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...

What is snowboarding good for?

Heading out for my first run after our fantabulous (Little Miss Outdoors' word) skiing/boarding holiday in Tignes les Brevieres I suddenly had the awful feeling that I might be getting old. Every step threw up one niggle or another, from creaking hips to sore calves to a stiff neck. Then at yoga and then circuits and swimming (usual Tuesday fitness epic) the following day I was alarmed at just how achey and tired I was feeling. All this after just one week away from my usual fitness regime.

But then I got to thinking about the snowboarding trip. Since I'm not an expert on the slopes (far from it) every day was a big challenge. Simply tryimg to keep up with Mr Outdoors and all the other skiers that we met on our trip meant that I was pushing my body all the time. While snowboarding might not seem particularly cardiovascular is does work out a wide range of muscles. Snowboarding for many hours each day left my calves, thighs and glutes screaming. And because boarders are required to repeatedly perform a movement from sitting (after clamping into bidings) to standing, my stomach muscles were given a thorough going over too.

If you add into this the high altitude, the steep climb back up to the chalet a few times a day and the general outdoorsy way of life I guess, in retrospect, it's no wonder I'm feeling a tad weary this week.

There are many other things that snowboarding are good for. Fabulous bright blue skies, a growing sense of achievement, much-needed time away for the desk, lots of quality family time, socialising and having fun with a great group of new friends. Ahh, if only i didn't have to come back to work!

Fixed!

Top marks go to Ross of Just Mac in Clydebank. His free advice over the phone has made a self-employed journalist a very happy person this morning. I now have a functioning Mac Book again.

Top service

He didn't have to help me there and then - and over the phone. In fact, he could have told me to bring my sick Apple Mac laptop to the shop, where he could have told me that it needed to wait in a queue for days even to be looked at, after which he could have presented me with a huge repair bill. Because I know nothing about computers, pretty much anyone could tell me pretty much anything about my Mac and I'd believe them - and I'd no doubt feel forced to cough up the dosh. Instead the nice computer guy Ross from Clydebank-based Just (Mac) took the time (for free) to explain over the phone how to proceed to fix my Mac Book Pro. As I said, he didn't have to help me but he did.

The alternative plan was to go to the Glasgow Apple Mac store. To do this you have to book an appointment on-line at their "Genius" bar. The first slot I could make would be tomorrow. I have not visited the Genius bar and I believe the first consultation is free. However, I can only imagine that after this there would be charges for whatever they would have told me was wrong with my Mac. And, as I've said, they could have told me that everything or anything was wrong - and charged me any odd ludicrous sum if they'd fancied.

Instead I find out from Ross that what might have happened is that when I followed a request by Apple to install some Java update yesterday (after returning from a fantabulous ski hol in Tignes), the instruction caused my Mac to hang up ie. It wouldn't start whatever I tried. I looked on numerous help forums, I found tons of postings from people with similar problems, I followed various instructions but nothing would kickstart the Mac, I read all about the people who had lost their whole life's work. I became tearful, I became shouty, I got frustrated, I hit a post-holiday patch of total bluedom. I booked my slot at the Genius bar.

Then this morning I thought I'd search for an alternative Mac repair place - and came across Just (Mac). The nice computer man Ross offered some instructions over the phone and helped me to launch a reinstall disc for the OS operating system (yes, I know what this means now). He patiently answered all my (no doubt) dim questions and took at least 20 mins out of his working day to talk me though the required button pressing. And all this for free. The Mac is still going through a re-install and this will take another 2hrs apparently but I'm hopeful this could fix the problem (and retain all my saved work on the hardrive). So here's a big thanks to the lovely Mac guy Ross.
Thanks!

Little Miss Outdoors pulls it off!

And so for Valentine's Day this year I did not receive a set of Allen keys, nor a bike chain clean kit and not even a new rucksack. Today I welcomed a lovely box of choccies and a cute teddy. I think Little Miss Outdoors has a great deal of influence over the choice of teddy but still it was nice to receive something Valentine's-y for the first time since meeting Mr Outdoors. 

Thankfully there will be no Valentine's meal out (I hate the tradition) as we

'll be flying and driving towards the French Alps for a much-longed-for family ski/snowboard holiday. Now that's what  call a perfect Valentine's gift for all the family!

Talking of special things for Valentine's

Mr Outdoors is well known for his practical gifts. His first ever present to me was a Leatherman penknife. While it was pretty, purple and much loved I don't think I imagined it would be a sign of the gifts to come. Over the last 7 years I have received a rucksack for running, a rucksack for cycling, a bike chain cleaning kit, a set of allen keys, a heart-rate monitor, heated skiing gloves, a grown-up rucksack, a Timex GPS watch, a heated mug, off-road trainers, maps ...and on. 

I have loved every gift (expect perhaps the chain cleaning kit for Valentine's 2007) but sometimes a girl hankers after something a little more romantic. Now Little Miss Outdoors has taken Mr Outdoors' gift-buying technique to task. The other day I overheard her whispering to Mr Outdoors: "Now, you know mummy won't like it if you go to Tiso's Outdoors Centre for her Valentine's gift. At Christmas she said you should be banned from there. I think I might have to help you buy something from Asda."

While Asda might not be resplendent with a wide ranging stock of perfect presents it does at least sell chocolates and flowers. I have my fingers (warmed by a very useful pair of fingerless gloves - yes, that was another Mr Outdoors gift) crossed!