Pink Bikes !

Just seen the photos of Tiara Ditcher's new bike.......a beautiful steed...but deja vu .....??? Now who doesn't like pink???

I ordered my brand new custom made Serotta on 7 July, 2007 - the day we went to London to see the opening day of the TDF.......I picked it up on 15 September, 2008...now here's the scary part...the pink colour I ordered is called 'Beat Cancer Pink'.....the day I picked my bike up was 3 days after my cancer surgery.....cancer diagnosed on 5 September......

My bike is beautiful....shame about the rider !!!

Enjoy your new bike, Kristina....and next Sunday....ride like the wind !

Swimming and more swimming....

I seem to have been in the pool the whole time this week ...may not, it just seems like it !!!!

Biking in the wind (again)....hey, it's August and I went out on Tuesday afternoon with a compression top, bike jersey and arm warmers...and guess what? I wasn't hot !!! The wind has been dreadful this summer. Never seems to abate and always seems to be in your face !

Gordy and I are both contract holders at a nearby American Air Force Base and tomorrow they are holding a half marathon on the perimeter track along the runway.....at least it will be flat ! BUT should it be windy it will be HARD !

Our friends, Gerry and Sue are doing it with us......so new SKIRTCHASER outfits were purchased and arrived yesterday so we will all look fabulous ! It will be so much fun.

Then a long bike ride this week-end.

All this whilst packing up for our trip on Tuesday to Chicago and then on to Madison to watch/voly/sign up at IM MOO and more importantly, cheer all our friends who are racing !!!

AWOL

Been a bit of a hectic week.....had to work away from home last week and that entailed a huge long car ride !

Whilst I was away had a 13.5 mile run to do. Left on Wednesday morning after taking my Boot Camp class and then swimming 950m drill swim....drove 270 miles to take a witness statement...then on to the hotel to run. By this time the weather had REALLY de-generated...high winds, cool with the hint of rain (what else is new this summer?)....

Well, had mapped my route out and left the hotel....two miles into the run I knew it was going to be ugly..no energy...tired, tired. Anyway, ran to the bottom of the road and map said turn right, looked right and there was the BIGGEST hill.....turned back! Thought well, the road is 2.7 miles long just run up and down it until 13.5 is completed.....

Then found a way into a Country Park....ran a couple of laps round that dodging the mud. By this time it had started to drizzle.......came out of the park as it was getting too dark to see. By the time I had got to 11.5 miles it was pouring and I was soaked......thought about the running I had done with my Boot Camp class, worked out I had probably made up the deficit and then called it a day !!!!

I call those runs an "IM" run.....just gotta get through it !!!!

Hard time this week-end with riding...my elbow is too sore still to get down on the aeros and my knee still sore to do any climbing......

Today is the beginning of another week and all work-outs will be completed...I promise, Craig...........

No Olympics to watch...already getting withdrawal symptoms...still the Paralympics will be starting in a couple of weeks and we get blanket coverage of that......

A week tomorrow we will be leaving for Chicago !

Didn't We Do Well?

What a fantastic two weeks of sports! We are so lucky here in the UK that we have had wall-to-wall TV coverage of the Olympics round the clock for the past two weeks. The Closing Ceremony is about to start and in a couple of hours the Olympic Flag will be passed to the Mayor of London and London will officially become the Host City of the 2012 Games.

The athletics stadium, velodrome and aquatic centres are all being built in the area of London where Jack grew up (Statford) and where I went to college, we met, got married there and lived there ... utterly unbelievable!
Turning to more mundane matters - our scars have healed pretty well and Jack got out on her bike yesterday for the first time in 4 weeks - her elbow was painful and she couldn't get down on the aeros very much but it's a start.

I ran 14 before breakfast on Wednesday with a descending Z4 pyramid - thanks Craig - but have not been able to ride. Was hoping to get out today (Sunday) but weather is pouring with rain - in fact the weather has been so bad we ordered a new Turbo Trainer this week!

Had the Serottas serviced at CycleFit in London on Tuesday and are looking forward to a day off tomorrow (Bank Holiday Monday) and a Half Marathon at the US Air Force base on Friday morning!

Back to the Pool !

Yes, I never thought I would be excited about swimming but I AM ! My wounds have healed sufficiently to swim so did my short drill swim this morning at 6.00am.

I take a 'Boot Camp' class on Wednesday mornings at 7.00 am so had to be out of the water in time to take that !

I was quit surprised how strong I felt in the water....must be all that swimming I have watched from Beijing ! Of course, i think I swim like Michael Phelps......how on earth do those swimmers move the water so quickly????

I am in awe !

Wiesbaden 70.3 Race Report

Well - as some of you already know - things didn't quite go to plan on Sunday!

Swim
The Old Guy's wave (Men 50+) was off at 9:10am with just the Relay Swimmers following us. I set off at a steady pace aiming to exit the water in around 45 minutes and was pleased with my 44:39 (official time was 44:49). I took it pretty easy to the turn around point and then tried to pick up the pace slightly on the way back. My average HR was 134 which is mid Z3 for my biking so I guess that was OK - I even overtook several swimmers from the 9:00am wave so that made me feel good.

I took too long in T1 - I logged 7:58 against the official time of 7:48 - I always have issues getting my wetsuit off, anyhow this was a training event not a racing one so I wasn't worried by a couple of minutes.

Bike
The first four miles are pretty flat & fast so I cruised along at 135 bpm and a speed of 18-23 mph - then you hit the first hill - six miles of steady climbing with 1,350 feet to the summit, my speed was down to 6 mph at times but despite being overtaken by pretty much every Relay Team cyclist I did manage to overtake a couple of real triathletes myself!

The problem with the course is that after the long climb(s) the descents are quite technical with loads of safety marshals out to slow you down. I did manage to jump on the back of three other guys and we eventually cruised down looking like a TDF group swooping around the curves - that was a pretty good feeling!

By now gentle rainfall had started.

After 70 km of constant long drag climbs and switchback descents I misjudged my line through a descending S-bend in a little town. Things would have been fine if the curb had followed the road ... but it didn't! So I ended up slamming into the curbstones lining a bus-stop and departed from the bike. Road rash to knee, elbow, hip and shoulder down the right side - nothing serious. Luckily a paramedic team was on the spot and they patched me up. The rear mech was bent into the wheel - no spoke damage - and the service van sorted that out and offered me a ride back to the finish but I still had The Hammer to do so off I went! I think I lost about 16 minutes in total.

Took The Hammer in my stride and the two long hills after that before hitting the long fast descent back to Wiesbaden. Last year I was really cooking on this section with speeds around 50mph - this time I touched the brakes and realised that there was a problem with the front wheel. Checking after the race I saw that the braking surface had been scuffed by the impact with the curb and there was metal swarf sticking out of it!



Discretion being the better part of valour I kept the speed down to around 30 by feathering the rear brake and lost even more time! When I came into T2 I couldn't stop properly at the dismount line and ran straight into the helper!

Run
I didn't really intend starting the run at all but the T2 helpers changed my shoes for me and I thought "What the hell?" and set off. My knee was painful but not too bad and I felt pretty strong (Thanks Craig!). After a while I was thinking "This knee hurts, the elbow bandage is too tight, its only a training day, do I really want to beat myself up?" and at the end of Lap 1 I decided to bail.

So all in all I had a good swim and first 70km of the bike - the last 20km was OK but compromised. Its a very tough bike course and I need to find more hills to train on if I want to be able to improve my climbing.

Bike Check-in

Got up early this morning for a 75 minute Z1/Z2 run in the park in the middle of town - its where the run course will be tomorrow. Went to the race briefing with Gordy at 11:00am and chuckled when the race director said "If your bike computer is only reading 10km/hr on the first hill don't be alarmed - it's perfectly normal." Maybe I'm glad I'm not riding tomorrow!

Gordy and Torsten aren't the only ones riding road bikes - almost the entire 2,500 are riding road bikes - saw a few Cervelo's so it must be an official Ironman event!

Got Gordy checked in this afternoon - weather hot and sunny and the forecast for tomorrow looks pretty good - hopefully the rain will hold off and it will stay warm and sunny.

Good luck to everyone racing tomorrow - wish I was too :-(

Friday in Wiesbaden

Met up with some friends last night and had dinner before falling into bed at 9:00pm! I had a 55 minute run to do this morning (including some speedwork - thanks Craig!) so set off for the run course and left Gordy at the hotel ... he has to rest!

Run over, it was breakfast and then off to register for the race - even though I can't race I registered to pick up my Goody Bag. By now it was pouring with rain (yesterday's weather must have followed us). Met a guy from Los Angeles who is here with his wife - he's racing and she's spectating - and had lunch with them then back to the hotel to snooze and watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics ... a German voice-over the Chinese commentary - didn't understand a word in either language but it looked pretty cool. We'll get live coverage here so that should keep us occupied ... road race is on tomorrow morning.

Just back from the pasta party - very efficient even down to proper china and flatware.

450 miles on half a tank of diesel!

Well here we are in Wiesbaden, Germany. Got up at 5:00am on Thursday morning, out of the house just before 6:00am and rolling up to the Channel Tunnel at 7:45 - 112 miles from our house ... how spooky is that?

40 minutes to cross the English Channel on the Eurotunnel train - fantastic - and we are rolling out of Calais where it started raining. The rain continued through France, Belgium and Holland and only cleared when we got into Germany. From then on it was just off and on!

Held our speed down to 65 mph and thus managed to get 49.5 miles per gallon - those Saab diesels are very frugal - we still have a half tank left so that should get us back to Belgium before we need to think about refuelling - diesel is cheaper in Europe than at home!

Speed Work

Run this morning......cool and overcast (again) what a terrible summer we have had. Raining now !

Anyway, plan called for 33-43 minute run with strides and 3 x 1 min efforts in Z4 ...managed this and loved it. Can finally see how all this training is working...feel really, really strong.

Knee held up well, a little sore now and the bruising is coming out beautifully. Had last session with the nurse....everything is healing really well and I can swim next week when goop has finally stopped oozing out of my gashed elbow.

Bike later.......just 80 minutes...my 'recovery' week.

Considering what a terrible swimmer I am ...I am REALLY missing it !

60 miles

Set off this morning for my 60 mile endurance ride. Our German friend Torsten was in Cambridge for the weekend so Jack picked him up at 7:15 and having adjusted Jack's road bike to fit him - and loaned him shoes, helmet, gloves and wet weather gear - we set off at 8:25.

HRM failed to transmit so this ride was done on "feel" rather than actual data - it worked well - kept in an easy breathing zone, could talk all the time. Left home and headed north into the flat Fenland country around Mildenhall, spinning along at 17 - 18 mph felt really good. Got home after 3:30 and Jack was ready with a protein smoothie for the two of us - what a star!

Weather was around 60F, cloudy with drizzle & a couple of heavy showers - lovely!

Torsten is also racing Wiesbaden 70.3 next Sunday so this was a good session for both of us. Short run off the bike completed the session.

We have both decided that as the Wiesbaden bike course is SO hilly that there is no point riding tri-bikes, we are both going to race on our road bikes, my Kestrel Evoke is significantly lighter than my Serotta CXII so that will be a definite plus.

Looking forward to a pre-race week - I like Craig's description of behaving like a "lazy slug with a salt addiction" before the race!

Yes!

Yesterday I planned my 11 mile run and was hoping my knee would allow me to do this. YES ! Not only nailed the 11 but even managed to do the 2 x 2.30 in z4 which I was VERY pleased with.

Knee was sore during the afternoon but seems better this morning.

Wounds healing slowly. Elbow is still quite nasty and at the gym yesterday I saw a friend of mine who is not only an ultra runner but a doctor and I asked her what I should do about the 70.3 next week. Without hesitation she looked at he elbow and said "Don't race' ! I am inclined to take her advice ! She knows me well enough to know how much I want to do this and would not give that advice lightly.

Ho Hum......IMAZ is my main focus so everything is sacrificed to race that.

Hope to be back on the bike early next week......hand is still a little too painful to hold the bars!

Just waved Gordy off for his 60 mile bike.......cool and light drizzle this morning......

40 miles in the bag - 7.5 to go!

Got up with "herself" this morning and redressed the wound on her hand before she set off to teach her 7:00am Spinning class. I was planning my 40/7.5 brick session (which I should have done yesterday) and hoping to get it done in time to get to see my first massage client of the day.

Well - there was a significant wind factor this morning which I hadn't been expecting! Got out the door, onto the bike and thought "What the ****?" Seemed like I was going nowhere. Thinking positively I thought - well there's a good chance it will be windy on the Beeline in November - but I was still going nowhere!

Upshot was I could only average 15.6 mph (Z2/Z3) which felt pretty awful to me, 2:35 for 40 miles!!! Had to bag the run as I had to get cleaned up before setting off to see my client but will attempt the run later on today.