Tuesday 25 February 2014

An exciting announcement

 It's been 10 days since my last post and yet again have plodded along through my training plan and work. However, although this sounds dull I have recently had some amazing news which will make this blog an exciting one.

 Just a quick follow up from my previous blog post first.  I mentioned about painfully focussing on my cycle technique and euphorically the morning after I wrote that blog it seemed to just click. I did another one of Mark's Wattbike technique and sprint sessions and I didn't jar at the top of my stoke once throughout the 20 minute main set which involved many single leg spurts. That was another positive to add to my growing list of improvements.

 Although I said I had been working a lot I had a whole weekend off which I spent at my parents (even though they were away). However, although I had the weekend off that did not mean I was doing nothing. On the Friday I had to take my car for its MOT and then cycle to Andover for a 2 hour bike fit with Behind the Bikeshed. It was great to cycle the route I used to cycle to work again back in 2012 and I was amazed at how much easier I found the first killer hill. Previously, I would be feel like I was about to collapse when I reached the top and it would take me ages to get my breath back. Although I was obviously breathing hard I got up with relative ease and managed to keep the legs going. I was at the bike shop in 21 minutes and it was a 6.4 mile ride. Considering I wasn't pushing it I was pretty happy with that.
 The bike fit consisted of assessing my physical abilities such as flexibility, stance and leg length to name a few. It found that my flexibility was pretty good (one leg worse than the other) that I over-pronate (the arches in my feet fall inwards) which I knew, and that my left leg was slightly longer than the right. Interestingly this could actually have a profound effect on my efficiency. To resolve this I had an extra bit of plastic put between my cleat and shoe so that it can try and make my legs more equal in length. This aims to stop my shorter leg stretching and losing power. I had also been complaining about my pedals (also had done in a previous blog) and despite still not being completely happy with them I have had the cleats positioned correctly so that again I am hopefully more efficient. Other additional changes I had was my seat post was heightened, handle post shortened and my handle bar was lowered. All in all it made it a much more comfortable ride as well as more aerodynamic which is something I am gearing towards. Furthermore, I had been complaining a lot about not being happy with my saddle. The once 'comfortable' saddle my bike came with now felt like a razor blade and after trialing some of my own still wasn't overly keen on any of them. Based on mine and Mark's ideas of trying tri bars with my bike I decided to go for a saddle which will make me more aero. Along with my new positioning and saddle there shouldn't be too much of a leap to getting down on the aerobars so hopefully that transition can happen easily. What is also brilliant is if I try the saddle out after some rides and am not happy I am able to change it. I cannot wait to get out on the road and give my new changes a go!

 On the Saturday it was another early start as I was getting my hair dyed (and yes of course the pink in memory of Rose is back). When I got back 4 hours later Dan asked, "When is this rebellious stage of yours going to go?", to which I replied when I cross that Kona finish line! That way I know Rose has been with me the whole way. Today was a day of relaxation and beauty as I was then off to get a spa to get a facial with my sister, Emma. The facial was lovely - it was nice to have some guilt free relaxation time and pampering as well as spending the day with my sister.
 Emma is training for the London Marathon in memory of Rosie and as the date looms I was getting worried she hadn't done enough mileage. With only 7 weeks to go Emma was only at 12miles. I believed at that stage she should be upto 16-18 miles. So that's exactly what I suggested we do on the Sunday. (I apologise to Mark, I know this wasn't part of my plan but had to get this in for Emma's confidence). As well as being a confidence boost for Emma I thought it would be a good tester for me. I got a route from my mum who knows the village and it's mileage like the back of her hand from her running days and early on the Sunday morning me, Emma, Lee (Emma's running buddy and another entrant to the London Marathon in memory of Rose) and Dan who was on his bike and our support crew, headed off on our 16mile run (the longest run Emma had ever done). We were going strong, having gels when needed and making the pace steady and achievable. Lee had to leave us at mile 11 to pick up his son but Emma and I carried on. When we got to the half marathon stage at 2h07 Emma's relief was evident. 


 Emma has been harbouring an injury (suspected ITB like me) for a while probably due to going too fast too quick in training but although getting niggles was pushing on. So it was now just 3 more miles till we would finish. I knew now that Emma would be going out of her comfort zone having only done 12 miles before but knew I had to push her through it. I reminded her what she was doing this for and told her when we were doing our last tough uphill. We pushed up the hill and it was a 3 miles downhill to the finish. By the point I was struggling too - my running may have come on but I was finding picking the distance up again tough (as anyone would). We ran/hobbled through some floods and finished in excatly 3 hours. I told Emma we had done 18 miles and she was overjoyed. For a very hilly course I was pleased with that time. That was the exact confidence boost she needed, hopefully now she would get some sleep as the marathon had been a further worry ontop of her constant grief. I hobbled back home with my aching legs and attempted to have a hot bath until the hot water went so travelled home. I knew I was going to feel that run in the days to come in my muscles and in my knee as I began to feel the pain come back throughout the run. I couldn't however, see it swelling up like it has done before which was a good sign.

 Well that get's me up to today, but I seem to have missed a very important announcement that although gave me a lot of excitement over the weekend, also gave me a lot of stress. On the Friday after my bike fit I returned to find I had an email congratulaing me on becoming a winner of the Abu Dhabi Triathlon Inspire Competition. This was something I entered months ago. To enter you had to send an inspiring story that would be judged and if successful win entry to the Abu Dhabi Triathlon as well as flights and 4 nights in 5* accommodation. Receiving this email made me shake. I was so unbelivably shocked, excited and humbled. However, my excitement quickly turned to worry as I wondered how I was going to get it covered at work due t staff shortages. The weekend of the event for some reason seemed to be the most popular few days of the year. I had a sleepless night worrying about whether I would even be able to go - sending an email to give up my place would've been heartbreaking. I spent most of my 'rexlaxing' Saturday pleading with my colleagues, remaining glued to my phone for any news. Although I relaxed as much as possible when at the spa I couldn't completely let go (despite turning my phone off). So when I put my phone on after my facial and saw a text from my colleague saying he would cover me as I couldn't miss out I could've screamed out loud! I'M GOING TO ABU DHABI! This truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I can't wait to take it. On that Saturday I also couldn't wait to announce it! Once I had confirmation I could be covered I went straight to Twitter to announce the good news. The support I received there was absolutely amazing and I had 95 responses by the end of the day! I wish I could thank you all more than what I can on here and on Twitter but the responses meant a lot to me. I am just going to mention a few that really struck me;
"I'm so pleased for you Hol. You know this is a sign that you are doing the right thing. You're on the right path. You're doing yourself proud - this is a life changing moment, grab it and squeeze everything you can out of it"
"Good work. Couldn't happen to a nicer person"
"Congratulations. The cause is a very worthy one and you deserved to win"
"Many congratulations such a worthy winner for all the right reasons too. Very best of luck with it all"
 I have since announced my good news on Facebook and these were some of the replies;
"Nobody deserves it more than you"
"OMG Hollie that's amazing. I'm sure Rose is looking down with pride. So go kick some ass if anyone deserves this, you do"
"Hollie I'm so proud of you! You deserve it girl! Enjoy the journey darling"
"Wow! Amazing Hollie, you deserve it and Rosie will be with you all the way!" 
 My story is a personal tragedy that still feels raw to this day. To win this amazing prize and opportunity in honour and memory of Rose really cannot be expressed in words. This will be my first triathlon since losing Rose and it will be one I dedicate directly to her. I have know doubt it'll be an emotional one but I will race my heart out for her. This really does feel like a turning point and as someone said, is a sign that I'm on the right path. I may not come close to any medals, even if I do hopefully see Alistair Brownlee regain his title, but I will certainly do the best I can as well as enjoy the event and location. It also has to be said I am gutted for Twitter friend Michael Barnett (@SmokertoIronman) who has yet to hear anything, but his attitude remains positive that he will do it one day and that he can always try again next year.
 Not only is competing in Abu Dhabi close to my heart it will also be invaluable training and a fantastic way for me to raise my profile and goal of getting to Kona. There will be press releases on my story and will be looked after when out there. I will get to meet pro's at a welcome meal on the Wednesday where I will be in my triathlon element - an amateur triathletes dream! Furthermore, I hope to be wearing my trisuit for the event as the company producing it are trying their utmost to get it to me in time. I will finish with the whole collection of my Hollie4Kona kit (trisuit, cycling jersey and run top). Some may notice that the design of my trisuit has changed slightly from what I posted originally on Twitter and Facebook as I have had a disagreement with a selected number of triathletes within a group (all I am going to say on the matter is I'm bloody glad it happened before it went to print!). All that's left to say is, let's just hope I 'chick' some blokes! 
    






Saturday 15 February 2014

I am a runner

 Well the reason there has been a lack of blogging is because I honestly couldn't think of much to say (I'm sure that will change when I get started). Nothing particularly notable or exciting seems to have happened over the last few weeks except for work being swamped due to the floods (the joys of working for a 24 hour news channel). In all honesty I have been working my way day by day through my new personalised training plan which seems to make life just plod along nicely. I don't have to think about what I'm doing anymore and I am loving that especially with my shift work. This is a statement I never thought you would hear me say - I like being told what to do. As a self confessed control freak this is a big statement. Although I think deep down I still believe that I have some control over what I am doing (I'll just keep reassuring myself of that). A great advantage of letting go of my 'winging it' approach to training is that I am seeing results. I mentioned this with my swimming in my previous blog and now I am seeing it most obviously in my run. As I have always explained I have never been a natural runner and have always claimed it as my worst discipline. However, since changing my attitude and technique towards running when I first met my coach Mark I am enjoying it more which is seeing me improve. He also reassured me I wasn't rubbish which in turn has positively affected my confidence. I have always been a steady 9-10km/h runner (for those of you who work in miles that is 6 miles and hour or 10 minute miles). I was and never am going to break any records but in a short period of time my comfortable pace is now 11km/h and for shorter distances I can even reach 12km/h which was considered a sprint to me just a year ago! For anyone who wants to know that is a 25 minute 5k which although I don't have particularly high aspirations to achieve is a nice way to assess myself. This target is something Michael Barnett (Smoker2Ironman) a fellow blogger and twitter friend had aspired to do, and achieved, and in the same process (according to Runners World) named him as a committed runner (his blog where he achieved this is here http://smoker2triathlete.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/i-am-serious-runner.html). Since he published this blog post another twitter friend argued Runners World statement is bollocks, writing, 

"My current best 5k is 26.59...

My best ever 5k was 25:43 in 2010, so……

Despite running 3 marathons, completing one Ironman and 3 half Ironman and more 10ks than I care to remember …..

I AM NOT A COMMITTED RUNNER.  Bollocks to you Runners World!"

This blantantly argues that the magazines statement was a rubbish generalisation. (IronPugsleys full blog can be seen here http://ironman39.wordpress.com/2014/01/20/setbacks-and-leaps-forward/).This shows the banter, opinions and fun of blogging and both blogs had got me thinking about myself as a runner. After years of doubting myself I will finally say I am a runner (this is turning out to be blog full of confessions). Furthermore, although I said I'm not bothered about reaching the 5k in 25 minutes I may just try as subconsciously I keep thinking about it and am using it as a way to assess myself which can't be a bad thing.

 Another way I have been able to see improvements in my running is when I went out without my Garmin. This wasn't by choice but I had no battery on it and had no time to wait for it as I was due to go to work. So I ran to feel for the first time in months and it was lovely. By not constantly checking my pace made me appreciate what I was doing and actually enjoy running for the joy it gives (who would've ever thought I would've said this?!). What was great is just before I went on my run Mark emailed me a picture of him crossing the line in Kona in 2010 so as soon as I got back I replied, "I saw this (the picture) just before going on my run - what motivation! Ran without my Garmin today as it had no battery so ran to feel and felt
great - felt like I could've gone on forever!". Mark replied with an amazingly upbeat email with some real truth too;
"Hi Motivated Hollie
How cool!
Good to hear that Hollie
Technique is under rated
Ask an endurance runner to triathlete to run 75 minutes they can run 90
minutes
Ask most to spend 5 minutes on technique they cant find the time
I can see your long term potential you are starting to experience it already
I am a firm believer on running on feel I call them the timeless training
work outs
Cheers
Motivated Mark"

 We continued chatting until I eventually shared my bigger dreams and bucket list of future events (Mark said I may need to change that to barrel with all my aspirations). I recalled I had written about this previously so dug up an old blog post where I wrote my big dreams down. I wrote this on the 30th October 2013 in blog post 'Emotional roller coaster'; "I seem to have a constant need to make things harder and to better myself. With this in mind the events I would like to complete are; The Norseman Ironman distance triathlon (officially the hardest Ironman distance event due to its location in Norway and extreme weather conditions), a double Ironman, a solo channel swim crossing (non-wetsuit), Marathon des Sables (running across the Sahara for 7 days) and probably the one that will be my last endurance event, The Arch to Arc (an extreme endurance triathlon over two countries - Britain and France . Running for 87miles to Dover followed by a channel swim then topped off with an 181mile bike to Paris)." Mark assured me he would remind me when I had ticked these off.
 Anyway, I have digressed. So, I can say I'm a runner and have always claimed I am a swimmer as that is my best discipline - but a cyclist? Although I never classed my cycling as the worst discipline it is the one that needs a lot of, and possibly the  most attention now as it is the area I need to cut the most time off. In an Ironman the bike is the make or break, mostly because of the distance covered and it being the longest time you spend doing any of the three disciplines. I can cycle, yes, but previous incidents have knocked my confidence and I need to build this up again. I can only gain this with hours on the bike.
 In regards to technique I have never properly been taught but I am now methodically working on my it, in particular focusing on getting complete circles with each leg stroke to make me more efficient and in turn hopefully faster. During a turbo session with cycle buddy Jane I found on a regular basis when a doing single leg exercise I jarred when at the top of my stroke. Not good. I need to get each repetition smooth and this is something I have been painfully focusing on. This is a frustrating exercise for me as when I over-think something I seem to become worse, on numerous occasions I grunted out loud in the gym with annoyance getting some odd looks from the other gym users. However, slowly but surely there I have been less stoppages at the top of my stroke and after repeating to myself push and pull when doing these drills I am getting there. With this improving I have found my thighs burning during my training and aching post workout which although painful is such a satisfying pain as it means I am hitting the right muscles and with my obsession for muscles hopefully growing them too! So I'm on the way to becoming a 'proper' cyclist even if I would call myself a triathlete and Ironman over any particular discipline anyway. However, these improvements in a short space of time means is an exciting prospect - imagine where I could be by September for Ironman Wales!

 On another topic, in the last few weeks I had a debate with myself. People who know the Ironman world may know there are other avenues to get to Kona as opposed to doing it 'properly' and qualifying. One of these is the lottery. It is quite simple you pay $50 to buy a lottery ticket which puts you in with a shot of winning a place to Kona. Furthermore, with the 'passport programme' you can also pay a further $50 which doubles your chances on your already bought lottery ticket. My parents offered to pay this as another entry in and as a back up. I really appreciated their generosity but almost instantly decided to say no. I originally said I wanted to get to Kona through my own merit and will try that for at least two years whilst in my current age group. I slagged off Gordon Ramsay profusely when he cheated his way to the World Championships last year because he was a celebrity so in theory wouldn't I be eating my own words and becoming a hypocrite? Back up or not I knew that the lottery entry wasn't for me. The journey to Kona is what my mission, dream and promise to Rose is all about. I did agree however, that after these two years if I am not successful I would try and get to Kona by sharing my story via video and being voted in by the public, that way I am still achieving it myself.

 Another thing that has happened is I had to cancel my trip to Devon last weekend which included my first event of the year, a marathon. We were debating doing this beforehand because of the unknowing and unforgiving weather down there at the time but our decision was made for us when both mine and Dan's cars broke down the night before we were due to drive down. I think I was more upset about not going away as I am really craving a holiday and getaway, but I suppose it just wasn't meant to be.

 So I am on my mission to Kona with a clear direction and focus on technique. I'm not going to lie I had two days this week where motivation was low due to some tough days at work and feeling increasingly low emotionally. There is not one day I do not think about Rose and I am sad daily by the loss of Rosie, but some days it effects me a lot more. I have however worked something out about myself now after 3 months of feeling 'these'; I get an emotional 'crash' every month or so whereby everything seems too much. The slightest thing can make an impact on my mood and will bring me down. I know now I cannot stop them but know after a long period of feeling 'OK' I will inevitably crash. I have aptly named these 'dip days'. Having seen my best friend, Yuliya and off loaded a lot that was on my chest and getting some good advice I feel much better and following the tough workout I did the day after am feeling back on track. I made a promise to get to Kona for Rosie and that needs to remain my focus when I do crash. Having had my dips, hopefully for the month, I am back and although I dread the next dip, for now I shall enjoy my aching limbs and continue to put a smile on my face. Until next time - thanks for reading! (I have finished with a picture of my pug Larry in case anyone else needs cheering up).

Goodbye for now!