Training and being Mum

People often ask how I fit my training in around family life. Firstly, I have an amazing support network around me; my mum and mum in law both look after the boys and I couldn’t do the training I do without them. Secondly, Mark is fantastic at finding opportunities to train- there’s a reason he works in logistics!

I would say I often don’t train enough for the events I do but I can always ‘get round’. I could train a lot harder and be quicker but then I would be sacrificing more family time so, for me, it is finding a balance and making sure I ENJOY the training I do. When I was training for the Channel in 2014 I would often start a 4,5 or 6 hour swim and then get out after 1 hour-not because it was too hard but because I didn’t WANT to be there (Marcus Wadsworth of Durley Sea Swimmers will back this up :-)). I didn’t beat myself up about it and took confidence in my mental and physical ability to ‘knuckle down’ in the actual event. I wouldn’t recommend not completing a training swim like that every time but there are times when it is okay to stop and it is okay if training doesn’t always go to plan.

This leads me onto my future training ‘plan’. I admit, I’ve never followed a tight training schedule and I don’t think this year will be too much different. Mark has helped me come up with some milestone distances so that I know what I’m working towards and I will continue to try and swim, run and cycle each week.

January has been spent getting some fitness back and I’m really happy with how I’m feeling. Just to give you a little outline of what I have been doing on an average week:

Monday: Wattbike 20-30 mins(whilst Bodi naps)

Tuesday: Run approx 30 mins(Usually in the evening when Mark get’s home from work or in the day if I have childcare.)

Wednesday Evening: Tri Surrey run(40 mins) then swim(1hour)

Thursday: Wattbike(whilst Bodi naps)

Friday:Rest

Saturday: parkrun or similar (Myself and Mark are going to alternate taking Indie to rugbytots so the other can run)
When I get my confidence on the bike up I may consider doing the Addiscombe cycling( www.addiscombe.org/ )club run.

Sunday: Bike ride.
Striders( www.stridersofcroydon.org.uk/ ) running club also go out on a Sunday morning so this is also a possibility as the mileage increases.

My training for this year will involve getting fit enough to hit the following targets:

Cycling:

February – 1 x 20 mile ride and 1 x 30 mile ride
March – 1 x 40 mile ride and 1 x 50 mile ride
April – 1 x 60 mile ride and 1 x 70 mile ride
May – 1 x 80 mile ride and 1 x 90 mile ride
June – 1 x 100 mile ride and 1 x 112 mile ride
July – 1 x 112 mile and race

And other training:

March – Half Ironman over 3 days
April – half Ironman same day with rest in between
May – Ironman over 3 days
June – Ironman over 2 days

I believe training should be organic and not too rigid- rest when you need rest and hammer it when you feel good :-))

 

 

 

Another chapter

On 11/11/15 we welcomed Bodi to our family. The name is inspired by Bode Miller, the skier, and we happen to quite like Point Break too in which one of the main characters is Bodhi. Ironically, Mark was watching Point Break when I went into labour with Indie!
Bodi is 10 weeks old as I write this and a very content little boy…he loves watching Indie play and seems to put up with lots of poking, prodding and ‘cuddling’ from his big brother.

As much as I love being mum and spending lots of time with the boys, I am also relishing returning to doing some sport. As many of you know I tend to sign up for things and think about the consequences later. That is why I am currently entered to do 2 half marathons(Reading and Brighton), a marathon(Brighton), an ironman(The Outlaw) and a 45km swim run event over the Scilly Isles ( http://www.islesofscillyswimrun.com ). Mark suggested that it might be a step too far(literally) to sign up for the Pony Express 60 miler, one of my favourite runs/jogs/walks. Are you laughing nervously? Just me then.

I am really looking forward to challenging myself with a triathlon-I have only ever done 2. One was a supersprint at Eton and one was an Olympic at Windsor. Both were 6 years ago. I am in the minority of triathletes in that I am not daunted by the swim. I’ll make sure I am strong enough to swim well in the Atlantic waters for the Scilly Isles event(it will be quite chilly at about 12 degrees celsius) but this will involve some short, sharp training and I am lucky that my swimming fitness comes back relatively quickly so I can get away with proportionately less swim training than most people doing an ironman.

Running is running. You put one foot in front of the other until you get to the end. I’m not fast but a marathon does not daunt me either.

Now the bike…aah the bike. This scares the hell out of me. I am assured that once I get riding, it will become second nature and I will just be able to plod away but at the moment, a 10 mile ride feels like a marathon and don’t even get me started on the hills! Get me on a hill and I’m weaving, I’m sweating, I’m clunking the gears and panicking that I’ll fall off if I go any slower. I am nervous on a bike which doesn’t help and so my biggest challenge is to get the mileage up and to get comfortable and economical on it. We have hired a Wattbike so that I can cycle when I’m at home with the kids- just 20 mins here and there really does add up. I’ve got a lovely little  Specialized road bike that is women specific and is so comfortable to ride, even for me. Mark is going to take me out this week so we can practise going up a few hills and get my confidence up enough ride with the TriSurrey group or Addiscombe cycling club at the weekends. Right now I feel a long way from being able to do that so watch this space!

Training in January has not had much structure. I think its important for me to listen to my body at this stage and for training to be organic and flexible but I am managing to do some running,swimming and biking most weeks.  I’ll update this blog with a bit more of my training and hopefully some race reports when I’ve done them!