London weather

Ok for all of you lovely people who live on tropical islands and in nice warm climate have a look at our weather today.

I took this photo today on my way to get some lunch. It has been raining the whole day and it's one of those annoying drizzly rains. Just plain annoying, nothing else.

So whilst you are all complaining about your weather, I bet you wouldn't want this. I would rather have snow and lots of snow. I am just about to leave office and have to go running. I am not happy about this weather.

Perfect weekend and swimming (again!!!)

First of all, it has been a lovely weekend here in London. Not because of the weather (actually the weather has been pretty rubbish) but because Shaun is here :-)

There is a group from West Point visiting the UK this weekend and as he was one of them he asked whether he could come earlier (all others are due to arrive tomorrow) and they said yes. Woo Hoo.

We've spent Saturday wandering around south-west London (my neighbourhood), drinking coffee and just relaxing. I also managed to squeeze an hour in the pool and an hour on the trainer. Sunday was even better, 9 mile run in the morning followed by drinking lots of coffee and reading Sunday paper. Ahhh, that was life. We have also managed to go to the cinema and see Valkyrie. I liked it.

But this morning, the weekend was over and it was time to get to work again. I had quite demanding swim session this morning and I was terrified of it even before I got to the pool. I think I am my own worst enemy when it comes to swimming because I get scared of just looking at the times the coach sets for me and I kind of hold myself back and don't even try my best.

Well this morning the sets were quite demanding but I really really wanted to give it my best shot. And I've managed to hit the first time set by the coach but I just wasn't able to do the same with the rest of them. I tried and tried, but nothing. It was so frustrating. It still is so frustrating. I spend so much time in the pool and surely I should be able to do this Argh!!!! Coach seems to think that I capable of it but I am not so sure any more. I will just have to try harder.

Eating!!

Well the Christmas and all the holidays have come and gone but I still seem to be eating so much rubbish. I really need to do something about it fairly soon. I am not putting any weight on, but I am not loosing any either and I should be. Argh.

Normally I'll start my day with a coffee. In the office. After I swam... It looks like this.

So I don't know whether I can call it breakfast but after the coffee I'll have two pieces of fruit. And that is my breakfast. Then by 11 am I am starving so I'll have natural yoghurt with musli (we are lucky to have a cafe at work downstairs so they have this sort of stuff).

My lunch is generally good, a big soup or salad and then I tend to still try and eat healthily. So I will have something like this

And then I will start eating crap... Why oh why!!!! I will look for some Eat Natural bars (OK they are not too bad) or some nuts (not bad either) but by the time I get home and finish evening workout, normally around 8:30 - 9 pm I can and will eat anything and everything. And it usually involves bread and pastry and butter. Argh!!!! Double argh!!!.

When I was younger I had such a strong will and if I decided to eat healthily and not eat rubbish I would do it. And I would stick to it, no problem. But as I am getting older that will is slowly disappearing and I just can't resist some things. I really really need to get back on the track and have no idea whether I'll be able to do it.

Few years ago I used to work and live in the Middle East for 6 months and that was the healthiest and fittest I've ever been . I didn't do triathlons back then, only running, but I used to exercise daily, really watch what I ate, drank lots of water (it is so hot out there) and had weekly massages. I need that time back, I want that time back. I just need to remember how I did it back then and it will all be OK.

If any of you have any tips or advice on how to eat healthy ( I am vegetarian though) and be disciplined, let me know.

Are we selfish???

I have done four days of bike commute to work this week and I am quite happy with that. I didn't cycle yesterday as I was meeting some friends for dinner and drinks after work. The evening was really good fun but I've tried not to stay out too late and was home by 11 pm.

I did a lot of running and swimming this week and I feel that my running speed is slowly coming back which is great.

I have been in touch with a lot of old friends recently and it was really good to catch up on old days. It appears that pretty much all of our friends have children. Almost every week Shaun and I get an email or text from a friend with the news of his/her newly-born child. I bet they all think that Shaun and I are really odd for not having children yet. I mean, we have been married for 6.5 years and people assume you'd definitely have them by that time. I wonder sometimes whether we are selfish for not having them yet but we are enjoying our life right now as it is and are still not ready for that big change. Our friends talk about children and we talk about new races, training, travel. Surely they think we are odd.

When I was in my early 20s I always thought that I would have at least one child by the time I am 30. Well last year I turned 30 and I still feel like that girl 10 years ago. Maybe we really are selfish, who knows.

Bike commute

Well today has been the first day back to me commuting to work on the bike and I am loving it. The bad news - I am so bike unfit. Is that even a word?! I don't know, I don't care but I am so out of shape.

I haven't been on a bike for just over a month and even then it was just commuting. The last time I have done a proper session was at Silverman. A loooong time ago. And I really wanted to get back on that bike, if for nothing else then commuting since the coach said that the bike will not take priority in my training right now. I had good intentions last week but it was so cold here in London that there was no way I was going to do it.

So I decided, today was the day. Got up, put zillion of layers on and I was off. First to the pool for a swim. The pool is only about 5 mins ride from my place but I already figured out I was too hot. So it was a good chance to ditch few layers. Ride to work was great until at about half way I figured that I am moving so slow and my rear wheel is behaving oddly. Straight away I though I flatted. Oh no, right in front of the Big Ben. Looked back and no, nothing. So I persuaded myself that my rear brake pads must be rubbing. Stopped, got off, moved them a bit and went back on the bike. It seemed easier. I don't actually know whether it was but it must be that mental thing. The thing is it probably wasn't anything and I am just so unfit right now. The ride back home felt same so who knows. Maybe it is brake pads, maybe I am just fat... I better go and check those brakes.

Swimming....

Those who know me know that I am not a great swimmer. It doesn't come natural to me and I am simply not good at it. But my coach seems to think that I have an OK technique (note that I didn't use the word "good", OK seems more appropriate) and that I can shed a lot of time of my ironman swim time. So I am now swimming every day. EVERY DAY!!!

Monday saw me just struggling through it. I haven't swam in a while and my arms felt heavy and I just felt very slow. Hang on, I was slow. I normally swim first thing in the morning before work and the main reason is that in the evening the pool is full of "leisurely" swimmers. And since on Tuesday morning I had an early meeting and couldn't make it to the swim I had to go after work. Never again!! How can people even try to swim in there?!

There are several types of leisurely swimmers. My favourite one are the girls with full make-up on and their hair tied high up so it doesn't get wet whilst they are generally slowly breast-stroking with their head above the water. They do not seem to see the signs "Fast lane" or "Medium Lane" or if they do they probably think that they belong there. They will make faces and get highly annoyed if they get even slightly splashed by you trying to overtake them.

Then there are the random old men who will just start chatting to you in between your sets. When you clearly do not have time. They normally only swim few laps and just chill at the end of the pool.

And then there are couples who obviously think that they and their cuddling, smooching or whatever else they do (I really do not want to know) belong to the fast lane. She is usually in her best bikini and of course, with the full make-up on.

So having tried to swim on Tuesday evening and being utterly frustrated by all of the above and by someone slower than me in my lane deciding that the best time to push off the wall was as I am about to turn, I decided that evening swims are no more.

So I now only do morning swims, and five swims already done this week. My shoulders, arms, upper body, everything is aching. And as I was swimming this morning saying to myself that it was the last swim for this week, i got to my desk to find an email from the coach - 3 km swim tomorrow. Ouch!