English
Training has had its ups and downs the past few weeks. I am becoming increasingly frustrated that work, weather and other commitments are getting in the way of doing some decent outdoor training. I have been moving house this week and my work travel schedule has picked up which always makes training a challenge.
I got out a few weeks ago for a long ride with some friends around Hitchin and Stevenage. Unfortunately the smaller, quieter roads were still too icy for decent riding so we had to get onto some frankly terrifying roads. We made that decision after we had to get off our bikes a couple of times to get through some treacherous patches of ice. After crossing one of these and getting back on my bike I then hit a patch of black ice just down the road and went down like a sack of potatoes on my right side. No damage done to my Kiron, just some bruising to both my body and ego.
I got a place in the 8km Southern Counties Cross Country Championships at Hampstead Heath at the end of January. Up until that point I had thought a time trial I did at the beginning of last year was the most awful event I had ever done, but this took the cake. The juniors had gone off before the women so the course was already nicely churned up, that coupled with the FREEZING temperatures that day it was going to make for a tough race. The race started at the bottom of a hill that got steeper as it went up and I went out way too fast. It wasn’t my fault; my Uncle was there with a video camera! I had that awful moment of when the adrenalin runs out, my heart was hammering, I was breathing like an emphysema patient and I realised I was only a third of the way up the hill and still had 7.75km to go!
The single worst moment of the race was plunging into this huge bog and having icy water soak both feet. In my head I went from ‘OK, just get through this’ to ‘stop this madness now’. If I hadn’t made my visiting Aunt and Uncle come and watch the race I am sure I would have slipped off to the side in search of dry socks and my sanity! I survived it, just, but will certainly not be lining up to do that again. I have nothing but the utmost respect for cross country runners now.
I did one of the winter series 10km races in Regents Park last Sunday which was much more my style, no bogs to wade through, no spikes required and you got a banana at the end. I hadn’t run a 10km without it being tacked onto the end of a triathlon in quite a few years and I am certainly not in race shape yet so I was pleased to get round in just under 44 mins. My aim was to keep my pace consistent which I did and I really enjoyed it. I was 6th woman overall which was also encouraging.
Next up I am doing a duathlon at Dorney Lake. I haven’t been on my Focus Izalco Chrono anywhere near enough lately but we will see how it goes. It also gets me out of unpacking boxes for the morning!
Happy training
Cx
For an Australian you are such a wuss!