English
In my last post I mentioned that I was going to be doing a photo shoot for Health and Fitness magazine for their May issue. It was a really fun day and I got to hang out with Caroline who is going to be competing in her first triathlon this year as well as Beverly Turner (James Cracknell’s wife) who has done plenty of races, swimming and modelling at a high level. Our photographer Will Ireland (who did the pictures of Nicole Cook in this months Pro Cycling magazine) was fabulous and really made us all relax and have a great time and we had lovely sporty outfits picked out by Jo and Victoria from H&F Magazine.
The Dutchman and I went to Nice a few weeks ago to watch the final 2 stages of the Paris Nice bike race. On Saturday we climbed Col de Vence and then went about halfway down to watch the pros go up it. They were a little bit faster than us! It was really great to see so many people out watching the race, lots of people had set up picnics and loads more had ridden out to watch. I took this shot of this guy who had set up ‘camp’ on col de Vence and was playing some really pumping music to get the riders going. It made for a really great atmosphere.
On the Sunday we went down to the start and wandered through where the team buses were parked. I do love that about cycling that you can get in amongst it all. We watched the start of the race on the promenade and then rode out and climbed Col Eze which is one of my favourites because of the fantastic views over the Mediterranean. It almost makes you forget how much it hurts going up it! We picked our spot perfectly as we got to see Contador make a break for it, in the big chain ring of course. I’m just in awe of these guys seeing how fast they fly up these tough climbs, it certainly motivates me to train harder!!
I have just been away for a week in Austria where we did some tough skiing. My legs were so fatigued by Friday afternoon I could hardly make turns any more. I’m not sure that I will gain any solid benefit other than a bit of leg strength from a week of skiing but it was fun. I really think it helped wearing my 2XU compression tights under my ski pants as I was completely recovered each morning and allowed me to hit the slopes hard again each day. Now the training gets serious as the countdown is on to my first triathlon 8 weeks away. I was out yesterday for a long ride around Stevenage with some friends and it was just glorious. So nice to be cycling in the sun again without having to watch out for patches of ice.
I’m heading back to Nice for 4 days over Easter to get some solid training in and I’m planning on doing my first open water swim which will no doubt be ‘fresh’ but will be good preparation for starting to swim in Hampstead Lido. The Dutchman and I have a friend coming with us who is doing Ironman Nice so there will be a reccie of the course. We are going to be there to support him during the race and I’m really looking forward to being on the other side of the fence and watching an ironman rather than doing one!
Have a great Easter and happy training,
Cx