There are several benefits to being a slow triathlete. For starters you don't have to worry about storming in and out of transition and getting on your bike the wrong way round. Taking your time to sit down to dry your feet and put your socks on (possibly even having a wee while you're sat [...]
In the theatre world they have a saying: Bad dress rehersal, good opening night. For a while I was taking solace in this saying, reassuring myself that my triathlon 'opening night' would go without a hitch. But there's been no dress rehersal, I've broken all the rules about trying all your kit before race day [...]
The last time I went swimming in open water was in a river in Cambodia. I learnt an important swimming lesson that day: keep your mouth shut. I spent the following day sat on a chair half way between my bed and a shared bathroom unsure which way to go. Yesterday, as panic began to [...]
The other year this blog was shortlisted for Cosmopolitan magazine's blog awards. I went to the awards party in a bar in Soho, drank a lot of cocktails (Cosmopolitans obviously) and didn't win. I then went home with a goodie bag full of cosmetics and, finding I was out of my usual, I washed my [...]
Running and, more recently, swimming have shown me time and again that things I thought I couldn't do are actually within reach. Running a marathon was something I though was impossible for me. Now I've run five. I couldn't swim more than a couple of lengths. Yesterday I swam for half an hour. And the [...]
There's a pothole on my cycle home that's trying to kill me. Every evening, just after I've passed King's Cross and breathed a sigh of relief that the madness of central London traffic is behind me, there it is. It waits until I'm on a nice long descent, picking up speed for the upcoming ascent [...]
One thing that stood out from London 2012 was quite how many medals Yorkshire athletes collected. The county finished up with seven gold medals, two silver and three bronzes, which would have placed it twelfth in the medal table if regarded as an independent country."There's something in the water" came the headlines. But was there - [...]
I dragged myself from an inflatable mattress surrounded by boxes to a local pharmacy in search of some stronger drugs."Have you taken ibuprofen?""Yes.""And paracetamol?""Yes. They're not doing anything. I need something stronger.""You're going to have to see your GP."I'd moved flat, not yet had my bed delivered and had become ill. The only training that I'd done in the [...]
I'm lucky to live less than half a mile from a swimming pool. This is quite uncommon in London. Living so close removes the obstacle of having to make a special effort to trek across the borough with wet hair and carrying a soggy towel.Although there's a pool on my doorstep, I swim in other pools too - I'm [...]
Every Tuesday after my swim coaching I get on the tube with wet hair, eat a sandwich and try to shake the water out of my ears. Often I'll read a book or catch up on twitter. This week was no different other than that I'd swum 1500m during the course of the session."That's an [...]