The Good Mood Cookbook

Oryx

MaryB30 wrote: »

RunHobble like the wind Oryx, RunHobble like the wind.

FYP

sconhome

I have just tracked back and madam, you are truly a nutter!!

I wish you the very best of course and mean that in the nicest possible way. Any plans for Adventure Racing next year??

Oryx

AKW wrote: »

I have just tracked back and madam, you are truly a nutter!!

I wish you the very best of course and mean that in the nicest possible way. Any plans for Adventure Racing next year??

Possibly! I might get a chance to Race alright, fingers crossed!

pgibbo

I love your attitude Oryx :cool: The very best of luck in Wales

Oryx

Ow swim tonight. Cold has been an issue for me, so tonight I wore a baselayer (heavy duty winter) and a neoprene hood. I wasnt warm as toast but I was a hell of a lot better. There was a very strong flow along the strand tonight, we swam an equal distance with and against it. 1.75k in total 42 mins including some short pauses. Not much but good to get in and test some clothing options.

Kurt Godel

Oryx wrote: »

Ow swim tonight. Cold has been an issue for me, so tonight I wore a baselayer (heavy duty winter) and a neoprene hood. I wasnt warm as toast but I was a hell of a lot better. There was a very strong flow along the strand tonight, we swam an equal distance with and against it. 1.75k in total 42 mins including some short pauses. Not much but good to get in and test some clothing options.

Whut? It was roasting in the sea tonight! We swam a couple of clicks norther than you, I had to get out of my wetsuit it was that warm. Dory's pool is an ice-bucket challenge in comparison, so warm was the sea. You could fry on egg on those waves, if you had an egg, it was that hot.

I worry about you in those cold Welsh seas Oryx, you need to start working on the winter coat.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

I so wish I spent 10mins last week having time for a coffee. I had a feeling deep down you had transferred. All I can do is tip my hat, you are one courageous lady. Enjoy the day out as you deserve it.

Oryx

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Whut? It was roasting in the sea tonight! We swam a couple of clicks norther than you, I had to get out of my wetsuit it was that warm. Dory's pool is an ice-bucket challenge in comparison, so warm was the sea. You could fry on egg on those waves, if you had an egg, it was that hot.

I worry about you in those cold Welsh seas Oryx, you need to start working on the winter coat.

I don't know what I need to do. The girl I swim with never gets cold, she reckons I need to fatten up alright.

Oryx

Sloan Tangy Stewardess wrote: »

I so wish I spent 10mins last week having time for a coffee. I had a feeling deep down you had transferred. All I can do is tip my hat, you are one courageous lady. Enjoy the day out as you deserve it.

Shame on you for letting smack talk scare you off.

I doubt I'll enjoy the day, but I plan to get the most out of it. Thanks.

Kurt Godel

Oryx wrote: »

I don't know what I need to do. The girl I swim with never gets cold, she reckons I need to fatten up alright.

I've done a load of OW swimming this year, most of it without a suit. From what I can tell there are two ways to beat the cold:

1: Fatten up. I remember being at an OW race two years back and noticing someone who to my mind belonged on a barstool. He almost won the race, brilliant OW swimmer. There's no doubt from comparing OW races and Tri races that OW swimmers have a lot more blubber (literally a built-in suit, as this will help bouyancy as well as insulation). Some of us have a head-start over your good self in this regard though, and I doubt you'll be too happy with carrying extra fat into your IM.

2: Get yourself used to the cold over time. Like for anything else, the body will adapt if its used to colder OW swimming. I was far too hot last night in the sea, so took off the suit and was comfortable. No way I'd have done that so easily had I spent the summer in a suit. Maybe after each OW swim, take off the suit at the end and swim an extra 100m? Twice a week doing this, adapt to the cold in skins and swimming in the suit will feel a lot warmer.

Oryx

Thanks for the advice, but I usually leave the water so cold I cant talk with both feet and hands snow white and useless. This last few weeks I started shivering while still swimming. If I took the suit off and went back in, I dunno. I dont think it would end well. But maybe I need to just man up. More ice bucket challenges maybe.

Kurt Godel

Maybe look at increasing your stroke rate? Here's some articles on cold water swimming from Loneswimmer, good breakfast reading with double cream in your coffee and extra cheese on that bagel.

Oryx

Nice day on the mountain today. 11k run with strides at the end. Legs were heavy but otherwise ok.

Oryx

Sluggish and tired all day, but ploughed on and went for a sea swim anyway in hopes it would perk me up. It did.

And I went in determined to battle this cold issue. I wore a hood but otherwise just the usual wetsuit - no layers. I thought of kurt swimming in skins and said I had to (wo)man up*. It was pretty ok this evening anyway, and I kept the effort strong to generate a bit of heat. 2k total but no watch so no time. I wasnt all that cold getting out. Yay! The only issue was the 20 or so guys fishing along the strand. Id say they wanted to lynch us. Snagging their lines and scaring the fish.

*Sure the thought of kurt in skins would keep anyone warm... (saying it before anyone else does).

Kurt Godel

Oryx wrote: »

Sluggish and tired all day, but ploughed on and went for a sea swim anyway in hopes it would perk me up. It did.

And I went in determined to battle this cold issue. I wore a hood but otherwise just the usual wetsuit - no layers. I thought of kurt swimming in skins and said I had to (wo)man up*. It was pretty ok this evening anyway, and I kept the effort strong to generate a bit of heat. 2k total but no watch so no time. I wasnt all that cold getting out. Yay! The only issue was the 20 or so guys fishing along the strand. Id say they wanted to lynch us. Snagging their lines and scaring the fish.

*Sure the thought of kurt in skins would keep anyone warm... (saying it before anyone else does).

HTFU kept you warm on the swim, imagine what it might do on the other two disciplines;). But seriously, if upping the cadence worked for you, thats a solid result.

PS fishermen are narky baxtards at the best of times, but your splashing is most likely to drive the fish in to shore so they should thank you.

PPS I often have thoughts of the girls here in skins (and beyond) and it seems to keep me warm so dream on.

Oryx

Dunno what worked. Might just have been a bit warmer anyway. But I did get in determined not to let the cold bother me. And I do have you to thank for giving me that push. Skins or no skins (ooer missus)

Kurt Godel

You never need too much pushing, there's usually a remorse of conscience feeding that determination. Next year will be a breakout year for you, I'd say.

Oryx

As I walked on to the beach tonight I met a lady in a brightly coloured leg cast, on crutches. This beach was the first place I came after I broke my leg, seeing her brought me right back to that. I spoke to the woman for a bit - she had slipped on grass and had an identical, tho slightly worse break to mine. At least I could genuinely tell her she would back on both feet quickly. The chance meeting reminded me how far I've come... and how grateful I am for that!

Oryx

100k bike, 4 hours. With a short run off. I am uninspired by this. Nerves and doubt are kicking in (normal I know) and I wonder how the feck I will do iron distance anything in two weeks.

Izoard

Oryx wrote: »

100k bike, 4 hours. With a short run off. I am uninspired by this. Nerves and doubt are kicking in (normal I know) and I wonder how the feck I will do iron distance anything in two weeks.

With your experience, if you are physically in one piece, you WILL finish.

Live in the moment and break it down - first bouy, first climb, first turnaround, the rest will look after itself.

And remember, you'll have a lot of positive vibes coming from this parish!

Oryx

Izoard wrote: »

With your experience, if you are physically in one piece, you WILL finish.

Live in the moment and break it down - first bouy, first climb, first turnaround, the rest will look after itself.

And remember, you'll have a lot of positive vibes coming from this parish!

Don't I know it!

Just gotta keep the fingers crossed that the body holds together.

shotgunmcos

Oryx wrote: »

Don't I know it!

Just gotta keep the fingers crossed that the body holds together.

Haven't been around much lately but a quick check in confirms you are still hard! Best of luck

Oryx

^^not hard. Stupid.

Eeeeeasy bike today. And I mean easy. The last few rides have been soul destroying, mojo sapping slogs (for no reason I can put my finger on). My intention today was to just go out and do a handy ride to see if I could find the joy again. I threw away the hrm and amused myself doing skills stuff and taking in the scenery. 48k in 2 hrs. With a 20 min run off.

I didn't find the joy, but I didn't hate life either. Thats something.

Pmaldini

Hi Oryx,
just catching up after the hol's, you are one strong lady!! try enjoy the taper and get to the start line as fresh as possible,think of where you were only a few short weeks ago and now you are about to start another IM, i have no doubt in my mind you will get through the challenge, if you look up inspirational in the dictionary your name will be there:)

Oryx

Yesterday I did a short run and a shorter swim. 11 days out and this describes my mood:

career move

Don't think about it and you'll be grand

Oryx

career move wrote: »

Don't think about it and you'll be grand

Where there's no sense there's no feeling....

90 min turbo with 4x 4 min hard efforts. Followed by 30 min run with 6x 3 min intervals. Followed by s&m work. Interesting taper, with intervals that get longer and harder instead of easier.

MaryB30

Did someone mention Taper ?????? My favorite part of triathlon.

Oryx

You might not like this one!

How is your taper going anyway?

MaryB30

Smoooooth. Should be just relaxed enough to saunter around the beast of the east. ( and then regret not training)