Why it's not going so swimmingly

Little Miss Outdoors will thank me in the long-term. I'm sure of it! Every week from the age of 4 to 9 I insisted that she attended "proper" swimming lessons. She couldn't see the point of getting wet and cold and having to do numerous lengths of crawl, breaststroke, backstroke etc. She hated getting out to get dried. She moaned and whinged and even had tantrums at the side of the pool on occasions. But I insisted. Because I think that learning to swim is really important.

Yesterday at a Glasgow Triathlon Club swim session I wished I'd been forced to do the same. While I learned to swim at a young age I did not attend "proper" lessons and our school didn't have a pool so I have always been simply a "for pleasure" swimmer. My swimming ability has also been sufficient to allow me to take part in a wide range of enjoyable water-based activities including wake boarding, water skiing, wind surfing, sailing and even canal boating.

But then I joined Glasgow Triathlon Club – and realised that I'm actually a hopeless swimmer! I could manage a few lengths before I collapsed. Literally. At that time one of the coaches described me as "similar to a jumper splashing round and round a washing machine". But I listened to the coaches, I watched cringing underwater videos of myself swimming, I did lengths, I attended sessions week after week – and slowly I improved.

But then I took a year off! This was because a) swimming is not my favoured sport b) I hate getting cold and wet c) I hate the getting out and drying yourself bit d) I prefer to run and cycle e) my new-ish status of single mum doesn't make it easy to attend evening swim sessions with the tri club.

However, I now have a plan to do a triathlon or two this summer and so I need to do a bit of swimming. Which is how I came to be at the local pool last night. (Little Miss Outdoors was being babysat.) And while I have not returned to the days of looking like a jumper in a washing machine it was pretty clear that after just a few lengths I am certainly not swim-fit.

You see swimming is a whole lot to do with technique. Despite being running fit I have lost a lot of the swim technique I learned a year ago. According to last night's coach it would also have been very beneficial if I had learned to swim properly as a child. I think it's rather like driving. If you were required to sit your test again you would have to break all the nasty driving habits you've picked up over the last two decades.

And so you can now see why Little Miss Outdoors may well thank me for her enforced lessons in years to come. Watching her swim is just so lovely as she has learned the right technique from the start. She is oh-so-graceful.

Meanwhile, her mum is attempting to convert from woolly jumper to sleek dolphin. And I've only got a few months to make this transformation. I'll keep you posted as to how I go. Glug, glug...

Speed running in the sleet

While 20 or so of our fellow Glasgow Tri Club athletes headed out to the warmer climes of Club La Santa on Lanzarote today, eight of those left behind in Scotland braved a chilly and sleety run session tonight.

Led by Major Tom, aka the Captain of Communication and one of our fab coaches, we completed a 30-minute speed session, with one minute of fast running followed by a minute's recovering. Now I know that doesn't seem like a long time to to be running but speed intervals are always tough.

The session is as much about gauging pace (ie starting at a pace you can manage for the whole set) as it is about mental resolve over physical pain. These sessions are always the same for me. I set off thinking that the first three reps are really quite nice, then by the halfway point I start to think I'll probably puke. By the time we get to the last few reps I am close to actually puking ... and then on the last two reps it's mind over matter that always wins and I find I can just about make it to the end of the last rep before my legs give way.

Ah, and while it is painful, these sessions do work wonders on overall speed. We're starting to build up for the triathlon race season – and the aim for many will be to pull off a decent run time at the end of a triathlon event (swim, then cycle, then run on wobbly legs).

Thanks Major Tom for keeping our motivation up tonight - while we all tried to forget about the warm weather training our fellow members will be doing this week in the Canaries. Hurumph!

Running in the rain

It might have been wet and puddley underfoot but at least the ice and snow had gone. And it might have been heavy rain but there was a great turnout and lots of new faces. Last night's running session at the Glasgow Triathlon Club was tough but fun and all-inclusive.

Led by Captain T, we all took up the challenge of a pyramid set of speed intervals. Each pyramid had a 30-second sprint, followed by the same length of jogging recovery, then a 60-second sprint, followed by a recovery, then a 90-second sprint and recovery. At the "top" of the first pyramid we then proceeded to complete the set in reverse. We did this five times in total.

It was possible for all participants to complete the pyramids according to their own ability and with some time for jogging there was the chance to enjoy a few snippets of chat in between the sprints.

I pushed it and found the training session hard-going but at the end it felt good to have completed something that wasn't my ordinary comfort-zone outing.

These sort of sessions might just get me in shape for having a go at another sprint triathlon sometime this year. I know I should!

Daring 2b different

One minute the sun is out, the next it’s hidden behind a cloud. Five minutes later I feel spots of rain and then nothing but a cool breeze. If you spend any time in Scotland’s hills you’ll know just how changeable the weather and temperatures can be.

But I’m only happy when I feel medium-warm (i.e. not too hot and not too cold). Whether I’m walking or running around Scotland’s countryside I absolutely hate to be too cold, too hot or too wet.

So what on earth does a girl like me wear for hillside comfort? In truth, it has been a long and testing trail to find the solution.

Over the years I’ve tried base-layers, mid-layers, kagools, Gortex, Simpatex, plus all combinations of the above. In reality, I’ve found the only way to maintain an even temperature is to continually swap between layers. At best I’ve found myself hot, sweaty and slightly irritable, at worst numb, shivery and thoroughly out of sorts.

I have also spent a great deal of time wearing baggy, made-for-the-guys garments in boring shades of navy blue and black. And at times I’ve been gob-smacked by the high price tags on some technical outdoor clothing kit.

But all this took place in a Time Before Dare 2b.

The moment of Dare 2b enlightenment actually came in April on the side of an 860m high mountain on a remote plateau many miles west of the Highland city of Inverness.

Taking part in the 2009 Highlander Mountain Marathon, newly sponsored by Dare 2b, I had the good fortune to be kitted out in a few items of the company’s new mountainwear clothing.

From the outset I was impressed by the feminine cut and good looks of the Dare 2b Women’s Bombshell Multisport Tights, Fastpack Jacket and the Kink Softshell Jacket. Someone has clearly put a lot of thought into both the practicalities of this outdoor clothing range – as well as the attractiveness and value for money. (Thankfully, too, there is not a flower or hint of a blooming pattern in sight. Why do so many clothing designers think that women want their clothing to look ultra female?)

Fiona Outdoors in Dare 2b kit during
2009 Highlander Mountain Marathon

Unusually, the tights do not come in your average plain black either, but make clever use of an imaginative circle pattern of reflective detailing to add interest and enhanced visibility. I confess I was worried about chaffing while wearing these leggings for the first during a major outdoors event but through 13 hours of tramping across the hills I felt entirely comfortable.

The tights also made quick work of any sweat, wicking dampness to the outside before I could notice it and prevented all kinds of nasty bites and scratches that many other Highlander competitors faced thanks to coarse, scratchy heather.

Then there are the two jackets. While both come in a practical but pleasingly not-too-boring shade of soft grey, plus reflective detailing (again for enhanced visibility), they also feature an additional pretty-in-pink pattern design. (Funky circles pattern on the Kink and a cogs pattern on the Fastpack).

At £60 the Fastpack offers an economical buy. The jacket might be lightweight but it’s still fully waterproof, breathable and has plenty of zip, cuff, hood, pack-away detailing to keep most outdoor types happy.

But it’s the Kink Softshell (priced £45) that most impressed me. Made from super lightweight carbon bamboo Softshell, with natural wicking properties plus a Teflon coating to repel water I found I was able to run and walk for two days during changeable conditions of the Highlander in perfect comfort. In the blazing sun I was cooled to a medium-warm. In the wind, I felt medium-warm. And in the rain I also felt dry and medium-warm.

I have since worn this jacket for several Glasgow Triathlon Club running sessions, on a weekend’s walking expedition and while cycling around town. On every occasion I felt smugly medium-warm.

This jacket in particular has also attracted many favourable comments from my likeminded outdoors girlie pals. To find a piece of clothing that is both appealing to look at but without being overtly girlie and flowery, that is nicely tailored to fit the female physique and offers a highly practical solution to repelling our Scottish weather is clearly a winner. The fact that the Kink also benefits from being made of an antibacterial material that naturally deals with odour control shouldn’t be missed off the tick list of attractions either. I DARE you to give the website a closer look. www.dare2b.com

One bottle of beer and a cream egg please

In retrospect I wonder what the checkout lad in the small supermarket in the village of Buchlyvie, near Aberfoyle, Stirlingshire, thought of the soggy looking female cyclist when she picked up and paid for a bottle of Sol and a cream egg on Friday afternoon.

No doubt you'll have guessed that the soggy looking female was me. But unless you were one of the "hens" on this weekend's Simply The Best Hen Weekend, which took place on a farm fairly near to Buchlyvie, then you'll have no idea why I had spontaneously parked my bike outside the shop for a spot of basic shopping. To be honest, I think I was having a small moment of madness but perhaps you'll see why when I explain the background to this strange shopping spree.

With the rain just about holding off on Friday I decided it would be a fine idea to cycle from Glasgow to the Simply The Best Hen Weekend. The other 10 or so Hens were driving or bussing it but I thought the ride would be great training for the Looming Calendonia Etape. Tri Club pal, The Mighty Vickster, had kindly given me a "back road" route and suggested I'd take no more than 2 hours to do the whole trip.

Only The Mighty Vickster is a great deal mightier than I on a bike and so, what with the long drag of the Crow Road (out of the back of Lennoxtown), another hill ascent to the Top Of The World, the frequent outbreaks of rain and drizzle, and something approaching one million pot holes to avoid on numerous wee roads it took me just a tiny bit longer to go from A to B.

In fact it took so long that the last 5 or 6 miles were cycled in darkness and my the time reached Buchlyvie not only was my stomach rumbling but it had long since passed Alcohol o'clock. Which is why when I spotted the small village store I suddenly had a hankering for food and drink. However with only limited space in my rucksack, there was no chance of fitting in the bottle of wine and the sandwiches that I really fancied so instead I chose One Bottle of Beer and a Cream Egg.

It is amazing how the very thought of that chilled beer and the sweet chocolate became enough to get me through those last few miles to the farm at Gartmore. The fact that I never actually got to taste either of these delicious products is a whole other story ...

Review: Shiny new Newton trainers

Newton's "Motion" trainers review by David Wilson, who is a keen triathlete and president of Glasgow Triathlon Club

Traditionally the ability to “buy speed” has been limited to the bike leg of a triathlon with the addition of an aero whatsit here or a tri bar thingy-ma-bob there. But in recent years, the go-faster trend has expanded to include swimming (eg the Speedo LZR race suit and, more specifically for triathlon, swimskins from companies such Blue Seventy) and now running, thanks to the much anticipated and hyped Newton trainers.

Without getting too technical, as I am in no way qualified to do so, the key concept behind the Newton trainer is to get you to run more naturally on your mid to forefoot, something that we nearly all do barefoot but not so many of us do when we have a pair of trainers on our feet. When running on our forefoot our foot lands more under our centre of gravity allowing momentum to be maintained more easily while with a heel strike we hit the ground out in front of our centre of gravity effectively “braking” our momentum with every stride. Take a look at all top runners and you will see they all run on their forefoot with a high leg cadence.

Just recently I was in the market for a new pair of running shoes. I’d had a keen eye on the Newtons mainly because I’ve also spent the last year working to improve my running technique. For us lesser mortals running on the forefoot is initially hard work as amongst other things it involves good tall posture, a solid core and developing a decent set of calves. Mentally, it’s also easy to slouch back into old habits.

I got myself videoed at specialist running shop Achilles Heel, Glasgow, before buying, something that proved to be very useful because I saw that I pronate slightly (most of us do) and so I benefited from the stability version of the Newton, the “Motion”. This was despite having neutral trainers before and having no injury issues.

When taking them out of the box the first thing you notice, apart from the striking colour scheme, is that these trainers are light, similar to what most of us would consider to be the weight of a racing trainer and the racing version of the Newton is lighter still. Once fitted you are immediately aware of the four “lugs” that act like mini shock absorbers under the forefoot. These lugs also reduce the contact area with the road so in theory there should be less resistance to slow you down. I find the trainer quite unstable for anything other than running in a straight line so they are not really suitable for doubling up for, say, a circuits class.

But it’s out on the road where the Newtons really strut their stuff with their lightness added to a real a ping off the tarmac provided by the unique forefoot cushioning. These shoes feel better the faster you run in them and on the few runs I've done I’ve found that my heart rate is lower for a given pace so presumably I am running more efficiently, too. The lugs under the forefoot also act a little like a “sweet spot” does in golf giving you feedback so you are always aware of where your foot is striking the road. This constantly reinforces better technique.

Admittedly there may be an element of “The Emporer’s New Shoes” going on here as it’s not difficult to believe somehow in the “magical” properties of the trainers, which of course could be giving me a mental boost. However, even after weighing this up I do still feel that I’m running appreciably faster than when wearing “standard” running shoes, just so long as I’m trying to run in the correct manner. Which leads me on to my only niggle with the Newtons.

These shoes will benefit the faster and technically better runner far more than a heel strike plodder, so much so that people may end up dong themselves an injury if they buy a pair of these and assume that the shoes will sort their running technique. In my opinion, due care should be taken before buying a pair of Newtons. Indeed the Newton website does recommends that you taper the transition to these trainers with short runs and build into them slowly by alternating with you existing trainers. I’d add that people should be honest with themselves about their running style before even considering these shoes and I would also recommend that they get themselves some proper advice from a specialist running shop such as Achilles Heel before making any purchase.

That said, if you already run on your mid/fore foot – and you have £120 to spare – these trainers could easily prove to be a secret weapon in your bid to break a race PB this year. That’s what I’m hoping anyway.

New Newtons - a Eureka moment?

A Glasgow Tri Club comrade was sporting a shiny new pair of the Newton Gravity trainers at the run session last night. They do look very beautiful and certainly the extra ledgey bits underneath the front sole look interesting. These trainers, which have been 10 years in the making, have received rave reviews in many sports mags. The theory behind the footwear is that they better mimic the advantages of barefoot running and should help to prevent many of the niggles and injuries of runners. The claim is: Newton running shoes will help you to "run smoother, more efficiently and, ultimately, faster". See here for the science stuff. The club's El Presidante - aka David - has promised me a Newtons review soonest. In the meantime, he said they are ace and they did seem to make him run a lot faster than most folk last night. In Glasgow Achilles Heel, on Great Western Road, are selling the Newtons.

Slowly but surely

Swimming is a tricky and frustrating business. I don't mean the leisurely kind of swimming that I used to quite enjoy but the swimming that is supposed to give me a great start at the beginning of a triathlon event. So many of the people who do triathlon appear to have been swimming like dolphins since they were aged two. Not me. I have come to swimming via basic lessons as a child, followed by almost three decades of imagining that I could swim proficiently. Sadly, I have realised latterly that my swimming is woeful.

But I have been determined to improve and for the past couple of years I've been attending the Glasgow Tri Club swim sessions on an on-and-off basis (to be truthful, on average, more off than on). In recent months, however, I've made a concerted effort to make one session per week and finally, oh-so-finally, the effort is paying off. I am now making some slow but sure progress on my technique.

You see, while I might be quite fit in general it makes hardly a jot of difference when i get in the pool. Most of what makes you a good swimmer is technique. And I do not have any. When I first joined the club I was described by one coach as "resembling a sweater in a washing machine". I flailed and splashed that much!

But I've listened and I've learned and I've swam in the novice lane for ages and ages and now I am starting to see some changes. The coaches at the club have each offered their advice on various aspects, including leg kick, head position, body position, hip flex, hands, arms, elbows, pull etc etc. There is so much to get right. But I think some of it might be coming right now.

Last night I really felt, in the final 10 minutes of the session, that things might be coming together. For the first time I could actually feel myself glide quite speedily though the water. I can't imagine keeping the technique flowing for any more than minutes, however, but things are starting to click into place.

And I do have a very good reason for trying so hard at swimming. It is the only sport at which I have ever beaten Mr Outdoors. In the only Sprint triahtlon we have done together, the Bishopbriggs Triathlon last May, I was out the pool a few precious seconds ahead of him. This year we plan to do the Peebles Triathlon together and I want to be minutes ahead. Competitive? Moi?

On my bike...

I went out for a three-hour cycle on Saturday with the lovely ladies and gents from the Glasgow Tri Club. It's my first weekend ride with them and I was a little nervous about how I'd cope. These are dedicated tri club members who get up early every most Saturday mornings to ride – while I tend to enjoy a nice lie-in!

But I know I must get some miles in my cycling thighs in preparation for the Etape, so I am now sacrificing my only lie-in of the week.

Meeting a couple of guys in my neighbourhood at 9am, we cycled for 30 mins out to Strathblane to meet the other eight or nine cyclists. Among all the men was super-tri lady, Kay, who I'd not seen for months. This meant we had lots to chat about, which had the added bonus of taking our minds off the cycling pain.

The route was quickly agreed - to Lennoxtown, over the infamous Crow Road, to Fintry, then Killearn and home to Bearsden. As a Crow Road newbie I had no idea what to expect, which was probably for the best. As some of the guys sped on ahead I stuck with Kay and tried to concentrate on the gossip, rather than the increasingly sore thigh muscles as we slowly but very surely ascended the long, long hill to the summit. After this hill the rest of the route could probably be called easy, except that my legs never really recovered from this muscle-zapping onslaught.

I needed to be home by noon prompt (Mr Outdoors was heading out and couldn't take Little Miss Outdoors) and I was trusting in Reliable Ross (a fabbie neighbour who introduced me to the tri club 3 years ago) for time-keeping. We did manage to cycle into our street with 5 minutes to spare but only because the last 5 miles were done at muscle ripping speed. Well, my muscles felt ripped, although Ross still looked pretty relaxed! That'll be because he rarely does lie-ins and usually cycles, runs and swims most weekends.

We clocked 38 miles, which was a job well done for me. Sadly I'm not exactly on track to break any speed records at the Etape. In fact I'll be lucky if I make it home at all...

PS One of the guys had a new bike gadget that records all sorts of wonderful data. His ride was a little shorter but this was pretty much our route. http://connect.garmin.com/player/2287681 I now have serious gadget envy.

Running out of ...

Ah.. and so it's back to those killer speed sessions that I so clearly recall from last Spring. Round about now each year the Glasgow Tri Club move to Victoria Drive in Jordanhill for a couple of months of killer speed reps running as fast as we can along the edge of Victoria Park for set time intervals.

The fact that I can remember how sick I felt during every single weekly session last year should lead me to leave the club for these next two months. That would be the sane way to go.

But I doubt I could ever be described as sane. And in reality I know that the pain and nausea will pay off in the end with smarter, better times for 5ks and 10ks during the summer months. Whether I will actually get around to running any 5k or 10k races in the summer is another matter but all I know is that if I do want faster race times I need to train faster. It's as simple as that (apparently!). Except that doing any fast running really hurts.

This is my first week of speed reps for 2009 and while thought I was doing just fine for the first four reps, by the sixth I could feel a rising nausea, by the 7th I thought I'd collpase half way and by the last rep I could only imagine how amazing it would be to stop RIGHT THERE RIGHT NOW. For a short while after the session I felt good knowing I'd done it - but now sitting at my desk
my thighs are aching and complaining. By tomorrow I just know I'll have trouble getting down the stairs.

Still, I think it will be good for me in the end...

Tri as I might....

I expect that for most normal people a Friday night down the pub would not include a long debate about whether to spend the next day mountain biking or road cycling. But thankfully I do not have normal friends – instead I have a whole bunch of pals who are up for a big adventure, even if they have had one too many glasses of white vino the night before.

And so, after much discussion, mulling over the merits of mountain biking versus road cycling on an icy, wintry February Saturday morning, it was finally, ever so finally, decided that Vicky, Jo PM, Ele and I would head out for a spot of relaxing road cycling.

What I'd managed to overlook was that this was "relaxing" according to World Champion Vicky (first by masses of minutes in the age-group 2008 World Triathlon Championships in Canada). I am sure that Vicky thought that the 3 hour trip around the wonderfully scenic Renfrewshire hills (with a cake a coffee stop at Lochwinnoch) was a doddle.

 

I imagine that both  Ele (I haven't drunk so much since New Year and now I've drunk too much all in one night Ele!) and Jo (just because I looked at the scales doesn't mean I'm going to think about my weight much Jo!) found the trip on the reasonable side of hard-going.

But due to weedling legs and an almost total lack of road cycling this winter I spent a lot of time being dropped on hills and struggling to keep up with the group on the flats. If nothing else the outing gave me a great big boot up my cycling pants. I need to get out on the road more – and quickly if I'm to survive the Etape in May.

The thing is though I really did enjoy the experience. I might not be as strong as these girls but they never made me feel like I was holding them up and when I was cycling as part of the group the chat was fun and lively. And now I have a target to aim for. Going out for a ride with people who are better than you (but also considerate) is great for honing your ambitions. Thanks girlie Tri girls.

A Tuesday in the life of...

Tuesdays are busy. I don't just mean with work (every day is busy with work) but with exercise. In our house there is a timetable of days of being mum/step-dad and days for fitness. It's the only way it works for us.

So on Mondays and Wednesdays Mr Outdoors plays football, while I am mum. And on Tuesdays and Thursdays I do my fitness activities, while Mr Outdoors is step-dad. Friday evening and most of the weekend are for being together as a family (and for Mr Outdoors to see his kids).

But the problem is that because time is short for fitness both Mr Outdoors and I try to squeeze in as much as we can to our allotted evenings. Which is why on a Tuesday I go to a circuits class from 7pm to 8.15pm and then straight to a Tri Club swim session from 9pm to 10pm. This might actually be manageable if it wasn't for the Ashtanga yoga class I do on a Tuesday morning.

Ok, so most people think of yoga as an activity for girls and wimps but Ashtanga is not at all like that. It's a full-on 80 mins session of sun salutations, difficult postures and sweat. 

The fact that I have to walk (we only have one car and it's not always with me!) to the yoga class and back and then walk to collect my daughter from after-school childcare and then walk back again and then walk to the circuits class just adds to my feelings of total knackeredness by 10.15pm on a Tuesday evening. 

I do not even have the energy to luxuriate a little in post-exercise smugness. 

If only . . .

A tri club friend told me abut his 18-year-old son's success in a recent national swimming competition. As I do the press stuff for the club (volunteer position) I duly posted the fab story on the forum. I thought little more about it except to believe that his record breaking times must be awesome.

But then, a little later, I stopped to consider his times. 4mins 24 secs for 400m individual medley which apparently includes 100m fly, 100m breast, 100m back and 100m freestyle. Wow! I'd struggle to do 400m of freestyle only in less than 7 mins (and that's after spending quite a bit of time in the pool being coached).

If only I'd learned how to swim properly as a child I might a) look less like a teddy bear in a washing machine b) be faster at crawl than breast stroke c) have a much improved chance of making it out of the pool during a triathlon before everyone else has done their first lap of the bike course.

Then again, it might also be a talent thing. Whatever, I am now utterly in awe of my pal's son.

Rainy Sunday

It rained and rained this morning during our regular Glasgow Tri Club Sunday morning run - but no-one seemed to care that much. Good chat and a nice route through Pollok Country Park on the southside of Glasgow kept our minds off our soaked kit and sloshing trainers.

The great thing about the Sunday run is that you're back home by 11am and feeling smug already. It's around this time that the rest of my family surface so I feel as though I've not missed anything but gained a good workout and a mental boost.

The other advantage to Sunday morning running is that it tends to curb the amount I drink on Saturday night. I have never learned the art of running with a hangover (although many of my hardier tri  club pals seemed to have this one sorted.)

In any case, after the hangover from hell yesterday (following a very good, but drunken, 50th party on friday night) I'm now officially off the booze for the rest of January and maybe February.  I shall be drinking only limited amounts when on a night out and nothing in the house. I did this last year and I felt so much healthier, slept better and lost a few pounds.

Well, that's the plan anyway!

Munro tops!

A tri club pal texted last night to suggest an early morning run up Ben Vorlich, close to Loch Lomond. How could Fiona Outdoors resist this challenge? As luck would have it, the husband (Mr Outdoors) was off work and had already agreed to take care of our daughter so I took the rare opportunity to nip off for a few hours.

Leaving at 6.30am we were at the foot of Ben Vorlich by 7.30am, topped it by 9.45am and got back to the car by 10.30am. It was utterly awesome.

While Scottish winters can be crap, there are odd days that really make up for the rest. This was one of the those wonderfully clear, rain-free days, with breath-taking views across autumnal painted mountains and glittering lochs. 

If freelance life can be tough at times, it's the flexibility, and the chance to make your own hours, that truly sells this life to me. I was back home and at my desk by 11.45am.

I know i'll be smiling for the rest of the day - and fast asleep by 9.30pm.