19 Aug 2013
15 Aug 2013
Bring Sally Up, Bring Sally Down!
This morning Shane at Barry's Bootcamp was in his most sadistic mood. After a hardcore abs and core class he let us believe we were done for 30 or so seconds before he introduced us to Sally....Sally is the main character in a cruel, cruel push up challenge, a full three and a half minutes of pain. Moby's song Flower takes you through it, and on paper it's easy enough - when the lyrics go 'Bring Sally Up' you hold a high plank, when the lyrics 'Bring Sally Down' you drop down low and hold.....in reality it's not so easy. I am pretty sure the whole room was in absolute agony about halfway through and I don't think anyone managed to do the full 3.5 minutes....
If you've not heard of it before, look at this video and take the challenge!
11 Aug 2013
What I Did This Week
The lack of blogging might suggest otherwise, but I have actually had a good training week. I did my first week with the Silver Membership at Barry's Bootcamp, fitting in 5 bootcamp classes this week and on Wednesday I also managed to attend Mark's freaking amazing class at BOOM! Cycle. Yesterday I managed to fit in a rest day and today I was meant to do a ong run with my friend Zoe but life wanted differently and instead I ended up running home from central London via the South bank and Wapping after watching the hurling with my irish friend Claire. It was one of those run that made me fall in love with London all over again and running wise I easily ran the 10k with an average pace of 5.20min/k. Life's pretty good at the moment.
6 Aug 2013
5 Aug 2013
Race Report: Ride London 100 Relay
So, yesterday was the big day, the day where Team BOOM! were to dominate the streets of London. I was to do the third leg, meaning that I'd climb Box and Leith Hill, starting at Guildford and ending in Leatherhead. I was up at 5am to cycle down to Waterloo and arrived a whole hour too early....hence having to wait on the station with all the lads and drunks before finally being able to board that train. I was quite nervous about not getting to the start on time as our first rider started the race at 6am, and it would so turn out that my worries would be true....
I got to Guildford at 8.15am and met Rob from Team BOOM! Cycle's mens team and we were to ride out to hub three together and take over from Keith and Hilary. None of us had any local knowledge of Guildford and had only maps to guide us, since no one at the station knew anything about it and there weren't a single sign showing us the way to the start. Rob put in the location on Google maps and off we went. Almost straight away we had to climb this ginormous hill, which in hindsight not only acted as a warmup hill but might have been the hardest hill of the whole day. Once we'd gotten to the top of the hill Google Maps wanted us to go through a wooded area via footpath(!) which we reluctantly did with out narrow road tyres. From there it only got worse. After a little while we realised that it was most definitely not the right way to the hub but we'd been going too far to turn back - we just had to make the best of it. We found a local who gave us some quick directions, meaning that the last bit up to the hub we were crossing fields, barbed wire fences and mostly carrying our bikes as we had to go up the hill to Newlands corner but couldn't use the road as that would've meant going against the flow of the cyclists! Eventually we got up, and Hilary and Keith had been waiting for a while by that point.
I set off on my own down the same hill I'd just carried by bike up and hit some really decent speeds going down, while I kept thinking that it would be a miracle if I didn't end up with a flat tyre after crossing those thorny fields earlier (in the end my tyres were fine but Rob had apuncture 30 seconds after starting....). The first few miles were just gently rolling Surrey Hills and I'd done that stretch of road before on our training/recon ride. I kept a good pace on the flat and going up but I quickly realised that people would overtake me en masse going downhill - I'm a chicken going downhill, and not embarassed about it! When we turned off down to Leith Hill I got a bit nervous although the first few miles were pretty easy. Once I saw the KOM sign (King of the Mountain-sign for the professionals that were riding the Classic after us) I knew we were in business and I was right.... I quickly got into a good rhythm climbing and was climbing strongly up hill, passing loads of people without anyone passing me, when my chain came off! This has never happened before but I quickly got it back on and could carry on. On top of Leith Hill I heard people calling it 'Lethal Hll' but I honestly didn't think it was that bad...hard yes, lethal no.
Going down Leith Hill is a bit of a blurr....partly because of the speed and partly because of all the cyclists passing me - it was a flurry of lycra! I did come down though, albeit a bit slower than some, and could get back into the flow on the rolling hills again en route to Box Hill. Passing through Dorking there were loads of people cheering you on and I knew that Box Hill was just around the corner. When I hit Box Hill I was on familiar ground and I had my strategy clear for me, get onto a good gear, find my rhythm and just 'tap it out' as Coach Mark always tells us at BOOM!. I did just that but when I was changing gears to go through a hairpin curve (that IS what you call them, right?!) my chain came off again! This time I noticed a little branch from a tree stuck to my chain, probably a remainant from our earlier attempt at Cyclocross, and once that was gone I practically flew up Box Hill. Even when we got on the top I had so much power left in my legs that I just kept overtaking people for miles despite the rolling hills. Downhill to Leatherhead I got overtaken by some of them, again, but the last few miles to the hub I kept a great pace and just before the hub I saw my friends cheering me on and was wearing the most goofey smile evern when I entered the hub. When I got there it turned out that Rob had sent Daz and Mark going without chaging over properly as Rob was so much behind schedule with his puncture. I chatted with my friends for about half an hour before I decided to get on my bike again and ride back to London along the route.
I was first thinking that I should do the last 25 miles at a leisurely pace but then realised that I could use it as a solid training session and did just that. I kept my pace up as good as I could, hanging on to peoples' wheels and then passing them if they were too slow. I only got tired with about 10 miles to go but then I saw my friend Zoe walking down the road in Wimbledon and her shouts of encouragement gave me enough energy to keep going quite hard until I hit The Mall where I just gave it my all! After crossing the finish line and getting my medal I met up with Team BOOM! and we had a bit of a picnic and beers in the park for a few hours before going our separate ways again. All in all it was a great day out, and it turned out that I'd done almost 120k cycling to do on 25 miles leg of the relay! Next year I'm definitely doing the full race, cycling on closed off London roads with 20000 cycling enthusiasts is simply as good as it gets!
I got to Guildford at 8.15am and met Rob from Team BOOM! Cycle's mens team and we were to ride out to hub three together and take over from Keith and Hilary. None of us had any local knowledge of Guildford and had only maps to guide us, since no one at the station knew anything about it and there weren't a single sign showing us the way to the start. Rob put in the location on Google maps and off we went. Almost straight away we had to climb this ginormous hill, which in hindsight not only acted as a warmup hill but might have been the hardest hill of the whole day. Once we'd gotten to the top of the hill Google Maps wanted us to go through a wooded area via footpath(!) which we reluctantly did with out narrow road tyres. From there it only got worse. After a little while we realised that it was most definitely not the right way to the hub but we'd been going too far to turn back - we just had to make the best of it. We found a local who gave us some quick directions, meaning that the last bit up to the hub we were crossing fields, barbed wire fences and mostly carrying our bikes as we had to go up the hill to Newlands corner but couldn't use the road as that would've meant going against the flow of the cyclists! Eventually we got up, and Hilary and Keith had been waiting for a while by that point.
I set off on my own down the same hill I'd just carried by bike up and hit some really decent speeds going down, while I kept thinking that it would be a miracle if I didn't end up with a flat tyre after crossing those thorny fields earlier (in the end my tyres were fine but Rob had apuncture 30 seconds after starting....). The first few miles were just gently rolling Surrey Hills and I'd done that stretch of road before on our training/recon ride. I kept a good pace on the flat and going up but I quickly realised that people would overtake me en masse going downhill - I'm a chicken going downhill, and not embarassed about it! When we turned off down to Leith Hill I got a bit nervous although the first few miles were pretty easy. Once I saw the KOM sign (King of the Mountain-sign for the professionals that were riding the Classic after us) I knew we were in business and I was right.... I quickly got into a good rhythm climbing and was climbing strongly up hill, passing loads of people without anyone passing me, when my chain came off! This has never happened before but I quickly got it back on and could carry on. On top of Leith Hill I heard people calling it 'Lethal Hll' but I honestly didn't think it was that bad...hard yes, lethal no.
Going down Leith Hill is a bit of a blurr....partly because of the speed and partly because of all the cyclists passing me - it was a flurry of lycra! I did come down though, albeit a bit slower than some, and could get back into the flow on the rolling hills again en route to Box Hill. Passing through Dorking there were loads of people cheering you on and I knew that Box Hill was just around the corner. When I hit Box Hill I was on familiar ground and I had my strategy clear for me, get onto a good gear, find my rhythm and just 'tap it out' as Coach Mark always tells us at BOOM!. I did just that but when I was changing gears to go through a hairpin curve (that IS what you call them, right?!) my chain came off again! This time I noticed a little branch from a tree stuck to my chain, probably a remainant from our earlier attempt at Cyclocross, and once that was gone I practically flew up Box Hill. Even when we got on the top I had so much power left in my legs that I just kept overtaking people for miles despite the rolling hills. Downhill to Leatherhead I got overtaken by some of them, again, but the last few miles to the hub I kept a great pace and just before the hub I saw my friends cheering me on and was wearing the most goofey smile evern when I entered the hub. When I got there it turned out that Rob had sent Daz and Mark going without chaging over properly as Rob was so much behind schedule with his puncture. I chatted with my friends for about half an hour before I decided to get on my bike again and ride back to London along the route.
I was first thinking that I should do the last 25 miles at a leisurely pace but then realised that I could use it as a solid training session and did just that. I kept my pace up as good as I could, hanging on to peoples' wheels and then passing them if they were too slow. I only got tired with about 10 miles to go but then I saw my friend Zoe walking down the road in Wimbledon and her shouts of encouragement gave me enough energy to keep going quite hard until I hit The Mall where I just gave it my all! After crossing the finish line and getting my medal I met up with Team BOOM! and we had a bit of a picnic and beers in the park for a few hours before going our separate ways again. All in all it was a great day out, and it turned out that I'd done almost 120k cycling to do on 25 miles leg of the relay! Next year I'm definitely doing the full race, cycling on closed off London roads with 20000 cycling enthusiasts is simply as good as it gets!
'My' hills!
My cheerleaders! Love them all!
This is how your legs look after an impromptu cyclocross session...
At the 'finish' at the hub in Leatherhead (photo by Max Raymond)
It's pretty great finishing in front of Buckingham Palace....!
Team BOOM! in all it's glory! Photo by Rob at BOOM! Cycle
'How Do I Get Fit?'
Ah, if I had a pound for everytime a friend or colleague asked me that I'd be able to buy myself many pints of Ben and Jerry's. It would appear that just because I do a lot of sports and exercising I would be able to tell these people how to, overnight, become fit - and of course without them having to do much work. Eh, riiiiight.... The thing is, a lot of people that ask me that don't want to get fit and healthy, they want to get thin. They want an easy fix, not a lifestyle change. I'm the first one to say it's not easy to get fit. There is blood, sweat and tears involved and you have to put in some effort.
BUT if you do want to get fit and not thin (although you probably will slim down, too) then I do have some pointers.....:
1. Get Active!
Yup, start exercising. If you find it boring to run in the park, do something else - spinning, bootcamp, swimming, you name it. Just do it. Not tomorrow or next week, right now. Get into the habit of exercising regularly, but don't overdo it - remember that this is something you should be able to keep up for life.
2. Prioritize Fitness.
Make it your hobby or interest, or at least something that take top priority on your list of 'boring things I have to do'. If you constantly skip exercising to do other things you'll never get fit. Simple as.
3. Eat to Achieve.
As you might have noticed, I love things like Ben and Jerry's and I'm a firm believer that you can eat everything in moderation. But if you want to boost your fitness you need to start eating well so that your body can achieve more. Your body needs proper fuel to keep going and build its strength, and it needs it in decent quantities.
4. Cut Down on Alcohol
Especially if drinking means you'll skip your exercise. I love a pint of cider, or a cold beer in the sunshine, but your body will thank you for cutting down on your alcohol intake. Keep it to a day a week and don't binge. Alcohol contains a lot of alcohol and increases your appetite - what do you think that does to your fitness?
5. Lift Weights
Now, I'm a cardio fanatic - I looooove running and cycling - but weights will boost your fitness to no end. It will make you run and cycle faster, it'll make your working life easier. More muscle will also burn more calories if your thus inclined.
Now that wasn't so hard now, was it?!
BUT if you do want to get fit and not thin (although you probably will slim down, too) then I do have some pointers.....:
1. Get Active!
Yup, start exercising. If you find it boring to run in the park, do something else - spinning, bootcamp, swimming, you name it. Just do it. Not tomorrow or next week, right now. Get into the habit of exercising regularly, but don't overdo it - remember that this is something you should be able to keep up for life.
2. Prioritize Fitness.
Make it your hobby or interest, or at least something that take top priority on your list of 'boring things I have to do'. If you constantly skip exercising to do other things you'll never get fit. Simple as.
3. Eat to Achieve.
As you might have noticed, I love things like Ben and Jerry's and I'm a firm believer that you can eat everything in moderation. But if you want to boost your fitness you need to start eating well so that your body can achieve more. Your body needs proper fuel to keep going and build its strength, and it needs it in decent quantities.
4. Cut Down on Alcohol
Especially if drinking means you'll skip your exercise. I love a pint of cider, or a cold beer in the sunshine, but your body will thank you for cutting down on your alcohol intake. Keep it to a day a week and don't binge. Alcohol contains a lot of alcohol and increases your appetite - what do you think that does to your fitness?
5. Lift Weights
Now, I'm a cardio fanatic - I looooove running and cycling - but weights will boost your fitness to no end. It will make you run and cycle faster, it'll make your working life easier. More muscle will also burn more calories if your thus inclined.
Now that wasn't so hard now, was it?!
3 Aug 2013
All Set
Or at least I hope I am. Washed my bike today. Put on the stickers. Did my laundry. Located all my gear. Sorted out my train journey to Guildford. Carb loaded with Ben and Jerry's. Yeah, I think I'm all set.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)