New Bike Posted on Tri Talk Sunday 2 May

Ironic really, got to work on Monday and the Cycle to Work voucher was waiting for me. Had to wait until Saturday to cash it in.

Was really quiet in LBS Graham Weigh’s in Shotton. I’d been dealing with Keith but another guy grabbed me. I told him I’d got a voucher and could almost see him cringe. He took it off me and said “You’ve got £900 here. Come with me!” What a change of attitude.

In fairness both he and Keith were absolutely fantastic. They made me a cuppa and got me on the turbo.

Now bear in mind I know nothing about bikes but I trusted them implicitly because of their reputation and because I knew if they dealt me a bum steer they’d feel the wrath of FaST and Sue.

Had the saddle adjusted, the stem changed and oh the shame was shown how to pedal properly.

Went downstairs to sort out the voucher while the mechanics gave me a “;adies” saddle and I’ve never seen such a transformation in a shop There were absolutely loads of customers. It was quite an education watching all sorts from a couple who were buying his/hers because they were sick of vegetating, two or three others who’d bought under the Cycle to Work scheme, Mums and Dads buying kid’s bikes to the all singing all dancing foreign pair who dropped in for spares on the dogs doobries of bikes.

Mine duly arrived. Now I’d come to this arrangement with Keith that I’d have proper pedals and after a couple of weeks once I’d got used to it he’d swap them. It didn’t have proper pedals. I ummed and ahhed for about a minute and then decided I’d take it as it was. I’d have to get used to them at some stage and sooner rather than later was my philosophy.

I was dying to give it a go but 5 o’clock on a Saturday afternoon just wasn’t a good idea.

Normally I go out first thing in the morning and am back before anyone’s up. Bearing in mind Mark give’s me no support whatsoever over anything to do with Triathlon, he got up with me this morning. He suggested I’d be better leaning the bike against the front railings which worked to a point. I gave the neighbours a great laugh. Eventually he ended up holding me like a Dad does when a kid first gives up stabilisers. Off I popped. It was heaven. Then the almighty “How the hell am I going to stop?” kicked in.

I just took it really easy around the block 3 times which was about 7 miles. Preyed when I came to roundabouts and miraculously managed to judge the lights just right. I didn’t dare change gear.

I love my new bike and I’m sure I’ll love it a lot more once I get used to it.

Chirk - 3rd time lucky? No officially last

Preparation this week went really well. Had a fantastic run on Thursday and took 5 minutes off my 5 mile bike on Saturday and ran off offroad really nicely so was confident I’d at least maintain last year’s time.

The day started badly. I was violently sick. I guess it was nerves but I really didn’t have any.

The weather was warm but the forecast was showers I deliberated what to wear for the bike. I decided I’d wear my Tri Talk cycling jacket.

As I was off at number one it was great for transition positioning.

Swim – it was incredibly hot. I had a mild panic attack but calmed myself by humming Happy Birthday (don’t ask! a technique Tracey the sports massager taught me – it works). The whistle went and off I popped. Wasn’t fast but was at the pace I was comfortable with. There was 3 minutes between waves and I’d done 4 lengths before the next person started so was confident of a 12 minute time. I’m convinced the lane counters made me do an extra 12 lengths but bearing that in mind 13:45 wasn’t bad.

T1 – complete disaster. It was really hot and sunny when I left the pool so decided to ditch the jacket. Couldn’t get my socks on. Have no explanation why not. Wasted a great deal of time and in the end put my trainers on sockless.

I knew I’d struggle on the bike but didn’t seem to be going that slow. Really can’t get my head around how I could be 15 minutes slower than last year. I was carrying water and did feel incredibly thirsty. Have to consider if I was dehydrated from being sick but still wasn’t confident enough to take water on the move. Big mistake. The road was pretty bad, not just the potholes which in fairness had mostly been painted bright yellow. It was just an incredibly bumpy surface.

T2 broke off the side of my glasses. Transition Ted offered me his but in the end I ran with just one arm. Well “ran” is a loosely translated word. I ran out of transition. I walked for a bit up the hill – my HR monitor was bleeping at 190. Once I’d got over the duel carriageway I ran most of the way and only really walked the steep bit to the duel carriageway on the way back. Was yet again expecting a reasonable run time but was bitterly disappointed with 5 minutes slower.

There were 2 DNF – which I wouldn’t wish on anybody, but does that make me officially not last?

I did really enjoy it – which I guess is the main thing.

Had a fantastic afternoon timing the finish. Met some fantastic people and caught up with old friends.

Huge congratulations to Rhian Roxburgh who won the womens event by a mile and was 6th overall.

12 weeks to the Deva Divas. Should get my new bike this week. Consistent training is the order of the day. I really don’t want to be last again.

1 Lynne Evans Wrecsam Tri 44 F 00:13:38 01:22:59 00:47:11 02:23:48

Chirk - One week and counting

Well I never! 3 months since my last blog! Excuses? My PC is running really slowly and as I now have the benefit of an iphone it very rarely get used. However, iphones are not the best for reading and certainly writing blogs so apologies bloggers you have been neglected.

Work is going really well. Brain is getting a serious workout constantly. It is high pressure. it is stressful, I am being financially rewarded (yes I've had a pay rise!) At the end of the day I’ve used my friend Mr Wine bottle to cope which has hampered training and weight loss.

Training has been sporadic to say the least. When it’s good it’s really good and when it’s bad it doesn’t happen.

Swim wise - despite only one swim session since I learned to swim crawl properly last year I’m absolutely fine. I swam 60 lengths crawl no problem. It’s probably not very pretty. Undoubtedly it’s not very fast but this time last year I needed oxygen after about 4 lengths. The plan for next week is not to do breast stroke.

Run wise – well again not pretty and not fast. The Chirk course is pretty hilly but it’s no worse than I do round here. At the end of the day it’s 5k and as long as I can feel my feet when I get off the bike I’ll be fine.

The bike – this wonderful employer offers the cycle to work scheme so 5 weeks ago off I trotted to the LBS and chose my lean, mean, racing machine. Applied online, employer approved application and I’m waiting… and I’m waiting… and I emailed Cyclescheme… and HR Manager emailed Cyclesheme… and HR Manager tries to contact them by phone and left voicemail….and still I’m waiting…

Looks very likely I will be on my trusty hybrid. In a way it’s not a bad thing as I believe the road is pretty bad and…well I have to be perfectly honest,. my bike fitness will let me down. Due to lack of space I have no turbo. I spent a great deal of last winter in the gym on the bike but this year I’ve done nothing. There you go – I’ve said it out loud!

Weight wise – an absolute disaster but hey ho! Went to see my Trusty friend Tracey of the fantastic sports massage fame. Had a Kinseology treatment to identify the reasons for my overeating. Didn’t really feel as if had done anything. Erm I’ve lost 11lb since last Monday. Not hungry. Not deprived. Feel absolutely fantastic!

So back to Chirk – no expectations of time but if I can crawl all the swim and run all the run I’ll be a happy bunny.

Good luck to everyone doing the VLM next week especially Matt Malloy – If he ever gets back from Lanza – can think of worse places than La Sanza to be stranded

Despite The Weather

Despite The Weather...
Sun Jan 17, 2010 7:35 pm LynneE

It’s ok having these hopes and plans but they’re worth absolutely jack unless you put them into practice.

For a long time I’ve barely ticked over but was determined to start afresh in the New Year.

I started my new job on 4 January and absolutely love it. It’s high pressure and there’s a lot to learn but the people are lovely and it’s a beautiful, eco friendly, purpose built office, really close to home.

This time last year I was a total whimp and wouldn’t venture out if there was the slightest hint of frost. I’ve moved on slightly and was absolutely gutted with the snow. I like running in nice fresh crisp snow I’m just not so keen when it’s frozen, or there’s icy patches or it’s turned to slush. The school’s were closed so I ended up walking to work. By Tuesday I was going stir crazy and decided just to bite the bullet. It was basically compacted and slippery but satisfying to finish. We had a lot of overnight snow on Wednesday and in hindsight I was crazy to venture out Thursday morning. Complete with head torch and trail shoes I ran multi terrain; compacted snow, ice, slush and deep snow. On and off the pavements it was incredibly hard work and added 9 minutes to my normal 40 minute run.

As if by magic there was an almighty thaw on Friday night. The pavements were still icy when I left home but an hour later when I got home they were almost clear. Maybe I should have delayed the start but if I had maybe I wouldn’t have gone out.


I intended to go out on the bike this morning but swapped it for a walk in the park with Mark, Morgan and Bud. There was still some nasty icy patches but hide and seek was great fun. Fortunately Jim was in the dog house for not having his phone switched on so I bribed him to look after Morgan while I went on the bike this afternoon. I can’t remember the last time it came out and I must confess I’ve done absolutely nothing in the way of pedal power and boy does it show. I’m wrecked. Quads are on fire and I’m suffering from severe saddle rash. That will teach me to be more consistent.

Weight wise I stumbled upon Wiganer’s Winter Experiment 2 which I knew with a bit of tweaking would suit me.

Breakfast – porridge
Lunch – soup
Dinner – Lean meat or fish and unlimited veg including potatoes
Unlimited fruit throughout the day

It’s working very nicely thank you very much. I’m not hungry. I have bags of energy and I’ve Mojo to spare. (And the Wii fit says I’ve lost 5lb since last week’s fitness test). I’m still going to Slimming World because I find the discipline of a weekly weigh in and the group support really helpful.


So the hopes….

I hoped to do the Village Bakery Half Marathon which is on 21 February. That’s just not going to happen. I’m not ready and I’m not going to put myself under unnecessary pressure so my “A” races will be The Chester Half Marathon on 16 May and Bala Standard on 12 September. I know neither of these will be easy but I’m determined and am confident I’ve given myself enough time. What I absolutely do not want is a DNS – I had 3 of those last year. Chirk’s entered 25 April and The Deva Diva’s 18 July – just want to use these both as a comparison of improvement as well as Llanrwst which I assume will be the week before Bala . I’ll hopefully just use that as a last minute training exercise.

2010 Hopes & Plans

2010 Hopes And Plans
Fri Jan 01, 2010 11:54 am LynneE

A colleague came into work yesterday and told us about a radio article he’d heard on the way in. A lady had said that she was making no resolutions, just hopes and plans. She hoped to win the lottery and planned how to spend it.

I’m adopting the same philosophy:-

I hope to lose 5 ½ stone – I plan to eat healthier and exercise more

I hope to complete a half marathon – I plan to train consistently and put contingency plans in place

I hope to complete an Olympic Triathlon – I plan to have swimming lessons and buy a new bike

I hope to walk Offa’s Dyke – I plan, well I guess I better plan my route and pencil in some dates

I hope to start studying for my AAT – I plan to de-clutter my life to give myself time to do something constructive

I hope not to change jobs – ever

I’ve not felt so positive about a new year for a long time, if ever. New job. New wardrobe (courtesy of my wonderful sister-in-law who’s lost a shed load of weight and given me all her clothes that no longer fit her). I know money can’t buy happiness but this substantial salary increase will remove enormous pressure.

A very happy, healthy, prosperous new year to one and all

Here's To 2010

Here's to 2010
Sun Dec 27, 2009 1:25 pm LynneE

Have sadly neglected Blogland for quite a while so sincere apologies.

Have barely been ticking over but I am hanging in there.

Started working full time in a different department in September and have been ill pretty much since. Nothing too drastic just cough, cold, sore throat. The cough got on my chest and I ended up with antibiotics which cleared it for a week and then it was back with a vengeance.

I really wasn’t enjoying my work so started looking elsewhere. I applied for an Assistant Accountant’s position and heard nothing for a month. I also applied for an Accounts Administrator and a Payroll job. I was invited for an interview for all three. I was offered the Assistant Accountant position so declined the other two interviews.

As soon as I handed my notice my health improved dramatically. I felt really positive and was eager to rise to the challenge.

Drama they say is always present in this life that is Lynne’s.

Last Tuesday I was invited to meet the Finance Director and Financial Controller of a Company one of my friends had worked for. They offered me the position of Financial Accountant. Not only did the position come with a substantial salary increase and benefits (including AAT and CIMA funding) but it’s 5 minutes walk from home.

And that’s not my best Christmas present….

My husband and my big kids have ended a 3 year stand off so harmony is one more restored to the Evans household.

I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010 – the year I do a half marathon and an Olympic Tri.
_________________

Off Season Ramblings

Not a lot happening in my world of Triathlon at the moment but just thought I’d share some other ramblings in this life that is Lynne.

The week before the clocks went back had a strange experience with daylight, or more to be precise lack of it. Ran on the Saturday fine. Got up on the Monday pitch black. Decided to run anyway as was reasonably confident the route was street lit. About a mile in needed to turn off the main road and low and behold no street lights. Had one of those a million thoughts in a nano second experiences. Could turn back. No time to go further as would be late for work. Bite the bullet and take original route which is what I did. Then realised I was wearing black, had a tiny bit of reflective/ fluorescent but there was a children’s nursery about 200 yards along the lane and I was quite likely to get hit by a car. What could I do? Sprint? Yup, me sprinting and sshhhh I actually enjoyed it.

As you may know my house is literally about 100yards from Tesco car park. Consequently it would be pretty silly to shop anywhere else but really been getting fed up with spending close on £150 a week and having very little to show for it, plus ridiculously short shelf life on many products particularly salad stuff so last weekend we decided on drastic measures.

Headed off into town, which in fairness isn’t far. Bought 3 carrier bags of fruit and veg off the market for a tenner. Really chuffed.

Then off to Aldi. What an eye opener. OK no branded stuff but so much cheaper. I’m confident we saved at least £30.

Bought 2 head torches for £3.99 each. Mark laughed at me but guess what I found him using to change a light bulb? They had some great running gear too. Unfortunately none big enough for me.

I’ve picked up another cough/cold/chest infection. Cait’s observation not mine but Beechams All In One – why do you have to take 2?