Hatfield 5 

Whoop! An unexpected podium in the Herts Vets 35 championship – being very much a triathlete – I never expect running medals so totally chuffed with my third place.

I entered this as a fun (and fast) local race to see how much top-end speed I had regained with a years training behind me. The Hatfield 5 last year marked my return to racing after 12 long months of rehab post hip surgery; 35.40 was my baseline. Fast forward a year and my aim was sub-34.

I started near the front with hubby (aka pace maker) Stuart by my side along with several faster friends who I made a mental note NOT to try and keep up with in the first mile. I have one mode of racing – out too fast and hang on/die – and I was determined to get the pacing just right. First mile perfect – slightly faster than I wanted my average pace, but it is basically a little downhill on the way out and a little uphill coming back so I needed to bag a few seconds buffer. Job done. Miles 2 and 3 ticked by on target and feeling strong… hopes crept in of being close to my all time PB. Soon dashed as by 3.5 miles, just as Stuart announced I could catch Wendy W if I kept up my pace, my stomach muscles cramped and I was in a world of pain. I’ve had this a few times recently when at real threshold – possibly just my body telling me I am at max, but who knows. What I do know is that I had to ease off just a little bit (and give up on catching Wendy grrr) to make it round. Mile 4 was a slog but I only lost about 10 seconds. Mile 5 I knew I could get back on target simply by crippling myself in the last 2 mins to the line… you can always up the pace to the finish line! It hurt but I crossed the line in a dead finish with Stuart in 33.46… not a PB but much closer than I expected, and really confidence-boosting for the season ahead. This time last year I really didn’t think I would run this fast again. 

Big thanks to my new coach Allie who is livening up my training, and making sure I am strong and healthy for 70.3 Mallorca in May. This old dog is learning some new tricks! 

Hertfordshire Half Marathon 2019, held in the beautiful scenery of Knebworth House, would be the setting for my second ever half marathon (it was also the setting for my first!). It was a slightly warmer day this year, dry after a few days of heavy rain. After some rather amusing group warm-ups with an incredibly enthusiastic PT instructor on the stage, we headed for the start. I tried to get quite near the front, so that I would have a relatively clear start to the run. I find the first mile or so of any race feels quite difficult, with people jostling for position and an initial adrenaline rush making me run faster than my normal pace. However it soon thinned out and settled down, and we headed into the roads surrounding Knebworth House. What I had forgotten from the year before was just how hilly it all was – I definitely didn’t remember it being so hard! 

The first few miles out of Knebworth House takes you down a long road, which continuously goes up and down. If that wasn’t bad enough, when you get to the end, you simply turn around and run back on yourself for the next couple of miles. Only a man playing a steel drum indicated I was near the turning off to a new section of the route, but also a water station and the knowledge I was 7.5 miles in. Sadly, my attempt to grab a water bottle failed and I resorted to an energy gel to keep my legs moving.

The miles trundled on. At about 9.5 miles a hill appeared out of nowhere, which I noticed only when the runner in front swore loudly. By the time I was at the top, most of the energy had been wiped out of my legs. The next few miles were tough. I managed to keep my legs moving although my pace had started to slow, but my boyfriend cheering me on with less than a mile to go was just what I needed to keep up my determination to finish well (and hopefully get a PB). However having done the course before, the knowledge that there was ‘heartbreak hill’ still to climb immediately before the finish didn’t fill me with excitement.

I barely ran up the hill. It definitely wasn’t a walk, as I didn’t think I would get running again if I walked, but it was a pretty slow run. Then at the top I could see the finish, with just one more corner to go. I attempted a sprint, if you can call it that, and crossed the line. I had completed the course last year in 1.40.49. My aim was to beat that time – and I did! My time of 1.39.42 secured me a PB and 19th fastest lady of the event. I could not have been happier, particularly as I had been feeling under the weather for the entire week beforehand. And now it was done – it was the perfect excuse for a lovely Sunday pub roast! 🙂 

Big thanks to coach Allie for believing in me and helping me through my ups and downs in training to make sure I had some solid hours under my belt to be able to complete the run 🙂

When I first met Gareth earlier this year, he was more than a little bit broken (he won’t mind me saying that). He was already a talented runner despite having many issues affecting his gait and biomechanics, and surprising that he is only in his second year of running. He has been working hard on strengthening his weaker areas and training smartly (less moderate (grey zone) work, more easy runs, good quality high intensity effort and resting when he has flare ups, although the latter is not always easy to convince him to do.

He is doing incredibly well, although still has a lot of work to do, to strengthen, mobilise, and engage the key areas to help with his running mechanics and reduce his injury risk. His results speak for themselves; he is hard working and dedicated to hitting some new running goals. Hard work and being sensible works wonders…. so, time to be sensible now and rest that injury!

‘ Tough times at Great Bristol Run on Sunday. Pain etched on my face from start to finish. Foolish to run at all after flare up of (tibialis anterior) tendonitis following 5K race last week (in 17:05 PB!). Nagging worry it was a stress fracture, but that wasn’t enough to stop me participating in penultimate #StAlbansStriders club champs race… even though earlier achilles/foot injury had seen me miss too many races to compete for the title. Idiot. Held together by @rocktape, and with my shin on fire from the start, I dug deep, struggling round to finish 91st in PB time of 1:21:59. Despite 45 second PB I was gutted… because I know there’s a sub 80 minute half marathon in me. But I realise now that wasn’t in the shape to run it on Sunday. Reminded myself that this is only my second year of running, and I’ve significantly improved my PB for every distance in 2019. All apart from the marathon, with my only crack at that in Valencia just over 2 months away. Spent Monday morning in hospital where a doctor diagnosed my tendonitis and said I was ‘crazy’. He was right. But thanks to running I’m perhaps a little less so. #runnersofinstagram#running#mentalhealthawareness @ Bristol, United Kingdom ‘

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After a year of epic fails when its comes to getting to the start line of races, I was determined to get a 2nd tri in this season, and one where my TT bike could come of the turbo to race for the first time in 3 years.

Mission accomplished. Race was fab, enjoyed it all.

Swim: terrible time, I swim faster 400s when doing 10 x 400m in the pool at endurance pace so who knows what that was about, I know for sure I need to work on my turn under the rope technique, I think the last one was ok but the rest were appaulling.

Bike: really enjoyed being on my TT bike but my handling was shocking. I can count on my fingers the times I’ve been on tarmac in the last 3 years, and boy did it show! I was really slowing down into all turns and roundabouts so wasting a heap load of energy. I’m sure the marshals must have though i was having a mechanical or something.

Run: well my only excuse here is lack of training… really enjoyed it though, I’ve done elenbrook parkrun with the buggy so it was familiar terrain.

Overall the marshals made the event, so friendly and helpful and all smiling. Even the people I didn’t really know very well were cheering me on (the Tri-Force trisuit obviously worked). Lots of lessons learned about sprint racing which I dont normally do, biggest lesson of all is train specific! Bike handling can’t be maintained from a turbo, and snaking up and down a pool under pool ropes is a technique where a little practice will go a long way.

Came 5th Female and 3rd in AG so i guess thats not bad, but a lot to work on for next year if im going to improve over short course racing.

WELL DONE TRI-FORCE FOR HOSTING AN EXCELLENT RACE.

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Boxend Sprint Tri (National champs)

My first race as a ‘Tri-Forcer’ (my local tri club) having had 3 years of not really training myself properly (launching RedAlert as a Ltd company, managing my existing client base, building my studio, get married, have a baby, then build 2 storey extension) not surprisingly it’s been difficult to fit enough training in during recent years! 

Charlie turned 1 in Dec so I decided, enough is enough, 2019 is my comeback year…….

Then illness struck: January – glandular fever, February – bronchitis, March – shingles, April – MRI scans diagnose knee pain due no cartilage left in either knee……OK then; so cancel Ironman, cancel 70.3’s book a couple sprints – let’s be realistic about my lack of current fitness and my knackered knees.           

So, my first tri of 2019. Feeling very relaxed about racing, because I’m not fit enough to be competitive so knew it was going be a race for completion not placing.  Didn’t even get the TT out, raced on my roadie with winter tyres as didn’t feel comfortable or confident on my TT through lack of riding so thought just go for comfort and at least enjoy it.

Swim – comfortable, no issues or drama, 15min – not my best by a long shot, but best (post baby swim) in a while.

Bike – now this is what I’m most proud of from this race, cycled on my old bike, no tri bars or anything, I haven’t been able to cycle much due to my knees killing me for several days after every bike ride or turbo, so I’ve literally been on the road 3 times this year and attempt a turbo or two each week when knees allow. 38mins is not going to win me any medals but it’s not too shabby for my current circumstances.

Run – disappointing, set off strong hitting 4:30/km pace and was happy with that thinking a 22.30 5km is about where I should be at right now bearing in mind, I run 5km with the buggy in around 23-24mins currently. I’m not sure whether it was the hills, or the fact I was out at a festival Saturday and drank too much Malbec and Raspberry Gin but I left a little of my soul out on that run today!

Really happy with overall time, it was within the 120% of winner criteria as needed for Euro AG qualification for Malmo next year, but at 117% it will take a LOT of rolls downs in the 40-44 AG to get a slot, and I don’t feel I actually deserve to don the GB kit next year but it has given me a baseline for where I am at currently.  A good winter of XC racing, maybe some mountain bike duathlons and hopefully less illness and maybe I’ll get to sub 1:15 next year if I can focus on short course for a season and do more than 1 race a year!  That’s unless my knee surgery goes ahead next year – in which case, I’ll be going the long course swim route – channel relay anyone???

I conquered the island…

Island races middle distance triathlon.

The swim conditions were perfect…pan flat with just a little bit of chop once out in the channel. This is only the second islander race and so from a competitors perspective there are a few improvements they can make. First being the buoys… Really hard to sight them they just weren’t big enough with it being one loop. Especially the last buoy… Tiny round one with a little flag on it that despite regular sighting I just couldn’t see…I think hence why I ended up doing an extra 200meters! 

The bike was fast and consisted of out and back with 4 loops around the resevoir. I had fun on this and got down on my Tri bars lots…. It was lovely to see Zoe and Chris Mcbeth whooping and shooting on the course! ☺️

Came in from the bike and smashed my sub 3:30 goal so made up some time from my extra swim 😂

Now for the run….oh my…. First 2km on the beach in sand with a wicked camber… Calves were on fire but jogged/walked it trying to get my HR down (fail) whilst taking on some food. Then a small section of about 500m on the road and onto the sea wall… Now this wasnt a wall as such just a raised lump between the sea and the fields with very uneven ground and knee high grass for about 10km….I managed to keep some sort of run pace for the majority of this but couldn’t hit the pace on my race plan I knew at this point my run time wasn’t going to be what I’d hoped for…. The second half consisted of more of this terrain with a good few beach sections just to kill the legs some more. Second half was a run/walk tactic as that’s all I could manage! Most of this there was zero support as well… Just you and the rough path which made it mentally tough too. I finally made it to the finish though….. I’ve never been so happy to see a finish line ever!!!

All finishers got a medal which doubles up as a bottle opener, a bottle of ghost ship ale 0% and a mersea Oyster! 

So I popped my Oyster cherry! Would have been rude not to 😉

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This race isn’t my A race for this year but I had history with this one! I completed this race a couple  of years ago, it was my first standard distance race and although I had a good swim and bike I bombed majorly on the run! For this reason I was actually a bit nervous for this race. However, I had my awesome support crew Paul my husband and friends Saleema and Chris….and not forgetting Jasper the dog! They helped keep my spirits up whilst waiting to start….the worst bit for me is that wait to get into the water!

After waiting for the sprint leg to finish it was our turn! They had said the water was 14 but actually when I started to wade in it felt much warmer which was good….this meant I was unlikely to get the dreaded claw hand from the cold. 

Now there were a lot of people in this wave that were racing for the Hertfordshire Triathlon Championships so it was pretty full on for the swim start…Elbows and feet everywhere! Despite the amazing water temperature I was struggling a bit to breath….standing around in a tight wet suit and then laying horizontally thrashing about had done nothing for my digestion. I continued to power through but had to stop a couple of times. That wasn’t my best swim but I got it done.

The bike however, different story. I really enjoyed it….nice fast route with just a few bumps to get the heart working! I was super happy with how it went and I got a PB from my first race of just under 10 mins! 

Then onto the run…..my nemesis for this race. Despite my fears I felt strong and got the pacing just right and even managed to over take a few people on the run! I finished with a very big grin on my face in 3hrs and 3 mins. A new PB for this distance for me. 

Properly on the countdown for Island Races 70.3 now! 🙂

Special shout out to my amazing support crew, my husband for spending many weekends watching me race/train and my awesome coach Allie.

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What a difference a year makes…and a big mistake to teach me a valuable lesson 🙄

Staffs 70.3 last June, my first half IM, ended with me crossing the finish line in 8hr25m24s with severe stomach pains. I’d hung on like my life depended on it, and was overwhelmed when they placed my first IM 70.3 medal around my neck! The pains had started around mile 16 on the bike, after gulping a few mouthfuls of lake water in the swim as I inhaled a wave. Oh boy, did I pay for that! The medic explained that the micro-organisms in the lake were now happily swimming around in my stomach😱🤢

Fast forward to May 2019 – Outlaw Half, Notts.  This year’s goal was to make time up on the bike leg – oh and not to swallow any lake water!! The first goal i’d trained hard for, increasing my power output by 20 watts (I’m getting good at this technical speak now😁) the second goal was, well, we’d see on the day eek!

I was neoprened-up from head to toe for the swim, but toasty warm in the 15oC water. It went well, with lots of space around me, and I found the feet of a faster swimmer, as instructed by Coach Allie. Not a drop of water passed my lips, hooraaay! and I finished almost 4 minutes faster than Staffs last year! I’ll take that 😁

In and out of T1 five minutes faster than Staffs. Yes, you’re right, I had time for a picnic in T1 last year it took me so long 😂 The bike course was really lovely and passed without incident. I built my speed each hour (as instructed by Coach Allie 😬) then gave it everything I’d got for the last hour… Smashed last year’s bike time! and was well chuffed entering T2. 

Out of T2 and onto the two lap run. After about 20 minutes I was beginning to run upright again😁 and decided on a 4 minute run 1 minute walk strategy, feeling that last ‘eyeballs out’ hour on the bike in my legs. As I began the second lap of the run the lactic acid was taking hold, and I entered that dark place where you have to draw on every mantra you ever heard of to keep you putting that one foot in front of the other. Oh boy, it hurt but I knew without a doubt that I was going to finish faster and stronger than Staffs IM 70.3.

As I approached the finish chute I wiped the snot off my face, drew myself upright and found a sprint in me that I never knew I had!!! I crossed the finish line in 7hrs 35mins 36secs… 49 minutes faster than last year! Goal accomplished!!! 

A huge thank you to Allie for being more than just a Coach! Between you and me, I think she’s secretly a highly trained psychologist too, as the mental is as big a part of all this training as the physical is, and boy does she keep it all together for me 🥂

It has been a year of injury and illness for me, with glandular fever, shingles, tonsillitis and a chest infection to name but a few of the illnesses I’ve had since September 2018. Blame it on the baby starting nursery so they say!   As off around February I was starting to feel my health was on the up…. then my old knee injury flared up again!

Long story short, MRI scans have now revealed that what has been a bit of a niggle on and off for 5 or 6 years dealt with by correct strength and conditioning has turned a little more serious. Unfortunately, the scans I had last month now clearly show that I have virtually no patello-femoral cartilage left in either knee. This explains the chronic pain I get when trying to do a squat or lunge, and the awful crunching and grating noises when I flex my knees or try to kneel.  

So, what was my surgeon’s advice?  No surgical solution other than full knee replacements which would not be considered in someone as young (?!?) as me, who is walking about and very active.  So how do I manage the pain?  The advice I was given was stop cycling and running…

Being a PT and a coach, and passionate about racing myself, clearly giving up cycling and running is not an option.  So, the next most sensible thing to do, reduce all my training and racing to short distances instead of endurance / Ironman training and see what happens this year whilst also waiting for a second opinion from a different surgeon (one who understands telling a triathlete not to run or cycle is going to fall on deaf ears).

So, this brings me to the start line of my local Aquathlon sprint series…

Race morning was a bit grey and miserable to start with, but all the baby ducklings and signets made for some very cute prerace entertainment for my little boy Charlie who was there as my cheer squad along with Daddy and Aunty Leema.

The swim was uneventful, I’ve swum at Stanborough plenty times before, put myself on the front line even though I’m far from the fastest of swimmers.  2 laps of the course are meant to be around 750m, however I was disappointed to come out in a much slower time than expected given my current pool times.  Everyone I have spoken to post race seems to have clocked closer to 900-950m so the course is obviously a little longer.  

Out of the swim and straight onto the run, wetsuit off, trainers on, a quick hello to my cheer squad and off I set off on the 5km multi-terrain run. The course is a nice one, part gravel track around the lake and part grassy fields, one big hill halfway around the lap.  After the first lap there is a bit where you can look ahead and behind and see who is around, I knew Tamsyn and Rebekah were way ahead of me as they are much better swimmers, but I could see at least 2 maybe 3 other girls in front about 500m away, oh well bang goes my chance of a medal then.

My knees were not giving me any grief at all and being as my coach has been giving me some good 400m effort sessions to do I thought I should push a bit harder as I knew I had some speed in my legs somewhere.

On the long descent of lap 2 I realised I seemed to making some ground on one of the woman ahead of me, ‘let’s do it’ I thought so I started to reel her in and then went for it with a confident pass to make sure she didn’t try to kick back and pass me. Another couple hundred metres in and I realised I was gaining on the next woman…Hmmm, less than a km to go, can I really make up that gap and pass her?  Off I went, ‘just pretend it’s one of my 400m efforts’ I thought.

So, I gained some ground and on the last straight along the lake I made my move, I went for it, thankfully she didn’t have a final kick left in her and I managed to pass and keep going to open up a gap or around 10-15seconds by the finish line.

I was met over the finish line by a massive smile and cheers from husband and my friend with my little boy there to give a big kiss too.   I felt absolutely rinsed, I’ve not pushed that hard for a long time and was so happy to have had the confidence to push hard to take an extra couple places.

The icing on the cake was an unexpected 3^rd female place medal and a ‘post baby’ 5km PB.

A brilliant morning and I can’t wait for my next 2 Aquathlons and a sprint tri later this year.