Monday

We did our weekly workout with our fabulous personal trainer Emma from Peak Trails Physical Training. Even though training is currently done via Zoom she is so full of energy you still get that encouragement you need from a PT.

Tuesday

Hubby took me for a run on the trails/in the hills. It was a five miler and beautiful all the way. I did start to notice an old Achilles injury biting a little on the uphills (damn that long run on Sunday).

Wednesday

Felt shattered on Wednesday and got off the turbo after just 20 minutes. Sometimes you just need to rest. So I did some yoga as it helps to stretch out and it was beautiful outside which helps.

Thursday and Friday

I took two full rest days. My left shoulder and my legs have been a bit sore and tired all week so seemed the best thing to do.

Saturday

Having signed up to the VR6 (virtual Olympic distance tri or rather version there of which is 3k run, 40k bike and 10k run over a weekend) I set off for my 3k run in the morning. Went pretty well and was pleased with my 15.53 time given that nothing here locally is flat. After that I had intended to sprint out fully on the 40k (done inside on the turbo) but a) it was too hot, b) my legs were gone and c) I didn’t pick the flattest route on Zwift. It was sadly one of those workouts where you just try to get to the end rather than go fast. I did it in 1 hr 16 which I was quite disappointed with, ah well another day and all that.

Sunday

Hubby set off on his 3k run to do the VR6 and came home and got on the turbo around the time I set off to do my 10k run. It went better than expected and although way off a PB I actually thought I might be even slower so was happy with my 57 minutes.

Overall currently 34th out of 186 in age/gender category but the results wont finish coming in until midnight. Hubby is currently 120th out of 716, totally awesome.

In other news:

I sent off an article to Ultrarunning World online magazine. I was very excited to be asked to do this a few weeks ago and I cant wait to see it in the finished magazine.

I used an ironing board for the first time in …..oh wait, I cant actually remember. In fact until a few months ago we didn’t own one. Those that know me well will know what an unprecedented moment this is!

So this week I had my usual rest day on Monday but also rested up on Tuesday due to feeling considerably bleugh. Thankfully it turned out to be another bout of delightful hay fever (I think) and I felt pretty good on Wednesday. So a somewhat mental week of sport then played out as follows:

Wednesday

A 4 mile road run in a circuit from the house and a 45 minute turbo session on the bike at home.

Thursday

A hilly 4 mile trail run. So beautiful up on Werneth Low so I’ve included a few pics. One of these is blurry, a side effect of running with a phone when its warm.

Friday

I decided to turbo for an hour instead of going out on the bike. The idea was to save my legs as by this point I had signed up to the virtual half iron-man on the weekend (VR5). It’s actually a duathlon and you run 5k, cycle 90k and run 21k at anytime between Fri 6pm and Sunday midnight so you can take breaks etc. It can be done indoors or outdoors as you long as you stick to government rules of one sport a day outside etc. So my Fri workout was just spinning as this is good for recovering legs.

Saturday

I set out to do my 5k run (part 1 of the race) at a deliberately average speed. There seems no point to run a fast 5k and save 2 minutes when you know you are going to spend a couple of hours on the bike after. I ran it in 28 minutes which I’m perfectly happy with given our local undulating terrain and given my average level of input. It’s after this point that the comedy of errors began..

I knew I had to cycle 90k on the turbo. I also thought that I needed to record the ride on my Garmin and not rely on Zwift to record it as my Friday test ride had not uploaded to the Ironman virtual site (this was my first error). I got all my yummy snacks and drinks ready for the ride and topped up my bottles with what I thought was energy drink containing electrolytes. It turned out to be chocolate flavoured recovery drink which I would normally mix with milk rather than water. Ah well it was weirdly drinkable.

My strategy on the bike was to go fast (not much of a strategy I know) but I figured it made sense to do well on the bike and then go a bit easier on the run. So I was aiming to finish in 2.45. Unfortunately soon after starting it became clear that my Zwift speed and distance was different from the distance and speed on my Garmin watch and that furthermore this delta was getting bigger and bigger as time went on. So as I’m riding along I’m thinking do I do 90k based on Zwift or 90k based on my watch ? I felt it was best to do the latter and that this must be the ‘correct number’ and the one that would upload to my virtual Ironman.

The next comical thing to happen was the pedal coming off the bike with my shoe and foot still firmly attached so that my leg is sticking out mid air not doing anything whilst the now pedalless spindle goes round and round. I got off the bike and examined exhibit A…..i.e. my foot inside a shoe with a pedal attached on the floor. I wasted 5 minutes trying to get my shoe out of the pedal to no avail. Finally I rescrewed the pedal back onto the bike with the shoe attached (yes I had taken my foot out, I’m not that bendy) which proved (thankfully) to be really easy to do, even for technically challenged people like myself.

At 2.52 I finished my 90k on Zwift but unfortunately had to continue as my watch was showing just 77k. I carried on until the latter got to 90k which took me a further 25 minutes and my Zwift now showed 104k. I saved my ride and looked at my Ironman virtual race page and agghghghghghghgh and grrrrrrrrrrrr it showed I’d done 104k in 3 hours 18 minutes. Ok so the extra 14k wasn’t required then after all…..

Sunday

All that remained was to run 21k on Sunday. I felt pretty good in the morning and did a bit of foam rolling and stretching before hand. My son ran the first 11k with me which really helped as I had someone to chat to. It also meant we ran a little slower but since I haven’t run further than 11k in the last 2 months, setting the world on fire was never going to be a good tactical approach anyway and you always have to think about keeping injuries at bay. I’d set up laps in our local town and so we were able to stop off at the house and have a drink or gel at end of the driveway after each lap if so desired. My son finished after 2 laps and I finished my VR after 4 laps in 2 hours 10 minutes, which is hardly speedy but It’s vaguely acceptable given the undulating roads around here.

I’m currently 33rd in age group (would of been 19th if I’d only done 90k required) but that will change (go down) as more people have yet to finish the race. Still I’m happy that even with my errors and undulating runs I’m not completely shit. 😁

Monday was rest day and apart from working I really didn’t do anything except for lots of ‘colouring in’ on my happy colour game (a total incomprehensible obsession right now) 😁

Tuesday: After work I ran the 4 mile local trail route with my son. It was too hot by far for the 2 mile uphill bit but the downhill was great fun. After hubby and I did circuits with our PT via zoom. The WiFi is pretty hit and miss outside our house so occasionally it buffers and we end up doing an extra minute of whatever exercise we are doing!

Wednesday: Turbo was the order of the day, just 45 minutes, a lovely hot and sweaty affair.

Thursday: I did a 4 mile road run which includes a steep hill which is also a Strava segment. Yes I admit to speeding up just before and also up the hill in order to try and get a cup on strava and I did, woohoo. So sad I know but you have to take motivation where it comes.

Friday: I am blessed that I get to finish early on a Friday in my job so I was able to shoot off on my bike into the hills (well semi hilly) and do a one hour loop after work.

Saturday: My son is building up his running and today was his first 10K in a few years so I ran with him to encourage him along the way. In fact he ended up encouraging me as I was very tired and he is starting to edge ahead of me. Near us no run is really flat so there was some decent undulation here and there. After I did some peaceful yoga, something I’m starting to enjoy more and more. Yoga Life UK are really good. Once you are set up you get a notification on facebook and can then do the session whenever you want by going back and finding the notification.

Sunday: OMG! My husband took me on a wee bike ride…..just 45 hilly miles including Nont Sarahs (Buckstones Pass) which to be fair is not steep at all but the whole route is undulating and I was shattered by the end of it. Gorgeous gorgeous views though. We then did circuits as a family in the garden. We introduced a new move called the Curtsey which caused some amusement with the lads 😆.

Otherwise during the week I started a new painting, we got a roaring fire going last night at the end of the garden and after years of wearing make up every day I’ve started to embrace the natural look. Only took me 51 years.

Now roll on curry and a bit of wine 🍷 😁✌️

What a beautiful weekend. Ok yesterday it was a tad colder but that was perfect for running. 7 mile run, 6 with my son who is pushing my pace and making me faster.

Today we decided against the early bike ride and instead I did some yoga which I quite enjoyed although 30 minutes was my patience limit. Later hubby and I took it in turns to go on the turbo outside in the glorious weather.

Later my son and I did some painting (the picture kind) and then we both played in the back garden with his new re-enactment sword.

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine whether it be outside or opening a window and maybe a nice cold beer or G&T. Cheers 🍻

Lockdown makes for interesting training at times, swerving your way down the road like a drunk person in order to social distance from people whilst out on a run. An easier option is just to head into the hills where you simply don’t find as many people.

Consequently most of my runs and bike rides seem to involve hill work right now. This is great for building strength but also means I need to rest and stretch more (I’m not great at either of these but I’m getting there).

Monday

I did a 4 mile trail run with hubby. It’s pretty much 2 miles up and 2 miles down, over grassy fields, styals and passing some sheep along the way. Difficult but so much fun! We followed this up with circuit training in the garden and then finished with some garden work:

We broke up some stones with a sledgehammer ready to put them in the skip the next day.

Tuesday

Tuesday was my rest day this week so I just went for a 2 mile walk after work.

Wednesday

I went on the turbo for 40 minutes. I was looking to follow Geraint Thomas but clearly you have to start at the same time he does…I just couldn’t find him. I worked hard though trying 😁

Thursday

I repeated the 4 mile trail hilly run I’d done on Monday in order to show my son the route. I was amazed I remembered it myself. Gorgeous views up on the low.

Friday

Today I went for a bike ride with hubby. Again we went onto quieter roads, a bit hilly with beautiful views.

On way to Broadbottom

We finished off with circuits again in the garden. Now enjoying Gin and orange juice (surprisingly nice) since I’ve run out of tonic.

Four days since my last blog and trying to remember what happened as all days are starting to roll into one big blur. If it wasn’t for work I really would never know what day of the week it was.

Turboed on Wednesday, ran with my son on Thursday, did a beautiful hilly bike ride on Friday (piccy below), ran again today or I should say I went weaving as there too many people out and I had to keep jumping into hedges to social distance. I will not be running that particular route again and accept that was a mistake. We also all did a few gym circuits in the garden in between somewhere.

Despite how it sounds however, I feel like I’m not doing much at the moment and on this beautiful sunny Easter weekend I don’t remember the last time I felt this lazy, this relaxed and did so little. I think its good for me though. I feel like I’m going into holiday mode where life slows down, you take longer to get up, do everything at a slower pace and generally feel more chilled out.

I asked my son to make biscuits for us the other day to keep him occupied not realising they were extremely complex and it took him 3 hours to bake. Results were good though, nom.

We played ready steady cook yesterday as a family. Everyone had to look at what was in the fridge, freezer and cupboards and then write their idea down for a recipe for tea on a bit of paper. We then looked at the options and chose one to make, only we had all written down a type of curry so its clear what we all love in this house then.

Finished my painting today hurrah. Here it is, I’ve just spent too much money on a lovely frame but it will be worth it and we can hang it in the bedroom or lounge. Spent another hour teaching my son to paint a picture after he asked me to show him how. I’ll post that when he finishes it.

It feels like such a weird time. We are all getting those jobs done around the house and in the garden (if you are lucky to have one), taking up hobbies we haven’t done in ages, baking loads, whatsapping neighbours, sharing tomato plants and making videos of talking garden ornaments in the greenhouse (enough said). These are all the upsides of lockdown or maybe its the crazy side. Anyone else feel this shift?

This last week should of been week 9 of my 40 week Ironman training plan and would of included 10 hours of training, 4.75 cycling, 1.5 swimming, 2.75 running and 1 hour doing strength work. However, its becoming increasingly clear that I wont be resigning up to the Ironman this year since I fear even a reduced form of lockdown may last quite a long time. I mean who knows but it does seem we are unlikely to go back to normal anytime soon.

So for the above reason I’m in no mans land a bit….how much training should I do? Am I sticking to my schedule? What would be the point? Or should I just do a reduced version to stay fit and then resurge with it all next year. Or should I plan some new goals like working on my strength and speed. Hmmm 🤔. These are things I need to think about and have yet to decide on.

Last week I actually did 7.5 hours of training, 2.5 hours of cycling, zero swimming, 2 hours of running and 3 hours of strength work. Lockdown simply lends itself to a different split in what you do. Oh I should add 1 hour of baking and several hours of eating the results of said baking….oh and an hour on my painting. It’s a work in progress, I need to spend more time on it and sort out the perspective which is def. wonky at the moment.

On Sunday I was on the turbo outside which is a lovely place to do this as it gets very very hot on the turbo. If you’ve never been on one, then expect to sweat/drip onto the floor. No really! So being outside you can avoid this mishap.

However, as you can see from the picture I was not very happy. This was because my temporary tooth had fallen out and I was in a lot of pain, so here is mad happy husband vs less happy in pain me.

Monday was my rest day so no training at all but we went for a walk after work. We are so lucky around here as its easy to socially distance. I feel sorry for people in densely populated areas as they probably think they are the only ones going out for a walk and nope there are loads of others and its impossible to meet the guidelines then. All we meet on our walks are cows and horses.

Today was my busy training day. I turboed at lunch, ran after work and followed it up with circuits with the lads at home in the garden. I felt good on the bike, rubbish on the run and spent the duration of the circuits fantasising about eating fajitas (what we are having for tea). I will admit food does motivate me at times 😂

I started my day so so excited 😀. It was my turn to make the drive to Tesco to do the weekly food shop!!!! Ok, it doesn’t sound exciting but life has changed somewhat. Just being able to drive and listen to the radio was awesome enough but I felt like i was going on some kind of out of body experience adventure, queuing up 2 metres apart with a scarf around my mouth. The actual shopping experience was like playing a game of bingo waiting for your numbers to come up, will they have it in or wont they? One customer was wearing a mask (fair enough) but also decided to do the outing in his slippers.

I saw more of this casual dress sense on my long run today. I was running past a local Tesco express and was somewhat bemused when I saw a ‘household’ queuing in their onesies and dressing gowns. Clearly I’m overdressing when I go out by wearing Jeans 🤔. Felt great on my run; when you train you have great sessions/days or even weeks and rubbish days or weeks and sometimes there seems to be no rational reason why. This week has been great and I’ve found it hard to not sprint it out on every run and bike ride. I hope my legs forgive me.

The next bit of excitement in my day was having a temporary filling done by my husband. A colleague told me you can get your own kits (who’d of known eh). You get the mixture, a spatula and a little mirror and everything. I’ve always been an oddball and love going to the dentist, so the thought of lying back in our recliner chair whilst he fixed the whole in my teeth was very relaxing. Clearly he should start a new job as a dentist as he did a great job and I look forward to making it through isolation without further pain. 😁