What ya' been up to?

Quite a lot actually, training, on the bike, a little bit of running and swimming... not too much, little and often mainly and once a week a long ride on the bike, and I'm definitely feeling the benefits!

Hubby and I joined our local fitness centre a few weeks ago which has a 25m indoor pool, gym and various fitness suites and classes, everything you could possibly want.

I've been swimming 3 times a week and getting up at silly o'clock to do it!  In a weird way I've actually enjoyed swimming first thing in the morning and my husband has been joining me.  It really sets you up for the day and once I get over the initial shock of having to get up at 6am, eat some breakfast (my trusty overnight oats) and trudge off down the road, I'm usually buzzing by the time I'm dried off and done.

Many many moons ago, way back in the days when we didn't have t'internet or blogs, I was a very good swimmer, representing my county and holding all sorts of records.  And although I haven't been a regular swimmer since I moved to Nottingham 6 years ago, it's a bit like riding a bike for me, I've got good form and get back into it really quickly.

So for my triathlon next month I have to swim 200 metres indoors; 8 lengths of our pool, although on the day the pool for the triathlon is 33m so it will be 6 lengths.

First time I went swimming I managed 400m (16 lengths), that was a surprise! :o)

But, I can only swim breast stroke at the moment cos I've got a painful left shoulder, which has taken some abuse over the years from crashing motorbikes on trackday's and a nasty road crash in 2002 and then recently a couple of off's on the mountain bike, the last in March when the front end washed out on a left hand berm and boy did I go down hard, so hard I bruised my jaw! 

I've tried front crawl and back stroke and it really hurt for a couple of days thereafter so I'm being sensible and every session I've done has been breast stroke, slow and steady, not my favourite style but it's exercise at the end of the day and I can do 200m -8 mins, not brilliant but I don't want to wreck my shoulder so I can't ride my bike!

My last swimming session was nearly 2 weeks ago but the shoulder was being problematic so I decided to rest it and get myself booked in with physio.  Luckily for me, a member of my bike club is a newly qualified physio and she was offering a members discount at her clinic so I went to see her this week and she's diagnosed neurological and muscular problems and joint scarring (I already have thickening of the AC joint from the m/b crash in 2002) so the shoulder is weak so I've got exercises to do twice a day and I'm going back to see her next week.

She says I can continues swimming but only breast stroke, oh joy!

The good news is the shoulder isn't affecting my riding, so I've been out on the mountain bike 3 times a week, lots of sessions at my local TC hitting the blue and red routes and really enjoying it and I've bought myself a lovely little cyclocross/touring bike to play on and to use for the triathlon.

I'm not gonna lie, riding a road bike is the weirdest thing ever!  Firstly there's the riding position, not just one but a choice of 3 different positions! The saddle feels like an ironing board and as for those skinny tyres... I was quite literally terrified the first time I rode this as I was convinced I wouldn't stay upright! 

This photo was from the advert so I have removed the reflectors (lol) and I've fitted some spd's so it looks the biz now!

With 2 weeks until Torq in your sleep, I'm feeling the pressure to up my game a little bit and get out on some longer rides, so I'm done with work for the rest of this month (joys of being self employed!) and I'm gonna focus on cardio and stamina for the next week and a half and resting for a couple of days before the bank holiday weekend so I feel nice and relaxed for the weekend.

What am I doing here?

Many a time I've been sat the top of a steep trail looking down into oblivion, asking myself that very question, wondering what on earth possessed me to take up mountain biking in my late forties!

And once I've given myself a little telling off for being so negative, I remind myself I took it up to get fit and loose weight and I do it because it's FUN! 

It's challenging and bloody scary sometimes, and it hurts sometimes (yes I have crashed several times!), and I want to cry sometimes when I get frustrated at my cowardice and then I get to the bottom whooping with delight all the way and then laugh because actually it wasn't anywhere near as scary as my silly little brain told me!

So that's what I'm doing here, having fun, scaring the shit out of myself, trying to push myself way out of my comfort zone, falling off, getting back on and learning new things.

I follow a number of lady mountain bikers on Instagram and blogs, I'm in a couple of women's mountain bike groups on Facebook and I really admire the other ladies who are around the same age as me or older and are out there being Badass and Gnarly! 

Some of them write blogs, and I do love a good blog!  It's a bit like being a nosey neighbour and getting a little insight into what goes on behind closed curtains at the weekend!  I love reading about how they were scared and unsure at the start of an enduro race or 12/24 hour endurance race but by the end of the blog, it's quite apparent they had heaps of fun, there were lots of lovely people at these events helping them, cheering them on, and in fact pretty much everyone was there having fun too.

I'm still a newbie having only been riding a year, I've lost weight and I'm way fitter than I was 12 months ago.  I'm quite confident on the trails and willing to try new things and push myself and I decided that now is the time to up my game a little bit and have a go at some of these events as well.

So last week I booked myself into my first enduro event, the Hopetech Women Enduro at Gisburn Forest in October.  

"Following the huge success of the Hopetech Women rides in 2016, organising a grass-roots Enduro race was a natural step for us. The PMBA race series is one of the most popular amongst racers. Known for being inviting and unimtimidating for first time racers, but also fun and competitive for the more experiences, advanced riders – the PMBA races cater for all. Partnering up with the PMBA at our local Gisburn Forest trails was the perfect combination.
The race is intended to be a grassroots enduro for women only, with emphasis most definitely on fun. Racing for the first, second, third or twentieth time can be a nerve-wracking thought. The idea behind this event is create a fun route, which can be ridden solo or as part of a group – where some of the more down-hill sections of the route are timed. You can cruise down the trail at your own pace, test yourself and push a little harder or really take it seriously and see how you fare against other ladies. The choice is yours, there is no pressure.
We, (Hope Technology) have heavily subsidised the event so the PMBA can pass those savings onto you. The event will run if we have 30 or 300 entries, and part of the “Hopetech Women” 2017 event program.
A shortish lap with 3 stages will give plenty of time to chat to the other women on the day. 3 stages – suitable for novices but fun for the experienced racer too. Morning practice Afternoon race lap."

There's 88 women entered but I'm hoping more will enter nearer the time as word spreads! Quite a few of the gals from MTBChix have entered and I'm relieved that quite a lot of them are veterans as well, so I won't be the only old codger out on the course! 

So now I'm entered into that I decided I needed to do something else as well, not content with a day punishing myself on the Gisburn Forest trails, I've just entered into Gorrick 12:12 'TORQ in your sleep' endurance race, in the solo women's class!

There's actually 2 races; the 12 hour and the 6 hour and as a novice I decided it's probably best to not throw myself in at the deep end, so I've entered the 6 hour race, I've got to be sensible about this, even if I am bonkers for entering.  After all I'm no spring chicken, and rather annoyingly there's no women's veteran class this year so I'll be 'racing' against 18+ not that they'll have anything to worry about with me bimbling round!

So there you have it, my first post, my first 2 races entered... maybe my last? Hopefully not!  I've got to focus on 'training' now and getting as fit as I can, so I don't make a complete tit of myself.