#theTLCeffect

So what is the TLC effect?

This week I have  been showcasing TLC sports 'figure firming leggings' in my Fitness Pilates classes.
A full length compression tight in mat black. The most flattering tight I have ever worn.
These tights are great. The material is completely opaque....yes even when in a deep squat ! (these things need to be checked!)

They fit like a second skin and hold everything in.
The high waistband eliminates muffin top, leaving a smooth line down the sides of the body. The figure firming material lifts the bottom and firms the thighs, giving the effect of slimmer longer legs. They also hold the tummy in flatter. I am confident wearing them with just a crop top as well as with tight fitting gym vests etc over the top.

before

after

Check out the slimmer waistline

 #theTLCeffect

before

before

See the muffin top in these 'before' pictures, eliminated with the higher figure firming waistband in the 'after' pictures below.

#theTLCeffect

The plain black means I can wear them with any of my colourful fitness vests, T shirts or hoodies.

after

after

They feel so comforting when you put them on. TLC sport may have once stood for The Leotard Company but Tender Loving Care seems more applicable to these fab tights. I love the compression and supportive feeling and find them useful to wear when my legs are tired or struggling with a bit of DOMS.

before

after

Check out the the bum lift and flatter tummy !!

I spend 95% of my life dressed in sports wear. Not only do I choose to cycle and run in my spare time but I spend approximately 20 hours per week teaching group exercise. These classes range from Aquafit to PowerHoop, to Studio cycling and Body Pump. I get through a lot of exercise clothing!! Obviously I need my work wear to be practical, but it is also very important to me to wear clothing I feel is flattering as I am 'on show' to up to 200 people per week....mostly women. I often get asked where I get my gym wear from.

TLC sport have over 25 years experience of providing sports and gym wear for women..Style and quality are the two main words I use when telling class participants about their products. I've had no end of their products over the years and always get excited when their latest catalogue arrives on my door mat.

www.tlcsport.co.uk

@TLCsport

Look for #theTLCeffect on twitter.

Aviles World age group standard distance duathlon championships.

Part of the team:
I have just spent a totally awesome weekend away in Aviles Spain with the rest of the GB age group team. And what a team we are. Team manager Jez Cox is just about the best you can get. He is totally on the ball with organisation and delivered a highly motivating briefing the day before our races. The camaraderie, support and banter from fellow GB athletes is what makes these events so special.
Ron and I were stopping about a 25 minute drive away from the Niemeyer international cultural center and the team hotel where everything was centered around all weekend, this wouldn't have been an issue but we were also without internet in our apartment. This is where fellow athletes/friends come in to help out with text messages if things changed or relevant posts were put up on the team notice board or facebook page.

Team GB, Standard distance.

Pre race:
The Niemeyer international cultural center was a great race village, lots of open space, an expo with plenty of shopping opportunities and a reasonably priced cafe/bar. I was totally inspired and excited to see so many athletes and supporters from all over the world blending together in this area and around the town of Aviles. Everybody looked great in their tracksuits in their countries colours.

Chilling at the Niemeyer centre/expo 

Registration was smooth, and each athlete received a really nice rucksack,
water bottle and.....chicken soup. (yes, chicken soup)

Nice rucksack/backpack

There was the opportunity to buy event clothing.

New hoodie

Race day pre start.
My race start was 11.45am, the last wave. Sprint races were over as they raced in the morning and therefore most of the athletes were out to support us standard racers. Thanks to Graeme, the team mechanic, for pumping up the tyre  on my disk wheel before the start of the race in the transition area.

Transition area

Several GB women were warming up together along side other nations when we were called into the pre race start pen. The sun was hot and it did feel as though we were hanging around exposed to the heat a little longer than needed. But the music was loud and team GB ladies sang the loudest and danced the best to the likes of  'I don't care, I love it' and 'shake it off' !!! good fun. We were then called to pre start 2, basically the start line, where the serious heads suddenly appeared on all athletes.  I clocked the piece of music playing as we set off at the horn blow...'bring me back alive'.......

Run 1.
Run one was 2 laps of a 5k loop up and down the river with a couple of turnaround points, one of which was through the stadium so supporters got to see us and cheer us on. I had made the decision not to use my TomTom GPS watch for this event so as not to be faffing around in transition switching it from run to bike and back to run again. So I used the 'freestyle' option which meant I pressed start at the start and stop at the very end of the race, I'd get no stats to speak of but I would get a heart rate reading. I'm not sure if this was a great idea as I had no idea of my pace on this first run, and what with the adrenaline/excitement/nerves I may have gone out too fast. It felt like a long 10k, which later I discovered it was, by about half a kilometer. I had settled into a small group consisting of me and two other female GBers in the agegroup below me. This was good, I really believe we pushed each other on, I was aware they were racing head to head so no words were spoken!

Run start

Run lap

 I raced hard and was a bit nervous as I had started to get the first signs of calf cramp in both legs towards the end, but I  came into T1 generally happy with my effort and hoped the cramping would go once I was on the bike. ( it eased a lot but I was reminded of it every now and then during the bike leg) 

I felt that I had pushed hard on this first run.





T1 was smooth., probably one of my best!

Bike:
This was just over 42kms consisting of 2 and a half laps of 3 points of turnaround. Sounds complicated and originally I found it very confusing so spent a long time the day before making sure I knew exactly where I was to go. However as usual on the day it was a lot less confusing than I had imagined.  There was a short leg, a medium leg and a long leg. Plenty of time for settling down and TT'ing with a few little rises in the 'Quarry loop' to test the legs, and some fast descents and S bends in this section too.

I loved the bike course and it felt like I was racing hard and fast, overtaking all the way.  The support en route was great, and we passed the Niemeyer centre several times with huge support here.

We also rode through a small village called Zeluan, it seemed the whole village were out to support/marshal and offer drinks here. Unfortunately my water bottle fell off the bike here on a rough bit of road. After negotiating the bike course correctly I rode fast into the stadium ready for the last run feeling that i had cycled the bike leg as fast as I could. 
As I went to dismount I was overcome with cramp in both quads...I've not experienced this before . This shocked and disappointed  me. I couldn't do my usual dismount so instead slowed, took my time, uncleated and gingerly got off before the dismount line. The cramp was horrible at this point and I just had to wait for it to go, it felt like a long time but was realistically about 15 seconds. Enough for several participants to overtake me on the dismount line sadly.

T2 was as smooth as it could be but I hobbled out of the area a bit still trying to regain regular feeling in my quads.

Run 2:
This was 2 laps of a 2.5km course, again up and down the river., and passing through the stadium again after the first lap. (Unfortunately several runners got disqualified as they only ran one lap therefore not completing the race) I found this run so hard ! I was hot, cramping, and basically just knackered! I gave 100% effort despite being really uncomfortable. It felt long. Again I found out later that it was long by about half a km! I wasn't running with anyone else, at least I don't think I was, I didn't notice anything and could only think about putting one foot in front of the other and wishing the finish line nearer. There was plenty of water on the course to drink and pour over our heads to try to keep cool as there was no shade at all.
I have never been so pleased to see the blue carpet and finish gantry. I had given 100% for the whole race. I was exhausted. As soon as I crossed the finish line I could see Ron the other side of the railings, thank god he was there to congratulate me. He told  me I was 4th, which is a tough position to finish, but at this point I didn't care. I knew I had given everything and had not let myself down. I had done my best, It wasn't enough for a medal but that didn't seem to matter as I knew I had made no mistakes. I felt very emotional and found it hard to fight back tears. I have no idea where this feeling came from and was not sure why I felt like crying. I think it was just pure exhaustion.

Post race.
The finish area was fab! Tables and chairs, water, protein shakes, and proper food ! a choice of chicken/meat or cheese salad with wraps and dressing!
There was a finishers medal for everyone
A finishers photograph
and medal engraving.

A few favourite weekend 'moments!'
The police escort on the team GB bike recce.
Our hire van being 3 times the size of the one we actually booked !!
Transporting fellow GB athletes in the van, and their partners, and their bikes!

I'm a duathlete get me out of here

Our friend Pete was stashed away in the back of the van alongside 2 bikes with his wife riding up front with me and Ron several times....on one occasion we had a bit of closed road trouble, Ron walked over to a couple of policemen to ask for an alternative route....he came running back across the road shouting,,,'Pete, jump back in the back of the van quick we've got a police escort back to your hotel!' Pete's wife said, 'take a picture take a picture' and 'I wish they had flashing lights on'!! It was crazy, our escort took us through red lights !

Police escort

We went to the medal ceremony (10pm!) and thought we'd park the van on the railway station car park. As we were crossing over the railwayline (a tight turn and bumpy ground)  a siren sounded, the lights started flashing and the barrier started to descend !...It was a definite 'my life flashed before me' moment but we made it !

The inspirational medal ceremony with winners as young as under 20 to two men in  the 85-89 agegroup !

Discovering that history was made with Chris Mosier from the USA competing in the sprint distance...he is the first transgender athlete to compete in a world championship race.

The elites, notably Emma Pallant and Richard Murray (Gold winners the day before) cheering us agegroupers on.

The bonding, support and banter of team GB and of course the awesomeness of Gill Fullen. The clear winner of my agegroup (50-54) and 2nd female over all agegroups!

Thank you so much to Ron for getting me there, prepping my bike and generally looking after everyone!
Thank you to Neill for all his input into my training and generally taking care of my legs!

Next stop ZOFINGEN! long distance world championships in September.

British age group duathlon championships, Windsor.

Windsor duathlon. British standard distance age group duathlon championships. Windsor great park.

This event attracted the whose who in the duathlon world world with a chance to bag the title of British champion. It was a tough field of competition on a challenging but beautiful course. If you're going to hold a British championship why not hold it in the Queens garden on private closed roads? 

Recce, 'The long walk'

A minimal recce on foot the night before was all we could do as some of the roads we were going to use for the race were private and not normally used by the public. 

Unfortunately the race was delayed by 30 minutes as there was meyhem with hundreds of people trying to enter the park to the parking area via one small gate. Some of us had paid for parking when we booked the event and some had to pay on the day, except I don't think this was enforced! The parking area, race village and transition area was an absolute quagmire. This also caused chaos. 

Phew, got my sunglasses before the start

After racking my bike I discovered I'd lost my (expensive) sunglasses. To cut a long story short I was reunited with them before the race as some kind sole had handed them in. Lucky girl. Just before we started it was announced that the race would be stopped for a few minutes whilst 3 members of the royal family crossed the bike route in a car on their way to church! If you were caught up in the stoppage you would have your time adjusted to compensate for the time you were stationary!! 

The race started in front of the Copper horse

So the course.. The first run was a 10k loop on road, trail, bridle way, and grass... Off road shoes were a good choice by me here. It was tough, undulating and muddy at times. I was pleased with my first run and 'enjoyed!' It.

The bike leg was 4 laps around the park totalling 25 miles. It was quite congested at times because of this ( plus there was also a sprint distance race doing 2 Laps) undulating with several punchy climbs and sharp turns and fast decents. We were either going up down or around a corner! I loved it! 

Exiting T2 was like a scene from bambi on ice due to the mud! The last run was an out and back (2loops) up and down the 'long walk' running in front of Windsor castle twice. It was so hard as you could see the whole loop. Shoes were caked in mud... I pulled over to try and remove some of it which                                                                          helped a bit. 

2nd run was tough

I was sooooo happy to finish but because of all the laps I had no idea of my placing but never fear...friend  Jayne Ackroyd had been following me on the live tracker so she text me! Ron was with me and he'd received an automated text from tracking with similar results, however I then had to wait and see If Sally Goble, in the same age group and just behind me, had been held up by the royals and therefore would have time taken off.

Is it over yet?

 Prize giving was delayed whilst adjustments were made. I won silver in my age group! I was thrilled as the women that won gold in my age group was Gill Fullen - this woman is fast becoming a household name as she is so phenomenal, at age 52 she consistently finishes top 3 overall in all distances. I couldn't have hoped for a better result really but,boy, did I work hard for it?!

Podium girls

Podium prize giving and I managed to lose my sun glasses again, but unbelievably somebody spotted what had happened and he got them back to me, weirdly he was standing next to the man that had found them earlier in the day! With a couple of thousand people there I found this a little spooky !

Thrilled with a Silver medal

However, the highlight of the day for me was discovering that the large black jaguar estate carrying the party of 3 royals to church was actually the Queen and she was driving the car!! Who knew? Can you imagine the 90 year old queen driving a massive car and the race having to stop for her? Hilarious!

DRY-U waterproof bags

This is my DRYU waterproof bag and I use it everyday! 

DRYU waterproof bags are so versatile and look really cool too. They can keep the wet out and they can keep the wet in! Depending on your situation. 

I had one of these bags as a present from my daughter and it's perfect for my sporty active lifestyle. I have the 10 litre size and its big enough to get my workout gear and towel and water bottle in for my daily trips to the leisure centres where I teach group exercise sessions in Malvern. These dry bags come in 5, 10 and 20 litre sizes. They can be carried by the 'handle' on top 

or slung over your shoulder with the strap. 

In my pre DRYU life I would use non waterproof bags, resulting in wet car seats, as I would jump in the car after class, throw my bag (with wet kit/towel in) onto the passenger seat and it would soak through.  Also carrying a bag over your shoulder with wet stuff in is pretty grim against your dry clothes and body so problem solved with my DRYU dry bag.

On other occasions I use my bag to keep the wet out. It's a perfect bag to sling over your shoulder on rainy days keeping valuables dry inside. I 'scoot' to work on days I don't have the car, wearing rain proof jacket and trousers, keeping my dry change of clothes inside my lovely blue waterproof bag!

I've been using this bag for a couple of months now and around Christmas time it generated a lot of interest in my classes from the participants, especially when I showed them all the bright colours they come in.  Some of them added a DRYU bag to their Christmas wish list!  

One of them took hers to the New Year's Day sea swim she did in Holland! Keeping her valuables dry and free from sand on the beach and then keeping her wet clothes in it on the way home! 

As a  multi sport enthusiast I also find this bag great for open water swimming and pool sessions... Every triathlete should have one... A perfect eye catching little triathlon bag.

So I use mine primarily as a gym bag however these bags are also great for any out door activity, for example sailing and boat trips - keeping things dry on deck. Not only are they waterproof they are great for keeping dirt/sand etc out... So a must for the beach this summer. Think how great they are for camping and summer festivals! 

With a range of vibrant colours and 3 different sizes there is a bag for everyone! Great gift idea. 

Tempo winter series

Tempo events from Stratford upon Avon host several events throughout the year.  Their winter series is a series of five 10k running races held at Ilmington.  The series starts in October and there is one race per month through to February. The 10k route incorporates running up the infamous Larkstoke hill, and also loops around the village of Ilmington. Starting in October the route is run anti clockwise, November clockwise, and continues to alternate direction for all 5 races.

You don't have to do the whole series but if you sign up to the whole thing straight away you get discounted entry (this year £55!) bargain.

If you complete the series you get a free hoodie. 

Purple hoodies this year

There are series points too and this year there were prizes for first second and third female/male overall and first in age group prizes.

Engraved crystal glass for 2nd female in the 2015/2016 series

The event is extremely well organised and has a lovely friendly atmosphere. 

Rob Minton, One of the tempo team,  starts the race off and then magically appears at the top of the hill to encourage and praise everyone and is there again at the finish to do prize giving with Sarah Bland, another member of the hard working tempo team. 

Prize giving with Sarah Bland

This series for finishing each race you receive a pack of quality sausages from the local butcher!
If you're a vegetarian you get chocolate instead! 

Sausages from Barry the Butcher

There are cash prizes  at each race for first 2nd and 3rd female/male and firsts in age groups.

Cash prizes!

I have done this series twice now and can thoroughly recommend if for value for money, atmosphere,organisation, a 'challenging' course (!!) and great consistent winter training.

New year new gear!

New year new gear! Thats right. Courtesy of Brooks rep Vicki. At Christmas Brooks were running a little competition for running shops that they supply. Basically you had to post a festive photo on social media of shop staff and brooks products. Here's ours!

My colleague Kirk and I with our festive offering!

This little classic won the two of us a pair of Brooks running shoes of our choice and a running jacket each. I opted for the Ravenna 7. A shoe I hadn't tried before. As much as I love my Pure Cadence,  I felt as though I wanted something with a little more structure for my longer runs. (I turned 50 in January so also thought maybe it was time to start thinking of protection!)

Ravenna 7

                                                                                                                                                                 

I I've used them 3 times now and can honestly say I really like them. I'm a mild over pronator, so for me there is just enough support without the shoe feeling really rigid. I like the way Brooks have blended in the support on this version, no ugly grey

The heel counter feels really firm, I like the way it really holds my heel, and no slipping.

Comfort

There is plenty of room in the toe box. It is definitely deeper than the cadence. This suits my wide forefoot and the fact that I lift my big toe when I run. Plenty of room for my toes to swim around.

I've used them 3 or 4 times now.  They are a real comfort shoe for me. Plenty of cushioning. Yes they are a little heavier and less flexible (so I feel less fast) than the cadence, but for my longer training runs or shorter slow recovery runs they are perfect. And I love the colour!

folds up tiny

The LSD jacket is so light! It folds up to nothing (into its own pocket) and has an elastic carry loop so

folds into its own pocket and has a carry strap

that you can carry it around your arm whilst running if you don't need it for the whole run.

I have made good use of this whilst running around Malvern and on the Malvern Hills. It does it's job perfectly. It really has protected me in the cold driving winds we have had recently.  It's kept me dry and warm on the most blustery of days....and we've had a few of those! This jacket looks great. It is a real classy design, I get great comments every time I wear it. Again, I love the colour!

blustery run

The back is slightly longer than the front so it comes down over your bum. Keeping everything warm and protected from the elements!

covers your bum

It has a nice big reflective strip down the back too for visibility.

reflective strip

This jacket is semi fitted, so therefore very stylish and flattering. 

Thank you Vicki, two fantastic products that I feel I will get loads of use out of this season :)

2 great stylish yet practical products

Winter Ball Buster..Human race event.

OK so last race of the season for me, the Human Race Winter Ball Buster sponsored  by CEP.
And what a corker it was!
I entered this race way back, the idea being that it was a fall back if I didn't do well enough at the Wiggle London Duathlon to earn a spot on the the GB team for the European long distance duathlon championships in Copenhagen 2016. I was still really looking forward to the Ball buster with it carrying such kudos as being a toughie as well as it being such a long standing event. However, the weather forecast was horrendous! Strong winds and torrential rain. So the night before this is all I could think of.
We had a long slow journey down to Surrey the day before and it was dusk by the time we arrived at Box Hill. We wanted to be there in day light to recce the course. (I wanted to know what this famous hill was like, especially from the cycling point of view.) We ended up recc'ing in the dark and Friday night traffic, which in hind sight wasn't the best of ideas.  Especially as I was going to be running the first lap so this would give me a really good recce before tackling it on my bike !

A  short while later we went to ASK, in Dorking,  to carb up ! We had telephoned and booked a table for 7pm. However, an hour after placing our order we still hadn't had any food brought to the table. (They were very busy)We quietly brought the matter to the attention of a waitress who apologised . She wasn't sure what had happened but she said that she would arrange for us to have our starters for free. A short while later the Manageress then came to our table to apologise and insisted that we have all of our food for free! This we thought was a very generous gesture and felt it worthy of a mention.

Back to the Ball buster. This was the 25th anniversary of this race and it has a reputation for being a particularly tough duathlon...so clearly I was drawn in. Basically its 40 miles.. 5 laps of an eight mile loop incorporating Box Hill on each loop, so run it once, cycle it 3 times and run it again at the end! If you haven't finished the last lap of the bike by 11am you get pulled off the course. So its not for the faint hearted. All this alone is tough enough but the weather conditions were just as forecast...torrential rain and strong winds. Transition opened at 6am in the dark at the top of box hill. It was already a quagmire! A staggered start from 8am...waves of 10 people every 10 seconds to avoid congestion on the first lap. 

Staggering at the start.

OK so not the clearest of pics! But it's the only one of me racing!

The 8 mile loop I'm sure is beautiful in different weather! The box hill climb is just over 2kms and includes hairpins. The rest of the route undulates and is narrow and uneven in places but it was the wet leaves and debris from the trees that slowed me down yesterday. There were a few 'offs' from others more gung ho than me on the bike. The scaffolding of the transition area blew down at one point so this gives an idea as to the conditions we raced in! Prize giving was also called off as it was so awful at the end.
The first run took me just over an hour, the 3 lap bike 1 hr 29 and the last run 58 mins. This was pretty much what I had estimated so I was really pleased with this in these conditions. (final time 3:31.10) I was 8th female, 1st F45-49, (2nd F40-49) 

Andy Greenleaf was the overall winner breaking the course record. Ali Moult was first female with a clear lead over second place.

As always a big thanks to Ron for sorting my bike and getting me to the start line in time, as well as putting up with my worrying the night before! and thanks to Neill Williamson who gave me a new pair of legs on Thursday.
This race is right up my street ! I LOVED it !!! but I really need to be less of a wus when it comes to riding downhill. 

Great hoodie

You get a great hoodie for your efforts, the organisation was perfect, and the marshalls deserved a medal for standing out in those conditions.

Special thanks go to Nelson Training and Charles Hinitt and associates (accountants) for their generous sponsorship this year.

Last race of a busy year for me and it was definitely a great one to end on. I highly recommend it. 

And to finish, the traditional post race celebration, Curry and Champagne !

Cheers !