Sunday 22 July 2012

No cycling......no problem

It's Sunday evening, the sun is shining - a rarity in Manchester this year - and I am sitting in the garden with my partner enjoying the early evening sunshine with a glass of Argentinian white wine and a bowl of hula hoops.  Not your average training routine I know, but it is a rest day.

You could be forgiven for thinking it has been a rest week as there have been no training updates for a while, so I feel compelled to set the record straight.

I have signed up for another challenge prior to Cycle Cuba, and the event is fast approaching.  I am taking part in a 199 mile relay race across Oregon, USA along with 11 other team mates.  We all run 3 x 10km (approximately) over 36 hours (again, approximately), taking us from Mount Hood, just outside Portland, to the Pacific coast.  It is the longest relay race in the world - an amazing experience as you run through the night - no stopping till you are at the beach with a beer in your hand!

I am really lucky to have a place in a team as places on this race fill up the day registration opens - it is like getting a place in the London Marathon.  I am running with some of my work colleagues from our office in the USA, along with some people I don't know.  All planning has been done via email.

Consequently, my training over the last couple of weeks has been running focused - my poor bike has only been used as a handy stand to dry my umbrella!  I have still been going to my spin class though - I am now hooked!  That said,  it isn't getting any easier yet.  My bum has just about recovered from one class by the time the next one comes round.

I have 4 weeks training to go before I fly to the States and this weekend I did my first 'double run' - 5.5 miles on Friday evening and 8 miles on Saturday morning.   Today I feel tired.  I have to be able to do this, plus one more run, without a sleep in between.  There is still work to be done, and not of the Argentinian white, dry, fruity, delicious variety!

I am trying to bin off the mid-week drinking and have almost been successful - just falling at the Friday night hurdle.  I thought I was going to make it this week, but after our run, my other half asked the fatal question - "Are you going to be good or bad?"  Now, I can wrestle with my inner demon silently and have a chance of winning, but once those words are spoken and I know that he is caving in, I am a lost cause.  This week I will be strong.

Next weekend I am going for 3 runs - 5 miles Friday evening, 5 miles Saturday morning, 8 miles Saturday evening.  Thank goodness Saturday evening is not covered by my drinking embargo - you will find me on the sofa with a large glass of something cold, ...............recovering.




Monday 9 July 2012

In a spin

I have been a member at a gym in town now for a couple of months and every Monday morning have watched the spin class taking place in the corner of the gym.  I made a pact with myself that I should give it a go as it would take me out of my comfort zone and give my training and fitness a boost.  Until this morning though I hadn't plucked up the courage to join the spinners whose legs seem to move at an inhuman rate.  Instead I have opted for the relative comfort of an upright bike and pedalled sedately for the same amount of time, marvelling at the energy of the teacher, who could quite easily be a marine.  He takes 2 classes back to back - one at 7am and the second at 7.30 with no problem at all.

Today with steely resolve I decide that I will do it.

I am pleased with my strategy to announce that I have never done a spin class before - needed to get that covered off in case I don't make it through the 30 minutes!  I then proceed to demonstrate my incompetence at not being able to adjust the bike.  Am patiently helped by the instructor who is not so scary after all.  I am instructed to turn the dial on the bike a quarter turn each time he shouts to take the resistance up, but after the 5 minute warm up I decide that an eighth of a turn is much more appropriate for me.

I am pleasantly surprised that I am able to get myself up off the bike seat and keep going for the 30 minutes.  I quietly congratulate myself, ignoring the fact that I cheated a bit on the resistance.  I am a beginner after all.

I even get a well done from the instructor, and taking my thoroughly soaked gym towel and thoroughly drained water bottle, I head back to the changing rooms in a glow of smugness for a well deserved shower, and plan what to have for breakfast.

Ladies Cocktail Night - June 28 2012

Our first big fundraising evening.  Gillian has masterminded this one - a ladies cocktail evening at her house, with cupcake decorating competition.  I am in charge of the bar.......excellent!

After a week of gloomy skies and persistent rain, the sky cleared for the evening of our event and the sun came out!  We can't believe our luck.

Tickets have sold for £5, which includes your first drink, a cupcake demo and the opportunity to decorate a cake of your own.  The boys at work got wind of the event at the last minute and felt left out.  We agreed that next time we should get some of the men involved as tuxedo-clad waiters!  Gutted I didn't think of that sooner.

Gillian and I spent a very gruelling hour setting up and perfecting our Bellini making before the guests arrived!



Everyone arrived at almost the same time, so my mixing skills were put under pressure right away, and despite my earlier practice, fell a bit short of Tom Cruise standards, but eventually the Prosecco is flowing into the glasses and not over the counter, everyone is furnished with a cocktail and the evening is well underway.






Making sugar flowers for the cupcakes

The cake decorating demonstration was a massive success and Jools and Jacks brought along a wonderful selection of cupcakes that sold like....erm....hot cakes.  The standard in the cake decorating competition was very high, and I had the prestigious honour of judging which was not easy.

Congratulations Emma - our winner and thanks to Jools for providing the prize - an amazing selection of cup-cakes from Cupcakes and Co







Beautiful cupcakes from Cupcakes & Co before we got our hands on them!



A fantastic array of raffle prizes


Our raffle table soon began to look way too small with all the fabulously generous prize donations.

Huge thanks to Gillian's god daughters Ellie and Rosie who, armed with raffle ticket books and sparkly handbags for the money, did a magnificent job of selling tickets and then picking out the winners (except they didn't pick me!)







Rosie picks another winning ticket




We were overwhelmed by everyone's generosity in helping us raise £545.80 in one evening!  We were both beaming as we counted and re-counted the money at the end of the evening with a glass of Prosecco in hand!

A massive thanks to everyone involved.  Another cocktail evening is definitely planned for Christmas time  :D