Keep you, you

We are in scary times. I, like the majority of people, cannot stop thinking about what is happening to our world. I also cannot escape it. I am considered a keyworker (which thankfully does help the childcare woes I was so worried about in my previous blog) so am still coming to work whenever shifts are offered. (This may be subject to change but at the moment I have cover). However, working at Sky News obviously means I am all consumed with my worries at home and then surrounded by all things COVID 19 when working.

This has meant that training has become yet again my refuge. Exercise, and when asleep, is probably the only time I properly switch off. Yes IRONMAN Wales, and all the lead up events, may well be cancelled, I am well aware of that but I am training as if I am still racing. It is good for my mental health and well being and quite frankly I am enjoying the escape and seeing my fitness grow. It is giving me a focus and I am also loving watching the weight fall and the fitness scale on Training Peaks increase. It's an obsession but at least it's a healthy one.

Swim for Tri swim set water bottles

Also as expected the gyms closed last week so that is no more gym sessions and most notably no more swimming for the foreseeable future. This is super annoying more because I got delivery of my new water bottles from 'Swim for Tri' on Friday. These are awesome and have a variety of swim sets on them for varying distances. No more taking a shoddy hand written piece of paper to the pool folded in a plastic sleeve which becomes crinkled, wet and eventually useless! Great idea Dan. Get yours ready for some motivation when the pools eventually reopen here.

The gym closing is a huge blow but I understand why wholeheartedly. However, with some careful planning I can still get my 10-12 hour per week training in. My turbo and virtual training world Zwift is becoming my best friend. I also live in the middle of the countryside so lots of rural runs and then I have my treadmill and weights at home too. I have it good and know I am in this sense lucky and therefore have no excuses!

Luckily as well the swim isn't something I am the most concerned about. I know I can swim that distance when asked. I won't be as fast with some months out and nowhere near my peak, but I am lucky that my confidence in the water will not be drastically affected. My focus when training this year has always been on my bike and run anyway.

Actually the only other time I do totally switch off to Coronavirus is when I'm driving. I am currently working my way through the Harry Potter audiobooks and getting totally absorbed in them. They also help the tiredness I do feel during my super early and super late commute times, even after night shifts. Stephen Fry's narrating keeping me super focused and intrigued (despite knowing the stories all too well) as opposed to sleepy. I really get transported to their world yet again and even enjoy my time in the car now.

Cake baking

My advice to anyone going through self-isolation for whatever reason, and with a 3 month lock-down potentially on the horizon, is to find these things that make you able to switch off. It is going to be hard mentally and financially for I believe 6 months, maybe more. Then there is the economy to try and recover. Hard working parents are now with their children 24/7 and it goes without saying keeping them entertained and yourself sane is a hard thing to do! I had the boys all this week while nursery was closed whilst also juggling work and training; it was exhausting! I did however keep them busy as much as I could. Cake making, walks and buggy runs.

On a 9 mile run and meeting 'horseys'

No words

I think it is mutually agreed with most parents, in fact not even just parents, maybe as a nation, I drank more than normal this week! Thankfully the alcohol aisle doesn't seem to be affected by the stock hoarding idiots. Well, I lie, the beer aisle was incredibly low apart from cases of Corona! One word; MORONIC. I drink wine and gin so didn't affect me personally but did grab some for the husband who loves a Corona. I couldn't actually believe it when I heard a rumour that Corona had lost billions due to the virus. Do people really think they're related?!

Anyway, I have reigned myself in when I wanted to grab the bottle on a couple of occasions this week and I went training instead. My relationship with alcohol will not go backwards. I am in a good place and in control. COVID will NOT affect the positives I do have.

During this time remember to check in on your friends. Arrange Skype or Facetime calls, have a glass of wine at the ready. Send stupid meme's, videos and jokes to keep up morale (like the ones below and above). I know Sam would be sending me hundreds of these if she were still here! Remember to talk to those at home too - communication is vital. We are all in this together!

Keep focused and most importantly keep safe everyone. Keep you, you and take care of your mental health. I'll hopefully see some of you in person soon but for now I'll hopefully see you on here! xx

Down but not out (F*** You Covid)

Quite apt I feel, especially as I work in journalism

One of the final statements in my previous blog was about being so excited about going back to Lanzarote for an epic 10 days of solo training. I think it is pretty obvious given worldwide developments this is now not happening. Lanzarote is currently in lockdown until 30th March; I was due to fly on the 27th. It goes without saying I am absolutely gutted, devastated in fact. I know it is just a holiday but this truly felt like so much more. A real treat to actually get away alone and really rack up a 20 hour + training week. I know moaning on here isn't going to solve the situation or make for enjoyable reading. I also know others are facing very similar situations and as I keep telling myself there are always people worse off than me. I am just very upset about it and at the moment not sure if there is a way to reschedule. I had been looking forward to if for months and months. But I know it is out of my control and as one of my favourite sayings goes; "control the controllable". I have had a cry about it, but despite being down I am not out.

Obviously the 20 hour + training week I had planned is not going to happen. This is not being negative, it is realistic way of thinking. Everything that could have gone wrong at this present time has. Sky has had a floor by floor isolation/lock down. As I mentioned in my previous blog I work in 5 different departments in Sky News & Sky Sports, with each department on a different floor. So now I am only able to work on one floor, and one department, thus affecting my shifts. I am only allowed one "home" floor. Throw into the mix that there isn't much, if any, sport to be covering in the coming weeks is another dimension to my potential lack of work. Being a freelancer and self employed I do not have the safety net of a contract like staff do. The Sky gym which I also love so much, most namely for its Peloton bikes, is also now closed. It's almost ironic as everything I wrote about how my work life works for me is being contradicted through recent events.

Then to top it all off my nursery has closed due to the owners husband having a cough. With Covid 19 not being a notifiable disease businesses are unable to claim on insurance meaning we have to continue paying full rate despite not having the service. Obviously this hugely affects me as not only do I now not have cover for work but given I may also have no work in April we also have to pay for full childcare and quite frankly without the work the funds don't add up. Talk about a catch 22. It is a really worrying time but we are all in this together.

Then there is the affect it has on my training. Obviously I have to plan even more around Nathan's shifts and do my training either with the boys (can do a buggy run if weather is OK) or early mornings and late evenings at home. Our local gym at present is also still open so if the opportunity arises I will go, especially to swim.

On a nice 8 mile walk with my sister in law this week who is training for a 26 mile walk for charity in July

I am lucky to be enjoying virtual cycling on the platform Zwift with my turbo trainer at home at the moment and do have a good set up with a treadmill at home too. Currently they have some races and group rides on with the Watopia Tour 2020 (Watopia is the name of the virtual land and relates to wattage/Watt which is a unit of power to quantify energy). Here you can join in group rides or go all out in a race against hundreds across the world. I did the latter the other day and really did go all out - coming 12th out of 110 people, first female, and top 8% of my age group. It was a 14.3mile loop which I did in just over 32 minutes; an average pace of 26mph. It has to be said I nearly fell off the bike afterwards and when Nathan did it 2 days later I also beat his time by 41 seconds (not competitive at all and of course I was very humble by bragging “you got chicked by your wife!” Haha). I also did an 8 mile double buggy run the other day so I can get out and run. The only difficulty now is that the boys are considerably heavier now, weighing in around 6 stone together. Where I live is not flat either, but one positive it'll only make me stronger! As well as this, as they are bigger and much more active than last year (where I pushed them lots when training for the London Marathon). Thus meaning their attention span being sat in a buggy is a lot shorter. I spent a lot of the run talking to them, or singing Old McDonalds farm or pretending to run away from Dinosaurs in the woods!

All of this however, just proves that despite being in this testing situation I can still get enjoyment from my training and ensure I can continue to get the hours in. As my last blog aptly states, it is all about adaption and I now, more than ever, need to follow my own advice.

My boys making me smile

With all these obstacles I am still aiming for another 11-12 hour training week (I hit 11h30 last week). I haven't had the boys for a solid week alone with no childcare since before they were 6 months old; give me strength! Haha. That said I am going to enjoy the time I do have with my lovely boys. They really are the best and they, more than anything, make my life worthwhile and smile throughout it all. Just today they got a banana and began a little surprise whilst I was looking away and put fake candles from their wooden birthday cake into the banana. Then holding it together they began walking towards me beaming and singing happy birthday to me. It is not my birthday, that has long gone, but it was just so beautiful. All of the current restrictions is to protect innocence such as this, so lets look after one another other and stay healthy.

My weigh in today also revealed I am 1 stone 11.5lbs down from 1st Jan which is over 10% of my body weight. I am still a way to go from my ideal race weight but I am getting there and every week I am feeling more confident in my own skin. With my fitness stats also going up I am also having more confidence in my ability too. In fact I also did a boditrax weighing the other day (which scans you to find a precise body composition) and it found I was 22/24 muscle; the average person's score is 12. So I am clearly solid and growing as the last time I did the scan a month ago I have gone up 3 points!

As I mentioned before, we are in testing times, but I am down not out!

Proper planning, adaption and still living my life

Well my first 10h30 training week went really well and proves that with proper planning, preparation and motivation it is possible alongside my long and rather unpredictable work. I only say unpredictable as I am freelance which therefore means I can have weeks I am working solidly going from late to earlies to nights with a day turnaround, to other weeks I may have nothing. It all equals out by the end of the month normally but I am not guaranteed a certain amount of shifts per month. Despite the uncertainty (which some months can leave me worried) there is a huge beauty to this in that I get the weekday times off meaning I can get long sessions in when the boys are at nursery. As well as this I have a degree of flexibility of being able to work when I want/can. I also now work in 5 different departments around Sky News and Sky Sports News which gives me a great variety. Obviously the downsides are pretty apparent, I don't get holiday or sick pay but it is working for us (in it's weird and wonderful way).

The boys having fun at my Mum & Dad's while we work

The week after this one however was not so great and I didn't hit anywhere near 10 hours. In fact only managed around 5. Strangely this also wasn't relatable to how much work I had on. The week I managed the 10h30 I had 4 shifts, a mix of one night (19:00-07:00), 2 lates (10:00-22:00) and 1 early (06:00-18:00). (These timings are shift start & finish times, not including my 1.5 hour commute each way).

In fact a way to show how much I was out of the house during the Friday-Sunday stint of days is that I didn't see the boys for 2 days despite them obviously being at home. I put them to bed on the Thursday night and didn't see them until Saturday night where I saw them for 1 hour before putting them to bed once again. I then didn't see them until Monday morning when they woke up. I really do miss those little monkey's during stints like this (which sadly are quite common) but also makes me think how weird it is that despite being in the same house this can happen. It really shows you (even if it would take too long and be insanely boring to explain) how difficult it can be to work out childcare around my long shifts and Nathan's work.

However, back to the second week (week commencing 2nd March). I had noticed after my 9 mile run the previous week my shins were really hurting. It was excruciating to run and as a result I adapted my training and did a lot more on the bike. I ran through the pain on a 6 miler 2 days after but knew it wasn't wise. So I booked a physio appointment for the following week. I have always had issues when I run with my back too so it was an excuse to finally get that properly looked at. She put the shin pain to unsupportive/old trainers and has given me exercises, including some specific core and breathing work, to try and help my back whilst running. Improving my core stability is something I know I have needed to do for a while so this is a great addition to my training; strength and conditioning is such an pivotal part to any plan. 



What overpronation looks like

With the knowledge that my trainers were possibly the cause of my pain I was recommended to go and get a run/gait analysis and get trainers that suited me. I know I overpronate quite significantly (my foot rolls inwards into the arch) and as such have had orthotics (insoles made by a podiatrist) for many years but I wasn't quite prepared to see how unnatural and painful my running looked in my current trainers (I was filmed on a treadmill).

I have used OnCloud for many years, doing all but one of my IRONMAN's in them so I like a lighter style trainer. However, my analysis showed I overpronated by 15% (the expected range is 3-6%). He found this by freezing the footage of each leg when I strike the bottom and calculated the degree against the 90 degree angle from my knee. After trying on 7 pairs of trainers I found some Brooks which amazingly put me in the 3% range. These give me the support I need but have that light feel to them (very different to some of the high support trainers that felt like I was running with bricks on my feet). I knew instantly upon testing these they were the ones. 

I cannot believe after all the years I have done fitness I have never done this sort of test and been so blind. I cannot knock On's trainers enough, after all they have done me well, but clearly they are not the trainer for me. At least not now as I do feel throughout the companies growth they have changed how they are made; and maybe not for the better for me personally. I hope however my new trainers (which already feel awesome) teamed with a good focus on S&C can improve my running for the better going forward. It is well known that running is my least favourite and slowest discipline but I don't want it to let me down for something I can control.

My new trainers teamed with Greepers laces

The rest of the week was actually spent having some social time. I am determined to still live my life despite training for IRONMAN. Whilst I am taking my training seriously it is still a hobby and it is supposed to be fun! I saw one of my best friends for lunch one day, sorted my trainers another, and then at the weekend just gone we all stayed the weekend in Essex some friends. I of course had some drinks and not let the training consume me; I do find it quick to switch off but have to say I am happy to be back on it this week. (I also think the extra day of unplanned rest may have also done my shins some good). Katie and I decided to start our weight loss journey together and check in on each other each week when we weigh in. Considering we have lost over 3 stone between us since 1st January we definitely deserved to have a little celebration together. Luckily the exercise has been helping as this weekend hasn't affected the scales too much, in fact I am still down from last week.

It all got too much fun at the pub

Dinner time at the zoo

I am now on a 3 week countdown until I return to Lanzarote for 10 days of training...with no children (and no husband)! I want to be fit enough to do the island and my training justice as well as lose a little more weight before going. It goes without saying I am SO excited for this trip especially as I'm staying at the triathlon mecca Club La Santa. Aside from all that I can't wait to get some sun (but I better stop gloating too much as Nathan will get even more jealous). I have no idea how I've even got away with this trip but serious brownie husband points and also a hell of a lot of thanks to my mum for helping look after the boys while Nathan continues to work!

Oh and after 10+ years of dying my hair bleach blonde I have decided to join the dark side! The maintenance of doing so finally got to me. I still give myself a shock when looking in the mirror at the moment but change is good.

This week I am going for another 10 hour + training week. Have a good one.

Hollie xx