Food!!! :-)

Its so nice to be feeling settled in my new home already! One real bonus for me being settled somewhere is that I manage to eat so well! I generally have a pretty good and well balanced diet but when my life is so hecic sometimes and i'm moving around alot, its sometimes hard to cook and eat well. I love cooking and really enjoy my food! Its so nice to be here with Dave who's doing similar training to me too, thinking about food for two people is so much nicer than just thinking for yourslef! I think it makes it more interesting anyway, i'm more likely to vary what I eat/cook.

I've certainly felt more energised this week, thats definately down to me getting into a routine with eating regularly as well as sleeping and generally letting my body catch up! So post long run and recovery ride today, i've just had my favourite post training snack of peanut butter and banana sandwich and an oat, banana, chocolate powder and milk smoothie! Yummie :-)

Off for a good stretch now... and then maybe a trip to the beach and or a little spin on the BMX later! Happy days! :-)

settlin in and havin fun :-)

Just spending some time settling in to my new home for the next few Months in Port Jefferson, sussing out the training routes, finding my feet and trying not to get myself too lost or in too much trouble... so far so good apart from already being pulled over by the police! Whoops!!! OK a bit of a blonde moment but nothing serious! Lucky my smile came in handy! :-)

Decided to get a little bike to get about on, thought it will come in handy for little trips into town etc, I think 'fun' took over the 'practicality' factor though and I (well, Dave did too) got all excited about having a BMX again! (I haven't had one since I was about 15 and that one died a slow death - no pedals, brakes or a saddle by the end!) So here's a little piccie of Dave, Lucky and I enjoying some ice cream after scooting around town, probably looking like 12 year olds!!! :-)



Back to the serious stuff! I managed to see someone about my hip issues and thankfully it should be solved easily enough, just with a lot of stretching and TLC from my behalf! Felt so much better running today, hope I can up my training again now without tightening up too much - must keep on top of it all!!!

Off for a little stretch now... :-)

since leaving Spain... UK and now America!...

Life has been pretty manic over the last few weeks! I left Spain and headed back to the UK the day before my first race of the season, the TriGrandPrix half Ironman (the first race for this new series, held in Kent). I went into the race feeling pretty strong after my few months of training in the Spanish mountains. I felt it would simply give me a good idea of where I am at, which it did (apart from not knowing where I was at for part of the bike course and for the first time ever in my triathlon career managed to take a wrong turn on the bike course and add an extra 10-15 mins to my bike split!!! Arrrgh!!!) Aside from that though, I managed to keep my head together and just see what I could do on the run... a PB (1.28 even with a pee stop!!!) so at least I could be happy with that :-)

Unfortunately the run left me particularly tight in one hamstring and I've been suffering with this ever since. I was due to head out to Japan for the Ironman a few days after the race in Kent, but heard the news that the race had been cancelled! Dissapointed was a huge understatement, not only because I was all geared up for an Ironman but particularly for this one, I was so excited to be going back after last years experience. And for the race organisers too, knowing how much effort goes into the races! Maybe it will be on next year and i'll have a chance to go back, i have my fingers crossed for that!...

So anyway that threw me but as I was planning to do a few races in the States anyway, I decided to bring my trip forward and with some quick/last minute organising I managed to get an entry to Eagleman 70.3, the same date as the Ironman would have been. I figured this would be my best option and then at least after doing the 70.3 I could settle into some training in the area i'll be based for the next few months (near to New York). So with a flight to the States and some long distance driving, i'm in Cambridge, Maryland for the Eagleman 70.3... Unfortunately I didn't have a good day at the office at all! The tight hamstring issue bothered me along with a lot of general tightness/soreness in my glut's, hip flexors and hamstrings. I felt like I just had no power in my legs on the bike and subsequently didn't run well. It was a hard one to swallow, I don't think I've ever had to walk parts of a Half Ironman before! I finished it though and am now taking things a bit easy before settling into a good block of training before my next race in 4 weeks time. First priority though, to get my body back how it should be so I can perform to my best! I just wish I could look after myself as well as I can other people through sports massage!!!

I'm pretty sure I will really enjoy my next few months here... should have time to blog more too!!! :-)

Constructive recovery! :-)

If there's one thing that will make me sit still for a while and therefore compliment me as an athlete and recover from all the training, its artwork... So, lately i've been busy having fun creating charicatures! Not something i've done a lot of in the past, but i'm enjoying giving it a go. My sister has asked if I could have a go at doing some wedding invitations, hope she doesn't mind me posting my attempt!



Will add more as I have them... working on some for Andy and Tracy right now...
Adios for now :-)

Momo Junior arrives! :-)

OK so I haven't blogged for a little while, I've been so excited about getting myself a new race bike... and my very own Felt AR4 has arrived! :-)

It maybe a bit crazy but hey thats me all over - I had already named my Felt (pride n joy number 2! my car was/is number 1 - picture below) before the bike arrived. So, I'm the proud owner of Momo Junior (named after my car, which is named after the steering wheel! - better than being named skippy like one of my cars after I reversed into a skip!!!) I've been avoiding skips and loose dogs and goats here in Spain and have had a great first week getting to know Momo Junior. I'm sure we are gonna have a lot of fun together! I just can't wait to race...

And there's a proud moment above, myself and Momo Junior pictured in front of the Idlebreaks logo painting I did for Andy last summer :-)

photo evidence!

Thanks Andy, you managed to capture a 'typical' moment! Me on the front, pulling the strong men from ABRT!!! :-)

Great to hear you guys are racing well since returning home!

Thank you to Annapolis Bike Racing Team and your unofficial blog post!

The wheelsucker and some of his ABRT team mates returned to the Idle Breaks camp run by Andy Idle again this year. ABRT had only one session, with thirteen riders, two of who were "friends of ABRT" instead of actually members of the team. For those not familiar with Idle Breaks, the website is at: http://www.idlebreaks.com/. Andy runs the cycling training part while Tracy cooks amazing food, in amazing quantities, for very hungry cyclists.

Andy is incredibly good at what he does: As just one small example, when the group spreads out on the ride, Andy’s sixth sense tells him when he needs to be at the next intersection, to tell the lead rider or riders, which way to turn, and he gets there just before the lead rider or riders arrive at that intersection.

Andy normally works with another person when handling large groups. This year he had pro triathlete Anne Fallows: http://www.annefallows.com/. (a.k.a Lara Croft, Wonder Woman or The Energizer Bunny) on the bike, while Andy drove the van. One suspects Andy would like to take some time off driving and ride the bike occasionally, but apparently Anne was determined to ride the bike, not drive the van. It turns out Anne is rather good at riding the bike; most rides started with her on the front going at a good steady pace, and she was still pulling hours later with a bunch of ABRT "strong men" happy to wheelsuck behind her. One was left with the strong impression that Anne could have pulled all day. The ABRT roadies were saving their energy for the climbs though, and as soon as the road became "a bit grippy" the stronger ABRT riders would ramp it up and make it hurt. Andy knows this region very well and has scouted all sorts of routes, and has even found one that is flat for doing intervals on. Every other route is full of climbs and descents, so the wheelsucker and his team mates had plenty of climbing and descending. Anne had to leave before the ABRT camp was over, but Andy brought in a young local rider, Josh, to have a rider in the group.

'Thanks again and glad you had such a great week! I hope all is going well back at home and look forward to seeing you next year if not before!...
Anne :-)