Swimming and running… and not a lot of cycling

The last couple of weeks have been tough. I’ve been busy at work and busy at home, which hasn’t given me a lot of downtime.

I’ve managed to make the last couple of Monday night swims with Southampton Tri Club and am quite pleased that I can still sprint 25m, but my speed over longer distances is definitely declining as I’m getting much more tired in sessions.

I also managed to swim at Lakeside on Thursday 30th. I had hoped to complete 6 laps (each one 300-350m) to give me more confidence ahead of the Long Course Weekend, but Stu is such a speedy swimmer that he was going at twice my pace and after he’d done 8 laps (somewhere between 2.4k and 2.8k), he’d had enough, so I stopped after 4 laps.

I had decided to try my old 2XU wetsuit (that has a little tear at the back). When I got my new Zone3 Aspire wetsuit, I wasn’t sure of the difference between the two suits, but putting on my 2XU suit helped to highlight the differences. The 2XU suit is thicker, so it is warmer, but it is definitely less flexible than my Zone3 suit. It also has a much higher neck, which is less comfortable. I’m going to take both suits to Tenby and hope that my Zone3 will zip up!

As my mum recently celebrated a milestone birthday (her 70th, but shhhhhh! don’t tell anyone I let that slip!), we spent a weekend together on the Isle of Wight. I’ve only been to the Isle of Wight a few times – once to visit a friend and then at other times to complete races – so I’ve not seen much of the island.

I was excited about doing Medina parkrun on Saturday morning, so I got up early and had breakfast. We then drove from Ryde to Newport. After I’d parked the car, I saw a few other runners, so I followed them. Someone started asking me whether I knew where the start was as she’d never been there before. I admitted that it was also my first time. There weren’t as many people around as I’d expected (about a dozen), but it was relatively early. Some people were putting cones out on a field and there were some young girls in club vests. I sprinted after one of them and asked her where the start was. She explained to me that the start was by Appleby beach… back in Ryde. I felt so frustrated. Apparently, the event moves there from May to September every year, but that information is not apparent on the website. We drove back to Ryde, but as I didn’t know exactly where the start was, I decided to give up on taking part.

The extent of my sporting activities on the Isle of Wight

Last weekend, Southampton parkrun was cancelled because Race for Life events were taking place on the Common on Saturday and Sunday. This was a chance to do some parkrun tourism, so Stu and I agreed to go to Fareham parkrun with our friends (and fellow Run Directors) Rob and Kim.

Cam’s Hill – the start of Fareham parkrun

It was a beautiful morning and the setting was lovely. The event is fairly small and is on an out and back course, so there’s no chance of getting lost. There are some undulations in the course, but nothing too difficult. I tried to keep a steady pace, but also spent the first few minutes saying hello to familiar faces from Southampton (Jill and Malcolm) and others from Netley Abbey (Kenny and Robert, who was doing his 300th run).

It was nice to see Rob, Rikki and Stu doing well towards the front of the pack, and Jill was 2nd lady as well as setting a new record for her age group.

I had three aims:

1. Complete the run without walking
2. Not be last
3. Finish in under 30 minutes

I managed all of my goals, finishing in 29:50. It was a much hotter day than I had expected, so I was quite pleased with that.

© Kim Kelly

Lovely pub with honesty box for refreshments at the end of Fareham parkrun © Kim Kelly

Unfortunately, the parkrun was pretty much the end of my weekend. I’ve been struck down by another cold, which arrived with a terrible headache and has left me with a sore throat and breathing difficulties. I LOVE pugs, but do NOT want to sound like one! I really hope that I recover quickly as I’ve got the Long Course Weekend to look forward to.

The plan is to drive to Tenby on Friday. In the evening, the swim takes place. Stu, Roelie and Sergio will be doing 3.8k, whereas I’ve opted for the 1.9k swim.There a 15 minute acclimatisation swim before the briefing and then the swim starts at 7pm. I have one hour to do the swim. I ought to be able to do it in that time, but am a little nervous that I won’t make it. The cold, fear and jellyfish might make me swim faster!

On Sunday, there is the sportive – again the others have opted for the full distance (112 miles), so they’ll be starting between 8am and 10:45am, whereas I’m doing the shortest option – 42 miles.I’m number 3565 and am starting in the blue wave at 12:45. This is a little frustrating as I don’t really know what I’ll do in the time between getting up and starting. I would prefer to start earlier and then be able to get back, shower and change with enough time left to cheer the others in!

On Sunday, Sergio is definitely doing the marathon, whereas Roelie and Stuart are considering the shorter options. I had hoped that Stu would be able to do the full marathon, but he has been struggling with twinges in his calf and just ahead of his first full Ironman, I don’t want him to sustain an injury. I will be doing the 10k, which starts at 1:30pm and I’ll have to catch a bus to the start at 11am. It’s rare for me to run at that time of day, so I hope it’s not too hot. To add to the party atmosphere, there will be a samba band accompanying us to the start!

And finally… I went out to a colleague’s leaving do on Friday and liked a sign that I saw in the pub:

Save

Save

Six ferries, 100km, seven mad people and a few kilos of cheese…

Exactly a year ago today, I went on a brilliant adventure with a group of friends (aka Bike Gang). I part wrote a blog post and by the time I got around to finishing it, the spontaneity was lost, so I decided that I’d schedule it for a year on from the event, so here it is…

Ferry 1: Southampton to Hythe

Our days started fairly early, when we met at Town Quay to catch our first ferry to Hythe.

Piers buying his ticket to Hythe at the ferry terminal

We had to buy our tickets from machines and had just enough time to buy some drinks before the ferry arrived.

Caffeine starter… Liz (the photographer) hadn’t had hers yet and hence was rather shaky!

It wasn’t long before the ferry arrived. I was surprised by how small it was and was glad that there weren’t many other passengers as our bikes took up quite a lot of room!

Boarding the Hythe ferry

As you can see, it was my last big adventure on my work/commuting bike. The others all had road bikes (although Liz had a pannier, because she needed somewhere to store her sandwiches!) My double panniers and hybrid bike meant that I had the heaviest bike to ride.

Ferry to Hythe

Ferry to Hythe

It was a short and smooth crossing, and we were pleased that the sun was shining brightly.

Once we got off the ferry, we had a short ride from Hythe to Lymington. It wasn’t long before there was a split in the group – Stu, Suzanne, Emily and Piers were at the front of the group, whereas Katherine, Liz and I were lagging behind slightly. We came to a fork in the road and weren’t sure where to go. Unfortunately, we realised that the speedy cyclists had gone the wrong way and were on the other side of a level crossing where the barriers were down. Katherine set off to track down the others, giving Liz and I enough time to pose for some selfies!

Brief stoppage to retrieve the speedy cyclists who went the wrong way

Ferry 2: Lymington to Yarmouth

We regrouped at the ferry terminal and had a quick snack after we bought our tickets. Some kind German tourists took a group photo for us.

Setting sail from Lymington

It was a beautifully warm day, so we enjoyed sitting out on deck and enjoying the sun. Liz finished off her luncheon and we all looked longingly at Lymington lido, which looked glorious in the sunshine.

Sailing to Yarmouth

When we arrived in Yarmouth, we had the main bike ride of the day ahead of us (about 20k). It was getting hot and I realised that I definitely had a disadvantage with my heavy bike as there seemed to be lots of hills and we never seemed to go down any of them!

Quick rest stop before a giant hill

In Cowes, we decided that it was time to refuel for lunch. I decided to go for a light salad and was relieved when I saw the size of everyone else’s portions. Emily had a cheese ploughmans with two pieces of bread and enough cheese to feed a whole family for a week!!!

Emily had a little cheese sandwich in Cowes

It took a while for us to finish our food and digest it enough to get going again.

The gang

Ferry 3: West Cowes to East Cowes

It was then a short cycle to the chain ferry, so that we could get to the other side of Cowes. It took a while for the ferry to arrive and even I thought I might be able to swim to the other side faster than it took the ferry to get there… but the water was dirty and I can’t swim with my bike!

Cowes chain ferry

When the ferry arrived, we had to sit inside, which was a little stinky and warm, but we knew we’d only be on the ferry for a few minutes.

Bike Gang on Cowes chain ferry

When we left the ferry, it was a short (8-10k) ride to Fishbourne, where we had a short wait for the ferry to Portsmouth, so we decided to relax in the shade for a while. (A ferry was just leaving as we got there, but we weren’t quite fast enough to get on it and didn’t feel that we were in a hurry as we were having such a fun time).

Ferry 4: Fishbourne to Portsmouth

Finally, we were on the fourth ferry of our adventure.

Looking down on our bikes on the Cowes to Portsmouth ferry

We enjoyed sitting on the top deck of the ferry and feeling the breeze.

Ferry 5: Portsmouth to Gosport

After we left Gosport, we had another 20k ride to get to Warsash. It was a beautifully warm day and the sea looked so inviting that most people went in for a swim… I didn’t want to have to ride my bike with wet shorts on, so I just paddled. Katherine loved it and didn’t want to leave the water… you can only see her feet in the picture below.

A quick dip

Ferry 6: Warsash to Hamble

We realised that we were cutting it rather fine to make it to the last ferry at Hamble as it was scheduled to leave at 6pm. We sent the fastest cyclists ahead, whilst Liz and I did our best at the back. Fortunately, Suzanne and Piers made it on time and we found that there were a few other people who also wanted to catch a ferry, so the boatman agreed that he would make an extra journey to be able to transport all of us across. This gave us some time to be able to take some photos of the cute waiting room.

It was difficult to squeeze all of us and our bikes onto the ferry, but the boatman managed it.

The Warsash ferry

All aboard the Warsash ferry

It felt quite sad when we finally got off the ferry in Hamble as it seemed as though our adventure was over.

Leaving the final ferry in Hamble

Fortunately, we had one last opportunity for a group photo, with Dani King’s gold post box. (Dani King is a cyclist who won a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics).

Dani King’s gold postbox in Hamble

If you’re ever in this area and have a day that you can spend with your bike, I’d strongly recommend trying this route. It was great fun and even with all of the ferries it only cost about £25.