Training, Work, Workout, aannnd relaaaaxxxxxxxxx

During a period where my husband was working very hard, getting a late rush of antiques container packing collected in, wrapped and then packed into a container bound for the other side of the world, he decided that it would be a good time to take a rest from our triathlon training and save some energy for the hard physical work that was the top priority at this time.

Stephen and I have trained very hard all through the worst of the lockdown time and all the way through from the beginning of March until mid-August when we have finally accepted that this year has been a total washout as far as all the wonderful times that we usually have, going to triathlon and swimming events all summer long, as we have down for thirty years. Yes, it has caused a flat feeling obviously, since it has taken in effect, a whole year from our sporting lives.

Business wise there were whole months with no work what so ever, so now we have what may possibly be, the last big rush on to clear work that has been on hold, we have to just get on with it. Dropping our early morning training sessions to the side lines is not that big a deal when there are no events to go to anyway, and nearly everything we were looking forward to has been postponed until next year since triathlon is pretty seasonal anyway and this year summer sports event were wiped out entirely.

The last few weeks I have been able to join my husband on a few long drives in the UK picking up goods bought on line by the few of our clients still in some trimmed down kind of action. On those trips I have not been much more than company at my man’s side while he drove the truck. I didn’t do much more that take phone calls, make notes or send emails. Apart from that, I was a treat for me to be out of the house for a while and see something of our countryside for those days.

Last week I was a bit more , when I went up to our warehouse with Steve a few times where I was able to wrap some of the furniture and decorative items in preparation, so Steve could get on with doing the actual container packing, which is like doing a giant three dimensional puzzle, though rather more skilled, to make sure that nothing moves during the weeks of ocean and road movements until it reaches the destination. The packing process is, as a small comfort at least, also vaguely useful for our strength and endurance programme in that it involves endless walking out to the container carrying an item that is to be packed and then walking back into the warehouse which with a bit of imagination and good humour we could call repetition and recovery. Steve sometimes keeps the Garmin Forerunner (that is such a boon to our training) on and working while we plod back and forth fetching and carrying for hours on end, it is hilarious to look at the recorded route plan afterwards. Still it is hard work and it does make your legs, arms, hands, neck and back, know that you have been doing something heavier that going for a delightful run through the woods or enjoying a nice bike ride.

It is very important for both heavy lifting work and training to be able to unwind and relax afterwards otherwise aches and pains will develop and make both harder and less enjoyable. This morning, early enough not to interfere with the work day We did an hour workout with the New York City Ballet on You Tube before Stephen left home. I get some funny looks from sports friends when I mention this session. The very word ‘Ballet’ seems to strike fear or ridicule through normally friendly minds. When in actual fact the work out is most useful for a number of reasons.

It sensibly starts with a gentle warm up, a little movement to music, pliés that stretch the calves and the Achilles as well as hamstrings. Then there is about twenty minutes of floor exercises mainly for core strength, stretching and abdominal work. Then there is a little gentle ballet and balance work and some little jumps before the final longer loosening stretches. My husband enjoys this set as much as I do, though we both wish that we were anywhere near as supple as our little cat Birdy.

 

 

Hide-away in Auberge du Raisin, Cully, Switzerland

Pre-Tri World Championships 2019

 This day last year, we were enjoying a very different world where we didn’t have an inkling of the horrors to come six months later when the Covid 19 started to kill indiscriminately left right and centre.

29.08.20 Steve drove from Beaune in France to Lausanne in Switzerland last 200 km. We went to the race venue and registered for the race confirming that we were there having paid my entry fee months before hand. We took a stroll around to get a rough idea of where everything was and checked on the entry list to see who was there. Having just enjoyed my 80^th birthday two weeks before, I wondered if I would be the oldest competitor as I very often am these days. The was an American woman who was a year older than me and the oldest person competing was a Japanese man, Hiromo Inado who was in the 85-90 age group… I was just a kid in comparison.

We checked out where we would have to go to check the bike in the next day before going back to the charming little hotel that Steve had chosen, in the small area of Cully about five miles out of Lausanne and nice and quiet. He chose the Auberge du Raisin it because of the restaurant and the position which was a two-minute walk to Lake Geneva/Lac Léman. It was a so beautiful there right on the lake and we thought it would be a perfect place for a short holiday another time.

The hotel itself was rather quirky which suited us down to the group and we found that we had booked a large attic room that looked out to the lake one side and also to the vineyard on the hillside on the other side. It was a nice spacious well-furnished room and even had two desks so that we didn’t have to take turns, to answer emails etc. perfect for us to simply relax, have dinner in the highly praised restaurant and take a little walk before retiring to our cosy room. 

 

 

Reflections in the rear mirror to 2019

The photo above was taken by my daughter www.jacquelinerackhamphotography on the occassion of my 80th birthday two weeks befor my big race putting me into a new age group 80-84 years.

In stead of taking the completed year diary to my office and standing in the row of old diaries, I usually keep just last years, close at hand and every now and then I glance through to see what I was doing at the same time last year.

At the head of the page for 27^th which was a Tuesday, in bold green letters I had printed ‘LEAVE FOR LAUSANNE’. My husband Stephen, is a master planner of journeys, having been in the antiques transport business since he was a teenager, so since the trip was for me to compete in the ITU World Triathlon Championships he had set out a less rushed driving time so that I would not be tired before I even got to the start line.

We nearly always drive to European sports destination and so we drove as far as Beaune in Burgundy, where we spend two nights that would allow both a break between travel days and give us time for a last easy bike ride on nice quiet roads, a day to move my body but stay in a relaxed frame of mind.

That was how come we did my favourite ride in that area on Wednesday 27^th. It is not an exaggeration to say that over our 44 years together we have stayed in Beaune hundreds of times and well know every bike or run route, as well as restaurants and shops and tourist attraction there abouts. The ride we did that day involved a thirteen-mile ride through several pretty wine villages before turning on to a canal side path that is eleven miles to the turn point where there is a little café for a short break before the return ride making a very nice useful 48-mile easy ride.

We ate early and had a relaxed evening. We would not need to start off too early for the last three hours of our journey to Lausanne in Switzerland.