Things have been tough in June. Not only are we missing Dobby terribly (a house without him still feels so quiet) but I worked for what felt like non-stop. I crammed training in around my 15 hour days to try hit 10-12 hours of training per week. An example of what I was doing was:
- Get home at 22:30
- Treadmill session
- Straight to bed
- Wake up at 06:30 to get on the bike
- Leaving for work at 08:30 (Nathan made me a takeaway breakfast & coffee)
- 15 hours out of the house
- Repeat
I went days without seeing the kids properly. All they saw of me was 30 minutes on the bike or treadmill where I can't really be mum and then they see me rush out of the house (and it was ALWAYS a rush). They understand when I was off to work "Mummy's going to work again" and it almost broke me when I heard "I miss mummy at work".
Nathan has been holding the fort at home in Daddy Daycare so his days have also been busy and tiring and he then has to train in the evenings, and try to resist the urge for a much desired beer or wine when the kids go to bed. Never once have I taken for granted how hard it is to be at home all day with the kids (especially with lockdown not being able to go out and entertain them properly). Nathan has been a fantastic Dad during this time and although hard I know he has loved the time he has had with them. Time he has missed out on when working so hard in the kitchens previously.
It really had been an exhausting month. My busiest work wise yet, which is kind of ironic given at the beginning I thought the pandemic would seriously affect me as a freelancer. I racked up 280 hours of work, 18 hours of commuting and 3500 miles on my car. However, on the flip side we made this choice for me to take advantage of the work available and not say no whilst Nathan is furloughed. Furthermore, I am also aware how lucky I am to be busy with work during the current climate. And although it is full on with the boys I am also aware how lucky we are with the space we have. So yes, I am tired but still humble. I know a lot have it a lot worse.
I have had a few moments where I just want to cry in exhaustion so I am sure you can understand that when my shifts died down at the end of June and new legislation meant 'my happy place' in Devon where we go to every year (sometimes more than once) and where my parents have a caravan, I jumped at the chance to go on a much needed break. A chance to have some family time, a little sea air and to recuperate.
Wow was it needed. We joined my parents for one night too and it was so lovely to spend some time with them and the boys altogether. The boys amazingly at 3 years old were walking 10km a day of coastal paths! The walks around Sidmouth, Otterton & Budleigh Salterton are simply beautiful.
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| Cute kids & lush view behind too |
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| Family selfie (the boys are holding hands too) |
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| Walks with 'Nat Nat' & Grandad |
I also took a week off the tough training plan to just rest a little (bar a couple of tough coastal runs). I also really needed this. In 4 nights I got 40 hours of sleep. Unfortunately one day was almost a total write off as when I woke up I just couldn't wake up. You know the feeling when you just feel like you cannot get out of bed and this was after a 10 hour sleep! Anyway, I forced myself up and got some breakfast. Whilst sat outside on the deck my vision went blurry in one eye and then I couldn't focus and felt dizzy. Nathan went for a run and I lay down, with the kids just doing their thing around me. Then my left side began going numb, from my face, tongue to my arm & fingers. Then the headache formed which went to a migraine. It was pretty scary and I honestly thought it was a trip to A&E, as if you read all the symptoms on the scaremongering google and do the horrible self-diagnosis then everything was telling me the worst (sight loss, stroke etc) and to go. This was the second episode like this in a week, although this was much more severe. I know it sounds like I should've rushed straight to hospital but about a year ago I used to get this exact thing happen (teamed with sometimes feeling or being sick too) and I went to the doctor who said it was a form of migraine. As is known migraines can be brought on from a lot of things and I believe like a year ago it was due to severe fatigue. I went back to bed when Nathan finished his run and he entertained the kids while I slept for another couple of hours. With the help of that and some painkillers I managed to salvage the rest of the day. I think what this proves is sometimes you just cannot do it all (and yes don't worry I am going back to the doctors to get it checked out properly again).
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| Fresh lobster for dinner |
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| Midday wine time |
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| Fun in the arcades |
Anyway, during my 5 days off I put on 5lbs, however I gained something extra as well which is even better; invaluable family time I have missed and some much needed sleep. I came back feeling refreshed. There really is something about the sea air.
However, with just 8 weeks to go until my IRONMAN at home (the chosen date is 5th September) it is back to the training plan. No rest for the wicked and with less shifts coming up it is time to get those final long miles in (and lose those 5lbs...and the rest haha). Oh and I still need to practice my tether pool. I have now bought a snorkel in the hope it'll help keep form meaning I can do the 1 hour I intend to for the IRONMAN. Also despite being a heated pool I am going to wear a wetsuit for extra bouyancy as it is super hard with the tether to stay there for a period of time.
Whilst talking about swimming however I went for my first swim open water in months last week. I did this before work at Liquid Leisure in Windsor. With no lakes around where I live I always have to drive but this was ideal as only 20 minutes from work and I could then get ready for work at Sky who have nice showers etc. in the gym (even if that isn't currently open).
Anyway, my first swim session did not go as planned. Firstly, I went to the wrong venue after just typing in Liquid Leisure into Google Maps without realising there would be more than one venue called that (luckily it was only 10 minutes to the right one). I had my costume on so just needed to put my wetsuit on. Jesus I forgot how tight they are, hope that's not lockdown weight. Then the zip broke. I pleaded with someone to try and socially distance help me but that failed so I had to take it off, try reattach the zip and struggle to put it on again. No hope, it was done for. It's 8am in the morning, I'm sweating from putting a wetsuit on twice and I have already faffed around getting up early then going to the wrong place. I WAS going in and there were some (albeit a minimal amount) going in without wetsuits. I swam the channel once in a costume (albeit 6 years ago when I had trained my body to cope over months and months of painful acclimatising) surely I could do a swim in a lake without one. I asked one of the ladies working there what was the temperature, "21 degrees. It's lovely. Like a bath. Warmer in than out". Mmmmm...I wasn't so convinced (I like a roasting hot bath) but I hadn't gone there for nothing.
It took me a few minutes and a lot of 'oooh' and 'ahhhs' especially when I had to take the final push to get my chest and head in but I did it. 2 laps, 2000m and 40 minutes later I got out a nice shade of red but happy. I wasn't aiming for a time, I just wanted to feel the water again and I loved it. I couldn't have done much more without a wetsuit mind as my legs were pretty cold halfway through the second lap. Need to sort a wetsuit out or try somehow fix my lovely one.
Then came my next challenge, changing back into my leggings by the car. Note to self and anyone else; do not put on tight gym leggings after swimming when you have to change outside! I was lucky I had my DryRobe (essentially a huge oversized anorak with warm towelling/fluff inside to keep you warm and dry) that I got when did the aforementioned channel. I also of course forgot a towel. I am sure some of the new arrivals at the lake got a nice full moon during my struggles but lesson learnt. I REALLY need to practice my open water routine again.
One positive out of it all is I didn't have a sopping wetsuit in the back of my car all day whilst I was at work. Every cloud eh?!
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| Think I'll go on the Water Ninja UK next time instead |
One final thing to update on. As some may know my run has always been the discipline to let me down. I think I can honestly say I never got much better because well I never liked it so I never spent the time on it. I may have gone from a 6hour marathon to a 4h20 but I have never gone faster than that out of lack of practice. I knew then and I know now even more, you have to work harder on your weaknesses than your strengths sometimes. With the treadmill at home and due to my lifestyle having to do most of my runs at home either late at night or early morning I signed up for a 16 week half marathon speed increasing training plan on my virtual bike & run training platform Zwift. It has kept me structured and focused on running 3-4 times a week with different workouts; tempo, interval, long & recovery.
Two weeks ago there was a 5k test to assess where I was at. With this time it then alters the speeds at which I should hit each session. I managed to do a 20 minute 26 second 5k (average of 9.1mph) which to me is out of this world. I was a 40 minute 5k jogger when I first started, now despite wanting to be sick this was groundbreaking for me. I know it is MUCH easier on a flat treadmill and I could never replicate this outside at the moment I am still pleased of my progression. For someone who has never looked like a runner, and even now after losing 2.5 stone since the beginning of the year, I am still not a lean athlete, I think it's quite good going for a 'fluffy' runner. My heartrate too is something I am happy with to show my fitness. Even for just a jog I would be 180+ bpm, now going as fast as I can for 5k and under 160bpm average is also unreal for me.
I will make a runner out of me yet. It's also made me realise if you run, at whatever pace you ARE a runner and shouldn't feel otherwise. Remember, you're still beating those sat on the sofa!
Until next time!
Hollie xxx
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