All a bit too quiet

So... where have I been all this time I hear you cry! I have been an exceptionally busy bee. Firstly I have been away on my holidays to South Africa... a few photos below and secondly in that time I have been away I have exercised a grand total of once! My time was greatly taken up with visiting family in Cape Town and exploring the sights and sounds there before heading to Johannesburg for a family wedding before topping it off with a visit to one of the world's best places- the Kruger National Park. Although I took both my running things and swimming stuff with me, it was very difficult to even try and get out for a run. And truth be told it was great to get away from the UK and visit all of Will's family and not exercise for a change and try to put some weight on whilst I was away. I was also in desperate need of some relaxation and recovery time and I think my body was at it's last breaking point before New Zealand in exactly 4 weeks time.

The holiday was wonderful but with coming back to the UK and it's dreadfully cold weather (South Africa was heading into its Summer!) I was prepared and more than motivated to come back and train hard.

We arrived back yesterday and after a 3 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon to combat the lengthy flight home, we went for a 6.5km jog. I say jog but my muscles are feeling rather sore and stiff today. I have also booked to see a physiotherapist as my hip problems are just not shifting. I thought that with a couple of weeks rest and recovery it would help, but no..... still there!

I have got 4 weeks left to train what I can and refine my fitness and get some strength and speed back. I have not really lost the overall base fitness, but just the sharpness that comes with two weeks off.

I am off to a hard swim session tonight which will probably floor me, but all the while I know I can probably hold my own. Will is going to write me a 4 week plan which will take me up until the Worlds and then I really plan on some serious time off for a few weeks.

In other news... I am going to be writing for Rutland Cycling as a blogger, so watch out for some original material on their website. http://www.rutlandcycling.com/content/

As well as this I am racing this weekend in London at the biggest triathlon ever at the Excel. A bit of a funny arrangement as I am racing at 8.30am and should be done by 11am and Will isn't racing until 2.30pm! It will be strange to finish and then get to watch him race as well.

Report will follow this weekend.

Happy Training!

Kerry

A Big Fat Thank you!

I haven't blogged in a wee while and thought I better say a big thank you to everyone that has helped me within the past few months to help me to get to New Zealand.

Two weeks ago, Sara Mickleburgh and I (she is also going to New Zealand too) held a raffle and bake sale in Oakham park. We managed to raise an exceptional amount of money. I have also had a very kind donation made to me by the Lions of Rutland. I have to say the raffle prizes donated were amazing and we raised lots through ticket sales as well as through cake sales on the day. We were blessed with amazingly hot weather (although the cakes did suffer a bit) and we had the help of Sara's family to assist us on the day.

I want to thank all of those that bought raffle tickets but also to those who kindly just donated money. Raising money for a trip of a lifetime has been really hard work, but thanks to everyone's help and generous spirit I will now have the chance to race in GB colours.

Thank you!

In other news, I have been asked to blog for Rutland Cycling, so that will be happening after my holiday to South Africa (family wedding and family visit- Will's family!).

Training has been going well, although I have found that the weather has played a huge role in what training I am doing. I am going away this weekend for 18 days and therefore before I go I am doing a huge bit of training before my return. 23rd September is the London Triathlon at which I hope I beat my previous result and with a distinct lack of training too!

Happy Training everyone!

Kerry

Faster than a bolt of lightening.

I hope that you are all enjoying the coverage of the Olympics?

I certainly have been. After watching the opening ceremony on the 27th July it has been non-stop TV Olympics in our house. I have to say that watching a home Olympics has been truly inspiring, but also I don't think I have ever watched this much television!

I have been good enough to avoid most of it during the day whilst working, but in the evening, most social activities or training is totally planned around the events that we want to watch.

We have managed to see most of the medal events which we have won, I was even lucky enough to go with some friends to watch the very first Gold medal being won at Eton Dorney Lake. Thanks to Alex and Michelle for taking me with them to watch.

After the rowing event, we managed to work out that we could just about make it over to watch the Men's Cycle TT event. We were incredibly lucky as we got there with about 30 minutes to spare and watch the 40 or so men blitzing their hearts out over 44km. It was with a huge roar that we knew Bradley Wiggins was about to come through, and watching him zoom past us I was absolutely amazed that a man could go that fast on two wheels. It appears that he completed the course in a little over 50 minutes. He was averaging around 56kms per hour.

Next time you are out on your bike, just see how fast you can manage. I clocked around 63kms per hour on Saturday out with Will on the bikes. That was downhill, tucked into the aero position and absolutely belting it on the pedals. Just goes to show you what some people are capable of is beyond most people, which is why I suppose it is the Olympics and it is the best of the best of the best and they are peaking for that one day. It is amazing.

Team GB have really done us proud this year and Saturday was no exception. Super Saturday pulled us a record 5 gold medals with three on the track and field. Our poster girl Jessica Ennis didn't let us down. I was enthralled by the Women's Triathlon on Saturday morning at Hyde Park. I was absorbed by the event and thrilled to see so many supporters. Will and I were also scouting the best places to stand for tomorrow. We are heading to London tonight to stay at a hotel close to Hyde Park to be there when hopefully we will see the first ever British Men to win a triathlon medal since it was introduced in the Sydney Games in 2000. I am beyond excited that I imagine tonight I won't be able to sleep. I watched as Helen Jenkins was brought on by Lucy Hall who showed how strong she really is on the swim and the bike. I was then willing Helen on during the run where the strongest runners were really pushing the pace. It was around 1-2 miles from the finish that Helen began to drop off. I then knew it was all over. I even got quite teary and emotional, knowing that after all that hard work, time, effort and sacrifice there wasn't to be a medal at the end for her. At the end of the race, I was left speechless (as were probably most people) when after 2 hours of flat out racing, the win came down to a sprint for the line with Lisa Norden being edged out by Nicola Spirig by a cat's whisker. They clocked the same time, and a photo finish had to decide the gold, which is unprecedented in triathlon!

Crossing the line in 5th position, Helen Jenkins, our golden girl of triathlon was holding back the emotion as she explained that she had been training through injury for most of the last 10 weeks after her win in San Diego. I was in tears watching this lovely quietly spoken Welsh-girl just apologise for not being the winner. In my opinion, she had tried her hardest and had been hiding an injury that threatened her even being on the start line.

I was appalled however by the absolute blatant patronising from the BBC interview 2 minutes after Helen had finished. With a simple "Bad luck Helen" as she walked away. What a way to congratulate an athlete on a stellar performance which at the end of the day was not her best, but was the best she could manage given the circumstances which became known at the end.

I can only go on to say that the Team GB girls tried their up most and even with a crash for fellow athlete Vicky Holland (again which the BBC failed to show!- ITU coverage is much better maybe they could learn a trick or too) which meant that she was in the back group for the bike and worked her way back up the field on the run into 26th position.

I am now waiting in much anticipation for tomorrow's event.

Let's hope that Stuart Hayes can help the Brownlees as much as possible (well that's what he was selected for right????!) and can bring home some shiny medals. And if they can sprint against each other as the ladies did, then that would just go down as brilliant.

Enjoy the rest of the games!

Go TEAM GB!

 (a bit more inspiration for you all!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-7Vu7cqB20

My First Win!

With a fair few of my friends competing at Bedford Classic Triathlon, I thought I would put my oar in and compete in the Mini Tri due to take place on the same day.

With my step-dad also trying his luck at his first ever open water event, it was to be a rather good affair with a couple of friends also attending to watch.

What blighted the atmosphere before we had even raced was the fact that registration needed to be done on the Saturday which meant that we needed to do the trip twice over the weekend with Bedford over 1 hours drive away.

Aside from the grumbles about the registration, there would be a very very early start (4am!!!!) in order to get up and head to the race for my 7am start. Will wasn't to race until 8:20am and so would need to wait about, however a couple of good friends (Zim and LJ- Lean Jake) were there in support as well as Jono as his girlfriend Kat was also racing.

Having a late start however led to a bit of a stressful start for me. I needed to be racked by 6:45am (when transition was closed) with a short walk over to the swim start. I had also decided quite a while ahead of this event that I would be swimming without a wetsuit, whatever the water temperature would be. It was an option for those completing the mini-tri as at 200m, this wasn't to be a qualifier and also would not really make much of a difference.

Anyway I managed to rack in time and get my stuff together to walk over to the swim start with Mike. It was good to spot so many people racing that I knew and was nice to calm the stress of the earlier situation.

Anyway I picked out the buoy to swim to and getting in the very temperate water, I made my way to the middle of the pack. I tried to get a bit more confidence and try to make my way forward, and when the hooter went, I was kicked a few times and tried to get clear water for myself. I was surprised that the water was so warm and felt that if I had been in the longer event, some people might have found it rather warm! Anyway before I even knew it, it was time to turn around and I was shoved to the side after being kicked in the ribs and was soon in the shallow weedy bank. I made my way back over to the line of swimmers, also straight into the sunshine so i was partially blinded and then finally got my way to the swim exit.

Being a scaffold meant that they needed to haul you out of the water, however it did mean that there was a kind of queue developing and I had to wait for two others to be lifted out before me.

However those two places were soon made up as I sprinted past them to T1. In fact I passed three people as I ran into transition and was soon donning the helmet, race belt and grabbed the bike for the off. I had noticed only a couple of bikes had gone ahead of me,so was thinking that I must have been well placed.

With the sun shining and the course description as 'pancake-flat' i was keen to get pushing the gears as quickly as possible. the route soon took us out to a couple of villages and it was exceptionally flat.

Soon enough it was bringing us back to the city again. I had three men come past me, but no ladies and I managed to hold on the two of the ones that had passed me with around 100m between us all.

The roads were marred by rather a lot of holes and breaks in the concrete which made for a bumpy ride, but I was soon coming back into the roads leading to the river.

I was quick to hop off the bike with a rather good dismount according to my Mum. It had been an interesting ride as I normally am passed by LOTS of people. I know that I was doing a rather smaller race with a field of 60 or so, but it was still strange to only see a couple of guys on bikes on the route.

As i ran into T2 and got my shoes on for the run, I was soon out of T2 with shouts from the boys that I was the leading lady, 2nd being only a minute or so behind, which really stuck a rocket up my bum! I didn't want to push too hard although I had the incentive of one of the guys who passed me on the bike only literally a couple of yards in front. I managed to keep with him for a majority of the run, and then on the home straight managed to overtake him and put the pressure on finally losing him in the closing stages. I was unsure where the run finish took me, as it went round the back of the park, but soon enough I was on top of the finish. I had won!

being only a 200m/15km/3.3km race meant that it was pretty much a training event for me, but I was still really pleased with the result. I had even managed to come 8th overall ahead of lots of guys which was rather pleasing. I didn't manage to catch Chrissie Wellington's time of 43minutes set a few years back, but I do believe that her record was broken today by one of the guys.

I had finished in 51:47 which was really a good achievement. Mike managed just over the hour and was really pleased with himself, as was I, as he came first in is age group. A great first start!

It was then I wanted to watch Will and my other friends racing. Unfortunately Will ended up not even doing the bike and had a DNF- his first of the season. An unlucky flat tyre meant that he couldn't even start the ride. it was a real shame, especially considering it was the only European Qualifier we could go to and he is in really good shame at the moment. it was good however to cheer on the rest of Stamford Tri Club. I also got to meet another fellow blogger that I follow- Sam Anderson. It is always great to meet others that you chat with over the Internet. I suggest you check out her blog too:-

http://samanderson-triathlete.blogspot.co.uk/

I was super pleased to end up with my first win and my first ever prize. It is a good continuation of my Worlds Campaign. I probably would have ended up doing the Olympic distance had i known that I had qualified before I entered this race, but it is always nice to have some silverware!

In other news regarding the Worlds, I have managed to secure prizes for a raffle due to take place at Picnic in the Park in Oakham on the 19th August. Sara Mickleburgh and I are both trying to raise funds to head to NZ together.

I have to say a huge thank you to the businesses that have been ever so generous in donating prizes so far:-

Beyond Whitening and body Beauty

There are many more prizes on offer, so please get in touch if you would be interested in donating a prize, or any sponsorship to my cause.
I want to also thank my main sponsor, Pearson Assessment who have been amazing in helping me to achieve my dream of competing for team GB in triathlon!

Happy Training and enjoy the Olympics! Go Team GB!!!

 

Rutland Chandlery

The Osprey Project

Gearbox Gifts

Braunston Sports Clinic

Castle Cottage Café

Anglian Water

Rutland Water Sports Centre

Rutland Cycling

Horse and Jockey

Windmill Wheels

Paul Brewster

Mud, Grass, Rain and my first ever Off-Road Tri experience

As promised here is the race report for what was my first ever (not my last I hope!) off-road triathlon experience at Box End lake in Bedford.

I had been feeling really down the week before last about training, but with my qualification for the Worlds, I was feeling brighter and more motivated than ever. In my down dreary week I had decided to find something fun to take part in that was local and that would be smaller in competitors and short in distance.

I stumbled across the Box End Off Road Evening Tri series which was taking place over the summer. I repeatedly kept checking the information about the race which would be an enter on the night job, and would involve a 750m swim in one of the boating lakes, a 10km off-road bike course which would involve 2 laps around the lake and would be fairly bumpy, and then to finish off a lap of the bike course as the 5km off-road run.

I decided that it would be good to aim for a top 5 female finish, not considering times, as I have never raced on a mountain bike before.

Above is my beloved Boardman mountain bike which I bought myself last year as a present to myself after breaking my wrist! It didn't end up looking this clean after finishing the race last week I can tell you!

So after loading the car and checking the weather for the millionth time that day (it was forecast showers at 8pm) I made my way down the A1 for the race at Box End park. As I approached Bedford, the blue skies were becoming more and more grey and before I knew it, it was raining (5.45pm was the time noted that this started!).

I arrived at the watersports centre to register and then took a look around the site. It soon started to rain a little bit more so I decided to place my bike on the racking on the other side of the bridge over the boating lakes and then go and get myself ready and keep warm.

The race wasn't to start until 7pm, and as I was already mostly ready, it was a case of keeping out of the rain and chatting with a couple of ladies who were also getting ready in the changing rooms. I wasn't really that nervious, just more annoyed that it was raining and I hadn't raced much this year in the dry or warm!

Soon enough it was time for the race briefing, and making my way back over the now very slippery bridge, I finished putting what I would need out next to my bike (just my running shoes) and was ready to go.

Slipping into the water I was really pleasd that the water temperature was really pleasant and in fact much warmer than the air temperature. I had been deliberating whether to wear a jacket for the bike, but in the end I decided not to wear it (and it infact got totally soaked laying in transition!).

The starter went and we were off. I settled into a nice rhythm and got plenty of feet to draft from. It was easy enough to spot the feet and with a straight out and back around two buoys, it was easy enough to sight and keep a good pace up.

I exited the water in 12:43 (which I have since seen was around 12th place overall and in fact I was the first lady to exit the water too) and managed to get the wetsuit off in super quick time. I was then FREEZING! Grabbing my shoes and helmet I was then onto the bike and I was really really cold. I hadn't realised that it was going to be this cold! Anyway I was then passed around 1km into the bike by a lady who looked on a real mission and then another one hot on her heels. I wasn't too bothered about this (at the time I had not idea I was in 1st position) but I was there to enjoy it. Another issue was the fact i didn't have clips or MTB shoes and my feet kept slipping on the pedals. I am sure that I would have gone a bit quicker if I had clips on. So the bike took me around the lake on the flat initially and it was quite grassy, but this grass was painfully slow and I was really trying very hard! The route then took you up and around the back of the lake and up some steep inclines. One particular section was so muddy and steep I had to jump off the bike and run just to get up the hill.

Having made it round successfully once, I was pleased that only a couple of bods had passed me- it was fairly difficult to pass anyone anyway as the track had a definate easier line of travel which soon developed into a muddy line upon the second lap.

I was pleased to see that there were still a fair few people behind me as the course often switched back on itself, but then you could also see who was up ahead of you!

I hadn't a clue of my bike split as I forgot to push the lap button on my watch, but there again it was probably a good thing! Just coming into T2 a lady came past me and was absolutely caked in mud up her back (my legs were totally covered in grass, but not mud) and I shouted to her 'Does my back look as bad as yours?!' to which she replied- 'It's ok- you can tell me that I look as though I am covered in sh*t!'.

Laughing into T2 I then managed not to fall over and grabbed my cap after racking my bike. Even though the sun wasn't shining, I decided that it would keep the hair out of my face. Out of T2 and I thought, Wow- that lady has ran really quickly as I can't see her anymore! Turns out she had clips on and so was a bit longer in transition than me. She was gaining on me however and it wasn't long before she managed to catch me up on the first incline. It was an interesting run which saw me pass three ladies still on their bikes (poor girls!) and nearly stack it twice. It was a slippery affair which was kind of fun at the same time!

It was great to finish the run on the flat and just sprint my heart out for the final 200m or so.

Coming over the finish line I was quite relieved but also pretty darned pleased with myself. I had managed to come 4th lady which was a huge achievement. I had also managed to come 29th overall out of a field of 60 people (15 ladies were racing). It was a tough old course and with the bike split coming in around 38 minutes and run at 27 minutes (nowhere near my best times) it just goes to show you how the terrain, conditions and equipment can make a whole world of difference. I managed a pretty good time of 1:20:08 in total which was only 9 minutes behind the leading lady. Obviously my swimming is a real strength, but I need to work on the bike strength if I am to try and hold onto a lead of some sort!

A real challenge and tough weather conditions. I have to say that the state of my bike was a real reflection of what we encountered. In fact it is still sat in the shed waiting to be cleared of the grass tangled around the tubes!

Anyway for now happy Training! :)

Qualifying for the ITU Worlds Championship Auckland

Its just a quick blog today.....

Having found out that I have qualified for the Worlds ITU Championships in Auckland for my age group, this week was spend deliberating whether or not I realistically could afford to go. Not only in monetary terms would this be expensive, but also on my body as it would be then another 4 months of solid training up until then event.

However after much discussion with family, friends and even a Facebook vote I have decided to go! I have the fantastic support of my company Pearson who have helped me before when I went to Budapest, and also the support of my friends and family.

I hope to make this my best race this year and hopefully it will be one to remember.

I can party hard afterwards!

Hopefully I can update you further on my Off Road Tri later this week.

Happy training guys!

Doing what you like as and when

This past week has been about enjoying some well deserved time doing what I like and when I like. It finished off with a break to the Norfolk coast with my lovely girlfriends from university days. I had raced my absolute heart out at Chester triathlon (Deva) and felt really deflated afterwards as I knew that my two main goals for the racing season had been achieved. I had raced hard at Dambuster and Deva and last Monday I was feeling really down about things. I then decided after discussions with some good friends and Will that it would be good to just do what I felt like in terms of training. Also with a weekend away coming up I knew that I would have little opportunity to train anyway. I did however manage a run on Saturday morning which was glorious in the sunshine and around the country roads of Blakeney. Anyway after my run I was pleased to see that the British Triathlon website had been updated with the latest people to have qualified for the World Triathlon Age group Championships in Auckland. My name had a Q next to it! Just that little bit of news was encouraging and even though I am unsure as to whether I will even go, it was the best news for me and greatly cheered me up and gave me my mojo back!

Today was the start of another big block of training and began with an early morning swim. Getting into the pool again was great and I have the motivation now to train hard and enjoy myself with a few more goals on which to focus on before the end of the season. I have outlined these below- 1) Take part in an Off Road triathlon and try and smash it to place well. 2) Bedford Mini Triathlon- come in the top 5 female category. 3) Beat my previous records and times from the past club relay events. 4) Beat my previous London Triathlon (2010) times Having evaluated what I have already done this season I decided that I can focus on these goals, even if they are smaller than my other ones as it gives me more motivation to go for it. I think I want to make October the fun month of doing what I want as and when I feel like it, so if I go to New Zealand then that means extending my season above and beyond what I think my body can cope with. I am just about managing with the help of will's coaching plan and my great sports therapist Cheryl who keeps my body in check. I have done so much more than what I expected of myself and I am pleased to bits with my efforts. I have also been looking forward to 2013 and what I feel will be my major goals. I know that this is far off yet, but having qualified for the Europeans and gained a coveted London marathon place, I have a couple of events to aim for which are my main priorities. I think that it is good to have in mind what you want to achieve and have goals for your season as well as goals for your individual training days and training weeks and blocks. Had I trained last week, I would have felt even worse and I think I needed the break mentally and physically. Giving yourself the chance to take a step back and evaluate is a good thing. I didn't feel guilty about not training as I made a specific point knowing that I wasn't going to train to give myself that rest. I wasn't going to lose any fitness but if I had another few weeks off then certainly I would have lost form.

So this Thursday is my first ever go at an off-road triathlon at box end in Bedford which I am really looking forward to. I think it will be a challenge but I am fit as I will ever be! I will let you all know how I get on! Happy training! Kerry PS Sorry the font has changed, I can now update you on the move with my new IPad courtesy of my job!