Recently in Cycling Category

Getting the year off to a good start has been harder this year, but I think I’m doing okay so far.

Last night I went to the first spinning session of the year.  I didn’t think I was going to make it. I arrived at the class with about 20 seconds to spare, which was far too little to setup my bike right … I took a rough guess-timate and got on.  It turned out (not surprisingly) to be completely wrong and I struggled a tad through the class, but I finished it.  My legs felt tired and I had to back off a little here and there, but I finished the class and felt that that was what counted.

The new timetable for the classes have thrown me off a little – it turns out that I can’t make half the ones I wanted to do and I can make most of the ones that I didn’t want to do, but a re-shuffle should probably change my mind on the subject. 

Afterwards I headed towards the car, which was parked on a bit of white ice, but to get to it, I had to cross some black ice which has caused the local kids a lot of amusement during the course of the evening.  I’m definitely not one for ice – I just don’t have the balance and I nearly fell twice.

The frosty spell is supposed to last another few days – dreadmill, I’ll see you tonight.

It is cold outside.  Beautifully cold.  Cold enough for me to want to stay on the couch, watch the European X-Country championships again and then crawl downstairs to get some hot chocolate.

The weekend was relaxing and in many ways good for the soul.  I’ve been far too stressed at work and hopefully with the new year will come some natural relaxation.  The office is already kind of quiet as everyone goes off for a week or two before Christmas and New Year.

This week I have a few goals:

1. Sort out any racing plans I might have for 2009
2. Sort out any holiday plans I might have for 2009
3. Find out where my new passport is as my old one runs out on Jan. 9th
4. Hide Peg-leg’s Christmas gift – he’s already nearly found it 3 times and I’m starting to suspect I have to mail it to his mum’s in order for him to NOT find it.
5. Clear out the guest bedrooms.

If I can accomplish that, I’ll be perfectly happy.

Trying to fall asleep/wake up has been an issue this week.  On Monday night I got to bed too late... I woke up on Tuesday and felt like I couldn't move.   I blamed the fact that I had done my session on Monday evening around 8:30pm, which meant that I only finished about half an hour before I went to bed.  Yesterday morning I woke up and couldn't hold food down.  It passed, leaving me free to do another bike session last night.  I fell asleep so easily. 

This morning I woke up - I had SOMEHOW managed to sleep until 7:45am.  It was too late to make it to the pool.  I can only hope that there is a pool open to lane swimming this evening so that I can go and do today's session.

This is probably because of the new program; I'm sure I'll get used to it. Yes, I'm tired, but I'm sure if I had just stepped up the normal things I had been doing, I would be far more tired right now.

The bike session last night felt good.  The fact that it was done on a trainer wasn't a problem.  I've read so much about the benefits of using a trainer this past week that I am quite happy to jump on it often now.  The long rides might become a tad tedious, but while there's ice out on the road, I don't think I'll be venturing out alone. 

Peg-leg said he'll come along (in a car) once spring arrives - I'm far too scared to venture too far from home alone after a few of my club members got hit by a motorist who felt that he should cut a lane around a blind corner/hill.

For now, my trainer is truly my friend.

Today I have nothing to do.  Quite literally.  My diary is empty.  I have no training scheduled.  My brain gets to take a rest and I got to lie in this morning until 8am when something somewhere clicked and I realised that I had to get out of bed and get some movement going.

Peg-leg went to work a few minutes ago and then I started wondering why my legs have the slightest bit of stiffness in them. 

Oh, I know.  The 9pm easy run we did.  Whatever was I thinking?!?

My sleeping patterns are returning to normal now, which means I wake up at 5:30am and go to bed at 10pm (or earlier), but for some reason or another we went for a 30 minute run at 9pm.  I still managed to get to bed at 10pm and I slept pretty soundly, but this morning I snoozed until 8.

How to feed a dog

Last night we went to PM's house to get some instructions from FG on how to feed his dog, take him for a walk and how to get into the house on Sunday when we're popping in to make sure he's okay.  They're out of town for the day and since it is a relatively  new member to their family, they required some outside help to just go and reassure it that they have not abandoned it completely.

That's our Sunday then!

Long Rides and Runs

Tomorrow will be my first long ride in a while.  I'm not exactly sure how this is going to turn out.  Saturday is supposed to be freezing in our parts and I'm thinking that the trainer is starting to look like a good option - I'll just crank up the resistance a little to make sure that I'm getting enough exercise. 

Sunday's planned run looks easier... and its not as long as I thought it would be.  Its just an easy, less-than-an-hour-run and should give me a good excuse to get my legs loose.

Time to head to work.  Its breakfast day!

My arms want to fall off - its a good thing the desk is here to keep them in place while I'm typing away.

Last night I got home and got on the bike and did an easy session.  Lowering my cadence to the required cadence felt strange, but as a result of it, I managed to do a longer session (the session that I had to do instead of my flimsy 45 normal minutes) and 15 minutes later I was still capable of keeping myself upright on my own two legs.  So much so that I could go for a quick walk around the estate with peg-leg.

I was tired though and skipped watching Heroes;  instead I went to bed and fell asleep almost instantly, knowing that this mornign I had to make it to the pool, come what may.

6:00am rolled around and I tried to convince myself it wouldn't matter if I skipped this morning. The bed was so much warmer. Peg-leg made me some coffee and I couldn't disappoint him.  I put on my swimsuit, grabbed some clothes for work, a towel, some shower related items and headed off to the pool.

The water felt lovely.  Not warm, not cold, just right.

The lane had 6 people in it.  Two women who felt they should take it so easy that they could hold a conversation (they actually HELD a conversation the entire duration of their swim), an old man who was friendly enough to speak to everyone, me and two men who should learn how to share.

I didn't mind the women.

I didn't mind the old man.

The two men that remains :  the first man swam down the middle of the lane.  Not clockwise like the rest of us.  To add to it, his pace wasn't all that fast and I saw no reason why he should hog the middle of the lane.

The second man ... was a character in itself.  4 lenghts into my swim I passed him.  I tried to leave a fair amount of space between us and he was swimming freestyle at the time.  No sooner was I next to him, then he switched to breaststroke.  A thump on my left calf numbed my leg, but I figured that it was an accident and swam on.

From there it got u-g-l-y.  Everytime I came near him - passing from the front or the back - he would do something.  A smash against the head (first time I also thought this was an accident, but after the third smash I felt that he was being a horrible sport), a hit against the shoulder, another kick on the leg... I felt like I was in a mass start of a triathlon rather than a pool in the middle of civilised England.

I carried on, didn't let him realise that he was getting to me and finished my session, at which point my arms felt like falling off and I was ready to call it a day.

Training just took a step up.

Training sometimes just isn't easy.  Yesterday morning I realised that the whole morning spinning thing wasn't going to happen.  I am far too comfortable in my bed at 6:30am and I could maybe get myself to the pool for 7:15am, but spinning... it just wasn't going to happen.

Of course that left me with a void ... no training in the morning, none planned for the evening.  I had planned to go for a run, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, I didn't make it to that ... and the bike was already setup on the trainer.

Peg-leg was at his BMF session, I was alone at home, I figured it couldn't hurt to maybe put on some shorts, put on a dvd and climb on the bike.

"cycling on a trainer"

It was fun. I watched the first half of Johnny English and after 45 minutes got off the bike, took a shower and awaited the return of the husband.

I need to sort out my schedule, my program, my week.  But the bike is setup... and peg-leg has left for work.  Wonder if I can fit in another 30 minutes?

I've forgotten how much spinning can hurt the day after.  Especially when the instructor is a sadistic woman with a mild hangover. 

This morning I'm having trouble sitting.

On a pillow.

Thankfully work is only 2 hours away and I'll be able to fly through the day to... my next spinning class.  I'm signed up to do another one this evening - right after I have an appointment with the road or treadmill or track.  One of those will do.

Last night I had very strange nightmares.  I woke up multiple times and would always turn over, hug peg-leg very tight and fall back to sleep.  But the nightmares returned time after time after time.  The last time I woke up, I felt my heart beating out of its cage. I was sweating and honestly felt like I was being chased.  I guess the adrenalin took over and woke me up at some point.

Hopefully some extra exercise will beat the stress out of me.

I awoke this morning to find that time has passed me by and I had slept for more than 11 hours. 11 HOURS!!!!! Of course, it was 10am... but for some reason I was positively starving. I hadn't eaten in 12 hours, but that's hardly unusual. I hadn't eaten a lot yesterday though, so that made a tad more sense.

So myself and Andy headed over to the local cafe to grab a sausage and bacon sandwich with a lot of brown sauce on it so that we could fill our tummies, come back home and I could do that cycling thing that I mentioned yesterday.

Well, noon is fast approaching and in a few minutes I'll be getting on my bike, but due to the traffic outside and the cold weather and fast approaching rain... I'm going to wimp out and spend it on the trainer inside the house. With a good movie on the tele... just not sure which movie that'd be, considering that I've not really thought about it yet.

Last night we went to see 'The Other Boleyn Girl' at Cineworld in Notts - and despite various reviews that said it was complete rubbish, I loved it to bits. I thought that it got to me a little, but like I said, I loved it.

Which means the next movie will be the choice of my loving husband - he better not choose something with a lot of blood and guts in it, or he'll have a hard time for the weeks to come!

Right, bike time...

Impatient person that I am, I can't wait for my new Garmin to arrive tomorrow. Did I mention I have the best husband in the world?  He knows that I've been looking at the cycling bits and pieces that Garmin manufactures, and in an effort to give me some cycling functionality with the new 305, got me a cadence sensor :) 

Expect photos and graphs and various songs of praise tomorrow evening :)

Going for a bike ride on a Saturday morning is supposed to be relatively relaxing, stress-free and quiet.  This morning I found myself outside, wrapped up warm in a long-sleeved shirt, with long gloves and in fresh air.

It was a nice day outside for winter.  -3 degrees.  No rain (yet).  No snow (yet).  No ice (well, maybe on the grass). 

I was relaxed. I was happy.  I was going along at a nice speed, once again marvelling at the fact that there are so many tough hills around where we live now.  You can't go more than a mile from our house without hitting a hill of some sort... and the further away you get, the worse the hills.  

But I managed.  And I enjoyed it.

And then I got on a straight.  It wasn't a hill. It wasn't a downhill.  It was flat and I was in a 60mph zone which I knew I wasn't going to hit, but it did make the likelihood of a lot of traffic a lot less and I knew there would be no cars parked in the road.

So I was having fun.

I spotted a policeman and thought to myself 'Ooer! I don't have to slow down because there is NO way I could be over the speed limit!'.  In fact, I wasn't even going 30mph at this stage.  I considered waving at him, but then had a rethink and just smiled.

As luck would have it, 150m or so later, still at a great than 20mph speed, but smaller than a 30mph speed, I had to break and swerve.  Next to this road there are houses built.  And from one of these properties ran a toddler.  A small child that seemed very determined to make like a chicken and get to the other side of the road. 

As she was running toward my right, I figured that braking and swerving to the left (this was an instant decision) was probably the more logical of things to do.  I braked and swerved, only to find the mother figure of said child running out of the property as well.  At this stage, I grabbed my front brake and squeezed with all the might in my hand. 

As it goes, this meant that my back wheel wasn't going to be happy with staying on the road.  I tumbled. And turned. And felt my helmet hit the ground and then my back and oh no! my feet are no longer inside my shoes...

Somewhere in-between all this someone started screaming like mad.  Motherly figure was standing relatively close by, screaming at me as if I was the one that had just done an utterly irresponsible thing. I wasn't the one that just ran into a road!

My head was hurting and I wasn't really sure of what was happening, but I heard a male voice tell the female to keep quiet and calm down.  Then the same male voice asked me if I was ok. Did I need a doctor? An ambulance? The policeman had come to my aid.  As I said that yes, I was ok, I didn't need a doctor and no, I didn't need an ambulance, mother hen started yapping and yelling away again. 

I pulled myself onto the curb and started inspecting my bike which had my shoes still attached to it.   It was ok.  Phew! I didn't have to phone Andy to get him to pick me up.  I was going to be able to peddle back home without help. I wasn't giving the hysterical woman much notice at this stage, because honestly, I was afraid I might say something that I shouldn't.

The policeman made sure I was ok and then walked over to the mother, who was clutching her child to her side.  I can't recall the exact words, but he said something in the region of 'If she was driving a car instead of a bike, you both would be dead now.'  I hadn't thought about that, but oh my word, that would've been awful.

Ten minutes later I was on my way home.  My back stinging and my arms feeling like they had just been used to clean all the dishes in a small hotel.  I got home and Andy inspected me.  I somehow managed to not have 1 single scratch on me, other than the ones on my helmet.  Thank you for small miracles!

I can understand that the woman acted out of maternal instinct to protect her young ones, but maybe they should invest in a good, strong gate and keep the kids inside.  I hate to think what could've happened if there was a car right behind me, or if I was driving a car.  But everyone's ok, and that I can be thankful for.

I’m in the mood for a long bike ride. Out on the open road with no-one else around, my iPod tucked into one ear and the other earphone tucked beneath my shirt. Sadly this time of year it isn’t all that safe to go cycling on the road as it becomes dark pretty quick and some drivers find it hilarious to hit and run. Almost like a bad Britney impression.

So, during the week I’m pretty much stuck. I’ll have to make do with my trainer, my What It Takes DVDs and a big bottle of mixed water. The only wind that I’ll feel through my hair will be the wind that comes in through the open French doors that lead to our backyard. Thank heavens we can open both. On nights that it doesn’t rain or doesn’t look like rain I might even be able to put the trainer outside and cycle... even if the only view I’ll have is the fence ....

After a week of stomach aches and pains and plagues that had both myself and Andy cringing when we saw food, I’m ready to get stuck into training again this week – I’m doing the Lady Godiva Half Marathon at the weekend as part of training and am looking forward to another run with fellow runners. Its always fun (not to mention I like the shirt they sent me!)

Tonight I’m supposed to be doing an hour run ... I think. Or is that half an hour? I’ll have to check when I get home. LA is going to sneak up on me before I know it! Its only 19 weeks away now...

The London Triathlon 2008 Entry Confirmation

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In the meantime, check the website www.thelondontriathlon.com for up-to-the-minute information.

All that remains is for all of us here at The London Triathlon to wish you the very best with your training. Should we be able to help or assist you with anything else then please do not hesitate in contacting us.

Good Luck!
The London Triathlon
Pier House
Strand On The Green
London
W4 3NN

I'm lazy. Very lazy. After spending a night bowling with friends and colleagues, I am too lazy to get myself off the couch. And no matter what anyone says, I can't get myself to even consider getting up. Oh, eventually I guess I shall, but for now I'm just being lazy.

I spent four days training this past week - I might make it five a tad later - and have discovered that I still like doing spinning after all these years of not attending those classes.

I used to love spinning to the point that I would rather attend spinning during my mathematics lectures at university. Which is probably why I was delighted to find that the leisure centre offers them during a time that I can attend - I don't even have to take time off work ;)

On Thursday I went for a class - it was the first time that there was an opening - and after setting up my bike, I found myself ready and just started spinning it out.  The instructor arrived and a few minutes later we started the pain.  Oh, literally. I somehow managed to not put the setup pin right to the back when I setup my seat position and the first moment that we had to "spin it out", I increased speed... and felt a huge amount of pain go through my right calve muscle.

It took a few more hits before I managed to grab hold of the emergency brake, and my leg felt like it was going to explode.

I looked down and didn't see anything, but I somehow realised that I was going to show off a nice blue mark the next morning.

I was right. Although, my bruise isn't just blue. It is purple, yellow, green and blue... the whole range in one.

Andy felt sympathy, but that didn't mean he didn't laugh a lot.

I guess I'll just have to remember to setup the bike properly from now on.

Last night I went out for a bike ride - I was on my Seduza and Andy on a mountain bike (he had the option to climb atop a road bike, but declined) and we ventured out into the unknown area around our area of living. As it turns out there's a very nice amount of hills when you leave this town - I think we might have managed to hit every single one of them. Its a different way than I normally take and it turned out into a very energetic ride. Strangely energetic.  By the end of the hour and 6 minutes I was puffing and panting and my legs were complete jelly. It ain't good for the heart to huff & puff like that!

Then today arrived and I had to go for a run. I decided that the way to go today was through the Portland Park. I felt good, but a tad sluggish. My legs did not want to go as they should've, but it was still fun as Andy was with me and I had Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (courtsey of the amazing hip) in my ears. I had to walks bits and pieces due to a high heartrate, but it was all good. Somewhere along the route some nettles beat me on my stomach, causing a tiny fire that left me with tears in my eyes. Those things sting!  But by the time I finished I was happy as can be and ready for a long and hot shower.  We walked a tad and I was inside the house, into the bath and shortly after that, in front of the television. Which is where I'm parked right now, ready to finish watching Terry Pratchet's Hogfather and then climb into bed.

Yes, today was a good day.

I went to bed too late last night and I'm paying for it this morning. Throw in the fact that I did a cycling session last night didn't exactly help with the sleepiness symptoms this morning either.  I woke up at 7h20 and felt like I could sleep another few hours.  I need to get to bed before 22h00 tonight, otherwise I might not be able to get up tomorrow morning.

The cycling session last night was really hard to complete - after weeks out of the game, I managed to finish the hour, but only after that I realised that I had forgotten that my cycling heartrate zones are lower than my running heartrate zones.  I ended up staying in zone 2 for a fair bit longer than I should've.  I'm not happy with that, but then again, I don't think I could've finished it within an hour in zone 1.  I had a lot of music to help me through, but my heart just didn't want to stay down.  At some stage it was over 170 for a few seconds.  I really hope it gets better soon - I'd love to be able to cycle and run easily again.

Tomorrow I have my first multi-discipline race in more than 7 years.  Seven Years.  And I'm scared.  So incredibly scared. 

Three weeks ago I told Andy that I'd like him to be there, in case I decide to chicken out, he needs to shove me back onto the course. This past Monday he made an appointment with the people from Sky to come and install our satellite television gadgets so we can follow the cricket world cup and summer track and field meetings.  This morning I begged him to postphone that appointment until Monday or at least Saturday afternoon.  I've not been this scared ever.  Not even before starting a marathon.  Not even before the most important race that I had run in my life thusfar.  I really have never been this scared in my whole entire life.

I went out yesterday and bought a new helmet to conform to the standards that they require at the race.  Half hoping that they wouldn't have any stock so that I would have a valid excuse to stay at home.  They had stock, and since I belong to the same club as the owners (they sponsor the club), they said they'd see me there.  I think the fear isn't of the race itself, but of making a fool of myself. 

The last time I raced a duathlon / triathlon race, I was 21 years old, weighed about 5 stone lighter and did obscene amounts of training.  This year I've been plagued by injuries and bruises and illness and competing in unfamiliar surroundings seems a bit daunting.

I guess I'll have to see how it goes. 

Clumber Park Sprint Duathlon - I'll see you tomorrow.

This afternoon I finally managed to start training again.  Very few know, but about 2 weeks ago someone shoved me down a flight of stairs while I was out celebrating a friend's birthday with them. It was a case of mistaken identity, but the after-effects was a very sore back which had gone into spasm, a slightly sore ankle and a bruised body.  I have a few places where the girls managed to make their shoes connect with me and it shows by means of a little blue bruise here and there.

So, as I mentioned, I managed to get on the bike today, with my back feeling about 99% better.  The fact that I hadn't managed to get on there for the past 2 weeks definitely kicked me in the gut a bit as I suddenly felt incredibly incredibly unfit.  My lungs didn't want to co-operate.  My legs felt like jelly.  But in the end I finished 45 minutes on the bike and felt good about it.  Hopefully it was just a case of first-exercise weakness and not anything more serious than that.  I'll try do all the sessions I'm scheduled to do for the next week and see how it turns out.

Tomorrow I have a 2 hour run scheduled... anyone interested in joining me for it?

Last night I did 40 minutes worth of cycling before heading off to the gym to get some strength in these arms of mine. The cycling felt harder than it did for a while, but it might be because I had flu. I watched 2 episodes of Friends while cycling and Andy played Tiger Woods Golf, listening to the sound of my turbo trainer going mad as I tried to keep up a cadence of 90 - 100.

We got to the gym just before 8 - the first thing I had to do was to venture into the free weights area. Urgh. First there were the looks from the many men showing off their strength wondering if I maybe got lost and came into the wrong room. I checked - there were no signs saying Men Only. I grabbed some weights and started my workout, bodyguard Andy next to me with his set of weights and did my few exercises. With my arms feeling like they were about to fall off, we went upstairs to the machine and stretching area and did a few ab workouts before we came home.

This morning I can feel that I cycled and that I did weights and all of it is good.

I'm looking forward to my trip to Scotland! Its only a few days away (we leave on Saturday) and I'm looking forward to exploring the grounds at Dunvegan castle and going for long walks on the Isle of Skye. And to take pictures!

I cycled tonight and enjoyed it. The last few weeks have been tough on my training, with work piling up and us trying to finish the purchase of the house, and, worst of all, cold winter mornings taking its toll on me. I hate the cold weather. I'm far better at accepting hot weather than cold weather.

Things are looking up though. I sat down last night and organised my time so that I can get my daily training in and get somewhere. Even the bike is setup in the dining room for those mornings that I need to get on the indoor trainer.

My iPod shuffle decided to give up last week and I thought that it was a good time to have a look at the Nano option. So far I like it - especially since I don't have to search for the podcasts that I listen to, but can instead just navigate to podcasts and listen to it. Only time will tell whether it can withstand what I throw at it though.

Now I need to go get some sleep - tomorrow I have running to look forward to as well as a session at the gym with a personal trainer. Tomorrow night I am SO going to need a massage :)

Last weekend I finallly started hunting for a new bike - I wanted something light, something comfortable and something pretty. At first I had a certain yellow Cannondale in my sights, but then I saw another ... and this afternoon a new family member joined the Bassitt household. She has yet to be named, I'm open to suggestions, but at the moment I'm fairly happy to look at her - tomorrow she'll get her first outing.

This afternoon I returned from a weekend at my in-laws. I had a dentist appointment this morning, but at 8h00 I was informed that my dentist was poorly and I had a day at my disposal that I wouldn't have had otherwise. I walked around some stores until I had to pick up my mother-in-law and we went for a wedding dress fitting. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would and I was at home by 17h00.

Andy treated me to some food before I finally made it out for a run. We settled into a relaxed pace and 50 minutes later we were done. That's all I have to say on that today. My legs didn't feel like they were running and neither was my brain.

Tomorrow I start my new job - I think I'm too tense about that to think much about anything else :)

I have to say that the new schedule that my coach gave me is a lot ... how to put it ... not less training, but it feels like it is. There are two less days of running and two more days of cycling. And Andy's taken a sadistic turn and now does not fail to kick me out of bed at 6 in the morning.

This morning I got up and did my cycle session - it felt hard at the time, but right now I am pretty glad I did it. It means I don't have to tonight :) Of the three disciplines, cycling is the one that I don't like training for, even though I do enjoy cycling. It can get incredibly lonely without someone there to talk to, but this morning I had the television on and Lilo & Stitch helped me through my ride on the trainer.

Afterwards I was feeling tired, sweating like a pig and wishing that I didn't have to go to work. I took a shower and the world seemed like a better place. As I cycled, I was trying to keep myself motivated, because I knew that the bed was just a short trip up the stairs away. If at any stage I had gotten off that bike, I wouldn't have gotten back on.

It was so different than the swim last night. I had to do 3 X 500m (timed) and whereas the first two 500m's was completely open water, the third one was swum with 5 other people in the lane. It felt like a true openwater swim - I had to watch out or get another swollen lip. The RLAB man was there again - I found myself behind him on the third 100m and swam really wide to make sure that he didn't give me a kick. I really enjoyed the session though. I didn't need to keep myself motivated.

I guess there'll be a fair few ups and downs, but in the end I'll get there :)

It is a fairly hot day here in the Midlands, UK. This morning when I drove into work I saw some drops of rain fall on my windscreen and thought to myself that today was the day we were going to get another thunderstorm and the air will cool down a little. As it turns out, those few drops that fell just contributed to the humidity in the air and made things less pleasant than before.

But enough of that. I have something to tell you, something to ask you, and hopefully I can help someone make a dream come true, even if it is a drop in the bucket, many drops eventually does fill the bucket. I don't normally do this, but it breaks my heart to see someone as talented as this woman, seeing a dream slip away from her.

Yesterday I found out that a woman in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, won her age group during Ironman South Africa. In doing so, she qualified to go all the way to Kona and compete in the Ironman World Championships on the 21st of October. The problem is that in South Africa, the exchange rate is completely nonsense. The average salary a month is around R8000 – which roughly translates to about $1000 or £615 a month.

A return ticket from Port Elizabeth to Hawaii costs around R20 000. When she found out that she qualified (way back in March!), she paid the entry fee and decided that she would try to raise the money via various fundraisers and even her club jumped in to help, but from what I hear, she’s not had much success.

At this moment, three months later, she still hasn’t reached the halfway mark, and with every passing day, she trains her heart out, but when I spoke to her yesterday (I phoned her to find out how it was going), she fears that she’s not going to be able to make it to Kona.

I think it is heartbreaking that someone who has worked that hard won’t be able to get to take part in something that is probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Is there anyone else out there that feels this way and might want to help? I’m posting this on the odd chance that someone might want to contribute to helping her get there. I’ve already contributed to her fundraising myself, but a few more drops will definitely help her.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll keep you up to date on how things are progressing, but in the meantime, if there is any way that you feel you would like to contribute or help, please email me or leave a comment and I’ll get in contact with you.

Her name is Davera Magson – if you want to see a picture, go here– on the front page she’s the one on the left and on the news section of the page, there is a bit that she wrote as well as the appeal to her club members to help with fundraising.

I only have 3 days at my current job. Yes, I'm changing companies next week :) The new offices are about 4 miles closer to home, but still close enough to the other office so that I won't miss the Friday lunches we do. Every Friday at lunch we go down to the local pub, have a snack basket between the five of us and have a drink each to celebrate the past week. The past few weeks have been stressful and I had a lot to get done, but it does seem like it will be finished by Friday.

With that said, the swimming the past few weeks have really helped keep the stress under control. Yesterday afternoon I didn't particularly feel like going for a swim, but Andy got me through the gates and into the pool and in the end I was really glad that I had done it.

Then I woke up this morning and did a bit of cycling. Not much, just a little bit, but every little helps on the road back to fitness. This evening I'm supposed to go meet Andy for another swim at the leisure centre, and afterwards meet a friend from the running club to go for a 3 or 4 mile run.

I feel a little more inspired every day!

This morning Andy had to be at work quite early due to his being on call and someone having to change a tape drive in one of their servers. I thought for a second I was going to escape being woken up, but he had other ideas. He woke me up at 6:00 AM, made me coffee, and placed it next to the already set-up bike.

So, I got up, got dressed and while waiting for the coffee to cool down, did my little bit of cycling while he went to work. Eventually I had the coffee on the bike, which gave me that little bit of a boost that I needed to not get off and crawl back into bed.

The sun came up brightly again this morning - outside there's a golden glow over the fields. It is almost blinding trying to open our front door, as the glass panels play with the light and throw them at you at all angles. I can't wait till we have a solid door which doesn't do that.

Did I mention that myself and Andy have been looking at buying a house? Yes, indeed, we have. And about 3 weeks ago, we found one! Its a lovely 4 bedroom house in Swadlincote (with a lot of storage space). We're not sure when we're moving in though, as the current owners are trying to find out when they can move into their new house. They only found one they liked in the past week, so I guess another 7 - 8 weeks.

The house is located next to a huge piece of land that belongs to the National Forest - it basically means they'll never build anything next to us :)

Now to go seek that shower...

My backside reminded me tonight that I shouldn't take long breaks from cycling. The first 10 minutes was really painful, but then everything went numb and I got to enjoy the next 25 minutes while watching a DVD. I guess I'm going to have to condition my behind again in order to get a bit more out of these cycles.

On Friday evening our central heating died. The weekend was relatively cold - we had a great fire in the lounge which kept us nice and snuggly - but we had such a lovely time. This morning the agents sent over someone to fix the heating and tonight we're back in business! I can put the extra duvet away again and get some good rest. I hate getting cold when I sleep, but I hate getting too warm even more. I always end up having the oddest nightmares and odd dreams.

Work this morning started off with a bang! I came home a little early and had to do some work from here. I'm starting to enjoy these reports, because I finally understand how the back-end of it all works.

Everyone - have a great week and keep up the good training!

After a relatively horrible week (I won't go into it, but stress levels were soaring), I finally got out this morning and relaxed a little. We woke up shortly after 9 and seeing as the sun was out and there was little sign that clouds and rain would interfere, we took the bikes out for a ride. Before we left we packed a flask of black coffee and a few apples and off we went.

After about 9km, we stopped - on a bridge over the river Trent, sat down and had a cup of coffee, watched the fields, the river and the people passing us on their bikes. There was no traffic as this is a cycle route with no car access. It was the perfect way to start the day. Although it was a little nippy, my hands didn't freeze off, and that is a great plus!

I'm hoping that we'll be able to do this every Saturday that has no rain when we wake up - it is such a peaceful way to start a day.

I don't know whether many of you have seen this, but a tragic car accident happened in Wales yesterday. One can only feel saddened by such a tragic event.

Yesterday morning I woke up and realised that it has been more than a week since I have done any exercise worth mentioning (apart from playing squash on Saturday that is). I got to work and started dreaming about what I'd do in the evening. A run perhaps? With a mixture of fog and darkness facing me, that wasn't a very attracting option. Oooooh, wait, I can cycle!

So I cycled for 40 minutes last night and it felt like complete and utter heaven. I wasn't even that tired after 30 minutes and was it not for my brain telling me that going on to do 50 minutes would be overdoing it... I'd have kept on until I finally fell off the bike. Afterwards I tried something new.

An Ice bath.

Now, considering that at the moment (and at that moment) it was incredibly cold outside, I wasn't about to dump a load of ice into my bath. Instead I just ran the cold water tap - believe me, this was sufficient. I got into the bath and as the book which I read said, it took my breath away at first, then I went completely numb and finally I got out of the bath and wrapped myself in a bath sheet. It was COLD!

We have snow forecast for Thursday and Friday - how much fun is that? Its only November and we're getting ready to see snow! I'm looking forward to it in one way, but thinking about running in more cold weather is making me feel like shivering already. I think I might go hide in the Sauna at the gym ;)

Well, what a weekend. As previously mentioned, Andy fell ill - we thought he may have overdone it on the run, but doubts grew when by Friday afternoon I was starting to feel a little ill myself. I got home and decided to take it relatively easy during the weekend. In order to cheer Andy up though, I dragged him to a store on Friday evening where he made a new friend : Nike Air Pegaus. To be precise... these :

Myself - I've been looking for a pair as well, but the purple and pink colours didn't really suit me... so I opted for these :

So off to home we went, where we lay like a pair of old socks, feeling sorry for ourselves, but not too much ;)

Saturday and Sunday were spent getting better - with the help of some delicious pancakes (with strawberries and peaches) made from a recipe Jeff shared with me. They were SO incredibly good that we had them on Saturday morning and Sunday morning... and if we could, we probably would have had them this morning as well.

This morning I wasn't sure that I should go to work, but I made it there and the day turned out to be pretty productive. After work though, I found the experience of my first winter in DST a little odd. Coming to work in the dark of the night isn't something I'm used to and I sure didn't think it would arrive so soon. :)

I got on my bike an hour after supper, but not before loading my iPod shuffle with some music that I LOVE. As I sat on the bike, I didn't notice the time much - I was trying to sing along to the music, which is the reason that I think nobody dared to knock on our door. I'm actually quite surprised - the kids in the village seem to have skipped our street, and there are no kids on our street either!

Right now I feel pretty good. I think my bout of illness has left the building and with any luck, it ain't coming back.

Well, not completely accurate. I knew they existed, I just didn't know they could become this sore.

This morning at 6:00 I was reminded of what a great guy Andy is. He had to be at work by 7:00, so he got up at 5:30 and got ready for work. At 6:20 he came and said goodbye. Now, he knew that this morning I was planning on doing some cycling - he had set up my bike in the lounge so I could watch early morning television while I was cycling. If he didn't, I have to admit, I might have been tempted to stay in bed (it was extremely snuggly and warm this morning), but as he did, I knew I would have felt guilty if I stayed in bed.

I got out and onto the bike... and 30 minutes later I got off the bike. I got ready and came to work. Now, 6 hours later, I have an extremely sore rear and my chair is one of the softer ones! I want to laugh, because I'm amused, but I doubt anyone else in the office will find it as amusing :) Hopefully they'll numb a little towards this afternoon.

Of last night's plans to just lounge, nothing came. Instead we went to the pool after supper and I swam a relaxing 1000m. I really enjoyed it, although there were one or two swimmers that nearly made me choke with their waves. I really feel motivated at this stage to get up to the point where I can swim 2 miles before working on speed. At this moment form is just about the only important thing in any case. :)

This morning when we woke up it was cold and misty outside, but something inside of me wanted to go for that cycle. I wanted to explore the Cloud Trail more - the furthest we've been down it before was 10km and apparently it is 21km to Derby from where we live.

So myself and Andy packed a backpack with some water and grapes, put on some gear and took our mountain bikes out for a ride.

The route was incredibly pretty - you can see that it is autumn. Yellows, greens, browns and oranges surrounded us in the trees, fields and on the paths. I still cannot believe how green the fields stay during winter here while the trees lose all their leaves after first painting the world around us.

After 15km we unfortunately had to turn around - there were major roads covering the last 6km of the out route and I didn't want to be hit by a car on the lovely Saturday morning. We started cycling back, stopping on one of the bridges that is part of the footpath and having some grapes and water. We also held some "stick races" on the river Trent - tossing a twig from the one side of the bridge, racing to the other side and cheering the sticks on. It was great fun.

By the time we got home we were incredibly tired and sleepy, which meant that after a nice long shower, I dropped onto the couch and dozed off a little while Andy played some games on the pc.

It was such a great day :)

I love winter time. It reminds me of when I was younger and doing cross-country. I loved XC more than track and my mom (at that time my coach) wouldn't let me do road races until I was 16. I loved the fact that every race we ran had a different course - things didn't get boring.

This may also explain why I enjoy running around our village as well. The trail I run on have so many different routes that I can take, and the area around our village are really runner-friendly. There aren't a lot of cars racing from point A to point B and if I feel like it I can always disappear on the National Cycle Network trails which have areas where cars aren't allowed.

Yesterday evening we went for a mountain bike ride around the area - we took a few turns that we haven't thought of before, and ended up getting onto one of the busier roads in the area on our way home. My butt got slightly sore from the ride, but I figure that's because I'm not quite used to it just yet. The road bike doesn't seem to hurt me as much as the mountain bike does though. Andy mentioned that his quads were really feeling a bit stiff - I just nodded.

This morning I planned to go for a bike ride, but because of the rain decided against it. There's something about rain and roads with cars on it that scares me. Methinks an investment in a trainer is called for... Tonight we're going for a run - about 32'00

The ride yesterday was great. I only went for a 35 minute minute cycle, but the feeling was wonderful. When I finished, I was out of breath, excited, and my legs felt a little wobbly - to be expected. It was just great. Andy and myself meant to go for a run afterwards, but he wanted to eat (it was already close to 19h00) and since the run was actually scheduled for today, we decided to rather give it a skip.

I got to bed at midnight (I'm going to be a little tired today!) and when I woke up this morning my legs felt completely dead. I didn't stretch and cool down properly, meaning that my legs got that strange stiffness that you sometimes get after a hard session.

I've rethought my goals for the next year. I've decided that I'd rather hope for an entry into the London Marathon, follow that up with Ironman UK and then in 2007 attempt Comrades. We're not planning a trip to South Africa next year, so rather than taking a week off without Andy, I'll rather stay and then we can plan a trip to SA in 2007.

I need something to drink. You all have a wonderful day now.

Friday afternoon we went for a 20km ride along the Cloud Trail. The mountain bikes seem to have gotten used to us and no longer make our bums ache when we go out on it, although at times you do feel a little uncomfy - I guess it all takes getting used to. The ride was quite relaxing, playful and in a sense we were just exploring the route, as the furthest we've gone down it previously was 5km. It turns out that it is quite lovely and relaxing, and it didn't go onto a road until the point that we turned around. Then again, I didn't expect it to, since I looked it up on the internet. We turned around just as it merges with a road - not because we didn't want to get onto the road, but because we planned to turn around after 6 miles and that's where the 6 mile point was.

Saturday morning we went to a shop and I got a new road bike to play with whenever Andy doesn't go out for a ride with me. As it happens, I couldn't even try it out on Saturday because of the pouring rain. Sunday however was a different story. Sunday afternoon I took the road bike and Andy took the mountain bike and we headed out for a ride - hardly fair since he wouldn't have been able to keep up. I did a few accelarations and then slowed down and waited for him. He was peddling his little heart out, bless him. By the time we got home I was still relatively okay, but he was in his words : dead.

This week I want to start doing proper training again. Andy will be coming with me for the runs and we'll go out for a few mountain bike rides, but the swimming part I have to do on my own mostly. Unless I cycle in the morning and go swimming in the afternoon. Not a problem though, I'm looking forward to it :)

Last night when I got home, I realised that I had gotten my tax refund and the one thing that I said I'd do was to get us some mountain bikes so we can go riding together. Road bikes are fun, but they're fiddly and if you go riding on the terrain we're bound to hit, they'd be in pieces after our first ride.

So off to Decathlon we went to have a look at what they've got and ran into two very nice mountain bikes that are now situated in our dining room - we were too tired to look for a space at 22h00 in the evening. Once we got home, we felt we needed to test them out, so we took a 2 mile ride to Adas and Celine's place. It was absolutely wonderful. My legs ached like it hadn't in ages.

After a mug of tea, we went back home along the same route - but believe me, the hills are much worse on the way home. It was great fun to ride; when we got home we were sweaty and out of breath. It was great.

We want to go riding over weekends - want to spend less time inside on weekends and more outside, and now we don't have much of an excuse to not go. Those bikes are bound to get a fair share of riding in the next few years.