Challenging the Status Quo

Here is part 2 of Jane W’s instalment of my ‘Women In Sport’ blog series.  Every day I am in a superb position to bear witness to the phenomenal achievements of my clients.  I can keep writing or just let you get stuck in, I finished reading this myself with a smile on my face!  What do you think?

‘Sport and activities can often be considered to be for those of a ‘younger generation’ – what would be your thoughts on this?

Well to be honest I think physical activity should be for all ages,  all abilities and all genders.  We should be working towards removing barriers for everyone. Because the benefits are huge in terms of physical and mental well being.  And it must be cheaper than prescribing drugs or hospital treatments.   I started mountain biking and canoeing in my mid forties as a single parent.  As  females entering some of these sports we were in a minority.  As a female single parent taking her daughter off on multi day challenges without professional intervention I was sometimes viewed as reckless! But my daughter and I have had immense pleasure through doing these kind of shared activities and have worked as a team to, for example go off mountain biking in the Cairngorms. I’m good at logistics and she is great at navigation having done her D.O.E certificates. And as a result of commencing these sports I am now fitter and healthier than I was in my 20s.

When I was younger I thought that all I had to do was to keep active and eat well in order to maintain fitness..  I now realise that there is a lot more to it than that.  All round strength and not just power in a part of your body is important. You may have higher lower body strength from running but less upper body strength for example. In my case I was very one sided as I had been carrying a lot of heavy weights on the right side of my body whilst working. That lead to back problems. I also wasn’t picking the weights up properly. I got away with this for a long time but seemed to lose a lot of flexibility around the time of my menopause and as a result sustained a number of injuries.  I am now working hard with the help of my personal trainer, Louise PT4U, to improve this situation. In fact I am now way more aware of good posture; healthy eating; balanced strength and flexibility and hydration as a result of going for regular training sessions.

Why aren’t we all taught good posture and how to lift things at school?

It seems like common sense. So I have come to realise that it isn’t just about keeping moving but the manner in which you move your body, in order to do sport;   hoover the carpet; wash the car;  split logs for the fire etc. etc.  So I am taking this on board as I intend to keep on doing sport for as long as possible.

 

As part of my personal training routine my coach, Louise,

encouraged me to set some goals to work towards.So as it was my 50th birthday earlier this year I decided to set goals with the numbers five and zero in. So it went something like this;

Goal 1 – To swim 50 lengths without stopping, had only ever previously got to 20.  So I managed to achieve this one in late February.

 

 

Goal 2 – To cycle over 500 miles in one go.  I finally got to 509 after taking a trip out to the Outer Hebrides in May. When there I cycled most of the Heb Way, crossing over 8 islands and having some fantastic experiences in one of the remotest places in the UK. And then carried on through Skye and a route round North Mull then back onto the West Coast of mainland Scotland.

 

 

 

Goal – 3 To paddle 5 solo Canadian canoe trips. This one has morphed a bit. I was asked 5 weeks ago by an outdoor education instructor, Piotr from Outdoor Explore, if I would accompany him on ‘the old green kayak challenge’. This consisted of paddling over 50 miles (53 to be exact) down the River Tay from Killin on the far side of Loch Tay to the beech hedge at Meiklour. 14 hours, 8 Ospreys and 1 beaver later we had made it. That was the hardest and most difficult challenge to date and I had to dig really deep mentally to complete it.

 

 

I’ll be setting myself another goal shortly.

This stuff has been really helpful. It has given a context to my training and has helped me to stay focused and positively motivated.  And even when I have been facing  the outcome of medical diagnoses for joint issues, it has helped me to concentrate on what I can do rather than what I have been told by the medical profession that I should not do.  And with every challenge ticked off and done comes a greater sense of self confidence and amazement at what my body can still achieve at age 50, with the right training and a bit of TLC from myself!’

 

 

 

LikeShow more reactions

Introducing my Sponsors: Stuart Aitken Fitness

I have been blown away by the generosity of Dundee’s small businesses in supporting me to reach the Marathon des Sables in order to raise money for local mental health charity , DAMH (Dundee Assocition for Mental Health).

As these become available to me, I will pop up small blogs where the businesses can highlight who they are and what they do, for example.  Please do pop over to thheir website and/ or facebook page.

First up is Stuart Aitken Fitness,  I have actually known Stuart for some time, we both attended Abertay University. I work alongside Stuart but also asked Stuart to help keep me honest with my own training a little while ago, yep even trainers need trainers, for my OCR (Obstacle Course Racing) so I am thrilled that Stuart has gotten involved in my new venture.

Stuarts take on the matter . . .

”When Louise asked me to be involved with her attempts to run the Marathon Des Sables (from now on this will be referred to as MDS), I could not have been happier. Louise is one of the most inspirational people I’ve encountered in the fitness industry. Through her consistent fundraising events, and community get-togethers she organises, she’s always been someone who I’ve enjoyed working alongside. This however, is a whole other ball game (which I know she knows!) so my reason for writing this is to let you in on some of the things I’ll be advising Louise with throughout her time in training for the MDS.

 

Training

Firstly we have to take into account her training. Now I won’t be involved with the running side, as this isn’t where I specialise or have enough knowledge to be of practical help, but I do have experience in helping athletes become stronger and faster from the weight room.

Louise is going to need a consistent weight-training plan, which may come as a surprise to some of you as she isn’t doing an event that requires lifting weights or being visually strong. This is a common myth with weight training, that it is only used to improve strength and muscle tone, it has so many more benefits to any individual who takes it up, especially endurance athletes who commonly miss it out for fear of getting to muscular.

The weight training Louise will be focussed upon doing will be mainly to ensure we give her current muscles a good reason to stick around. We know from plenty of research that a big muscle is a strong, more robust muscle. This means that doing weight training will help her stay injury free and keep her current muscle at a reasonable level, so she is still strong enough to endure what her body will go through during the MBS.

Although her primary focus will be upon getting the miles in and ensuring her body is ready from an endurance perspective, training in the gym will play a big role in providing her with the best platform to have an amazing race.

 

Nutrition

Nutrition is another thing that is quite often disregarded for endurance events, at least right up until the day before the event (carb-loading for example!).

This is going to be absolutely essential for Louise, as she will need to ensure her body recovers optimally every time she trains. Nutrition plays a huge role in this and ensuring she gets enough calories in to keep up the volume of training she’ll be doing, while also providing enough nutrients to keep her immune system in tact so she can keep on top of illnesses.

We’ll need to ensure she gets a good amount of calories into her body, which will have a large focus on getting plenty of protein (for muscle recovery and building) as well as carbohydrate (for fuel during her training bouts) and fat (so her hormonal profile stays at a high level).

 

Mindset

Lastly, and I think most importantly, we’ll need to ensure her mindset is excellent throughout the whole event, and leading up to it. I don’t think this will be something Louise will struggle with too much as she is already strong-willed, but the MDS is completely new animal, and one that will need preparation from her mind. We’ll need to ensure we’ve ran over possible problems that will arise, as well as getting her head into a position of belief and confidence with everything she does. It will also be important for her to visualise and put herself into positions she didn’t think her body could cope with as this will help through the toughest parts of the race.

Overall I really can’t wait to start seeing how Louise progresses through her training, and ultimately when she actually completes the MDS. I know she’ll set herself up right and raise an incredible amount of money for the Dundee Mental Health Association, and I can’t wait to be part of something as special as this.”

Thank you Stuart!  Here are the links to Stuart’s site:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/StuartAitkenFitness

If you would like to become a corporate sponsor please do get in touch, I am still aiming to raise the final amount by early January.  My contact email is louisept4u@yahoo.co.uk.

 

Spartan Sprint Scotland

Relaxation – Post race

I have just hauled myself out of my bath, that is the most unrelaxing bath I have ever had, my neighbours must have been scared by the howling as I scrubbed my nettle stings and scrapes from this weekends adventures – OCR kisses – Hell Yeah!

Spartan Sprint

I was facing this weekend with trepidation, I didn’t really know if my body was going to let me down after having to cancel 4 races since returning from holiday with an injury.  Karen and I drove through to the Edinburgh venue wondering what faced us.  We were welcomed with rolling hills and good old Scottish summer, howling winds and a downpour, lovely!

Registration was a nightmare, again the Trumin booking system causing me issues but with that all sorted and nowhere to stand in the awful weather everyone gathered in the registration tent.  Unfortunately, the first heat was delayed for 45 minutes as the hills and race village were battered by the winds.  Thankfully, once this passed, in true Scottish tradition we were led to the start with a piper, we weren’t held here for too long which was good after all the hanging about.

We were into our first obstacle fairly quick, up and over some hay bales coated in spartan plastic – made for a bit of a slippy ascent and descent.  Then it started the long auld climbs of the magical Pentland hills.  It was still possible to run at this point, onwards and upwards, I was running with a friend today for the sprint, Jen, we kept each other in our sights.  This went on for what seemed an age and gave us a pretty good idea of how the race was going to pan out, The A-frame high on the hill was great, if alittle scary with the wind really hitting you at the top of the frame.  A fantastic down-hill, I think everyone let go alittle at this first down section.

Then a long, long, long crawl under barbed wire, this did need to be wider but was great with it being partially over a stream.  No-one else was going up the middle, so what you gonna do?  If you are wee like myself, go up the middle.  First introduction to getting wet!   Our second climb was a straight up affair, I could only run at the bottom quarter, which I berated myself for but everyone else was doing it, so as they same when in Rome. . . .

Unfortunately, a number of the obstacles had to be cancelled due to the weather as they were on top of the massive hills at the mercy of the driving rain and brutal winds.  One of the obstacles on Saturday was definitely the wind, it just pushed and pulled you in different directions constantly and when you were trying (I emphasise ‘trying’) to run downhill it was like trying to run into a wall – of wind.  One of these obstacles unfortunately, was the rope climbs, love these, a quick drink of water instead and onto another downhill section.  Do you think I could see anything, nope, the wind was watering my eyes, this did not bode well!

But I made it down in one piece, in and out of streams with varying depths, slipping and sliding on the banks of the streams, crawling under barbed wire and netting in the streams and under wooden fences, this was all about getting us wet.

It worked!!

The hercules hoist was great, 20kg for the women and 40kg kettlebells for the men, quick water stop then onto the next downhill section, which was really, waaaaay to brief.  The next uphill section was one breat big slog, of water, mud and what should have been grassy mounds.  We climbed, we climbed and we climbed, then we had to climb over a fence, now sounds simple and after all the climbing, do you know how hard it is to get your leg over?  More climbing on more solid ground before we hit the top and started another descent, oh it was heaven.  We still had a torturous sandbell carry (1 x 20lb for women, 2 x 20lbs for men) up a short but steep section, a quick pose for the camera and onwards again.

The next section was the water dip of the day, not too bad for the most part but then you hit the end and given I m a dwarf, everything disappears under your feet but thank god for the rope to pull on and your out.  Now if you know me you know I HATE water, I mean hate it, and very terrified of it haha so if I am saying it wasnt too bad, it probably isnt, onto a mud fest to get to the next 4 ditches which varied in depth and size, actually not too bad to get in and out of.

We went onto a few more obstacles, the traverse wall with a few corners thrown in to change it up which was great, I enjoyed this one, we could hear the event village, it always sounds tantilisingly close and yet it is so far.  We headed through a wooded section, in and out of a river, ducking and diving to get over and under all the tree branches and roots.  Then you emerged to the spear throw.  This has to be one of the dreaded obstacles, a burpee fest if ever there was going to be.  But I did it, with an arm pump to celebrate, given the conditions, very chuffed with myself but Jen’s spear didn’t quite make it – burpees, all 30 of them.  An 8 foot wall and a 10 footer, phew, and over the fire jump we went to finish in the top ten.  Really chuffed  with that given how tough the course was, my complete lack of  training due to injury and, and no sign of my hip injury anywhere – roaring success.  Btw the medals are epic, first piece of the pie!  Karen as always a great supporter and ready with the camera to capture some moments for myself and Jen.  I had another run through to conquer so preparation was next

.            

No-one gets left behind!

A few of my clients (Kimberly and Carol with my PT business, Louise’s PT 4 U) were running in the final heat of the day, I was running in support (Karen and Graeme).  OMG I was blown away!  Their determination, their approach and attitude made the day for me, as well as that of my support runners who were helping.  Carols calfs unfortunately gave her some problems from the very first hill but we broke it up and made our way to the A-frame, a quick stretch and re-group of the thoughts and we headed up what was a decidedly windy affair.  Graeme and I up either side with Carol, not one ‘can’t left her mouth – brilliant, just focus and concentration.  Kimberly zoomed up and over, it was like just another day in the hills 😉  nae bather!  Carol had just overcome something massive, our fears can truly hold us back, but with a little belief it is amazing what we can do.

Onto the barbed wire crawls, when Carol heard there was a photographer at the end, well that was it, a pause to sort the top out and make sure, you know, everything was in teh right place, nothing escaping the tops or showing too much 😉  The volunteers were awesome – giving us loads of encouragement, never really stopping just constant high spirits and encouragement.  We attacked the next hill in sections, Graeme or I would move back and forth to keep our heat levels up and we picked up someone else who was stuggling and supported them as much as we could.  Carol did great, deep breath at each pause and onwards to the next flat . . . . ish section.  The rope section had come back in play, so Graeme and I attacked them with great gusto, BOOM!  Walk in the park, Graeme flew up the rope like a true monkey, we were blown about a bit in the wind but nonethless made it.  Unfortunately the other guys didnt so we got stuck in to help with the burpees, its about team support, ‘no-one gets left behind!’.

We had more descending and climbing of the hills, then our Hercules hoist, Carol attacked this, I had no worries that she would manage this given the strength work she had been doing.  We stopped here and were supplied  with a few biscuits to get Carols energy levels back up and some water to share.

I’ve already gone through the majority of obstacles in my own account of the race above, I wanted to mention doing this run through with the guys because, you know what – this, right here is what it is all about!  Yes there are placings and those who are competitive are racing for them BUT I really believe and wholeheartedly support those who take on these races as challenges and step outside of their comfort zones.  I really think it is when we step outside of our comfort zones that we really know what we are made of, what we are capable of when things get tough.  This might be an old feeling or it may be a very new one, embrace the courage and sense of achievement it gives you!  I really love supporting and helping people around these courses or over an obstacle.  By helping others, those who struggle see that they don’t need to know someone to be helped that the true nature of spartan and these OCR races is a community, if you choose to to get involved, everyone helps one another.

Carol and Kimberly both did amazing and were able to work to their own abilities and still achieve massive goals in their own ways.  Despite wanting to hold back and stay with Carol, Kimberly was encouraged to push on to stay warm, equally important in these situations, especially given she hadnt felt great leading up to the race.

The next obstacle Carol took on was again, her own body, I think many will share her pain, the knees on the downhill sections, she winced and growled at the pain as she chose to push on, at her own pace, with determination we made progress.  At every obstacle the guys (event staff/ volunteers) were amazing, so supportive and upbeat which is just what you needed when you were tored, able to have a bit of banter to help raise spirits.  Although, Carol was doing remarkably well, at the sandbell carry, this is where we heard it, ‘I can’t’, well you can imagine my response 😉  those who know me.  With encouragement, I said, ‘sorry I think I misheard you there . .. ‘ and I had, she was simply having a tough moment.  Carol pushed on a few more steps, Karen led our way and kept feeding back how far to go and what was coming up.  The pain on the next section of the sandbell carry that Carol popped down on her backside and bumped down this steep section.  Get down anyway you can I say – great choice!

It takes true spirit, true determination and courage to keep on going, knowing how long you have been out on the course, in pain, knowing youa re the last people out on the course!  This is spartan spirit – the never give up attitude!  I’d like to say a massive thank you to Karen and Graeme, without their support and help this would have been even harder, Graeme was on true form giving loads of banter, if only some of the other runners would take him on, and Karen quietly supported with her patience and own determination, knowing what its like to find these courses hard.

In the final sections of the course, the volunteers took their support to a whole new level, cheering, encouraging, clapping and never ever allowing Carol to feel negative!  I nailed my spear throw for the second time on the day and then joined in to support the girls doing their burpees due to missing – damn those spears!  With a line of volunteers leading us to the walls, we high fived and were whooped as we headed to the last obstacle.  How immense is that – truly amazing is what I call it.  Rich, Spartan ambassador trailed us the whole way round, holding back alittle so that we didnt feel pressurised and just checking on us when he thought we were maybe having issues.

True displays of Spartan teamwork and spirit today!!  Well done everyone who raced!!  How did you get on?!

Uncomfortable with Mental Health?

Evening Y’All!

I’m sitting here trying to work out the best way to write this blog, its a challenging one to write I think 

I could tell you all about the stats that are out there:

‘1 in 4 people will suffer from a mental health condition in any given year’,

‘9 out of 10 people who suffer from mental health difficulties will be the subject of stigma and discrimination’,

and ‘nearly 3 in 4 young people fear the reaction of friends when they talk about their mental health difficulties’

( http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/mental-health-statistics-facts ).

Being Brave . . . .

On some level we are aware of these facts, we know people who suffer from mental health difficulties, these people are our friends, family, work colleagues.  I would add myself to this list of people, I am not identified by this, nor does it define me.  I have been told at different times to ‘Get a grip’, ‘dont be dramatic’, ‘why do you think you are any more important than anyone else’ and many more.  I have had health professionals see me only as my mental illness, some can not see past it, family and people I thought were friends,  be dismissive of it.  I really believe it is important to never judge the road you have never travelled, and in all honesty, will not travel, because you are never fully in that person’s shoes.  You can sympathise and empathise but you can not walk in their shoes.

How would people describe me? (comments I have had back)

‘determined, strong, active, successful, distant, arrogant’, amongst many other sayings.  Why is this important?

Those who suffer from mental health difficulties come from all walks of life, why am I talking about this, because I believe by being open I can help others see that those with mental health difficulties are not the stereotypical images that we have imagined, but can affect so many of us to a variety of levels and extents.  Does this mean your feelings are any less than anyone elses – NO!  Yes, there may be people in a worse position than yourself food wise, poverty wise but this does not detract from the feelings that you have.

To help me, cope with a bad day (or anyway you wish to describe such a day), I choose to exercise.  I choose to get out in the fresh air, there is nothing I find more exhilirating than getting out in the country, in the fresh air of Scotland, the surrounding area.  To see wildlife on my run, for me that in itself really does make a run or a cycle, to run in the hills, past the farmyards.  The occasional nod from a fellow runner/ cyclist, its that mutual understanding.  Don’t get me wrong, I have to work at it, this is by no means easy.  But there is some celebration in this achievement of simply sticking to the decision to look after myself.  Simple and silly to some but an important necessity to me.  I have managed to take what I enjoy and use it to benefit others.

Fundraising

On and off I have raised money for local mental health charities Insight Counselling (http://www.insightcanhelp.co.uk/).

Last year after being encouraged by a previous client, I decided to fundraise properly for a big challenge I was undertaking.  Now, I do a fair few challenges and races, I really enjoy pushing my own limits and fully seeing what I can do.  For me, at the time, this was a biggie!  So I met up with DAMH (Dundee Association for Mental Health – http://damh.org.uk/), Jenni was amazing and super keen for me to hear of the various activities that they do.  I wanted to ensure that the momey raised would go to a specific initiative and wouldn’t be swallowed up, into admin for example.  What excited me, ALOT, was that the money raised could go to a physical activity initiative, well this blew me away, this was completely in line with my own beliefs, what I do for a living at Louise’s PT 4 U (http://www.louisept4u.co.uk/) and fully in line with the research out there.

I was alittle worried that I wouldn’t be able to raise enough to really help the charity but I was committed to doing my best.  WOW!  I was blown away by the support I was given for my Cotswold Way 100 Mile Run (Equivalent of 4 marathons in 4 days! – there is a blog detailing the 4 days if you want to have a read).  It was incredibly tough, this was the furthest distance I had ever run back to back and I think, it was my furthest distance in one day also.  I ticked off alot over these 4 days.  Truly pushing  your limits, really is a great thing, your perception of yourself and the possibilities really does change.  Not only that, the fact so many people supported me and donated money, showed me they believed I could do it.  I couldn’t let them down.  So through those hazy, lightheaded moments – I pushed through with my donaters in mind at all times, helping me put one foot in front of the other to the finish line!  We had raised over £800 by this point.  Simply outstanding, I really can’t even begin to have the words to say thank you and express my gratitude!

Tough Guy The Original

This one deserves italics!! I decided it would be great to top the money off to £1000, I thought that would be great.  Next big challenge, ‘Holy S**t’ – you get the idea this was going to be mental.  It pushed my boundaries in a way I never thought possible.  Blog is upcoming for this folks – keep your eyes peeled! (Apologies for the profanity, but even now, I have butterflies in my belly thinking about it, so that is tame)

You guys, everyone who donated are simply AMAZING – we hit that £1000 and some.  Truly amazing.  Blown away!

Time to Change . . . 

MIND, the mental health charity based in England were running a campaign called ‘Time to Change’ on the 5th February 2015.  Now, I just happened to see it on facebook and decided this would a great wee initiative to encourage folks to get involved in, albeit, it was last minute as it had only just popped up on newsfeed.

This was a great day that we ran at the gym I work from – Good Health and Fitness (City Quay, Dundee).  The members as well as my own clients and friends there were fantastic in supporting the day.  I did an early morning walk, a midday walk and we had a few guys do some baking, by the way, I believe I may have consumed my fair share of them.

All in the name of checking it was appropriate and tasty enough for you guys of course, hahaha.  During the day it was about simply taking that 5 minutes to talk about mental health.  This could be from a personal experience perspective, it could have been from the view of having supported someone, a work initaitive or simply your own perceptions.  We also looked at how physical activity played a vital role.  We then asked everyone to make a pledge, not in the typical sense, this was about maybe something that had been learnt or what you already did, maybe mental health and physical activity.  I was overjoyed to see we raised a brilliant £85, for a last minute day and not managing to get as much done for the day as I would have liked, I was super pleased!  Again, the people I have to thank are all of you out there who have sponsored, supported and shared anything I have been running.  It has been amazing!

Last words . . .  

Those who suffer from mental health illnesses are not by any stretch of the imagination weak.  They are strong beyond belief!  To get through every day can be the hardest thing in the world, our history makes us who we are today.  I would not be the person I am today had I not had to go through the difficulties and experiences that I have, this in no way intimates that I wanted these situations or would choose them.  Simply that I know I am stronger today than I was yesterday.

‘It is not the mountain we must conquer but ourselves’

Thank you folks for taking the time to read this blog folks.  Please remember these are my own opinions and not those of any organisation/ business or group.  Keep any comments positive, any negativity will be removed.

P.S Just heading off to hand over the cheque folks – picture will follow.

Chequered Flag Series 2 Duathlon

At the end of a busy week, if I am being completely honest this was the last thing I wanted to be doing.  I was shattered and hadn’t trained all week, recovering from Tough Guy The Original 2015.

But my best mate had said I ‘better not pull out’ after many of the rest of the team had pulled out.  So naturally and just as I had been telling clients and TMT competitors, help each other be accountable.  Be that positive friend, support each other to achieve more.  I am so glad we went!

 

This was incredibly different from the series 1,  we knew this was to be the cross-country event as it were, but little did we realise what we had let ourselves into.  For me, this was a fun event, one that I signed up to do to support the team I had entered.  Without the pressure of trying to really drive, its been great fun, just taking it all in and interacting with others.

Registration was smooth as could be and it was great to see some of the Alloa bootcamp crew (fellow Tough Guy competitors)  who were marshalling.  We prepped and set up the bikes and did something that resembled a highly inadequate warm-up.  Yes, I know shocking, this should highlight where my head was at.  But I was there and that was the main thing.  Again, everyone looked very serious, however, it was their sport – Triathlon – Duathlon.  Well equipped, wearing all the right clothing and there to do well amongst their peers.  Nevertheless, this is not to say it was only those who were serious about the event.  It was a very friendly race, everyone chatting and encouraging each other.  Shouts from the sides from those who knew you and those who don’t is always vital I think to help push you on when you are feeling tired.

 

We lined up in front of the Knockhill Race track lights . . .  then we were off.  I felt heavy-legged and stiff, not surprising but it still felt great to get out there and run.  It didn’t take long to run.  It is definitely an undulating course that had some tough hills which take it out the legs before you realise it.

 

Twice around the race track before getting to the bikes.  Despite the fact it was cross-country series, we still had the heaviest and potentially most beginner type bikes for want of a better description, for this event.  I hadn’t been on my bike for some time, potentially even going back to the Coast to Coast/ last duathlon.  As soon as I started the first lap of the route I knew it was going to be pretty daunting, the tracks were really muddy and you constantly felt like you were sliding laterally . . . .  not even sure if it was my imagination or actually I was?????

 

The cycle route itself was 5 laps of an off-road circuit – tough – very tough! Lots of inclines, twists and turns, which for those of us that don’t spend much time on a bike, is pretty tricky.  You think you are trying to go one way but end up sliding in another direction.  I was very proud to say I didn’t have to get off and push once, not once on the tricky off-road climb.  The grooves and tracks, which I thought would make it easier actually made it harder to get a constant cycle going.  Coming back around to complete my first lap, I actually felt physically sick and believe I may have swore alot.  I couldn’t see much as the mud sprayed my face.        

5 Laps later, I have never been so glad to get on the running section.  It was the final lap of the track and it appeared that practically everyone had finished already from the bikes missing in the hanger.

The legs were protesting at having to run the last lap but I managed to get into a good groove and plug it out.  It was great!  Felt good to cross the finish line!

 

 

 

                                        

Naturally, I supported my fellow teammate and bestie round her last lap – ‘No-one gets left behind’.  Massive well done to Karen, I know she found it tough and daunting at points but she never gave up.  That is the right attitude!

The marshalls at this event were simply fantastic, the weather was on our side, everything was smoothly run making this event very simple and easy to take part in!

Highly recommend series 3 folks:

http://www.entrycentral.com/event/103037