Pippa and the Blenheim Triathlon

Did you watch Will and Kate’s royal wedding last April? Even I was admirative in front of Pippa Middleton’s perfect dress and figure. While I was in France a couple of weeks ago, I was reading a French gossip magazine called Public. There was a picture and an article about Pippa – the new fashion icon - completing the Blenheim triathlon. In the photo, she looks absolutely stunning: not a single drop of sweat, perfect hair, £270 designer sunglasses (according to the article), a huge smile and no signs of suffering or tiredness at all. The magazine even said that she won a medal…So I was really impressed and intrigued: How can she finish a triathlon looking so fresh? I certainly do not look as good as her when I cross the finish line of a tri! Since I had time to waste, I did investigate further on this very critical topic and found out that she only ran a 5K (she was doing a relay with 2 of her pals) and did not do the cycling or the swimming. She did not win the race or anything as implied by the magazine…she got a medal because EVERYBODY gets a medal when crossing the finish line so nothing extraordinary here. I know it is quite sad but truth had to be told! No, Pippa Middleton is not a wonder woman. And yes, it is normal not to look like a super model after a triathlon. 

Love your abs

The one big thing I have learnt so far this year is the importance of abs. It’s only 3 small letters but they do make a huge difference. I have been to many gym classes and I have heard many instructors shout “Belly in!” or “Abs tight!” but  they never really explained why it was essential to squeeze the abs so I never really paid attention.

I have to admit that I don’t like working my abs…simply because it hurts and because I find it utterly boring. Same with my bottom. So I took the habit of skipping all kind of abs and other leg and bottom strengthening exercises. Well the result was that last Christmas, I suffered from sciatica. I had this pain in my back that was going down to my left knee and foot. It was bad enough to wake me up at night and I could only sleep in specific positions…in short, it was not nice. I went to the doctor once and the pain did not go away despite the anti-inflammatory tablets. It’s only when I went to see the physiotherapist that I got some answers to my questions. The problem was my WEAK ABDOMINALS. Because I did not have strong abdominals, my back had to do all the hard work of supporting my body while I was cycling and running and that’s what caused the sciatica.

By working your abs, you create extra support and your back will not have to do all the work.Working your abdominals will not only enhance your appearance but it will also help improve your performance by providing extra power when you swim, cycle and run. I am now aware of my abdominals and I make sure that I contract them and use them while I exercise and I have really seen the difference. I have more stability and more power in the legs.

I think that the best way to work your abs and other core muscles in an entertaining way is to go to Pilates or body pump classes as these courses focus on core strengthening. By making your body stronger, you will lessen the chance of getting injuries such as back pain or knee pain. And believe me, your body will look firmer and trimmer in no time which is always nice.

I am currently reading a book called the New Abs diet by David Zinczenko (Paperback, 2010). It is quite interesting as it gives you interesting facts about food and how it is used by your body but it also gives you a 6 week programme to get a flat tummy and work all your core muscles. I won’t follow the diet but I will try the exercises and see if I can turn my stomach into an ironing board in such a small period of time!

Tri Vauban...checked!

Last sunday I was in Besancon (France) for what was supposed to be my first Sprint tri. Unfortunately, due to the draught that's affecting the country at the moment, the authorisation to swim in the river was withdrawn at the last minute for sanitary reasons. The triathlon had to be turned into a duathlon. We did 5K run/20K bike/2.5K run. In all fairness it was probably a good thing for me as I believe that I am a much better runner than a swimmer but I was still very disappointed.

There were 22 girls competing in total and I finished in 18th position. It took me 1h28 mins to do the whole thing (vs 1h08 for the winner). I was quite satisfied with my performance. I don't think I could have done much better with the running. However I think that I have lost minutes during transitions. I have noticed that I did not have a proper technique for running with my bike. Other contestants managed to run while pushing their bike with one hand on the saddle whereas I was running holding the handle bars with my two hands which was not efficient and slowed me down. Then during the second transition, I had to take my breath for a few seconds before starting the final 2.5K. Finally I had decided to cycle with my trainers and I believe that it was a mistake that costed me a few minutes on my bike chrono. Using my clipping shoes would have allowed me to use more of my leg power. But I have learnt the lesson for next time.

That's a monster bag!

I have just finished packing my bike and it looks HUGE!!!

Jeez! How am I going to carry that all the way to Paris and Besançon!?!? I am not really looking forward to travelling tomorrow. It is going to be a mission!

First fall :-(

Last week, I have tried for the first time to cycle with my clipping shoes. I have to say I was not really comfortable with the idea of having my feet attached to the pedals. So although I bought the shoes almost a year ago…they have been sitting on my shoe rack until now and I have only been using my trainers.

So at first I just did a little trip to visit a friend who leaves only 15 minutes away from my flat. All went well. I just had to kind of anticipate when I was going to stop and unclip my feet in advance. Following this successful attempt, on Monday I decided to cycle to work with the clipping shoes. All went well in the morning although I managed to bang my left knee against the bike frame when unclipping which earned me a nice bruise.

The ride back home was another story though… I managed to lose my balance when waiting at a red traffic light and I fell... I had my right foot still attached to the bike and did not have time to detach it…that gained me 2 more bruises!! One on the right knee and a massive one on the butt. Nice bruise harvest for one day! Thanks God, it did not really hurt physically. It was more embarrassing than anything else. It’s my pride that took the hit really!

Next challenge: Tri Vauban on 12th June

On Sunday 12^th June, I will be taking part to the Tri Vauban in Besançon (France). Besançon is my hometown. So I am really excited to go back home for a long weekend and compete in front of my family. My mom even offered to help with the organisation and she’ll be distributing drinks to participants.

This triathlon will be my first Sprint distance (750m, 20KM, 5KM) ever, therefore it is definitely a personal challenge. I will be able to see if all the training I have been doing lately has been fruitful. Most particularly my swimming. In my last triathlon (back in September 2010), I was not able to swim front crawl and lost a lot of time in the water. So since last winter, I have been focusing on learning front crawl and hopefully have made some progress.

I really don’t know what to expect from this competition because it is the first time I am doing it and I have no idea of the level of the participants. I have checked the entrants list and was a bit stressed because there are only 4 girls racing including me. And I am under the impression that they all belong to the local triathlon club. So probabilities are that I will probably finish first from the bottom of the list (this is the optimistic me speaking here!). But what the hell! I am excited anyway! I will get to swim in the river Doubs in my new wetsuit and discover my hometown from a new angle.

The other tricky bit is travelling with my bike to France. When I booked my train tickets back in March, I checked the conditions for travelling with a bike and I have to say, it is not cheap! If you want to avoid additional charges (£30 per leg for the Eurostar and I think it was €10 per leg for the TGV), you need to disassemble the bike and put it in a bag or suitcase, then it is considered as a hand luggage. So that is definitely what I am going to do. I have bought a second-hand bag on eBay and my friend Gavin showed me how to remove my wheels, saddle, pedals and handle bars (let’s hope I will remember how to put them back or I am in trouble).

Last Saturday, I also went to the local health shop to purchase energy bars, shots and gels that I will need for the tri. I think I bought supplies for the whole season! But this way I am sure that I have enough of everything! I have been told to try them before race day to avoid bad surprises.

This morning, I was preparing my training for the next 4 days before leaving London for Besancon. I think that training planning is definitely something that I need to improve in the future as I am really not structured at all at the moment. I do things as I feel and apply no science to them at all which is probably detrimental to performance improvement. I do not keep track of anything (heart rate, pace, etc…) so I do not know how I perform and if I am doing better or worse than the previous training session. I can only measure progress thanks to the results I get when I race. So I am not really serious on that topic. I will have to change that!

Welcome!!!

Who am I and how did I end up doing triathlons…

My name is Flo. I am French but I have been living in London for the past 7 years. I’d like to think of myself as an active girl but it has not always been the case. When I was a kid, my parents forced me to do a lot of different activities including sports…but I just hated it! I’ve tried almost everything: gymnastic, swimming, badminton, karate…the first thing I did when I left home was to stop everything! Having a ‘penchant’ for sweet food…well it was not long until I put on the kilos. But I did not think at the time that exercising was a solution to stay fit.

It is in 2004 when I moved to London that I realised that. I used to live in Willesden Green with 2 blokes. One of them was a Norwegian who was always on his bike or at the gym and who would not stop saying how much he enjoyed it. So I thought: Hmmm! If he is so keen, that must be for a reason…why don’t you give exercising another shot? Two other events comforted me in this decision. The first event was when I had to go to the doctor because I needed a certificate stating that I could walk in order to participate in a seminar…the Doctor looked at me with horror, said that I was unfit (actually, the exact term she used was: OBESE!) and even if she signed the certificate in the end, she seemed quite reluctant to do so. That was quite a humiliating and upsetting moment for me to be honest (she was basically saying that I was so unfit that I could not even WALK!!) and it gave me a lot to think about. Around the same period, I had a train to Paris to catch and I was quite late so I started running…I was totally out of breath and could not stop coughing afterwards. It was really painful and it took me no less than 30 minutes to recover. That’s what convinced me that I could not carry on like that. So in 2005 I did something absolutely crazy…I applied at my local gym! And guess what, I was totally addicted from Day 1.

I could barely run 10 minutes on the treadmill at first but I improved very quickly and next think I know I was running my first 10K, then it was a half marathon and last year, I entered my first Super Sprint triathlon.

When I think about it, I really wonder how I did not realise earlier all the benefits I could get from physical exercise. I guess I was just lazy and clueless. But I am glad that I came back to my senses and changed my habits. For me sport has become a real source of wellbeing and satisfaction. I like that I can set myself goals and work towards achieving them. It is also extremely rewarding (addictive shall I say) to see myself make progress and to even surprise myself sometimes by achieving better results than expected.

Why this blog…

The idea of a blog emerged while I was studying the CAM diploma in Managing Digital Media. The final assignment for one of the modules required to create a blog about pre-defined subjects – none of which inspired me at all. What I wanted was to write about triathlon which is my No 1 hobby at the moment. So I did write a blog about Charity and Sports for the diploma but then I decided to really write a blog about my experience of triathlon.

I also want to be able to share my experience of this discipline with my friends and family and anyone who will visit this site and take time to read it.

Finally I see this blog as a sort of digital diary that will help me put words on my feelings and emotions towards this sport (and other sports too…). This is a way to keep track of what I have been doing and remember what I have felt about it at the time.

Final word…

I hope you’ll enjoy reading the blog…and don’t hesitate to share your comments with me!