Exmoor Coastal Trail Series 2017 - Event Review

"I'm not quite the sadistic person to organise that journey, but you have a very twisted sense of humour!"


I can confirm that the classification by EnduranceLife of the Exmoor Coastal Trail Series run as 'Extreme' is an accurate representation of the terrain that we ran over last weekend! 1,300ft of elevation gain on the 10km route (that was actually 11.4km!) certainly tested the legs in more ways that they have been tested in recent months, but the main concern for the day (the weather - after hearing how good it had been for the last couple of years) was definitely not something to spoil the day, the glorious sunshine certainly showed off the best of the stunning landscape that we ran through…

The first challenge of the day was to navigate our way from where we stayed in Combe Martin, over to Hunters Inn where the start was - narrow country roads with runners crossing at several points made it interesting to get there, and that was before we had to get to the car park, but I'll leave the car park details until the end of the race! Once at the start/registration it was a nice simple case of getting your race number, and t-shirt before making sure everything was sorted and listening to all the dogs at the start having a bit of a chat - most of them had the right idea and wouldn't be joining us on the run, but there were still a couple more apart from our two who were coming on the climb up and down the coastal trails.

One disadvantage of running with the dogs is the fact that you end up having to start at the back of the bunch at the start, and as the first mile included a couple of pinch points where nearly everyone slowed to a walk or complete stop this meant that you couldn't always get into a rhythm of running (or if you had tried you'd have probably taken out half the other people around you with the lead!) and so when the route ramped up on a number of switchbacks we were well and truly in-amongst the largest group of the 10km race. At this point I would like to say that I lightly jogged my way consistently up the footpath without needing to walk, however the punishing 10% average gradient meant that I was also slowed to a walk from around halfway up just like nearly everyone else - save the real fast individuals!

Once you got to the top of the first climb (which must have accounted for at least half the total elevation gain) the views definitely made it worth it - deep blue sea and clear blue sky, and gorse all along the coastal path did make me want to stop to take a quick snap more than once but I was there to run wasn't it?! The next few miles were along the edge of the cliffs (luckily for me concentrating on was going on ahead rather than how far down it was) and the pace always following a similar pattern of getting to a decent jog when on the flat and then having to slow to a walk up any inclines where those at the front of the group did and there being no space to pass.

One problem with the 10km not starting until 11am was that the heat was already starting to take its toll within the first few miles, Leia was running along in any shade she could with her tongue out trying to capture any dew that was still lingering and any puddles or small streams we came across I was stopping to let her dunk her paws and get a bit of a drink, and Ali was having the same with Chewy. I'd like to say thanks to the lady who was running with her dog Sammy who was kind enough to let both our dogs drain her water bowl when she'd stopped running to let her dog drink from - although both the dogs were getting some water on the run they were definitely exceedingly grateful for the bowlful of clean water!

As we ran further along the coast the path widened out, meaning that Ali was able to join back up with me after getting stuck back in the chain of people winding their way up the paths, it also meant that other runners were able to get past us every time we stopped at a bit of water for the dogs! Several muddy puddles later after the dogs had taken on more liquid we turned left to a narrow track through the heather up to the highest point of the course - this wasn't anywhere near as steep as the initial climb but you can be sure that it still sapped a large amount of energy from the legs and there were a number of people who ended up walking this bit. The cruellest thing was that the event photographer was happily stood at the top of the climb (where great photos were being taken) so you then had to put on a jog to ensure that the one of you round the course didn't make it look like you walked the whole way!

After a short, not overly steep but very uneven decent we were at the one drink station for our route, a quick drink of water and the offer of drenching the dog with a watering can (I don't think the stewards expected me to take them up on it!) and we were back off on the last part of the course and it was downhill pretty much all the way. This, however, was probably harder work than the uphill part of the route as the dogs were refreshed and up to pace again which is really very tricky to control down gradients over 10% with tree roots and alike sticking out all over the place!

Any of the places we had made up on the last few bits of climbing were quite quickly taken back by other runners as we were forced to take it a bit easier making sure we had control, and Chewy deciding that she was going to take a toilet break halfway down (therefore meaning that we needed to stop to clear up after her!) One of the guys who I passed up to the final high point on the course had actually asked "when does it get a pain in the arse running with the dogs?" so when he passed us as Ali was clearing up after Chewy I made sure to point out that this was one of those points when it's that pain in the arse!!

The trail continued down through the forest which was very welcome after the continuous sun and heat of the moorland, and we were very quickly back down to the river level where we had started and on the final section that was along one of the lanes we had driven in on. One dodged post can later and we were rounding the final couple of corners to the finish... At this point Ali decided to announce that she still had the energy to sprint for the line, i was pretty dead on my feet, so luckily for me Leia decided to cross over into Ali's path and muck up her sprint to the line and help me finish at the same time! (She can be such a good dog at times!!)

As with all the EnduranceLife events we were quickly through the finish area with post run snack in hand and times printed out - initially we were given exact finishing places to our race numbers, but actually ended up losing a place somewhere between here and when the final results were published (not quite sure how that happens with a mass start all at the same time though?...) Our final times were 1hr 37mins and 20secs for the record, although Strava gives me a moving time of 1:31:50...

My sister and brother in law were there with their daughter to support us, so thanks to them for some of the photos and going with Ali to fetch the ice creams after the race! My initial review of the event was "too bloody hot!" when asked - Ali's was that it was awesome - and I had to agree that it was probably the best scenery to have run through this year (apart from maybe our run up the snowy mountain whilst on honeymoon) and it was a properly challenging route! Such was the heat that my usually perfect features were working all funny (maybe) - this being the obvious reason why the stupid face being pulled in the photo of us with our medals!

Overall I have to say that it was a great event - a challenging route, well organised and superb weather! We're already signed up for three more Coastal Trail Series events this year, and if they are as good as this one it's going to be a treat! Judging by the previous ones that Ali has done I have no doubt they will be - keep your eyes peeled for them and my posts on here!

One thing I have to mention before finishing this post that I briefly mentioned earlier - the car park..... I'm not quite sure who was the sadistic person to organise that journey from the finish line back to the car park, but you have a very twisted sense of humour! It was around quarter of a mile long, up a road that just climbed the whole way from the valley floor to the top ridge where the parking field was, with gradients of up to 25%!!! The wall down there to the start line was bad enough because of the impending dread that not only was the route going to be going up stuff like this, but once you'd completed that you had to come back up this road!

Hope you've enjoyed the review, we'll be back for more, hopefully you'll be back to read about them!

One Life - Liv 4 It, Love It

2017 - February update

"I'm only actually moving around for LESS than 7 hours a day!"

So February ended with more of a whimper than a flourish as I didn't manage to get out and do any exercise in the last couple of days due to the amount of work I had on. The last weekend in the month saw Ali and I complete our first event of the year (a night run in Bristol - read the review here), and then I managed to get us out for a Sunday morning jog to try and stretch out the legs, although some legs were more willing to be stretched than others!!

Events

Our event calendar is slowly (alright, quite quickly) filling up with dates of various runs, mud events and triathlons for the year - with one event already done, Ali is off doing a mud run this weekend and has at least one event planned for each month throughout 2017! I'm a little less packed out with these events (I'd quite like to go fishing and watch the rugby as well!!), but have planned to take part in a summer series of evening triathlons near home, I just need to get on and book it now (and then make sure that I can still swim at least that distance required!).

We're both already booked into four Endurance Life Coastal Trail Series events before the end of the year in Exmoor, Gower, West Sussex and Dorset, but I'll leave the details of those for another post - let's just say we haven't eased ourselves in gently!

The majority of any exercise thus month has been running, as usual, as it's so much easier to go with the dogs and is able to fit in quickly around the amount of other stuff we always seem to be doing! We did, however, manage to get out on the bikes this month, and popped along the towpath of the canal, with dogs and all! If you haven't seen the video of Ali getting towed along by the dogs them head over to the video via this link and have a little look! I've got to admit that I wasn't too keen on having them on the lead on my bike but it certainly tired then put a lot quicker than a normal run - apparently 12 miles at doggie running pace is the way to make sure that both of them sleep well for the remainder of the afternoon...!

I've also had (and I still have as I haven't had time to sort it out yet) a slight problem with damp (and so mould) on my road bike (video here)... After a couple of posts on some Facebook groups the useful comments were to wipe it down, maybe give it a bit of a scrub, and then ride the **** out of it..! Whilst it would be nice to be able to follow the other comments (and Velominati rule) of just getting a new bike (because the ideal number of bikes is n+1!) I'm not in a fortunate enough position to be able to do that! :-( Hopefully, I'll get a bit of time over the next few weekends where the weather is nice enough to be able to clean the bike sensibly, let it dry and then get out and give it a good ride.

Health

Now being an accountant there was no way that I was going to go through these monthly updates without getting a few stats in! As I said in my 2017 plans post I got a Fitbit at the start of the year and so have been able to track steps, activities and sleep on that and so know when I'm hitting my targets and when I'm not! I've actually managed to hit my daily step count of 6,000 steps 52 out of 56 days this year, and am pretty sure that it was actually 53 days but forgot to put the watch on one morning so missed out a whole day! :-(

So far this year I've taken nearly 640,000 steps, which equates to over 535 miles (the distance between London and Randers in Denmark - as the crow flies!) meaning that on average I'm travelling over 9 miles a day (or taking just over 10,000 steps). You'd have thought with that amount of steps throughout the day I would be moving pretty constantly during the day, however, this doesn't seem the case - apparently, I'm spending over 17 hours a day either sitting still or asleep!! Therefore I'm only actually moving around for LESS than 7 hours a day! At least, moving on my feet so that my watch picks up that I'm moving (I'm not actually just dozing at my desk at work!)

One thing that I'm really proud of both Ali and I doing this month is keeping to our meal plans for the majority of days - if you missed the photo on the 2017 plans post then have a look here, but it's basically a two week plan of our evening meals meaning that we should be eating better and saving money at the same time as we're not having to constantly pop to the shops on the way home to pick up some food as we forgot to get ingredients out of the freezer! Most of the meals have been enjoyed, although we have now swapped out the smoked fish, new potato and beetroot salad because Ali managed to have it for a couple of weeks before admitting that it wasn't her favourite dish of the fortnight (which is fair enough considering she doesn't particularly like fish or beetroot!)

Lunches and breakfasts have been much better than last year as well, with a bit of pre-planning and bulk cooking meaning that the lunchtime shopping spend has decreased quite a bit for me, and the baked and sweet potatoes with a variety of toppings have kept me full for the rest of the day so not so much snacking during the working day… Another thing that I've been working on are homemade Nked bars, and I think I've got the Cocoa and Orange ones nailed! After seeing one version of the recipe online I gave it a go, tweaked a few things to make it taste as I wanted, and have been rolling out a batch each week. I'm going to write up the recipe and post it on here during the next month or so, so keep your eyes peeled for it!

Blogging

So one of the things I said I was going to do was to only write additional posts when I felt I had something to add, or if I felt strongly about that particular subject and wearing a helmet is one of those such subjects - if you haven't read my post on helmets and why I think people should then click here to go and view it. There was one thing that I didn't put into the piece - one reason was that I forgot about it (so it's a subconscious reasoning that drove me to write the piece), and the other was whether I actually wanted to write it...

I have a permanent reminder of why a helmet is a potential lifesaver - the scars across my knuckles mean I don't forget a bike ride out over 10 years ago - going down a steep hill and getting the handlebar shakes, slamming on the brakes and finding it was all gravel, and then doing the following 10 metres on my knuckles and the front of my helmet all down the asphalt! The overhanging couple of inches on the front of the helmet had been worn back by the time I had stopped, and it was going to be my face that met the ground next. I'm pretty sure that if I didn't have the helmet there would be plenty more scars in worse places, but I'm also counting myself lucky with it!

I've also managed to make sure that I write the first monthly update post (you're reading it right now!) so I'm counting this as a success, and so should you if you've got down this far! Thanks for sticking with me!

The one thing that I haven't managed to do this month is put together any video blog pieces - I was going to put up a video of one of the runs that I did with the dogs the other day, however when watching it back it made me realise quite how much I lope along when out running and the whole experience made me feel a little seasick! By the looks of it, the video footage is going to be a more long-term thing and will be more of a montage of different events rather than individual runs. Saying that I think I'll be taking the camera along to the Coastal Trail Series events, and trying to get a bit of the footage before, during and after the race so each one of those might have a video to go with it, and when I'm along supporting Ali at any of the events that I don't do I'll be taking at least one of the cameras then and getting as much footage as possible (with a couple of dogs in tow!)

'til next time

One Life - Liv 4 It, Love It

Rob 

Back 2 Black 2017 - Event review

"They are only puddles, just run through them!"

That's the first event of the season well and truly done, and I have to say it was rather enjoyable! Taking on a night run as the first race was a little daunting at first because of the mass start in the dark, but it was a laugh especially when one of the guys behind claimed he was going to follow me because I 'looked like I knew what I was doing!'

One of the errors I'd made in the build-up to the race was not buying a new headtorch, something that Ali had not been so slack in doing (although that was partially because her old one had given up the ghost and so she definitely needed a new one). Mine gave out such a pitiful light that when there was no one around I was struggling to see anything! Lucky for me the first mile and a half was spent running with a lot of people around so I was using all their lights instead! When we both passed the final couple of people who we'd been running behind I was certainly glad of Ali's super-bright torch and made sure that I was ahead to be able to see where all the roots and rocks were sticking up amongst the mud!

The event was held in Leigh Woods in Bristol and was all around the various footpaths and cycle routes in the woods, all nicely signed with reflective arrows and the odd flashing red light so that you knew there was a turn coming up. There were quite a few marshals around the course, although it was a bit weird as we'd been warned during the briefing of one particular area that was slippery and potentially dangerous due to the rocks we had to navigate down for five metres or so - yet there was no marshal at that point checking that people were getting down there ok!! Lucky for everyone there was a gate at the top of this section so meant that we all had to slow down anyway, and everyone was also making sure that all those around got down the section ok.

One of the amusing things was when we got to the first set of muddy puddles (about 300 metres into the run) and a large number of people seemed to slow and try and go round the puddle so not to get muddy or wet!! Ali and I, on the other hand, ploughed straight through the middle of them (much to the slight disappointment of the marshal who was stood just the other side of the water, who I heard voice his disappointment of his positioning when I accidentally gave his lower leg a bit of a soaking!) My thoughts were the fact that we were going to end up pretty soggy and covered in a decent amount of mud anyway, and as they are only puddles just run through them! The first lap of the woods passed pretty quickly, especially as we were all still in the middle of the group from the mass start, but as we climbed back up the hill to the carpark it was clear that a few people hadn't quite banked on this hill or had gone out a little fast from the blocks when we passed them whilst they were walking. A short stretch of car park/road later and we were back into the woods and mud again ready to take the second lap of the woods.

Lap 2 is where it was a load of fun - plenty of mud (some of it a bit deeper than first thought - see the state of our trainers!) and a nice rolling terrain which allowed for a nice little bit of time to cool off between the inclines. Because we'd decided to do the 5km route it meant that we were able to push ourselves a bit more than we would have done if we'd done the 10km (that would have been more about just getting around the course), and so each time we caught up another one or two people we were able to up the pace for a couple of minutes to get past before dropping back to a nice steady pace. It was just starting to rain again as we got towards the finish which allowed me to use my stellar motivational skills on Ali - "come on you're doing really well, only half a mile to go! Hurry, I'm starting to get wet now!" - completely discounting the fact that I was already soaked due to sweat, muddy puddles and the drizzle from the start! One final sprint up the hill, which went on for a bit longer than I first remembered but due to the rubbish headtorch couldn't see what was going on, I passed a few people also on their way to the finish line and back into the light!!

 Ali and I finished a respectable 24th and 21st respectively (out of 60-odd entrants), with times of 35:29 and 34:44 which were around 10 minutes behind the overall winner of the 10km race. This meant that we averaged a pace of 6:32/km (10:28/mi) although it certainly felt a damn sight faster than that when we were running, so it's pretty amazing how much the mud and terrain affects you especially when you are not checking your watch for the splits all the time! Ali did even better in her age category where she was 4th out of 23! I came 5th in my category, although there were only 9 entrants! I'm going for the fact that we're both doing well as we're in what most people would claim as the 'prime fitness' age group so are pretty likely to be running against the fastest people entering!!

Overall the event was great fun, and well organised - well-lit at the registration tent and no hassle grabbing our paperwork, number and timing chips! As I said earlier it would have been perfect if there was a marshal at the rocky point mentioned in the briefing before the start as it was highlighted as being potentially dangerous (especially as there was a marshal about half a mile beforehand and the next one wasn't until the finish), but due to the sporting nature of those taking part it felt safe enough going down there. I know that Wild Night Run has 7 other races in their series, and if they are all as good as this one I'd definitely recommend taking part - I'm certain that we're going to be looking at a few of them for the next year!

Here's a little tip for you though - if you ever find yourself at the race start and have to pin your number onto your front, but also have to wear a fluorescent waterproof jacket (and therefore don't want to - a go pro chest mount (because we all have one of them hanging around at race start right?!) is just perfect for pinning onto!! Although it's probably far easier to remember your triathlon belt or just pin onto your leggings/shorts!!

If you want to know more about the Wild Night Run race series then click below, and to see when more of my blog posts are available 'Like' the Facebook page!

Wild Night Run

Keep em Spinning Facebook page

One Life - Liv 4 It, Love It!

Keep your head - Wear a helmet!

"But it'll mess my hair!"

I know I have posted about this before, although the last time was a bit more morbid and included a number of names of people who had recently been killed whilst out cycling - from what I remember it was a significantly large number of people in a very short space of time that had meant that the mainstream papers were running stories about it as well!

With the advances in technology and style, it still amazes me the number of people who still don't wear a helmet whilst out cycling, surely coming home from a ride has to be the most important part of a ride even behind having fun?! You never quite know what is going to happen when you set off and so wearing a helmet goes a long way to making sure you arrive back safely.

Source : Mirror.co.uk

The number of excuses that people use when you ask them why they don't wear a helmet really is baffling at times! It can range from them being uncomfortable to not being cool, the ever popular "it'll mess my hair up" or the fact that "it's only a training ride/commute". With the sport becoming more and more popular by the year it's down to those already in the sport to ensure that newcomers, especially youngsters, keep themselves safe whilst out on the ride before they make themselves look the coolest!

I think the old concept that pro riders don't wear helmets when they are not racing is beginning to be quashed as most of the material you can see online which involves media of the pros training you will be able to see them with helmets on, I even remember that a number of the riders I've seen signing on at the Tour of Britain or Tour de Swiss have their helmets on when riding between the buses and podium which I'd hope will encourage others to wear a helmet even if it is for a short ride out to the shops or into the office.

Source : Scotbycycles

Another thing that's helping to make sure that more people wear a helmet when out on the road is that club rides are telling riders that they will not be welcome on the club rides if they aren't wearing a helmet - so even if you turn up on the flashiest bike with the newest kit, if you don't have a helmet with you you're going to look pretty silly when you are asked to leave the ride before it's even begun! It's also very common for sportives or other events to require you to be wearing a helmet when taking part, which is a great idea especially with the wide variety of skill levels who are all out on the road at the same time often taking on challenging routes where they are less likely to be familiar with the roads (so never quite know what's going to be around the next corner!)

I feel the solutions that are being developed by the cycling industry are also giving people less opportunity to give excuses - what with the new helmet styles that are coming out all the time it's surely more cool to have a helmet like the pros (which are developed to keep a rider going far faster than the majority of us do when we're out on the road), and also the air helmets that are also available - providing a way to make sure that hairstyles are not ruined during the ride.

Source : Pinterest (Bzemer)

Give me my trusty Specialized helmet any day of the week, I don't think that there is a ride I've been on since I took the sport up again nearly five years ago (whether it be the current helmet or the old one), and even along the cycle path by the canal last weekend when pottering along with the dogs it was securely on because you can never be certain what's going to happen whilst you're out on a ride...

One Life - Liv 4 It, Love It

2017 - The Plans!

Wow, didn't 2016 go quick?!

It really doesn't seem like that long ago that I was sitting down to do my first piece of 2016, and here I am doing the first one of 2017... Whilst a lot went on (and that's probably why it went by so quickly) I'm certain if I looked back onto the things that I wanted to do sporting-wise and to do with this blog I certainly wouldn't have met half the targets I might have set myself!

The idea for 2017 is to set myself a few targets and see how I get on against them - you could call them New Year's resolutions, but that just gives them a feel that they are only for the beginning of the year and so halfway through they'll be forgotten! If I call them 2017 targets then at least I've got something to aim for by the end of the year rather than just the start!

My three areas that I want to build these around are health, events, and my blogging/vlogging. They've all got challenges, but I can see the events and blogging sections being the harder to keep up, so any support from you guys is really appreciated!

Health

This might be one that some people find contentious, I'm lucky in the fact that I still have a pretty high metabolism and can therefore eat quite a lot and still remain roughly the same weight, however as I'm sure mum has said for a number of years "it'll catch up with you at some point!". To that end I'm trying to make sure that I eat more healthily during 2017, meaning less takeaways and booze, and more home cooking and forward planning about meals!

To help with this section a late Christmas present Ali and I bought each other were Fitbits, and so I'm tracking how I'm getting on through the app. I've set a step goal each day of at least 6,000 steps which is below the recommended number when you first open the app but is a more realistic goal given that my job consists of sitting at a desk for a decent amount of the day! So far this year I've actually managed to meet the target each day, so fingers crossed this will continue!

I am also aiming to exercise at least three times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes each time - whether this be running, cycling or going to the gym. Looking at the app for the Fitbit it counts a brisk lunchtime walk as one of these exercises but I'm hoping to get in three "proper" sessions as well each week.

The final (and possibly likely to be the most debated in the household) health target I'm aiming for is to lose the little bit of additional weight I've gained over the past couple of years. As I said at the beginning of this piece, I'm lucky in the fact that I can often eat whatever I want and still maintain a relatively constant weight, however when I compare myself to how I was at peak fitness when I started uni and was playing badminton constantly last year's lack of training and post wedding relaxing has definitely won! I'm hoping to get myself down to around 84kg (I'm somewhere about 86kg at the moment) but at the same time have muscle instead of wedding excess!

Events

I'm really looking forward to doing a few events this year, as it makes the pain of exercise and training for bearable, and gives something to work towards. As it stands I'm only entered into one event for the year - a 5k night run in Bristol at the end of February, but I'm hoping to complete at least five running events and one triathlon by the end of December and maybe even a cycling sportive or two! These might not seem like a lot of events to challenge myself to enter nad complete in a year, but given that last year I only took part in (and completed) one event this is quite a step up!

As for what sorts of running events I'm going to take part in we'll have to wait and see - things like Tough Mudder don't really take my fancy, but the Endurance Life Coast Trail Series looked quite good fun when Ali took part in a number of their events last winter so I might be eying up a few of them towards the back end of the year. The main aim for any of the events is to have a fun and to finish - if I end up getting a good finish time out of it then that's a bonus!!

Blogging

Where would I be in setting targets for 2017 on a blog if I didn't set some targets for that as well?!

One thing that I really want to make sure that I do is doing a monthly 'progress' piece on here to see how I'm getting on against the targets that I've set myself for the year, what this should do is make sure that I'm keeping focused on what I plan to achieve over the course of the year because these posts could be super boring if ever month was "I did nothing"!!

I'd like to upload more content onto the Keep em Spinning YouTube channel through the year - whether it be a monthly vlog to accompany these blog update posts, reviews/videos of events that I've taken part in, or snippets of races that I've been to see. Make sure that you keep your eyes on there for any new content that's uploaded!

All the blog posts and videos will be shared via the Facebook page, so it'd be really great to get a few more 'likes' on there before the end of December! I'm going to set myself a challenging target of 500 likes by the end of the year, and will be running a few competitions to try and help me on my way - so watch out for those…..

If you'd like to take part in posting on here, by sharing your experiences about your sporting time or a specific event that you've taken part in, then either drop a comment at the bottom of the post or send a message on the Facebook page - it would be great to have a few more people to share their stories!

'til next time

One Life - Liv 4 It, Love It

Rob 

Monthly Update - March 2016

And just when I thought that I'd managed to catch up with some of the distance lost over the first couple of months (at least with the running side of my challenge), it's all gone a bit Pete Tong again!

However the good thing from the month is that I have actually been out on the bike, it's not been much but I have been out pottering along the canal on the mountain bike which certainly made the ride on the road a lot tougher but did mean that I could ride pretty much anywhere even though it had been chucking down with rain for the previous couple of days! The weather seemed to be my main excuse for not getting out running or cycling, the swimming excuse was that I just didn't want to get out of bed! Haha

The other excuse I managed to give myself was Ali injuring herself in the middle of the month, which is definitely not the thing to do given that she had her marathon in Paris right at the beginning of April - because I'm a nice person (and I seem to find nearly every excuse) I didn't exercise very much at all after that because it would have meant going out without her which for her was on a par in annoyance of being injured in the first place!

April's a new month though, and is the being of events for the year for me, and the major sporting event of the year for April with the Paris Marathon. Let's just see what it holds!!

One Life - Live It, Love It 

Paris Marathon - The write up...

What a weekend!!

Over 72,000 participants in the Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris and our two runners finished (a superb achievement!) and technically came pretty much in the top 50%!

From the official results page, nearly 30,000 people didn't even get to the finish line - so very well done to Ali for walking / hobbling the last 3 miles with a bust hip, and very well done to Emma for running the full distance. If you want to see their times then they are available on the P4YTS Facebook page!

It was a glorious day to be out, especially if you were a spectator, but maybe a little on the warm side if you were running 26.2 miles..! Both runners were up bright and early, and with game faces applied were off out the door whilst the support team took a more leisurely journey to the first point to see them (via the bakery of course!).

The planned meeting point was supposed to be the start on the Champs Elysees... However, due to manic Metros and yummy pastry we ended up waving at them, and snapping the first photos with the Eiffel Tower in the far distance, in Place de la Concorde.

The plan was to see the girls at the 10km marker next, just as they ran into the first of the Parisian parks, however as you might be able to tell our plans didn't always go to plan! By the time we emerged from the Metro (after meeting up with Jamie) and fired up the phones to see where they were they were already on their way to kilometre eleven - onto the 19th km then, just as they exited the park....

Since this was only a very short walk to the exit of the park we had plenty of time to kill, and had the chance to get a few snaps of the various costumes being run in, and even managed to see a couple of impersonators (Jamie!) as they jogged along in the crowd. However, since he'd just been off with Craig to find some cold beers to cheer on the runners with we couldn't really be too peeved that he was looking like he was taking part!

Not long after the beers, our two (still very) smiley runners were on their way past, taking the high fives, and ignoring the beer salutes! 

We were then off on the travels again, following the route and wandering past the feed station just after 20km - the scale of one the food for an event of this size is one that you have to see for yourself - it must have been over 100 metres of tables FULL of bananas, bars, water and sugar cubes!

Once back onto the Metro, the support team headed over to around mile 20 (as requested), and just where the local fire team had set up some hoses to spray the runners. The look of joy on some people's faces as they ran through the freezing water really gives away quite how warm and painful the marathon was for them!

Ali's hip started to cause some real problems at around mile 17 so by the time we next saw them both they'd split up to make sure that they were both able to try and finish in their own pace. We ended up putting Craig in the middle of the road on 'Ali watch' to make sure that we saw her (and she saw us) for a bit of motivation and a health check! The smiles were still there (just!), but with only 6 miles left to go the end was in sight...

The next stop for us was just around the corner, and near the top of a cruel false flat that seemed to be the final tipping for a couple of runners, and unfortunately we saw more that one leave the race at that point - the more worrying thing was the number of ambulances that we saw head back down the field when we were waiting for Emma and Ali to come back past!

Still, come past they did - with a cheery wave, and turning down another beer(!) a final lap of the park was all that stood in their way before the finish line.

Once we'd topped up on our picnic, and then topped up on provisions for the post-race binge, the race was on to get to the finish line before either Ali or Emma got there. Safe to say we lost, blame it on blokes shopping, public transport, or Emma running too fast, but she was finished quite a while before we got to the exit of the finish area. Even Ali had crossed the finish line, after hobbling the last three miles with her hip before we finally found where Emma was taking a well-earned rest!

Congratulations to both Emma and Ali for completing the event, you did us all very proud and obviously enjoyed the event massively by the size of the smiles on your faces the whole day!

Over £350 has been raised for The Richard Cann Wildlife Foundation and The Gabrielle Gray Foundation, if you haven't donated yet then follow the links below!

One Life - Live It, Love It

The Richard Cann Wildlife Foundation

The Gabrielle Gray Foundation

Monthly update - February 2016

Am there I was thinking that January had to be the worst month for training, but I had to go and prove myself wrong didn't I?!

Whilst I did manage to tick off a number of kilometres by foot and a few hundred metres in the pool I still just failed to hit my running distance, am a long way behind in swimming, and haven't even passed over the start line on the bike!!

It hasn't all been doom and gloom though - whilst I might not have completed the distance running I think I made it up to myself by pushing the pace I've been running instead. Since the triathlon is a sprint and only a 5km run I'm trying to aim for 25 minutes or less for that segment, which is why a few of my run have been getting close to 5 min/km over a distance of more than 5km just to see if I can still last it after a longer "warm up".

My fastest pace wasn't actually reflected by the upload to Strava though, and we all know that this is the law don't we!? I had the big dog with me that time, and she decided that she would spoil the pace by relieving herself multiple times during the 10km which meant I had to stop, clear up and then find a bin to put it all in...! However I was able to prove to myself that I should be able to do 50 mins for 10km on the right day, I'll just have to go out and do it again without a running companion!

The main problem I had this month was motivation, which seems odd considering the post I wrote at the beginning of the year - a full day of work and then a commute are not a good way to prep up for exercise, and whilst others might be able to do it I've had to change tactics a little to get any exercise done. Lunch time and running at work once I've finished are beginning to be the norm to get runs in midweek and then I just have to keep the motivation up at the weekend to keep Ali and the dogs company.

Another thing that we've got this month has been a canicross belt, so that we can run "hands free" with the dogs rather than getting elbows pulled out of joints for the full run distance - for anyone who hasn't run with one of these it does take a bit of getting used to and making sure that it's set up right to pull along by your bum rather than the bottom of your back! Although when on your back and the dog has a sudden surge of pace there are some true comic-style running styles on display!

#onelifeliveitloveit

Pro tour update - January 2016

2016 seems to have gotten off to a great start if you're an Aussie, or if you support an Australian team - with the first UCI World Tour event going to Simon Gerrans on Orica Greenedge - although some people might just call it home advantage! Aussies have even more to celebrate with the top three in the UCI world rankings all being them as well! (see below)

Simon Gerrans in Orca

With the Australian Championships also taking place in January it's being going off with a bang Down Under, and both the men and women's road races being crackers from the footage I've seen... 

The new Australian Road and Time Trial champions are as follows:

Women

Road : Amanda Spratt

ITT : Katrin Garfoot

Men

Road : Jack Bobridge

ITT : Rohan Dennis

Caleb Ewan of Orica particularly impressed again at the beginning of the season, in winning the National Crit Championships and then 2 stages of the Tour Down Under. If you haven't seen this guy sprint then it really is something you must do - he gets so low over the bars when sprinting it's crazy how he manages to still get the power down on the road!

Caleb Ewan Celebrates

UCI road rankings as at the end of January are:

Men

1. S Gerrans (AUS) 775 points
2. R Porte (AUS) 485
3. J McCarthy (AUS) 370

Women

1. N/A (season not started yet)

One Life - Live It, Love It

Monthly update - January 2016

I can safely say that January hasn't started off with the training 'bang' that was my New Year resolution - kicking 2016 off with a great start and setting the rhythm for the rest of the year!

As it turns out, I've managed a grand total of 0km on the bike, 0m of swimming, and am 17km behind the pace already when it comes down to running - which is almost a weeks-worth of distance! I'll blame it on a number of things - the weather, work, and trying to fit food around training... What it actually comes down to is being rather bone-idle (despite the last post on training partners!) especially when they send you out to get the fish and chips whilst they are out for a run!!

Despite the laughably poor looking stats above, where I've only actually managed to meet the distance planned one out of four times, two of the others weeks have been within a couple of km of the target (as I pointed out to Ali as she sniggered at the stats over my shoulder!). This has definitely been an 'easier' month in terms of running, as a lot of it has been done along the canal or through town meaning a lot less elevation gain and quite often a lot less mud!!

However, February is a new month, so I can only hope it's onwards and upwards! The plan is to get out on the bike for the first cycle in 2016 on Saturday, so I can at least get off the block with that target, however swimming might have to hold off another week as it'll be a busy one at work!

If you missed out on what I've challenged myself this year then either click on the link to the right as this is the featured post at the moment, or go via this link - 2016 - What I want to do.

One Life - Live It, Love It

Training partners

Now if you're anything like me then you'll need a load of motivation to go for a run, which is why I very rarely go out for one by myself. Either it'll be running with my partner Ali, our dog Chewy, or other friends who like to run.

The great thing about running with someone is that there is always motivation to keep on going - it's that instinct that you can't let the other person down by quitting halfway through, and you want to help them make sure that they don't quit either especially if they are training for a specific event (as is often the case with Ali).

There's also the competitive nature of training with someone, although that doesn't always go down well when you are running with them... All the apps that are available such as Strava, Nike Plus and Map My Run do allow you to see where you have come in various leaderboards on the route, but it's still not the same as seeing someone going up a climb faster than you or losing the final sprint of the session. I have had a couple of times when I've decided to sprint the final part of the run without warning, which hasn't amused Ali, especially when I have the house key!! Haha.

Last night was a prime example of getting motivation from others. We had a friend over who attends a lot of events with Ali, and they had both had a bit of a rubbish day at work and then we had the check up at the vets for her dogs... All in all, not much motivation to go out for exercise afterwards! They still got me out, and we all managed a pretty good paced run (see the Strava link below).

Evening Run 25/01/2016

With my annual targets it's also the motivation of how much others have run in a year - Ali and Emma are training for a marathon in April, and so have done a lot more than me so far, but it's still having to admit to them and myself that I'm behind on monthly target that's getting me going!!

Oh, and I've also got this sweet little one to motivate me to run a bit more, although I do have the excuse of not running as far for a while with her!!

One Life - Live It, Love It

2016 - What I want to do...

It's a new year (in case you hadn't seen from the training posts I've been putting up!), so it's now time that everyone is setting targets for the coming twelve months.

Interval Training

Threshold Training

Recovery Training

Endurance Training

Hill Training

I'm no different, but it's always difficult to set things that I'm going to have a chance of achieving, but still difficult enough to give me a proper challenge...

As a base mark I'm setting three distance goals to complete for the end of 2016:

Cycle 2,000km

Run 1,000km

Swim 50km

Now for a lot of people this might not really sound like a proper challenge, but if you have a look at my Strava activities over the past couple of years then you'll see that the amount of exercise I've been doing has been heading in the wrong direction as work and home life seem to get in the way!

Creative Commons

The swimming aspect of this will be even more of a challenge as I have done very very little of this since I even left junior school, and when I say very little in mean only two proper swimming sessions (of around 400m) and a couple of splashing sessions when on holiday in the past six years!!!

So for those who were paying attention will have probably worked out that I need to roughly swim 1 km, run 20 km and cycle 40 km a week to hit these targets - good luck to me with this as well!!

I have a few events that I'm already signed up to during the year that'll help with the distance and motivation during the year so I'll be sure to mention them as they are coming up.

Another thing that'll really help with the motivation is if you guys can join in with me on this - in order to compete the weekly distance on the bike I'm going to have to swap the drive one day a week for a cycle, and whilst there are the obvious things like going for my target and getting fit again there is also the benefits of less environmental impact. I'm tracking this on my DoNation campaign and would really like it if others could pledge alongside - each one only lasts a couple of months, but do it for a few months in a row then you could make it a habit of a lifetime!

Click here to view the campaign page, and comment below or on the social media pages to let me know that you've joined in!

One Life - Live It, Love It

Riding the seasons - Winter

Winter is the hardest time of the year to motivate yourself to get out on your bike. Cold and dark mornings and evenings make it much more attractive to stay in bed for that extra hour before work or to curl up on the sofa to watch TV or films at weekends.

This is all before the party season that's sure to take a bit of a toll on waistline, liver and general fitness. Ice and muck - both of which make riding surfaces treacherous, are more ready-made excuses for staying in.

What you do in the winter can be crucial - riding regularly will help you consolidate the progress you have made in the warmer months and will give you a head start when the season gets underway again in the spring.

Events

20/02/2016 - Wiggle Super Series No Excuses Sportive
28/02/2016 - Kentish Killer
28/02/2016 - The Rawlinson Bracket
Evans Cycles RideIT Sportives - Various locations and dates (see here)

Clothing

A jacket is the single most important piece of clothing in your winter cycling wardrobe. It should be windproof and waterproof, but still needs to be breathable - the trick is to wear breathable layers underneath too. It's always good to start your ride feeling a little bit cold, as you will soon heat up once you've got going - if you start the ride all warm and cosy then you're almost certain to overheat during the ride.

A pair of gloves comes in close second to a jacket in terms of importance in winter. Your hands are virtually stationary when you ride so can end up getting extremely cold - especially your fingers. Again, the best gloves for the job will be windproof and waterproof.

Bikes

People take particular care protecting their body from the winter weather, and should have the same philosophy for their bikes. Your first job for the winter (so therefore should already be done) should be to book your bike in for a service before the weather gets too bad - with the balmy mild weather we have been having you'll still be ok!

Switching to wider tyres and reducing the pressure by 10-20psi will give you that extra little bit of traction of mucky, wet and icy roads. Extra grime on the roads means you should clean your bike more often and more carefully than in other seasons to ensure that this doesn't affect the performance of the bike. Extra attention should be paid to your chain which should be cleaned at least once a week (assuming you're out at least once a week!!)

After cleaning, give the bike frame a squirt of hydrophobic spray and the chain some water disperser before lubing it up. Finally, don't scrimp on a good set of lights - they could save your life.

One Life - Live It, Love It

Merry Christmas Everyone!

A seasons greeting to everyone!

I hope you all have a wonderful festive period, get to relax and spend time with those you love, and don't worry too much about training and keeping off the indulgent food and drink (that's what the New Year is about!)

If you want to spend the time planning what not to each, and how to kick start your training then check out the quick training guides below!

Hill Training

Endurance Training

Recovery Training

Threshold Training

Interval Training

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

One Life - Live It, Love It

Interval Training

So as we count down the days until Christmas, it's also time to count the number of days left in the current year - and therefore look forward to the new year and planning what events to take part in and how to tackle them.

In this short five-part piece we'll look at the five key training areas to concentrate on to get through any event!

Interval Training

Why?

Interval training involves short and regular bursts at alternate speeds from low to high. It's an important training tool used for building up cardio fitness and maximising your aerobic capacity, also know as your VO2 max.

Everyone's VO2 max is different and it's largely determined by genes and age, and therefore it's not possible to increase it, just to make sure that you are maximising your potential. The other good news is that training at your VO2 max also increases your endurance and strength.

What?

Beginners

Three intervals of 3 minutes at high intensity, with 3 minute recovery periods between. No more than one session a week.

Advanced

Three intervals of 5 minutes at high intensity, with 3 minute recovery periods between. No more than one session a week.




Missed out on the other parts of this New Year training? Check them out from the links below:

Hill Training

Endurance Training
Recovery Training
Threshold Training

One Life - Liv 4 It, Love It

Threshold Training

So as we count down the days until Christmas, it's also time to count the number of days left in the current year - and therefore look forward to the new year and planning what events to take part in and how to tackle them.

In this short five-part piece we'll look at the five key training areas to concentrate on to get through any event!

Threshold Training

Why?

Your lactate threshold is the point at which your muscles start to become overcome by fatigue, therefore stands to reason that increasing the amount of work you can do before your reach it is extremely important.

In sportives this is likely to occur on long steady climbs, and in races having a higher lactate threshold will enable you to stay with breakaways or smash those time trials. Training at 15-25% below your maximum heart rate allows you to increase your threshold, as this will be slightly above your current lactate threshold.

What?

Beginners

30 minutes at a constant intensity of 81-85% of your maximum heart rate once a week.

Advanced

20 minutes at a constant intensity of 85-90% of your maximum heart rate three times a week.



Missed out on the other parts of this New Year training? Check them out from the links below:

Hill Training

Endurance Training
Recovery Training
Interval Training

One Life - Liv 4 It, Love It