I survived the hills!

Ok, I know this might not be much to many of the people I go against on the triathlons, but this was the longest and hilliest bike course I have been on.

I got up at 5am to meet my neighbour for a 5:30 ride out to one of his routes, which I had no details about.  Once we met he mentioned we would be going to 2 hills and potentially another one depending on my response.  What he didn't tell was that most of the course on our way to the hills was also going to be hilly as you can clearly see below:

My tongue was out my mouth before we even got to the hills but I just had to keep pushing if I wanted to get home with any kind of self esteem of having at least given it a good try.  Once we go to the first hill Jezza mentions it was going to be a a 1.5 mile uphill ride! I about died, but I made it up in one piece. The second hill was worse as it was longer and steeper, but with a couple of stops I was able to make it up.

All in all, I think I didn't do as bad I I was expecting to do and the scenery was great with some awesome views of the border of Surrey and Kent.  I also learned a new route which I can do (without the hills) and get some good mileage on the legs.  I can handle the hills there and back, just not the two specific hills he took me to off the main road.

I will try and go for a light jog at the end of the day.... children permitting, of course!

Day Off - Marie Chantal with Alexia

Marie Chantal photo shoot with Alexia - No training today

Today I took the day off from work as I have been away from London on business for the last two weeks.  I went with Alexia to her first photo shoot for the winter collection of Marie Chantal.  It was in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere in Wales but it was a fun day with my daughter seeing her work for her first modelling paycheque.

I wanted to go out and jog today but I did not have the energy after the long day out. Tomorrow I will restart my training.

Back in the UK - New Toys from Wiggle!

Garmin GSC10 Sensor

Just landed back in London and got the best welcoming anyone could get.  Both my daughters came out to the backyard running into my hugs.  Nothing beats that!

After all the unpacking and playing with my girls Sonia tells me my wiggle order had arrived.  This was my Garmin CSC10 cadence sensor and my Quick   Release Mounting Kit.   I spent about two hours on both of them, mostly on the cadence sensor.  I spent some time online looking for some forums on issues I was having as the lights on the sensor were not flashing nor was the watch showing any info on cadence details.

Apparently you need to pay close attention to the sensors and the magnets.  My issue was that the magnets were a bit further apart and that was causing the lights to not flash.  Also, I needed to synch the forerunner 310xt and change exercise mode to Bike1.  Cadence sensor working and quick release kit hooked on the handle bar, I was ready to give it a go.  I tried both the Bike1 and Multisport function and the cadence readings were on the spot.  Now I obviously have try on the road with a proper ride, but thats for another blog post.   

My very first post

Hi guys, and welcome to my blog.  I am sitting in Angola (Im here on a business trip) as I write my first post, and hope this will encourage other dads and mums to take on this great sport of triathlon, no matter what age you are.

Over the past year I have taken on triathlon and I got the bug, as most of you surely have... or soon will if you are new to the sport.

I am a husband and father of two lovely girls aged 3 and 5 who love shouting at me to run to that finish line after the painful hours of swimming, riding and running.

In order to keep track of my training and share my obstacles and successes with fellow triathletes, I decided to create this blog as a diary and, hopefully, make it a platform for other mums and dads to talk about the strategies we all use to train and race whilst keeping a healthy and happy household.  I know we all hate the 6am check in times, but hey.... no pain no gain.

Talk soon.