26

Here we go…..

With Blenheim fast approaching (5th June) I was starting to get a little nervous about not having done any triathlon racing this year. As many of you triathletes know, it is getting harder and harder to get last minute places in races as many of them now fill up so quickly. Saying that, I did get myself a last minute place at the Shiplake College Triathlon at Henley on Thames last Sunday.

It was a 400m pool swim, 28.5km bike and a 5km run. The purpose of the race was to go through the motions of doing a triathlon to pick up on anything that may help me at Blenheim. I wasn’t feeling 100% so the plan was to race at about 80% effort. I had spent the majority of last week in bed with a throat infection and a middle ear infection and hadn’t quite recovered.

There was a lovely outdoor heated pool on the grounds of the college and were set off in groups of 16 – 20 for our 16 lengths. I stupidly had a head on collision with another swimmer and now have a yellow bruise on my forehead to remind me to swim straight! The transition was 200 up from the pool through the grounds. It was a good chance to dry off as it wasn’t exactly warm! My bike was so close to the bike in/out I didn’t bother putting my shoes on the bike and just got my feet straight into them and ran the 5m to the mount line.

The bike course was 2 laps between 2 roundabouts with plenty of up and down. I have been doing lots of riding so was feeling good on the bike and taking it easy. With the undulations it was a good opportunity to practice changing gears on my Focus Izalco Chrono, something I rarely have to think about doing laps in Regent’s Park!

My 80% effort soon became 85% when I noticed this girl edging closer at each turnaround and my competitive spirit kicked in. I was overtaken about 1km out of transition and kept her within reach for about 500m before a car slipped into the gap forcing me back. I went into transition about 15 seconds behind, but thanks to all my transition training, went out onto the run first.

The run started with a 400m run over an open field so I really put the hammer down to see if I was going to be taken out by my competitor. Lucky for me I managed to open a gap as well as relax the pace to below my normal race pace and maintain the lead. The course was a mix of on and off road with the on road sections being on very quiet streets. It was actually very peaceful and as I wasn’t going at a silly pace hurting too much to notice anything, I was really enjoying myself.

I picked up the pace slightly for the last km and was very pleased to take 2nd place over all with only 15 seconds separating me from 1st place! It was also enough to take 1st in my age group so I couldn’t be happier. It has given me a huge amount of confidence for Blenheim this weekend, I’m now really looking forward to the race which is the ‘official’ kick off to my season.

I have also been out and about seeing new parts of England and recently spent the weekend in Padstow. Of course the bikes came along so the Dutchman and I could do some training. It wasn’t as hard core as we would have liked given I wasn’t feeling so great. In hindsight I shouldn’t have done any training as I think doing the ride pushed me from ‘feeling rough’ into ‘awful can’t get out of bed for days sick’. Never mind, the sun was shining and the beautiful coastline calling, it was hard to say no!

Following the Blenheim race on Saturday I am driving out to Wales to take part in the Verenti Dragon Ride on Sunday. Action packed weekend! Best of luck if you are racing this weekend.

Happy training.

Cx

25

Another 2nd Place

Last weekend saw me doing my longest ride since October last year, and thankfully no punctures! The Dutchman and I headed to Surry to attack the hills as part of the SWRC May Flyer 150km sportive. It didn’t seem to matter what way we turned, we were always cycling into a head wind. It was a well run event and you had to carry yellow cards to be signed off at the checkpoints along the way. I handed in both our cards at the end and much to the Dutchman’s amusement; I have been given an official time 3 minutes slower than him! I finished in 5:45 for the 150km and managed the 2nd fastest time overall for the women. Very happy!

Training has been coming along great guns with the count down on to my first big race of the season at the beginning of June at Blenheim. It is a sprint triathlon race on the Saturday followed by the Verenti Dragon Ride on the Sunday. I have a very understanding boss who has allowed me to drop back to working 4 days a week and I am using Wednesday’s out of the office as a big training day.

I find that I can get in 3 quality sessions throughout the day and have time for the all important recovery. I’m doing my bike sessions around Regents Park and am very pleased that my Wiggle jersey acts as a beacon for people to come chat to me. Do say Hi if you see me out and about.

A few weeks ago I started the Wiggle Super Series Ups and Downs Sportive but unfortunately didn’t finish the event. It was one of those days where everything went wrong. We ran out of tubes and CO2 as well as ending up with a faulty valve extender and made the decision to call it quits after having spent more time fixing flats than actually cycling. I was very sad not to finish however it was nice to catch up with the Wiggle boys who were manning the Wiggle display tent. It also meant I got back to London in time to catch my friend running the marathon. She put in such a stellar performance she has inspired me to enter one for this year. At this stage I am thinking Nice in November but suggestions welcome!

With all the ash cloud chaos I took advantage of Easyjet offering free changes to flights and headed out to Nice for 5 days. I got in some fabulous training as well as a couple open water swims. I am pleased to say it was just over 15 degrees in the water and felt positively balmy compared to Hampstead Lido! We did some great rides over the weekend including 120km on Saturday taking in Col de Braus and Col de Turini which from the bottom is a 24km climb from the Sospel side. It was lovely being out in shorts and a short sleeve jersey rather than wrapped up in winter gear! It is a tough climb to the top but you are rewarded with a 60km descent back to Nice so definitely worth the effort!

Happy training!
Cx

This Month busy bee Carolyn Hewett has been featured in two magazines, Health & Fitness and Triathlete Europe.

In Triathlete Europe they feature an age group triathlete each month which exemplifies the performance-body weight connection.

Click to read the feature below.

Healthandfitnessonline.co.uk have featured Carolyn where they met three women that have taken up triathlon. They show the benefits of taking up this fantastic all-round workout!

Click to read the feature below.

24

A Little Thing Called Love….

I have been lengthening my weekend rides as I am currently in my ‘base fitness’ phase of the year. That means it is lots of longer rides and runs to build up my endurance. A couple of weeks back The Dutchman and I headed out to the Chilterns for a 75km hilly ride and I took my Focus Cayo Expert out for a spin. WOW. What a piece of machinery! I’m no bike expert but this is a fantastic bike and I have fallen head over stiletto heels in love. It is really comfortable and I could really notice how responsive it is to the slightest pressure on the pedals. The only changes I made were to put some narrow bars on it simply because I’m not very broad and wanted the best possible handling as this is the bike I am going to use in sportives this year. I also added a nice comfy seat which is a must!

I love riding in the Chilterns and as I was grounded last weekend and couldn’t fly to Nice, we headed out to Princes Risborough to take part in the VC10 sportive. It is a little early for me to try and do well at a 100 miler, so we opted for the 66 mile route. Despite many assurances at the start that we wouldn’t need a map (they didn’t have any!) there were still a few crucial turns that were not marked. As a result we did an extra 3 miles and an extra climb.

I wasn’t particularly bothered as it is all in the name of training right now! For the last 30 miles The Dutchman and I hooked up with a group of around 20 riders and as the pace sped up, the group was whittled down to 8 for the last 20 miles and then the riding really began. We were really pushing it and there were times when I thought I wouldn’t be able to hold on. I ignored the pain in my chest and lungs and enjoyed the fact that my new bike made me feel like Cancellara! Overall I finished 2nd woman and 8th overall out of 95 riders.

I have been struggling with both my hip flexors over the past month and getting quite a bit of pain when I run but thanks to my fantastic physio Ellis Taylor at Tatami Health in Angel I am feeling much better and up to running for 40 minutes pain free. Part of the rehab is to strengthen all core muscles, even the deep ones that sometimes get neglected. Last week he did an ultrasound of my abs to see how things are going. Really cool to see how the slightest contraction can move the deepest muscles. It has also allowed me to really understand what muscles to contract when running and also on my timetrial bike.

So one for the girls, I have been using a Shock Absorber support swim suit and also a shock absorber bra and I have to say Ladies, they are great. I had never really thought about support in a swim suit before, but now that I have it, I’m not sure how I used to swim comfortably without it. I am in the pool 3-4 times a week for 60-90 minutes each session and the suit is holding up really well and no signs of wear and tear after 6 weeks of giving it a beating. If you are in the market for a new swimsuit or bra, have a look at the shock absorber range. Wiggle are also running a great promo where you can win a years supply of sports bras, well worth having a look at!

I am really looking forward to the Wiggle Ups and Downs sportive on the 25th April. If you are going to be riding, do say hi!

One last thing, this quote was on a bike forum post responding to a question about bike storage and how important it is: ‘In my divorce papers – listed as one of the reasons: “he kept his 6 bikes inside the house”.’ I had to laugh at that!

Happy training.
Cx

23

Easter Training

It happened! You know that one ride early in the season where all of a sudden you can go faster and harder and it actually feels good? Well it *finally* happened for me on the weekend after weeks of suffering! I was out in Nice during the Easter break with the Dutchman and some friends and did some awesome rides in the sun.

We headed out on Friday to climb St Roch which offers some spectacular views back across the valley and out to the Mediterranean. The road over St Roch was built back in the ‘30’s by a car club and is for the sole purpose of providing some fun driving for its members. I have done the climb a few times and I am yet to see a car on it, but you do see the odd cyclist giving it a go. Officially it is a 25km climb, but it never feels that long as there is some recovery stretches in there, as well as going through a town where we stop for a water refill that breaks it up. It is a tough one, but getting to the top and getting to do the hour long descent home is worth it! You can check out the profile here.

Sunday we did a shorter ride that took in my favourite Col Eze. I love it for the views and also that the parts where it really kicks up don’t last too long. Knowing we were only doing a short ride I really pushed it for the last 20mins of the climb to test out the legs. The 30 min descent down to Menton along the Grand Corniche is fabulous with some wide sweeping corners that you can really push it on. We had a motorist wind down his window at the lights at the bottom to tell us how much he enjoyed being overtaken by a cyclist when doing 70km hour! We continued on down to Menton which is on the sea, where we meet our non cycling friend for a coffee and tarte citron before continuing along the coast and back up into the mountains for the last climb of the day to cross over into Italy. Another quick coffee in Italy and we then caught the train back to Nice to catch the last 40 km of the Tour of Flanders in the local sports bar.

Monday the Dutchman and I went out for a snappy 3 hour ride in the glorious sunshine. One of the many great things about training in Nice is that you can’t really do a flat ride, so even a short one will always include some decent vertical. I’m keen at the moment to do as much climbing as possible given the Fausto Coppi is not that far away and it will be a long day in the saddle.

So, back in London this week and hitting the training hard. This weekend I’m planning a ride in the Chilterns to test out my new Lake cycling shoes and Las Victory helmet that arrived today. I used both Lake and Las last year and they are great. Very comfortable and most importantly for me, they match my outfit and bike! Thanks Wiggle!

Happy training.
Cx

22

Getting warmer…

In my last post I mentioned that I was going to be doing a photo shoot for Health and Fitness magazine for their May issue. It was a really fun day and I got to hang out with Caroline who is going to be competing in her first triathlon this year as well as Beverly Turner (James Cracknell’s wife) who has done plenty of races, swimming and modelling at a high level. Our photographer Will Ireland (who did the pictures of Nicole Cook in this months Pro Cycling magazine) was fabulous and really made us all relax and have a great time and we had lovely sporty outfits picked out by Jo and Victoria from H&F Magazine.

The Dutchman and I went to Nice a few weeks ago to watch the final 2 stages of the Paris Nice bike race. On Saturday we climbed Col de Vence and then went about halfway down to watch the pros go up it. They were a little bit faster than us! It was really great to see so many people out watching the race, lots of people had set up picnics and loads more had ridden out to watch. I took this shot of this guy who had set up ‘camp’ on col de Vence and was playing some really pumping music to get the riders going. It made for a really great atmosphere.

On the Sunday we went down to the start and wandered through where the team buses were parked. I do love that about cycling that you can get in amongst it all. We watched the start of the race on the promenade and then rode out and climbed Col Eze which is one of my favourites because of the fantastic views over the Mediterranean. It almost makes you forget how much it hurts going up it! We picked our spot perfectly as we got to see Contador make a break for it, in the big chain ring of course. I’m just in awe of these guys seeing how fast they fly up these tough climbs, it certainly motivates me to train harder!!

I have just been away for a week in Austria where we did some tough skiing. My legs were so fatigued by Friday afternoon I could hardly make turns any more. I’m not sure that I will gain any solid benefit other than a bit of leg strength from a week of skiing but it was fun. I really think it helped wearing my 2XU compression tights under my ski pants as I was completely recovered each morning and allowed me to hit the slopes hard again each day. Now the training gets serious as the countdown is on to my first triathlon 8 weeks away. I was out yesterday for a long ride around Stevenage with some friends and it was just glorious. So nice to be cycling in the sun again without having to watch out for patches of ice.

I’m heading back to Nice for 4 days over Easter to get some solid training in and I’m planning on doing my first open water swim which will no doubt be ‘fresh’ but will be good preparation for starting to swim in Hampstead Lido. The Dutchman and I have a friend coming with us who is doing Ironman Nice so there will be a reccie of the course. We are going to be there to support him during the race and I’m really looking forward to being on the other side of the fence and watching an ironman rather than doing one!

Have a great Easter and happy training,
Cx

21

Is This Winter Ever Going To End?

I had call out of the blue this week from Joanna Ebsworth who is the Editor of Health and Fitness magazine. Jo contacted me as she is doing a case study in conjunction with Shock Absorber in preparation for the Shock Absorber Women’s Only Triathlon and got in touch because I won that event last year. I spent 40 mins on the phone with her today doing an interview and on Saturday I am meeting up with her and her team to do a photo shoot! I’m really excited about it and promise to take some ‘behind the scenes’ shots to share on the blog.

So it hasn’t all been sitting on my butt talking to journalists, there has actually been an increase in training! A trip to the US and a cold I picked up there slowed down the training but I have recovered and I am back on track doing 2 sessions a day and loving it! I had a lesson last week in punctuality when I turned up at my track session 10 mins late by which time those who were on time had already decided the weather was too awful to do the session. I ended up running the session with another tardy athlete who took this shot of me running in what only be described as a downpour.

I have also started doing some technique classes to sort out my swim stroke with www.Triforfitness.co.uk My swimming lets me down big time so I have committed to more hours in the pool and some of that on correcting the bad habits I have picked up. It is frustrating to have to slow down but as my coach Terry keeps telling me, you have to slow down to get faster. The big thing that keeps resonating through my head is that I have to make every stroke count. Unfortunately that involves memorising at least 5 things to do differently and staying co-ordinated whilst doing them!! I can already feel an improvement and if nothing else I am much more conscious of what I need to improve on.

Usually I duck out to Nice to get some warmer weather, but this year has also been exceptionally cold there, so much so there has been snow in Nice which is very rare. The Dutchman and I went out for a ride and we were very surprised to be hitting snow at low altitudes. Rather than fight it we did our ride on the Saturday and embraced the snow and went skiing on Sunday.

Happy training and more after Saturday’s photo shoot!

Cx

Photos

19

Happy New Year

My training volume picked up this week and the lovely easy training days of December are already a distant memory. Due to the icy conditions I am sure I am not alone in having spent more hours than normal on the turbo and the treadmill this week. Unfortunately I’m not as tough as the mountain biking boys of Team Wiggle who have been out training in the snow as you can see from Lee’s recent blog.

January is always the month in the training programme where my volume increases and I get back into the habit of doing 2 training sessions a day, I’m really motivated at the moment and much to my surprise, really loving swimming which has to be a first! It is by far my weakest leg when it comes to triathlon and if I can find a reason to run or bike rather than swim I take it. I was a little bit scared I wouldn’t remember how to swim after 6 weeks out of the water. I had laser eye surgery last November which meant I couldn’t swim for a month. I then had a 2 week holiday in France over Christmas where I got to bike, run and ski but no swimming. It doesn’t seem to have hurt me, in fact I feel better in the water which will hopefully translate to some new PB’s later this season!

I leave a bike in France and despite the huge amount of rain we had in Nice, I managed to get out and do some wonderful rides and only got soaked once! In the December issue of Pro Cycling, Col Eze was featured as a ride which is also one of my personal favourites and one I do quite frequently as it is a great way to cut across to Menton to the start of Col de la Madone, a ride that was also featured in a Pro Cycling magazine Nov 2009 I think. Trek fans will recognise where the name of the bike came from J.

Riding in the Alps is always a humbling experience for me. My strength in racing is flat, windy courses so faced with a 10km climb with a 8-10% average, I am not really in my element. It is of course good for me and makes me stronger but it doesn’t make me happy until I crest the top of those mountains. I tend to drift off if left to my own devices and enjoy the views rather than pushing myself to the max, which is where The Dutchman comes in. Every climb we did over the break was used for interval training and he was right there next to me making sure I was putting in 110%. If it was a short climb of 5-7km it was 1km hard, 1 km easy. Anything longer than that was 2km hard and 1km easy. Trust me, there was no enjoying the views this time!

So back to work, back to training and fine tuning the race schedule for the year. I am mixing it up a bit more this year and sticking to my Olympic and Sprint distance triathlons, some early season duathlons and also a few more sportives including the Fausto Coppi in Italy which will no doubt hurt a lot given my current climbing fitness! I’m busy recruiting my merry band of domestiques to help me out there. www.faustocoppi.net

Be careful out there on the ice! Happy Training.
Cx

End of Season Lowdown with Team Wiggle

Our Team Wiggle athletes have had a cracking year, standing atop rostrums the world over in road racing, mountain biking and triathlon. Before they put their feet up for the festive break, we caught up with them all as they reflect on 2009 and look ahead to 2010. Age-group triathlete Carolyn Hewett had a cracking year, focusing on short course triathlon for the first time after several successful seasons competing at Ironman events…

18

Team Wiggle 2009 Highlights.

Q. Looking back on your 2009 season, are you pleased with how it went?

A. Yes, it was my first year racing sprint and Olympic distance and I loved it. The best part is you can go do a race in the morning, be home, showered and ready to go out to lunch. It’s very different to the whole day slog that goes with doing an Ironman and lunch is always better than eating gels!

Q. What was the highlight of your year?

A. Finding out I had made it onto Team Wiggle. Racing wise, it was winning five out of the seven triathlons I competed in during the year. I’m most proud of my age group win (30 – 34) at The London Triathlon by a six-minute margin.

Q. What was the funniest moment?

A. Getting stuck in my wetsuit in transition with it glued to my arms and not being able to move it further than my elbows. It doesn’t get any easier if you get the giggles whilst trying to escape! I will never again underestimate the value of Bodyglide.

Q. What was the most important lesson you learnt?

A. Don’t forget the Bodyglide! Also, not to eat too much when racing sprint and Olympic distance. Having raced Ironman distance for a few years it was ingrained in me to eat, eat, eat and I struggled early season with stomach cramps from overloading my stomach. It took me a while to get the balance right and to lose the fear that I was going to blow up.

Q. What are your plans for winter training? How’s it going so far?

A. I’m eating a huge wedge of carrot cake whilst writing this, so the diet could definitely be better! I have been running more and spending some time in the gym but doing shorter sessions than normal. I’m heading to France for a couple weeks over Christmas and New Year so will be riding and running when I’m not skiing. Training really picks up for me in January.

Q. What does 2010 have in store for you? What are your major races going
to be?

A. I am going to be unemployed by choice early next year so I am planning on spending some time training in Australia to get ready for Blenheim and Windsor triathlons. Other major races include the Kiron Sportive, Dextro Energy in Hyde Park, the London Triathlon and the London Duathlon.

Carolyn on her way to victory at the Timex Women’s Triathlon. She says:

“I love this shot – I love that my feet aren’t touching the ground. I was being chased down by two fast runners and the fear of losing my first place made me push harder than ever before.”