Chewing at the bars of my cage [@thelondontri @virginactiveuk]

The day before the weekend of The Virgin Active London Triathlon and I am right where I should be before a race - chewing through the bars of my cage to get out and race!

Last couple of months training; pink = intense/long training, blue = fitness, yellow = "race freshness"

Having tapered training down, keeping the number of sessions this week the same but dialling back the duration or intensity, I've been getting more and more itchy to just go out and run hard, or swim fast or *grrrrr* anything!  And that's where you're supposed to be at this point before an important race.  I can't wait to get out there on Sunday and mash around the swim, bike and run!  I'll be fit, well-adapted and rested with not having put as much fatigue as usual into my body this week and the little fun race the weekend before last really whetted my appetite.

My checklist is sorted and, even better, I have race kit to collect on Saturday morning and I'll be in full Freespeed colours for this flagship race.  I'm going to be so happy and proud to be wearing them (plus they are amazingly comfy - I have a pair of the tri-shorts already and they're lovely to wear) and the lift you get from supporters yelling for you and ringing cow-bells is something special.  I had a taste of that last weekend and a long time back at Blenheim (very fond memories of my first race there!) and it is an amazing feeling that even the hardest cynic can't fail to be moved by.

Tomorrow, I'll be on the Virgin Active stand at the triathlon expo in the afternoon, so if you're racing, supporting or just at the expo for a look/shop come and say hi!  Sunday... I'll be out on the course, having fun!

Another solid week, but feeling blue

This has been another solid week of training, but I am feeling quite blue.

My swim session was cut short due to running short on time and being quite hungry.  It was an after work one where I didn't manage to leave the office promptly, so I was tired and cranky even before I started the session.  So I felt a bit down about not getting the whole set in, especially as it was my only swim of the week.  Then I missed my mid-week run, which was disappointing as it was supposed to be a hilly one; not something I could do on the way home and I'd been at a work event in the afternoon so was laden with laptop and other heavy stuff.  So, instead of running, we went for cheese and wine instead.  Oops.  Again, felt a bit down about that as things had been going well and I know that alcohol really sabotages my weight management.

Thursday, I picked myself up, dusted myself off and went for a ride at lunchtime to pick up my lovely new team-issue Lezyne kit; a beautifully engineered track pump, which packs down flat for easy packing into the car and has some rather sweet design features, like a locking hose for when it's not in use.  Also in the team kit pack was a pair of bottle cages, a mini puncture repair kit, a compact pump and a neat bento box.

After work a nice little run up to the common, across the diagonal, down a long long hill and then... back up it again to get home.  There are some lovely varied routes on Wimbledon Common - it's so versatile: flat, hills, gravel, dirt, mud, sand... I absolutely love it and it's so much quieter than Richmond Park.  And I was back up there on Sunday for the local running club's 10K race with some friends.  With predicted baking heat, utterly sweltering by 11am, I set off from home on Sunday morning fully intending to get the bus up to the common, but checking the indicator board, it showed over 15 minutes for the bus I needed.  I could jog there in less time; so I did.  Up the hill, not the best of warm-ups and by the time I got to the common the heat was getting noticeable.  To cut a long story short, I ran the first lap reasonably hard, then eased up and had a social second lap.  It was hot and I'd had a second week in a row of quite a bit of training compared with the prior couple of months, so I was pretty fatigued and in no way in good shape to force out something in the low 50min range.  Had a nice chat with @abradypus afterwards and then toddled off for coffee and cake while I waited for an update from MrTOTKat who was out doing the ride I'd done the day before - his longest ride since Ironman Wales last year!

Little bimble in the heat

So, a bit up (a good solid week put in) and a bit down (missed out on a quality run and part of my only swim session, and was a bit liberal with the boozes).  Looking forward to a week of having great fun trying to fit things around my trip to the rural office!  I'm sure I'll make it work somehow.

*tiny thermonuclear explosion of joy* @virginactiveuk @teamfreespeed

Somebody pinch me; I can't believe it's real!  I, er, won.

Thanks Heather, I don't look 40 in this one :oD

I am now the 12th member of  Team Freespeed Virgin Active.  11 high performance athletes and me.  I am so unbelievably happy, scared, excited, nervous, honoured, fired-up... it really is a dream come true.  11 of the best amateur athletes in triathlon at the moment and I'm going to be able to spend a bit of time with them, talk with them, race with them, be part of their team and it is all because of the generous gift from their sponsors Freespeed and Virgin Active.  There is lots of support and kit coming my way, with a membership to the gorgeous Chiswick Riverside site of Virgin Active health clubs and I'll be racing in team kit at the Virgin Active London Triathlon and Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100, as well as Valencia Triathlon a bit later in the year.

I need a little bit of a lie-down and some time to make sense of it, but right now I'm on cloud 9 and want to start to channel some of this phenomenal, new enthusiasm into mojo for training well.

Gym on Boxing Day

I still can't believe I went to the gym on Boxing Day (and I'm still aching in the arms, butt and chest now!) but I'm soooo glad I did. We went to a fabulous hotel for Christmas, which has an amazing spa attached to it with what looks like a very pretty but "form over function" type gym in it. But oh no it wasn't... it was a very very serious gym. No barbells less than 20kg and when I couldn't find anything with which to do assisted pull ups, the gym manager popped out to help (who just happens to be Chris Young - biiig power lifter!) with some resistance bands and some advice. It was great! He was so motivational and helpful I felt absolutely fabulous afterwards and did the biggest weights workout I've ever done - getting my heart rate right up to 98% of max! I even ended up doing double crunches and medicine ball throws on a Swiss Ball alongside one of the Team GB Ladies rowing team doing a long old erg session. Very serious gym!

Of course, I got absolutely trashed at the big dinner in the evening and spent the day after with both a ridiculously bad hangover -and- some pretty bad DOMS.