Samatha's Training Update...

Welcome to Samantha's blog, where you can find out how her training is coming along in the lead up to the Virgin Triathlon on Saturday 27th July! We've been following her closely to see how she's been getting on and below you can read the next step in her training journey...

Arghhh Clips!!!! Ok so in the crazy world of road biking, for the competitive amongst us, it becomes necessary to attach your shoes to the pedals in order to gain as much power as you can.

I have to say out of everything I have ever attached myself to (which more recently includes a windsurf sail using a hook) this is by far the strangest and most unnatural thing I've ever done! My feet are attached to the pedals! I'm attached to the bike! Attached!! Clipped in!!! Oddly these special pedals are called 'clipless pedals'?

So from now on every time I come to a stop, I have to twist my foot and pop it off the pedal so I can put my foot down on to the ground. Should I by chance forget this, or time it wrong, I will fall over attached to the bike... Attached!!! So nothing like this picture at all actually.

I researched online and decided to go with Look Keo CroMo max 2, my friend Anna works with Free Flow Bikes in Scotland and she looked after me! I also purchased quite a bit of Lycra and padded shorts. That involved a lot of research too...never thought I'd see the day where I'm googling Lycra and viewing people modelling bum padding, but life can take you in all sorts of directions and I'm secretly loving this new found passion. I'm even happy to admit to buying cream which you rub into the shorts before you put them on... It's to avoid chafing... I haven't had any issues with chafing incidentally, just FYI!!! Prevention is key!

So I planned my first 'clipless' cycle in Richmond park with my friend Sam (he has done more than a few triathlons)! It was my first outing in the clips, so I picked up the bike jumped on and had an absolute nightmare at a set of traffic lights with a double decker bus on a hill.

If you take anything from this please let it be that you try out clipping and unclipping in the safety of your home or against a wall before you ride off into the sunshine. However, I am still here to tell the tale and it now feels quite natural.

I'm no show off though and although I'm clipping in and out fairly well there are folks that keep themselves clipped in at traffic lights and bounce around to stay balanced... I think this has the potential to end in a disaster and it looks way more effort than its worth!!! I admit this takes skill so these people must have been practising it indoors for hours at a time and that's taking it all way too far... plus the clipping noise is cool!!! Just in case I do fall, I found this hilarious cartoon cycling tips website. There's a video on falling and also on how to blow your nose and spit the 'correct way'... Love it!

This weekend it was a friend's birthday, yes that meant no training. So yesterday it was back on the bike at 7am, it's day 2 and the weather has held up! Last night I did my first kinda 'brick session' running 5km straight after my cycle home. These are to get my legs used to the quick change in movement... painful! I completed it in 28mins on the treadmill at speeds 10.5kmph and 12.5kmph intervals. (Treadmills give you slower times than running outside by the way, it's an ongoing mystery?) Tomorrow morning I want to do a run straight after my cycle into work, maybe along the River Thames. I'll take pictures! x

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