MY STORIES

Guilty as charged

2011-12-05T16:46:00.001Z

Well, it's been far too long since the last post. A lot has happened and not much has happened - it depends how you look at things. But I will keep this "come back" post short so perhaps some bullet points are in order:

- - At the beginning of September I did Ireland 70.3 and I loved it so much I think I will go back next year: The swim was shortened due to some strong winds and during that 750m swim in the seas I seriously thought I was going to die. The race was really well organised and the Irish now how to have fun. The best part of it though is that I got to spend some cool time with Charisa and her Mum, and also with Caroline and her lovely husband Mark. Charisa got 3rd overall and Caroline bagged her Vegas slot so I was surrounded by some kick-ass ladies.

- - Then I went back to work for few days before I got to spend some more time with Charisa. She was racing Challenge Henley and stayed with us for 10 days or so. We had lots of fun spectating at IM Wales and then I had fun cheering her on at Henley. I was lacking with my culinary skills though so for next visit I need to sharpen up a bit in the kitchen.

-- I've got a slot for London Marathon 2012 and I am very excited about it. It is very hard to get hold of one of those slots (unless you are super-fast, which I am not) so I am determined to train hard and do well in April.

-- I am loving living back in London again. It means I don't get to see hubby as much as I would like to but our lives are much easier. On the negative side, it seems that he will be deploying again very soon - we should know for certain this week.

-- Work has been crazy, crazy, crazy. I have never worked this hard and such long hours before. Even my boss told me that I have been putting in more hours than anyone else. I have been working on a really long and complicated transaction for over 6 months now and since mid-September my usual hours have been 9 am - midnight. Not fun. Naturally, training suffered - I was fighting to get any sleep. Luckily, it seems that we are nearly there with this transaction and today has been a first day in a very long time that I hope I would leave the office around 6 pm. Woohooo!!!

- - Can't believe it's less than three weeks until Christmas. I will be off work for about 10 days and I can't wait. There are a lot of parties going on at the moment as well - next week alone I have four parties/dinners in four days. Uh-oh/

Well, there you go - not much has really happened, at least recently. It will be nice to get some rest over Christmas holiday and re-group.

I am back...I think

2011-08-01T10:39:00.002+01:00

It has been far too long since I actually wrote anything meaningful on here. I wonder if I ever did. Well lots of things have happened since my last post.

In the first week of June I ran a very hilly half-marathon in Wales. It probably was the hilliest road race I ever done. Those people doing IM Wales, beware, it is super hilly. My time was not a PR but I was pleased with it. It was not a PR course by any stretch of imagination (the first lady came in 1:40 something). In the evening after the race my foot started hurting and by Monday morning I was limping around. To cut long and boring story short I ended up injured and not running for pretty much last 7 weeks. IM UK 70.3 was out and then when things were not getting any better IM Germany was out. It is amazing how much you take your health for granted, right? I have only just started running again - some short 20, 30 mins runs. It is a slow way back. I did 35 mins on Saturday and that was my longest run in the last 8 weeks. But we play with the cards we are dealt so there is not going to be much complaining. IM Ireland 70.3 at the beginning of September is still on the cards so hopefully things will be fine by then.

In other news, work has been crazy. I have never been so stressed in my life. My department is terribly overstretched - we are so busy and lacking human resources. I am working on a deal at the moment that is leaving me in despair at the end of a day. But hopefully it will be over soon and things will calm down a bit.

Couple of weeks ago I also moved into an apartment in London. I am back to bike commuting to work and seeing more of my friends and love it. The reason for it is that Shaun's next job is taking us to Wales (and then him on a deployment). So I will be spending Monday to Friday in London and weekends in Wales. Actually as I write thin we have people packing downstairs - we are moving today. Can you tell the reason I am writing is because I needed to let them do their job and I was clearly in their way. ;(

Anyway, those are the news. Hope everyone is having a great season even if mine was not meant to be.

Happy birthday Prince Philip

2011-06-10T13:41:00.002+01:00

Today is 90th birthday of the Duke of Edinburg, Prince Philip. His amazing 63-year marriage to the Queen is very inspiring. But what I really like about Prince Philip is how politically incorrect he is and has been over the years. And being married to the Queen he can get away with it.

I laughed outloud reading this article which lists his famous "gaffes". Hope you enjoy it and don't get offended.

USA trip

2011-04-12T11:37:00.004+01:00

OK guilty as charged - no blogging for what seems forever (and it IS forever) but I promise I started this blog post over a month ago!!!!

At the end of March I flew to the US to attend one of Jen's training camps in Tucson, AZ. The long trip was definitely worth it. I had great time.

I flew into Los Angeles and drove to Carlsbad that afternoon. I was staying the night with the most awesome hosts Charisa and her husband Steven. They looked after me so well that I cannot wait to return the hospitality soon. That evening Charisa and I had a dinner in a great Mexican in Carlsbad with Marit. Even though by then I was exhausted with a huge jetlag I had great time with the ladies. Also the following morning I had lovely breakfast with Marit - I loved spending time with her - she is so amazing.

The Tuscon camp was great. I finally got to meet a lot of blog friends and also some new friends. Also I was really looking forward to meeting my coach Jen The camp was tough for me. I've been quite sick in March and without too much training done I was not sure how prepared i was for it. But the camp was awesome. Climbing Mt. Lemmon was absolutely amazing and I cannot believe I got all the way to the top. The running routes were also amazing and swimming in the open air pool was such a treat in early April.

Since coming back from Arizona my training has been going OK (although as I write this I have skipped couple of workouts due to sore throat/slightly high temperature, ugh). Couple of weeks ago I raced my first triathlon of the year called the Swashbuckler. The race takes plane in the New Forest, the beautiful English national park. Even though New Forest is pretty close to us I have never been there and it is so beautiful. The race organisation was second to none and the field was pretty strong. Quite a few of my friends were racing (the male winner in fact) and it was great to catch up pre and post race with them. The race distance is "half-ironman-ish". The difference is that bike is shorter - 50 miles and run is longer - 14 miles. Run is quite lumpy as well. Because of the odd distance it is difficult to compare it to other races but my bike average speed is definitely a PR and run was close to PR. You really do feel that extra mile on the run. The swim was in a very tidal river with strong current and so although my swim time was nowhere near my PR it was bang on what I was expecting. So I was really pleased with the race although such strong field made me hungry to work more and harder and start being competitive in my age gr op. That is something new to me as up until now I just wanted a PR. Now I want to race well and compete.

So that's the news - you haven't really missed much. This weekend Shaun and I are off to Wales. Shaun is doing inaugural Ironman Wales in September and this weekend the organisers have put on an open water swim, bike SAG rides of different distances and marathon and half-marathon, all on the course of IM race. So for Shaun it is a great opportunity to recce the courses and for me a perfect way to do my long weekend workouts in a good company.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Proud

2011-03-25T10:21:00.002Z

Last few weeks have been somewhat hard on me. Just as I started to get back into some training three weeks ago I was struck by very bad tonsillitis. I was on antibiotics for 10 days and felt quite ill. I cannot remember the last time I felt that sick. Needless to say no training was done. I was really annoyed with it. I didn't go to work for couple of days and I was fed up with daytime tv. I was not fun to be around. Finally after couple of weeks and finishing the course of antibiotics I started training again. And I have been trying to do as many scheduled workouts as I could but work picked up and I am so busy every day. It is very annoying because I see most progress and feel best about the sporting goals when I train consistently. My parents are in town for a week and whilst I took couple of days off work to spend with them, the rest of the time I had to work. I think they were shocked on Wednesday when they did not see me the whole day. I left home at 7 am and came back around 10.30 pm when they were already in bed and then carried on working at home until 2 am. I felt so bad for abandoning them like that but there was not much I could do. I don't think they knew before how busy and stressful my job can be and this was a real eye-opener for them.

The problem I have when I work a lot is my food. I tend to eat rubbish food, raiding the office vending machine late at night for some sugar fix. It is atrocious. What do people do (and eat) when they work late. So after few weeks of late nights I feel terribly fat and unfit (probably because I am). Ugh.

On a more positive note I am off to Tucson next week for Jen's training camp and I cannot wait. Yes I will suffer and all that (Jen. please go easy on me) but it will be great to get some good workouts in and finally meet few people in person. Yay!!! I am flying into LAX and will then drive down to San Diego to see some fun people. So so looking forward to that.

OK and finally a paragraph which is really what this title is about. I am very proud of my husband today who has been awarded Mention in Dispatches for his service in Afghanistan last year. You can read about the awards here. Mention in Dispatches is the British Armed Forces oldest gallantry in combat award awarded to those who distinguished themselves by exceptional heroism, service or achievement. I am so very proud.

My ABC

2011-03-07T15:52:00.002Z

Yes I know, I am copying you all but I don't feel like writing a proper blog so here it is:

A. Age: 32, very soon to be 33 :(((

B. Bed size: Queen, but am thinking of getting super king. Queen was always fine for me but after Shaun being away last year for 7 months I kind of got used to more space.

C. Chore you dislike: Cleaning!!!

D. Dogs: Chocolate Labrador Millie, but considering that Shaun's parents fell in love with her and took her away for "couple of weeks" I am not sure we will get her back. We had a Dalmatian in the past called Rex who was the cutest and naughtiest dog in the world.

E. Essential start to your day: Cup of hot water with some lemon juice.

F. Favourite colour: Brown. I know, very exciting.

G. Gold or silver: Silver, actually platinum would be the best.

H. Height: 5'8"

I. Instruments you play(ed): None.

J. Job title: Associate. People think my job is like Ally McBeal set. It is so NOT.

K. Kids: None (yet).

L. Live: Marlborough, UK.

M. Mom's name: Mitra, but we have given her plenty of nicknames over the years.

N. Nicknames: Gina, Angie and a number of those given by Shaun which shall remain secret.

O. Overnight hospital stays: None.

P. Pet peeves: When people are inconsiderate to others on public transport.

R. Righty or Lefty: Righty.

S. Siblings: Biljana, four years older who lives in New Zealand so I don't get to see her as often as I would like.

T. Time you wake up: Week-days between 4:30 and 6 am (depending on whether I'm training or not), weekends anything between 7 and 11 am (I love my lie-ins).

U. Underwear: Calvin Klein or Marks & Spencers

V. Vegetables you don't like: I love vegetables.

W. What makes you run late: Waiting for Shaun, getting the car defrosted in the morning, clients.

X. X-rays you've had: teeth, fingers.

Y. Yummy food you make: I am not a great chef but I do make a great salmon pasta.

Z. Zoo animal favourites: Bears and lemurs.

Funny stuff

2011-02-25T14:12:00.002Z

Since I don't have anything interesting or clever to say and since I found this list in my inbox today, I thought I would share. Hope no one gets offended. Enjoy!

1) I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

2) Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

3) I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.

4) Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

5) The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.

6) Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

7) If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong.

8) We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

9) War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

10) Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

11) The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

12) Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening', and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

13) To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

14) A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

15) How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

16) Some people are like Slinkies ... not really good for anything, but you can't help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.

17) Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.

18) I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted pay checks.

19) A bank is a place that will lend you money, if you can prove that you don't need it.

20) Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "If an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR".

21) I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

22) Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

23) Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

24) Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

25) A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

26) You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

27) The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!

28) Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.

29) A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip.

30) Hospitality: making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.

31) Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

32) I discovered I scream the same way whether I'm about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.

33) Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others whenever they go.

34) I always take life with a grain of salt, plus a slice of lemon, and a shot of tequila.

35) When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.

36) You're never too old to learn something stupid.

37) To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

38) Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

39) Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people. Others have no imagination whatsoever.

40) A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are after it as when you are in it.

41) Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

2011-02-21T16:54:00.002Z

I really need to be better at trying to keep this blog alive. I am slacking and I know it. But truth to be told there is really not much happening in our household. The week before last I first had an adductor injury which left me in pain and limping for couple of days. Then I got ill. I knew something was happening on Wednesday afternoon as I left work at 5.30 pm (very early for me) and went straight home and straight to bed. I kept waking up in the middle of the night with high temperature and a really really sore throat. I ended up not going to work on Thursday and Friday and by Monday I was feeling much better. Needless to say no training was done during that time but by Monday last week I was ready and motivated to get back into training. But those two days being at home and not working made me really appreciate my job. Gosh I would go mad if I had to stay at home the whole day - I am really bad at keeping myself entertained at times.

So last week it was back to work and back to training. The training part is going ok. I have managed to get most of my workouts in and that motivates me even more. I am beginning to like my new swim squad although the knowledge that we will live here only until July/August makes me not wanting to really get stuck into club life.

Work has been OK. I am still working on my never-ending transaction that has been going on since July last year. Last week I witnessed real incompetence shown by lawyers on the other side and it really made me wonder who gave them law degrees and practising certificates.

In other news Shaun and I are trying to get more sleep these days. We are both well known in our friends' circles for being notoriously bad at getting enough sleep. Part of it is because we are so busy all the time and just don't have enough time to do it all but also part of it is because we are just not disciplined enough to make ourselves go to bed early. So this weekend I was on a mission. I made us go to bed before 10 pm on Friday and on Saturday morning we were up early and done with our workouts by 10 am. Well, let me tell you, that is a first for us. We normally go to bed late on a Friday and then in an effort to catch up on some sleep do not normally get out of bed before 10 am. But this weekend we realised that if we are just a bit more disciplined we can have far more fun at weekends. By getting up early and getting our workouts out of the way we had time to go into town, enjoy the local market and sit in a coffee shop drinking coffee and reading paper for couple of hours. It was wonderful. And then we did a repeat on Sunday and by having our workouts done first thing in the morning we had time to go to a local bistro and have lovely lunch. So needless to say, our sleep pattern will be changing.

Medals, parades and other stuff

2011-02-08T10:16:00.007Z

Well not much and at the same time a lot has been happening. Work is busy as usual. I have been working on a particular transaction for over six months now and every time we think we are near the end something else happens or the lawyers on the other side have more comments, blah, blah, blah. The lawyers on the other side have been driving me absolutely mad.

Anyway, I haven't been feeling that great last week. I don't like this time of the year because I always feel sick - mainly because I commute to work in a crammed train or underground and the germs are flying around. I am trying to take care of myself but when you are inches away from people and they are coughing, sneezing etc. it is just not that easy. My training of course suffered. I am finding it very difficult to get into grove of training when I don't feel well.

Last weekend we went down to our old neighbourhood because Shaun's unit was receiving their medals for the deployment in Afghanistan. It was a freezing day but it was lovely to see everyone. And HRH Prince Charles came and was awarding the medals. It was wonderful to catch up with some old friends but the time just went by far too quickly. We stayed the whole weekend since there was another party for us to go to - company that Shaun used to command was doing a welcome and farewell to few people, including us. Again, it was great to see them all but at the same time sad that we are not there any more. I miss living down there. I miss living by the sea. I miss my old running and cycling routes and my old masters swim squad. But most of all I miss all my friends. Life in the Army, eh!!!

On that note I am leaving you with couple of photos from the parade.

The company Shaun commanded in Aghanistan:

Prince Charles:

All together:

Ultrarunner v Ironman

2011-01-25T15:29:00.002Z

Not sure whether you've seen this clip before but I thought I would share. Very funny. Enjoy!

Life as usual

2011-01-21T16:06:00.002Z

I haven't been writing much lately simply because there wasn't really that much to write about. Well, there still isn't but here I am writing and boring to death few of you that are actually reading this blog.

Thank God it's Friday!!! Work has not been crazy busy, but I am currently working on a deal which has been going on for what seems forever. I actually really like the partner in charge of this transaction and I like the client but the lawyers on the other side are DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!! Almost every day involves a conference call which lasts for hours where they would like to discuss issues that are not really issues. Or I have to go to Paris and sit in a room for hours negotiating the documents. Anyway, I don't really want to write about it because just thinking about it raises my blood pressure.

My new commute to work is OK-ish but not great. It takes me 2 hours to get to work. Those two hours involve a car drive, train journey and underground journey. I know for most of people this is crazy commute and I do agree with you but these are the only 7 months in my life where I know that Shaun is at home all the time and I get back home to him every evening. So there is absolutely no way that I am staying in London during the week. However, from August his job takes us to Wales which will mean that I will be in London Monday to Friday and then in Wales at weekends. His job will take him away fairly often as well. It will be hard but I know we can make it work. We have in the past. Since I haven't kept my old apartment in London I am currently looking at where I would like to live from the summer and I have narrowed it down to few places. Basically, I will want to be near one of the parks: Hyde Park, Regents Park or Richmond Park. My old apartment was very near Hyde Park and I am leaning that way just because I love that part of the city. And plus, guess where Triathlon race will be in 2012 Olympics??? The Olympics tickets go on sale in few weeks' time and I can't wait.

Have a great weekend!!!

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-05T11:16:00.002Z

Well I can't believe that the holidays are over. For months you build up to that time in December and you excitingly wait and then it is all over in what seemed like a second. Gosh, going back to work after the holidays is hard.

We had quiet Christmas at home, Shaun, me and Millie. My parents were planning to come over but because of lots of snow and a lot of flights being cancelled they postponed their trip over to some warmer days. We decided to stay at home because Millie was just settling in and we wanted to give her some time to get used to life at home.

For New Year's Eve we had lovely dinner with friends. One of the great things about living where we live now is that we are only 30 mins drive from our great friends and my Goddaughter so having dinner together was wonderful. There were only 6 of us (3 couples) there and we spent the New Year's Eve 6 years ago together so that was really nice.

Shaun has started work yesterday, following his post-deployment leave period. He is now at Staff College studying whatever all these Majors have to study until mid-August. Life as a student, hah! It is just so nice having him at home.

I have now started training, and wow am I out of shape. It is incredible how quickly fitness goes. So far running in the dark keeps me on my toes. I normally run before work and it is still very much dark outside. Where we lived before that was not much of a problem as it was a well lit, inhabited area and I would normally run in the town centre and back anyway. But now it is a totally different. We live in a road with 8 other houses and a lot of nothing around. There is no street light. So yesterday saw me running in the dark with the head torch on which was interesting. I can't say I enjoyed it very much but I guess I will get used to it. On a positive side, once the days get longer in few weeks running in that countryside during sunrise will be amazing.

Happy New Year!!!

New life in the country

2010-12-21T11:38:00.002Z

So, I am going to copy what some of you (which shall remain unnamed) do and do this blog post in bullet point format.

-- We love living in our new neighbourhood. Our house is one of 9 on the road in the middle on English countryside and we love it. It is very quiet with lots and lots of footpaths and trails. Ideal for running. Our road is also part of the National Cycle Network which means some great rides around. It really is amazing living in the countryside again. Yesterday we had three deer in our garden and this morning we've heard and owl outside. We LOVE it.

-- I am also looking forward to joining local triathlon scene which is meant to be quite good. We miss our friends from the old tri club but I am determined to make some new ones here.

-- Still no training. I feel very fat and unfit and cannot wait to start training again. To be fair I am my own worse enemy as when I don't train I just let my eating habits slide as well. I really really need to be more disciplined. But, hurray, Jen's updated my training peaks and I start training again next week and i CAN'T WAIT.

-- Work has been busy lately with some trips to Paris. Actually, as glamorous as it sounds I am really not enjoying those. It involves a lot of travelling, sitting in a meeting room and negotiating the deal.

-- We have a new addition to our family. A beautiful chocolate Labrador called Millie and she is adorable.

2010-12-14T10:31:00.002Z

Wow, has it been this long since the last time I wrote. I really won't learn, will I. That is it, I am going to try to stick to writing at least once a week. Let's see how that goes, shall we!?

So what has happened since the last time I wrote? The first and most important thing is that Shaun came back home after 7-month deployment to Afghanistan. The company he commands was on the very last flight home which made it really hard.I would see the other guys arriving home and their wives and girlfriends being really happy and relieved but we just had to wait and wait. But that day finally arrived and it was wonderful to have him back home. The post-deployment party in the officers mess was the best party we had in a very long time. Everyone was really relaxed which made it such a fun night. We had some friends staying with us as well which was fun and ended up getting home just after 5 am. A lot of alcohol was consumed and I don't normally drink which made the day after the party a rather painful day. I felt seriously ill the following day. And of course I said the famous words - "I am not drinking ever again".

So what else happened. For the past few months I was training for a marathon which was due to take place on 5 December. The week before the race we had a very snowy and cold weather (UK just does not know how to cope with the cold and snow) and the race was cancelled. I was very disappointed, especially as my training was going really well and I knew I was in for a good PR. Anyway, I have frantically set off looking for an alternative race and found one a week later in Holland. But this marathon just did not seem to happen for me as I felt ill and didn't race.

So now I am under instructions to rest and enjoy and I keep looking at my training peaks profile and there are no workouts there. I even log on every day hoping that I fill find a workout or something but nothing. I am not very good at this resting thing. It is driving me mad.

In some different news we have moved to a small village between Swindon and Marlborough, west of London. Shaun is on a staff college here until August, when we move to Wales. I am of course commuting to London for my job which is not ideal but there is not much I can do about it. We moved last week and are still getting to know the area. It is very beautiful with a lot of lovely pubs and great cycling route network. I think we will have nice time here.

So I am leaving you with a photo from the party which sums it all up - FUN!!!

ESPN 30 for 30 - Once Brothers (1/6)

2010-10-23T21:14:00.000+01:00

One of my friends posted this video on facebook the other day and I have already seen it twice. If you have not seen it on ESPN have a look on youtube. I loved it. It took me back to the old days when I was just a little girl and all these guys that appear in this video (Toni Kukoc, Vlade Divac, Drazen Petrovic) were my idols. That era, the era of Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan for me was when the best basketball was played.

I started playing basketball competitively when I was 9-10 years old. By the age of 13 I was already playing in National junior (U18) team and by the time I was 14 I was playing in my club's senior team with the girls who were at least 4-5 years older than me. I loved it. Basketball was my life and I loved my life. I trained hard and I trained every day. I used to go to practice an hour before everyone else and would stay an hour after everyone has left. I lived for the game. And I was good at it. Really good (without wanting to sound big-headed). I always thought that I would be a professional basketball player. For me nothing else was an option. But things happen in life over which you don't have any control and my basketball career came to abrupt stop.

I so often wonder what would have happened and where would I be now if I carried on playing. It is amazing how one event if your life changes your life altogether. Well, perhaps that's the beauty of it.

In more recent news, work has continued to be absolutely crazy. Hopefully the deal I am working on will complete this Friday and I can have my life back. And some more positive news, 15 days until my husband is finally back home. Huuuurrraaaay!!!

One tough week

2010-10-09T20:03:00.002+01:00

One tough work week is behind me. Well not entirely behind me as I have to do some work from home tomorrow (Sunday) but it has been tough. I have worked over 70 hours Monday to Friday and there are no signs that it will calm down. My boss wants me to lead a really important transaction which I have never done before. I know I am capable of doing it but the problem is that the whole department is quite stretched and I am not getting the help from the junior lawyers that I need. The transaction is due to complete the day after Shaun comes home so fingers crossed it will all go according to plan.

Needless to say, after getting home around midnight most nights this week my training suffered. I used to get so frustrated about this before. But I think with time I kind of got used to accept it and go with the flow. In any event if work needs to get done I need to stay in the office and if I get too frustrated about it I just loose energy because of something that I can't change. So now, once the clock hits 7 pm and I am still in the office I just accept it and carry on working.

There are many times when I think I need a different job. That I need a job which will give me more time to spend with family and friends and do things that I love. But at the same time, I worked so hard to get to where I am and something has to pay the bills so there you go.

On a different note, Shaun and the company he commands is due to return in four weeks time. Busy work has made the time go quick last few weeks and I hope that the next four weeks will go quickly as well. It will be amazing having him home and having a normal life after 7.5 months.

Now I am peeled to my computer watching Ironmanlive and following all my friends. What an exciting day for everyone. Good luck guys.

I am leaving with with my view most of the time lately - view from my office.

It's been some time

2010-09-30T13:58:00.004+01:00

Well yet again I have failed to update this blog for some time. But forgive me, I think I may have an excuse (for some of it at least). So what has happened since the last time I wrote.

Most of August I was just excitedly waiting and counting down the days until Shaun came back home on a well deserved 2 weeks' R&R. As usual the time before he arrived felt like it really dragged on. But seeing him after 4.5 months of being apart was amazing. He looked tired, undernourished (he has lost a lot of weight) but happy to be back home. At least for a little while. In the typical fashion of Chandler household as soon as we got home from the airport we headed out together for a run. Needless to say our neighbours thought we were totally crazy but it was wonderful. It was just so lovely to run, chat and share that love for sports, as we normally do. We had lots of fun during those two weeks, seeing some friends, eating out and enjoying some lovely food or just watching DVDs at home. I also really needed a break from work as the last few weeks in the run up to Shaun's return work has been really busy. But the two weeks went really quickly and now I am sitting and waiting until his deployment is finished and he is back home in 5 weeks :))))

During those two weeks I was doing an ironman distance race on the border between England and Wales. I have to say that the swim venue was one of the most beautiful places I've ever swum in. The bike scenery was stunning. But I never got to see the run.... The bike course consisted of two loops and on the second loop I got sent the wrong way. I ended up in T2 after 90 miles rather than 112 and my race was over. Needless to say I was devastated. It wasn't so much about the ruined race rather than all the sacrifices we make along the way. All the early morning training, all the social events that I had to skip because I had to train. All the time that I could have spent with my friend and family. I do love training but if my race is going to be ruined I want it to be on my terms. Anyway, I am not going to dwell on it any more, I have put it behind me and I am now really looking forward to next season.

So I will leave you with couple of photos taken 2 weeks ago at a short trip away with friends in Bruges, Belgium.

Trailwalker photos

2010-07-23T16:50:00.010+01:00

Here are some photos I've got from the last weekend's race.

Pre race posing:

Checkpoints stuff

Coming into the finish

Tearful

Done and looking like a mess. But happy.

Trailwalker 100 km

2010-07-22T12:23:00.003+01:00

On Saturday we (being the all-girls team called Gurkha Girls) ran the 100 km race called the Trailwalker. The race took us along the trail called the South Downs from a a small town in Hampshire called Petersfield to outskirts of seaside city Brighton. The scenery surrounding this race was absolutely beautiful and there were many times when I slowed down and looked around thinking "This is so beautiful". The race is organised by Oxfam and the Gurkha Regiments (in which Shaun serves) with the aim to raise money for both Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust. The aim is to have a team of 4 who will start and finish the race together. Some teams just walk whilst the others are really competitive and run the whole way. This year there were around 320 teams taking part. Each team has a support vehicle which waits for its team at each of 10 checkpoints carrying team's food, spare clothes and anything else one might want.

Our team, the Gurkha Girls consisted of 3 wives and a fiance of Gurkha officers. Our support team consisted of Gurkha officers and soldiers who were not deployed to Afghanistan. And let me tell you we had THE BEST support crew anyone could want.
Our strategy was to walk the hills and run everything else. And we certainly stuck to that strategy. But don't think that the hills were easy. Some of them would send my heart rate into zone 5 just by walking up them. Some of them were brutal.

When the things got tough all we had to do is think of the hard jobs that our husbands do out in Afghanistan and that kept us going. We were doing well. When we started we said we would love sub-18 hour finish but would be happy with anything up to 20 hours. Half-way through the race we were on course for 15 hour finish. Our support crew and the volunteers at the checkpoints were impressed. They all expected us to be these housewives who would take 25-30 hours (30 hours is cut-off time) to finish. Noone expected us to go this quick. At about 70 km in a mixed team of two men and two women passed us and said "Are you the Gurkha Girls"? We said we were and they replied "We have heard about you at the checkpoints and have been trying to catch you for hours." That made us smile.

Because I had most experience in endurance racing I tried to keep the girls motivated, help, talk and do all the things I thought may be helpful. I have been told that apparently my favourite line is "It's not that bad". Apparently I would run up some inclines and the girls would be like "Technically, this is a hill. We should walk", to which my reply was "Come on, it's not that bad".

Just after 10 pm we were getting very close to the finish line. We could see the lights in the distance. We knew our support crew was there waiting for us. We crossed the finish line holding hands knowing that we have done it for Neil, Josh and Cpl Pun who lost their lives last week fighting for our country.

It took us 16 hours and 12 minutes to get to the finish line. We were 2nd female team and 24th team overall. Our support crew was thrilled. They have, by the time we saw them, already somehow sent the message to the guys in Afghanistan telling them how well we did. When we crossed the line and saw them they told us how much the guys in Afghanistan were proud of us. We burst into tears. What we did that day is nothing compared to what our husbands do every day. This was our way of saying thank you.

Heroes

2010-07-15T11:48:00.003+01:00

I have been meaning to write this blog post for few days now and I had in my head a topic of writing about the ironman training and how great the rest week seems because the longest workout was 2 hours. But that just seems so trivial and irrelevant to me. On Tuesday life and the way I see life has changed forever.

On Tuesday we got news of three people from Shaun's unit being killed. Two officers and one soldier. I did not know the soldier but I did know the officers very well. I will not talk about how we found out and how we felt but what I will say is that in those moments the only people you actually want to spend time with are other spouses and girlfriends who are going through the same thing. Tuesday was hard. None of us have spoken to any of our other halves and I just felt helpless and numb. I didn't eat anything on Tuesday and could hardly sleep. Yesterday was not much better - I made it to work but I only stayed for couple of hours because all I did was staring at my computer screen doing absolutely nothing.

It is amazing how life changes in a second. You loose focus and nothing, apart from family and friends, seems important. Suddenly training and racing are totally irrelevant and reading blogs is the last thing on your mind. You start thinking how people are ignorant because they don't know what is going on. But it is no one's fault really and you can't blame anyone because why should people know any of that stuff. Why should they feel the way you feel? Until Tuesday morning I used to count the days until Shaun gets back home on R&R. I have stopped doing that. Now I just take each day as it comes.

I woke up this morning and thought that I would feel this day was a success if I stayed at work the whole day and not cry at all. It is mid-day and I am trying my hardest to make this a successful day. But I can't stop thinking about Josh and Neal and how young they were and how the whole life was still in front of them. We will miss you so much guys and the parties in the Officers' Mess will never be the same. We are so proud of you and everything you've done to keep us safe.

And even though you will be sorely missed you will never ever be forgotten. Jai 1RGR!!!

Ooops

2010-07-06T10:00:00.003+01:00

Well few things have changed since the last time I wrote. The main thing is that I am not NOT doing IM Louisville. I thought about it for a very long time and i have decided to do a local ironman distance race here in the UK called The Big Woody . The reason behind it is that Shaun will be in the UK for two weeks during that time and I realised that he probably did not want to be dragged half-way across the world to Kentucky to watch me race. I thought he would rather just relax and do things the easy way. And he kind of agreed. Of course he would have come with me and all that, but those two weeks are not about me, they are about him. And I am fine with not doing Louisville and am actually really looking forward to doing a local race. It will be fun.

So I am still training for ironman and on Saturday I had a 100 mile ride on the plan. My legs were really not happy about it. The first 20-30 miles they did not want to play at all. I found myself thinking things like "Angelina, you are sooo stupid. Why are you doing this? Why? You are not doing an ironman next year. It is far too long". But then the legs decided to join the play ans they started feeling better and by mile 80-90 I was riding thinking which ironman I should do next year. Is it that easy to change your mind!? And so before you know it I am signed up for a great race next year - it will be their 10th anniversary and promises to be amazing.

Summer in England

2010-06-24T17:15:00.003+01:00

Life has been somewhat crazy lately. Work has been manic last week and I managed to average 5 hours sleep every night. The work itself was not too bad and I enjoyed working with couple of people from one of our regional offices. It is amazing how much more relaxed and friendlier are people who do not work in the City (financial centre of London). Amazing!!!!

Last weekend we had rubbish weather. I had to do a 5 hour ride on Saturday and I got rained on so many times. But I discovered some new routes which was lovely. I love discovering new countryside roads.

Unlike the weekend, the weather this week has been amazing. Nice and sunny and warm (but not too warm). I met three ladies yesterday after work, all of whom are girlfriends of the young officers in Shaun's battalion. We try to meet up once a month and last time we met we had a dinner in one of the restaurants in the West End. This time we wanted to enjoy the glorious weather and ended up having a picnic in the Green Park. I LOVE LONDON!!!!

Happy birthday!

2010-06-23T14:21:00.005+01:00

My amazing husband is a year older today. I am bummed that we can't spend this day together but that is life I guess. But he has received the cake I sent in the post.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING!

Kansas 70.3

2010-06-15T13:42:00.003+01:00

*Ignore that time on the clock - I am faster than that (not by huge amount though :(((

I know that I owe you a race report from Kansas but it now seems like ages ago and I am feeling lazy and work has been crazy since I got back so I am not going to say too much.

My trip went swimmingly. I flew to Kansas City via Chicago. My bike and the bag made it on all of the four flights which got me from London to Kansas City and back. I've missed having Shaun there as this was the first race in the US that I have done on my own. But he called the evening before the race and the evening after the race which was lovely.

I stayed with friends in Kansas City. He is a Brit who has been living in KC for the last year and a half. During that time he got married and had a kid and it was lovely to meet his wife and baby girl. It was funny because we used to go out years and years ago but remained good friends all this time. It was so nice to see him happily married.

I am pretty sure most of you have read on other blogs about the race and how it was hot etc, etc. So I will not talk about that. All I am going to say is that I had a great race with a PR to prove. I felt strong the whole time and perhaps I could have pushed a bit more on the bike but I am not going to dwell on it. I had a small mechanical on the bike where I've lost some time. As I got out of T1 and tried to clip in and get going my rear wheel wouldn't move. AT ALL!!! I thought the brakes were rubbing, got off, looked at it, it wasn't breaks. I was fiddling with it for couple of minutes, released my skewer a bit and that seemed to have done the trick. About 15 miles into the bike, a guy rode past me and said "Your rear skewer is almost undone" or something along those lines. I hopped off the bike and as I got my leg over the bike, the rear wheel just fell out. Clearly the skewer was COMPLETELY released. Wow, I was lucky. If he didn't see it, if he didn't say anything to me, if I didn't stop..... I don't even want to know what would have happened on some of those fast downhills. But I was lucky and that is that.

Overall, I loved my, albeit short, time in Kansas and Missouri and I loved the race. Now it's time to ramp up that IM Louisville training.

For those interested...

2010-05-29T22:38:00.002+01:00

Someone has forwarded this link to me today and it really made my day. It is all about Shaun's unit. And if you don't read anything else make sure you read the last two paragraphs :))))

Fun stuff

2010-05-21T09:51:00.001+01:00

I know I owe you the race report from the race last week and I will hopefully do it this afternoon, but right now I wanted to share something I've read, which is pretty funny. Enjoy.

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the h-- are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least 'kind of tired'.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper to which I swear I did not make any changes.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Ahhhhh!!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

21. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear get dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

29. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'll bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

30. My check engine light has been on for three months now and nothing's happened. I'm starting to think that my car is just an attention whore.

31. I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?

32. Sometimes I pretend not to remember details about people because having a good memory apparently equates to creepiness.

33. My GPS says "Estimated Arrival Time." I see "Time to Beat."

34. Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not smart enough to read and obey the warning sign. I will touch the electric fence to see what it does".

35. My keyboard needs a removable crumb tray like my toaster.

36. What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

37. I wish it were appropriate to say to a complete stranger, "Excuse me, would you like me to show you how to discipline your child?"

38. I never understood why the Lions and Cowboys always get to play on Thanksgiving. Shouldn't the Patriots play the Redskins, and then steal their stadium afterwards?

39. Double-Stuffed Oreos should just be called Oreos, and regular Oreos should be called Diet Oreos.

Politics and racing

2010-05-12T14:32:00.003+01:00

Following our general elections on Thursday we in the UK woke up on Friday morning with the news of a Hung Parliament. This means that no political party managed to secure the overall majority although the Conservative party secured highest number of votes. After few days of talks and negotiations we finally have a new government formed by a coalition between the Conservatives and Liberal-Democrats. We also have a new Prime Minister, David Cameron. I hope that this means a brighter and better future but we all know that the new Government has a lot of work to do.

And for those interested in some British politics the following video will be interesting

Slightly different news now - it is race week for me. On Sunday I am racing The Marshman, a half-ironman distance triathlon some 20 miles from my house. I am very excited to race so close to home on the roads I know and with some familiar faces. The benefit of racing so close to home is that you don't have to travel and it gives me a lot of time to plan and prepare for a race. Travelling just leaves me panicking about whether I've packed everything or similar worries.

So I've put my bike in for service and it should be ready this evening. Once that is done I will be ready to race. But there is just one small issue. And that is weather. We've been having some pretty cold spell here recently. I woke up this morning to find that the temps in London were sub-zero degrees Celsius (around 35F). Apparently last night in the UK was the coldest May night in the last 15 years. So I am naturally worried about the race and how cold I would get. I have got a neoprene swim cap and now I just need to decide on all those layers to wear on the bike. I HATE being cold. But there is not much I can do so I will just have to figure it out and get on with it. But I am very excited to race. Woo hoo!

Lost and found

2010-04-29T14:01:00.002+01:00

Well another week has gone by and I am that one week closer to seeing my husband again. I am now fully established into my daily and weekly routine. The only non-routine stuff are Shaun's phone calls. He tries to call twice a week if at all possible but we never know when that might be. It is usually at some ungodly hour for him like 1 am his time. He is working very hard and really long hours and if he has time then the phones are usually busy with long waiting lines. Unlike last time when he was in a huge camp with huge infrastructure, this time around it is back to basics. Apparently he tries to run around the edges of the camp - circles of 300 meters would drive me mad. But he is stronger and better than me at that.

Last weekend I went for a weekend away with 3 other army wives and one of the husbands, army officer who has stayed behind (he came back from his deployment fairly recently though). Us, the "army wives" are running a trailwalker race in July (run/walk/crawl of 100 km along the coast of Britain) so this was our first training/bonding weekend. For me it was good, because I ended up doing my long run with other people - so much more fun. Although I have to admit, I couldn't do it very often.

We stayed the Saturday night in B&B and back home on Sunday, after the long run. When I got home I couldn't find my watch anywhere. I took it off that morning to put my Garmin on and thought I'd put it in my rucksack. But couldn't find it anywhere. I LOVE that watch. It is expensive but that was not the point, the insurance would probably pay for it. Far more importantly, it was Shaun's wedding anniversary present 5 years ago. I was completely devastated. I asked all the ladies but they haven't seen it anywhere. We searched the car but nothing. On Monday morning I decided to phone the B&B to check whether they had it, although I was fairly certain that it just fell out my bag somewhere. So I called them and BINGO! They have it. I was soooooo happy. I hope to drive down tonight after work to pick it up. I just can't wait to see it back on my wrist. I really ought to be more careful from now on.
I am leaving you with the photo of "Girkha Girls" (the name of the team) post-run.
I look like a giant - must be uphill :(

NO

2010-04-21T15:58:00.003+01:00

There are so many things wondering in my head so I suspect this blog post will be quite random.

I have been invited to a dinner by one of the Army wives tonight. Most of the other wives are going but I said "No". I have masters swim practice and I did not want to miss it. I didn't really say that to her as there is no doubt they would all think I was completely mad and got my priorities wrong. But after all, that was the only reason for it. If it wasn't for the masters practice (or any other training session) I would have gone. Perhaps I am mad. But I am proud of myself (maybe wrongly, you can be the judge of that) for saying "No". I do have a problem in that more often than not I would agree to doing something even though it completely messes up my plans and my life. Then the even comes near and all I think is why in the first place did I agree to go there or do that. Anyway, I am on the right track and I need to be more disciplined in saying NO.

On a slightly different note, I have had a first phone call over the weekend informing me of the first injured soldier in Shaun's unit. It was a case of improvised explosive device and the poor soldier has lost both of his legs. It is impossible to say how I felt but all I wanted to do was cry. Not sure whether it was because I was feeling sorry for him, or because it brought it all close to home or whether I was feeling sorry for myself and having to deal with these sort of news for the next six months. But what I do know is that I shouldn't think about these things because they will drive me completely mad.

But on a more positive note the training is going well in spite of some long hours at work. I am loving the training at the moment and the little routine I have created for myself. And so I am leaving you with couple of photos from my most favourite long run route. Miles and miles of trees, water and nothing else.

Italy and other things

2010-04-14T15:57:00.005+01:00

My trip to Italy went well. We did a fair bit of work and had meetings in Padova, Venice, Treviso, Vicenca, Verona and Milan. So most of it was work and work but we also had some time to relax. I've seen this:

Vicenza was small but lovely too

But mostly I did a lot of this:

On a not so good note, I missed two calls from Shaun whilst I was in Italy and I was getting very upset with the fact that I have not spoken with him. Once back home I became inseparable from my phone until he called on Saturday :)))) I was much much happier after that. We are still trying to get into some sort of routine as to our communication but we are getting there slowly. I am trying to spend as little time as possible living the "Army life" because when I do I tend to loose any sense of reality. It is a very different life and I very often get into phases where I do not like spending any time with the other army wives.

Anyway, we've had some nice weather but the mornings and nights are still very very cold. I really need the spring/summer to arrive SOON.

Today's run

2010-04-04T13:09:00.009+01:00

I had a trail run on my plan today and I knew perfect place. On the top of the cliffs overlooking the English channel. And the rain we had last few days made sure it was slow and muddy.

The steps going down (they were muddy and I was sliding most of the time)

What goes down WILL go up. Ouch!

Hope you all have a lovely day today. Happy Easter!

April

2010-04-01T16:05:00.002+01:00

Wow, has it been this long since the last time I blogged. Where does this time go? But believe me not much has happened and you haven't really missed anything.

I had a week off work and we went to see both sets of parents (what a lovely kids we are :))). We first went to Belgrade where the weather was lovely. It was Shaun's and mine first run of the year in short and t-shirt. That made me really happy... the little things, eh. Then back to the UK and to Wales to see Shaun's family. That was a rather flying visit. Unfortunately I am now back at work. I always find it so hard going back to work after few days of holiday.

Shaun is deploying in the early hours of Saturday. I cannot believe that time for him to go is already here. I find the last couple of weeks always particularly hard - he is not gone yet but I am waiting for it to happen, so I can't really do anything properly. It is almost like waiting for him to go so that I can get back into my routine. But at the same time I do not want him to go. Ugh...

We have had a pretty bad weather here in the UK this week. Rain, wind, cold, I mean it is April for God's sake. Where is that sunshine. It is officially spring but it certainly doesn't seem like it. The good news is that on Monday I am going on a business trip to Italy for a whole of next week. I fly into Venice and out of Milan but I will also be having meetings in Treviso, Vicenza and Verona. Unfortunately it will mess up my training a little but at least I can go for a run.

We in the UK have a Friday (tomorrow) and Monday as bank holidays so the long weekend awaits. I wish I could say that some sunshine awaits too but there are some parts of the UK in snow right now. Oh Italy, I cannot wait.

Balance

2010-03-12T12:01:00.002Z

Shaun came back from his trip on Sunday night and we had to go straight to his company leaving party. Some of his soldiers were getting deployed this week and that was the last opportunity for the whole company to get together. It was very emotional for me to be there and listen to all the speeches but it was a good night.

I am finding it extremely difficult to juggle all the things in my life at the moment. I need to get that right balance that I am always striving for but it's not easy. Work has been quite busy lately but I enjoyed facing some new challenges at work so that was not really a problem from me. However, when I get home from work all I want to do is spend time with Shaun. When he is away I am totally devoted to my work and training and I hardly miss a workout and if I do, it is usually because of a late night in the office. But with Shaun's leaving date fast approaching I find it soooo hard to come home, say hello to him and head upstairs for an hour on the computrainer. When I know that in 3 weeks time I will be all on my own and would dream of the evenings spent together. Last night, for example, I had a 90 mins workout on the trainer but on my way back home all I wanted was a nice evening with Shaun. So I skipped the workout and we went out to a nice Mexican restaurant for a dinner. I felt really guilty about it but we've had lovely evening so why do I feel guilty?

Anyway, I have talked him into riding with me tomorrow so at least that is one way of getting the balance.

Update

2010-03-03T16:09:00.002Z

Not much has been happening since I last wrote. On Thursday last week very very early (something like 3 am) Shaun left to go to Afghanistan. He is only there on a course for 10 days and should be back early next week. He will then have some time off before he deploys in early April for 6 months. When he left last week and I saw him in desert uniform I have no idea what happened to me but I couldn't stop my tears. I mean there was no reason for them - he will be back soon and he's been away far longer recently on various exercises. But I think seeing him in that uniform brought me back to reality and the fact that very very soon he will be gone for 6 months and I will have to deal with it. I really did not want him to see me cry but I just couldn't stop those damn tears. He went on this course with two junior officers. One of them is married and they live next door to us so in a way that was easier for me because Kate (his wife) and I could spend some time together.

I know I am not always overly excited about the life in the Army but with Shaun being away these days everyone has been very nice. I got invited for a dinner and cinema last weekend. I was invited by young officers to a dinner in the Officers' Mess (ok, ok, I should probably send my single female friends), tomorrow I am for for another dinner with an army couple. In addition people have been calling, texting etc. The support has been great and that is what is great about the life "with" the army.

The training has been going well. Last Saturday my triathlon club organised a swimming gala (swim meet for all my North American friends) just for the club members and some guests. The idea was that anyone could sign up for any number of races and we, who do not normally compete in swimming, would have the opportunity to experience the atmosphere. I thought it was a great idea and very well organised. I competed in 3 races and was reasonably happy with how I did, but I was ecstatic about one thing - I actually DOVE OFF the blocks. I've never done that in my life (yes I did "bomb" as a child) and was terrified, but I loved it.

The picture at the beginning of this post is from a Thanet 20 mile running race three years ago. On Sunday I will running the same race again. That should be....interesting to say the least. Hopefully the rain we have had recently will be gone and the horrible cold wind that froze me on my run this morning will be nothing but a breeze.

A & E

2010-02-24T13:08:00.003Z

This is Shaun around 4 am this morning. In an A&E department of our nearest hospital. He has been complaining of some stomach pains since Sunday night and the last couple of nights were rough, for both of us. At 2 am this morning he was getting worse so I suggested we go to A&E to get him checked. He is due to fly to Afghanistan tomorrow for 10 days and he does not need to be worried about his health. So A&E it was. 4 hours later we left, with some tablets. They don't know what it was but it doesn't seem serious so hopefully he will be OK.

Last couple of days have been hard. A friend passed away this week of cancer. He leaves behind his wife and three small kids, all under the age of eight. When we first met him, in Brunei 7-8 years ago he was very fit army officer. Last year we found out he had throat cancer but we really thought he would make it through. But life is so fragile sometimes. It makes me realise time and time again that we should not take anything for granted and that we should enjoy every day to its fullest. John, we will miss you greatly but I am sure we will meet again.

Hello Friday!

2010-02-19T16:44:00.002Z

Here they are - some of my rumblings!

It's Friday afternoon, nearly 5 pm and I am waiting for that magic 5:30 pm so that I can leave the office. Shaun is away and one of the young female officers is coming over for a dinner and girly evening away from the guys. Shaun is her boss and she never comes when he is around which I find quite funny. I cannot imagine him being scary :))) But I do feel for her as she is the most junior officer in the Mess (single officers live there) and living with the boys can get to you sometimes I guess. So when I am on my own she pops over and I enjoy the evenings like that as well.

This is my second week of consistent training and I love it. The first time I went back to the club swim it was painful. REALLLLY painful. But the second time was better and the third even better. I love swimming. I just wish I was faster.

Shaun has been away a lot. They are deploying in 4-5 weeks and I guess they are putting "finishing touches" on their training as well. He was away the whole last week and I got a call on Sunday night at 11 pm to come and get him from the base. Then he left again on Wednesday morning and should be back home tomorrow. Woo hoo. But then he is due to go away next week for 10 days. :)))

I think that it is certain that I won't be racing Oceanside. We are just really short on time and I do not want to stress about the race the week before Shaun deploys. We will both have a week off work so I am still thinking of ways (somewhere closer) to spend that week. We will most likely just drive to France and enjoy their food and wine. And some nice riding.

But the plan is not definite yet so if you have any ideas please do share.

Snow

2010-02-12T20:41:00.002Z

I got off the train on Wednesday night to find my car totally buried in snow. My normal 5 mins drive from the train station home took me over half an hour. On Thursday morning my car and me in it were the first to drive down our road. Needless to say, the trains were a mess and I ended up working from home.

It was lovely to walk in the snow and enjoy the fresh air. But this country never gets this much snow and we simply cannot cope with it. So, can we please have some nice weather now.

Plans, plans, plans

2010-02-03T14:13:00.003Z

After a few pretty awful days I am finally feeling better. Not 100%, not even 80%, but I hope I am getting there slowly. Apparently I had a virus (possibly even swine flu) and that is why my antibiotics were not working properly. I still have blocked nose, I cough and also sound nothing like me but I feel soooo much better than I did over the weekend.

I had a chat with a good friend who is also a doctor about how soon I can get back to training but she told me to wait until I feel better because my immune system is lower than normal right now and I could pick something up again if I start training too soon. So I am waiting.... I am hoping to do some light training this weekend. I have not trained properly for almost 5 full weeks. It has all been on and off with the last two weeks being particularly bad so I am terrified of getting back to training. Don't get me wrong, I simply cannot wait to do it, but at the same time I am terrified of seeing that my fitness has gone downhill. And it has, and I HATE it. But as long as I am healthy I am going to work my butt off to get to where I was (and pass that) soon. So, for the weekend, I hope to do an easy 1 hour spin on the bike and an easy run and then get back to Jen's training programme on Monday.

On a slightly different note, Shaun has found out today that he probably won't deploy until the first week of April, which is great news because I get to spend more time with him. But to me that screamed NO OCEANSIDE straight away. But.... There may be a way around it and we won't really know for sure until some time in March but I hope our plan works. And that is for Shaun to come to Cali with me at the end of March. Apparently he needs to be in the UK at least 5 days before they deploy so it is completely workable. We will do our best to make it work but we are completely at the mercy of the Army. AGAIN.!!!! Everyone, fingers crossed.

And staying on the Army topic, we have another dinner night at the Officers' Mess this Friday. To be perfectly honest I do not feel like going at all. It means that I have to rush from work, get home, get ready, rush to the Mess, chat to the people I have to even though I do not particularly want to (does that sound bad???) etc, etc. I know that in the end we will have good time but right now I feel that I would rather be in my PJs in front of my TV on that Friday night. But it is the last party before the battalion deploys so it IS important to be there.

Too soon

2010-01-29T19:35:00.003Z

I spoke too soon last time. As I am lying on my sofa under a duvet desperately wanting to feel better, I realise how often we take our health for granted. It all hit me back on Wednesday morning when I woke up with a scratchy throat. I went to work and by the afternoon my voice sounded much worse. Woke up on Thursday morning and my throat completely seized up. I couldn't say a word, it was really painful. I decided not to go to work and go and see a doctor. She gave me antibiotics and I can't wait for them to "kick in". I woke up this morning feeling even worse. I have spent a whole day between my bed and the sofa with a fever and sounding very very rough. Ugh!!!

So needless to say the 10 miler that I was meant to race on Sunday will not happen. I am quite disappointed about it, I love that race.

But anyway, my priority right now is to get better as soon as I can and limit the damage done to my training. I just really hope I will wake up tomorrow feeling at least a little bit better so that I can at least enjoy the weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.

I am back

2010-01-26T11:10:00.002Z

Yes, after three weeks of on and off illnesses I am finally back....I think. I took it very easy last week and did the workouts that I felt like doing without putting too much pressure on myself. I just wanted to get back into training without any risk of relapse. So fingers crossed.

I think I have also finalised my race plan for this year. There will still be some running races or cycle sportives added to it but for now it looks like this:

31 January - Canterbury 10 miler: This is a great local race which I have done few years ago and I love running races so why not?!

14 February - Dover half-marathon: This race is organised by my triathlon club and it is a great race. I have also done this in the past. The first half is VERY quick and you go through it thinking yay I am flying, and then you hit the hills :((( So we'll see.

27 March - Oceanside 70.3: Really looking forward to this but there may be some changes. Read about it below.

16 May - The Marshman: half-ironman distance race half an hour away from our house. It doesn't get better than that. I can sleep in my bed and train on the course. Yay!!! Plus I get to race with loads of friends. It doesn't get better than that.

27 June - A Day in The Lakes: half-ironman distance in the Lake District of the UK (in the north-west of the country). It is a beautiful and VERY VERY hilly part of the country. This will be the second year of this event and some of my friends have done it last year. It was TOUGH!!!!

29 August - IM Louisville: I love this race and cannot wait to get back there. It is by far the most important and favourite race for me on this schedule.

So, the above plan is slightly different to what I first envisaged I would do. I was registered to race IM St. George but the thought of travelling there on my own, staying in a hotel on my own (Shaun will be deployed then) and racing without knowing anyone was really not appealing to me. I would not have fun and would not enjoy it. So I've decided to pull out and do some more local races. I am really excited about racing locally where I get to spend time with my friends and where I can have loads of friends supporting. It will be fun.

So Oceanside!? So far there has been no plan change. But.... Shaun is getting deployed at the end of March/beginning of April. So this is the hard part. If he gets deployed before 25 March I am racing, but if he for example gets deployed any time after that, I would really really like to spend some time with him rather than race. I am so frustrated about this. The problem is that the situation is so fluid, flight dates change all the time (for security and other reasons) and we really won't know when he will deploy probably until some time in March. I know that for some people out there it is hard to understand my decision but even an hour spent longer with my husband is worth to me more than any race. He is going to be away for 6-7 months and it will get tough and lonely and depressing and all those other things so I want to spend time with my husband now. So basically I am training as if I will be racing (and I probably won't book my flight until quite late in March) but who knows what will happen.

Feel better

2010-01-12T16:25:00.003Z

After that great start to the year, last week it all came tumbling down. On Tuesday I started feeling ill with fever and generally just very weak. It has lasted until Sunday - by Sunday afternoon I was feeling quite good. It is very frustrating not being able to train. That is what we do and it is a big part of our day so not training just leaves this void. And frustration. And generally I am not a nice person to be around when I can't train. And this illness has been an annoying one: you know the one where you feel well enough to get out of bed and go to work but then you get to work and you feel miserable and sorry for yourself. ANNOYING!!!!

So I was only too keen to get back into training yesterday. I did a great swim back in my local pool, watched what I ate, blah, blah, blah. Then I woke up this morning with a sore throat. Didn't think much of it, but as the day went on I felt worse and worse. And now it's back to square one. I am in no state to train. Can you hear me screaming right now???

I am trying to be positive and I think that tonight I will get some rest, go to bed early and will wake up in the morning raring to go. Let's hope so!!

2010

2010-01-05T17:38:00.004Z

There is something exciting about 2010. Don't know what but I hope it will be a great year. And I have kicked it off with some changes.

First of all, I am moving out of London back home to Folkestone. This means I will get to see Shaun every day - yay!!! (unless he is away with work), which was the main drive for this decision. He is getting deployed in March/April for six months and I know that once he is gone I will regret not spending more time back home. Also, I am kind of fed up with living in two places. It has worked for us well whilst I divided my time between London and West Point, but I don't like it when these two places are only 50 miles apart. So, I will be commuting daily on a speedy train service which will get me from Folkestone to London in 45 minutes. The main downside?? No more bike commuting. But...... I think have found a semi-solution for that. Once the days are longer I can ride to the train station 20 miles down the road and get some great training in the countryside lanes. Yay!!!

I will miss my commute past all the great London landmarks, but at the same time I am so looking forward to living away from the city.

So, that's the latest living news. On the racing front, Shaun and I did our club annual Bra run . It is held every year on New Years Day in the aid of Breast Cancer Research charity. It is a lot of fun. Shaun came third overall and I did a 5km PR (I know, this is slow for you guys, but for me, it was great). Great start to the new year.

Also, on this past Sunday we've jumped into a x-country race. It is part of a county x-country league and our club is a member of that league so the race was all about DEAL TRI team. It was my first every x-country race. It was soo hard but sooo much fun. I definitely want to do a few of those.

So the last couple of days I have been finalising my racing season with Coach Jen and I think we are nearly there. I am so so excited to train and race this year. And hope to see many of you out there.

Good-bye 2009

2009-12-30T15:20:00.003Z

I thought you would find this photo funny - Shaun with his best dance moves :)))
The photo is from the Officers' Mess Xmas Party and I have finally recovered from it. I have no idea what I am trying to do - dance probably. And yes, that is a spiderman next to me and yes Shaun is dressed in table-cloth.

Christmas was lovely - we had few people over for Christmas lunch which made me panic so many times in the run up to it, but once the day arrived I was extremely (and unusually) calm about it. Shaun and I had lovely few days off work where we just relaxed reading books and watching TV - things we don't do that often.

I cannot believe there is only one day left of this old 2009. I think that 2010 will be exciting and we have many things we hope to do, aims and goals we want to achieve. But more about that some other time. For now, I hope you all have lovely New Years' Eve and all the best for 2010.

Christmas week

2009-12-23T14:35:00.003Z

We only need this much snow for this country to get into chaos:

We've had some cold and snowy weather here lately which caused chaos in our transport system. When I say cold and snowy, most of my American friends would think I am talking about 5 feet of snow and very very cold temperatures. No!! For us in the UK any little sign of snow means it's snowy and anything below 34 degrees is freezing. I know, I know, we are all moaning about nothing but this country is not designed to deal with snow and cold. So the trains have been a mess since last Friday which meant that for 2 out of 3 days I worked from home. Not bad, if you ask me...

Xmas festivities have totally taken over our lives. On Friday night there was a Xmas party in the Officers' Mess and it was loads of fun. I would post some photos but some people would hate me if I do that. So no photos.... For now (*insert evil laugh*). Yet again we were the last married couple there (this really needs to change!!!) with other young officers and some of the girlfriends. We got home at 4 am. OMG!!!! I didn't drink but I was completely trashed for the rest of the weekend. Wow, I am not a spring chicken any more and late nights really take their toll these days. I remember the days at University when we used to go out like this every night. And be at lectures the following morning. Not any more.

So I wish I didn't have to work these days but I do. We have half a day tomorrow (Xmas eve) and then no work until Tuesday next week. Woo hoo!!!

Heroes at play

2009-12-18T09:37:00.005Z

When I got back home from work last night I got a call from Shaun asking me to pick him up from the Officers' Mess. He clearly had few drinks. They were hosting sargeants in the Mess that afternoon but by the time I got there most of them were gone. However, there were still a few officers around. And they were playing some games.

First I saw this.

You can just about see Shaun's feet there. Then they started playing some touch rugby, or what looked like it. (Note there are some swear words in the video). Have a look at Shaun in the front with Nick trying to lift him or something. Too funny.

It is incredible to think that all these young men will get deployed early next year to fight for our country but I LOVE the fact that they know how to play as well. Tonight is the Officers' Mess Xmas party. No doubt there will be lots of fun and games.

I have a life

2009-12-08T11:05:00.002Z

So, after all my moaning about the work last week, guess what? The deal I worked on fell through. The client decided to pull out of it. Seriously???

So, it was meant to complete last Friday. On Tuesday night we were all getting ready for an all-nighter, stocking up on food and generally being fed up with life. Then the email from the client came in saying they had decided to pull out of the deal and we should stop all work on it. It is hard hearing this when you have put so much time and effort into it but at the same time we were all exhausted and needed some break. The cheering went on for a bit. And I actually got home at decent time.

The following day the partner in charge took us all for lunch. It is funny how charming and lovely he was considering the hell he's put us all through. But I will not be fooled that easily (insert evil laugh). We got back from lunch around 3 pm and our boss (not the same partner) told us we deserved some rest and to go home. And that we could work from home on Thursday. Yay!!!!!

Thursday was lovely, run in the morning, lunch with Shaun at home and an afternoon swim. Then there was Xmas decorating of the Officers' Mess in the evening. It was lovely - nice music in the background, mince pies and mulled wine. I LOVE this time of the year.

So I have my life back now and it has been great. This past weekend was the first weekend in a month that I didn't have to work but the annoying thing is that Shaun was away on exercise.

Oh and after wearing few of my new splish suits to the club swims past few weeks, apparently I am now known as the "one with many swimsuits" :)))) Not a bad name I guess.

W for....

2009-12-02T12:07:00.002Z

Work which has totally taken over my life. For the past 3.5 weeks I have been working on a transaction for one of our clients whom I've known and worked for for 3 years now. The transaction is really interesting and I love the work but the hours have been crazy. I have basically been working between 12 and 15 hours every day including last three weekends and I am totally exhausted.

But that is not the hardest part. The partner leading the transaction is someone who is not even in my department (it all got a bit complicated) and I have never worked with him. And it is certain to say that I never ever want to. I will not go into too much detail but it is enough to say that he reduced me to tears on couple of occasions (and I never cry because of work). The whole team felt the same way so I am glad I am not the only one. Shaun saw me working from home on Sunday and I was soooo stressed that he said "If you carry on like this you'll get a nervous breakdown". Anyway, I am trying to keep it cool and collected and the team is basically now using his patronising emails to have a laugh at his expense. What else is there to do!?

The good thing is that, although it was incredible hard, and I was totally sleep-deprived I have managed to get all my workouts in. I have only missed one long run in the last 5 weeks which is not too bad I guess. But I was so annoyed I've missed it. What I did find is that I would rather get less sleep and get out for a run or swim because it helped me to de-stress and recharge my mental batteries for the day ahead.

So I better go now and back to my "mine".

P.S. Has it been over a month since my last blog entry??? I really need to get a life.

Weekend with Dave

2009-10-30T16:51:00.003Z

Shaun is away on army exercise. He's been away for two weeks and should be back home on Friday next week. The rumour was that the batallion would have a day off on Saturday and I was planning to drive down to Warminster, which is 3 hours away, to spend at least couple of hours with Shaun. I do miss him. However, the new rumour (army wives' rumour network is a powerful machine - which I hate, by the way) is that there is no day off.

So it seems that I will spend the weekend at home training. Hopefully, I will see Dave during my run along the beach. Having Shaun here would be perfect.

Photography

2009-10-27T16:08:00.003Z

Shaun was running a marathon and I thought since it starts with the lap around the track I could capture some cool photos of my husband running. You will see below what a good photographer I am. Apart from the first one where he is actually standing still pre-race, the others are utter rubbish. I wonder what was I trying to do.

How about this one:

Or this one is pure classic.

Lanzarote

2009-10-19T16:54:00.004+01:00

My week in Club La Santa has come and gone and I had sooooo much fun. It was hilly, hot and windy and I was trying to chase and stay on the wheels of 11 men and oh, boy, did I suffer. But I had so much fun doing it. Here is just a bit of it in pictures:

The Deal Tri Team - I am the second one from the left:

This is what my view was most of the time:

And as they speed up, I get left behind

Finally on the top - and the guys are waiting :))))

The guys looked after me so well and I am so grateful. They admitted that they were a bit apprehensive about me coming along (as it always used to be "all male" camp purely because none of the ladies wanted to go) but we got along so well that I became an honorary "one of the blokes".

Weekends

2009-10-06T11:51:00.006+01:00

We had a lovely past weekend enjoying some time with friends and of course training.
Here is a little bit of that in pictures:

Sunday morning called for a hilly run and hilly it was. Ugh. Hills are my friends, repeat that.

After my run was done it was time to chill and support Shaun during his long run. He runs marathon in less than two weeks so that was his last long pre-race run.

Ok, that picture above is not supporting but other than that I was a great sherpa.

Half-marathon

2009-09-29T16:12:00.004+01:00

So last Sunday saw me running my first stand-alone half-marathon race in over two and a half years. It was painful, it was slow, but I loved every minute of it.

I knew it would hurt because I have hardly done any running races in quite some time and I have completely lost any speed I had. For some of you is not that much of a speed but for me it was a lot.

The race was on Sunday morning but I had to go to another one of Shaun's work functions on Saturday night. This one was three-line-whip and there was no way I could get out of it. I guess with being a company commander's wife come a lot of obligations, something I do not really enjoy. I keep being told these last couple of weeks by some young officers in the battalion that I am definitely not a typical army wife which I love. Some of them even use me as an example to their girlfriends which I find quite funny. But anyway, I digress. The party started at 5:30 pm and we were back home around 2:30 am. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I actually knew it would last this long so I was kind of mentally prepared for it, and needless to say I was totally knackered in the morning. The guys at the party (and their wives) thought I was totally mad.

Shaun had to do some other work breakfast thingy on Sunday so he couldn't run with me which was a shame as I am sure he would have loved the race. It was an absolutely beautiful and very hot day. The run starts couple of miles from our house on top of some cliffs in the town centre and quickly drops down to the sea. The next 9-10 miles are out and back along the sea and the view is beautiful.

For me this was a great race because I got to wear my Deal Tri club kit the first time in over two years. I love our club and am very proud to wear its colours.

There was around 12-13 of us from the club running and I was one of two girls. It was so lovely to see everyone again and to catch up on what's been happening in the past two years. And because it was an out and back course I got to see everyone. It was just lovely to see my fast club mates running in the opposite direction waving and high-fiving. It has so reminded me of all the fun I had with them and I was totally fired up to go as quickly as I could for the club.

Unfortunately my "as quick as I can" was my slowest ever half-marathon time by a mile but I knew I had lost speed. Going into the race I just wanted to do my best (considering I was sleep-deprived) and to see where I am at so that I can work at it over the winter. Finishing the race was great as there were lots of people spectating and a lots of cheers from my club mates. I am totally fired up to do another race really soon - I loved every minute of this one.

Once the race was done it was time to enjoy the rest of the Sunday. After an ice bath and quick shower Shaun and I met up with some fellow officers in one of the local bar restaurants on the beach having lovely food and just chatting. I think we were there for 4-5 hours. It was a perfect way to finish the weekend.

All work no play

2009-09-23T15:25:00.002+01:00

Life has been a bit hectic recently and not in a good way. I have been really busy at work recently and felt pretty exhausted for most of the time. Last weekend I did no training - just work, work, work!!! Ugh!!!!

So having missed few big training weekends I felt a total lack of confidence as far as racing Silverman is concerned and today I have made the decision - No Silverman for me this year. It has been very very hard for me to make that decision. I LOVE that race and Shaun and I have great memories from last year's race. But I owed it to myself to have a bit of talking to myself and assessing the situation and the decision has been made. That course is just too difficult and too hilly to be able to do it with no decent training done. And I feel like I haven't been training consistently and so I am not ready. I really thought that when I actually make a decision I would feel much better about it but I don't. I guess it will take few days to sink in. :(((

Anyway, the decision has been made and life goes on. On a more positive side I am off to Club La Santa in Lanzarote in couple of weeks time. Club La Santa is one of the most popular sport resorts in Europe so it should be really good fun. There is a few of us going from the local triathlon club but I am the only "girl" so riding with the boys will be hmmm, interesting.

Oh and before I forget I am running a half-marathon this weekend so wish me good luck. I will need it.

I forgot

2009-09-08T16:09:00.002+01:00

It appears over the last two years I forgot how to be an army wife.... How do I know this??? Read on...

We have, over the last couple of weeks, finally moved into our home in Folkestone, Kent. We got our furniture and all other possessions out of storage and opening all that stuff made us feel like kids at Christmas. I think we forgot what we had. It took us a good couple of weeks to finally open everything but we are there now. Well nearly... Our boxes from the US arrive on Thursday and that will be the final push to settle into our new home. And I cannot wait... I am absolutely exhausted.

Shaun has been really busy at work and we already had to attend three different events - a company party, the battalion family day and the dinner at the officers' mess.

The company party wasn't too bad and we were there only for couple of hours. I met some new faces but I knew a lot of the old ones.

The family day was a big event with some local guests. It was great to see some old faces which I haven't seen for years and also to meet some new ones. I met some new wives in the battalion as well as a lot of young officers. The things seem to have changed since the last time we were part of this unit - Shaun was a captain back then and we were part of the young, 'fun' crowd. Now that he is a major I really feel old. Ugh!!! The young officers speak to him in a different way because he commands some of them and the older one are just like that, older. Ooops!!

And finally the last Friday we had a dinner in the officers' mess. These dinners are very VERY formal. They start with a drink and few speeches and then go on to a five-course meal where you generally sit for 3-4 hours, enjoy your dinner and listen to some pipes and drums. Once the more senior people leave the real party begins. I was never really a great fun of these dinners because you are pretty much stuck sitting next to same people for 4 hours and gosh, if they are boring, you are doomed. This time around the guy sitting next to me fell asleep. SERIOUSLY????? It must be my exciting conversation. Every now and then I would look at the end of the table where there was a fun crowd and send my distressing signals. If you've seen the film "Team America" you may guess what those signals were.

So I was sitting there and thinking that I am completely out of my whole groove. The wives were talking about the stuff that I knew nothing about and they were chatting with people with whom they were supposed to be chatting in order to be great army wives. I, on the other hand, didn't and just thought that I was really not cut out to be a perfect army wife. But I had fun chatting to one of the captains in Shaun's company whose wife is finding the whole army life rather scary. I told him my thoughts and experiences from when I was a newly-married young army wife as they were without trying to sound good or strong and he was really happy to see that there are other people who struggle in the beginning as well. I know that I certainly did.

Somehow Shaun and I ended up being the last married couple in the bar where there were now only young single officers.(Where are all my single girlfriends when you need them???) Apparently I get some great brownie points for being "the last chick at the bar". Yay!!!! (If only they knew how boring I am).

We ended up getting home at 4 am - I mean I haven't been out this late since I was in my early 20s. And the following day I definitely felt it. We are no longer young and fun crowd.

Better at blogging

2009-08-26T10:05:00.003+01:00

I really have not been very good at this lately, have I?! But life has been hectic to say the least. But actually now that I think about it there isn't really that much to be said about some of the things that happened lately.

I can't believe that Shaun has been back for almost a month. He is now properly back at work and the guys are busy, busy, busy. The battalion is going to be deployed to Afghanistan next year and they are all very busy with all the training and planning. And I think about that deployment a lot - I am really worried and scared. He's been out there couple of years ago but it seemed different then. That was before one of our friends got killed and another one wounded. Now to me it just seems so much more serious. But I am really really proud of him. He has taken over a command of a huge company and I am sure he will do well.

We have finally got our house last week but have not moved in yet. Our furniture comes out of storage this week and I can't wait to see it. :)))) Although I am worried how some of it will fit through the doors. Ugh. What was I thinking buying all that chunky stuff!!! And our stuff from the US has not arrived yet. This moving thing is really complicated. But it will all be nice once we are settled in. Our neighbours seem nice and the house is in a great location - at a top of a hill but less than a mile away from the beach. Ideal for hill repeats :(((

Anyway, enough of my rumblings. I will save some news for the next time.

In the same country and other random things

2009-08-03T16:44:00.002+01:00

So, Shaun finally arrived last Friday - can you guys believe that we now live in the same country :)))) We had an awesome weekend. On Saturday I managed to get up real early and get my ride out of the way so I could spend time with my husband (that sounds nice, doesn't it). By the time I got back and he got out of bed - jet lag :(( it was time for lunch. We went to a nearby amazing Japanese restaurant with our friend Marina and had great lunch. Marina and I go there a lot and every time we go we like to people-watch and make up stories about their lives. On Saturday we even introduced Shaun to this game and in no time he made up a story about a couple with four kids sitting at one of the nearby tables. After lunch Shaun and I went for a nice walk along High Street Kensington and to Whole Foods. Yay!!!

On Sunday we went to watch the London triathlon. The weather was great and we of course spent a lot of money at the expo. I hope to do this race next year - it just seems like so much fun and really well organised. On the way back home we stopped at Wagamamas near Tower Bridge for lunch. And then a quick visit to my office to pick up some stuff. I found it so funny how Shaun thought we all had messy offices (apparently I am not too bad, and my boss is the worst :)))

So it was a great weekend and we are loving spending time together.

On a slightly different note, we have rejoined our local triathlon club Deal Tri in Kent - where we used to live and where we will have an army house hopefully some time this month. We love this club and have really missed all the fun we had with them prior to leaving for the US. So I am already joining one group who is taking the ferry over to France on Wednesday for a nice day of riding in France (and eating great French food). I have taken a day off work and can't wait. It's an early start but it is so worth it.

I have also signed up for a half-ironish race called the Little Woody at the end of the month. The "ish" bit is because the bike is 60 rather than 56 miles but it should all be great training and I can't wait to race again.

OK, that's is all for now. Better get back to doing some work. Have a great week.

Flowers

2009-07-31T15:24:00.002+01:00

This is what appeared on my desk yesterday morning together with a nice box of chocolates. OK, the chocolates are gone but I am still admiring the flowers. They were from Shaun for our 7th wedding anniversary. I cannot believe that we have been married for 7 years. Unfortunately he wasn't here to celebrate but considering that out of seven we've only spent one anniversary together, we are keeping in line with the tradition...or the Army life. But guess what, in 4 hours time I will be at the airport waiting for him to arrive and I am really really excited. I cannot believe that we are actually going to be living in the same country. Life is good.

Motivation

2009-07-28T12:42:00.004+01:00

This is one of the pictures I've found when I googled the word "motivation" and it actually really resembles the state of my mind as far as motivation was concerned recently.

Last couple of months I have been struggling to motivate myself to train properly. I lost focus and I am yet to find out why. It's not as if I've stopped enjoying and loving the training - I still do, but something was missing. Something that is now back (YAY!!!!) but I still cannot define that "something". Perhaps it's my failure at Coeur d'Alene, I don't know. I hope one day soon I will figure out what it was so that I make sure "it" does not come back again.

But with Jen's huge help, I think I am now back on track and I am loving the training. I have re-evaluated my goals for Silverman and I think that the ones I set for myself are realistic but still require a lot of work. And I cannot wait to do the work.

The build for Silverman starts next week and I am really really looking forward to it. There are few things that I would like to stick to from 1 August and the main ones are:

1. Train consistently and push myself hard in training

2. Take care of my nutrition - I think that nutrition is one of my huge limiters as I am kind of blase about it - I really really need to pay more attention to it

3. Rest - get at least 56 hours of sleep a week - with my job and long hours sometimes I cannot get 8 hours a day of sleep but I can try to maintain 56 hours of sleep during any one week period

4. Loose weight - and that is a BIG one. I have allowed myself to eat whatever I want (and since I am vegetarian and my regular meals are good - I eat a lot of snacking crap). And Silverman is HILLY and I do not want to be dragging all that weight up the hills so from 1 August I need to be more disciplined as far as food is concerned.

So that is it. I do not want to put too many restrictions and goals because I may just end up thinking it's all too much and just go back to my old ways. But I think these four will make a huge difference in my life and training.

So few more days of easy training but come 1st August the game is ON!!!

My bike commute

2009-07-24T11:00:00.009+01:00

Every day when I ride to and from work I get reminded of how lucky I am to be living in such a great city. London is such a historic and cultural hub and my bike commute takes me next to many wonderful sites of this city. So as I ride by the Westminster or some other similar site and see all the tourists who pay a lot of money to be here, I realise every day that sometimes I take it for granted. And I do complain about the weather a lot but sun or rain it truly is one of the most amazing cities in the world.

So here are few pictures which will show you my everyday bike commute.

As I leave my office and head home, few minutes into my ride I get amazing views like these ones:

Of course I do get stuck in the traffic sometimes but that is usually along the Embankment and I know to expect it so it doesn't bother me very much. Plus the later you leave work the better the traffic is. My most favourite commute rides are around midnight (after some late nights in the office) - i LOVE them.

But then I start getting closer to the Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and I LOVE being "stuck" there at the traffic lights - the architecture never ceases to amaze me.

Then I ride along the St. James' Park and cycle right in front of the Buckingham palace, waving to Her Majesty every day :)))

Cross the lights by the Buckingham Palace and I enter the cycle route of the Green Park. It is usually quite busy but I love it:

Next, Hyde Park corner - the riders are allowed to go through the roundabout rather than around it and at any time I was there there are usually at least 15-20 riders on their commute. It is like a little peloton going through the gates and I find the faces of tourists when they see us most amusing.

And then enter and ride through Hyde Park. In the morning the park is usually full of horse-riders but on any summer afternoon you will find heaps of people doing all sorts of sports and fun events and I love it.

Once I leave the Hyde Park I turn into High Street Kensington passing Royal Albert Hall and the Kensington gardens (pictured below)

And then, less than 5 minutes to home, one of my favourite stops - Whole Foods.

I really believe that I live in one of the best parts of London and I am very very grateful for it. Any visitors, very welcome :)))

A race to do

2009-07-21T14:14:00.002+01:00

Having seen this video and heard a lot about this race from quite a few of mine friends who have done it I have decided that this is a race I must do someday, hopefully quite soon. The atmosphere is amazing, kind of like Tour de France. I LOVE it.

Saddles

2009-07-16T12:34:00.002+01:00

OK, so here is where I need your help dear readers. I've always had trouble with being comfortable on the saddle of my bike and have changed it few times and whilst the things have improved I am kind of thinking that it can get better. Either that or I am living in a dream. But I really really think that I can be far more comfortable on my bike.

So could you please let me know what saddle you use and whether you like it. Any information is very much appreciated.

Two years already

2009-07-14T14:55:00.002+01:00

The picture above is of Devil's Tower taken during our recent road trip.

Two years ago Shaun has just returned from his deployment in Afghanistan and five days later we were on an airplane bound for Washington DC in order to start our two year adventure at West Point. I remember how excited we were and really looking forward to it. But I can't believe that it has been two years and it is now time to return home to our little island. We had amazing time in the US, met some great people and had fun all around.

Before that flight two years ago, I've never been to the US. Somehow nothing ever attracted me to it and I didn't really have any wishes to go for a visit. We always chose to travel east - to Asia and the Middle East and we both love Asia. So US was never really on any of our travel plans. Until two years ago when Shaun got posted to West Point. In these two years I absolutely fell in love with the country and have met some great people who will remain dear, dear friends. I am already missing my trips across the pond and our regular little breaks to different parts of the country. And we are already looking for an excuse to come for a visit.

Although I am already back in the UK, Shaun is over at West Point until the end of the month doing the hand-over of his job. The packers came yesterday and our belongings were packed and left the house. Hopefully we will see them in 4-5 weeks time. Apparently we had twice as much stuff than when we came. Oooops.

So although I am a little sad that our adventure has come to an end, I am positive that we will be back at least 2-3 times a year - there is so much of that country left to explore. And I truly hope that we will stay in touch with all the great people we've met.

1935

2009-07-09T10:13:00.001+01:00

I came across this photo yesterday. It is the cycling club of the city where I grew up, formed in 1935. Love the look, especially the suits.

First things first

2009-07-08T10:42:00.004+01:00

Wow, has it been this long since the last time I've blogged... Many things have happened but in order not to make this post too long (and I am typing this at work, so I should really be doing some work ;)) I will only talk about the failed attempt at IM CDA.

Going into the race, I knew my heart wasn't really into it. For some reason, having a "not a great" race at St. Croix added to this, but I think the main reason is that for me Silverman was an A race this season and I really want to do well there. So it was decided that I would race CDA with no pressure which suited me well.

However, couple of days before the race, ever since I left London my stomach wasn't feeling great and I really don't think I ate as much as I should have had prior to the race.

The race day -swim was HORRIBLE. I am a slow swimmer but not such slow swimmer as CDA results show. The water wasn't too cold and because I have never done a mass start before I positioned myself well at the back. That is a decision I would probably change. I found myself caught behind a lot of really slow guys and had to get few kicks and work hard to get around them. On the second loop of the swim I just felt as if I was going backwards - it really wasn't pretty.

Finally out of the water and onto the bike. As soon as I got on the bike the stomach pain started. At times it was pretty unbearable. I couldn't eat or drink anything and unsurprisingly, slowly I started to bonk. At the end of the first lap I was clearly going backwards. I had no energy. I realised I only consumed couple of sips from one of my bottles and even though I tried to force myself to take calories in, my body said no. I felt awful, I knew I couldn't race like this. For about 20 mins the mental battle within me was just awful. I was thinking of so many reasons why I should go on and my heart was telling me that I should, but at the same time my body was saying no and my mind was telling me that it's just not safe to carry on. All I really wanted was to see someone I know out there on the course, like Shaun or Marit or D so that they can make the decision for me because I didn't want to be the one to quit. But I didn't see anyone and the decision had to be made. So I did it, I pulled over and rode to the transition. And that was it - the end of my race, one big fat DNF.

I felt a bit tearful in the tent, I was very disappointed with myself but decided to try and make the most of the day and try and be the best support for my husband and friends racing out there. It was great to see Shaun and Marit and Ian having amazing races and I was so so happy for them. But when Shaun crossed the finish line I found myself in tears. I felt like I have let myself and everyone else down. I know it was hard for Shaun to celebrate his race seeing me like this and I wish I can change that now. But that is how it all went.

I just wanted to say a huuuge thanks to Jen who was a great support before, during and after the race. And I am so pleased that she has accepted to coach Shaun as well. We love it.

It was also great to meet D who was a great spectathlete and also Marit and her great hubby and parents. We had so much fun with them. Shaun and Nate hit it off straight away talking about military stuff and I loved Marit's parents. We had some really interesting conversations. I hope you do come to visit us in the UK some time soon (Marit, are you reading this???).

Once the IM CDA was out of the way we did our litle road trip - USA style but more about that in the next post.

Bike ride

2009-06-10T11:41:00.005+01:00

I hope I don't offend anyone but I thought this was so funny

Two weeks to IM CDA

2009-06-08T15:44:00.002+01:00

Todays photo was taken last week during my commute back home at Hyde Park Corner. I though it was quite a pretty sight. The Hyde Park Corner roundabout is usually very busy but for couple of minutes it stood still.

IM CDA is less than two weeks away and I am really excited about it all. However, not everything has gone according to the plan and I am now at peace with the fact that it will be a long and slow day. It won't be fast and it won't be pretty but as long as I cross that finish line I will be happy. Since St. Croix my heart hasn't really been in it and so I have not been 100% focused. My main goal this year is Silverman and I guess I just wasn't able to focus on two ironman races this year. My main goal for CDA is to learn as much as I can and have fun as much as I can. I am not a speedy athlete and my main goal is always to have fun. When I stop having fun I will stop doing this sport.

Last week my old foot/ankle injury came back. I did a run on Wednesday night and everything was fine but as soon as I stopped and started walking it became really painful. I am doing as much as I can two weeks before the face to keep the pain down and to not make things worse but only the day will tell how my injury will behave.

On other fronts Shaun and I are really gearing for our move back to the UK. There is SOOOO much paperwork to be done and we are slowly ticking things on our to do list. We should find out in the next 2-3 weeks where our new house will be. We know the area really well and have asked for some familiar locations but we shall see. I am getting so excited about it now. The place where Shaun's new job is is 50 miles south-east of London right on the English channel and when we lived there last time I was doing a daily commute up to London. The idea, this time around, is that I will keep my place in London where I'll be Monday to Friday and then go down on Friday night. I know, I know, what a typical marriage we got. But the truth is that we know exactly what the life would be like if I were commuting daily - we would hardly see each other as I would be out of the house by 6:30 am and not back before 9 pm and I would never be able to do any training. So this way we get to spend quality time together without me being constantly tired from my daily commute.

So that's the plan. We'll see how it goes.

Beautiful day in London

2009-05-30T21:34:00.007+01:00

Today I had a big training schedule and I was so happy to wake up to a glorious weather. My plan, amongst some other bits, called for a 7 hour ride. Whilst last year I was quite happy to do this on my own, this year I really like some company. So I found out that one of my friends had 5 hour ride on her plan and we decided to do it together. I did my extra couple of hours on my own.

And it worked out perfectly. For most of the ride our views were like this:

Notice that there is no single cloud in the sky :))))

Then, the obligatory coffee stop where I had the best skinny latte ever (sorry Starbucks)

The coffee shop was very popular with local riders so we enjoyed the view of some lovely bikes

And on my way back home I rode through Hyde Park - it was buzzing with people. And this is where we will be watching triathlon in the 2012 Olympics - and my place is less than couple of miles away, yay!!!

And as I rode couple of loops around Regent Park I caught a glimpse of this:

You've gotta love London.

Long weekend

2009-05-27T21:16:00.007+01:00

This past long bank holiday weekend was one of the best in a very long time. I took Friday off work, had a nice lie-in, did some training and early afternoon made my way to the airport to catch my flight to NYC... again. I was really looking forward to it as Shaun and I planned a nice fun-packed weekend.

First stop, West Point class 2009 graduation. It was lovely to see so many dreams of these young people coming true. Lovely weather and lovely day indeed. I loved seeing so many proud parents.

The rest of the weekend included a long ride with Shaun down to George Washington bridge and back. Most of the day my view was like this

We also discovered a great triathlon shop on this route and ended up buying TriggerPoint stuff. I am looking forward to trying all that stuff. After the training was done, a trip to our favourite sushi place, followed by watching Star Trek at the cinema and grabbing some Jamba Juice on the way back home - life doesn't get better than that.

We've also spend some time BBQ-ing with friends.

Unfortunately, before I knew it, it was time to go back to London and back to work. :(((

Racing, chilling and getting back to work

2009-05-11T16:12:00.003+01:00

So this is how I look like after St. Croix 70.3. The race was more than a week ago and I know I am crap at keeping this blog updated but I was chilling on the island enjoying my husband's company ;)))

So I am not going to talk much about the race as it's already history but I will say that it was the hardest and the slowest half-ironman race I've ever done. Pre-race, everyone was talking about the Beast but no one (apart from ELF) mentioned the rest of the bike course. Don't get me wrong, the Beast is hard, very hard but at least it is over and done with pretty quickly. But the rest of the bike course I found much harder. There were so many hills and change of speed, change of gears... You descend, then you start climbing again and think "is this ever gonna end".

I swallowed a lot of water on the swim and my speedsuit was cutting straight into my neck and it was painful. I was not happy with my swim but I am not going to dwell on it. I loved the bike course, as hard as it was, but the run in that heat was just brutal. Coming out of winter, it was really really hard to race in that heat. We haven't seen such hot days since last summer. No, who am I kidding, we never get such hot days.

But the race was done, I finished and that is the most important thing.

I spent last week at West Point chilling as I really needed some holiday. The days before the race I was working such long hours that I really needed just to relax and forget about it all. It was just so nice for Shaun and me to have a bit of a normal married life. We caught up with some friends, watched few films and did couple of rides together. I miss riding with him. But in just over two months he will be back in the UK and we both can't wait. I will miss all my trips over the pond but I also intend to keep going over there at least every 2-3 months. If for nothing else, then for racing and training.

But as of this morning it was back to work and reality. Hopefully it will not be that busy next few weeks - CDA is in six weeks. And I can't wait :)))

Flying away

2009-04-30T17:14:00.001+01:00

Not much to say. I am just about to escape the office (after some really really long days this week) and go to the airport to catch my flight to NYC. Meet Shaun tonight, and get a flight to St. Croix early tomorrow morning. So excited now about the race and really looking forward to it.

Back to West Point on Monday for a whole week of chilling and not doing much but spending time with my husband, woo hoo.

Later!!

What to say

2009-04-22T12:33:00.003+01:00

There is not really much for me to say as life has been ticking along as usual. But I thought I would blog anyway and bore you with my not-so-exciting life.

After that spell of sickness last week I was back on track training wise on Saturday and it felt like a very hard weekend. But I was loving it. I have been coached by Jen for almost a month now and I am loving every minute of it.

We've been having great weather (*touch wood*) here in London and it is absolutely amazing how people's moods change with the weather. Everyone seems much happier these days. The training feels better, the commute is great and even the work doesn't seem to bad (apart from being stuck in the office bit). I went for a long walk with a friend on Saturday afternoon and it was beautiful - along High Street Kensington, through Holland Park and off to Notting Hill for some coffee. I loooove Notting Hill and after our walk I am thinking that if I stay and live in London I would love to move over there (*time for a chat with the husband*). Have you seen the film Notting Hill? I have. Three times.... in the cinema. And numerous times on DVD and TV. I love it and pretty much know every line of the script. I know, I know, I am a bit weird.

So St. Croix is next week and I can't wait. Everything is pretty much done: my flight to NYC- check; our flights from NYC to ST. Croix - check; hire car booked - check; hotel booked - check. And today I am getting my bike checked and serviced so I should be ready to go. On the note of servicing the bike - OMG, the prices are extortionate. I am having both my commute bike and my racing bike serviced today and whilst one is getting basic service the other one is getting full one. It will cost me £££££. Over £200 for two bikes - that is over USD300 for my American friends. And I do that at least twice a year. Ouch!!! But I will not complain as long as everything is OK and working on the day. Unlike at my last ironman but that is a story for some other time.

Well I better actually go and do some work. It's 1 pm already and all I've done is one conference call.... and of course some all important internet time. Have a good one.

Easter weekend

2009-04-16T13:46:00.003+01:00

So this past weekend I was at West Point for Easter weekend. What I didn't realise was how lucky we Brits are as we get both Friday and Monday off work so every year there is a nice long Easter weekend. It appears that my American friends are not so lucky. I flew over on Thursday night after work and the flight was, as every year for Easter, really busy.

Shaun had to work on Friday so I just did my workouts and chilled at home. Ah, yes and pretended to be a taxi-driver for my husband. I don't like being there when he is working because it just puts added pressure on him to come home early and not let me feel neglected. And he really is a huge workaholic. My boss would really like him.

On Saturday the plan called for a long brick session. It was the first time riding with Shaun since some time last year and I was really looking forward to it. As soon as we set off the rain started. Argh!!!! We rode over to the bottom of Bear Mountain and started climbing. Climbing in the rain wasn't too bad, it was warm and because I was working hard the rain didn't really bother me. After about 4-5 miles, near the top suddenly we hit this fog or cloud or whatever it was. It was really spooky. I loved the climb and I was so pleased that my usual mental attitude of "I can't do this" did not prevail. Going down was different. There is one word for it -FREEZING!!!!! And this is what should have made us think to go back home. But oh, no, we thought we would be OK and carried on climbing towards Seven Lakes. But then going down was so cold that I couldn't feel my feet or my fingers. So after about 2.5 hours we decided to call it a day and ride home. I looked at Shaun and I have never ever seen him that miserable. All I could do was just laugh. But seriously his choice of clothing was poor and his gloves were so thin. So when we thought that the things couldn't get any worse, I got a flat... 8 miles from home. Shaun was shivering and he couldn't keep his hands still so I had to change it... in a pouring rain.. on a side of a quite a busy road. It was bad, really really bad.

All we wanted was to get back home. We got so cold that at one point that I didn't think we would make it back home. But we did, finally. And I couldn't stop laughing. I thought it was hilarious, whilst Shaun was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, still looking miserable, trying to get the wet clothes off. Our clothes was completely wet. If I squeezed my socks, water would pour out of them. I still thought it was really funny. Nothing a nice warm shower and a hot cup of tea could not sort out. The funny thing is that when we got out of the shower and looked outside the rain had stopped. Seriously???? Two hours later there were hardly any signs of the rain, even on the roads.

On Sunday I woke up feeling a bit feverish so following Jen's orders I took a day off training. I didn't want to because I was planning on going for a long run with Shaun but orders have to be obeyed ;-)

Monday morning and flight back home. I again managed to get a first class flight (courtesy of my frequent flyer miles) and I wish I hadn't. Having flown first class few times now, going back to economy, or even business class, seems like torture. What have I done to myself???

I have been doing training on and off this week. Still not feeling well. Yesterday afternoon was worst so far so I had to skip the run. Today not feeling great so I've decided to take time to get better so I can resume proper training this weekend. It is just over two weeks before St. Croix and it is scary. I need to get better real FAST.

Energy aware

2009-04-13T23:20:00.002+01:00

I have seen this sign on my run at West Point couple of days and I've never seen it before. I love it.

Living together, living apart!!

2009-04-08T15:41:00.003+01:00

I often get odd comments and questions from people (including friends) about me and Shaun not living together these last couple of years. The truth is that when he got posted to West Point we were planning for me to move there couple of months after he left. But somehow it never happened. First I was worried of putting my notice in (have no idea why), then we figured that we could afford more things and a lot more travel (which is what we wanted to do these past two years) with me working. The fact is that I have always been a main "earner" in our marriage and even though most of the time I hate that extra pressure, I am now totally used to it and it works well for us.

Of course we would love to spend all the time with each other but we were always quite independent and worked with the circumstances the best we could. So for example, when few years ago he went on operations to Bosnia for 6 months, I went and worked for our office in Dubai. Most people thought we were odd but we found the whole arrangement perfect.

So I was chatting to my best friend yesterday whose daughter is my Goddaughter and she was saying how she was talking to her 4-year old son Timmy the other day about Shaun and me. And so she was telling him how "Auntie Angelina lives in London" and "Uncle Shaun lives in America". And apparently he just looked at her and said "Don't they like each other??" Priceless!!!!

What a weekend

2009-04-06T13:11:00.003+01:00

First I have to say well done to all those racing at Oceanside this weekend, in particular Charisa and Marit for getting their Kona slots :-) , Jen Harrison for getting Clearwater spot and Rachel and Courtney for having amazing races. Also well done to Maggs for an amazing race in NOLA - Maggs, that bike time rocks!!!

This was probably one of the rare weekends where I was quite grateful for the time difference between London and the US, which meant that I could get all my workouts out of the way before the races even started.

On Saturday plan called for 4 hours hilly bike ride (thanks Jen ;)) and luckily I knew a group of guys who were going out for a hilly ride in Surrey. I have never met most of these guys but through friends etc have been saying that I would join them and after bailing out few times, they kind of stop believing me. So when I turned up on Saturday morning (in the horrible rain, may I add) they were like "You actually exist". :-)))
It was a TOUGH ride - there was a hill after hill after hill. I swear I haven't seen a decent flat section in those 4 hours. And as soon as we hit the hills - a familiar site -they all take off in their macho attempts to get to the top first and I am left there dragging my sorry (and nowadays fat) a$$ up the hills. After a while I kind of got used to it and even though I am not on good terms with hills, I kept saying to myself that they would make me stronger. The first and only time we hit a flat section (5-ish miles) I did my pull at the front and I am glad to say that one of the guys fell of the back :))))))) I would like to take the credit for pushing the pace, still he was having trouble with his helmet strap and fell off whilst fiddling with it. Still I will take the credit! It must have been my pace.

I loved every minute of that ride (apart from the rain) and will definitely be joining them again soon. One of the guys even brought the cakes made by his wife and they were delicious. Yum!!

On Saturday I went for a run in glorious weather. When we have nice sunny weather here in London, it is the best place to be. I ran along Thames and there were so many runners, walkers, rowers (love the sight of rowers :))) and people just chilling in the sunshine. It was a perfect day. And then I had my first ever ice-bath. Jen's put it in my training plan and I was reading it thinking "yeah, right". But I thought to myself "stop being a wimp and at least try". Ouch, ouch, ouch!!! It was freezing but once you are in there you kind of get used to it and it is not too bad. I am not a wimp after all! At least not a big one.

Easter week is here so for us here it means Friday and Monday off, woo hoo.

Firsts

2009-03-23T15:24:00.008Z

Not much has been happening in my world lately. At least that is my excuse for not blogging. I remember that one of my New Year's resolutions was to blog more - see how long this has lasted?!

We've had glorious weather here in the UK last week. It was sooo nice that it breaks my heart looking outside right now when it is pouring down. To see how nice the weekend weather was have a look at this photo - taken whilst driving from Dover to London - glorious.

I don't think we've seen such blue skies here since August last year. Of course, my mood that day only got spoiled when I got stuck here - just outside London

I hate being stuck in traffic, it is just such a waste of time. Anyway, now that you have seen what a great weather we had, do not be envious, it is pretty horrendous out there right now.

Last week was quite exciting for me for several reasons. There were some firsts. First, I've joined Swiss Cottage masters swim on Monday morning and loved it. Admittedly I was one of the slowest people there but who cares? I loved it. They have swims every morning from 6-7:30 which is ideal for me. The only downside is that it is in North-West London and I live in South West. So it takes me about 35-40 mins riding. But riding through streets of London at 5 am is absolutely amazing. Especially as I get to ride through Hyde Park - the Olympics 2012 triathlon venue. I was loving it.

Another "new" for me is the new coach. I have been toying with an idea of changing my coach for a while as I just didn't think that he was the right "fit" for me. It was a hard decision to make but now I am so glad that I've done it - Jen Harrison has agreed to coach me and I am thrilled. She has already been amazing and I can't wait for what's ahead of us. Thanks Jen.

OK, ok some of you may know that I got a year older yesterday. Had a pretty chilled day of relaxing with some friends which included some amazing sushi. A friend of mine and I ordered so much that in the end we had to leave some. I NEVER, EVER had a "I can't eat any more sushi" moment - so this one was the first. I didn't go to the US because Shaun was diving in Belize for a week with the West Point scuba club (such a hard life, I know) and they were coming back only late on Saturday night so there was no point for me to go if he wasn't going to be there. Instead I am flying this Friday until Monday and I have used my air miles and treated myself to first class flight - so I will either be doing this

or this

Have a great week everyone.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no, no

2009-03-11T11:39:00.005Z

"No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." - Samuel Johnson

Pictured above is Richmond Park - the greenest area in Central London where I've spent few hours riding this weekend. So three yeahs for that :-) It was lovely - it is just so nice to be able to ride outside without the cold and the wind and, obligatory English rain. This was my first proper ride outside this year and I loved every minute of it. I wasn't actually planning to ride in Richmond Park, but to ride through it on my way to Box Hill where I would meet few friends who were doing a duathlon simulation. But somehow, when I entered the park, I thought, maybe I can do few loops. And so few loops turned into 3 hours of riding the loops (I must have gone mad). But it was really nice, early Saturday morning, there were some runners doing their group long runs training for London marathon and there were a lot of riders. I don't think I've ever seen that many riders in Richmond Park. And as I got passed by the fast group of London roadie club London Dynamo

I thought that I have just bagged myself another goal for this year - to be able to ride with these guys by the end of the year. Hard work ahead I can see. But I think I can and will do it.

After the ride I decided to run for 30 mins straight after I got back and those 30 mins were awful. I could feel this horrible, sharp pain on the inside of my right ankle and towards the calf. I was actually doubting that I would be able to finish the run. 30 mins!!!!! Anyway, that afternoon it didn't actually feel too bad and although I could feel some discomfort it was OK. So you guess what I did on Sunday?! Yes, what a very stupid person would do - I went for my long run even though I could feel the pain. I have finished the run but needless to say, it was not a good idea.

On Monday I swam and rode to work and I also went to the gym and I could do all these things without any great pain but I was determined to see a physio asap as I didn't want to aggravate anything. So yesterday I went to see Mark Saunders at Physio4Life http://www.physio4life.co.uk/. They are Chrissie Wellington's physio when she is in London so I knew I would be in good hands. Mark was really good and straight away I was told off for running on Sunday. I like the directness because even though he says what most of us don't want to hear, he is right. I am now banned from any training for at least 2-3 days and he hopes to get me back to training and running by the end of this week. I am seeing him again tonight and on Friday. I know, I really have only myself to blame. And oh my God, is life booooring without training. But I am going to use these few days to relax, see some friends and do all the chores that I normally don't have time for. And of course, be miserable and feel sorry for myself.

What am I wearing???

2009-03-05T16:30:00.002Z

I have finally realised this morning that for the past God knows how many months I have been going out and going to work wearing pretty much anything that I could find/throw on. So I really have no idea what happened this morning? What has changed????

Basically I keep some of my smart suits at work so that when I ride to work I have something to wear. But most of the time I decide to wear something more casual and only go for the suits if I have a meeting that day. So this morning, as usual, I throw on whatever I could find and headed for the pool. The plan was to go swimming, come back home quickly and then go to the dentist before work. So when I finished swimming and was getting ready something just clicked and I looked at myself in the mirror and thought "What the heck am I wearing"??? Needless to say, my quick trip back home turned into "find something decent to wear" trip.

I used to be a person who wasn't overly obsessed with clothes but I used to look smart and have enormous amount of clothes. And then as I got into triathlon somehow I found that now the majority of my clothes is work out clothes. And sporty stuff. Why can't I look like SJP from SATC???? Perhaps I should make more effort from now on. Oh, I don't know.... it seems like too much work.

All work no play!!

2009-03-03T15:29:00.003Z

Often I read other people's blogs where they say that they haven't been blogging because they had nothing to say. And every time I think, oh no, that was quite an interesting post so of course you have stuff to say. Right now I am going to be one of those people - I really haven't been blogging recently for two reasons: first - I really have had nothing interesting to say, and second - work has been hectic so I didn't have much spare time (but somehow I always find time for facebook, interesting!!).

Work last week has been manic and I have spent Monday to Wednesday in the office pretty much until midnight. So I trained very, very little - managed to swim three days and also managed one run. Argh!!! I was just really really tired and couldn't find any time where I could squeeze a session in. On Thursday afternoon I caught a flight to NYC (yay!!!) but spent pretty much the whole flight working. But I got upgraded to first class (or "upper class" as Virgin call it) so at least I was working in luxury. The only problem with flying first class is that business and economy seem cr*p.

I dad a lovely long weekend over there. On Friday night there was Infantry Ball at West Point and Shaun and I went. We had lots of fun with friends and it made us realised that once he leaves the US and comes back to the UK this summer we will really really miss that place.

Here is a photo of two of us at the ball - I look really tired (AND jet lagged)

On Saturday we had West Point marathon team over for lunch which was really lovely. Last year Shaun was coaching girls' rugby team and even though they were nice girls I didn't really have much in common with them. This year, with the runners, it's completely different story and they were all really nice and funny. We were all planning to do 25km Boston Build-up race on Sunday in CT but the race was cancelled due to the weather and on Sunday morning I headed out on my own to do 2 hour run. Oh my God, it was freezing. I don't think I've ever felt that cold on a run. It took me forever to warm up afterwards.

After the run I had my breakfast and my lunch... and my snack... and Shaun just looked at me and said "You eat a lot". That was it, if he says so it must be true as he is the only one who usually says that I am silly when I complain about food/weight etc. So from today I am on a mission to eat better. And yes, less.... I will try but we will see.

Got back to the UK yesterday morning so it is back to the usual routine. Have a great week!!!

Reviews, weekends, training

2009-02-17T11:32:00.002Z

I had my annual review last week at work and it went really well. I am so pleased about it. My close friends know that I haven't always enjoyed my job. I think when you are a junior lawyer people tend to think that they can just dump everything on you and since you are a junior lawyer you can do it because you really shouldn't have a life. So there were days when I was really hating my job and hating going to work. And plus I had no time to train :-( But last 12 months have been quite different and I have really started to enjoy it more. I guess as I became more senior I was doing more interesting stuff so I was really pleased when I was told last week that I've been doing really well. So I am now a main lawyer on one of the big transactions we are doing and although it is daunting at times I am loving the challenge. I hope I live up to the expectations.

I flew to NYC on Friday night after work (and almost missed my flight because I was stuck in a meeting) and had a lovely weekend with Shaun. We did a lot of training and he helped me with me 1500 m TT swim when he was taking the splits. The only problem is that the pool is soooo hot I was so slow. I swear that pool was at least 15 degree hotter than my usual pool in London.

We also went to Whole Foods and spent a fortune but the food is delicious and I just love that place. Finally got Silverman DVD so we were watching that. I just love that race and cannot wait to go back in November. We had a friend coming over for lunch on Sunday and he asked what we've done that weekend and both Shaun and I were like "training". I think he may think we are weird....

Now back in London but only for 10 days or so - I am back in the US towards the end of next week. There is an infantry ball at West Point on Friday and since I've missed the last one we are going this year. Also the West Point marathon team are doing 25km Boston build up race and I will go and do it as my long slow run - Shaun and I are hosting pasta dinner the day before so that should be fun.

Ahh, the rain here in London has finally stopped and I rode to work this morning. I am so happy to avoid the underground.

Well, back to work now.

Don't need this now...

2009-02-07T21:07:00.002Z

What can be worse than having crappy weather?? Being ill and having crappy weather. Everything was fine until yesterday afternoon. You know what it's like: Friday afternoon at work, it is always happy times. But around 4 pm I started feeling my throat. It was getting sore quite quickly. As always, when something like this happens I think about my training straight away. Will I feel well enough to go running? Or to go to the gym? By the time I left work things were not looking great. I wasn't feeling well and had absolutely no energy to do any kind of training. So I headed home. Of course on the way home I stopped at my local supermarket and got some carrot cake. Just to drown (or eat???) my sorrows. I have no idea what is wrong with me but lately, when things are not going the way I want them to I turn to food. Bad food!! Seriously, I never used to be like this. THIS NEEDS TO STOP!!!!

Woke up this morning quite early and feeling totally rubbish - sore throat, achy with a bit of fever. Quick look at my blackberry and I saw an email from my coach who was trying to lift my morale (I was complaining to him about the weather yesterday morning). I saw that email and thought "Maybe I can train today after all. I can go for a run and see how I feel". But I wasn't feeling great. For 20 mins or so I has this battle in myself - my reasonable self saying that I should rest and get better soon and my other (maybe stupid) self thinking I could still go out for a run. Finally I went back to sleep and woke up at mid-day. Holy cow, I slept for 12 hours. I cannot remember when was the last time I slept that much. Never???

So here I am after a day of no training, drinking all sorts of hot drinks and feeling sorry for myself. I am hoping I will be able to go out for my long run tomorrow but something is telling me it won't happen. We shall see.... I am such a bad patient!!!!

On a more positive note, I have been chatting to my coach about taking a week off work in April/May and putting in a good week of training. He suggested going somewhere nice and warm. Last year Shaun and I went to Boulder but that was at the end of June. Because CDA is in June I need to do this earlier in the year. I am thinking about many things but still have not made any plans. All suggestions are very welcome - I really need your help guys.

Hope you are all having much better time than me.

More about London weather

2009-02-02T21:08:00.011Z

Well if any of you have been checking English weather news (I know, a very English thing to do) you would have seen that we have had some bad weather recently. But let's start from the beginning.

Shaun was here this weekend as well so although on Saturday we kind of did each our own thing (I trained and trained, he met with some friends), Sunday was a day for us. We started the day like this....

May I just add that mine are only coffee and biscotti. Those little donaughts are Shaun's favourite. After that little trip to Starbucks we've met our friend (whose husband is currently away on operations) and her two children at the Natural History Museum. Getting there was a bit of a challenge. It was really really cold and windy. The place was buzzing with people and considering kiddies' short attention span we didn't stay there too long.

This is Shaun and Belinda with the kids - note that Shaun is actually quite good with kids. I guess that is what happens when you are the oldest out of five.

We had a great day but once we got back home I still had a long run to do. And it was soooo cold out there. Anyway, I put more layers than ever before and out I went. I have to admit that I've probably seen only 2-3 runners out there. It was cold and my hands were freezing but I did it. It started snowing a bit towards the end of the run but I didn't think much of it.

Woke up in the morning at 5:30 am ready to go swimming. Looked outside and there was so much snow. For most of you that is nothing unusual but for London it is a big deal. I said goodbyes to Shaun as I was going to work straight from the pool and he was flying back to the US and off I went. My walk to the pool (10 mins or so) seemed epic. It was snowing, the wind was howling and there was no one in sight. Finally I saw a guy who looked at me and said "There is no public transport, buses and tube (i.e. underground) are not working. I've been waiting here for 40 mins". I looked at him and just said "That's OK, I am going for a swim". I will never forget the look on his face when I said that. He probably thought I was complete nutter.

Luckily the pool was open and I've managed to do my session. Whilst swimming I figured that Shaun probably wouldn't have a clue about the transport issues so I better go back home and sort him out before I go to work. And I was right. He was oblivious to what was going on outside whilst having his breakfast and coffee. To cut the story short we somehow managed to get him to the airport and I turned up at work hours later to find that there was only few of us there. No one else managed to come in. My boss was there so hey, I've managed to score some brownie points :-) He also let us go home at 3 pm so I went to the gym. This is how the gym looked like that evening

And this is the view from my office today

I didn't manage to go for a run last night as there was too much ice out there. Hopefully I will be able to tick it off tonight.

I need a warm place to go to right now - this winter is really getting to me. On a more positive note the days are getting longer which is great. Can't wait for the spring.

London weather

2009-01-28T16:58:00.003Z

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!!!)

2009-01-26T15:24:00.002Z

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!!

2009-01-21T11:11:00.005Z

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???

2009-01-17T21:19:00.003Z

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

2009-01-12T22:42:00.002Z

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....

2009-01-09T10:59:00.003Z

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!

Nearly 2009!

2008-12-30T11:34:00.004Z

I know I am so bad at blogging so my first New Year's resolution will be to write more often. At least you can all see whether I stick to it.

So we went and came back from Hawaii. We had an amazing time and Rachel and Maggs (if I only knew how to link to their blogs that would be good - I am useless I know) were really helpful with their suggestions of where to go and what to do. Shaun loved the Koko Head trail hike and it was our favourite thing that week.

The picture above is me coming up to the top. I was hot and exhausted.

I got back to London on 22nd only to find out that whilst I was on holiday half of my department has been made redundant. How is that for Christmas present. I am apparently not at risk but with the current economic climate you just don't know what may happen.

Flew back to NYC and West Point on Christmas Eve and Shaun and I had a great and quiet Christmas. I've got some great presents from him and pretty much the whole day we just chilled out and watched some running DVDs - all very motivational. Then flew back to London on Sunday night because I had to work these few days between Christmas and New Year and I am flying back to the US on New Year's Eve. Ah, and my bank account balance suffered big time. My other new year's resolution is to spend less time (and money) on the planes.

Shaun and I have talked a lot over Christmas as to what we want to do over the next few years and he has decided not to do any triathlons over the next 2-3 years and to concentrate purely on running and getting faster. We figured that his marathon times are pretty good with minimal training and that if he concentrates on running and drops biking and swimming he could get much faster. We shall see what happens. First stop for him is Boston marathon. So all the tri races next year I will be doing on my own - oh, dear!

My coach really wants me to concentrate on running and swimming over the next couple of months so I guess for me, biking will be on the backburner.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and wish you all the best for 2009.

Hawaii here we come

2008-12-09T11:51:00.002Z

Well it has been a while since my last blog entry and I have pretty much spent that whole time being ill. There is some virus going around London and a lot of my colleagues are off sick. I am glad that I only had to miss one day of work but unfortunately I had to miss at least two weeks of training. After a lot of thinking and discussing it with the coach the decision has been made - Honolulu marathon is off.

I haven't really done any of my long runs and I do not want to go out there and not enjoy this run. In addition Shaun has been slightly injured and he is being all grown up about it and was the first to decide not to run it. Instead we are going on holiday. Wooohoooo!!!!

I think it will be the first holiday in quite some time that does not involve some sort of racing or serious training so it is all new to us. It is like we are kind of lost and not really sure what to do. No biking? We definitely plan to do some swimming and running but the idea is to have fun. Also my coach said that my priority should be working on my suntan. Is he great or what!?

So I am flying over to NYC on Thursday night and then we have a direct flight on Friday from NYC to Honolulu. The plan, for the time being (but everything is subject to change here) is that we shall spend the whole time on Oahu and have fun, fun, fun. I can't wait. All my friends are so jealous especially considering how cold it has been in London lately. And I will be in my bikini by the end of the week. Oh I am excited already.

But in the meantime I have couple of days here in London being miserable. I am meeting a friend of mine tonight for a dinner and I am quite looking forward to it. We used to work together until she decided to quit last year - had enough of being a lawyer. Clever girl. I am sure I will be sitting there all envious at how she is not doing much and has all that free time. Anyway, i won't think about that right now. I am going to Hawaii!!!!!

To all you parents out there, I salute you

2008-11-26T10:36:00.002Z

I have spent last weekend with a very good friend of mine whose husband is in the Army and currently in Afghanistan. She has two adorable children, both under the age of four, one of whom is my gorgeous two-and-a-half year old goddaughter.

Belinda (my friend) needed to get few things done so I offered to look after the little ones. Oh boy, that was tough. Trying to entertain kids for 2 hours + is not easy. We played with toys, watched kiddies TV and chatted. Then we did some jumping on the bed and generally goofing around and finally bed-time stories. The weather was awful so we couldn't go anywhere.

By the end of the night I was absolutely exhausted. And then "rudely" awoken the following morning by the little people. There and then I was ready to go home, crawl into my bed and get some rest. I was so tired. Although I spend a lot of time with people with kids this has been a real eye-opener for me. My Mum gave up work when she had us and when I was younger I always used to think that she had it easy because she didn't have to work. How wrong was I. It turns out it was my Dad who was the lucky one. I really admire and respect all those parents out there who are trying so hard to jiggle the family, work and in our case the sport. It is simply incredible. God knows how I will do it one day.

Next week, next week

2008-11-20T20:37:00.002Z

The photo above is of Shaun (hubby) after this year's NYC marathon. He set his PR there of 2:43:something on what was a great day. A week later he did Silverman full and came second in his age group. Well I am so excited that I will see him next week - he is coming to London.

Although we've been married for over 6 years our marriage is not your typical (at the moment at least). But still for us it is brilliant. He is a British Army officer currently posted to West Point. I am a lawyer working in London.... When he got posted to West Point we were planning for me to join him. But somehow it never happened. My good job and great salary meant that we could afford our gear (this sport is expensive) and all out travels so we've decided to keep it going for as long as we could. And we are nearly there - 7 months left.

It certainly wasn't easy and I have flown an enormous number of flights, spending my time between London and West Point. At least 2-3 times a month. It was pretty tiring to say the least but I am so happy now because next week he is flying over for few days. It will be so much fun, I can't wait.

Looking forward to it darling!

The week of rest

2008-11-14T10:34:00.003Z

Well I have finally decided to start writing this blog, it has been a long time coming. I do read few blogs out there and they are some of my favourite reading material. So it is time for me to start.

Now that Silverman half-ironman is out of the way (and I absolutely loved that race) I am back to London and back to work (oh joy). The first thing I did when I got back was signed myself and Shaun (hubby) up for next year's Silverman full. We are both so excited about this race and I am ready to face that challenge. Shaun did the full this year and came 2nd in his age-group. I think he wants to go back and take that 1 st place.

So this has been a week of rest. I finally got back on my bike today, if for nothing else, then the commute to work. My commute takes me from south-west London (Fulham to be precise) 7.5 miles east to the centre of the City. I love that commute as I cycle past the Houses of Parliament and the Big Ben, London Eye and Buckingham Palace. Nothing beats waving the Queen every morning. Unless it's raining, of course, then it is utter misery.

So what next for me? We are doing Honolulu marathon in just over four weeks time. I am so looking forward to it. Not the marathon really but our first holiday in Hawaii. Yeah!!!! I think the plan is to fly on Friday, do the marathon on Sunday and then just have fun for a week afterwards. So I expect my coach to ramp up my training again next week, but I won't complain really. I love it.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!