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How I trained for my first Ultra during COVID 19

Aug 3, 2020
5 min

How I trained for my first Ultra during COVID 19

Understand that the WHAT comes before the HOW. Choose the what and the how usually falls into place. Julia Cameron, The Artist Way Running through the woods, on the trails of North Somerset, June 2020. What: To run The West Mendip Way. A 50km footpath from Wells to Weston Super Mare . How: The how will take care of itself. It sort of did, it fell into place. It would be nice to say I set a date for the West Mendip Way 50km challenge. I created a plan working back, building up

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What happened? 6 months of soul searching...

Oct 14, 2019
5 min

What happened? 6 months of soul searching...

My last blog post was posted on 14th March. I was 2 training camps down, with 1 to go. I was enjoying the winter sunshine in Spain. I was in the best shape of my life, excited about the season ahead. So what happened? With one race outing all summer. The Helvellyn Triathlon; bonkers event, highly recommend it. If the thought of a run up, around and down Helvellyn with compass, map, mountain foil survival blanket in a backpack doesn't put you off. Don't worry, I only utilised

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Riding the Winter Gravy Train. 3 Training Camps, One Mission: Avoid the Cold and Wet British Weather

Mar 14, 2019
7 min

Riding the Winter Gravy Train. 3 Training Camps, One Mission: Avoid the Cold and Wet British Weather

Last winter (the bleak winter of 2018) is etched in my memory as GRIM, with a capital G. It was snowing, a lot of the time. Was cold, a lot of the time. Was grey and damp, a lot of the time and I remember thinking, why am I not training somewhere warm and sunny? So right now I am in sunny Spain. Blue skies, great views, lovely trails. This is not Grim! I had decided, for winter 2019, I was not going to spend 6 months in thermals, freezing my ass off again. In the diary went 3

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Season Finale, Ibiza European 70.3 Championships. The one in the thunderstorm.

Nov 17, 2018
3 min

Season Finale, Ibiza European 70.3 Championships. The one in the thunderstorm.

A GB elite Triathlon suit has stayed under my bed, unwrapped for the last 4 years! I had been picked to race for GB in the European Elite Duathlon race in 2014, but I crashed on a training chain gang ride 10 days beforehand. Waking up in the back of an ambulance and spending the night in hospital ruled me out of that race.(I wrote about that here). Since then, I have kept the goal, to wear the GB Tri suit, in an elite international competition. I wasn't going to unwrap it, un

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Chronicles of a Newbie Pro: Wet & Wild Weymouth completes the Grand Slam.

Oct 22, 2018
6 min

Chronicles of a Newbie Pro: Wet & Wild Weymouth completes the Grand Slam.

One of my goals for 2018, was to complete the four home nation Ironman branded 70.3 events. Staffordshire, Edinburgh, Dun Laoghaire and Weymouth. Each one, a month apart, it would require careful planning of training, tapering and recovery. Consistency is something I admire in athletes. I would rather have a string of good results than one incredible result and then be out with injury or illness for several months. In my opinion, smart athletes stay fit and healthy for long p

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Chronicles of a Newbie Pro: Dun Laoghaire. Aye, a Guinness would have helped on that bike leg!

Sep 20, 2018
4 min

Chronicles of a Newbie Pro: Dun Laoghaire. Aye, a Guinness would have helped on that bike leg!

Dun Laoghaire 70.3 August 19th. I had spent a small fortune on this super aero helmet, comes with cool visor. It was going to make me so fast, it would totally be worth the money. I could see bugger all out of the visor, as the mist and rain came down. The camera man, stood up in the Wicklow mountains, was also having a hard time of it too, by the looks, of this picture. Sum's up part's of the bike perfectly. There is a brilliant, highlights video on the Ironman Ireland, face

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Alpe d'Huez Triathlon. The definition of #ShutUpLegs

Aug 15, 2018
4 min

Alpe d'Huez Triathlon. The definition of #ShutUpLegs

A race where Jen's Voigt's #ShutUpLegs takes on a whole new meaning. Photo by James Mitchell. Taken on one of the 21 hair pins, that characterises the Alpe d'Huez climb. The grimace says it all. The famous Alpe d' huez triathlon has long been on my bucket list. The iconic race, set in the beautiful French Alps, was a challenge that fascinated me. The organisers, have made the event, a week long triathlon festival. A duathlon, kids races, the long race which is the main event

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Chronicles of a Newbie Pro: Staffs & Edinburgh. Touring the not so silky smooth British roads

Jul 21, 2018
5 min

Chronicles of a Newbie Pro: Staffs & Edinburgh. Touring the not so silky smooth British roads

You have a pro licence in your pocket, there is a full calendar of races, all around the world. Which races do you pick to learn your craft? Courses lined by palm trees? swim's starting on golden beaches, where you can dive into turquoise blue tropical waters for the swim leg? Bike routes that include alpine courses or ocean views? Me, I have chosen the British 70.3 tour. Staffordshire, 10th June, Edinburgh 1st July are done and dusted, a 6th and a 5th place respectively fo

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Slateman: Choose Courage over Fear

Jun 27, 2018
3 min

Slateman: Choose Courage over Fear

"Are you racing Slateman this year?" "Ummm I am not sure, I don't feel great. I tried to run yesterday, I ran for 3 minutes, then walked for 25 minutes. I felt shattered." This was part of a conversation I had with a friend 5 days before The Always Aim High Slateman Triathlon. From 2015, the run route, at Slateman, is like nothing else. A catalogue of small errors since Marbella 70.3 had added up and had left me feeling pretty tired. A flight cancellation meant arriving home

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Chronicles of a Newbie Pro: Marbella 70.3 Lost at sea, admiring the views and dreaming of a cocktail

Jun 2, 2018
4 min

Chronicles of a Newbie Pro: Marbella 70.3 Lost at sea, admiring the views and dreaming of a cocktail

I had no idea how to say "Where is the next bouy?" in Spanish. That wasn't in the phrase book. "Can I order a ham sandwich, please?" That was in the phrase book. Fat lot of good that is for a veggie lost at sea, paddling next to a Spanish marshal sat in a kayak. Things can change so quickly Just a few minutes prior my thoughts had been.... Yes, success, I am on feet. Hang'in here Suzie, keep on the feet Sight at the crest of the wave, don't worry about the choppiness of the

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Be Brill not Dull - Lessons from the season openers.

Apr 13, 2018
4 min

Be Brill not Dull - Lessons from the season openers.

'Its a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to' - J.R.R. Tolkien. Dull, a Scottish village is twinned with Boring in Oregon, America. True fact. picture evidence above. Good sense of humour by Dull and Boring. We liked Dull, but the village of Brill, found somewhere in Southern England, we can't quite remember where exactly, makes one feel slightly more optimis

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Winter Wonders

Feb 19, 2018
3 min

Winter Wonders

Bib tights, thermal top, second thermal top, 2 pairs of socks, windproof top, rain coat. Bananas x2 in my back pocket, helmet on, cycle shoes, overshoes, gloves on. Need a wee. And reverse. Jackets off, realise you need to take helmet off first, can't underdo helmet with gloves, thermal tops off, undo bib tights. Take a pee. Hope banana stays in jacket pocket and doesn't fall down the loo. Redress Winter Cycling, what an absolute palaver. And we haven't even got to, the clean

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Great to be back

Nov 14, 2017
3 min

Great to be back

It was great to be back. Well done Suz, pat on the back, you made two good decisions. One was to borrow Jill's mountain bike and get myself over to Coed Y Brenin for the Always Aim High off-road duathlon on Sunday 12th November. The second, was to spend the one pound coin, found under the car seat on a 3 minute hot shower, post race in the Coed Y Brenin Visitors center. There is nothing like the feeling of hot water, when covered in mud, after blasting around on wet, muddy, r

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The Curiosity of Faster

Nov 4, 2017
4 min

The Curiosity of Faster

What is the dream? What is your ultimate ambition as a triathlete? The big question I have been asking the athletes I am coaching, as we sat down to plan the up coming season. As a naive fresh faced Geography Teacher in South London, several years ago, I asked the same question at the start of the year to a class of 14 year old pupils. "My dream is to not die of boredom in your class Miss" "My dream is become a master of bunking your lessons Miss" Thankfully I got more favour

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Kona 2017- What the Pre Race interviews and dolphin tweets tell us?

Oct 13, 2017
4 min

Kona 2017- What the Pre Race interviews and dolphin tweets tell us?

'Kona' Say it to any triathlete and they know you are referring to; that Julie Moss Ironman Crawl, Ironwar- The Allen vs Scott 1989 dual, 4 times winner Chrissie Wellington. Kona is the World Ironman Triathlon Championships in tropical Hawaii . The Ironman World Championships start gun will fire on Saturday 14th October. The previous two weeks has seen a plethora of interviews and social media content coming out of Kona. Triathletes swimming with dolphins, triathletes on tim

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Hitting The Snooze Button, Taking A Break From Swim, Bike, Run

Oct 2, 2017
3 min

Hitting The Snooze Button, Taking A Break From Swim, Bike, Run

The alarm went off this morning at 5.45am. I got out of bed, pulled my swim costume on, tried to find clothes that may match, in the dark this is always harder than I realise. (I feel I am being a considerate girlfriend for not turning the light on. Though I do regret this, when I arrive at the pool, with clothes that clash). Well done Suz, you made it to morning swim training I give my self an imaginary pat on the back, as I dive into the water. It is a bigger deal, than you

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The power of the swim clock and recording your times

Aug 15, 2017
3 min

The power of the swim clock and recording your times

I was coaching a Leeds Bradford Triathlon Club swim session last week. One part of the session was 9 x 100m off 2 minutes. This was to be done as 1- 3 descending, repeated 3 times. 1st 100m to be easy (below css/ threshold) 2nd 100m to be medium (css pace/ threshold) 3rd 100m to be hard (above css/ threshold) "What time are you aiming for on your easy 100m?" I ask "Oh I don't know, I don't check the time" was the common response I was saved by Tony. "I think I did that one i

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Beyond the Kale. Why I adopted a plant based diet.

Aug 4, 2017
5 min

Beyond the Kale. Why I adopted a plant based diet.

My friend Susannah sent me the following message "I was interested that you said you've moved to a plant-based diet - is that right? I can't find anything about it on your website. I switched back to vegan 3 weeks ago. I was just curious about your reasons. Do you find it better for sports? Or ethical? " I have known Susannah since we were 4 years old, she is a pretty cool chick, we sat and chatted for several hours in Castle Park, Bristol, a few weeks ago. She has recently c

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Week 1 of Rehab- Going with the flow

Jul 14, 2017
4 min

Week 1 of Rehab- Going with the flow

The air boot is OFF and I have just completed my first week of rehab, with one skinny, pale calf. If you are wondering why I have one skinny pale calf then read this blog, explaining the foot operation I had. I thought I would share my journey through rehab. I have found that being open and honest with others about a challenge you are facing; be it injury, illness, grief, heart ache etc brings others to help, support and share their challenges with you. Honesty and openness,

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Triathlon Coaching & Joining Team Oxygen Addict

Jun 30, 2017
2 min

Triathlon Coaching & Joining Team Oxygen Addict

On 4th June, I qualified as a level 2 British Triathlon Coach. I had spent several weekends at Lancaster University, learning under Tutors Rob Wilby and Tony Jolly with a group of fantastic coaches from around the North of England (and Bahrain) . Over recent months, several friends, friends of friends and members of the local triathlon and cycle club have asked me for advice, regarding their triathlon training. I was always cautious giving advice. I knew what I was doing in t

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