Christmas and was able to focus on other sporting activities (and eating and drinking too!).

After the festivities, it was a slow progressive build up to another few successful weeks of running...... that is up until last Sunday (13th Jan). I had decided that I was going to try and increase the mileage in order to feel that the Folksworth 15 (this coming Sunday 20th) mile event was achievable  Anyway after finding a running partner, I was able to run 12.6 miles quite well, up until the final mile when the dreaded tightness crept back into my left calf and ended up with me icing the poor leg and stretching and living in my calf compression guards for the most part of 3 days. (They do get washed though, honest!)

It was highly frustrating to discover that the rest I thought I had given myself, was not nearly enough time to recover from the acute injury I had given myself, and thus on even more advice this week (thanks to everyone who has helped me!) I decided to not run at all this week or next, and given the snow and icy weather we have had, this has really been a bit of a blessing in disguise. I am unsure as to at this moment whether the race will be going ahead, with the snow hammering it down at quite a rate, and that again could be a bit of a blessing as well!

I have been doing plenty of reading about my injury, as you would expect with any obsessive triathlete, and discovered that this kind of injury needs to be approached with a lot of care and consideration as if I am not sensible and do not heed the advice given to me, I am risking the London marathon altogether and not just the training runs that I have planned. At the moment I still have a good 3 months of training which I can string together, and one of my main goals was to be fit and injury free for the start line. It is more important to me that I manage to get to the start line than to finish any of the other races which I have entered.

So what is the actual problem? Well at this early stage I am not 100% sure, but given that I run on my toes and I am training long distances, it seems very likely that I have a form of Achilles tendonitis. I have arranged to see a physio next week, the current physio that I see for another issue, and hopefully she can bring me up to speed with what I have done. At the present moment in time, having ordered an Achilles support, completed my fair share of self-massage and icing the area constantly, the actual pain that I can feel is almost non-existent. But I know that it will only take another longish run to bring out the inflammation. I have also had an extremely painful massage done on the area, but my therapist who I trust implicitly has advised that I need to strengthen the area with lots of different exercises. Achilles Tendonitis is a common overuse injury and is often seen in runners. Being one of the largest tendons in the body and supporting most of your lower leg muscles, this tendon can often get inflamed especially if you overpronate (something which I know that I do) or are increasing your miles too quickly (something which i think I might have done), as well as using your toes in running and pushing off them (I am not a heel striker!). I have been using orthotics with very good results, and I actually think that this has occurred as a result of too many miles too soon, as well as the fact that I run a bit like Bambi up on my toes!

It is not the final nail in the coffin by any means, and with lots of luck hopefully I have caught it at an early enough stage to recognise that I need to lay off, my fitness will not drop off dramatically, and I can keep other things going. For example I have managed to swim 3 times this week, a feat not accomplished since nearly 6 months ago. This also included a 400m TT in a time of 6:33 (nearly a PB by only 4 seconds!) which surprised me immensely. I have also had the opportunity to use a pool belt as a fellow Stamford Tri Club friend has lent me hers.

Another great thing about the moment is that I am going to take a bigger step into coaching for the triathlon club- something which means that I get to use my qualification which I worked so hard for.
Hopefully I can get back onto the running line soon, starting with pool running, treadmill and off-road before getting those all important miles under the belt ready for April. 

And one final thing- happy anniversary to me! It has been a whole year since I started this blog and a couple of stats for you:-
All time blog hits 2600+
This will be my 36th blog post
I have 4 followers
Hits from as far afield as Canada, OZ and Ukraine!

Not much else to report really, but I thought I might share this with you.

Happy Training

Kerry X

PS check out these fellow triathlete blogs
http://paullunntri.blogspot.co.uk/ 
http://samanderson-triathlete.blogspot.co.uk/
meinlycra.wordpress.com

2012 done and dusted, what will 2013 bring?

What a few weeks!

With Christmas fast approaching I have been conscious more than ever with my training to concentrate on consistency and being strong and motivated to get out running even when i felt like staying home. I have managed to do a consistent 6-8 hours training each week for the past 5 weeks (on week 6 now) culminating in 21 miles ran last week.

This week has been a bit more difficult with a slight calf strain meaning that I did my 1st run this week, and have left a few days to recover the pull in my leg. Today will be a run instead and then my long run on Sunday of hopefully around 16km. I have been supplementing my running with core work and gym/weights in order to improve my flexibility and strength as well as overall  body conditioning.

So with 2012 coming to a close, it is probably right for me to reflect on my year and also my year of writing a blog! I cannot believe that it has been almost a year that I first started this blog. I had no intention of doing it this time last year, in January it really was a spur of the moment thing when I wanted to start running again after my injuries.

2012 has had some real ups and some low points but also has helped me learn and progress as an athlete.

Under Will's guidance and training program for starting to run again, I developed some confidence in my abilities and was able to increase my training and speed through the hard work I put in, which meant that I qualified for not only 2013 Europeans, but also the 2012 World Championships in NZ. It has been a great year in terms of my performance, and I would like to add that I think it was my best triathlon season ever, and really it wasn't that great in terms of times, so I know that I can get faster and better even more so!

I think one of the lowest points for me has to be the continued poor weather for a majority of the races that I competed in. It really made things quite difficult and I have learnt from this that being over prepared and training in all weathers is SO beneficial to you as an athlete, and it can make all the difference in where you end up finishing in a race. Mental strength is also crucial here, as I have raced in some pretty miserable conditions this year, and having the mental capacity to believe in yourself and get to the end and finish strongly has been tough.

So what are my 2013 goals then???

With London marathon coming up in around 4 months time, I want to continue my good work with my training running 3 times a week (possibly 4) each and ever week, week in week out. I want to get to the start line injury free. I have stopped thinking in terms of race fit, as i know that by that point I will be pretty tired from the full on training, so I must take the taper very seriously. I just want to get there without a serious injury so that I am able to run the race. I won't be going for a specific time, but in my preparation for the race, I am doing Silverstone Half marathon so I want to make it sub 2 hours at that race.

After this point it will be back to the bike and working on my bike strength heading out in the lighter evenings 4 times per week and spending time in the gym to prepare for a few triathlons ending with my A race- The Vitruvian on the 31st August. I know that this will be a huge step up and I need to get back into the pool. I feel as if I have been lazy with my training lately, but I think that it is just to do with the fact that I am either running or in the gym. I miss the bike and swimming, so by getting back on it after the London Marathon, I know that I will be highly motivated by that point! My goal at the Vitruvian is to complete the race and just enjoy it. I probably will readjust my goals throughout the year, but for now I have to concentrate on the marathon training and getting to London.

So for now, happy training and all the best for 2013 whatever your goals may be!

Kerry

(PS enjoy Christmas, remember that you can have that extra mince pie, so long as you have a tough session to help work it off!!!)

Marathon Training off to a great start!

Another Monday, another week of training DONE! I am now onto week 4 of marathon training with 3/3 long runs successfully completed over the past 3 weeks. I have been trying to be consistent with my running, completing 3 each week (as well as a hockey match!) all as part of my 24 week plan. This last week was a bit more unsuccessful with other parts of my training (hockey match cancelled, and a night away from home) but I still got my three runs completed, culminating in a 14.5km run yesterday in the bright sunshine and icy roads! This time of year is particularly tricky for cycling and running (not  so much swimming!) as the roads and weather certainly play the largest consideration for what you decide to do. Earlier this year I had to go off on the MTB (see Feb post) as the snow and temperatures dictated that going out on the road bike would have been suicidal.

Will has been turboing an awful lot more than he ever has, which is great as he is still getting those miles in, and his back seems better now so is back running again (see his blog http://meinlycra.wordpress.com/) for regular updates on how he is getting along.

Anyway back to me and my training!

I have been aiming to complete around 7/8 hours training each week and building up the running miles slowly with Body Balance classes and weights and core training each week to help build up my strength and conditioning. I am missing the cycling, and I actually thought I would be able to fit it in somewhere, but with the dark nights and icy roads, I really do not want to compromise my running training, and have had to find it within myself to accept that this winter running HAS to be my priority and if there comes a night where I could get on the turbo, I would actually rather get in the pool for some low impact training. I am missing the saddle, and come April time after the marathon, I have got quite a few triathlons in mind to sharpen the speed and get ready for the all important middle distance event at the end of August.

It is quite weird and different to have running as my primary focus, but I am really relishing the change and enjoying it. I have the aim now of going out for a run and enjoying it, trying to keep a constant pace and just really keep going. I have been incredibly lucky with the weather, and also with the company I have enjoyed whilst doing these long runs.

My Sunday runs have looked like this:-

• Sunday 18th November : 9.5km around Hambleton Peninsular- a fairly flat start and then the second half is rather undulating. I was lucky enough to tag behind my friend Andrea for this run as my first one to break me in slowly.

• Sunday 25th November : 11.5km from Normanton Car Park over the Dam to Whitwell and back. A challenging run not least because the wind was howling an absolute gale, but luckily I had another friend Tim with me to shelter me from the wind somewhat on the Dam!

• Sunday 2nd December : A lovely sunny day greeted me, rather than the hangover from Stamford Tri Club Xmas party! The run was to be 14km and I was to set off from home. Taking a look at a couple of running websites where people share their routes, I was pleased to find one of the right length. I took Will's Garmin with me and managed to record the actual time and distance rather accurately. I completed 14.43km in just under 1 hour 24 minutes (1:23:55) recording an average pace of 5:49 per km.

Looking at the data from yesterday's run I was really pleased and this has boosted my confidence massively about my ability to run this marathon. Although the pace was fairly slow, I was really pleased that I managed to get around and felt like I would be able to run further should I need to. I also found that my pace generally got a bit quicker as I was more warmed up.

Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come, and taking it steady and surely is the right way forward considering how I was injured last year.

This week is a fairly intense week with an hours bike session for a research study I am taking part in (VO2 max test was a month ago) and finishing the week off with a 16km run on Sunday. Here's hoping for more good weather this Sunday! 

Happy Training!

Kerry

What's next in store?

For those of you that have been following my ever rambling blog posts you will have noticed that I have been quiet for a couple of weeks. This has nothing to do with anything really! In fact i have just been having a couple of weeks of R & R (rest and relaxation) and eating, drinking and doing whatever I felt like, which in all honestly was nothing!

I also had my 26th birthday during this time, so really it was well planned with the drinking and resting on my schedule for the time being.

But hey ho, you didn't tune in to read about my wild party animal ways- of which I am glad to say there are not many, but you came to read about what I am up to at the moment and what 2013 has in store for me.

Winter is virtually upon us now with those shorter days and longer nights, (cold dreary and defiantly not motivational at all!) and I have this very week started to ease back into training. For me the next few months have taken a bit of a change from the norm (norm being 10-12 hours of running, swimming and cycling each week- if that's normal for any person then you must be a triathlete as well?!) to mainly just running. Running. Running. And maybe even a bit more running!

This photo is taken from a couple of years ago when I completed the Chester Half Marathon in May. It was my second ever Half and I missed the crucial 2 hour mark by 1 minute! Gutted.

Anyway, as many of you that regularly read might know, I got my coveted spot into the London Marathon 2013. I had actually got this place to run this April (2012) but due to chronic shin splints I deferred my place.

I have drawn up a plan as helped by My Asics and I am able to see exactly how far each run needs to be. I am basing my winter miles on 4 runs per week with the longest one naturally being on a Sunday. This won't increase much past 10 miles before the end of 2012.

I have entered a few running events in order to prepare me for the actual Marathon where I know there will be tens of thousands of people running and therefore I want to have some kind of racing experience prior to this.

The races which I am doing are:-

• 20th January 2013- Folksworth 15 (15 miles)
• 17th February 2013- Stamford 30km (Valentine's 30km)
• 3rd March 2013- Silverstone Half Marathon

Realistically I want to get to the start line in as best possible shape that I can be and then I want to be able to have run a couple of long runs (18-20 miles) to be as well prepared as I can be without getting injured. The other point is that I want to be injury free as much as I can be. On the back of this thought, I have begun to go to Body Balance classes at my local Gym. Even though it sounds quite poncey and fuddy-duddy, it is anything but. As a mixture of Tai-Chi, Yoga and Pilates, it relies on good core strength and strong mindset as well as thighs of steel! It has made me so much more aware of my body and what needs strengthening. Supplementing this will be two core sessions each week of around 45 minutes in order to give my body the best grounding as possible.

And even though swimming and cycling look as though they will be getting a back seat for the meantime, I plan on trying to cycle at least once a week and swimming twice a week to relieve the stress and impact of the running.

From January onwards, the mileage will increase and then taper off towards marathon day.

After this my year is looking towards the Vitruvian at the end of August. Being my first ever Middle-distance event will be challenging and tough, but something that will be a good aim for next year. I had so much internal pressure to qualify for the Worlds this year that I think having a different goal and challenge will be something that I can put my mind and body into.

Hopefully this Winter will be uneventful and I will manage to get those all important running sessions done.

Happy Training everyone! :)