London Tri:ed

I've really struggled to write this, in fact I've been avoiding it for days. After missing the London Marathon due to injury, completing the London Triathlon meant the world to me. So to fail at the first hurdle was hard. To be fair I really shouldn't have even made it to the ExCel centre (where the event was being held) at all.

Around 10 days before London I began feeling dizzy and a little nauseous, not enough to say I was ill, but just enough to make me want to sit down more than stand up. I was feeling lethargic as well and my training all but disappeared as a result. When I had a dizzy spell at work I decided it was time to take some time off work and rest. This didn't help so I went to the Doc the following week who said I had a 'respiratory virus', which I think is code for "I don't know what it is, but you don't look so good"... So I started a course of antibiotics and went home where my symptoms got worse. I was exhausted, lost my appetite (yes me!), had a dull ache all down my spine and when my head wasn't hurting it was just cloudy. I tired to give myself little tasks to do each day to make sure I got out of bed like; put the washing on, cook dinner. On the Docs advice, even though I wasn't hungry, I made sure I ate at least one meal each day and tried to keep up with my friends on Twitter if nothing else. After a week in bed I decided I was well (I mean I'd popped loads of those pills, they must be doing something right?) and went down to London on the Saturday to get ready for the London Tri.

Saturday was manic, I had a friend coming over from France to stay with me and watch the Tri and I had to met him at Kings Cross St Pancreas. I jumped on the train to meet him and we drove my bike down to Excel to get a head start in the morning. The atmosphere there was great, we went around the Expo, grabbed a couple of goody bags and I spoke to some of the other competitors. The fact that so many women had my bike, Specialized Dolce 24 2010, was a good conversation starter! I left the Expo and Dolly excited and ready to race the following day!

I spent that night at my Mum's house in Wembley, with my brothers new cat. I went to sleep really late about 01:00 as I just couldn't shut my body down and get into sleep mode. When I finally did get into bed I couldn't drop off as I could hear my brother talking to my cousin in his room. I got them to be quiet and then the little cat sat outside my bedroom door crying and trying to get in! I thought she'd eventually give up, but no, as I checked the time at 03:23, 04:05, and then I got up at 05:00 after having virtually no sleep! Like a trouper though I still headed down to the ExCel determined to get through the challenge.

The first challenge was getting in my wetsuit, which I brought when I was 3kg lighter... Wetsuits are so unforgiving!

Needless to say I squashed myself in and headed down to the water. Everyone else had already headed over to the briefing, there must have been a tannoy announcement or something. Unfortunately I was adjusting my wetsuit in the toilets and must have missed it! Needless to say I had to rush to transition to put my bits down and then run over to the Swim start. Luckily there was another lady in the same predicament and we ran over together. This photo was taken just before I got to the swim; I was still out of breath from running!

Once we got to the water it was straight in and doggy paddle till the horn sounded. It was my first open water swim - big mistake. My own fault as I hadn't been able to make any of the team lake swims and the one time I had tried I ended up driving around for an hour unable to find the lake - doh! I panicked a little, but took a few deep breaths and calmed myself enough to talk a little to the people around me. The water was cold and murky, just as I expected, but I didn't realise how disorientated I would feel by not being able to see through the water. The horn went off and I got started and soon feel behind the other swimmers. I didn't feel at all in control and floundered in the water. A lifeguard came over in a kayak and I told him that I didn't feel confident at all, but wanted to continue. At this point I felt exhausted as if I had finished the race already and I couldn't understand why. I knew I needed to get a rhythm going but I needed to catch my breath also. I grabbed a hold of the kayak for a minute and then started off on my journey.

At first I could only make maybe 150m a time; they gave me my own allocated lifeguard and he stayed close to me while I swam allowing me to rest when needed. I stopped three times to catch my breath, but on the third stop I could see the orange buoy that marked the turning point and decided to swim as far as that, rest then do the run back in one. Only problem was once I got there it wasn't a straight turn around and head back, I had to swim across to another buoy, then turn back! Rather than rest, I decided to keep on and once I reached the other buoy I decided to still keep going. Another wave of swimmers started and I hoped they wouldn't catch up with me and swim over me, but let's be honest it was highly likely! It was too long before I started to see the strong swimmers going past me. I swam out to the left a little and the kayak moved to my right side to put a barrier between me and the other swimmers. Which gave me some relief as only three swimmers came up behind me. The waves created by the swarm of swimmers made it difficult to swim at times, but I kept going as the end was in sight. I kept focussing on the next orange buoy I could see and my lifeguard kept talking to me the whole way through saying motivational things like "keep going", "that's it, you're doing well". I was not however impressed when it told me to start heading towards the buoy, which I thought I was doing, but in fact the buoy I needed to head towards was another few hundred meters ahead! I didn't stop though, I'd come this far and I kept going and eventually turned the corner and arrived back at the dock. 

At the dock there were two female lifeguards there to help you out of the water. They grabbed my hands to help me onto my feet, but when they let go I collapsed and before I knew it I was descended upon by numerous people towelling me dry, ripping my wetsuit from my body and feed me Gatorade. I could hear my friends calling out to me from the sidelines and I tried to keep a smile on my face so they didn't worry too much about me. My whole body felt like jelly and I'd been in the water for 1 hour and 22 minutes! Not good in the Thames! The bad news was I couldn't complete the bike as the roads were due to reopen shortly. To be honest I hadn't got to the point of thinking about the next step, I was just looking to get back to transition! I did still want to keep even though my energy levels were severely lacking!  I was wrapped up in a blanket and walked back to my bike by one of the ladies who had taken care of me on the dock. She kept a hold of all my bits and said to just attempt the run if I wanted to keep going.

In transition I pulled myself together, ate a nutrition bar and decided to give the run a go. I still felt wobbly, but I wanted to try and do what I could. I made my way to the run section and was stopped by another steward who advised me to just do what I could and try to complete at least 5km. The run was four loops of 2.5km and I managed two. I was tired and exhausted and decided not to push myself any further. The crowd was great; lots of people screaming out "Go Ms Sweets!", "Come on Ms Sweets!". I was seriously disappointed to not complete, but I would rather stop running then have to walk parts and there were a few times on my last lap where I really had to force myself to pick up my feet and keep going. All in all I was gutted I didn't make it all the way through, but I did my best and tri:ed!

NSPCC MK Half

There was a lot of build up to today. Getting ready last night I realised my usual race gear was in the wash basket, so I did a last minute wash and managed to get my gear out to dry before bed. Then realised I was planning to wear my Scope running gear to an NSPCC event. Deciding I didn't want to be politically incorrect I changed my outfit last minute and went for something that didn't advertise my charity! 

Best thing about today was meeting @Claire0, we've been chatting for ages on Twitter and it was nice to see the woman behind the wetsuit! lol. We met up before the race, put our bags in, and did the usual pre race stuff and warm up. I forgot my Lucozade in my bag so had to run back just before the start time, not sure if was a good or bad thing that I didn't get to start with Claire since she did 1:37!

Coming into the race I really wanted to get a PB, my last PB was set in March at the other MK Half and well MK is my home so I should know the area! Setting off I felt quite good, the first mile was congested as the lane was narrow, but I was able to run on the embankment to get ahead of the slower runners. The course itself was deceiving, it started off on a gentle uphill gradient that wasn't really any bother, so I waited for it to level out... and I waited and I waited. I don't know why, but for some reason I had it in my head that this was meant to be a flat course... We went down redways, bridle paths (very smelly!), canal paths and even past a field of sheep! It was up, up, up, and hardly ever down at all! Not what I was expecting at all it's a wonder I got through!

Once I'd settled in to the race and found my pace I clocked a couple of runners that were running slightly faster than me and decided to try to keep up with them. There was one woman in particular who had long purple pants who was just in front and constantly checking her watch - obviously looking for a PB too! I got ahead of her, she got ahead of me, and we went on like that for the first six miles. After that I really couldn't keep up and thought I was going to loose it. There was one point where I was running so slowly I thought I was walking! I took a gel just after 6 miles and kept pushing through, I had no competition to guide me any more and I knew my speed was fading fast! I was checking my watch and kept telling myself that I needed to pick up the pace if I wanted to make that PB, but it didn't translate to my legs. I was trying to calculate my finish time, but my brain is foggy when I run and even though maths is my strong point sometimes you need to stop to think properly and that was not an option!

Reaching 10 miles was a blessing - the end was in sight, now I knew I could do it! My watch read 1:38 and I knew the last 5km would take me a maximum of 30min, my PB for 5km is 26mins so at a push I could still come in under 2:08! I told myself I'd just got out of bed to do a 5k run and I could hit 26mins on fresh legs. I put a mantra in my head; 5k Fresh Legs, 5k Fresh Legs! Staying focussed the pain in my legs eased and they did feel fresh, well for a bit anyway. I kept pushing through past 11miles, past 12... On the approach to 13 I saw the purple pants lady and thought about staying on her shoulder for a bit so she wouldn't have time to push past me, but the decided I needed to just keep going. I mean, if I could catch up with her she must be tired to have dropped her pace or I was just running that fast that I could still beat her anyway! So I ran past her and I don't know if she picked up my pace, but once she was out of sight I focussed on the finish line and pushed through to complete in 2:07:21!

Amazing, absolutely amazing! Only problem was I didn't have time to enjoy the moment I had to rush off to go to London for my little brother 18th birthday. All in all a great day, even though my legs ache and my nephew broke my medal! Gotta love kids!

Asics British London 10k

Wow it's been ages since I raced! I have to say I've missed it, but enjoyed the rest! I was actually due to run a 10k Race For Life in Milton Keynes a while back, but changed my mind on the day - just wasn't in the mood! Today wasn't like that though, today was a good day!


I went out for a long run last weekend and my ankle really twinged, so I stayed off it all week (running wise anyway). Which is a good thing as I never taper so I guess I was forced too and with the NSPCC MK Half coming up next weekend I wasn't about to take any risks!


I hadn't really thought too much about a plan for today, but I met up with a nice young gentleman called Darren at Wembley Park station and we traveled together so target were discussed as always! My basic plan was just to do what I could and whatever my ankle allowed me to do... Luckily it allowed me to do really well! My last 10k was the Bupa 10,000, which I completed in just over an hour (1:00:40), I had really hoped to come in under an hour and was quite disappointed with my time. If I could get under an hour I would be happy, but would my ankle hold out under the pressure?


The journey this week wasn't too disrupted by Transport for London's engineering works and the tension started to build in me as I saw more and more runners getting on at various stops. Not having run all week, I was a mass of nerves, Would I make it, would I do okay, Would I get under an hour, would I be carried home on a stretcher? Far fetched I know, but I was seriously anxious for some unknown reason! Talking to Darren helped to keep me focussed and we made our way to the baggage area which was quite easy to find, but could have done with some signs once we exited the tube. From the baggage area to the start was a complete mess - people everywhere and no sense of organisation whatsoever. The toilets were so few, which such big queues that we decided to give them a miss and apparently there was a 50p charge! I didn't even see the start line until 30mins after the race started. It was actually located on the opposite side of the road from where we were all queuing, I can see the logic in it given that there was a parade that went past us whilst we waited, but at the time I just wanted to see the start line! Given that we started after 10:00, official start was 09:35, the elites would have been done and dusted before my trainers even got sweaty!


I took my time at the start, got my iPhone playlist ready, made sure my earphones were in properly; I was still nervous and I needed the ritual before I got going. I started well and after the first 1km checked my pace 06:00, slow start, but I could still get under an hour. Because I started so far at the back I had a lot of people to run around for the whole race! I spent a lot of time running up on the 40cm pavements that ran alongside the underpasses! The atmosphere was really good, lots of people calling your name or charity out. There was a Scope cheering point so I got a good cheer and gave them a wave on the way round too, which was nice. The underpasses, well the one underpass that we ran through twice, really shook my Garmin up, lost reception then jumped to the next km once it returned. Jumped to 5km then 6km in mere minutes, wish I could run that fast really!


The toughest part was 7-9km, I couldn't rely on my Garmin anymore as it was way out and there wasn't a 8km marker so I felt like I was running forever! Didn't have much left to sprint at the end, but I did what I could to pick the pace up once I could (finally) see the finish. Finish did feel a bit strange though as I'm used to people giving out goody bags and water etc. We got given water and Gatorade, but had to make our way back to the baggage claim to get our sparse goody bags with our bags. The BG was unimpressive, as was the medal, consisted of a asics pen, asics wrist band, my fav granola bar, those herb sweets and some menthol chewing gum... 


The route was great, much better than Bupa 10,000 and it didn't feel so hard, less climbs I think. The crowd and atmosphere were great too, I would have like more signage and guiding people to the baggage area and start, pens based on finish time and much more goodies please! All in all a good race and I will be back next year!

Southend Half

Just getting to this race was a challenge in itself! What is it with Transport for London and weekend tube closures? To get the 08:10 train to Shoeburyness for Fenchurch Street I had to be on a 06:30 bus from Wembley Park to Golders Green, catch a train from Golder Green to Bank and then walk 18mins to Fenchurch Street. To be honest I knew it said 06:30, but buses run so frequently in London I didn't even aim to get there on time! My mistake; the next bus wasn't for 30 mins - early morning on a Sunday doh! I wasn't too worried, but to make matters worse there was a power failure on the northern line so I had to get off the tube one stop early and get a rail replacement bus from Moorgate to Aldgate and then walk to Fenchurch street...n I eventually arrived at Fenchurch Street at 08:17, just a tad too late for the train. I did manage to get the 08:40 train which got me in to Shoeburyness at 09:48 - giving me 12 mins to find the start line, drop my bag, warm up and get going. Oh dear! 

As it turns out all the worry was for nothing, the start was just across the road from the train station and I walk over with a comrade I met on the train who had been caught out by the power failure like me. We dropped our bags and joined the mass of assembled people. 10:00 came and 10:00 went, but no sign of starting. Gave us a little more time to warm up, stretch and generally calm down - I checked my heart rate at this point, it was around 110bpm! (resting heart rate is normally 70bpm) At 10:20ish I decided I may as well use the loo whilst we were waiting. As luck would have it the race started off as I walked into the cubicle, I did think about not going, but decided I'd only need to go on route if I did that so rushed and still managed to start just short of the back of the group.

If you follow me on dailymile.com you'll know I've had a really crappy week training wise. I did 10km on Monday and 5km on Wednesday and Thursday. I've been feeling really sluggish running around, almost as if someone had locked up my battery cell and given me a most inferior one. I knew I wanted to run faster, I just couldn't find it in me to do so. Anyway, by Thursday I started getting out on my bike more and ditched the running in preparation for today. Even the bike was killing me though; every pedal stroke hurt! Saturday, I had a complete rest day - stayed in bed really late before heading down to London and grabbing dinner and Sex and the City with my two bff. It was meant to be and early night, but the movie didn't finish till after 23:00 and it was nearly midnight by the time I got back to my Mum's! Even so I still didn't get to bed till about 01:30 - yes I should know better! So thinking about times today I was really unsure; I want every race to be about beating my PB, but I was still getting my fitness levels back after injury, this would be my first race without support on my ankle as per my physio's wishes, I had had only four hours sleep, my last half had been 2:14 and if this week was anything to go by I was probably on my running death bed! The guy I met on the train asked me what I was aiming for and I had to say I didn't have a clue, when I told him I was coming back off injury he said take it easy, but then I don't want to! What's a girl to do?

So on to the race, it was a good, flat, fast race, it looped back on itself AND lapped, which I hate, but it was a very accurate course; my Garmin read 13.13. The good thing about loops and laps it that I saw the front runner going back as I was going down and then going down again as did my first run back! And of course he then passed me at 9.5 miles (for him) as I was still getting to 6 miles! 75mins I think he finished in! I did also see my speedy guy I met on the train three times too, we spent 45mins chatting and I never did ask him his name... But at around 10 miles he was going really strong so I'm sure today was a PB for him too. There were plenty of water stations along route, much more than I've ever seen on a race and sponges at every station too. I never normally take a sponge, but even though it was overcast it was still a warm day so I got to grips with them - very nice! 

I refused to look at my watch and check my pace; I wanted to run naturally and see what I could do since I'd had such a bad week. I did allow my self intervals though; I check after the first mile to see if I'd set the right pace, then at 7 miles to see how I was doing at the halfwayish point, and again at 10 miles since I knew there was only 5km to go from there. At mile 1 I was doing 9:33pm, a good pace so I felt confident I would complete in a decent time. At 7 miles I had done 1:09, which meant I was in range of a PB; I was a little shocked, but decided to go for it; my legs felt good, I was sure I could squeeze a little more out of them! At 10 miles I calculated I would have to run the last 5km in 28mins, normally quite achievable, but I had just ran 10 miles! Then on the second loop back around 10.5 miles we took a sharp left turn uphill back to the start. I couldn't keep the pace going uphill, so I did what I could and got back on track when we reached the top. I kept hoping for a bit of downhill to balance it out, but no such luck, it was all twists and turns from there! The finish was within sight a about 600m away, just. I was running along a sea wall at the time - and admiring the ocean?, sea?, I don't know! and couldn't quite work out how to get to it since is was inland. Well a left turn and a right turn later and I figured out where it was. There was a lady in front of me who must've had her whole family out to support her the noise they made! Unfortunately she was one of the people running at my pace who I'd decided to overtake at the end. I sprinted past her and a few other to the finish and to be honest I was quite disappointed. Had ti been a straight line to the finish I would have been confident enough to start sprinting earlier, but the twists and turns meant I thought the end was never coming so I held back a little at the end - everything had started hurting and I needed to finish! 

I came in with a respectable time of 2:09:32, just a tad short of my PB of 2:08:38, but at least now I know I can beat it a few days ago I was wondering if it was time to hang my running shoes up! The best bit about this race was running along the sea front - I could see boats in the water and a few of them were dragged across our path as we ran as well! The smell of the sea air whilst your running is great; something I'll never forget and in the last 1/2 mile the sun came out from behind the clouds and shined now - not so great as I was still running, but at least I made the rest of the day worth it!

Bupa 10,000

If I start from the top I'm going to have to tell you about my night out on the town with my bf & bff (boyfriend and best friend forever). Well let's just say it was a good night and even though we left early (02:30), by the time we'd stopped at Bagel Bites and grabbed something to eat it was after 03:00 when we returned to our hotel. I got up around 07:30, so a severe lack of sleep! Luckily I don't drink so alcohol wasn't contaminating my system! I ended up having a cooked breakfast around 08:30, which is late for me - I like to eat 2 hours before I run. Couldn't be helped so I jumped on the train and made my way down to St. James' Park.

The park was bustling and luckily well signposted. I headed over to the baggage tent then picked up my free Lucozade Sport Lite. I was hoping to meet up with Kate, but I hadn't heard from her so made my way to my pen solo. It was really well organised and and the various waves went off smoothly. I was in the blue wave group A, the red wave was elites and celebrities, blue wave I assumed was club runners and the green wave behind me probably walkers, again an assumption, because on my way back I saw them all walking at the 2-3km stage! My wave got going at 10:10 only 10 mins passed the official start, I had anticipated waiting around a lot longer!

The route was great, the finish was in front of Buckingham Palace, we ran up and down Victoria Embankment into the city turning around into Fenchurch Street and coming back down. I'm glad I brought my own fuel as there was only one water station carefully positioned after 2km and before 8km to feed both runners starting out on one side and returning on the other side. There was also two 'shower stations' sprinkling cool water on runners just after the 5km and 8km points. This was welcomed relief as even though it wasn't a hot, sunny day, it was hard work and I was working up a heat!

I had warmed up quite well, but still started off slowly in the crowds. A good thing as I don't think I would have coped had I gone off at the gun. Even though I drive these streets regularly, I wasn't prepared for the 'peaks and trofs' along the course. In fact I had driven the route just that morning on my way back from the club so I guess I should have been paying attention! The plan was to take the first 5km easy, but still faster then my training times. At the 5km mark I planned to pretend I was running a 5km and see how I got on... Unfortunately at the 5km mark I got a stitch in my side that had me contemplating stopping for a breather, but I refused to slow down and decided to keep going. It was painful, but I reminded myself of why I was there what I wanted to achieve and obviously the lovely medal I would be walking home with! At 7km as my stitch was fading in intensity, I got another one on the other side! I was sooooo glad to see 8km then 9km and stepped up the tempo as much as I could endure. By the time I returned to the park and saw the 400m to go sign I wasn't sure I had much more in me. I wanted to sprint the rest, but whilst my heart was in it my legs were just not getting the message! I did manage to make it the quickest km of the race at 5:12, but I still didn't get in as fast as I wanted. My goal was to get in under 1:00:00 and although I recorded slightly more than 10km at 10.19km, my Garmin time was 1:00:46, 47 seconds more than what I wanted! ARGH!!! One consolation is I know I tried my best and really couldn't have pushed any harder if I tried.

The plan was to have a picnic in the park after the race with my family and my sister and her brood were at the finish when I passed through the 'runners walk'. There was still loads of people finishing when I finally met up with Mum, Gran and my Aunt and the kids and word is its my own fault for being so fast! Had I been slower they would have been able to see me finish, I guess I should have run around again to helped them out! We did have a great day in the end even if my Aunt's idea of making a picnic is calling the local pizza parlour and requesting a delivery! Everyone decided they wanted to race and we ended up having little sprints in the park. My 17 year old cousin and brother both beat me - no surprise there, they are both tall, one's stocky, one's lanky and they didn't just run 10km! I did manage to beat my Mum and my sister who ran in her heels! Minor victories, but we had fun. There was a wonderful Pelican who decided to join us and ran around the green as if he owned the place! Beautiful bird, the kids were scared to feed him, I guess he was a little big for a bird! lol

The one downside to the day was the disappointment of London Underground. The Jubilee line was down so I travelled on the Bakerloo line to Embankment then jumped two stops to St James' Park station. On the way home however, we went back to Embankment to discover there had been a train failure and the Bakerloo line was part suspended to Paddington. So we jumped on the train back past St James' Park to Paddington. Only when we got to Paddington there had been a fire on the line and no trains were running! Needless to say we ended up taking a long walk and jumping on the bus! Despite that it was a great fun day out with the family and oh the medal isn't half bad too!