Scotland – Page 2

East Fife Sprint Triathlon

I woke up Sunday morning feeling tired, and with a sore tummy, not a great start for a race! After breakfast, I did feel a little better, I worked Friday night and I hadn’t quite caught up on sleep. My husband Sam wasn’t feeling great either but that could be down to race day nerves. It was his first ever triathlon!

We arrived in Cupar early, registered and racked up in transition. This was a pool based swim, unusually the swim heats were not in the traditional slowest swimmers first to the fastest in the final heat. They changed the format, the fastest two heats went first followed by the two slowest and then the two heats in between. Sadly, this meant I wouldn’t see Sam swim but I would see him finish the race.

Photo credit; Mac Images Active Lifestyle Photography

After race briefing, I went straight to the pool as I was in the first heat. Pool side nerves kicked in especially when everyone else about you is wearing Scotland and Great Britain age group team tri suits! Once I started I felt fine, the lanes were pretty crowded with 6 in each lane. The swim was a bit of a disaster, I was third in my lane it took a few lengths before I was in front. The swimmer behind me touching my leg and I moved over (as per race instructions) but then she would swim slower after that, basically kept swapping between 3-4 of us. Some of the athletes got a bit vicious with the leg pulling and I didn’t want to go all out on the swim so dropped to second or third in the lane and drafted. In hindsight, I should have gone a bit faster to begin with, then settled into the swim rather than swim at my long-distance pace in preparation for Celtman. Swim time 11mins 50secs but I was aiming for 11mins, but considering what happened I was pleasantly surprised it wasn’t slower.

Photo credit: Chris Wallard Photography

Out of the pool and into transition when it got was a pretty heated between two athletes in my swim lane. I kept my cool and got out of transition as soon as I could. T1 time, 1min 35secs.

Photo credit; Mac Images Active Lifestyle Photography

I felt pretty fresh after the swim, and jumped on my bike out of Duffus park. The first part of the bike race was on a gravely path before getting onto the road and straight up a long steep hill. The course has a two loop around Moonzie and then back down the big hill at the start. I really enjoyed the course, mixture of hills and flat sections, apart from the strong head wind on the A92! I passed a couple of people cycling up the hill and kept my pace. No one overtook me, which is really unusual! I definitely feel I have made vast improvements on the bike and managed an 18.9mph average! My bike time 47mins 54secs- super pleased. Transition two was uneventful, T2 time 52secs.

Photo credit; Mac Images Active Lifestyle Photography

The run course was one lap, 4.7km. Out of the car park and up a long hill for the first couple of kilometres. Surprisingly, it was sunny in Scotland and I actually felt hot in just my tri suit! The run route took us through a farm and along a closed road back to Duffus park to the finish. My legs were pretty tired, one of my club members overtook me towards the end and I couldn’t keep up with him. Run time 20minutes 55secs.

Photo credit: Rose Campbell

After the race I got to see Sam finish his bike leg and cheer him on during the run and finish. He did really well and I’m super proud, however I don’t think I can convince him yet to compete in another triathlon anytime soon.

Overall my race went well… I was fifth female and second senior female! My first ever podium and most likely last, total surprise! My total time was 1 hour 23minutes 7secs. The race was well organised, the volunteers and marshals very friendly. I have a few areas for me to improve on but overall the race was a success. My next race is Edinburgh Great run on 23rd April.

Jenwaar

Tranent Sprint Triathlon

Edinburgh University Tranent Sprint Triathlon

Tranent Sprint Triathlon is a popular race which sells out each year with a long waiting list. Finally, this year I got my act together and entered as soon as entry was live. It is a well-established race hosted by Edinburgh University Triathlon.

First race of the season, I was excited and little nervous at breakfast. My wake up wasn’t too early as the race is fairly local. I really didn’t have any expectations, time or goal for the race, which maybe I should have… I kept having random thoughts such as; I’ve been running at zone two pace (running slower for aerobic endurance) and heartrate for most my runs the last three months I wondered if I could run faster? Should I go all out at the swim? Will I be able to sprint the whole race when I’ve been training for endurance? I think it was just race nerves but having some sort of plan may have helped. I decided to see how I felt at the start and have fun.

Being so close to home, lots of the Edinburgh triathlete club members compete. I think we had a head count of about twenty-ish of us, all in purple. Seeing so many other club members always puts me at ease on race day. I can talk over my race day nerves, discuss the course, kit and tactics etc. The support is also great, cheering each other on and celebrating PB’s and podium places.

I arrived at Tranent for 8am to register and set up in transition, briefing was at 8.30am and the race started at 9am. The swim is in a pool, you are placed in heats on your predicted swim time. The longer swim times swim first with the quickest in the last heat. There were eight heats, I was in heat seven which didn’t start till 11.25am so had a long wait. I just relaxed, chatted with other club mates and cheered on others who started before me.

When my heat was called up, I was quite relieved and just wanted to get on with the race. 750metres in a 25metre pool, 30 lengths in total. Each lane had five swimmers, each of us had a coloured cap to wear. The caps represented which order in the lane you started in. I was the fourth swimmer in my lane. From looking at my heat prior to race I noted my whole lane had the same predicted time. I usually put a slower time, so if I wasn’t feeling great on the day I don’t feel overwhelmed by my predicted time. Once we started I felt at ease and within four lengths of the pool I was the first swimmer in the lane. After a few lengths I lost count, I looked down at my watch and realised it was in open swim mode, oops. Luckily there are marshals counting for me but I couldn’t really predict how fast I was swimming so I went at a comfortable pace until I was told it was my last two lengths by the marshal and sprinted the last 50 metres. I jumped out the pool, and cautiously ran downstairs and outside to transition. Swim time; 11mins 41 secs, little disappointed as I know I can swim faster but a solid time.

Transition one was quite quick for me; helmet, shoes, socks and bike on and off I went. Transition one time; 1min 33secs.

The bike course is 12miles, fairly hilly route through Elphinstone, towards Cousland and Ormiston, back to Tranent. I did a recce of the bike course in the run up to the race, unfortunately, it is not a closed road event and there are two sets of traffic lights. This year at the four-way traffic lights (second set of lights) organisers arranged to have the path over the bridge reserved for competitors so you didn’t have to stop at the lights.

Sadly, in addition to the one set of permanent traffic lights, the local council had commenced some roadworks with temporary traffic lights in Ormiston. Marshals were at the roadworks, if you got stopped, they took down your number and deducted the time of your wait at the lights from your total cycle time. I got stopped at the roadworks for about 60-80seconds, at this point I got cold from the wait and it did interrupt momentum somewhat.

When I started on the bike, the heavens decided to open and as I am quite a timid cyclist at the best of times I went as fast as I felt safe. Once I got back to transition my hands and feet were numb. Why did I think competing in just a tri-suit in March was a good idea? I was fairly pleased with my bike ride as I’ve improved so much in the last twelve months however my bike time wasn’t amended! Bike time; 38minutes 16secs.

Transition two was uneventful, T2 time; 1min 5secs.

The five kilometre run route was a double loop of the local housing estate. I was pretty cold after the bike so was looking forward to warming up on the run. I managed to keep a steady pace and my feet warmed up quiet quickly. I was pleasantly surprised I could keep up a faster pace despite my zone two worries. Run time; 22mins 50secs.

The race was a success and it was nice to get back into racing. I was fourth female overall and third in my age group, my total time was1 hour 15mins 28secs. Looking back at my previous results my last sprint triathlon was at Hawick 2015 and my overall time was 1 hour 25mins 15secs so a massive PB, super pleased.

I really enjoyed the race, it was well organised and had a very relaxed atmosphere. All competitors, volunteers and marshals were very friendly and encouraging. Apart from the wait to start the race (unavoidable) and my bike time not being amended, I would highly recommend this race especially for your first ever triathlon. Well done to all the Edinburgh triathletes especially Eilidh Yates for winning overall female and Lynn Hanley for winning female super Veteran.

My next race is East Fife sprint on 9^th April. This will be my husband’s first triathlon, so really, I’m supporting him but hopefully I can improve my times.

Jenwaar

February Training update

Training is going well, I’m pretty much managing to complete all my sessions with the occasional tweak due to work or tiredness.

The weather is finally getting better (above freezing) so I’ve been out on the bike at least once a week getting a long ride in, less time on the turbo which is amazing! I usually have one social ride a week with either friends or with the triathlon or cycling club, making training much more fun.

I have slowly increased the amount and the distance for running, my calf coping well as long I continue to stretch and do my physiotherapy exercises. I feel much lighter on my feet, stronger and faster on my track training days.

Swimming has taken a little bit of a back seat but mainly that’s my doing……getting more ink. My tattoo is finally finished so I can regularly swim again, but this isn’t too much of a problem as it is my strongest discipline.

Towards the end of February I had a trip up to the Isle of Skye for a long weekend with family and friends. Sadly, the weather wasn’t in our favour, it was either very windy or very windy with torrential rain. I didn’t really have high exceptions of the weather as it was February and it’s also the West coast of Scotland! I bought my bike with me thought I may have one good day to cycle however that day did not arrive but I brought my turbo trainer so training wasn’t missed. The views from the house were amazing even in the rain. I managed to either use the turbo trainer or run or both whilst away. One day I drove an 80mile trip to the only pool in Skye to get kicked out 30 minutes later as the timetable changed for the half term for family fun time (damn those inflatables!) The trip was lovely: to get away; to catch up with family and friends; and still manage to train.

I am rather anti-social at the moment, I feel I am constantly apologising for missing group social gatherings, turning up late (no change), leaving to go home early or not drinking when I do socialise. I am trying to juggle work, training and trying to see friends and family. Maybe the latter I’m not doing too well at. I also know this will only get worse as my volume in training increases as I get closer to the race. I would just like to apologise to friends and family as ultimately I’m doing this race for me and it is affecting your lives too, especially my poor husband. I should be back by July once Celtman and Ironman training has finished. I would like to thank you all for your patience, support and love, it is really appreciated.

On a more positive note, this week race season has commenced. I will be competing in the Tranent Sprint Triathlon on Saturday. I am really excited as so many other Edinburgh Triathlete club members are competing, it will be well supported and it’s my first time competing in this triathlon. I’m unsure how it will go as all my training is geared towards long distance rather than sprinting but super excited to be competing again!

Jenwaar

December and January update

December and January Update

I’ve not written a blog post in 2 months and quite simply it’s because I’ve been so busy with festivities, training, work and trying to see friends and family.

I’ve ended 2016 on a high, I completed my main goal for the year, to race my first middle distance triathlon at Staffordshire Ironman 70.3 and came 6th in my age group. I then went on to compete in Aberfeldy middle distance triathlon in August. I’ve also had a few ups and downs, particularly my ankle/calf injury, it’s on going but well managed (I can still exercise) and not getting worse! Overall I leave 2016 with a passion for triathlon (which I didn’t have last year) and as a stronger and more focused athlete.

For 2017 my two major races are Celtman in June, an extreme long distance triathlon (further than full Ironman) and Edinburgh Ironman 70.3, Scotland’s first Ironman event, I’m so excited!! I’ve always been a middle-distance runner and never completed long distances before my furthest run is about 18miles and 70miles on the bike. I’m really excited about the challenge and pushing my body!

In December, I decided to get an online coach, Barron (Endurance Worx)and it’s the best decision I’ve made! Not having to plan training each week is bliss, but also because I’m a novice and need guidance. We are using training peaks fitness app, which he uploads training sessions for me to complete. After each session, it connects with Garmin connect so we can analyse my progress, heart rate, power, pace etc. I found following set plans difficult to follow due to my shift patterns which differs every week. I can upload my work shifts on the app and Barron can develop a plan for me. He’s also really approachable and happy for me to contact him with any queries.

I started training for Celtman six weeks ago, I’m currently slowly increasing distances in cycling and running. I’m swimming less but I’m a strong swimmer and I need to work on the other disciplines. I’m cycling two to three times a week on my turbo trainer, three runs and two weight sessions. The run sessions mainly consist of slow paced runs increasing in distances each week and one speed interval track session a week. Cycling is a mixture of intervals and durance work, and if the weather is good and I have the time, an occasional ride outside.

I’m starting to feel stronger and fitter. My calf this week has been tight, since my long run on Saturday, but easing with my physiotherapy exercises, foam roller and spikey ball.

Tomorrow I’m off to Australia with Sam for a holiday and to visit my little brother who lives in Sydney. I hope to keep up training when I can, we are hiring road bikes for a couple of days and I look forward to trying at Sydney’s Olympic outdoor pool by the harbour bridge.

Jenwaar

Edinburgh Triathlete’s winter training weekend

Apologies for my lack of posts….A fortnight ago I went along to Edinburgh Triathletes winter training weekend. This is annual winter training weekend ET organise every year. I previously went two years ago. Friday evening, I headed over to Bridge of Earn in Perthshire. Friday night was spent catching up with everyone, eating pizza and have a cheeky glass of wine.

Saturday morning commenced with an early morning run, I’m currently not running at the moment, so spent an extra hour in bed! At 9.30am we went off for a group ride, two groups were formed based on ability.

Photo credit: Euan Batten

We headed off into the rain in the beautiful Perthshire countryside. After ten minutes we were all soaked but that didn’t dampen our spirits! After an hour of cycling we had a Pit stop at Loch level larder. I had my ‘go to’ cycling snack, a sausage bap and hot chocolate (this time I had a chai latte but basically a hot milk drink). Highly recommend this cafe, I have been many times before for lunch and afternoon tea.

Photo credit: Euan Batten

After our stop we continued the ride. A few minutes into the ride Paul had to stop for a puncture so a few of us in the group had a plank off competition. The girls won, sorry Pierre! Look how much mud we have on our bottoms! The ride was only 28miles but quite hilly and wet so I glad to get back to the lodges and put on dry clothes!

Photo credit: Euan Batten

In the afternoon Richard, one of the coaches, conducted a ‘Q&A’ type of talk answering all questions on everything triathlon. We submitted questions in advance of the weekend. Richard covered questions from kit, coaching, racing and training, giving tips and advice. I found this really interesting and useful. I particularly found his advice on improving my times on the bike helpful and will use this in my training and racing. It also made me really want to buy a time trial bike!

Late afternoon we had a swim session at Strathallan School swimming pool which was very cold! The focus was on technique and good form. We were practicing tumble turns, rotation, push offs, streamlining and posture. This was good session, breaking down our swimming technique to build on form to swim more efficiently and effectively. ‘Swim well before swimming fast’.

In the evening we all went out for a meal at a local restaurant, followed by a couple of drinks at the local pub.

Sunday morning, we were back in the pool for a 9am start. We warmed up with a few lengths and continuing good technique. We were then divided into four groups and started racing! Sadly, all my good form went out the window whilst racing (game face)! Individually, I came second in my heat but in our team relay we came last. I had lots of fun diving off the blocks, however need to practice sprinting, I’ve not raced competitively since I was a child.

I headed home after swimming. The rest if the triathlon club completed a mini duathlon in the rain, followed by a short trail run.

The weekend was great, I loved the relaxed nature of the weekend and socialising with other club members. Big thanks to Mike for organising the weekend and Richard and Euan for coaching!

Jenwaar

Scottish half marathon race report

I entered the race a few weeks before when my left calf and ankle felt fine. The 5 days before my race my calf was really tight, the foam rolled it out and stretched but it didn’t budge! It didn’t help that I worked three 12 and half hour shifts on the run up to the race.

I woke up on the day, fully aware of my tight calf but I decided to race. I stretched, used the foam roller and was quite optimistic about the race. I was willing to see how my leg would hold up and if at the start line or during race it felt bad, really sore or I was concerned I wouldn’t start or stop running. I met up with some friends at the train station to travel to Prestonpans.

We walked to the start and my leg didn’t feel too bad. My aim for the race was to complete it and not push for a personal best (PB). I had a time /pace I wanted to complete it in but also didn’t want to injure myself anymore. I warmed up and felt quite positive, not too sore. The race has a split start/finish. The race commenced at Meadowmill sport centre in Prestonpans. I entered my pen for the start and a few minutes later the gun went off and we started, I eased into the race.

The Scottish half marathon is a fairly new race; this was its third year. I read in advance this was quite a flat and fast race, great for PB’s. Last year I supported my husband and wished I had completed the race myself.

For the first few miles the course felt like we were just descending through East Lothian. I was running way too quickly, I had to slow myself down a couple of times as I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep this pace up. Once I got to the coastal road the course flattened with a few undulating sections. I was able to keep my pace much better at this point.

The course had a short out and back section on the coastal road, then it was a long run to the finish at Musselburgh. At this point around the 5 mile point I saw Gemma Hockett in her trade mark running briefs. I follow Gemma on Instagram, I plucked up the courage to say Hello (I’m such an instastalker). Gemma and I got chatting, Gemma had recently returned to running after an injury so pacing her race rather than racing. We ended up running the rest of the race together.

The race takes you through Port Seton, Cockenzie, Seton Sands and ending up at the finish at Musselburgh race course. The eight miles along the coastal road had a strong head wind and I really felt it during the last two to three miles. I was really struggling at this point due to my lack of run training over the last six months. My calf was also really sore from mile eleven but manageable, I was nearly at the finish so I wasn’t going to stop (I do not advocate this). I have to thank Gemma for keeping me going!

I was pretty pleased with my time overall 1hr 41mins 21secs. I was aiming for 1hr 45mins so better than I thought, but that was likely due to the quick start. I would definitely say if you wanted a PB this was the course to do it in as long as the head wind isn’t too strong.

Overall it was well organised, marshalled and the race didn’t feel over crowded. I would compete in this race again. Cons would be that the coastal route was lovely in some places, but quite a boring course with long periods of no support because there are no footpaths. This year the medals were not ready, even now two weeks later we still haven’t received our medals. I run regularly and not too fussed about this but for some runners this may be their big event of the year! This is pretty poor organisation by the event team.

Now race season is over my giving my calf a rest. I’m not running for 6-8weeks and focusing on cycling and swimming. I have also started back at the gym regularly aiming to do 2-3 sessions a week. Hopefully my calf will get sorted after some rest!

Jenwaar

Aberfeldy Middle Distance Triathlon

I’ve been lacking in blog posts recently apologies. Sadly, my Granddad suddenly passed away four weeks ago and my husband broke his wrist during a bike race (on the same day).

My Granddad has always been a big part of my (and my family’s) life especially over the last few years as we’ve lived so close by. I got my sportiness from my Granddad. He had always been into sports, competing when he was younger playing football, golf and badminton. He was a coach and umpired many matches. He also umpired the Badminton for the Edinburgh Commonwealth games in 1970. In his later years he took up the role of the spectator. He supported me during my first half marathon four years ago in Glasgow, and watched me in London at ITU triathlon last year. He always thought I was mad completing in triathlons! He will be so sadly missed!!

Sam is making a good recovery, is now back to work and now doing some light exercise.

As a result my training and blog writing two weeks prior to Aberfeldy was sporadic and somewhat lacking.

Saturday afternoon Sam and I drove up to Perthshire, checked into our beautiful AirBnB accommodation overlooking Loch Tay. I then went to register for the triathlon, go to race briefing and drop of my transition two bag. In the evening we went to an Italian restaurant with some friends from Edinburgh triathletes for a good carbohydrate load.

Sunday morning 4.45am alarm, triple checked my kit, ‘evacuated’ and had my usual race day breakfast porridge with blueberries, banana and cup of green tea. I was surprisingly relaxed; I hadn’t put any pressure on myself this race. I’ve had a lot of trouble with my ankle and not been running (maybe 5-6 times in the last two months) so all I wanted to do was complete the race and not worsen my injury.

I made it down to Loch Tay with just enough time to check my tyre pressures, rack up, get my wet suit on and also get bitten by a few midges! I saw a few friendly faces from Edinburgh Triathletes, managed a quick team photo and we were called to the start.

The start was in the water between two buoys, the water temperature was 13 degrees, pretty cold and clustered start! Once I got going the temperature was no longer a problem and I was able to swim away from the main group. The swim route was one lap and in a triangle. This race I felt my sighting was better, maybe because I was in the first group and there were less competitors in this race. My garmin statistics say otherwise, I swam an extra 200metres and my swim time wasn’t great for me (34minsmins 33secs) so I was a little disappointed.

I got out of the water feeling a little dizzy and ran up to transition one to my bike. I had to sit down to take off my wetsuit and put my cycling gear on. When I was ready the dizziness had passed and I ran out of transition, and started cycling. Transition time 4mins, 28secs.

The cycle route went ok; the weather was beautiful which helped. I felt alright going up Schiehallion, however I found cycling around the first side of Loch Rannoch quite hard. There was a strong head wind, my legs were pedalling but I felt like I was going slowly and lots of people were overtaking me. Once I got around the other side of the Loch and had the couple of gels and jelly babies I had kicked in. I felt stronger and my pace was better. Going back over Schiehallon wasn’t too bad either; I think I was just looking forward to the long dissent back down. I found the last 10miles after the dissent from Keltneyburn to Aberfeldy a struggle, lucky it was fairly flat and made it back to transition two in one piece. My bike time was 3hrs 15mins 7secs, pretty pleased with that as it was quite a hilly course.

Picture credit: live active sport

Transition two was fairly uneventful, apart from my dash to the toilet, I needed to go for an hour on the bike and there were no toilets at the feed stations. I didn’t want to expose myself to follow competitors on the bike route. Transition time 2mins, 35secs.

So the run was hard, very hard! My legs felt tired right away. Straight out of transition we ran up a small hill and I honestly thought ‘was I going to complete this?’ I ran past Sam after the hill, shouting and cheering, which spurred me on. The course was a there and back along a quiet road, with the occasional car passing. It was now 11am, the sun was shining and it was 18-20 degrees! Lucky I remembered to put my sunscreen on in the morning. My plan was just to make it to the end so I decided to walk at the feed stations (under a minute each time), take on a little water each time and have at least two gels during the run. My tactics worked quite well, I managed to run past a few runners. The course was quite undulating, I was aware of my ankle (not painful) between mile three and five which then subsided. At mile eight my legs felt like pure lead. At this point I started to see fellow ET’s going the other way, the friendly faces and a few high fives helped me continue on. I was really struggling the last three miles, I knew I would finish but I was so tired and frustrated that my legs were heavy and sore. At this point I was constantly looking at my watching checking the total distance. I made it to the finish and even managed a ‘sprint finish’ through the finishing tunnel. Run time 1hr 52mins 38secs. I knew my time wasn’t going to be any good due to the lack of run training however I finished and my ankle held up.

Overall it was a successful race, I finished uninjured and it was a beautiful course and day. Total time was 5hrs 49mins 22secs. I was 5th in my age group and 14th female overall. This race was never going to be my best due to the build-up, my recent training and my ankle injury. Taking the pressure off the race did make it more enjoyable. Not to have that constant stress of finishing in certain time or being disappointed at the finish if you didn’t. On reflection I need to still work on my open water swimming and sighting, be quicker in transition one and hopefully get back to regular running again.

Next challenge is the Scottish half marathon on 18th September. Since Aberfeldy my ankle has, so far, been ok and I have been running twice a week. It’s so frustrating that I’m not at my usual fitness but I’m so glad to be running again. This next race I will be doing with friends; my aim is to finish uninjured so I won’t be pushing for a personal best or a particular finishing time.

Jenwaar

Training update

Since the Ironman Staffordshire 70.3 in June I’ve entered myself into another middle distance triathlon in Aberfeldy on 21^st August. Last week I organised a recce of the bike course with some members of Edinburgh triathlon club. The course starts from Kenmore, over Schiehallion, around Loch Rannoch and back to Aberfeldy. The course is quite hilly especially climbing back over on Schiehallion road. I would always advocate doing the bike course prior so there aren’t any surprises on race day. This triathlon is not a closed road event due to the remote location so finding out about local traffic management such as when you have right of way etc, is really important. Sadly the weather wasn’t great (windy and drizzly) but the rain stayed away and we even management a short post run after the bike.

Generally training is going ok…. I’ve had trouble with my left foot, ankle and calf, again. I saw my physiotherapist post Staffordshire and he massaged my leg and gave me exercises which really helped. He advised just running once a week on the run up to Aberfeldy triathlon. The pains went away and I thought I could try running two or three times a week, BIG MISTAKE!! On Friday my leg was tight and over the weekend it’s been sore. I didn’t train at all this weekend. I’m such an idiot, I’m finding it hard not to run regularly as I’ve always been a runner it’s so frustrating! This week I’m not running at all and I will continue cycling, swimming and gym sessions. If it continues to hurt I will return to my physiotherapist for a telling off and massage. I’m not very good at being injured and also got to remember I’m lucky I can continue with the other disciplines!

On a positive note my cycling has vastly improved, I’m much quicker and really enjoying cycling. I’ve even managed a couple of Queen of the Mountains on Strava! I think I may enter a road race soon.

I‘ve also changed my hair again, it’s now silver lilac (grey). I much prefer this to the bottle blonde look but I only dyed it blonde so I could go this colour. Next time I’m at the hairdressers I will go more lilac as it fades quite quickly. This photo is me and Sam at our friends wedding a couple of weeks ago. The wedding had a festival / fete vibe and relaxed atmosphere with family and friends fully involved. I had a great time being master of ceremonies and danced and drank the night away. Congratulations Briony and Alex, thanks for inviting us to your wonderful day!!

It’s now only four weeks away till Aberfeldy triathlon! If you see me in between please remind me only to run once a week!!

Jenwaar

Beachbarre – BarreConcept by the beach

Beachbarre

I never really enjoyed ballet as a child. I wasn’t very graceful, partly because I was the tallest in my class and always got the male parts in the show as there were no boys in our class. My ballet career ended age six, grade one (or two?) with a slight complex.

I was invited to try a BarreConcept fitness class on the beach by Veronika from Edinbarre. Luckily you don’t need any ballet experience and they don’t require you to do a recital during the class, phew!

Created by Pilates master Emma Newman, BarreConcept is a challenging workout which combines strength conditioning, Pilates, yoga and ballet.

On Saturday afternoon I headed down to Cramond beach and luckily the weather was sunny. We warmed up on the beach, facing the beautiful Firth of Forth. It seemed my pirouetting days would come flooding back as Veronika eased us into the class.

We went onto the ramp and used the railings as ballet bars. I was constantly working on posture, balance and body positioning. The class consisted of basic movements, lunges, plies and leg raises. During some movements we pulsed and held static holds, by the end of the class my legs were shaking like a leaf.

To finish off we stretched to ‘elongate the muscles’. As a runner and triathlete, I have the flexibility of a brick so struggled with this part of the class. I was however pretty pleased I could touch my toes by the end.

Overall I really enjoyed the class and found it quite challenging. It was a good leg workout, my legs were achy afterwards! The setting was beautiful at the beach and Veronika is a lovely enthusiastic teacher. I would highly recommend and would definitely go again (no complex this time).

For more information email Veronika at info@edinbarre.co.uk, she has classes across Edinburgh.

Jenwaar

Photo credits Rob Tesh.

Training weeks 15-17

The last couple of weeks of training has gone well. The weather has been improving and I’ve managed to get out on the bike more, slowly getting more miles in, with both running and swimming going well.

My ankle and calf are both doing well, I’ve not had any pains for two weeks. I’ve continued the physiotherapy exercises daily and they seem to be working!

Last Friday was my birthday, my last year in my twenties! I finished nights in the morning and after a short nap, Sam treated me to a shopping spree in Glasgow. We met up with some friends for a Mexican meal and we all went to a gig to see Marissa Nadler. I had the day off training, had a few cheeky Margaritas and was treated like a princess.! Thanks Sam!! ️

Edinburgh has had amazing weather over the last couple of weeks and I’ve managed a few open water swimming sessions at Threipmuir reservoir. I was pleasely surprised that the water wasn’t that cold (once I got swimming). I’ve been trying to open water swim at least once a week in the run up to the race. I really don’t like swimming with a wetsuit, I find it quite restrictive. It usually takes me a couple of sessions each season to feel comfortable in swimming in my wetsuit. I would highly recommend and or insist on practicing before a race! During my first open water race I panicked and felt I couldn’t breath even after a couple of training sessions in my wetsuit.

On Sunday I competed in a triathlon relay race with Edinburgh triathletes. The race consists four team members completing a mini triathlon after each other. The distances are quite short; a 300metres swim, 7km bike and 1.5km run. The team consists of two ladies and two men, the order for the race is girl, boy, girl boy. The relay was at Knockburn, Aberdeenshire at a purpose built triathlon venue. We had a glorious day resulting in sunburn on my back and forehead (I never learn!) I started the race, my swim was quick, I got kicked in the head and I couldn’t get my wetsuit off my right leg after the swim but that’s racing! My bike ride was alright and I felt my run was slow but the time wasn’t too bad. I found sprinting each discipline really hard as I’ve been training for long distance (steady pace) so after 23minutes my lungs felt like they were going to explode! The race was well organised and I really enjoyed the post race food (fancy sandwich and ginger cake). Overall we were tenth out of 24 teams so pretty pleased with the result and we all had a fun day out.

Yesterday I completed a long brick session – I cycled 50miles and ran 10miles. I now feel confident enough I can complete the race. My aim in this session was just to complete it, I kept a good pace whilst cycling and ran relatively slowly. My run time was pretty rubbish but I didn’t want to push it, plus it was 21 degrees in Edinburgh! On the bike I mimicked my nutrition for the race with two gels and a porridge bar. For hydration I had one energy drink and half a bottle of water. On the run I had one gel but had to stop to buy water as it was so hot! On race day I will probably just have a sip of water every 3-4miles. When I run a half marathon I don’t usually take anything on board as it usually comes back up, so my aim is to try and take as much fluid and nutrition as I can on the bike.

I’m currently writing this blog on a flight to Barcelona. I’m away with friends for a week, we are going to Primavera Sound music festival followed by a few days in Barcelona, can’t wait!

I’ve now only two weeks away from Staffordshire Ironman 70.3 (well actually 11 days), I strangely feel ok about it. I’m now going to start tapering, in preparation for the race. Perfect time for holiday (not), I intent to stop drinking from Sunday, continue running and cycling at the hotel gym. I also intend to fully enjoy my holiday!

I’m about to two weeks behind on my blog, I wrote this on Wednesday 1st June. I’ve now completed Staffordshire Ironman 70.3 on Sunday, yippee! Blog post to follow soon.

Jenwaar x