Prudential Ride London 2016

So following on from my' Quarter of a Century' post I continued my birthday weekend by participating in the epic Ride London cycle.

Saturday we had to officially register and had the chance to last minute panic buy anything we may need for the dreaded looming day at the expo! 

Registration was super speedy and the queue for my slot only had 3 people in it, ideal! So I picked up my bag with race details; numbers, safety pins, locations and emergency contact details and went for an explore to see how many freebees I could pick up. 

Mum and Dad visited their charity Spinal Research (you can sponsor them here) and were impressed to see their name on the wall at their stand and they gladly took part in a selfie. I forgot to mention this was after Dad went absolutely mental in the official shop, I'm not going to tell you how much he splurged on cycle gear because frankly it's embarrassing! It was like watching a kid in a toy shop, but he did 'treat' mum to a new bike pump and me another water bottle. He sure knows how to spoil us! 

We then obviously signed the wall, I signed in the second '0' in green can you see? 

We picked up a goody bag as did Nath who wasn't even participating! Lots of gels, protein bars, breakfast shakes and other bits of bobs! We also spotted Kelly Holmes who looked great by the way and watched a bit of the people doing bike tricks before heading on our way ready for a carbolicious dinner, last minute bike prep and an early night! Not before we got a photo in the booth obviously! 

This was our route! 

Yeah 100 miles they said, did they mention that the drop off point was 5 miles from the start? No definitely not, or the fact we had to cycle at the end to the train station! Anyway there was really no turning back now!

Nath dropped us off but I made sure he stuck to his boyfriend duties and took a couple of obligatory squad photos before he heading on his way!

Once we arrived at the Olympic Park (not a bad place to start) we all split up into different coloured zones, Diane and I were in the same colour but I was F and she was G so I snuck into her section. The plan was to meet at Sheen Gate (gate to Richmond Park) a good 18 miles in, there was no way I was lone cycling this thing for this long, not what I signed up for! 

The first 18 miles to Sheen Gate went quicker than I thought, I was cycling so fast (desperately trying to keep up with Di) that I didn't even see the mile markets. Also the great London sights were difficult to ignore and it was awesome to have no cars to worry about only the 'MAMILs' which Di told me stood for 'Middle Aged Men in Lycra' a.k.a Dad and Mark! Basically all the gear (including removable sleeves - cringe) and 100% no idea. We zoomed past Canary Wharf, Tower of London, Southbank and the London Eye, the London Pride factory and finally we had arrived at our decided meeting location. 

Mark beat us to in and we just had to wait for Mum and Dad to join us, so I tucked into some Cadbury's chocolate for a quick energy boost! When they finally joined us we headed on our way towards the dreaded Surrey Hills to take on Leith and Box Hill! Yuck!

Unfortunately it wasn't long before we came to a halt around 38 miles! I checked my little Ride London app which tracked our location and we still had a heck of a long way to go and so i text Nath to find out if he knew why we had stopped and to also let him know we weren't just going incredibly slowly and he told me that there had been a huge crash! A guy in front of us had come off his bike and hit a tree, you may think this sounds ridiculous but believe you me cycling is blooming dangerous especially when the MAMILs are about and trying to top each other's speed down the hills! 

Luckily the weather was great and so were the views and it gave us the chance not only to fuel up and hydrate but also plenty of time to contemplate the distance and hills we had yet to cover - taxi anyone?  

We had a few more delays throughout the next few hours and then we found out there would a diversion. This was because we were one of the latest start times and there was a cut off point of 5.30pm to cross the finish line. How disappointing would it have been to almost do 100miles and not get the medal and Mars Bar at the end!

Our diversion meant we missed out on Leith Hill I'm not sure whether this was a good thing or not but we still had to conquer Box Hill. I was expecting a very steep, short but winding hill but no that would have been easy, it was long and winding with a gradual increase in incline and it doesn't help when the road was congested with others and some cyclist stopped in the middle of the road, doesn't really help your momentum.

Cycling through Wimbledon and Kingston on the final straight were great, there was so much support with so many people lining the street cheering us on and pushing us to the end.

I seperated from the rents and Mark and Di as we were running out of time due to delays and I didn't want to miss out on the cut of point plus I was started to feel pretty tired. So I pedalled as fast as my little legs could pedal past Westminster and all the sights I normally run past on my way to work only definitely quicker than my running. And next thing I knew I entered the Mall for the real final straight and it was maybe the best part with so many people there to help us get to the end.

Finally I made it!!! Spot Buckingham Palace in the background, not a bad place to finish a gruelling 100 miles.

And not long after everyone else arrived!

And the medal wasn't bad either...

It was time for a well deserved victory drink before heading home to crash and burn before work on Monday!

Think I'll give my cycling career a break for a few weeks (spoiler I've registered for next year, determined to conquer for Leith Hill)! Hope this encourages some of you to enter the ballot for next year!

Final shout out to Nath for baking me a birthday cake for the first time for my return.

Xoxo

Running London

So previously I've taken a deep dive into my passion for running, now I'm going to tell you all about my love of running around London.

My commute to work everyday takes me on the Reading line to Waterloo and then I tend to walk from there to Tottenham Court Road, by Goodge Street where my offices are. I took baby steps, initially I ran to and from Waterloo a few times (just under 2 miles) and that worked but during rush hour I spent the majority of the time people dodging so it wasn't good as a stress reliever. 

Then I plucked up the courage to join my office Running Club which is run by a personal trainer, I didn't quite do it alone, I dragged along my dedicated pal and now excellent running partner Jason to join me. We were taken through the beautiful Regent's Park and into Camden and through the market. Safe to say I was hooked, I hadn't realised how close all these places were. I vowed to make use of my lunch hour to explore more. 

After several lunchtimes running around the Park, Running Club took us up the beauty and the beast that is Primrose Hill. If I'm honest, the first time I did in fact fail, my mental strength couldn't carry me to the top, next time I took Jason and we did it! So worth it for the amazing views across London.

From then on I decided running should play a key part in my commute. I was blaming the commute on not having time to do as much exercise, so why the hell not incorporate it. 

I decided to get 6.32am (earlier) train into Waterloo but get off at Clapham Junction and run in from there. I did have to carry a bag, always going to be a pain but I packed lightly. I set maps up in my phone and popped my earphones in which were able to direct me whilst running, as I didn't have much time for error. I ran through Battersea Park and crossed over one of the bridges and ran along the river towards Westminster before heading up towards work. I was blessed with the most beautiful sunrise and made a deal with myself to attempt to do this route once a week. 

After a few runs like this but extending the distance a bit, I wanted to explore different areas of London. I'd never done Hyde Park, so I thought why not. I did this last week and it was awesome for sightseeing but there were so many niggily bits it was more stressful than anything. I passed through Battersea Park, over Chelsea Bridge, into Chelsea and Kensington, past the back of Harrods, into Hyde Park and around the Serpentine and into work.

So much running and exploring to do! It's also great for finding tucked away restaurants, cafes, bars and good Summer picnic spots. 

What's stopping you, get out there and explore..

Xoxo

My name is Kate & I'm addicted to running

Primarily my blog is a travel blog, but as you can probably tell I'm kind of mixing it up when I have a spare second with everything and anything I'm passionate about and obviously all my different adventures. And today, I'm talking about my true love, running... 

Are you a runner? Training for a race? Getting some more fresh air? Trying to lose weight? 

Do you want to start running, but you're looking for the right motivation? Please let me attempt to help you out/be your motivation. 

I love running, I also hate running but I mainly love running. It's the best! I'm so super passionate about exercise in general, my colleagues are probably sick of me talking about it, but if it helps motivate at least one person we're on to a winner! I love inspiring people to make changes in their lives, to live healthier lifestyles. I haven't got one of those great inspiring stories, like I used to weight 20 stone and now I weight 10 stone. I just love trying different challenges. That's all there is to it. I'm lucky that I come from an exercise-mad family. My parents are both keen runners (mum more than dad) and they both play tennis, in fact we all can play tennis (but after playing for years I'm personally quite sick of it) and my brother is an awesome hockey player and lucky for him is as skinny as a rake.  We both played plenty of team sports growing up; tennis, hockey, volleyball, cricket and I did every type of dancing under the sun. So I guess it was just part of everyday life for us.

Back to the nitty gritty of running after indulging in a little background sharing. 

I first started joining my mum running as a cyclist, for something to do during the long school holidays. She then encouraged me to run with her to keep fit for all my sports. We started off with a gentle 10 minute. I say gentle sarcastically, at the time I saw it as punishment, I couldn't breath and I felt like my chest would explode so I suggested to mum I may have asma of at least a form of sport's asma. She told my dad and they found it hilarious and described it as 'unfit'! The cheek of them, me unfit! No way! Turns out their description of my self-diagnosed 'sport's asma was legit. But it wasn't until a few years later I started indulging in slightly longer than 10minute runs but I wasn't really that motivated. 

Then I joined uni and in my third year I went on my placement year and moved to London for a while. My housemates (found on spareroom.com) were weird and I didn't fancy all evening watching tv in my room, so I started running properly and signed up for my first half marathon (Bracknell 2012) as motivation. I lived in Richmond, so I got the pleasure of running along the Thames, to Kew, and around the park. I was spoilt for choice and I only realise now just how lucky I was. 

Finally the time came to run the half marathon and it's safe to say I was a nervous wreck but I was in the safe hands of my mum and dad and boyfriend who were running it too. Dad and Nath left us to it, being the competitive ones but my mum was a real gem she stuck by my side the whole way. When I wanted to walk, she would let me walk until the next lamp post then I had to run again. It was tough, in fact it was horrific. Although I had been running a lot my legs hadn't experienced that kind of distance, and after attempting to sprint up a ridiculous hill I well and truly hit the wall. This was around mile 8 and I can picture the moment even today, 4 years later. But being a trouper I carried on through the pain and jelly legs. The 11th mile I think I walked the entire mile but for the 12th I got this extra burst of energy, also known as adrenaline and managed to run the whole way even getting in a sprint for the last stretch. I finished in 2 hours and 13 minutes and couldn't even pick my foot up off the ground onto a bucket for a Marshall to take off my chip. I also didn't mention the weather conditions, in one word; horrendous. Torrential rain, tons of mud, wind and it was pretty cold, so that can't have helped! The walk back to the car was the longest 10 minutes ever and I couldn't walk for days afterwards. I hated running in that moment and for a few weeks after (I deserved a break, right?).

But a year later I signed up again and signed up Nath much to his disgust! I vowed to do more distance prior to the race and get a better time. The conditions were far more favourable for the Bath Half Marathon (which I think I may have done a blog about previously) AND I combined it with charity by raising money for Guide Dogs for the Blind (the company I worked for at the time) AND I got a better time of 2 hours 6 minutes. 

Still not quite the goal (minus 2 hours) but I was getting better! Then the year of PBs  arrived! I signed up for a few races; first being the Putney and Fulham Riverside Half Marathon which I absolutely nailed with 1 hour 55 minutes and I wasn't even stiff the next day and I could walk straight after (thank you Kayla - blog to follow shortly about Kayla). Then the Bracknell again, slower this time but still not bad, 1 hour, 58 minutes and it was a family affair again! 

I think you can tell I'm totally addicted, each time you just want to better yourself. The below pictures were from my first half marathon this year, the Wokingham. Working in London and having a mega commute means time is currently of the essence, I try to fit running in whether it's before work, to work, lunchtimes or weekends. However I unfortunately didn't get in enough distance training, so I completed this in 2 hours 3 minutes, I wasn't disappointed as it left plenty more room for improvement. Next race; April 10th Putney and Fulham Half Marathon!

Set yourself easy goals, start with 10 minute runs and build up to 20, then 39 then an hour and before you know it, it will be a breeze and then you can start working on speed. I try and mix it up a do a couple of interval training sessions a week (2 minutes normal speed and 1 minute speed) which really help!

With Spring arriving this weekend and Summer on the horizon get out there and enjoy it rather than being cooped up in the gym all the time! 

Xoxo