Lisa - Fat Girl Fit

Velo Birmingham

Well that didn’t go to plan!

There were 8 members of Romford CC taking part in the Velo Birmingham bike ride. This was the first ride for this new event and was 100 miles on closed roads.

I was somewhat nervous as I had been told it was hilly and anyone who knows me knows hills are not my favourite but I also know that the only way to get better at them is to do them so I had signed up both myself and my husband and we would be riding together! We had completed the Ride London together earlier in the year but because of my training and his Ironman training we have not done that much together and it was, quite frankly, just nice to get away and be doing something together!

We’d arrived the day before and visited the bike expo at the NEC before heading into the city centre to collect our registration packs. I had assumed these would be in the same place as I was assuming it would be a similar set up to Ride London but this was not the case and both were at different arenas and I will admit the registration for the Velo was an anti climax with most people, including us, walking in getting their packs and leaving as there was not much there.

After a meal with fellow club members on the Saturday evening we were all ready to the ride. Sunday morning saw an early start and we were in our loading pens by 7:40am with an 8:10am start time. I’d taken the pic above and loaded to my social media with the note ‘ok Velo Birmingham be kind’ and little did I know it would do the complete opposite!

Unfortunately the start was somewhat delayed due to either an accident or obstruction on the route – not sure which as we were told both. This meant that when we were off it seemed a lot more congested than a normal cycling event.

It was lovely to see so many clubs out with numerous members cycling together – we even grabbed a cheeky pic with another local club to us Hornchurch CC.

Having groups from clubs together did result in more cycling 4, 5, 6 abreast and not adhering to the usual cycling etiquette allowing for overtaking on the right due to lack of space and when you called ‘on the right’ which is standard to indicate you would be overtaking there was no movement and often quite rude responses that were totally uncalled for.

There was some shocking cycling that I witnessed and within the first two miles the group of four i was in was in two sometimes three individual groups but this is to be expected on larger events.

Unfortunately four 4 miles in, as I was chatting with my husband, something in my left knee just went. I had no idea what was going on but the pain saw me immediately stopping although as I put my left foot down there was nothing there in my leg to hold me up and I ended up in a heap on the floor. I was, however, still clipped in on my right foot and my husband stopped as I was screaming at him to get it off me.

And that was my ride done and thanks to the support of my husband, who stayed with me, meant his ride was also over.

I can’t fault the event staff at all, they were fab! The ride itself had volunteer domestiques and several stopped to check I was ok. A medic was called and I was put in an ambulance with my bike and taken away to be seen to. My husband cycled back to meet me, beat the ambulance and meant he had completed a whopping ten miles (only 90 short of what he had intended to do).

I was told that I had displaced my kneecap, torn my medial collateral ligament and had crepitus. After lots of painful movements I was strapped up with rock tape and sent on my way – just as I remembered I had left my bike in the ambulance!

My husband got my bike and our car and picked me up and feeling pretty sorry for myself, and after a lot of tears, we started our journey home. This was not how this weekend was supposed to end.

I’ve heard that the feed stations ran out of food and water and that locals had put nails and oil on the roads in protest and I’d seen some pretty shocking comments on the facebook page for the event. I can’t comment as my four miles is not exactly going to paint an accurate picture.

I hope those who took part enjoyed it and I hope the support on the route was well received as I am sure the money raised for different charities will be.

I think for now after coming off my bike in Newcastle last year and now in Birmingham, both of which seeing me ending up in the back of an ambulance, I have learned the north do not want me to cycle there!

I am not letting this set me back though and there will be blog posts about my recovery I’m sure. I’ve had a cry, know that there are some events I will be silly to try and take part in so will miss those, but I’ve pulled up my big girl knickers, dusted myself off and back to thinking positive!

Category: OCR

Almost time for Spartan Beast

It’s less than two weeks until the Spartan Beast in Windsor and I’m excited and nervous in equal measure.

What have I been up to as part of my training for this event? Quite a lot as it happens.

I had a private training session with a group of friends at The PT Barn where I learned lots of techniques and managed to climb a six foot wall unaided!

I have taken part in both Nuclear Blast and Nuclear Blackout obstacle runs. Nuclear is always fun and a great place for trail running and obstacle practice too.

I also took part in Pukka Races Only Fools Ride Horses obstacle run and although I was slightly underwhelmed (sorry to say this) with this event it is still part of the training and laughs were had.

It’s strange as I’ve realised my biggest obstacle fear is anything you have to go up and over. I wouldn’t say I’m scared of heights so not sure the reason behind this but I do know there will be a slack line wall that I am not looking forward to at Spartan but I will NOT be doing burpees at this obstacle!

I’m now on day 20 of my burpee challenge and it’s safe to say I hate burpees. Does anyone actually like them? They are exhausting and I almost jump for joy when I get to a day that is planking instead! But as I’ve mentioned before a failed obstacle at Spartan results in 30 burpees so this is a necessary evil!

Are you going to be at Spartan Windsor? I know that the lovely Mudd Queens have their own wave and I look forward to seeing these awesome ladies on the day!

Whilst I’m harping on about Spartan I would like to say well done a friend, Andy, who has just been out to take part in the Spartan Champs in Andorra. In the run up there was snow to make an already tough course even tougher. He was amazing as I knew he would be – well done Andy!

Category: Fitness

Overnight Oats

I am loving overnight oats at the moment. They have become my go to breakfast for most days. Don’t get me wrong I’m not a saint and there’s many days I wake up and just want a bacon sandwich. Doesn’t everyone have those days?

I eat breakfast at work and so take in my cute jar that’s been in the fridge overnight – you can make the oats in anything but I use a jar simply because I think it’s cute. I’m sad like that.

I like the fact that they are ready for me to just pick up out of the fridge and take with no prep in the morning and quite honestly I love breakfast. I don’t really get people who don’t eat breakfast – I don’t really get people who skip meals. I plan my days around my food. That’s my problem.

There are many variations of overnight oat recipes but the basic that I use is:

40g raw rolled oats
3tbsps fat free yoghurt (though I do sometimes use oat milk instead)
Fruit of my choice

The method is pretty simple in that I mix the oats and yoghurt/milk and put the fruit on top and then I put in the fridge overnight. You can add protein powder also if you wish although once I had a trial sachet I used and that turned my oats green which was odd?

I have also used the Lean in 15 recipe using quinoa which is also very good.

Overnight oats provide energy, fiber and help you control your appetite, resist food cravings, and boost your metabolism. Sadly it doesn’t mean the more you eat the more your metabolism works.

I use whatever fruit I have to top off mine and swap daily just to keep it interesting.

Do you make overnight oats and if so hit me with some flavour/topping ideas!

Category: Fitness

If you never try, you’ll never know

At the weekend I spent the afternoon at The PT Barn getting a private session with the amazing Coach Scotty with a group of lovelies. I loaded some of the pics and received a lovely message from a lady telling me that I was doing so well and inspired her to try new things and she was asking for some advice. My advice always is to just try because that is what I do. She had her reservations about being no good or slow etc and it made me want to write a blog post.

I’ve done a post before about my support network and always add posts following events or achievements and have even done them when I am in a funk.

I am on a fitness and weight loss journey and that in itself comes with a lot of ups and downs so whilst I try to be positive I am human and I have my ups and downs like everyone else – it is not all smiles and laughter.

But I am doing it.

I am not the quickest on the bike but I cycle.

I am not the fastest runner but I run.

I am not particularly good at obstacles but I take part and complete many obstacle runs.

Maybe one day I will be quicker, stronger and better but that is not what spurs me on – what spurs me on is getting fitter and enjoying it. For me I have to enjoy it.

Enjoying it is also partly down to the people I surround myself with who make it enjoyable.

I won’t harp on with lots of cliches but I will say there will always be someone quicker than you, always someone stronger, always someone you could compare yourself to whatever level you are but does that matter? Everyone has something different that drives them and I can only speak for myself but I just want to see an improvement in me. I am not in competition with anyone else.

I had the lucky opportunity to go to a training camp earlier in the year with Havering Tri and there are many amazing athletes there but their support helped me to better myself. However, at the start of that week I cried at my husband as I felt totally overwhelmed by the whole experience but I got it done.

I also attend a track session where most are quicker than me but their support helps me. I am always nervous about going to track but in the environment we run in you are never more than 100 metres from someone.

At the session I had at the PT Barn at the weekend learning obstacle techniques I had a total wobble at the top of a vertical cargo net climb but it was the support and patience of Scott and the rest of the group that got me through including getting myself up and over a six foot wall which I had never even come close to previously. I left that session with a huge smile on my face though later when I reflected and realised again most people there were better than me I had a moment where I asked myself why I was bothering at all?

You know what who cares? Everyone starts somewhere and if I didn’t do anything because of someone being better than me I would never do anything!

I am doing this for me and my achievements are no less or more than anyone else’s and neither should yours.

Enjoy your journey and do so unapologetically.

So just try because what is the worst that could happen? Speaking from experience if I had not tried many of the things on my journey I would not have achieved all I have so far nor met all the wonderful people I now know and call friends! Putting yourself out there and trying new things can bring the most amazing experiences.

This Girl Can and so can you!

Category: Events, OCR, Running

Inflatable 5k Run

On Saturday I went with my strength and conditioning coach (and friend), Emma, to take part in the Inflatable 5k Run hosted by UK Running Events.

It was held at Kempton Park Racecourse and was a 5k run with inflatable obstacles – what was not to love?!

As you enter the racecourse there is a stage and every 15 minutes the waves get ready with a warm up from Pure Gym instructors and then you are on your way.

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We were quite early so sat in the sun whilst we people watched. There was a great mix of people at the event including many families and people in fancy dress so had a great inclusive feel.

The finish was by the start and so we could see the two final obstacles, which was a huge slide and a jump – these were the biggest of the two obstacles and I was excited to get to those!

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I thought this would be an easy run and to all intents and purposes it was but it was hot and I am not great in the heat – hot sweaty mess to be precise – who takes a water drink on a 5k? Well I did on Saturday! And who knew inflatable obstacles could be harder than some rigid ones? It was hard to keep momentum whilst not losing your footing. My friend Emma was like a spider monkey and got through/up/over/under everything very quickly but I on the other hand have some very questionable Go Pro footage where I lose balance and at one point get hit full in the face by an inflatable cylinder.

Most people slid in a ladylike fashion down the slides and I was more like an uncoordinated mess with legs and arms flailing everywhere. I was, however, smiling and thoroughly enjoying myself!

There are about 10 inflatable obstacles throughout the course and my only complaint was that when we got round to the end we were then faced with the two large obstacles I mentioned earlier and you have to pick one! ONE! Like a kid in a sweet shop I wanted to stamp my feet as I wanted to go on both! You can’t show the two biggest and dangle the carrot of opportunity and make an over sized child pick just one! But they did. And I sulked. Quite rightly too. To be fair once the marshall realised I was reviewing this event on the blog they did say I could go on both but that seemed unfair on other people and the queues for these were already quite long and took a while to get on one. (I should note these were the only real queues we faced in the whole event and was for safety measures).

So the first was the huge slide which was the one I went on. It was not quite vertical at the back but almost and although there were steps you were instructed to hold on to the rope with both hands. Once at the top you sit on the edge and cross your feet and legs and down you go. Now here is the thing when I got there my friend Emma was sat there looking as if she was not going to go and I was thinking come on, man up it’s a bouncy castle slide get on with it. She had a gentle nudge from the marshal and arms and legs waving everywhere she went down. I should not have watched as I saw going down meant you don’t actually slide on anything it is like a free fall. And it was high!

My turn next and with Go Pro firmly gripped (meaning I turned off recording by mistake because I am that clumsy) I slowly moved further over the edge and then made myself go. Let me tell you it totally took my breath away and when I finally hit the slide my t shirt caught and I nearly exposed my left breast to everyone at the bottom. It literally moved further up my body as I slid down. Nightmare! Holy mother of gut! Cue laughing about it and running through the finish praying there was no photographer there – there wasn’t so not too bad after all.

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The tickets are a reasonable £25 and that is your entry, finishers medal, finishers t shirt and some milkshakes and water. There is an additional £3 for parking, £2 per item for bag drop and £6 per photo you purchase, unless you want it electronically in which case they are available early the following week for £10 per image. Adding everything up it still is not too bad though I always prefer to pay a price and not have these little surprises here and there but that’s just me.

So for those who say bouncy castles and inflatables are for children I say meh! No matter what age get on there and bounce and enjoy it! Though maybe put on a belt to hold down your t shirt or at least wear your fanciest sports bra!

My race entry was complimentary, but all opinions are my own.

Category: OCR

Spartan competition!

Have you ever done a Spartan OCR? Have you ever wanted to do a Spartan OCR?

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There is a weekend of events in Windsor on 30 September/1 October and I will be there taking on my second Spartan Beast with a friend who is a total newbie to Spartan events.

I’ve mentioned before that one of the things I love about Spartan (and the OCR community as a whole) is that it is welcoming to all abilities and levels. If you are stuck you are sure to find a helping hand along the course.

The Spartan Sprint is 5km+ with 20+ obstacles. A great starter distance for beginners, or a perfect test against time for the more advanced racer.

I have two tickets (valid for open heats for the Windsor Sprint) to give away. In order to be in with a chance of winning you need to visit my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/fatgirlfit2015/ where details of the competition can be found.

I will be announcing the winner after 1 week.

What have you got to lose?

Category: OCR

Training for a Spartan OCR

In a previous post I mentioned I would share some workout examples of how to prepare for a Spartan obstacle race. Spartan are really good at providing workouts on their website and if you sign up to their newsletter.

Not everyone has access to a local facility that can replicate the sort of obstacles that you may find on an OCR though you will have equipment available to you that will help without even realising.

I am lucky that I have the PT Barn local to me and not only does it have great facilities it also has a schedule that includes bootcamps and is run by one of the best OCR coaches in the country, Coach Scotty PT.

Below are some example workouts that cover all three distances you will need to complete in order to earn your Spartan trifecta medal.

Beginner week1 Beginner week2 Beginner week3 Beginner week4 Beast week1 Beast week2 Beast week3 Beast week4

There are also ways you can practice some of the obstacles at home such as:

tyre flip – tyres are available locally for most people and having one in the garden (as I do) means I can practice trye flips and drags and helps with strength.
sandbag carry – you can easily make your own if you don’t wish to buy. To make you will need a woven bag to avoid ripping (can purchase from any hardware store), heavy duty bin bag, zip ties, duck tape and sand. Fill the bin bag with sand to required weight and duck tape closed, put in the woven bag and duck tape and cable tie closed. These can rip easily so tape the entire bag so it will be stronger.
bucket carry – this is one of the typical spartan obstacles and I remember on the super in Peterborough seeing many comments wondering how long the obstacle was as it felt like it went on forever. To practice at home you can do so with any sort of industrial bucket (the ones used in spartan races do not have handles so practice on one the same), any matter to fill the bucket up to 40+ pounds (this can be weights, sand or rocks, which tend to be what you will find on most spartan races). If you have a hill to use with this then even better as spartan do love a hill!

Happy training – Aroo!!

Category: Fitness

Being an Iron Wife

I debated on writing this for a while. I don’t want it to come across as selfish but thought it would be interesting to write about the journey to Iron Man from the other side ie the other half of the one actually doing the event.

My husband has wanted to complete a full distance Iron Man event for as long as I can remember. He is very methodical and likes to look into everything in finite detail and understand fully what he is taking on. So he decided that this journey would be over a number of years and would work up from literally doing no exercise to getting into swimming, cycling and running.

This is a total full circle journey because when I say he did no exercise before he really didn’t and was almost forced into it due to an ongoing issue he had with his leg that required him, following medical advice, to lose weight and keep active.

As I know only too well getting into fitness is slow and it is hard. It takes time, perseverance and patience. It is a rocky road and not always smooth sailing. He started with his first 5k and completed it in a time of 49 minutes (his PB now is 21 minutes 25 seconds). The cycling he took to pretty quickly and as his times from triathlons show this is his strongest of the three disciplines – he is now a qualified cycling coach. The swim was also slow to start and 6 lengths would be the absolute limit.

Over a period of just under 3 years he slowly worked up his fitness and distances for each discipline whilst battling with his leg issues. He helped set up Romford CC and also joined Havering Tri and the support, advice and encouragement from both is second to none.

Before he would take on the full distance he decided that he would first complete a number of half distances. Four 70.3 distances, or middle distance, triathlons later as follows:

Outlaw half Holkham – 5 hours 51 minutes
Iron Man Weymouth – 5 hours 58 minutes
Iron Man Dubai – 5 hours 34 minutes
Outlaw half Nottingham – 5 hours 11 minutes

he was ready for the full.

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We set off on a very very very long drive to Austria. This race had been recommended by a very close friend who had taken part in it twice before and a group of us were going with 6 taking on the challenge.

Now lets talk about the training. Before he took on this challenge he asked me if I was ok with it? I found that odd at the time as I have always supported him and vice versa and of course I said yes, but I don’t think either of us realised how much that meant we would not see each other. That is not a criticism but the reality that if you take on something like this, and you train for it seriously, then you need to be prepared that the hours needed will make a difference on your life. You hear about people saying they are a triathlete widow and I understand why.

Now I run and cycle but I am not at the same level as my husband (he is so much slower than me ha ha) so there is not much training we can do together, however, we did try to plan our training so that we had some time together still but it was literally Friday (aka date night which was more realistically the night we fell asleep early together at home because we were both exhausted) and Sunday afternoon depending what long rides we had planned.

It is tough. There is no getting away from it and if anyone thinks its actually a walk in the park and much easier than I am making out then fair play to you but I would probably disagree.

Training per week comprised of approximately 17 hours. This is on top of a full time job, having a family, dog, an almost non-existent social life and never cutting the grass (I had to get that in about the grass sorry).

The other side is the mental, or emotional, side effects. You are tired, you are grumpy, you constantly doubt yourself, you are anxious and you inevitably take it out on those closest to you. But it’s not personal it is just a consequence.

The event itself is long. There is the travel, registration, swim practice, setting up bikes and test rides, activation sessions of short swim/bike/run to keep the muscles active. There is an early start on the day with most starting from 7am. There is a cut off anywhere from 15 to 17 hours depending on the event, as some vary slightly depending on the course, and so that is realistically the amount of time you could be waiting/supporting/cheering/checking a tracker every ten minutes to make sure the person you are there for is still moving and everything is ok.

For us race day started with a 4am alarm, breakfast, shower and on the road for 4:45am. Bikes were racked the day before and so after lots of layers of sudo cream (those who know will know why) tri suit was on under a tracksuit and day bags (containing items for post race) were put into bag drop. Wet suits and swim hats were put on followed by nervous kisses, wish of good luck and goodbyes through teary eyes saw my husband heading off to the swim start. Most of the time the athletes will go to an area that spectators cannot get access to and so we headed to as close as we could get and I managed to see him once more before he went into the water. It was a rolling swim start so you don’t really know how long someone has been as you are never entirely sure what time they entered the water. He completed the swim in 1 hour 14 minutes and was running to the transition area (about a 500m run which seemed quite long but hey ho). On to the bike which was two laps of 56 miles and saw big smiles from him – this was his happy place as a friend quite rightly said and he was there for 5 hours 24 minutes.

Back into transition and then on to the run which was laps again for 4 hours 26 minutes. All in the sun.

Now anyone who has been to an event with me knows I am loud. I sound like an old fish wife. If I am there to support then you will know about it. Anyone who has done an event with my husband will also know he stops whenever he sees me to give me a kiss. He will also stop to check friends taking part in the event are ok.

I stood by the swim exit then ran round to bike out. As it was laps I stayed there before he went out on the run. By moving around the course I saw him 7 times, which put my mind at rest that all was good and hopefully helped him too. The final positioning is on the finish tunnel and ten minutes can seem like hours. When you see the person you are waiting for enter that finish tunnel the emotion is immense! I cried, he cried, he finished and I carried on crying. Friends gave me hugs and tried to calm me down but once I started crying I couldn’t stop. I was very proud and also might get my husband back! Bloody Iron Man (joking) although I did see an Iron Man tshirt that said ‘in 140.6 miles I get my husband back’ – it made me laugh.

My husband completed his full distance Iron Man in Austria in a time of 11 hours 19 minutes and I couldn’t be more proud. It makes it all worth it.

austria

My husband is an Iron Man. I am tired and emotional. I think its called balance?

He is now thinking of the events he is doing next year, I didn’t want a holiday…….

Category: OCR

Spartan OCRs

Later in the year I am doing the Spartan Beast obstacle run and I am doing it with a friend who has not done a Spartan event before.

I completed by trifecta last year and so know the races well and am looking forward to going back again this year.

Spartan races offer open heats for all fitness levels, as well as competitive and elite heats for those with something more to prove. The main events are the sprint, super and beast. The sprint is 5km+ and 20+ obstacles, the super 13km+ and 25+ obstacles and the beast 20km+ and 30+ obstacles. When you complete all three distances in the same year you have earned your trifecta.

There is loads of information on the Spartan website including details on the races and a free workout that will help as part of your training. There are also training videos and tips for the various obstacles.

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You can also register to download a free couch to sprint plan and the website says:

You can run a Spartan Sprint. All you need to do is get off the couch and start to move. No more excuses. Download this Couch to Sprint training plan, and we’ll see you at the race.

And it is true!

I love obstacle running and I’ve said before I am not the best and cannot do some obstacles without the help of team mates and some I cannot complete at all but I am trying and I give it my all. When I ask people who are in the elites of obstacle racing what they believe has helped them in their training there are three things always mentioned. They are running, strength training and climbing.

Unless you are completing an urban OCR (my Spartan sprint last year was an urban run) you can pretty much assume it will be trail running of some sort with a mix of terrain (grass, mud, wooded areas, water etc). My first OCR I did in normal trainers and I would definitely recommend trail shoes – will save you sliding around like bambi! I wear Salomon Speedcross but there are many out there to choose from.

Strength training can come in various forms though for Spartan I would include burpees. I know very few people like burpees but at Spartan if you are unable to complete an obstacle you are given a 30 burpee penalty so why not practice during your training with them. Also push ups, planks, squats, carries of some sort and if you have a pull up bar – they are all good ways to train for these types of races.

Climbing I will admit is not one I have used in my training but from athletes I follow on social media, who also take part in these sort of events, I notice a lot regularly take part in climbing/bouldering and this will be a massive help for strength, agility and also grip strength too.

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I’ve attached a Spartan Obstacle Training Guide (link below) that is really useful. It includes a breakdown of the various obstacles that are a signature to Spartan races and how you can train for each of them. This also includes a number of bodyweight exercises that you will benefit from doing in your training too.

ObstacleTrainingGuide

I will be sharing some more plans that can be used on a week by week basis in the run up to the various Spartan events also.

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