There’s something about cycling events and absolutely horrific alarm clock times. Today’s alarm time was 0230hrs alarm. Dreadful.   I hadn’t wanted to leave my bike in a car next to the road all night, so I had to try and manoeuvre my bike and kit into the back of my car without waking up any of the neighbours or offending them with my creative swearing as I trapped my fingers in various painful ways.   I’d booked the car park at the last minute, so I was driving towards it hoping it wasn’t blocked by the multiple Ride London road closures. I had no clue what I would do then. I didn ..read more

This was enough encouragement. She decided that not only did she want her 10 t-shirt but she also wanted a PB. She had 36 minutes 36 seconds to beat and chose her favourite course at Sixfields and her current PB course to attempt this at.    As a dutiful mother and motivator, I was told to find out what pace she had to run for a PB and be chief pacer. Her friend G was coming with us and she was a bit quicker than the Small but she was happy to run at Small’s pace. As G was under 11, she also had to stay close to me according to the parkrun rules. Ok no pressure. Pace set, cheering b ..read more

If you regularly wear running watches, then you'll know that the first thing to break is the strap. And once they start to go, that’s it, no amount of tape or glue will hold them. Trust me … I've tried both and it's an expensive lesson if you lose the watch! I was well aware that the strap on my trusty Garmin ForeRunner 945 was 3 years old and starting to look – and smell! - a bit funky, so when FitStrap offered to send me 2 straps for the Garmin for free in return for an  review, I jumped at the chance. (As usual my reviews are completely unbiased – I say what I think!) So first ..read more

I’ve done a few multi-day long bike trips from very well organised events like London Revolution to self-supported cycling from Birmingham to Portland or Kidderminster to Bangor and back. While I’ve enjoyed the organised trips a lot, the self-supported trips can be the most rewarding. You do have to carry a lot more kit for these and you have to be self-sufficient in the event of a problem.   It’s a lot to remember. But luckily, I am a lover of lists. And I thought I’d share one of my bike touring lists in case it’s helpful for you too.   Backpacks. Try not to carry a back ..read more

When I wrote my first guest-blog for this site, 'It’s Enjoyment, Jim, But Not As I Know It', I hinted that it may be part one of a two-parter.  Said blog was, in no small part, about how my life had been turned upside down by a sudden and mysterious illness, which left me breathless at the merest hint of physical movement (even brushing my teeth) - and when I wrote it, I genuinely didn’t know what was wrong with me or whether I was ever going to recover.  I was, to put it bluntly, very scared.  As it happens, with that blog having been published on 31st August, I was just ..read more

I had a weekend adventure planned. 160 miles cycling, camping in a field and a beer bus. Sounded pretty good to me! The event was the Sidley London Revolution something I’d done a few years ago with Becca where we spent the weekend getting lost, wearing our pyjamas to the beer bus and having a grand old time. I’d liked it so much I’d entered again in 2020 … and we all know how well 2020 went for the world. So this was my deferral from 2020.   My alarm was set for a time normally reserved for catching a flight somewhere hot but driving at 0400hrs did mean that the traffic was light th ..read more

A few years ago, my little sister dared me to do Veganuary with her (Link to the Secret Vegan post here ). I’d always been ve-curious so I took her up on the challenge and it turned into almost 3 years meat and dairy free. During that time, I learned to cook without using animal products, phased out the leather goods I’d been used to using and got more of an understanding of how the animals we rely on are being used – and abused.   I was vegan to a degree; I didn’t eat animal products but I found the lines were blurred … and where do you draw them? For instance, here’s horsehair in ..read more

Sometimes I think I'm possibly the only person to put on weight during ironman training. That does take a lot of dedication, right. To snacks. A huge volume of training … and clearly an even larger volume of food. I'd be quite proud of my snacking skills if I hadn't clearly been wearing my fondness on my arse, my tummy and probably my chubby, chubby cheeks. And completely unable to get into any of the lovely clothes I'd bought last summer without looking like an pair of tights stuffed with sausage meat. Not my finest look.  I therefore decided it was time to take action. Not just train ..read more

I do triathlon. Which means that rather than being good at one sport, I am mediocre at three sports. I do generally like doing all three, particularly when I'm not doing any of them and I'm remembering warm trail runs in the sunshine (rather than miserable February miles reps when there's sideways rain), cafe stops and rolling lanes on the bike (rather than headwinds, broken ribs and frozen fingers) and sunny days spent splashing around in a river with the promise of a hot chocolate afterwards (rather than getting kicked by a breaststroker while doing 400m reps with chlorine up my nose ..read more

Last night I dreamed I went to Austria again. It seemed to me that I was running down the corridors leading to the gates at the airport. The corridors were grey and anonymous, tiled floors. I couldn't remember which gate I was trying to get to or the time of the flight. As I ran, I was dropping my triathlon kit and I was going to be late. I'd not make it. I ran and ran, my heart beating fast and tears filling my eyes. I'm stealing a passage from Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, but the dreams were real. Running through airports always late, forgetting a crucial bit of kit … and I'd wake. And ..read more