Now I'll go faster with my new helmet!

The old




The new

Thanks to my lovely mum, I now have a cycling helmet that looks a little more speedy than my ancient bucket. (My daughter took the pics, not bad for a 5 year old!!)

Who the heck is that???

Is this really what I look like when I am running?? Good lord! Not quite the lean, mean, running machine image that I have in my head! In my defense, it was a very hot and very hilly race on Saturday, and this picture was taken at around 9 km, after the world's longest hill. 12.3 km and 1 hour 12 minutes - further and longer than I've ever run before. Cooooooool!!!

More to follow....

Lunchtime lunacy

Running from the office at lunchtime has its pros and cons.

Pros:
It's the only time I actually have company when I work out, and I run with some really cool people
It gets me out into the forest at lunchtime instead of sitting on my butt indoors all day;
I'm known as a "runner" in my department, I love being one of the "fit" people
It gets one workout over for the day and leaves the evening free for another, or for family stuff
I get ridiculously competitive and work harder than I would if I was alone

Cons:
Changing in the toilet
Walking around the office in your running clothes. Sometimes people decide that's the moment to talk to you about work - I always feel self conscious and pretty much naked
When I come back from a run, I am a delightful shade of magenta - I think I look fit and hardcore until I see myself in the mirror and discover that I just look like a sweaty tomato
Certain people in the department feel entitled to comment on my fitness/weight at great length (MY fitness, MY weight, MY business)
We run for an hour, but add in waiting for people at the start, waiting for people at the end, showering, eating and regaining senses, it's more like a 2-hour thing
I get ridiculously competitive and work harder than I should

Yesterday's workouts:
Lunchtime run. Where I got ridiculously competitive with a colleague and worked crazy hard, and had a fabulous run.

A failed evening swim. After a beautiful sunny day, as I sat on the tram to the pool the heavens opened. No problem, I like swimming in the rain. As I sat on the bus, it began to thunder. Less good. I arrived at the pool with a few minutes to spare before last entry. It was raining cats and dogs and there was thunder all around me. As I walked up to the woman to pay, the sky was split open above my head with a big fork of lightening. Enough, I turned around and went home.

Evening strength workout. Annoyed by not having swum, I worked my arms and core as hard as I could for 45 minutes. I hurt today.

Tonight:
Another attempt at making it to the pool.

Coming up this weekend:
My mum is visiting over the weekend, and so I'm taking Friday off (YES!!) to spend with her. And ok, I might take advantage of the time before she gets up to go for a swim. And on Saturday afternoon I'm dragging the poor woman out to a village in the middle of Baselland to watch me run 12.3 km. I've never run further than 10 km before. Cool!

And in other news:

UP THE WOLVES!!

Kickin' it

Confession: last night I blew off a party (and I don't get invited to many parties these days) because I wanted to get up early this morning and go swimming. I actually can't believe I'm writing that! The way I looked at it was that I have been to many, many parties in my life, but I have never got up early on a cool, April Sunday morning to go and train in an outdoor pool. I'm not the kind of person who can go to a party and not get wasted, and when I drink, I know I won't train the next day. And I really, really wanted to train. It was the right decision even though I'm sure this makes me offically middle-aged. But look at this picture, who could resist jumping into that water?



The St Jakob sport pool (that's the one at the bottom in the picture) opened for the season yesterday. It's a 50 m pool and wow, swimming in a 50 m pool is way more tiring than a 25 m pool. After 600 m I could hardly swim anymore, and I gave in after 800 because my form (such that I have) had completely gone. The water is heated, but the air was cold. Whichever arm was out of the water got a blast of cold air. But the sunlight sparkling on the floor of the pool more than made up for that. I timed myself over 500 m, which is the distance I have to swim in my race, and I am sloooooooooow. I need to swim as much as possible over the next 12 weeks, and with the outdoor pools opening, it's going to be fun.

Then I went out for a slow, easy bike ride this evening. Just to get some miles in my legs. I wore non-cycling clothes to go cycling, because when I wear the whole shorts-cycling top outfit, I feel kind of pressured to look like I know what I'm doing. Spent several kilometres trying to work out which part of my bike was rubbing to make this swoosh, swoosh noise. Finally figured out it was my baggy shorts rubbing my little frame-bag thingy with every turn of the pedals.

Now my daughter is asking for her bedtime story and I'm pretty much ready for bed myself. Goodnight!

Bricking it

Things have not been that great chez Shazza recently, and as a result I've been feeling stressed and grumpy. And for whatever reason, when I'm feeling down, I rebel against doing the things that would make me feel better. So instead of doing the things I know will help (hard training, not drinking, eating well), I've been busily doing the opposite (avoiding training, drinking lots and eating as much chocolate as I can fit into my body).

This weekend, I decided that some serious butt-kicking (my own) was needed. I don't like being in a funk and I wanted to get motivated again. I wanted to do a serious workout, something that would be a challenge and make me remember who I am and why I do it. My first choice was a mountain race up the Wasserfallen, which is just 7.8 k, but with 490 m height difference (click on this link to see the worst ever route map). However, for various reasons, I decided that this wasn't such a great plan.

Then, I had a better idea. I would do my first ever brick workout.

I've never quite understood why it's called a brick. Is it because you build one workout on top of another? Or because it makes you shit bricks (UK slang for being really scared)? Or is because your legs feel like bricks when you start trying to run? And no, I couldn't resist a picture of a brick.

I cycled 11 km (35 mins) and then ran about 3.6 km (22 mins). With a transition time of 3 mins (including locking my bike and taking my stuff indoors) that made the whole thing exactly 1 hour, which is kind of cool itself.

The bike leg was pretty easy, apart from the hill that I call the Predigerhof hill. I hardly felt like I'd worked out at all. I've learned now to stay in a lower gear that I think I should and keep a higher cadence (oooh, the new words I am learning), to keep from getting tired so quickly. Starting the run was hilarious! Of course I've read a million times about the bike/run transition, but I'd never actually experienced it for myself. I was happily laughing to myself "so this is what they all mean!" I can't even imagine what it must be like after 56 or 112 miles of cycling, although I intend to find out someday. I was surprised that it wasn't the hamstrings or quads that felt tired, it was the lower muscles in my calves, ankles and around my knees that were really complaining. It took almost the whole run before I felt like I wasn't running like a duck.

It wasn't quite the suicide workout I was looking for, almost too easy. But I have to confess that I felt kind of hardcore and triathlete-y . "Oh yeah, I'm doing a brick workout, training for a triathlon actually." I am a such a geek! I know that most of the people on my blogroll would eat me for breakfast. My hardcore weekend workout wouldn't even cause them to break into a sweat! On the other hand, in January I could only run 1o minutes without stopping, so I've come a long way baby. It's all relative and one day, I'll be where they are. (OK, I'll probably never be where Bree Wee is, but watch out the rest of you...)

The 50 m outdoor pool opened for the season yesterday, so I'm planning a swim session tomorrow. Swimming outdoors in April is pretty hardcore too. Yep, total geek!

Very belated RACE REPORT

Two weeks ago I ran my first 10 km in 10 years. Yay!! It was a local race called the Birslauf, which goes up one bank of a river called the Birs, over a bridge and back down the other side. In other words, it's an almost completely flat course.

My husband and daughter came down to the race with me, which was great. I was so nervous, I would probably have chickened out if I'd had to go alone. We arrived very early and watched as hundreds of lean, fit people stretched and "warmed up". My husband asked if I wanted to warm up, and I laughed at the idea of running further. I was having serious doubts that I could even run 10 km.

I fixed my chip onto my laces, which was exciting for me, having never run a chip-timed race before (I don't think they'd been invented the last time I ran a race!). Then I had a small panic because I'd forgotten to bring any safety pins. Hello, this is Switzerland! Not only was there a box full of safety pins at the numbers desk, but they'd been sorted into little pin-families of 4!!

I amused myself for a while by checking out the crowd of lean, fit people in expensive running gear and trying to spot the ones who looked like I might be able to beat them. There were not many and mostly they were over 70. Then everyone began ambling to the startline and I kissed the family goodbye and followed. I decided to hang out way at the back, as I still wasn't sure what my pace would be, or if I could even run the whole way. There was a woman sitting on a rock in the middle of all these runners, smoking a cigarette. I didn't see anyone I knew so I just waited until something happened. Being Switzerland, there was no fuss. At exactly 6 o'clock a gun went and off we ran.

Can you spot me in this picture?

It had been a long time since I ran in a crowd and it was really strange at first. It was also the first race I've ever run alone, without my friend Emma at my side to keep me company. We ran round the park, past the giant dinosaur and out onto the river bank. Although this was only a small local race, there were a few people dotted along the course cheering us on and some kids ringing big Swiss cowbells which made me laugh. In fact, I could hardly stop smiling once we'd set off and the nerves had settled. I was running. I was racing. I was one of the fit people again. I'd forgotten why I loved to run in races. Nerves and endorphins and collective energy make me feel somehow connected to all these people and I want to hug everybody! It's like going clubbing but with no need for drugs.

We ran up the river for a while, and I was fully occupied with passing people on the narrow river path. Apparently starting at the back had been a mistake. I began to see people flaking out after only a couple of kilometers, and the lead runners passed us going back along the other bank after just 20 minutes and we all cheered. The first half hour went quickly and I couldn't believe it when we crossed the bridge for the turnaround. I still felt fresh so I speeded up and began passing even more people. The 5 km marker was shortly after the bridge as we headed back toward the park.

At around 6 km I began to feel that I'd been running for a while. I'd been passing people for the whole race and only been passed myself a few times. At around 7 km I began to slow down. It was hot, I was thirsty and there were no water stations in this race. I thought maybe I could take it slowly for the last few km, and still maybe break my goal time of an hour. My training runs in Allschwil forest are around 8 km and my body began to tell me that it was nearly finished. I wasn’t smiling anymore, I just wanted to finish and find something to drink.

Then these two girls passed me. I'd noticed them when I passed them on the way out, because one of them was head-turningly gorgeous. She was running with a friend and looked as cool as if she ran 10 km every day before breakfast. Exactly the pacer I needed! I was not going to let her get away. I speeded up and decided to keep their pace for the next km, even though it felt really hard. Now, I was racing. In fact, I never lost sight of them again until the end, when I overtook them in my finishing adrenaline-sprint. Sorry about that, lovely-looking pacer-girl. I have you to thank for my PB, I'd never have been motivated to run that fast without following you.

By the time the 8 km marker appeared, I was smiling again because I knew I was going to finish, and finish running. As we ran back into the park, some little girls had their hands out for high-fives, which I gave enthusiastically because I've never done that in a race before either. Much to my own amazement, I was holding the faster pace. I couldn't remember whether my only previous 10 km time had been 58 minutes or 56 minutes, so I knew that anything under 56 would be a PB. I could see the clock over the finish reading 55-something so I sprinted in, overtaking everyone so that my husband completely missed my finish.

He found me when the friendly Datasport woman was cutting my chip off my shoe and I jabbered at him about my PB while he took a photo. My daughter cried because she'd been playing and didn't see me finish. I told it was because mummy was SO FAST!

So there you go. Giant dinosaurs, cowbells and a PB. It doesn't get much better than that. Luckily there's a spring Birslauf (April) and a fall Birslauf (September) so I can do it all again in a few month's time.

Official time 55:17
Rank 105 (out of 255 women)
Average split 5.31

So, anyway, isn't this a triathlon training blog?

I'm discovering that writing a blog is harder than it seems. First of all, it's way more time-consuming. I have so many posts in my head, but they never make it to the screen. And what to write about raises other problems. If I just write about my day-to-day training (or lack of) then my loyal reader(s) (Hey Missy!!) will be bored to tears.

Maybe I need to share some of the crazy backstory. But collecting my thoughts in some kind of coherent order and putting them out there for the world (and my mum) to see? That's tougher than any training session can be. How much do you really want to know about me anyway?

I love to read bloggers who get more introspective and tell me about what's going on inside their heads. It makes me feel connected to someone, like I'm not the only crazy, anxiety-ridden loon who thinks way too much. So it seems only fair to share some of my craziness in return. When I can find a way to write about it that doesn't make me sound like Marvin the paranoid android, you'll be the first to know.

So, anyway, isn't this a triathlon training blog?

Training has been not-happening for the past 10 days or so. Just not happening. So I'm not going to talk about it. I cajoled myself out for a run today by promising myself that I could walk as much as I wanted. In the end, I didn't walk much, but I really felt like it had been a looooooong time since I last ran. It took 45 minutes before my legs seemed to get it. "Ah, running, now we remember...."

Marvellous Monday meanderings

It's a marvellous and magical day outside and the weekend was so good! I do NOT feel like being at work this morning! Spring has finally arrived, it's warm, the sky is blue and the trees are bursting enthusiastically into life. I want to be outside, hiking up a mountain, eating lunch on a rock with a view that seems to take in the whole world.

Instead I am inside, drinking coffee, with too much work to do. Oh well.

Here is a picture from the finish of the 10 km race on Saturday.

As you can see, I was very happy! I was so nervous at the start, but as soon as the gun went off I had the biggest smile on my face and I think it stayed there the whole way. I loved it! I'm running again! And I beat my PB (which was either 56 or 58 minutes, I can't remember...). My official time was 55:17. Not bad for an almost-middle aged mum who a few months ago couldn't run for 10 minutes! I'll write a full race report soon, because it was such a funny evening.

I also managed to fix my mountain bike and go out for a "recovery" ride yesterday. After all my whinging, of course, it took about 15 minutes to fix it. My quads were burning going up the hill and I felt like hell afterwards. I don't fully trust my bike though, I feel very insecure riding. I don't quite trust the brakes and I don't trust the gears, so I feel very tentative. No new bike yet , still working on that one.

My daughter has gone away for four days, and it's school holidays, so I'm planning deliciously quiet, guilt-free swims tonight and Wednesday. I'm pretty much terrified by how good things look right now. Am I feeling this fabulous because I'm getting fitter, because I'm doing something I love, because I'm not drinking? Who knows? If I could bottle this feeling I'd be a gazillionaire, but perhaps it's dangerous to question it too much. Bring it on!

I could be indecisive, but I haven't decided yet

Tuesday has turned into a day of cool exercise options. I could
a) Go running at lunchtime with Bridie
b) Go to a track session with South African friends this evening
c) Go climbing with climbing friends this evening
d) Go swimming this evening to make up for not swimming for a loooooong time
e) A combination of a and c or d
f) Go running by myself at some point of the day
g) Do sod all and sit on my butt.

Hmmmm. I guess this is why people follow a training plan.

The mojo has returned, woo hoo!

Today I ran 9.5 km in an hour. Slow, but absolutely sure. I battled heartburn and stomach issues from the start (thanks to the 4 coffees I drank today and bean soup I ate for lunch) but my legs felt strong and there was no way I was not going to complete this run. I was forced to walk a few times and run really slowly at other times, but I made it and felt like I could have gone on. And this was the route through Froloo that almost killed me on the bike in February - now I'm running it.

This means I can run in the Birslauf 10km race next Saturday (sorry the website's all German) and I am absolutely stoked. The Birs is a river that runs through the west of Basel and joins the Rhine near the centre of the city, and the race starts at the St Jacob's football stadium, up one side of the river and back down the other.

The last time I ran 10 km was in May 1999, almost exactly 10 years ago, in the Oxford Town and Gown with my friend Emma. That was also the year I got married, read into that whatever you like. This is the first time since then that I've been fit enough to even think about running 10 km. I can't tell you how excited I am. I'll be a bit more careful with my pre-run diet than today though.

I've just been checking out the website, and discovered that the race is actually FREE. As in, it doesn't cost anything!! I've never actually encountered a free race before. Even better!

Legs of lead

I don't know what's going on with me this week. Not only has it been an emotional meltdown, but I've also had the energy of a stoned slug. I didn't just not feel like working out, I COULD not. I tried running on Tuesday, thinking it would feel better afterwards, but it was hideous. My legs felt like they were made of lead. And they have felt like that ever since.

I don't know whether I pushed it too hard last Sunday, or whether I'm fighting a virus, or maybe the emotional rollarcoaster just took it all out of me. I'm dying to train and work hard. I just want to get out there doing crazy training and crazy races and just being crazy.

Transitions

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go.
~Dr. Seuss

Disclaimer: I'm not sure this post is going to make much sense to anyone else. And it's not about triathlon or training, so feel free to skip it if you're not in a philosophical, navel-gazing place.

This week has been very, very strange. Not good, not bad, just strange. And amazing. Something has shifted inside me, walls have crumbled, long-held beliefs have shattered into dust. It's hard to put into words, but I'm going to try anyway (otherwise, what's the point of having a blog, right?).

The only way I can describe it is that for the first time in my life, I actually know what it feels like to believe in myself, to trust myself and to feel pretty ok about myself. The fear and darkness that have been a part of me for so long have receded enough for me to catch a glimpse of my true self. And it's a very, very good feeling.

My life is amazing right now and I'm so grateful for so many things. For the first time in many years I have a job I don't mind going to each day, I'm making my own money, I have good friends, I'm getting fit again, I live somewhere beautiful, I have a daughter who makes my heart burst with love and pride, a husband who supports my triathlon obsession, and who makes me laugh when he's not making me crazy. But what I'm most utterly, profoundly grateful for is that mentally, I'm doing better than I have been for many, many years. I actually dare to hope that the intention for healing that I set at the beginning of the year is actually happening.

Anxiety still nips constantly at my heels, depression still tries to tell me how pointless it all is, and they bring their various friends and relations along to join in the fun. But suddenly I've realised, I don't have to listen to them anymore! I've heard it all before. It's all lies. They are just thoughts and I have the choice, the power to not believe them. The relief this brings is incredible.

Sure, I haven't trained much this week, my dreams of buying tri gear went up in a puff of smoke and I had a major meltdown in an embarrassing way. But it doesn't matter. What matters is that I know that I'm going to do the triathlon on July 11th. I know that I'm finally moving in the direction of my dreams. And above all, I know that I hold my life in my own hands, with no one else to blame and no one else to cling to for safety.

It doesn't matter what has happened in the past (except to learn from it). It doesn't matter what other people think, or how they see me. It doesn't matter how many mistakes I've made, or how long I've spent in full-on victim mode blaming everyone and everything else. In the past, I always make a big deal out of my problems because I wanted people to go easy on me, and not expect too much from me. As a result, I didn't expect much from myself. It was easier that way. It was easier to complain, moan, howl and rage against the unfairness of the world than to actually take responsibility for anything. I didn't believe in myself, so I had to make as many excuses as possible, so that no one would be disappointed.

I guess by the time you reach 34, you've screwed up so many times and made so many mistakes that you realise that this is what makes life interesting. That everything passes, and really, no one actually cares. And you also realise that you're still here, you've made it this far, you've started from scratch so many times before that what does it matter if you have to do it again. I know now that I can find a job whatever happens, I can make friends no matter where I end up, and I can dig deeper than most people will ever know.

I forgave a lot of people this week. One of them was myself.

Blah blah blah blah Ginger

Life is getting in the way of training this week, so I leave you with my favourite Larson cartoon to sum up the way things are going.

One in five

Some days are days you just have to get through, and today was one of those days.
Some runs are runs you just have to slog through and today's run was one of those runs.

My husband told me that Ozzy Osbourne once said that no matter how many gigs you play, out of every five gigs there will be one that is mind-blowingly awesome and one that really sucks.

It seems to me that running is like that too. Our of every five runs there is one where everything comes together and you feel like you can fly. And there is one that is only ick and suffering and pain from the moment you set out. I wonder which ones are the most valuable?

Six bits of randomness

This post is incredibly random but I'm just too tired to turn it into anything resembling coherence. Welcome to the inside of my brain (evil laugh).

1. I told my husband yesterday that I'm giving up drinking until the triathlon, and he just laughed and said, don't even tell me that, I don't believe you for a second. Who can blame him? I've said it so many times before and the most I've ever lasted (apart from during pregnancy) was the 31 days of January 2008.

2. I'm giving up coffee too, not cold turkey though, sloooowwwwllyyyy. Yeah, yeah, EVERYONE's heard me say that one before. But I want to finally meet myself without ANY chemicals in my body or brain. I gave up caffeine completely for the first 3 months of pregnancy, but apart from that, I've been drinking coffee for as long as I can remember.

3. Good news today was that I saw on the tram that the first Velomarkt (bike sale) of the year is on April 11th and 12th. Perfect timing! I reckon I can fix my old bike too, now that I've looked again.

4. I work with the most incredibly kind, nice people in the world and normally this makes up for the total crappiness of my job. On days like today, it doesn't seem enough. I just don't want to spend the next 10 or 5 or even 2 years of my life working for a Pharma company, sitting on my butt at a desk and correcting other people's stupidity.

5. I'm trying to decide whether I am up to running a 10 km in a couple of weeks. The course is totally flat, and the field is big and not too fast. It would be a good way to step up the distance. Reckon I will. Don't have to sign up until the day, so I'll wait and see. I am also looking for a half-marathon sometime around end of summer or autumn, good preparation for the half-ironman I want to do next year.

6. Supposed to swim this evening but feel exhausted from my cycling/climbing yesterday. Really exhausted, not just can't-be-bothered. I'm also incredibly grumpy from hormones and work and tiredness and reducing caffeine. Coming home from work, none of the songs on my iPod were loud and angry enough and I just kept skipping almost everything except NIN and Rammstein. Tonight I'll be lucky if I stay awake long enough to see Dr. House. I hope he's at his most cross and acerbic tonight.

Bikes, borders and bleeps

Finally went out for a bike ride this morning, and finally, finally enjoyed it! I wonder how long I will have to live in Basel before I stop finding it exciting to say "I went to France this morning." I cycled to Hegenheim, which is the French village I actually see from my office window. I was surprised by how pretty it is, and how much it already feels like France, not Switzerland.

This is where I crossed the border for the first time - there wasn't anyone official at any of the four borders I crossed this morning:


I still felt fresh when I came back into Allschwil, so I cycled up a loooooong hill to Schönenbuch and then across the fields to Neuwiler. Crossed the border into France again there, much to my surprise - Neuwiler is in France despite the name. Followed a signposted bike route, trying to find my way back to Allschwil and found myself going off-road through the forest where we run at lunchtime. Eventually found my way back in Allschwil for the third time and headed home.

So I'd been to another country and visited several places that I'd never seen before, not to mention seen some fabulously gorgeous houses. After two hours of cycling I still felt fine and strong. I hadn't been (too) scared or nauseous, I hadn't fallen off or been killed and I felt like I was finally seeing the point of this whole cycling thing. And then, in sight of our building, the chain came off. I swore and proceded to put it back on. Nope, it wouldn't go on. After several failed attempts, the whole gear, chain system thingie (NO idea what all the bits are called) decided to give up the ghost. Hmmmm, now that bit that normally holds the chain taut was touching the wheel and making a lot of noise. OK bike, I said, be broken but please be quiet about it. Whatever I did seemed to make it worse and finally the wheel refused to go around at all and I had to walk home pushing the biek while holding the back wheel off the floor.

I haven't looked at it again yet, I was too tired and cross when I got back. Even if I can fix it myself, I'm going to have to take it to a bike shop to get the chain tightened and the gears fixed, and the brakes are doing funny things too. I'm annoyed because I don't want to spend money on this bike. I want to save for a road bike. But it's too early in the year for the bike markets here, and I need a working bike. It's annoying, but I'm so thankful it didn't decide to go while I was in the middle of Allschwil forest or grinding up the hill to Schönenbuch.

This a nice pic of the forest. It's not as green as this yet though.


So I made it to 2 hrs cycling this morning, an absolute record for me, and I felt fine at the end which makes me very happy. I have to get ready to go out climbing now, so I don't have time to write about what a fun afternoon J and I had yesterday. There was a picnic and ice cream and falling asleep on the sofa watching the six nations rugby. Afternoons don't get much better than that!

Want want want

YES! On Wednesday, the day will finally come, the day I GET MY ANNUAL BONUS!! I've been waiting for this day ever since I started my job last May and discovered that there was such a thing as an annual bonus. I even exceeded my objectives and so I'm getting 117%. Yes, yes, yes! I am a teensy bit excited.

Problem is, of course, that I've been waiting for this cash for such a long time that I have a very long list of things I want to buy with it. And most of it will go on paying off debts and other boring things that will make us more comfortable in the long run but don't give quite the same adrenalin rush.

So I have some tricky decisions to make. First off, I need/want a road bike, because my mountain bike is great for riding through muddy forests, but not much else and I'm quite sure it's completely the wrong frame for me (at least, this is what I'm putting my cycling suckiness down to). Then I need/want all the accompaniments like cycling shoes and tools and inner tubes, all those kind of shiny things. Yum! I'm hoping to pick up a bike second hand at one of the markets they have here in the summer. Then we start getting down to the things that are less "need" and more "want". I'd quite like a helmet that looks a little less like a bucket, but ok, that can wait.

The next priority is a new swimsuit and bikini. I am madly in love with this. And while I'm on that website, a new sports bra wouldn't go amiss. I can do without a wetsuit for Zürich. I'd like to do another Tri later in the summer if I can, but I'm finding it strangely hard to find any distance between either sprint (don't need a wetsuit) and half-Ironman (not this year), all the oly and mid-distance races seem to be in the early summer so wetsuit can wait for next year.

And all the lovely, silky, hi-tech, lush sports clothing that just needs to be bought to replace all my ten-year old stuff. Oh yes, and I also need/want a new climbing rope so I can get some lead practice in and go outdoors this summer. And I need a haircut. Oh, and I want to do some spinning. And can I just mention how much I love the shock absorber bikini again?

I can already see that I'm not going to have much left for the new office clothes I so desperately need and I'm going to continue being the scruffy one who turns up in her jeans and converse 50% of the time. Oh well. I think I'll be the jeans and converse woman even when I'm a millionaire. Don't care, and I'd rather have my actual body looking fit than cover my flab with expensive clothes.

Not that I can really say anything about that when I'm sitting here indoors with a killer hangover on a beautiful, crystal clear, early spring day. Hubby and I went out together without our daughter last night, and I can't even remember the last time we did that. That's it now though, alcohol's off the menu until the race on July 11th. And now I've said that here, I can't cheat!!

Very short update

It is almost impossible for me to post at home these days, as my husband is unbilically attached to the computer. In fact, he has been for about the last 4 years, since we got the home computer. When I come home from work, he's on the computer. While my daughter and I eat dinner, he's on the computer. While I bath her and we get ready for bed, he's on the computer. When I go to bed, he's on the computer. So I'm posting this very quickly at work.

There's a lot going on in my head but most of it's not bloggable. I have been training, and that's the one thing in my life that is going pretty well. Had a fabulous lunch time run on Tuesday. All the hill training that I've been doing since the last time I ran that route has really paid off and I felt strong and fit.

Haven't been back on my bike since the falling off incident though. Need to get my butt back in the saddle this weekend.

Back to it

Hey, I'm back, and ready to train again. Last week was pretty much a write-off, although I did manage some intense strength sessions and a run on Saturday. The run was meant to be a gentle,easing-in kind of a run, but it felt so good to be out again, and I had some banging tunes on my iPod, so it turned into an inadvertant tempo run. It was beautiful!

I bought myself some shiny new hand weights on Friday, so I've been playing with those in addition to my usual body weight exercises. I've been working hard on my core and I can feel the difference in the way I move, the way I carry myself and the way my body functions. It's a strange feeling, as if I can feel what each muscle is doing as I go about my day. I can see the difference in my physique too. Nice!

OK, back to training this week - swim tonight, run and climb tomorrow and bike Wednesday.

Ack!

Four months to go until the triathlon and I haven't done any training yet this week. Just feeling totally wiped out and under the weather, my sinuses are hurting and I'm exhausted.

Yesterday morning I was trying to decide whether it would be better to run or swim in the evening. By the time 3 o'clock came, I was more interested in deciding whether I could make it home walking or crawling. Came home from work at 5 and went straight to bed. Got up a few hours later, took a shower and went straight back to sleep until this morning. Lugged my swimming kit in again today, but it's looking like I'm going to take off early again and crash.

Talk to me again when this headache has gone....