Back on the team…

Training with a baby isn’t easy. I haven’t swum since I gave birth as I’m no longer a member of my University gym and I’m not currently a swimming member of Southampton Tri Club. I also haven’t been able to cycle as my turbo trainer isn’t set up (there’s currently no room for it). However, I have been running. Despite this, I’ve decided not to renew my membership with Lordshill Road Runners. I’ve run with the club for 5 years or so, but this year I’ve only trained with them twice and led coaching sessions for them, so I don’t think my membership fee is worth it. I may change my mind in 2017 and rejoin, but I’m more likely to track run with the tri club and do parkrun.

I am fortunate enough to have been selected as a member of Team SOAS again and will be rejoining some fantastic ladies. My friend, Abi, has also been selected this year, which is great.

We’ve already had some glimpses of the kit and there’s also a one-piece this year that Caroline Coble has been wearing:

I can’t wait for my 2017 kit to arrive and for me to wear it in a race 🙂

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More exciting kit glimpses from SOAS

The SOAS Racing sewing machines seem to have been working 24/7 to create our 2016 Ambassador kit. I’ve seen so many glimpses of it on Instagram in the last couple of weeks and can’t wait for it to arrive in March.

I love this hat. I wore my 2015 hat as often as I could get away with, but this one is gorgeous.

We’ve also been given glimpses of two other pieces of headwear:

My pea-head isn’t made for trucker caps :’-( but I do love visors [and my mum has been able to adjust the previous ones to fit me!] so I’m very excited about this one.

Woo hoo! Finished crop tops!

I rarely wore my 2014 shorts as I felt too self-conscious, but I wore my 2015 shorts a lot and I think these ones will be getting a lot of wear too!

New kit coming soon :-D

It’s so exciting that my Team SOAS Ambassador kit is currently being made. This week we got a sneak peek at the sports bras:

I also saw a cool video of the shorts being made. The material is sublimated, so that there isn’t excessive stitching. I can’t wait to wear these:

If you want to watch some short videos of the kits being made, pop over to the SOAS racing Facebook page.

There are also regular updates on Instagram:

Are you planning to get any new kit this year? What do you want to buy?

Illness stopped play :-(

After a great start to January, it didn’t take long for things to go downhill.

On Wednesday lunchtime, my work colleague, Sarah, and I jogged down to Southampton Common where we met a friend from Tri Club, Rob. The plan was to do an intervals session, which was just as well as Rob can run a 17:XX 5k!

We headed up to the model boating lake, which has a smooth tarmac path around it that measures almost exactly 300m. Rob initially planned to do 10 laps, but I knew that I didn’t have enough time to do that many and I was feeling a little under the weather. (I had a sore throat and as I have been struggling with vocal problems since April last year, I am trying to look after  my voice).

After doing a couple of laps, Rob decided that he would aim for 8 laps, and Sarah and I decided to go for 6. My first couple of laps felt quite good, but after that I could feel my technique starting to fail. After four laps I felt tired and was needing longer recovery between laps. By lap six, I felt entirely exhausted and I no longer felt able to pick my legs up properly. When I paused at the end, I felt so hot and was really worried that I would faint, so we walked part of the way back to work, before doing a gentle jog.

On Wednesday evening, I led my first running club session for a long time. I arrived early and waited a short while before runners started to turn up. After a short while, Kirsty and Irene arrived and we were able to get people to sign in. I was staggered by the attendance – there were so many runners, and at least 5 new people.

Kirsty led the first part of the session, which included some walking lunges, clock hops and squats immediately followed by sprints. After that, I led a Mona Fartlek session (named after Steve Moneghetti).

Session: 2 x 90sec, 4 x 60sec, 4 x 30sec, 4 x 15sec. Continuous running.

Total Duration: 20mins including recoveries

*Recoveries are floats of the same duration as the effort prior e.g. after the 90sec reps you continue with a float for 90sec before the next effort starts. Finish the session with a 30sec float. The efforts should be increasingly quicker as the durations get shorter.

Most of the runners took the recoveries as walking breaks as it’s a tough session and it was quite challenging to do it as the first session of the year. Have you ever tried this session?

On Thursday, I had been looking forward to doing a lovely home stretching session with Liz, followed by a spinning class, but I woke up feeling really unwell, so I spent most of the day in bed 😦

I spent a bit of time online, so I had a look at instagram and saw this which cheered me up:

I can’t wait for my Team SOAS 2016 kit to arrive. I guess it will be in about March. What are you looking forward to this year?

I also learnt about Bounts “a digital health app that literally gets you rewards and prizes from big name brands, right down to free stuff from the local store”. It probably requires hundreds of hours of exercise to get a single voucher, but I figure that if I’m doing the exercise anyway then I might as well log the hours and earn the points. I think Bounts is currently available in UK, USA and India. Have you used it? What do you think?

On Friday, I felt slightly better, but just walking up and down stairs made me wheeze and exhausted me, which was very frustrating. I worked from home as I knew I wouldn’t be able to cycle my bike up the hill from my house. I hoped that I would make a SUTRI swimming session in the evening, but I was ready for bed by 6pm, so that was another session I missed.

For over five years, my Saturday morning routine has included getting up in time to complete parkrun. I had wondered whether I would be able to go along and take it as a gentle jog, but when I woke up, I realised that I was still feeling rough, so I turned over and went back to sleep. Later in the morning, I went out to the kitchen fitters to discuss our proposed new kitchen, which took quite a long time. By the time I got home, I was ready to go to sleep again – just standing up had felt exhausting. I also still had a temperature 😦

I was so grateful to feel significantly better this morning. My temperature had dropped back to normal and although I felt a little stiff and tired, walking up and down stairs felt normal. It has been so frustrating to be ‘trapped’ in my house, so i decided to go out for a gentle run. I’ve volunteered to be part of the Sunday Runday crew in preparation for Marafun’s ABP Southampton Half Marathon. I had let John know that I might not be well enough to run and that if I did run, I would probably go with a reasonably slow group. As I was feeling much better, I said I would back mark the 10 minute mile group (the middle group).

 

I can’t say that I found the run easy, but it was lovely to catch up with Jill, Malcolm, Laura, Peter, Kim, Kate and various other friends. I even had enough energy to tackle, the laundry and dishes and to do lots of food prep when I got home, which is such a relief.

I’m hoping that I can get in a full week of training this week, as I have my first race of 2016 on Sunday: Stubbington 10k. I love the email that they sent – it makes it seem like I’ve achieved something simply by entering!

I’ve entered this race several times previously and have blogged about my experiences. It will be interesting to see how my run stacks up against previous times:

• My Stubbington 10k 2015 time (52:10) – 3rd fastest ever 10k after Eastleigh 2013 (52:02) and Eastleigh 2012 (51:06)
• My Stubbington 10k 2014 time (55:17)
• My Stubbington 10k 2013 time (55:14)
• My Stubbington 10k 2012 time (53:03)

I’ll see how it goes on the day, but I’d like to finish in under 55 minutes.

How’s your week been?

So much SOAS kit!

I’m so excited that Christmas is almost here – I’ve only got one day left at work before my holiday begins 😀

It’s going to be an unusual Christmas for me this year. It’s my first one in my new home and my mum is on the other side of the world holidaying with my brother and sister and their partners. Usually I go home to Cornwall for Christmas or my mum comes to stay with me. Luckily, I saw my mum before she went to Australia… and she left me with an amazing looking Christmas cake. Like many people, I usually put on a couple of pounds over the festive season, but as we don’t have anyone staying with us, we haven’t bought any treats, so that should help to keep me on track.

The last week has been so busy that I’ve not managed to find any time to post. I went to parkrun on Saturday morning and initially harboured some intentions of going for a PB (as I managed to get a PB at this time last year). However, when I got there I saw my friend Teri and her children, so I joined them for a social run. Both of Teri’s children managed to get PBs, which was fantastic.

On Sunday, I met up with my friend Abi for some novice triathlon training. We went over to Itchen Bridge and along the waterfront. Abi is still getting used to her new bike, but she managed to get her water bottle out and back into the holder and started to have a go at flying mounts. We then went to The Quays where I tried to help Abi with her swimming. I’m still not very good myself, but I hope that I shared some useful pointers.

Last week I spied the new SOAS Ambassadors kit being created:

It looks so cool. I want it now!

To make up for having to wait until 2016 for that kit, I’m consoling myself with my awesome SOAS Christmas jersey:

It arrived today along with two pairs of rights and a t-shirt 🙂

I also received a parcel from these people:

and am really excited to try it out.

I’ve also had someone come around and measure up my kitchen. It’s not been renovated since the 1970s, so it has avocado units and orange/brown tiles. I don’t currently have a cooker, so am surviving on food that can be cooked on two hob rings and a microwave. If anyone has any great one-pot vegetarian recipes, I’d love to hear from you!

These articles caught my eye this week:

• Bicycle ‘should win Nobel Peace Prize’
• The worst marathon advice ever

Finally, it’s yet another reminder that I’d love your vote in the Bloggers Lounge Awards – voting closes at midday on December 24th (that’s between 4am and 7am if you’re in USA, so please don’t leave it to the last minute to vote!) Thank you x

Planning for 2016 and some new kit

There are so many exciting things happening in the next two weeks that I’m going to have to work hard to find enough time for blogging.

Exciting thing number one is a new training location taking shape – there will be a sneaky glimpse next week, but you’ll have to keep following if you want more than a peek! The other excitement is a week dedicated to warm weather training 😀 There are also just eight days left until the end of the Tri Club Merit table – I’ve given it my best shot, but I think it’s too late for me to do much more – fingers crossed that I manage to cling on in the top three as Ian’s not going down without a fight and probably has a few things up his sleeve! Also there are only six days left until voting closes in the Blogging Edge 2015 Awards… and they’ve given me a lovely icon to display on my blog.

My training has been a bit mixed up this week, but I’ve been busy planning, so it should all fall into place soon.

On Monday evening, I went to STC’s swimming session. We did a lot of technique work with fins and then we had to work on our swolf scores (stroke count and time for 50m). I’ve been working really hard on my stroke count and was pleased to be able to consistently swim under 20 strokes per length, with many lengths at 16 strokes! We had to count our swolf three times – I managed 85, 87 and 86. We were told that we should improve each time, but I think I was reasonably consistent 🙂

On Tuesday morning I went to the SUTRI strength and conditioning session with Coach Olly from Solent Athlete.  We did loads of lunges.

That’s me on the right with the green shoes carefully studying Olly’s technique ©Olly Drew

We also worked on what I would call ‘dishes’, but Olly calls ‘hollow holds’ – fortunately, we’re not made to do dish/arch rolls, which I used to find tough at gymnastics. The last part of the session was 6x 2 lengths of walking lunges. It sounds easy, but by Wednesday afternoon my legs were in agony!

Thursday morning’s session was based around deadlifts, which gave my achy legs a rest. I really wanted to do well, but (like on Tuesday) I felt really light-headed and faint, which isn’t great when you’re trying to pick up heavy things. I didn’t feel too bad after the session, but my arms and shoulders have been a bit tired today.

I really love doing the SUTRI training sessions, even though all of the others are so much younger and slimmer than me – it’s definitely a motivation for me to train harder. I’ve put in an order for some kit, so that I can represent the team at parkrun and other events. I wish that I’d had more opportunities to join sports clubs at uni as I might be so much healthier now if I’d been sportier 15 years ago.

On Thursday evening, Liz ‘parcels from America’ Carter came around with my new SOAS kit. It felt like Christmas. I ripped open the parcels and admired my goodies.

I still want to get the run tights in Sunset Cliffs and Barcelona Nights and would love to have the Sunset Cliffs cycling jersey. I’m wondering whether more items will be released in the Aquarius collection soon – I’m sure I saw some tights on instagram… and a crop top… and a totally awesome bikini. That’s all the incentive I need to get my nutrition plans back on track.

This evening, Olly and Sam came around to help me plan my races for next year and also do some general training planning. I’m still waiting to find out whether I have got a place in some popular races, but I know what my main events are. Probably the most important weekend for me will be when I tackle the Long Course Weekend in Wales.

I agreed with Olly and Sam that I’d post my general weekly schedule as it helps to keep me accountable:

I’ve also been talking to LRR about a possible return to coaching, but it’s all going to depend on whether I can complete an assessment day… unfortunately, there aren’t many and most of them are a long way from Southampton 😦

I’m also excited that I’m going to be trying out some indoor cycling with Brightside next week. I don’t really know what to expect, so watch this space!

Finally, I’ve managed to find a few minutes to watch things online:

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What’s your favourite piece of kit and why?

What’s the one piece of kit you couldn’t live without?

OK, so there are a few things that I really need as a triathlete, such as my bike (Kuota Kharma Evo), my trainers (Brooks Vapors and Pure Cadence/Flow) and my Garmin, but when it comes to clothing, I can’t tri without my SOAS tri shorts.

Those of you who follow @soasracing on Instagram may have seen the sneak preview of Sunset Cliffs bib shorts recently:

However, I love my SOAS trishorts so much that I don’t need bib shorts. It doesn’t matter how many hours I’ve spent in the saddle, I’ve never had a problem with my SOAS kit. The small fleece chamois is much more comfortable than the huge nappies that some brands feel the need to put in cycling shorts (here’s looking at you, Decathlon!!!)

The wicking fabric means that the shorts dry easily, which is great when wearing them for a triathlon or duathlon, but they’re also good to use as ordinary cycling kit. For me the challenge is which pair of shorts to choose:

Wearing my SOAS Ambassador 2015 shorts at Winchester triathlon

Wearing my SOAS Racing Black Team Shorts for a visit to the bike fitter

Wearing my SOAS Brand Ambassador 2014 shorts at Weymouth Half

Wearing my SOAS pink peacock shorts as I sprint to the finish at Eastleigh aquathlon

Sunset Cliffs at Eastleigh aquathlon

© Barcelona Nights tri kit… I think I’ve only got selfies wearing this it, which is bizarre as I wear it a lot!

If I could have the whole range, I would, but as I can only choose one pair, it would have to be my 2015 ambassador shorts. They are a size (or two) than the shorts I bought in 2014 , which helps me to feel better about my body, they are super comfy (like all of the others) and they remind me about the awesome community of female triathletes that I belong to!

I’m so excited…

…my 2015 Team SOAS kit has finally arrived:

I have my first multisport event of the year on Sunday (Winchester Duathlon), so the kit has definitely arrived at the right time… but I want to wear it all now. (I’m wearing the new hoodie as I type). I was going to be sensible and have a rest day tomorrow, but now I’m very tempted to go to Southampton parkrun tomorrow. If I take it steady, it’ll be OK, won’t it? Plus, if I’m slower people will have more time to admire my gorgeous clothes 😉

Impatience

I’m currently off work as I’m ill and the lack of exercise is making me grumpy and impatient, as well as providing me with the time to browse online, which is never a good thing.I’ve seen a few humorous videos this morning, such as

but mostly, I’ve been reading other people’s blogs, which make me want things, and then I turn into Veruca Salt:

“I want it now!”

This is how I feel about the new SOAS team kit. I love the 2014 kit, but now I’ve had a glimpse of the 2015 kit, I am desperate to have it

I also want all of the new winter running kit.

Which one’s your favourite?

New kit :-D

It’s possible to be a triathlete with a minimal amount of kit, but I just love trying out new sports kit… and as I don’t often buy other clothes (or smoke or drink etc) then I consider this to be my main vice.

For a long time, I considered running skirts to be pointless, but then I figured that I wear double-layer shorts anyway, so why not try a skirt. I happened to notice this Hind skirt in TKMaxx, so I decided to try it out.

I tested it out by taking it for a slow 1 hour run. The waistband is very comfortable, and there is a convenient pocket at the back that I put my key into. I would have preferred the base-layer shorts to be an inch or so longer, but that’s probably because my legs are extremely fat at the moment. Overall, it felt cool and comfortable, and I look forward to wearing it again. It’s also fairly plain, so I’ll be able to pair it with most of my running tops.

I decided to pair the skirt with my Swirlgear tshirt. I’ve not posted about it before, but I’ve had it for several months. The fabric wicks moisture away and the micropores allow air to flow through it easily, so it helps to regulate your temperature. Also, it is seamfree, which means it won’t chafe, although wearing it inside out is a definite risk! It’s also fairly long which means that my muffin top remains unrevealed and I can wear it on my bike, if I want to. I realise that the tie-dye pattern won’t appeal to everyone, but it’s nice to wear something unusual for a change. The new range has some fabulous colours, so please check it out.

The final new item that I wore for the run was a pair of sunglasses. I already own a pair of running sunglasses, but I feel quite self-conscious when I wear them as they’re white. When I was at the London Triathlon, I saw the same pair that I usually wear (Sunwise equinox) in black at a discounted price, so I decided to splash out. They come with several different lenses, so I might swap the lenses in my white pair for lighter ones, so that it’s easy for me to swap between them when cycling.

My other excitement at the weekend was that my new SOAS kit arrived. I had the pink peacock kit on my Christmas wish list, but never received it, so I was delighted to see that the pieces I wanted were available in the sale recently. I ordered the tri tank and the tri shorts, as my Team SOAS shorts are the most comfortable shorts that I have ever cycled in.

I also ordered a pair of Black Race trishorts. They’re very similar to my team shorts, but I haven’t had the opportunity to check whether they feel as good on yet!

I tried out the new trikit when I went out for a 90 minute hill training session on my bike. The photos were taken when I returned home, so I don’t think I’m looking too bad!

 

What’s your vice? Do you splurge on kit or rely on what you already own?

I’m really excited about the awesome new SOAS lines… I just wish that there were some stockists in my local area!