Finally, a blog post!

I know, I know, it has been far too long since my last update... I am annoyed with myself for neglecting this blog. But here I am, so give me a chance.

What has been happening in my life recently? Well not an awful lot but life seems good at the moment and training is going really well. Actually too well and I keep thinking that I will wake up from this dream. Why so well, I hear you ask? Well, this year alone I have bagged three PRs in three different running races - 5 km, 10 miler and a half-marathon. I am over the moon about it but it did not just happen overnight. So, let's start from the beginning.....

Last year, racing and training wise was not a great year for me. It started off well with a half-ironman in May where I got a PR. Great start to the season I thought... Couple of weeks later and I ended up injured. I had a soft tissue injury in my foot that led to no running pretty much the whole summer. I ended up doing Ireland 70.3 in September because I was already signed up for it. Race didn't go great but I wasn't expecting much else either. Injury, coupled with a more-than-hectic work schedule, left me pretty much with no training or racing done last year. Work was crazy. Since June last year up until mid-January I worked on a deal that was all-consuming. If I left the office at 10 pm I was celebrating because that was an early night for me. By the time Christmas came around I was exhausted, physically and mentally. Naturally the training really suffered and I managed to do some workouts here and there but never really anything consistent. Around mid-December, I was just fed up with it all. I sat down and talked about it with Shaun. I felt that I was wasting my time and more importantly coach Jen's time. I did not want Jen to put in all the hard work to write a training plan for me, so that I would just end up doing one or two workouts of the week. I was seriously doubting whether I should have a coach and whether I am indeed coachable.

Shaun was very good about it all. He said that I should use next couple of months to see if things were going to improve. So I knew there and then that from January for at least couple of months I needed either to fully commit or to just walk away from trying to compete in this sport. I was hungry for work, I thought about it a lot, I wrote lists, plans goals..... I was ready to work hard...I was ready!!!

My first 'A' race is London marathon and naturally I have a more run-focused plan. I was really happy with that because I love running and it is with running that I ended up in this crazy sport of ours. I was determined to put the miles in, not skip workouts, do the hard work and prove to myself and Jen that I could do this. There were no more excuses. Last year so often I would go home from work and allow myself to think that I am too tired to train, that I had a crazy busy day at work and that I needed to rest- naturally with some cake in front of TV. This year as soon as I feel those thoughts creeping in, I dismiss them straight away. If I want to hit my target at London marathon I have to get out there, I have to train because noone else will do it for me. And yes, that cake won't help either. So, this year so far has been great. I have only missed two workouts because I was ill. The rest were done and they were done on time....no excuses. Every time I train I remind myself that I need to do it properly. As Jen put it in one of her emails, the workouts should not be done half-assed. And they are not. If I have a hard run on and some fast repeats, as soon as I find myself slacking, I remind myself that this should not be done half-assed. And it works.

And here I am with three races done and three PRs - over a minute in 5 km, 5 minutes in 10 miler and 4.5 minutes in half-marathon. I mean, these are not PRs of 5-10 seconds that I am used to, these are huge. The truth to be told I love this new way of training. I love seeing progress, I love getting quicker. It motivates me to go out there and do it day in and day out. There really are no limits for me any more and I finally allow myself to dare to dream big. I know that whatever I set for myself I can do it. I need to put the hard work in but I can do it. It really is like any other job in life - if I don't do something that I need to do at work today, noone is going to do it for me. There will be no results. What you put in, you WILL get out. Getting out there, doing the work and doing the work consistently is the key. Noone is going to do it for you. You either commit one hundred per cent or you don't commit at all.

Guilty as charged

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

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

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

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

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

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.