A Kind Word!!

Funny heading for an Ironman blog, but man alive I tell you a kind word does go a long way! I was in the “think tank” the name I affectionately made up for the pool, when I was thinking about this weeks’ blog. I had about another 2 km to go and as usual I just needed to get over that first 1,5km before the body starts kicking and the last 2 becomes easy. Anyways, long story short I was in the fast and furious lane (by the way I have no idea why they call it that seeing that every cat with a swimming cap thinks he is worthy of this lane) when one of the swimmers asked me what I was training for. I told him I’m into triathlon and he said fair play mate I’m sure you will crack it! What a pleasure to hear an encouraging word in the time of need, those kind words pulled me through the next 2 km and some!

We cycle a lot, and get to interact with many people. The amount of hand signs and aggression you pick up on the roads are crazy. Angry people! Fair enough, I have sat behind a cyclist in a car and also been uptight, but you know what, will it really help to be so angry in life?

This Ironman is a journey, there isn’t a session that goes by that I don’t learn something about myself and about people around me. We get so caught up in our own lives and our small world, what I do realize is that there is more. Every day brings more, can I make more of what I have been given or will I be mediocre in all things I attempt?

Ok so enough of the think tank, just a glimpse of what goes through this head when I’m on my own trying to achieve the goal, trying to make a dream a reality! This week is going to be massive in all ways. I have a big run at 06:00 am and a long swim. Tuesday will bring a turbo of note and another interval run, some more of that this week brings on Saturday!

The Ball buster, and yes the name does this puppy justice! If any of you have been to box hill in Surrey you will know this hill isn’t the toughest but going around it 5 times will take a toll!

Persist, persevere, relentless, fearless, hard, tough, I want more, leka bene leka bene, Rom  5:3! These are my key words that run through my mind when the legs are hauling me up a hill and they want to burst, when 1km feels like 10. So that is why we entered the Ball Buster!!

13 km run 50 km cycle and a 13 km run to end the day! I am looking forward to this like you won’t believe: Bring it on! The prep has been done the bike is riding like a beaut and my legs are feeling groovy! I have been given strength and I can do all things says my best selling training manual!!

Guys I look forward to blogging to you next week and tell you how this event stretched me, because only when it stretches you to the max you know it is worth it. If it costs you nothing it is truly worth nothing!

Have a great week all much love God Bless

AD

Holidays and Choices

I love being a teacher. I love the holidays we get and the time that we have off. I always have good intentions of spending time at home, sorting out the house, reading loads of books, watching lots of movies or even getting away (now that’s hopeful!) J and now my newest addition is ‘putting in some solid training hours.’ I have all these intentions and plans, but as the one day rolls into the next those plans roll out the window. It’s like my ‘holiday mindset’ is switched on and all the plans I had seem to disappear. All the intentions I had fall away and before I know it, holiday is over and I feel that feeling I used to feel on a Sunday night, when I went back to boarding school! The daily routine that I briefly lost is now back and the planning starts: packing our rucksacks, getting our commuting bikes ready, thinking ahead, making food and packing our clothes; just like school days! In life we all have to prepare. Prepare ourselves for what is to come every day. To put on our armour and face the day and whatever it throws at you. I learnt this week that we all have a choice. We have a choice every morning to either have a great day or a terrible day. In my situation, to either wake up (later than usual) and wish I had more days holiday or embrace the day and make the most of it. That is something I am learning while doing all this training. There are so many choices we can make, I know which is the right one, and which I should choose, but do we always choose it? Do we always just opt out and take the easy option? That is something I am working on in my life; to always take the road less travelled. The option that is going to build me more inner strength, more character and more perseverance. This is something my husband (who I love and adore) is teaching me every day and who is so inspiring! I pray that God will give me strength and wisdom to make the right choices.

This week has been a good week for me. Not great, not awesome, but good. I took a deserved Monday off as the weekend extremities took its toll on my body. My left hammy has not been the same since, so running less this week had to be… unfortunately. As I said previously all my intentions of making the house super clean and neat has gone out the window and reading the books too also not done, but I did however catch up with some very special friends and family that was long overdue- and in the end that is all that counts. While I am on the topic of friends and family, I just want to say this one thing. I want to apologise in advance for any unsocial behavior from me in the next couple of months. I hope you all can understand that things will get ‘a bit much’ so support and love (and hugs!) are most welcome ;-D that’s that. So, as I was saying, training has gone OK. Managed to do a swim, a good cycle with hubs on Wednesday then could not do my run as my hamstring was too sore and then did a good cycle on Saturday. Not the best week of training, but it was a good week of much needed rest and recovery from the previous weekend and the illness I was carrying. (Maybe a little bit of holiday mindset crept in there somewhere tooJ ) So I am feeling fresh and ready to roll again!

The next few months are going to determine if I am going to make it on the finisher list or the DNF (Did Not Finish) list. I really need to put in some serious training and up my game as at this rate I am cruising. I know what needs to be done. Eish! Fearless is a word that springs to mind. A good friend said to me this week.

Hang onto your mouse pads, can’t wait to share with you what this week will bring and the lessons I am learning every day!

Love you guys

God Bless

Lou xx

Triathlon, what a sport!

What other sport can you be out in Whiltshire country side and cross over into another county the one day and then the next day be running around the Olympic rowing venue?

I don’t know if there is another sport like it and if there is, please drop me a line. This sport opens your mind to much more than just getting your heart rate up and burning some calories, or even creating a new look body that includes abs and the ability to do what most would never attempt. For me, being a man, it’s time to switch off from life as I know it, let my mind wonder and just to feel fresh by the time the session ends, obviously physically exhausted but mentally released from a lot of clogging!

The sport enables you to really push the boundaries of what you think you are capable of. I have talked about this endlessly, but really it does give you a sense of achievement every time you pull off a massive session or finish a race in a time, you never expected possible, it creates that inner belief in yourself that just can’t be bought!

This brings me to this weeks’ blog. Well today my wife and I my best friend in the whole world did our first competitive event of the year, a half marathon around Dorney lake. What a pleasure! This place is the Olympic rowing venue and I can honestly say, IMPRESSED!!

So at the start line there are a bunch of runners that carry a banner with times on them, these guys are the pace your race guys, and if you can stick with them they guarantee you that you will run the time it says on their board! Well Lou and I stood there and I sussed this situation out, obviously checking the man with the board that said, 1:45min. This oke was ‘Klein’ in Afrikaans my native tong it means small very small! The oke was hardly carrying 4 kg body fat on what was a 20 kg body! Well after seeing this machine runner I hesitated I felt that the time on that board was out of my reach for sure, but my grandfather left me with a saying for life, ‘Those who hesitate are lost’.

The gun went and Lou and I set off, I told her I would stay with her the first ten and push the next, but like a dog in an open field this was never meant to be and the oke with the board was pulling far ahead. Now this was my first official half marathon so I didn’t really know how to do this. All I knew was push until you can’t run then walk, obviously walking was never the option!

So I said, I love you to my wife squeezed her hand and left in pursuit of the 20 kg man with the 1:45 board. I finally got him about 4 km in and stuck by him like a fly to a fully matured cheddar, and on we went!

After about 10 km I thought to myself this oke is not all I expected him to be and is actually pulling a slow pace! Looking around at my peers I decided I had had enough of these guys and their hard breathing and flew the coop. I pushed on and even harder, going above and beyond my expectations.  I finished and overcame my fear of not believing in myself enough when it came to running. I did the thing in 1:39:40 and Lou in 1:55. I was super chuffed! My grandfathers’ words echoing in my ears ‘ Those who hesitate are lost.’ I am now tired and off to bed, but I just had to share with you that this week is there for the taking: adjust your attitude and be the most you can be in any circumstance you find yourself! Praise God!!

Have a Blessed week 

Much love, 

AD!

I came. I saw. I conquered.

I am sitting here absolutely SHATTERED and not knowing where to start with my blog. All I can say at the moment is that I feel I have overcome, I have conquered I have completed- and it feels great!

The past two weeks have been pretty rubbish, I will not lie! I have not been well and have not being able to train at my best. For me, it felt like I was losing confidence each day I was ill and not completing my sessions, which I think is normal. For the passed two weeks I have only managed to do 2 turbo sessions and 2 swims-that’s it! My beautiful husband and I set aside this last weekend to go to the county and put in a massive weekend session. On Friday night driving to the Wiltshire, I still had a ‘weeping eye’ and had some sniffles. I was scared that if I did the weekend I would get worse- but then my husband just assured me: “If you think you are going to get sick, you will” There was no option of backing out. I had mentally prepped myself for the mammoth weekend so thats what it was going to be.

What a pleasure it was to cycle through two county’s and to have no people shout at you! It was just tremendous! Cycling in London is a completely different ball game altogether. Not in the country my friend- ooohhh what a pleasure it is! Such beautiful country lanes and rolling hillside, I really am loving this sport so much. You experience so much on so many different levels- ai man what a blessingJ So after a solid 125km bike, we were pooped. We spent some quality time with AD’s sisters family, my sister-in-law and her wonderful husband and gorgeous kid. It really was so special. We ate like champions and had the best nights sleep EVER! :)

We then overslept (bed was too amazing) so we whoffed down some breaky and packed the car up and headed for Dorney Lake, Eton College (The 2012 Olympic Rowing venue!) WOW it is just idyllic. It was such a beaut of a course- 4 laps around the lake. Starting the race I didn’t even know how many laps we were doing. When I passed the first official I said 2 laps to go? He laughed and said, no 4!! Haibo, I thought OK, I got this… After the 2^nd lap I had cramp in my right butt cheek but decided to keep pushing through! I then hit a gel and felt good. YES PLEASE! I needed some fuel. I was running with the bird who was heaving like an asthmatic mule. She was going at a good pace so decided to stick with her and see how I would do. Nearing towards the last lap a massive group of chatty runners behind us snuck up. The guy was holding a 1:58 sign and I thought hey let me stick with them and I can maybe finish this think in under 2 hours!! The gel kicked in and I saw another girl opening it up so decided to try hang on for dear life. Heart rate was now through the roof but have 5km left- I thought let me see what I have got to give…

I felt good, all the people that passed me, I was now passing them and it felt great! We were burning it around that lake :) My legs ached and it felt like my Achilles was going to snap, but I kept pushing. My wonderful husband saw me just before the finish and ran with us for a little while. I then took the bend and crossed over at 1:55mins! I was super chuffedJ My hip flexors were absolutely on their last tether and I could hardly walk- not even joking with you… It was not good. We then got something to eat and waited for a massage. 45 minute wait in the FREEZING cold was NOT a good idea. Eventually we got onto the tables, it was good- just what I needed. We were practically the last ones there! It was then a 1km walk to the car. I could hardly move. AD went ahead to warm the car, bless him, but if it was not muddy I would have crawled. My legs were non -existent! It felt so good as I know I have a week of holiday ahead! Oh how I LOVE half term!! Thank you Lord!!

What an amazing weekend. Spending quality time with my husband and family, eating like champions, putting in two massive sessions which was long overdue and experiencing running around the Olympic rowing venue with thousands of people all different nationality, ages, shapes and sizes. It was just a wonderful feeling. I thank the Lord that he gave me a body I can use and that I can experience these finer things in life. It really is a privilege.

I look forward to this week. Having a day off tomorrow to sleep and recover and get some TLC pampering! I am looking forward to it.

Thank you to my husband for always believing in me and always encouraging me when I am doubtful and unsure. You are my biggest fan and I am yours. You really are my bestest friend and my soul mate! Sharing this with you is such a blessing.

Until next time folks, over and out

God Bless

Lou <3

Ironman Days

Ironman days are what I like to call these! What a week it has been indeed. I tell you one thing this training makes you realize a couple of things about yourself and just a bit about life in general.

Motivation for this week has been intense. I have had to pull it out of everything I possibly could. It has been music, it has been scripture, it has been a few motivational clips, it has even been due to some words of encouragement from friends and of course my beautiful wife.

I never will forget the day I stood on the shore last year in Nice, waiting for the gun to go, knowing in the back of my mind I have never swam 3,8km or cycled 180 km or even run a marathon!

I was unprepared is what I’m getting to, but this time round, every time I’m about to pull on my tights exactly that goes through my head: I am preparing for something that takes a lot more than 3 months of training, in fact impossible. So this week was all about getting my head around preparing for this mammoth event that is getting closer and closer each day- in fact 168 days away today!

The heading of this Blog is Ironman days, well I really hope I don’t encounter many of these ironman days. I like to call them that because they are days when you really get a taste of what you are made of. Man alive, did I get a little taster this week! I finished work and headed out for my weekly long distance cycle, so this ride incorporates about three hours in the saddle and around 90 km at the moment. You do this once a week at present, but if the prep on this puppy isn’t good enough the 5 – 6 hour rides later on will be impossible! Back to the ride- I headed out with a gale force wind flat in the face and made my way to Richmond Park, this short 10 km wasn’t great either just because it seemed that the wind had picked up more and my mood had taken a turn for the worse. I stopped in the park for a second, contemplating going home and jumping on the turbo. My mind ran away a little further and said ‘you have done so well already this week what will this ride really matter?'

I decided, screw this, when something pulls you back you pull back even harder, so with no spring in my step what so ever I mounted the bike and headed on the 90 km route. The wind got worse and the road didn’t do me any favours with potholes and traffic everywhere, but then again I was looking at the glass nearly empty!!

I made the half way mark and as the wind got stronger I pushed even harder maintaining my average speed all the way through knowing full well this was an Ironman day. What if I pitch up in Bolton in July and it is blowing a gale? Problem solved: I have already beaten that wind and I have already persevered through the Ironman day! I feel life is very much like this, we get pushed hard each day and we wake up already having decided what the day would be like without tasting what truly could have been. What I am learning the hard way here is to mount the bike stand in the gale, in fact seek more wind, become prepared because when the big dog shows up I won’t be asking any questions I’ll be straight in!!

I hope you guys have an amazing week, seek those Ironman days out and break their necks!!

Much love God Bless Ad

Sniffles...again! :(

So, the last two blogs have been pretty motivational and maybe inspiring to some, but this week it is going to be somewhat straight forward. This week has not been the best week for me. Full stop. It started off well, with a good swim and then a good turbo and gym session. I then woke up on Wednesday with a pounding headache and sore throat. I went to work and felt groggy and not myself. I took the morning off training and decided to rest. AD says that rest is just as important as training and I need to listen to my body. That afternoon my 1^st XI hockey girls had a match. I was screaming like a banchee coaching them from the sides, which did no justice to my sore throat. When I got home, I collapsed on the coach and burst into tears. My loving and caring husband was so supportive and understanding. He just loved me and cared for me and tucked me straight into bed.

The next morning I was worse. My body had completely shut down. After a short while of contemplating going into work or not, I dragged myself onto the tube and arrived at work looking like 97 year old women- tired and small eyed. After lesson 1 my boss came to me and said I should go home. I was grateful as I was not doing anyone any favours. I got home late morning and climbed straight into bed and slept for 5 hours straight. Woke up at 5pm when AD came home, ate and slept again. Woke up on Friday morning and decided not to go into work. I just slept some more.

So the rest of the weekend was just complete rest. AD did a massive cycle on Saturday which left me long faced but other than that I was just recovering…

No wonder this part of the ironman is called the ‘adaption phase’. My body does not know what has hit it. The training is not that much, it is manageable. I think it is more the early mornings and cold weather that plays the biggest part. I am definitely ready for summer to come.

I am believing that this week is going to be better. I am going to ease my way back into training and not go all guns blazing. Just start off slow and keep it steady. We have a massive weekend ahead, so the blog may only be out on Monday (for all you keen beans;) ha ha.

I learnt today that in order to get yourself on the right track and moving forward you need to do 3 things:

1.       1. Eat right (It is what you put in)

2.       2. Work hard (What you put in, is what you will get out)

3.       3. Rest well (Rest is key for recovery and growth)

I know this week is a short blog but hopefully I will have a lot to tell and give you excellent feedback on the back of a very successful training week! Yebo yes!

Have a super week my family and friends,

God Bless

Much Love

Lou xxx

Squeeze

This is the title of this week’s Blog, it is now 21:25pm, Sunday night, and I am tired so I’ll give my best and try and squeeze the last bit out this week right now.

Well, where to start? I was swimming my very first 4 km this week, and for some of you that might know something about swimming or just Ironman training in general- you have a lot of time to think. The first km is a warm up, but as soon as this is done you start thinking to yourself man alive I have another 3 of these to go before I can get out! But I tell you one thing, once you push yourself through that comfort zone and get out the pool after 4km, it is as always an achievement that you can’t explain to a civilian!!

Ok squeeze, most people reading this might wonder what this title has to do with an Ironman blog. Well it has everything to do with this blog, and from it I got my motivation for the week! What follows is a throwback to my day as a 98 kg youngster packing down with a 800 kg pack of forwards!

I played hooker once upon a time at a decent enough level to have done too many scrums to recall and scrummaged against too many hookers to remember.  But throughout all this scrumming and playing I learnt some life lessons that still do me proud. Believe it or not this week I am going to compare my life at present: to a scrum. Any half decent hookers will tell you he is the captain of the scrum, a hooker without a voice come scrum time is as useful as a farmer in London. The first thing a scrum is about is preparation, he gets the props and locks in a formation and lines the scrum up according to his feel, and so is life. It’s preparation for something bigger all the time. You prepare for a big presentation, you prepare for clients, you generally just prepare for life, and so is the first step of the scrum. The second step is winning the hit on the impact. Now I am no maths guy so I wouldn’t be able to tell you, but when two packs of 800 kg hit each other a lot of force is released!

Such is life as well, you prepare and then you hit, how you hit is up to you.  Your general mindset and all round focus in training as well as life. We prepare and we hit whatever session is open and we give all we can according to our mindset and our capabilities and of course on how good your preparation for the hit was. Now here comes the most important part of the scrum the part that makes or breaks the scrum, bar the hit- it’s called the squeeze. Man alive! when all the pressure is on and you are necking it from the front back and sides the only thing that saves you is the squeeze forward the ability to handle that pressure and turn it into a positive!!

Back in the pool now and I have written my blog in my head, but now comes the squeeze and it is a squeeze.  I have done 3,2 km and for most sessions that is a good distance, but not today. No, today I push harder, bigger and just squeeze more out of my  session.  I want more out of my life and just more out of myself showing me I’m capable of more!!

This of course doesn’t just relate to training. No, it relates to life. I’m never going to be average Joe: wake up, go to work, do a workout and sleep.  I’ll always strive to be more,  to squeeze more form life, because God has given me life and I plan on riding this course but once, but once should be enough!!

Praise God have a great week all!

AD 

Time

It is all about time. Life is time. Every day we have to think about time, time for this and time for that. Is there enough time to eat? Is there enough time to go for a run, or will I make it in time for the next thing on my or our agenda? Sometimes I feel like I am constantly chasing. London life is busy- but if life wasn’t busy, it would be boring! Don’t get me wrong, I invite rest with open arms too! I have been thinking a lot about time recently. Thinking about how fast the weeks fly by, how it felt like Christmas was yesterday and how it was just Friday a moment ago! Where did the weekend go? :)

I think to myself:  Lou, It is what you make of your time. It’s how you USE your time. You got to make your time work for you and not you for it. We need to be effective in our time and to juggle things around to make it all fit in, in good time:). This is a big thing I am learning at the moment. Time is so precious. Today in our church, the Pastor said: Our life is but a vapour. And it hit home to me: Life is short, time flies by so quickly. I heard Angus Buchan say once that has stuck with me. He said: Life is a brevity: It is short. So what are we going to do with the time we get? I chose to get married to my bestest friend in the world, live in London (for now), to serve a God that is so real to me just as the keys on this computer,  and to now attempt to an Ironman. What an adventure! What a pleasure! What will you choose? What have you perhaps already chosen?

This week has been a much better week for training. Everything was on track and got the sessions in that I needed to do. Eish, then it came to Saturday… I don’t know what it is, but every time AD and I want to go ride together, and we plan a massive cycle, one of us gets a puncture- in Richmond Park. It was AD this time! So I had to go fetch the car and pick him up. It was a blessing in disguise as I could see my gorgeous hubby was tired, so he slept and I did a good turbo session at home. He has been going non-stop for the whole week and seldom gets some time to just relax… It was gooooood!! 

Sunday was also a great day… AD and I went for a run around Wimbledon Common. It was windy but beautiful. When AD and I were in Pretoria studying we always went running on a farm on the University Sports Grounds. It was like ‘our’ place. Once when we went running, there was a cow giving birth. We witnessed a beautiful birth right before our eyes. We used to dream on that farm, ride motorbikes on that farm and feed the sheep and baby lambs (sometimes chase the chickens too!) . Those were the days, such freedom and free from time: No restriction, no major responsibilities, nowhere to really be- it was just us falling in love. What a year that was! Then we found Wimbledon common- and we both experienced joy in our hearts, feeling like it was 2007 again! Haibo… time really does fly! It stops for no-one. AD and I haven’t been running together for so long as I had a knee operation and so was out of action for a good 9 months or so. But now I am back, we are back and feeling like we are on that ‘jool plaas’ again :)

This next week is another week of steady training: going to be one big juggling act as have lots of commitments this week. But I am happy I have to juggle, or else it will be boring... :) wha ha ha.

We have just come back from watching ‘The Fighter’ it was brilliant. We are fighters! Let’s fight the good fight! Let us get our title.

Lastly I want to leave you with this passage: It is I prayer I pray for myself and for all you reading this blog!

A Time for Everything

Ecclesiastes 3 1-15

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God.14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. 15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.

Have an amazing week everybody:)

Let time work for you and not you for it,

Lou xxx