Eastleigh 10K

My time this year is 56:53 - just 7 seconds under my target of 57 minutes. I did make an effort this year - I have been guilty of treating the event as another run as opposed to a great opportunity to see what I can do! KB, J & KL were fabulous running partners - especially at 4.5km when I hit a bit of a bad patch. I found a second wind at about 7km - shortly after this pic was taken, but was running out of energy at 9km. And KB kept me going.

So proud of the WRN runners today. 7 of us completed the course - 4 in less than 1 hour - no drop outs!

A big improvement was pedalling to the race. Parking is always frustrating and it provided a good low impact warm up/cool down.

Husband was fabulous. He looked after my bag which was bulging with WRN runners jackets as well as cheering us on. And he took some great photos - more of which I'll be sending around soon.

I've been avoiding hard exercise as part of my prep for this morning. Bit of gardening yesterday & pedalling to work most days last week. We went 10 pin bowling with Kitty & Goldfish tonight - which must count at least a little as exercise!

We need more Rabbits

I used to be a keen Girl Guide - and the organisers of the company I was in all took names from Winnie the Pooh characters - hence the leader was Rabbit to us. She was also a friend of my Mum - and Mum let me know today that she died 2 days ago after a long illness. She gave so much time and effort over to Guiding - and was an influence on me and many others. Enthusiastic, dedicated, caring and utterly consistent. More Rabbits in the world would be a good thing!

Ada Lovelace Day

I heard the space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock on Desert Island Discs recently - and she was so passionate about her work, about space and about life that I've decided to dedicate my Ada Lovelace blog to her. She made her first telescope when just 14 so that she could study the moon and now develops satellite technologies & instrumentation.

She's now passing on her enthusiasm about space to youngsters through the Blue Peter satellite project and teaching schoolchildren.

Funny, clever and engaging - she sounded fabulous.

Brecon Beacons Weekend 3

Much better weather on Sunday and we tried out a blue route from the National Park's Mountain Bike leaflet collection/book thing.

Supposedly 24km, but I clocked it at 20km and from the National Park Visitor Centre near Brecon. Glorious views - as you can see! And plenty of red kites - I know I'm getting accustomed to seeing them now whenever I go to Baby Sister's in Bucks, but still exciting.

We watched a shepherd & dog herding sheep for a bit - although I've never heard anyone on One Man & His Dog yell "will you f***ing come by??".

The route was a good mix with challenging descents that beat me (and one even beat Husband) and uphills where the rocks made pedalling almost impossible in places. Across open moorland and rocky tracks. The road bits were quiet, pretty lanes. The best bit was the final descent, whizzing across the side of a hill (not sure if it qualified as a mountain!). Somehow, I got 3 punctures in one wheel, but all so slow that they didn't materialise until we got home.

We finished in the tea shop with a Black Beef Pie Challenge, undoing any calorific deficit from the ride.

We took it easy at running last night as it's the Eastleigh 10K on Sunday. I could still feel Sunday's ride though!

Brecon part 2

The first waterfall:

Brecon part 1

I had a long and tiring week - lots of work and lots of other stuff,
no cycling and the only exercise were much needed WRN runs on Mon and
Tue. Husband suggested a weekend away - and even better, made the
location a mystery so I couldn't organise anything. I really
appreciated that!
So I am now in a leather arm chair, close to a log fire, trying to
decide if it's g&t or tea time. We are in the Brecon Beacons. Drizzly
today but we still enjoyed a walk to waterfalls at Gwaun Hepste: Sgwd
Clun-Gwyn, Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn and Sgwd y Pannwr. There was a 4th but
Husband's dodgy legs were starting to protest.
The hotel is fab - good food, interesting building (hunting lodge with
2 bell towers?!) and pretty grounds. I am almost de-worked and relaxed!

No drama - fantastic

I felt a bit twitchy cycling today following last week's excitement (slidey then mega claggy mud that stopped wheels from rolling even downhill and then bike collapsed) and took the first descent at a pace that was even more chicken than normal for me. Once I'd warmed up my head and body though, it was fine. It's starting to feel decidedly springlike outside - catkins and snowdrops. Everything seems a bit later than previous years though - a few daffs are out, but not much else yet.

We did a 37km route from Farley Mount that includes the Test Way - it's a variation of one in the Rough Rides book that we don't have.

No punctures, no problems and the bikes didn't require hours of de-mudding afterwards - this is how a Sunday bike ride should be!

Another wander on the beach

Bike shop fessed up - the pedal/coggy bit falling off was their fault - I'm actually impressed as it would have been very easy for them to bluff it & blame me instead! All fixed now & ready for a pedal today.

We went for a walk at Mudeford yesterday as we had much on our minds to discuss having just had an offer accepted for a house! I am trying to work out if pedalling to work will still be possible after the move, but it's 13.7 miles, about 4 times my current commute so I'm looking at ways to make it feasible at least a couple of times a week. I have a few months to work it out as we're hoping to do building works before moving in.

The walk also provided us with the opportunity to research which is the best cafe on the beach. My favourite so far is the one east from Avon Beach carpark & cafe - in the middle of the beach huts. Great soup, reasonable carrot cake, loved sitting outside.

Pedalled 3 days this week. Meeting in Sutton on Tuesday meant a train day and I had stuff to transport on Wednesday. Running went OK this week, with an extra 10K session on Wednesday. I've been trying to fit more wii in - surprised myself by having aching abs on Friday following exercising on Thursday evening.

Broken bike again

Live update from a grassy verge near rockbourne where I await rescue!
As you can see, bike is broken. Had to be at the furthest point from
the start didn't it?

Sports bras wear out

Let's just say that I bear the scars of a worn sports bra after running on Monday. Tuesday's choice of undergarment was a very different design - so nothing was exacerbated! Shock Absorber (which the offending bra was not) suggest replacement every 6 months - and other sites suggest 3-12 months.

You may note that Husband is on foot in this week's photo. My parents stayed for the day on Sunday unexpectedly - so we decided against cycling. Mum was too wiped out from a stomach bug for them to visit friends as they'd originally planned - so they watched the rugby whilst Husband & I went for a gentle walk in the woods. We also hit the gym where I tried a spinning bike for the first time - so much better than a "normal" exercise bike - felt much more realistic and great to focus on cadence. I think I can make more use of this as part of prep for South Downs Way. I also linked iPhone to the machines - exercise geek happiness!

Another 10K on Monday with WRN - and again, it went well. All other groups were fine - except 7pm Tuesday which didn't happen for the 3rd week. Cycled on Mon & Tue, but not today as I was walking around Earls Court all day.