Let’s start this post with two quotes:

“You are at the end of season so let’s enjoy ourselves eh !”

“I can’t do it if it makes me feel like that.”

The first quote is the answer I received from my coach in response to asking to enter yet more races for the remainder of the season. The second is from a friend during a discussion of a race that went very wrong after a terrible swim.

My reply to my friend was this: “There’s no point in doing it if it makes you feel bad.”

This sentence summarised what I only very recently had to remind myself of as well. When I started triathlon it was all shiny and new to me. I can remember every bit of the excitement of training, racing, meeting new friends, and sharing my sport with others. It was something I did because it was fun. However, those who read my personal blog on my website will know that I dug myself into a bit of a hole over the last year or so. When I finally noticed, I asked myself what had happened. Why had my favourite pastime become an unhealthy obsession that was slowly destroying my body and my life? How could something that used to be the source of so much pleasure suddenly be a major stress factor? Why was I anxious rather than excited in the days leading up to a race?

I couldn’t remember when things had changed. However I felt bad enough to understand that I had to find my way back to enjoying triathlon, to make it fun again or to stop.

Why did things change? There could be several reasons. I’ve always been extremely driven and focussed so to become obsessed with something is not unlike me. In a lot of ways I was stagnating in my training and racing, but didn’t want to acknowledge it because it meant saying goodbye to routine – change can be a scary thing. I had also increasingly withdrawn from joint training sessions fearing that they were not perfectly designed for my progress.

Interestingly I was looking at a bunch of race pictures the other day, and I was shocked how many people looked genuinely unhappy. These were not faces of people in pain because they were trying hard. It wasn’t the look of concentration either. They were people who seemed to think “I don’t really want to be here right now”. There were also pictures of me looking like that. In contrast – have you ever seen Chrissie Wellington not smile for the camera?

Of course not every hard interval session or rainy bike ride done in training is all smiles, but on the whole it needs to be fun! The moment it stops being fun it’s time to analyse and take action! This is easier said than done of course. To overcome what I experienced as stagnation in results, my training had to change. To stop triathlon occupying my mind 24/7, I had to let someone else take over some of the responsibility with regards to my training and racing, and get a coach. I had to ask myself, what could get me some of the excitement back that I used to thrive on – I entered another Ironman. I had to re-immerse myself into the social aspect of being part of a lovely triathlon club. Every race I’ve done since realisation struck I’ve gone into with the simple aim to enjoy myself, the process of racing being the aim rather than the means to a fast time. And I’m in a much happier place now.

Changing habits is never easy, but change is good, and there really is no point in doing this if it’s no fun!

So the next time you are riding past the camera man in the pouring rain, with your feet slowly turning to lumps of ice as the summer once again appears to have retreated to other parts of the world: Give him a smile and count yourself lucky!

I’m probably preaching to the converted here, but a few weeks ago when I tidied up my room I discovered a box:

We should all eat plenty of fresh fruit and veg, and I certainly never had a problem with this, but how much fun are smoothies! I’m having almost as much fun making them as consuming the product. Not only are they good for you, they also taste great. I’ve almost gone off the chocolate in favour of smoothies.

I’m very fond of berries of all kinds. But being on a (student) budget buying fresh is just not always an option. So when I discovered that Sainsbury’s did a 3 for £5 deal on frozen fruit, I was sold. Ok, frozen fruit is no good for eating unprocessed, but for smoothies it’s perfect. It also has the added benefit of cooling everything to a nicely chilled temperature without the need for ice.

You’ll always find ½ a banana, a few tablespoons of natural yoghurt, and some pure apple or orange juice in my smoothies, but other than that they are never quite the same. Just like my lunchtime salads, creativity is my friend. My personal favourites are blueberry and strawberry, and pineapple and nectarine. This morning’s treat: Blueberry, pineapple, banana, and orange!

YUM!!!

Recovery drink

Obviously there are (almost) no limits to what can be made into a smoothie. And while I really like my Torq recovery drink, when I fancy an alternative after a hard session, guess what comes out of the box? The good old smoothie maker! Some chopped up fruit, milk, maybe some protein powder if you feel you need to, blend and you have the perfect recovery drink.

It was Tuesday morning and I had rolled out of bed to cycle over to one of the local 10 mile time trial courses to do a training TT. I was making my way out of the city and was just about to settle down on to my aerobars when I saw ahead a pedestrian crossing. I remember passing by a parked windowless white van, and then seemingly out of nowhere there was a pedestrian in the road!

This proves how much we rely on our hearing in traffic! It was 6am and he hadn’t heard me coming (obviously!) and must have thought it safe to step out into the road without looking. I remember him trying to shelter his face with his arms, bracing himself against the impact and then I was lying on the road. Ouch! There were a million things that went through my head. This hurts. Can I move all my limbs? Where’s my bike? Where is the man? This can’t be happening now! Thank goodness I still have my senses, I was incredibly lucky. Read More

Trigirl’s Susan Tri top and Ellen Tri shorts have stormed through review testing with flying colours this week!  Trifinder’s expert tester proclaimed “she absolutely loved it” with the tank top being “exceptionally comfy and supportive” and both items scoring highly with 9/10 for value and style.

The gorgeously feminine Susan tri top and Ellen shorts went through a rigorous testing at two running and triathlon events. First at a sprint triathlon where the suit demonstrated its ability to “shed water quickly” and provide full comfort for the triathlete in the saddle, achieving a maximum comfort rating of 10/10! Read More

Having grown up in the flat terrain of Northern Germany, I used to absolutely despise hills. If there’s one thing I really don’t like it’s slowness, and that applies to everything in life. I’m terribly impatient.

Cycling up hills doesn’t give you the excitement of going fast on a bike and quite frankly cycling up hills is hard work. I was also put off by the fact that as one of the bigger athletes ‘im always on the losing end against some of the slender running girls, as soon as we are faced with an incline. Read More

Have you ever started off something really well with great intentions and high levels of motivation, yet as time past, your efforts and motivation dwindled. Just like those New Year’s Resolutions … many of us start the year with great intentions to get to the gym more regularly, to start exercising, to eat healthy foods or maybe even to quit smoking.

As the weeks progress into the New Year, motivation to keep on going starts to fade until you are no longer making an effort to do what you intended to do. Well, you are not alone … Read More

Planning a block of training can really determine your goals. But to be of much use they have got to be SMART. Some of you may already be bored now – yeah, yeah, we all know this, S for specific, M for measurable, A for achievable, R for relevant, and T for time-bound. But do you actually do it? I was most recently reminded of this concept when flicking through my notes from the BTF level 2 coaching course.

So in practise, does this actually work? At the beginning of the year I wrote on a piece of paper – amongst other things – by the end of July I want to have improved my 10 mile time trial PB to sub 23 minutes. Why is this a much better goal than ‘I want to get faster on the bike’? Read More

The Yvonne trisuit currently selling at 10% off is not only selling at a bargain price but has received an outstanding review from the highly reputable international selling magazine Triathlete’s World!

The superb quality and lightness of our Revolutional Gloss and Energy Materials as well as the thoughtful design is plainly evident from Triathlete’s World reviewer Cath Pye’s remarks; Read More

This super flattering slim lined Yvonne trisuit is sublimely comfortable and boasts high tech materials compounded with top female specific design. The cool and fresh looking ink and white colour tones or the vibrant and striking ruby and white will make you look and feel fabulous for all training and racing purposes. Read More

Trigirl UK is gearing up for its nationwide tour! Beginning this week we will be showcasing all of our high performance tri gear at events near you. First stop –  Sunday 27th June at Dartford Bridge Triathlon! We will have all of our collection available for you to try before you buy with trisuits, tri tops, shorts, jackets, tankinis, crop tops and accessories in the most gorgeous summer sizzling colours and fitted style. Read More