Palace to Palace 2012 - 45 miles+ cycled - a Victory lap of 2012 training

2 medals in 2 weeks!

What a fortnight! Today's Palace to Palace marks the completion of my longest organised cycle ride to date, and although it is not a timed race, but an opportunity to raise funds for the Prince's Trust as well as for networking - I cannot help but apply the mindset of a marathon runner to the Bike ride - and have a few noticeable differences to a running race. In an organised bike ride:

1. there's no time to linger at the start (and almost missed my team start at 802am!), your hands are not free once you are summoned to the start line - no time to retrieve unworn sunglasses, unstarted GPSes (if it is in your bag), the only way to do anything is to stop


2. it's a lot easier to pass the 'talk test' although one has to multitask well, and watch the traffic when roads are not blocked


3. the more gears available the better for killing those hills!

With multiple starts/stops with my companions - I managed to make the 45 mile distance from Buckingham Palace to Windsor castle in just over 4 hours - if only this was a marathon time! The level of exertion isn't as bad as I thought (as you can stop!!) and I skipped 2/3 of the drinks stations!
Also received a lot of nice comments from those overtaking me on a Brompton - as if I am already in fancy dress (in cycling terms today: hiring a Boris bike to tackle the distance, Tigger suit, Tandems)
"I dont know how you do it in a Brompton!"
"I take my hat off to you!"
"If you had used a road bike you wouldve been a lot faster!!"...
The truth is, it wasn't that difficult - the Brompton foldable is actually a powerful machine- despite its small wheels, I was able to tackle all of the hills during the course without once getting off the bike :)
The other advantage of it is being able to get on London Public Transport at the crack of dawn (first bus 615- at 4 degrees celsius and when it was still pitch dark outside! and then on the Piccadilly Line - eastbound to Hyde Park corner!)

 Getting out from Hyde Park corner meant I got to go down past Buckingham Palace and the Mall to see how the start works - the area is lovely at 745am on a sunday morning!

 

Didn' t have too many photos to share along the route - but many memories (too tired to note for now but will sure capture it for later!) - many of these are from running/cycling earlier on this year/previous years.

This is Richmond Park - Misty - (and too much in love...!) a welcomed retreat after going through Millbank , Chelsea and Putney.

Richmond Park usually means hills to me, and glad to report, what I saw today wasn't the worst i have seen, as we were going downhill into Ham! skipped first drinks station (as it was too early after the first rest break ) and headed onto kingston - back along the river - bushy park - a308 along kempton park - only too familiar!
into Lower sunbury - and shepparton....yeap, walton on thames - past the road of the chicken run....and near 'yes- the meadow with lots of cows!' and across Chertsey bridge...a glimpse to the right, my usual 10k training route back home...
and into Chertsey - past a particularly hilly run through Lyne and into 'single file cycling only' territory - a stone's throw from my new-home-and playground-to be...new parks and heathlands to explore...and then more hills, up and down...but after some adjustment to the height of my seat....I stayed on the saddle through all of these..
at times it feels like a downhill ski, when I duck my head to let the wind pass on top of my helmets...whooaa..what a feeling.
and into Virginia Water, Englefield Green - yep, very familiar territory, and the big downhill into Old Windsor (it was only in late spring that we did a group run through runnymede on this) - all in all..very recent.
Into windsor, when fellow cyclists 'oohhed and ahhed' to stop and take pictures of the Home Park , and the first glimpse of Windsor Castle. I didnt need to. All done so many times before...and then, to the final miles, to Windsor Racecourse..
It was closer to noon, and traffic was building up in the area to what turned out to be a day of cool but clear blue skies. We were asked to use the footpath, which wasn't easy to navigate. Almost there, but no final dash allowed...felt a bit like the cobblestones last week into Grand Place of Brussels! Seeing riders coming out from the finish riding with their medals round their neck only kept me going...

Finally...Windsor Racecourse came into sight. and the finish line was there! Yes! Another medal to add to the collection!

some food and drink and to catch up with my colleagues and friends who have arrived before me - it was lovely to have made it!

Slightly refueled and decided to dodge the 1 hour wait for the next train home - I rode the extra mileage home, in 35 minutes. Knowing that the moment I stop and wait , I will get colder and my legs would seize up, I didn't regret this decision.
It has been a long day - and a long 2 weekends. What next? all i can think of now, is a good night's sleep and any tensions and pains to go away.  :)

Almost there!

The end of a long road.
4 consecutive years of marathon training - 3 spring, 1 autumn.
2012 was a long training season, starting with Wokingham Half (Feb) with nothing in the horizon, til Milton Keynes (July) and then...Pilgrim Trail Half  (Sept). and finally...the crazy fortnight of Brussels Marathon and Palace to Palace Cycle is just around the corner...(please sponsor me here if you haven't already!)
Last weekend was a busy one, 'cross training' between lifting boxes, and a final 11-miler on sunday morning up to Shepparton-on-Thames, a route that I've come to know very well and this year, down to even the mile splits.
Yes, the milestones I have created for myself, the little excitements to look out for.
There's been many times I've looked:
-The Scout camp, doing all sorts of fun things at different times of the day.
-The families setting up volleyball nets on the meadow where my cows roam
-at the barge selling pots of jams by the shore, where it's moored - could I have stopped and paid and carried one home?
There wasn't the time, and logistics to do that on a weekend run.
The days are getting shorter, cooler, summer is almost over...



 
It's been lovely seeing the Thames Path over this summer, having missed the peak of it last year - the ups and downs, lessons learnt on hydration, nutrition, experimenting with different terrain, clothing choice, technology (or better, lack of) - some of my friends ask: will I ever get tired of it?
I can almost visualise the Brussels marathon expo like every other. Check-in, collect bibs, tour and last minute bargains on sports gear, early saturday night. mushy breakfast on sunday morning, bin bags before the start...and then run, run, run until the finishing line :)

and...the day after? now this year, I've got Palace to Palace bike ride to look forward to.

Miss Brompton has made a big difference in my life. Shortened (or more fun) commutes, efficient running of errands, the dual ego of a pedestrian/cyclist ....I've never cycled so much in my life. Have I followed the training plan for the 45-mile ride? I might've done my mileage only on feet, but every little bike ride counts. The legs and body feel rejuvenated even when my feet are sore and tired...a quick dash to the shops, to the station, makes it worth it (at the expense of carrying more luggage, and not looking as civilised when arriving at the office).and the friends one makes when I have "Sagey" Brompton in tow. The nods with fellow bike commuters, the race on unfolding our bikes at the station (I won :) ) makes it so much more fun - at the expense often of a proper seat...but less load on my back, and a (sometimes) good excuse to get home before one needs to use/rely on the lights.

The good thing is, after the 7th, I dont have to care about race time anymore, as the Palace to Palace on the 14th is not a race, its a journey through the city I love, the Palace I use to work just right down the road from....along to the back routes through the Parks that I love...potentially near my new home...and then to the working home of Her Majesty - Windsor, a place that holds much (touristic) memories and a destination for quite a few of my long runs and weekend bike rides.

Time to get some sleep - 3 more to go! But too much to do before setting off again on the commute!

Braving the elements..

Rain was forecast for today, and I was prepared for it. Flourescent waterproof cover and jacket....
bring it on! I thought...I have to learn how to brave the elements on the Brompton Bike.
It didn't go as planned - it didn't rain on my ride in this morning, only slightly cooler, but I still needed a shower to start the working day in a civilised manner...
The longest day of the year has come and gone, and so has the last few days been for me, interwined with moments of learning, relationship building and growth:
I have had the chance to spend good quality time with a high school classmate, who is in London for a couple of months on a holiday from life as a general practitioner to be with her husband, who is here for a short course as part of his medical specialisation;
I was in the City attending the inaugural session of a programme to develop aspiring leaders in the profession, a self-funded investment amongst a sea of other young professionals (like-minded? or some not-so, being sent by their banking employer in bulk, pen-twirling, blackberry-tapping and being in the 'zone' in group discussions...) - to soak in the experiences shared by a finance business partner to the business, and to be coached by one who train aspiring athletes to perform at their best;
I was able to make time in my busy day to catch up with a senior member of my organisation, whom we shared training tips of long distance running (amongst other things) - refreshing compared those who would prefer to declare that they 'did not train (enough)' and did astonishingly well in the times that they have achieved!
and to make the best of my limited time in the office, interacting with those in the building, old teammates, remote ones, across the Atlantic, across the British Channel...
All of all brings together what last night's coach Jamie has brought together with training sportspeople:

• what is the 'quarter-shot' that you can do today to make a difference in your (working) life?


• relationship building is paramount - ditch that email...make the time to have coffee/lunch/dinner with people, and not just with your peers (the future superstars) but also with your seniors (like in the old days)


• it is always easiest in the beginning, but with every sport, every game, or in most movies, it is the final section that is the most exciting

....and that's what you prepare for, and one cannot skim on technique.

• just like medical school, it is a process of elimination, hard work is involved to get there


• humans are creatures of habit, one needs to be comfortable with the unknown.


• and of course there are setbacks, you will just have to learn to DEAL WITH IT

The day grew longer and longer, and it was getting later than I expected. The day's drizzles has come and gone, with it now....the slighter sun in the longest day of the year...and a strong breeze.
I loaded up my Brompton with the essentials to allow me to work remotely with enough room for a visit to the supermarket ...I braved the stronger winds with a heavier load, as it was in the sunnier start of the week. Traffic was still not slowing, although the number of cyclists have slowed at this time of the day...on the road, on the shared footpath, across the Thames, once, and twice, and on descending the second bridge - the little zig zag barricades on the footpath that i have learned to wind around gracefully....
on this windy afternoon, I lost control and fell to the left, off the kerb, with my gloved palms on the road, my wheels making their mark on my legs...and two scratches, one on my knee and one in between the gaps of my sandals.
I righted myself quickly, and had to keep going. Glad it was not on the side of the road with fast-moving traffic! A small setback, but one just had to deal with it to get home. One rewinds to the days as a kid, falling off the bicycle. But I must not be discouraged.
As the days get shorter again, Mother Nature may not always be as kind as it is on a sunny summer's day. There will be a few lovely journeys ahead of me, both on foot or on the bicycle, and I need to get stronger, to be able to enjoy it at the glorious finish.

Picture of the day: recovery food- veggie stir fry and cheese carried home after the bike fall - with the pizza base made by my hubby - along with homemade tomato paste with home grown basil and oregano!

Train Like a Wasp!

Will I ever be a rugby player?
Far from it.
However, there's lessons to be learnt from the strength and conditioning sessions that footballers go through, hence I found myself at the London Wasps Twyford road (Acton - West London) training grounds for 2 trial training sessions.
Glorious weather in London all last week, it seems that summer has finally decided to show its face, I decided to walk to their grounds from work- a good 40 minute uphill...and arrived at the gym at 6:30pm.

Naturally, an all boys club. There were around 6-8 in the group, all shapes and sizes,  committed to weight loss and keeping fit. Before the start some of them were warming up by rolling little balls under their feet, and plastic pipe rollers on their tight muscles ( it's not a foam roller)!

We broke into two groups, did a bit of stretching, planks etc and were shown our exercises for the circuits, in 10 minutes we do a range of exercises , almost always involving 6 pushups, then some kind of weight lifts such as the farmer's walk With a 13kg kettlebell! (they got me a lighter one), TRX pulls (w shape in arms!) steps with weights, abdominal crunches. Few reps of these and we'd change groups with different routines when 10 min was up. It was quite fun and certainly felt more private than in a gym with everyone watching.

Then as we went into the final minutes of the hour, we were asked to go outdoors. Everyone took their bottles of water so I knew something was up. We all went out to the synthetic turf and lined up, and pushed this basic scrum machine for 100 metres (or for me, up to the 3rd line) on the low handle , and back.
To illustrate what this apparatus looks like here's a more advanced version compared to the one we pushed. It was hard work! Some guys even had weights added onto theirs but they still pushed alright!

I certainly felt conditioned - and earned my complimentary maximuscle protein chocolate crunch bar on the way home. A 60 minute intense session the day after a 10 mile long run! Quite happy about that!

Session 2 - on a friday - I started my afternoon cycling up to Acton, all uphill, but less work and sweat than walking there! We headed outdoors, with a breeze, it was like a natural air conditioning. Loved the blue skies as it reminded me so much of Australia..

This time our circuits involved curls with swiss balls, jumping in and out of huge tyres, bear crawls,  Half turkish get-up (why turkish?) - but the explosive arm support is beneficial apparently!

and throwing 35kg weight bags onto our arms and running! (I again, got the easier option which is similar to the picture below) - now I wonder why baggage handlers are only allowed to do 30kg when these workout sessions for amateurs clearly exceed that! But as we've been told, more weight is good. It will trick your body into faster metabolism hence losing fat faster, and supplemented with a protein rich diet, building lean muscle.

There are priorities to be set when one is juggling too many things in life, after 2 sessions of concessions on lighter weights for me compared to everyone else, I was ready to take the learning and shift the focus back to running training. The bike ride home has never felt so good, downhill, and through the bridges that now become so familiar to me - around 6 miles and I'm into Twickenham , the haven of rugby. These 2 training sessions with the boys at the Wasps means I will never look at rugby in the same way again. Caught the next fast train home just in time, and into a rewarding friday night dinner - haha, not a protein shake! :)

As busy as a Wasp! The week's training and getting behind the scenes of how professional sportspeople train got me ready for a full saturday of Games Maker Role Specific Training at Hackney college (which was interesting) - really looking forward to the Olympics now, not too long to go - lots happening before then!


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