For the last few weeks you haven’t heard from us and for this I am sorry. Things have been pretty hectic on this side and trying to squeeze it all in has been a skill! My blog before this one was the one on France when I went away on a schools activities week. Then I got home after that trip for 4 days and then my hubby and I were off back to France to do a stage of the Tour de France called the Mondovelo Etape. This is a mountain stage and the
riders will be riding this on Tuesday- so do take a look!
So lets download on our trip to France, the Alps. Oh man oh man oh man! There are no words to describe the mountains; snow capped, the vastness of the landscape like it never ends, the rivers and lakes, the French villages, the food, the weather, the people and the cyclists everywhere. It was all just so much to take in and to appreciate all at once...When we arrived after an exceptionally long days drive, we arrived at the foot of the Alp D’Huez infamous 21 hairpin mountain. As we were driving up it I thought to myself this was the LAST climb we will be doing on race day AFTER doing 2 massive climbs before!? I started to doubt myself and my training... We then decided to do it. Wow, is all I can say. The first part is the steepest, but it gets slightly better. After 70 minutes of climbing and once I had reached the top of this mountain, I looked down and the views and seeing what you have just achieved is awesome. It was a small milestone in the greater scheme of things, but when you put yourself through it and do better than you thought you would before you even started makes one feel good. So that was that. I could tick the first ‘Col’ off the list.
The next day we descended down the infamous Galibier, a massive 2700m mountain. AD and I decided to recce this one too on the Saturday. Now THIS one is a mother. I absolutely LOVED it and wanted to do it again. I didn’t struggle half as much as I thought I would. AD flew up the mountain- he is a machine. The climb is 17km and let me tell you the views from start to finish are unexplainable. The valleys you are going up and the windy roads and streams are just breathtaking. The photo’s you see are the ones on top of the Galibier 2 days before the race. What a day!
When coming back to London, I said to AD that I swear that I have put on 2kg’s. I am not surprised because let me tell you, yes we burnt calories, but we definitely made up for it!! The croissants, the cheese, the baguettes, the desserts- all AMAZING! I loved every minute. So on Sunday we just carbo loaded for Mondays race. I was a little nervous but I was more excited. I couldn’t wait- I thought to myself, man what a challenge! Give me a challenge! Gimme that mountain ;-) The rest of Sunday was just registering at the athlete’s village and some shoppingJOnly a little...
Race Day:
So up early early to eat. Then at 7am we descended from our ski resort into the Modane village for the start. For me there were just MEN EVERYWHERE on bikes. I started to get a little nervous as I was thinking where are the women? But then I started to look and I could see... phew! It was such a great atmosphere, and what a morning. We were in Pen 8, so we waited for 40 minutes before departing. Then it was our turn. Booom!! From start to finish i loved every second. Man it was amazing! Just pushing up those hills and then descending then pushing up again and then a massive decent and then one last push! Guys, there are no words to describe how amazing it is. If you enjoy cycling (even just a little) I would recommend you go do it. You won’t regret it. At the top of that mountain you look back and all you see are cyclists, going through the same pain as you going through, chugging away digging deep and feeling the burn. I love it. The best thing was having the roads all to ourselves! What a pleasure! No potholes:)
The last hill, I pushed. It was a stinker and people were walking. It was a great feeling to finish strong and give it my all. Coming in the home straight felt like I was in the tour de France. It was awesome. In the end, I came 19th out of the women and 2650 out of 6700 riders. My hubby did so well, even better in fact. He came 556 out of ALL the 6700 riders!!! He is a machine.... It was great, we did it, we took the photo and we got the T-Shirt. Happy days!
The rest of the week was good too. AD and I did some cycling, mountain biking and some swimming. It was much needed down time and we enjoyed our time in the Alps.
It is now down to business... Two weeks left. This time in two weeks I will be running, running and getting closer to accomplishing my goal I set out to do 8 months ago. I cannot believe that it is here and that we are two weeks to go. I am getting excited. I am going to trust in my body and my training. It is going to be tough, no doubt but I am going to give it a good go! I am going to enjoy the moment as this moment, right now is all we have and all we can control. Now is all we have.
Lastly: Your dreams are meant to inspire you, not haunt you. Let those rigid goals go and be playful. Have fun, enjoy the experience. Expect things to go wrong and remember how you deal with them is what makes you the person you are. Ironman is the little smidgen of life, all the joy, the pain, the suffering and emotions that life can offer all on one day. Yes, I am sure it is going to be amazing, but one thing I realised after doing the Etape in France is that, things like this will never fill me. Yes, I get a kick from it and a massive high, but it will never fill me. What I do know is that my life has changed and the way I see things has changed and that is thanks to my God and my Faith. Without it, this would not be possible and I can see it all for what it is.
Take care and God Bless
Cornerstone “lou” :)
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