Positive mental attitude (or personifying your bike)

Ok, it's been a while, but then things did go a little downhill (literally) for me after Lincoln Tri. As I mentioned, I didn't particularly enjoy it. I did get that sense of achievement and satisfaction at finishing, but it wasn't the same as Woodhall. The run particularly was pretty harsh... laps up and down a canal tow path. It wasn't harsh physically, it was flat and straightforward, but mentally it was bad news! The up and down system meant often people running towards you were ahead of you, which felt crap! Also, you had to run past the finish line at the halfway point, head away from it and come back. That felt even worse! Anyway, job done, new bike time.

I'd realised I wasn't going to get a bike in time for Lincoln so I started calming the frenzied way in which I frantically searched eBay. I finally found a bike the same model as my old one, for pretty much the same price after paying for it to be couriered up from dahn sarf. 'Fab' I thought 'Crack on'. I'd missed being able to just go out on my bike when I fancied it, and as soon as I could went for an introductory mooch. I hadn't gone far when I became aware that the mudguard (to be removed anyway in due course) was chafing the tyre very slightly. 'Not good' I thought, and resolved to turn around and head home (barely two mins into the ride) to get it off. No sooner had I turned around and started back than the whole thing caught completely, bending the metal that supported the mudguard and ramming the whole thing between the forks and down onto the tyre thusly:

This obviously caused the front wheel to stop VERY abruptly, and the back lifted up, propelling me forward over the handle bars. In all honesty, as dramatic as this sounds, I remember it as more being forced to stumble forward and falling forward rather than literally being thrown into the air. It must have LOOKED pretty dramatic though, because a dog walker immediately came to my assistance, as did 3 car drivers who stopped in the middle of the road to come and see if I was ok. They may have mistaken my inert form (having chosen to take a minute to stay down and mentally check body parts before trying to move anything) as a sign of potential unconsciousness, but at this point the only thing that was hurt was my ego. I felt a proper pillock and quickly assured everyone I was fine before saying no I don't need a life I only live up the road and began to walk away quickly (with the front wheel of my bike lifted off the ground). It was only later that the damage became apparent, and then it was only superficial bruising. The main impact was on my confidence. I wasn’t happy going out on the bike now... I associated the problem with that bike specifically and pined for my stolen one. And now it was very bruised and battered, even after my housemate kindly got it serviced for free for me. I avoided going out on it, even though as soon as I got home from tipping off I found the first implement I could (a knife) to remove the offending mudguard (this made me think of Alan Rickman in Prince of Thieves... ‘I’m gonna cut your heart out with a SPOON!’). I wanted to hurt that bloody bike! Never mind a screwdriver, mutilation felt better! I started viewing it as an enemy. It didn’t like me and I didn’t like it. We tried to make sure our paths didn’t cross. On the one occasion I DID try to challenge this, I got a flat just before I got back from the ride. In true anxiety style I interpreted this as confirmation that I was ‘right’ in my feelings about the bike and it had been trying to tip me off again. I developed worries about going at any decent speed on it (kind of the point when taking part in triathlons!) to the point where when I did Beverley triathlon in August I started convincing myself on the way back from the bike route that I had a flat, and slowed down to bounce around and check it, which no doubt influenced my time. Anyway, I finally faced my anxiety about it, challenged my tendency to personify my bike (it doesn’t like me/has it in for me) and have been telling myself off for blaming my tools. It’s tempting to say my bike and I are now friends again, but that would be just going down the same route (and opening up the option of ‘falling out’ again). It’s a bike. The end.

Been a while...

Well well well... just been massively shown up by Franna Ma Wanna for being a bad blogger (slaps self on wrist). Must try harder! When I've had time to think about what's worth writing about, I'll get back to you, in the meantime, here's Kelly Brook dressed as an usherette to cover all your interval needs (not that I'm a massive Kelly Brook fan, but she was the best usherette picture on Google Images). We'll return to the main feature shortly...

The meaning of 'charity'

I had a bit of a blip and lost my training mojo... Firstly, starting this blog and realising just how little I know about Triathlon training blew my confidence somewhat and I was almost overwhelmed by a "What's the point?" feeling... Almost :-) In my job, I know better than that! However, then my bike was stolen... My beautiful Boardman hybrid comp that I got for a song on eBay, that I did my first Sprint Triathlon and all my training on, that I rode at least half the days a week, that I'd got a new saddle for, and a pump and bottle cage and all those little things that endeared it to me even more. It was the fastest bike I ever owned (and the most bumpy due to the necessary lack of suspension). I was mortified! I also had less than two weeks before Lincoln David Lloyd's sprint Tri, so the timing was well off too. The insurance stated 6 weeks for 'processing' (pffft) and I resolved to get a replacement ASAP on ebay. Theft being at the forefront of my mind, I began emailing all these bike sellers to see if they had proof of ownership, and viewing any frame scratches with a more than was reasonable amount of suspicion. I also breathed a sigh of relief that I had bought my last one and been given the original documents with it, without even asking, so was safe in the knowledge that that was a genuine sale. Needless to say, I lost my sense of 'charity' for a bit. I started to view charity as many seem to be viewing it these days... incorrectly but conveniently interpreted as getting something for nothing... like whoever has my bike. I'm not a charity! Anyway, questions of karma aside (being unable to identify the karmic wrong I had commited) I put my face straight and 'got back in the saddle'. I did the Race for Life (with only a tiny bike-related, not-feeling-charitable grumble in the car on the way there) in which I had no choice but to have a good time (and a good run) thanks to the fancy dress (always guaranteed to raise a smile from me!) and my bonkers running buddy Fran.

We couldn't help but be chuffed to break the half hour barrier for 5km, for the first time, in spite of mad outfits and some serious heat (though it was questionable whether it actually WAS 5km). Then I had to question the nature of my own idea of 'charity'. Yes, the Race for Life raised about £80 from my sponsors for an absolutely fantastic cause, but I couldn't claim pure altruism. It wasn't like I had suffered for it (ok the run wasn't a particularly pleasant one). I had had a good laugh, had wanted to do the run for the sake of the run itself, and I always relish the idea of having any excuse (no matter how small) to dress like a complete prat. So, moral high ground rapidly disinegrating beneath my feet, I realised it was time to stop bitching on about my bike (or at least blame genuine heartbreak for any further comments).
So, resigned to having to be a bit inconvenienced about getting a new bike, I wound my neck in and stopped bidding desperately on anything on eBay at the risk of being ripped off. I eventually found a lovely replacement, the same model as mine, for a few quid cheaper... Happy days. However, there was no way this was going to get to me in time for Lincoln Sprint Tri. So, borrowed bike quivering nervously and wondering what it had let itself in for on the rear bike rack, off I went. Setting off at 5.30am, I wondered if my lack of enthusiam was based on the fact that I knew using a different (heavier and unfamiliar) bike meant I had no hope of beating my first Tri time, or because I just simply hadn't got the novelty factor of doing my first Tri anymore (you can't beat that 'first time' feeling, whatever its a first of). There were other things too, David Lloyd's just wasn't as NICE as Woodhall, there hadn't been a novice day where you'd had a chance to meet people and get to know the route, there hadn't even been a day-before-registration opportunity. Part of the bike course was on a dual carriageway, and the run route was up-and-down laps. It all felt very impersonal, and just a bit wrong. There didn't seem to be the friendly camaraderie there had been at Woodhall. It was all a bit serious! Luckily a few people who had been at Woodhall were there, and it still felt good to finish, but not great. Now I'm thinking maybe doing Tri is like anything, like running. Sometimes you have a good one, and feel amazing, and sometimes it just seems to suck and not get any better at any part of it, but you still feel a sense of achievement, albeit a lesser one, when you finish. This all points in the direction of new-bike/new-tri as a means of testing this theory. And part of me would still love to train properly this winter ready to try and full length Tri next year. So time to find, and book, the next one then!

Dodging the dull stuff...

I ended up marshalling a duathlon this week (just checking the road is clear for the cyclists at a junction) seeing as I took part in the last one I thought it was only fair. I got chatting to one of the tri guys about training and he was saying how he is focussing on the swimming because it is his worst area. I asked him how his front crawl was coming on and he stated he still struggled but was persevering. I have to admit I have been dodging the swimming. Even though it is also my worst area and I really should focus on it more. I think part of the reason for dodging it is the convenience factor: It's not as easy as chucking your trainers on or grabbing your bike. You have to check the local pool is running lane swimming, and when, and then allow for the fact that other people use it too! Sometimes it's packed (7am) but what can you do? Still need to practice. So this week I have resolved to get into the pool more, and practise both breast stroke and front crawl based on the couple of coaching sessions I've had. I think it goes under the radar because my brain tells me "swimming is the shortest bit, like ten minutes max" which is true for this year, for the sprints, but if I want to progress to a normal distance tri I'm going to need to be able to swim 4 or 5 times the distance I am now. The bit that scares me most about going up to normal distance is the swim! The bike and run you can plod through if necessary, but even without trying to push it, the swim is exhausting!

I managed to bash out 30 lengths on the trot thing morning. It was easy enough and works out at 750m which is still sprint distance (depending on which race you are taking part in). It took about 20 minutes (which makes sense as I’m currently doing 16 lengths in about 10 minutes which is 400m, the swim distance for the sprints I’ve been opting for so far). Let me just put this into perspective for you with some information from the British Triathlon Federation:

Super sprint - 400m/10km/2.5km
Sprint distance - 750m/20km/5km
Standard distance - 1500m/40km/10km
Middle distance - 2.5km/80km/20k
Ironman distance - 3.8km/180km/42km

So it looks like I’ve been doing super sprint swim distance but sprint distance bike and run. The swim didn’t feel too bad and I wondered if I’d built the swim up into this big bad monster and was expecting it to be far worse. The curse of working in cognitive behavioural therapy is you end up applying it to yourself! I should have known that avoiding something would have made it feel worse.  The other funny thing is about perspective. Slogging away to hit 16 lengths seemed like a proper mission whilst doing it, but working towards 30 lengths the 16 passed by without so much as batting an eyelid! This was probably because I realised I couldn’t just hammer it and get it done like the 16, I had to actually pace myself and think about keeping going rather than getting it over with.  I think the other main problems with swimming are one: it’s boring! I know I could swim 1500 metres (60 lengths) as I already have, but jeez it will be dull! Also, the likelihood is that the standard distances will be open water, which is a whole new ball game! And also very hard to gain practice in.

So, all in all, loads of reasons to stop dodging swim practice! Next stop, the pool!

Forgetfulness and determination (stubbornness!)...

A big part of the learning curve for me when I first got into this Triathloning lark a few months ago was the realisation that there's actually quite a lot of kit you can end up buying! Without turning it into a money pit there are some essential pieces of kit you can't really do without... like a good pair of running shoes. I was fortunate enough to have a pair already (gathering dust at my parents) from a previous (failed) attempt to get into running several years before. Best £70 I ever spent. And that's a lot for me for any item of clothing/footwear. Ask anyone. I'm from Yorkshire after all (turtlely amazing as it is). The difference having the right footwear makes is amazing. I recently went to an aquathon, ten miles drive from my house, and realised once I was there that I had managed to forget my running trainers. Being a stubborn so-and-so, I decided I hadn't come all that way for nothing, and proceeded to run 3 miles in my pumas, which are not made for running, or actual sport of any kind actually. They are more the 'looking pretty' kind of trainer. The upshot was I could really feel my feet impacting on the pavement (having received no coaching on running style ever and thinking it might be a good time to start!). The next day my back was not my friend at all, and after a pitiful limpy run on the Monday evening, I gave up even thinking about exercise for the rest of the week. It's still a bit twingey now, over a week later, and I keep kicking myself for being daft enough to take the risk running in the wrong shoes, but then we all have to learn somehow, and this was a pretty big lesson. I hate the idea of having a debilitating physical complaint later in life which I can only put down to my own utter stupidity.

Anyway, back to the title, so there I am having a massive "D'OH" moment, thinking 'how can I possibly have come for something involving a run, and managed to forget my running shoes?'. You wouldn't think it was actually possible would you? I didin't think I could really get any dafter than that, until I went for a swim the other night... and managed to forget my towel! So what did I do? Did I learn from my running experience? Or did I get my determined/stubborn (depending on your point of view!) head on and go for a swim anyway? I think you can guess... Never mind the risk of hypothermia, cold, fungal infection etc. I swam, I dripped dry and then drove home. Prat. What next? Forgetting my bike next time I go for a bike ride?

Websites!

Here are some useful websites relating to the Triathlon stuff in the Grimsby area:

Clubs:
http://www.grimsbytri.co.uk/ Grimsby Triathlon Club
http://www.woldsvets.co.uk/ Wolds Veteran Runners Club
http://www.lincsquad.co.uk/ Lincs Quad (Quadrathlon club swim, cycle, run, kayak)

Events:

http://www.freebirdevents.co.uk/

http://www.pacesetterevents.com/

http://www.tri247/

http://www.onestepbeyond.org.uk/

Useful Information:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/index.htm

http://www.britishtriathlon.org/

That'll do for now!

First 'BLOG'!

Hi all,

 I'm new to this! This is going to be a combination of learning how to 'blog' and learning how to train efficiently and safely... I recently joined a Triathlon club and started doing some proper exercise to train for these. I'm starting at the very beginning doing sprint distance (typically 400m or 750m swim, around 20km cycle, and 5km run). I did my first one at Woodhall Spa on the 29th of May and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've been really surprised how quickly my fitness levels have developed. I expected to be pretty broken after exercising solidly for an hour and three quarters, but the next day I felt fine. I was slightly aching, but nowhere near what I thought I was going to be! Anyway, I've had a few people tell me how they have felt inspired or motivated by my posts on Facebook regarding all this exercising malarky, so I thought it would be nice to have somewhere dedicated to it. This way people can choose to look or not look, I can keep track of my training better, and people can also offer advice to me, be it about blogging or exercising! I also recently hurt my back, which put me out of the loop for a week to be on the safe side, so I think a record of how I respond to things like this and whether what I do helps/hinders problems like this will be useful for reference in the future.

SO... any posts, information, links, comments, anything at all that you feel is relevant, please join in! (I'm winging it here, can you tell?!)

Ta muchly,

Sue (Padoopa)