IT'S TIME TO FLY, THEN SWIM, BIKE AND RUN!

Well this is it. No blog next week as I will be in Germany racing around Regensburg. I can't believe it is finally here, but I have never felt more ready to do it. Getting to this point has been one huge roller coaster ride for me, but the support I have had from family and friends has been amazing. I need to especially thank the ones who have trained along side me and those who have helped me with my training. Those who have helped me out with the kids when I have needed to train and of course from everyone who has donated. All of your donations have really inspired me to keep going, not only in training but also in writing this blog. I don't think I realised how time consuming this would be as well!!!

So on Thursday I will be flying out to Germany, cannot wait. First though I need to get my bike into that.....UMMMMM......HELP!

 I think I am going to have to make some phone calls to the boys because I really haven't got a clue what to do.

As this is my last blog before my race I thought I would share with you a clip I got shown early on in my ironman training. The thought that, that could be me, has haunted me since. Poor Kay can't even bring herself to look at it.

 

Its not really how I want to see myself cross the finish line to be honest, but you never know it could happen. I suppose your body can only take so much and a lot can go wrong on race day which can effect the entire race. For example kicked in the face swimming, falling off the bike, being sick on the day, the list is endless hopefully I will experience a accident free day and who knows maybe handstand over the finish line.

Talking of handstands, that is the outfit I will be wearing for the race. My race number is 291, this will be written across my arms and legs, and for those of you who are interested you will be able to track me next Sunday. Just click on the link below and fill in the details. I start at 7am European time and  finish, well who knows when!!!!

http://bit.ly/r4DnLm

This week I would like to say I was really touched to be nominated by a good friend Gemma to carry the Olympic flame. What she wrote really meant something to me, so thank you Gemma. You can view this on the link below.

 http://www.lloydstsblondon2012.co.uk/en/carrytheflame/Nomination/?nid=a38aaae1-b8b0-47d7-b9df-86c84804b10b

Finally this week I have some great new I have now exceeded my target amount of £3,000. I truly feel inspired by you all. I will now go to Germany and thanks to all of you and your generosity and of course my kids who inspire me every day, I will race the biggest race of my life so far and who knows what will happen but hopefully I will be an IRONMUMMY.

Just Giving Page: http://www.justgiving.com/Joanna-Reed0

TIME TO TAPER

So this week I undertook my last endurance block, which I have now finished, YEEHA!!!

Will make this short - not for the faint hearted!!

DAY1 THURSDAY

SWIM SET -4000m swim (160 lengths) in sets.
3 HOURS ON BIKE - messed up a bit here, went too far out then had to cycle back like the clappers to get back in time for the  school run.
Day 1 should of finished here. However ended up doing a hours Taekwon-do with my son and then a 90 minute yoga class. Ouch!!

DAY 2 FRIDAY

DISTANCE RUN - ended up getting up to start running at 5.30am (It was the only time I could fit it in). One  word for this HIDEOUS. It felt so much harder than normal and gelling at that time in the morning is just wrong on all levels.
That night I got to yoga again. I went into yoga in pain, my left leg was aching and really sore. But I left feeling a 100 times better, as always Jambo (my saviour) sorted me out. I really don't know where I would be without him.

DAY 3 SATURDAY

BIKE RIDE TO RUN - So I teamed up with the lovely Kay for this one and off we went for a ride round Northumberland. Going to confess we were very naughty and stopped for tea and cake, it was a lovely cafe it would of been very rude to just cycle pass. 5 hours later we hopped off our bikes and went for a little run. All in all no real problems.

DAY4 SUNDAY


2 X BIKE SESSIONS - First one was hills and 2nd was a time trial, to be honest I felt amazing, legs felt good and I felt strong. Just hoping that, that is a good sign.

So that is it, my endurance training is done and now it is time to taper. 2 weeks left and then the real fun begins...............I hope.

SO AS MY IRONMAN IS SO NEAR, HERE IS A LITTLE RECAP.

I AM DOING IT TO RAISE MONEY FOR TINY LIVES A CHARITY FOR PREMATURE BABIES. A CHARITY VERY CLOSE TO MY HEART.

I HAVE DONE A LOT OF THIS

AND THIS

 AND THANK GOODNESS THERE IS NON OF ME RUNNING BUT A LOT OF THAT TO.

 ALSO HAVE DONE LOTS OF THIS

JAMBO AND I STRETCHING, FEELS AMAZING.

http://www.jambotruong.com/

 HE IS ALSO THE MAN WHO HAS INSPIRED ME AND SO MANY OTHERS TO DO A LOT OF THIS

AND I HAVE RECENTLY STARTED TO WIN A FEW OF THESE.

 I HAVE PROBABLY HAD A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS SIMILAR TO THIS (HAHA!).

 BUT FINALLY I STILL NEED TO DO THIS.





In a way I feel that my journey is only just beginning and it will start the minute I enter that lake in Germany and begin my 2.4 mile swim.

Page: http://www.justgiving.com/Joanna-Reed0

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

I think this week has been the calm before the storm, despite starting the week in a blizzard of polystyrene balls.

I have my youngest to thank for that one who very kindly decided to unzip one of the beanbags and have a glorious time with the contents. I am still finding them everywhere.

So next week will see the start of my second endurance block which will commence Thursday and finish on Sunday. Then that is it for my endurance training, it will be time to taper as it will be 2 weeks till race day, YIKES!!!! It is also the start of the summer holidays so I am looking forward to getting out and about and doing some fun stuff with the kids.

Back to this week. Tuesday I did a distance run with Laura again. However I turned up with a little surprise for her. We normally always consume a gel or two on these runs but I fancied trying a 'Redbull shot', as more than likely I will need it for my marathon. So after after about 40 mins we shared the little bottle, OMG it was GO GO GO. Will be definitely packing one of those in my suitcase for Germany or maybe two!!

Eventually I got back to yoga this week, haven't managed to make it for a few weeks and I was really starting to notice it as my nerve pain down my left hand side was starting to flair up. I just love Jambo's classes they are always so much fun. I had persuaded Lloyd a member from our tri club to come whose IT bands are in a worse state than mine. I think he got a shock how  hard it can be to hold some of the poses/stretches, but he also couldn't believe how light his legs felt at the end, its a great feeling. In this class I partnered up with Lisa my biking partner, it was her first time to, I think we can agree we saw each other from new angles.

 Finally the weather has not been the the greatest for biking this week. Managed to get outside once, however the rain at the weekend could only be described as torrential. So I opted to do an hour on the bike in the gym, I swear this hurts so much  more than being on my actual bike on a really steep hill.

Once again I am doing all this for a reason. I am hoping to raise £3,000 for 'Tiny Lives', which is a charity that helps support the enormous costs in caring for premature babies born in the North East. This is a charity very close to my heart as my twins were born at 29 weeks weighing a mere 2lbs 8oz and 2lbs 9oz. The best way to describe how small that is, is that there legs weren't as fat as my little finger and I have small hands!

No amount of money is too small as it all adds up. But you can also just help by sharing the link and letting people know what I am trying to achieve. I have nearly hit 40% of my target it would be fantastic if I could be half way there by the time I leave for Germany.

Hopefully this picture gives you an idea how small they actually were.

Just Giving Page: http://www.justgiving.com/Joanna-Reed0

FEELING THE PAIN

Well it has been another really hard week on the training front.

Monday I need to do a 2 1/4 hour run to finish off my endurance weekend. It was incredibly hard especially after the Steelman race. I messed up by not having enough breakfast and the whole run was just painful, but thanks to Laura I got around it. Don't think I would of had the will power to do that on my own, not that day!

Afterwards I hobbled (literally) off to see Jambo for him to attack my IT bands, which by now were just screaming at me, to stop all this torture on them. The man is a miracle worker, I hobbled in and walked out, what a difference he made. However I will confess it was a pretty painful experience again and with children in the room I  think I did really well keeping my words to owww and ouch!!!

ummm...........hello IT band.  OUCH!!!!!

 Tuesday I made tri club but on Wednesday I took a much needed day off, my body just felt totally fatigued.

Thursday I got a 2 hour bike ride. Then that evening it was a hill session in the dene with Laura, her husband Paul and a friend Jimmy. I think it must be a truly terrifying sight to see four adults trying to sprint flat out for 40 seconds up a hill. To put in mildly we were all in quite a state however what I love about these sessions is that they are over relatively quickly and you can feel that you have worked.

Under coach Woody's instructions I was to get out Saturday for a 5 hour easy ride. So it ended up a good group of us going out from tri club. Basically it is some of the people who I will be going to Germany with for the Ironman. I shall abbreviate this but OMG!!!! EASY RIDE, WHO WERE THEY KIDDING!!
a hilly 90 miles later I got off my bike in pieces. It just wasn't what I was expecting to do the day before a hilly Olympic distance triathlon.

Watch out for this lot they are animals....Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

 I actually woke up Sunday not feeling as bad as I thought I would, maybe that was because I was asleep by 9.30pm the night before, shattered.

The swim was in Derwent reservoir. This was by far the coldest swim I have done this year and the choppiest and overall the hardest. I just didn't enjoy it at all. I was having to breathe every stroke just to catch my breath.

The bike course was 2 two loops around the reservoir, it was hilly with one hard steep climb in it. I came out of the swim in 3rd place (I think) and finished my bike in second. ( manual timing so still haven't seen the full results yet).

Then the run, one word for this HIDEOUS. Up a hill and then another, on a very stony track. Just not pleasant. I had new trainers on they rubbed, my feet bled but I just battled on. I went into the run in 2nd place for the women and finished in 4th, however in my age category I came 2nd. So I am totally delighted especially considering to previous days session.

So my next race is the Ironman, 4 weeks today. I really just hope all this training will pay off and I will be able to finish what will be the longest and hardest race of my life!!

 Here once again is my just giving page. I have raised just over a third of the amount I am trying to reach. No amount is too small it all adds up. Thank you.

You really can help save a premature babies life.

Just Giving Page: http://www.justgiving.com/Joanna-Reed0

THRIVE TO SURVIVE!!

FIRST DOUBLE CUDDLE

Before I start on this weeks training, lets mention again why I am writing this blog. Two of the most important people in my life were born very prematurely, my twins. It was touch and go with both of them if they would survive. I just couldn't imagine my life without them and if it wasn't for the special care baby unit at the RVI in Newcastle, it may well of been the case. I am fund raising for 'Tiny Lives' a charity which helps contributes to the enormous costs in caring for premature and sick babies. No amount of money is too small and I am hoping at the end of my Ironman I will have raised enough to buy a new CPAP machine. A machine that can help keep a baby alive in those first few critical hours,days and even weeks.

Back to this week and what a week I have had. Firstly my asthma started to get a lot worse. So on Sunday I made the decision to go onto the drugs, which I wasn't keen about but I really couldn't risk a full blown asthma attack so close to my Ironman. So the start of the week was a quite one, however under my coaches instructions I needed to  do what is called and Endurance block. This apparently will set me up for the Ironman and its distances. So Kay (who is also going to Germany) and I teamed up to tackle this together.

Thursday Day 1 of the endurance block. Kay and I went out on what was meant to be a 5 hour easy bike ride. Ummmm Kay had other idea's and decided to show me the lovely moors and hills around her neck of the woods. They were spectacular but I wouldn't say easy. However we made the judgement call that 3 1/2 hilly is the same as 5 hours easy. Then that evening I teamed up with the lovely Laura as I needed to do a hill session. This involved sprinting up a hill 8 times, which was then generally followed by lots of wheezing and puffing on my inhaler!!

The easy ride.......NOT!!!

Friday Day 2 - I met up with Kay again to do a quick hour hill climbing on the bikes. ( to be honest it was pretty tame compared to what she had me doing the previous day). Then we got ourselves to the pool where we need to swim 2 1/2 miles (4000m). We both really enjoyed this session. Then that evening I did another hour on the bike with a 20 minute time trial in the middle.

Saturday Day 3 - Today I only had to compete in my first ever half Ironman.  This race is known as the Steelman. I loved it, the weather was amazing, my asthma was really starting to turn the corner, the only downside was that I was feeling a little stiff from the previous 2 days.

The Swim - this proved to be a proper wrestling match pretty much from start to finish, I actually ended up giving a few shoves, mind you I was receiving quite a few knocks. I came out of the water 2nd (in the ladies 27th overall) in a time of 33.38 minutes. (also we all ended up swimming an extra 400m by accident)

The bike - 58 miles this took me 02:57:16. I averaged 19mph so really happy with this. It was pretty uneventful really, managed a few nice chats and ate some snickers bars (yum yum).

The run - Today I loved the run, I was amazed. I think the run was approx 12miles and I came in with a time of 01:33:13. Which I am amazed with.

Overall I came third, I can't tell you how chuffed I am, my total time was 05:06:59, I really wasn't expecting it. To end the blog this week  here are some photo's of today.

MY PRIZE

:

COLLECTING IT - :-)

THE LAKE BEFORE KICK OFF

DREW & KAY - LOVING THE THUMBS UP!!

UMMM.... I THINK THIS IS DREW TRYING TO LOOK FIERCE

KAY LITERALLY AS SHE FINISHED - YOU GO GIRL

KAY CHILLING OFF IN THE LAKE (ICE BATH)

SOME OF THE CREW FOR GERMANY

ME WITH THE HAT ON

PHIL COULSON OF OUR TRI CLUB WHO CAME FIRST TODAY WITH A TIME OF 4 HOURS 13, AWESOME!!

CELEBRATIONS WITH MY THREE BIGGEST FANS AT HOME

 Here once again is my just giving page. I have nearly raised a third of the amount I am trying to reach. No amount is too small it all adds up. Thank you.

Just Giving Page: http://www.justgiving.com/Joanna-Reed0