Riding with the Big Boys

Activity: Sunday club training ride
Distance: 100.69km
Total ascent: 754m
Time: 4 hours including one coffee stop, one visit to Ballater bike shop, one chat to a dog walker and two stops to take photos. (edited: Apparently riding for 3hrs 19mins)
Choons: Skindred  - Electric Avenue (thanks Toby!) and Gabriella Cilmi - On a mission


I havent posted in a few days as the Manflu turned into Proper Flu and I was forced to retreat to bed on thursday. However that was, I guess, the fever breaking and I've been feeling a good bit better every day since.

So what to tell you? I was working all week and yesterday in the Bike Shop. We began pimping Bob (my Hardtail) on Friday during an unusually quiet period. When Bob came out of a well known cycle chain store some um....[counts]....3 years ago...he cost £700. For £700 then, you got bog standard gear, bog standard forks and bog standard wheel and tyres. But I knew nothing of bikes then and he looked cool. And, lets be honest here, the guy in the store was so gorgeous he could have told me a goldfish was great for extreeeeeme (dude) mountainbiking and I would have believed him.

Although I've since learnt that he was slightly exaggerating Bobs offroad capabilities - Ten under the Ben? Suuurrrre, no problem - I'm a sentimental fool and as Bob and I have had many adventures together and he's been places only his playboy full sus or posh hardtail cousins would usually dare to go and lived, I swore I'd stand by him instead of swapping him out (£700 now will get you a lot more for your money that it used to) for a new one. He has a good frame - worth blinging - however, I'm also realistic and though I would love to bling him with Deore XT and £500 forks, the fact he will,  late next year, be joined (not replaced) by a brother who is already several pounds lighter and much better spec prevents me from being too silly.

So, over the past couple days (going in early and finishing late) off have come the mechanical disc/death brakes, the bottom mech, the rotors, the shifters and the 8 speed cassette & chain. Oh, and an inch each side off his handlebars which were too wide for me. On has gone Deore LX (a level down from XT and designed for XC) bottom mech and shifters, a 9 speed cassette and, as Bike Boss described them when he took Bob out for a test drive, "bluddy'ellthey'rekeen!!" hydraulic disc brakes (with 180mm rotors back and front). I also bought him a new wireless computer and some SPD's. Next to come are new lighter wheels and I'm going for tubeless this time as now I have Bella, I don't need to go on road with Bob at all except in winter and therefore can keep a set of decent offroad tyres on him (well it'll be a certain combo). After that a new matching chainset and a slightly better pair of forks with remote lock out and I will leave him at that. Possibly....

So very little riding this week due to Deathy Bug except the one way commute on Bob earlier in the week. However I made up some miles today after being invited to join the Big Boys for the first time on their usual training run to Ballater. I call them The Big Boys with the schoolyard in mind - they're not actually big. They're whippetlike. You know the kind - those who are just so good at stuff that you're in awe of them and stare from the opposite, geeky side of the schoolyard and dream of being able to do what they do. The Big Boys are seriously, seriously, seriously fast and fit including Bike Boss. Anyhoo...like a fool, I accepted. Please bear in mind that I am one month into roadbiking and come from a mountainbiking background. A positively sedate one at that. I like to pottle along and then have A Point to my journey. Like climbing a hill or something. So hurtling along and mostly uphill in a tightly formed group with strict rules about no halfwheeling and remembering to take ones turn at the front and keep the specified distance from the bike in front and be expected to keep ones lungs firmly inside ones chest while trying to understand that there is No Point to this other than to get fit enough to go faster uphill is not natural to me. After 10 miles of heart attack inducing hill and pace, I dropped back and waved them on. No way on gods earth could I keep that breakneck speed up over the distance and so I just carried on at my own pace. What a bloody gorgeous run along the South Deeside road over the hills and along the river though. To be honest, I thought the lads would have long since left Ballater by the time I arrived but as I stood at Dan's bike shop in the square, Bike Boss appeared..


You STAR! he yelled
Pardon?
We thought you had turned back!!! 

Me? Give in? Not even if my arse was to be worn away to a bleeding stump on my razor-like race saddle (which it is but hey, who needs to sit down?)



He hauled me back to the coffee shop where the rest of them were and I had a scone and coffee ordered for me (gentlemen! hurrah!) before we all set off for the race home along the not-so-hilly North Deeside road - I kept up this time AND took my turn at the front AND managed to keep my lungs inside. I am further convinced that Cake and/or Scones are the secret to road cycling. Our group split at Dinnet with half going off towards their homes on Donside vis the Hill of Doom and the rest of us heading to Banchory, and in my case beyond.

I'm now going to fit the new 'puter to Bob and smear my bottom in Sudocrem. 

Planes, bikes and um.....

.....Yeah, I know. Odd isn't it. Cubes Urban Concept bike. The result of cooperation with the University Coburg. Its a 28″ wheel folding bike which, when the frame is folded, fits into a rucksack. The wheels don't but hey, you get my drift. Still weird though.

This morning I felt almost human thanks to the power of Beecham, the sun was shining (yes, the sun!) and so I rode Bob into work. 12.48km trail in just under 50 mins @ an average of 15.35km/h. By a mile in I was regretting it and felt like death on a stick but in for a penny...anyway, had to get him to the shop so I could begin his transformation. I'd already begun stripping him down last night and so rode to work with no rear brakes. Well no brakes at all actually as the front ones were disconnected last week ...got interesting when I forgot that small point at the only road junction in that 12 and a half km but as I am now almost masterful in my ability to disguise a complete fuck-up as 'I actually meant to keel over sidewards into that tree' or 'No, really, I enjoy freefalling over cliffs'' I got away with it. 

Note to self: write note to self ref brakes and stick on handlebars.

Work was another day of organised pandemonium which was supposed to end with a calming evening at yoga but that didnt happen due to Sue (friend and yoga partner) having a really shit day at her work and arriving at house after falling out with customers and B&Q and therefore sooooo not being in the mood for a Salute to the Earth and me forgetting my cash card which turns out I hadn't actually forgotten in the end but couldn't find in my rucksack and thus wasted 14 miles of bosses petrol (he ran me home) and near an hour of searching. Ah.

Anyhoo todays weirdness....last night I watched the story of Flight 009 on 'Aircrash Investigations'. I don't usually watch it as I'm not a fantastic flyer (somewhere between nervously reading/monitoring turbulence/engines or sleepily inebriated usually) and watching plummeting planes on the telly doesn't do much to bolster my confidence. However, N had read the book about this particular flight and assured me everyone lived and the plane was fine. Well, that was ok then. Bloody interesting! Long story short - long haul Boeing 747 accidentally flies into invisible (to radar) volcanic ash cloud (quel timing Mr TV Programmer...) and all four engines die. Planes plummets (quite slowly actually) due to ash getting in engines and causing aforementioned engine death. Crew manage to restart engines minutes before ploughing into sea/mountains nr Jakarta, everyone lives and are understandably reallyfuckinggladtobealive. Survivors form Galunggung Gliding Club (named after the Volcano that near killed them) and though this happened in 1982, are still in touch with each other today. Thats flight incident (and a similar one near Anchorage some years later) are the reason we have had restricted air travel since Eyjafjoell blew.

So 'D', a quiet spoken local roadie, who comes into the shop near every day and is one an original offshore tigers and at 73 can still whip most folk half his age on a bike (& if you were to look at him, you'd guess he was only around 55 yrs old) comes in as I'm telling Bike Boss about this amazing incident. Turns out 'D' was ON the bloody flight and has a newspaper clipping to back it up with his photo on it! He was remarkably nonchalant about it. I asked him how he felt. Did he think he was going to die? No he said, he had absolute faith in the BA staff to get the engines going again. There really was very little panic (considering they were plummeting from 33000ft in an engineless, smokefilled Boeing 747..). He handed me a copy of a newspaper clipping from 1982 - he'd been interviewed after the event and insisted I keep it. Its hanging on my wall now and the whole thing has had a profoundly odd and utterly unexplainable effect on me. 

Coincidence or the first hint of a future life lesson? Time will tell I guess but right now this hippy is off to bed to wage war with the remnants of this stinking cold.

 

Fabian Cancellara & Manflu

So yes, despite eating thirteen kiwi fruit a day, my poor little immune system has succumbed once again. I have Manflu.

How do I know that I have it and not ordinary Womanflu? Because I'm moaning incessantly, have only managed a 3 hour snooze since returning from work at lunchtime and can now only physically exert myself as far as DVD watching otherwise I become too weak and need help to operate the remote control. I've also lost my appetite (except for Battenburg cake, fig rolls and fruit drop scones). I would be more worried except for the fact that recent medical research bought a breakthrough in increasing the survival rate of Manflu in the form of the following equation:

F=√ (sofa comfort rating/amount of interesting programs on Sky)/( ≥ number of jobs waiting to be done ²)+(genuine symptoms/level of moaning)/c

Where F equals likelihood of survival and 'c' is a four letter word.

I did not cycle this morning though training and the aquiring of knowledge is going well plus Mondays have become my Rest Day in the Great Plan anyway. The Great Plan is secret but not because I'm going to announce I'm Team Saxo Bank's latest secret weapon or anything but because it  involves training times and averages and other boring stuff, discussion of which will kill you to death with boredom but I can tell you it involves 42 gallons of butt butter and approximately 14 packets of Fig Power Rolls ™ per week.

Speaking of Team Saxo Bank....what of Fabulous Fabian? Three time World Time Trial Champion and Olympic gold medalist, winner of Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix (twice), Milan-San Remo, Tirreno-Adriatico, Tour de Suisse, Monte Paschi Eroica, and three prologues of the Tour de France.. he also bloody gorgeous. Not as good looking as N *obviously* but its close and watching his lycra clad sweaty thighs  pounding away at hills whilst genuinely studying his form for tips is currently my prescribed form of self medication...

As Chandler would say..Does illness *get* any better than this?

Sat 17 April

07:28hrs 27.13mins 11.24km av 24.8kph
18:24hrs 18.33mins  9.90km av 32.01kph

Total for week 131.96km

Puf


Sent from my iPhone

Computers, cranks and carbs

You may be wondering why I have put a photo of a fluffy orgasmic kitten as my title shot. Well, its mainly because that's how I look at the moment. Without the fur. Yes, I have returned from my honeymoon with Bella. It was shorter than I would have liked but one feels a sense of urgent obligation to return to earth before family desert me in favour of the lollipop lady who they see for more than five minutes a day...

I have ridden, not obsessively I hasten to add, every day since she arrived. Twice a day. Sometimes three. So yes, this blog post is going to be mainly about bikes and The Bike Shop so if you have no interest or have reached boredom saturation point, I'd go and read a book or something instead. Or consider moving to a beautiful, unspoilt region of the Pyrenees or marvel over some of Scotlands finest panoramas. However if you choose to bear with me, I have three things to report.

• Bella is the most beautiful creature I have ever had to fortune to er..mount. Imagine if you can, being on top (works for both sexes) of your absolute dream man/woman - looking down between your legs and having a grin the size of South America spread across your face because beneath you is your idea of perfection.*
• Being seen with/riding a Thing of Beauty does not exclude you from getting a very sore bottom and bits. I have as a result, ordered a Selle Italia ladies seat (Diva Gel Flow). Please, please watch this video. Its very important (no its not, its just very funny...). It may not cure my problem but its very nice :) and yes, I am expecting to get through about 56 seats in order to find one that is 'me'
• Spending a not-unreasonable amount of money on ones first road bike does not mean that you are ready to hit the road. Noooooo, first you must spend an equal amount of money on kit and 'necessary' embellishments... my boss says I have expensive tastes. When he says that he smiles and I know, as he is a true Yorkshireman, that every time I coo over something shiny he knows he is a few quid closer to his annual holiday. At this rate, he's going to have six months away somewhere hot and exotic..

 *I know I will also say that about my first race bike too but lets just go with the present whole rapturous delight thing eh :)

My reasoning for spending without much guilt is a) its my own money and b) that I don't now have any form of motorised transport as they all blew up. N has stated that the combined engineering genius of our planet could not produce an engine strong enough for me to use without 'destroying completely' (pah! One teeny cracked head! On a 4 litre V8...um....) and therefore I am better off under my own steam/breaking my own stuff.

Anyway - been good to be back riding everyday this week. One moment of panic and confusion over the gears on Bella had me believing that not only had I lost some fitness on hills but I had in fact regressed to the physical strength point of a newborn. However this was resolved by moving out of (accidentally found) Death Gear and onto, almost unashamedly, the Granny ring. Shut up. It was a very steep hill.

Sooooo exercise so far this week:

Sunday 11th  - 46.37km in 2hrs 4 mins (Bella) - hills, hills, death, hills.
Monday 12th - 12.7km in 43mins 7 secs (Bob) - trail mmmmm
Tuesday 13th - 1) 17.7 km  in 47 mins 7 secs (Bella) meandering commute and 2) 11.35 km in 28 mins 32 secs (Bella)commute
Wednesday 14th -  1) 11.35 km  in 26 mins 43 secs commute (Bella) and 2) oooh no ride, went to yoga instead with Sue.
Thursday 15th - 1)  11.35 km  in 26 mins 3 secs (Bella) and 2) 11.35 km  in 24 mins 53 secs (Bella) both commutes

Not impressive. Not even good but its 9-11 hours exercise a week and all exercise is good. While I'm trying to adapt to 18 - 19 hour days I'm not exactly feeling like beasting myself. Fitting the bike computer the other dayhas made things easier. I'd been using the iPod apps - eventually settling on imapmyride app but its not very 'upright friendly' to be raking about in ones sports bra (where I keep phone and keys when riding) to check ones pace. I got the Cat Eye CC-MC100W which does perfectly though I have now been alerted to my 'need' for a cadence meter which means this one might be going over to Bob and Bella gets this one. Pfffrt. Or maybe not as my friends C and S have both threatened to shoot me if I start quoting averages and times. 

Tomorrow I am taking Bob because he will be feeling left out and I do miss him. And, as I'm working Saturday at the Bike Shop, I'm going to not ride that day but instead risk public transport or persuade N to get up and drive me and pick me up. Need to get a swim session in sometime this week too. Refusing to give up on upper body! I have almost abandoned running for the time being however. It got to the point where I could not walk in the morning as my ankles (many times broken in past) felt as though they were fused solid for the first hour or so in the morning and no amount of stretching and massage would help. I have had to walk down stairs sidewards for the last month or so. Time not running has helped though. Today was the first day I walked downstairs normally! I have an appointment with sports physio to assess problem and advise.


Bike Shop is going well I'm pleased to report. Apparently I'm a good luck charm as we've (yes we, I sold my first bike t'other day woo!) sold a lot of bikes this week. Its mostly repairs and services though (it seems ours is a town of Secret Serious Speed Freaks) and I've progressed to owning My Side of the bike stand and Boss doesn't hover nervously when I'm within 10ft of a carbon frame and will happily leave me alone to build or repair unless I yell for assistance/advice/a cuppa or he is showing me something new. There have been some lovely bikes in this week and though obviously none compare to Bella, my eye was briefly caught by a time triallingy training jobbie** which was having the below fitted. This is a Dura Ace 7800 Powermeter with SRM PC 7 (not shown) and not a 'can opener'. Apparently it measures your power output in watts and lets you know how big your thighs are or something. It will certainly remind you how small your bank balance has become.

** Please note new technical jargon. I have managed to persuade Bike Boss to adopt my vocabulary and things are much easier now we're pointing/grunting and using 'Thingies' and 'wotsits' instead of 'Crown race puller' and 'Head tube facing and reaming tool'. I do have to say that out of all the tools so far, the latter is by far my favourite! There is nothing on this planet as satisfying as feeling those teeth slicing away.


So yeah, all going well. Learning more and more. Today, once it had quietened down a bit, I taped some Zipps for tubs. A week ago I wouldn't have known what the hell that meant but now I know it means Be Very Very Careful These Wheels Cost More Than You Jo. He did admit I made a better job of it than he does though. My perfectionist tendencies have finally found a home :)

I do have to say though for a Boss who is still racing (road and mountain) and his son who did race until recently, they eat a lot of not-particularily-healthy stuff! Biscuits, cake, panini's. My illusions of working somewhere where people worshipped their finely honed bodies in order to squeeze out every last ounce of er...thingy, has rapidly been shattered as I watch Bike Boss Son lay waste to half a sultana and cherry cake in one sitting. They are both tall and thin though. Is cake the secret weapon of racers? An enjoyable form of carb loading? I do hope so as I have that aspect of training well and truly in hand.....

Bella's first outing

Weather: Sun! Warm!
Activity: 46.37km/28.81 miles, total ascent 535m/1755ft
Time: 2:04:35

Today's Tune: Amy MacDonalds album
Comment: Happy :)

Bella's (the new roadie) inaugural outing this morning. Left the house at just before 7.30am under bright blue skies and an already warm sun.

Didn't want to stray too far from the house in case a problem developed and I had to call a still sleeping N to come rescue us, so just went up the back hill towards Cullerlie, cut across past the foot of Hill of Fare, through Raemoir, Banchory, Strachan, up a death inducing hill past Kerloch and back home via Woodlands of Durris.

Bloody marvellous

He he....

:D

"Cappafrappocuppachocichino. Hold the coffee...."

'Tease' is Banchory's (that well known hub of culture & sophistication in an otherwise wild and lawless Royal Deeside dahling) newest coffee bar. I say newest but strictly, it is its only coffee bar in the true sense of the phrase. Sure there are other cafe's and tea rooms but this is the villages first tentative steps towards something cool. People over 50 are of course allowed in too but its definitely aimed at ooooh, at a wild guess - young, trendy families with 1 to 2 children named after countries or financially independent women aged 30-45 who like to meet up and giggle over Phinolas latest weekend escapade with Giles whilst planting organically grown tomato seeds on the balcony of their darling pied-à-terre. Well, what they got were a nearly forty some-thing with a 4 year old  wannabe socialite and bohemian forty something mate who were looking for decent service, sugar hit and fab coffee in the same place.

Its situated at the west end of the High Street in an old shoe shop - unrecognisable as that now due to a very nice and complete transformation by dab architects. The large windows let you see into a world of very vivid green which from outside looks a bit arghhhhhhhhhh but once you step inside, is actually not as 'in your face' and soon is not even noticable. Imagine Granny Smith apples on acid. That kinda green. The contemporary theme -  the sixties inspired black & white stripey tables and white 50's Eames style chairs clash pleasingly with dark wood counters/display unit, rock-a-billy coffee machine and chick-lit style stencilling on the walls...oh and the flooring is fab - I have decided I want it in my kitchen!

Unfortunately, due to some unforseen building reg problem, you're not allowed to sit in the window seating areas. I presume this is due to the fact that the glass is from the original shop, about 10ft high and definitely NOT safety glass. There are signs saying that it will rectified soon.

Anyway, the menu offers a dozen or so types of fresh leaf teas ranging from Breakfast to Rooibos to weird and wonderful's and they do the normal range of (Fairtrade, organic) coffee types and styles - latte, cappucino, americano etc but with the welcome addition (to any parent of a four year old that likes to do coffee)....a 'babyccino' - its essentially frothed milk with chocolate sprinkled on top (a la cappuccino) so they get all the kudos from their nursery mates for being allowed to go to Grown Ups Places but without parents having to suffer a caffeinated toddler for the next 12 hours. That gets a big thumbs up from me - not that Jnr ever got coffee but he definitely feels more part of the gang now he can drink what looks like the real thing. Its a treat to get too - the title photo is how my tea was presented to me. Check it out! Gorgeous!

The food offered - via a stylish menu and blackboards - is standard stuff: paninis, scones, traybakes, cupcakes, biscuits, sliced cakes, soup and bread...you get the picture. Its reasonably expensive at first glance (£4.75 for a standard panini, sit-in, £2.95 for soup and bread and £1.80 for a traybake) but its presented wonderfully and though we only watched others eat meals,we stuck with Victoria sponge and biccies (including organic teddy shaped biscuits for small people), the paninis looked lovely and came with side salad. None of your usual 'tuna melt' [nausea] offerings either (though you can if you are that way inclined) - no, this is buffalo mozzarella and pesto land! The cutlery is lovely. Heavy, good quality. In fact that's the general feel of the place - quality. Nothing is or has been rushed (but is still reasonably timely). They do cater for gluten free/coeliacs and is marked on the menu but at the moment, this extends to only one particular biscuit....

The owners, Stewart and Tanya, who are living a dream according to the blurb inside the menu, have been to Coffee School and so know their stuff. They are your host and hostess and though don't tend to stop and talk are more than amiable and very well presented.

So plus points:

• Bright, welcoming and relaxing
• Reasonable value
• Excellent service from knowledgeable staff
• high chair for babies
• Fab toilet facilities inc baby change room
• wonderful presentation
• Good choice
• No chintz or orange pine
• loyalty scheme - buy six, get seventh free
• stylish and fun
• parking not far away (Free parking next to hall across the road and also in council offices car park)

Not so plus points:

• a bit echo-y/noisy due to the lack of any sound absorbing features. Some funky drapes/curtains...even blinds might dull it a bit.
• possibly need another member of staff. We were in at 3pm (bit later than normal due to Mate and I having to rescue my husband who had run out of petrol [snigger][revenge is ours]) and they were leaving the order taking a little too long for my liking as they had a shop full of people but no so long that you'd think of walking out I hasten to add. One more member of staff would mean that the owners would be able to chill out a bit and customers would feel more....more...important? I mean, that's one of the key elements to getting and retaining a customer base - make them feel as though they are, at that moment in time, getting your entire attention and not worrying about how quickly they're going to manage to serve the other 5 people who've walked in behind.
• counter ordering..I'm not a big fan of this in places with limited seating. You go to counter and lose your seat..
• get the card machine working! Its cash only at the moment (cash machine over the road though) as it hadn't arrived in time for the opening.
• get more gluten free stuff in. Banchory is coeliac/gluten intolerant central!

I hope Tease succeeds. It deserves to, they are obviously trying very hard. Having spoken to other shop owners about the place (though they hadn't been in), some misgivings ref its viability due to it being 'stuck far away' (? its next to the butcher...on the High St) were raised but I don't think they're warranted to be honest. As long as they can attract the customers, they'll keep them. Its a welcome sign of life in a village that's still suffering the after shocks of a well-known garden centres multimillion pound expansion last year just outside the village that included the addition of a delicatessen, huge restaurant and cafe - they also now sell bread, clothes, gifts, cards, kitchenware and have massive amounts of parking..but very little garden stuff actually. Did they plan on killing the High St and who the feck gave them permission for that little lot?

Anyhoo - 7 out of 10 from me Tease. I'll be back :)

www.teasecoffeebar.co.uk

It is done..

Weather: Still raining and still cold
Activity: Running, walking, biking. All involved mud.
Today's Tune: Retro tunes this week - today is Fleetwood Mac Day
Comment: She who eats entire packet of wine gums, deserves gut ache.

I havent blogged for a couple days again as we've been kinda doing family stuff and its been great but left no time for 'puterin'. However, Easter is over and am back to work.

So what news from this soggy grey part of Aberdeenshire? Well, it is done. The new bike has been ordered! In the end I went for my second (more sensible) choice after forking out for last minute bits for the Rangie which blew head gasket yesterday. So I haven't got my Cube Agree GTC Pro (compact) but gone for a semi-blinged up Cube Peloton (replaced a couple things [cough]...). It should be here on Friday and I am beyond excited. Being a mechanic-in-training, I have been told that I shall be building it myself - at least having built the rest of the range, I know what to expect.

Isn't she lovely! Apparently (from other Peloton owners) the frame is good enough to warrant upgrades over the next year or two if I want to. I shall probably change the wheels fairly soon. I'll add them to the pile of accessories I've already amassed in the shop awaiting her arrival! Its probably going to be Saturday before I get her built up though as have mates birthday celebrations on Friday afternoon. Still, be ready in time for the Sunday outing.

Other than that news, well, generally its been a good few days. Been out and about, been eating out a lot, got a few walks, runs and rides in (nothing startling - keeping to BG half marathon program). Bob developed a brake fault but I've since repaired him. Went to Storybook Glen with Jnr on Sunday, which was really nice actually. Years since I'd been (with Kids #1 - 3) and N enjoyed himself too. Probably more than Jnr..Weather has been minging though - just typical Easter Weekend stuff :)

On the not-so-great side, I am back on antibiotics, anti inflammatories and painkillers after my throat got a lot worse in past couple days and now I have killer ear and neck ache too. I feel washed out and drained again and I got the total of 90 minutes sleep last night because of it. Had docs this afternoon after work and she says whatever It is, is too far down for her to see so its a case of manage - try and ease the symptoms -  until I get seen by ENT. I haven't even got a date for ENT yet! The referral in the 'process of being sent' from GP to ENT apparently. Could be a long wait....its been 7 months now - am I on for a year?

Anyway, really mustn't grumble! In fact am off to make Jamie's Italian Quiche for tea and then have a nice long soak....

I've got an App for that...

Weather: Rainy and cold
Activity: Laps through the wood (trail run), 5.8km, 500ft ascent
Today's Tune: Fireflies, Owl City
Comment: Chocolate is bad, chocolate is bad

Working all day today and I'm shattered but needed to do another 5km run so set out as soon as I got home to do a few laps of the wee wood next to the house. Ended up doing near 6km. Felt ok. Nothing special. No rays of dazzling brilliance or ethereal moments amongst the trees - just a sweaty, steady plod. Was glad of the rain to cool me down.

I used the Runmeter app for the iPhone this time. I'm an iPhone App geek and I freely admit it. I have several apps for running, cycling, hiking and oooh, just about every activity you can imagine. I had been using Runkeeper Pro - my iPhone is also my iPod so don't really carry the Garmin watch now (unless away for hours as the GPS on an iPhone sucks battery power like crazy) - but I changed the settings before I set out tonight to alert me after every km with pace report (instead of updating me after every 5 mins) but after a while, it hadn't said anything so checked and it wasn't even recording! Tried again on one more lap but still no, so switched to Runmeter for the first time. Its basic but you don't really need much! Only thing I miss is the option to download your results to the website that Runkeeper allows you to do but entering it manually is only 5 mins extra typing I guess!

 Heres the spiel from the makers:

• Runmeter is iPhone-centric. No Web site logins, no uploads, no ads. Your iPhone has all the data you want, right when you want it.

• Runmeter continually records your time, location, distance, elevation, and pace — for runs up to six hours on an iPhone 3G, or nine hours on a iPhone 3GS.

• See your results on maps, graphs, and calendars, and organized by routes and activities. Know how much  distance you've run by day, week, month, and year.

• Compete against your previous runs along a route. See your virtual competition on a map and in graphs. Each run is ranked as best, better, median, worse, and worst.

• Send Google Map links of your runs and routes using email or Twitter. During your run, hear tweets from family, coaches, and friends spoken using text-to-speech technology. Export runs in GPX, KML, and CSV (I don't do this. I run to keep fit but mostly to get a bit of peace and quiet. I don't want Big Brother along with me ta!)

Right, I gotta go - my turn to make supper for us all. Unfortunately I don't have an App for that. Yet..

Cairn mon Earn (again)

Weather: Sunny, but cold with occasional warm bits
Activity: Hill walk with Jnr. Cairn mon Earn (1247ft), 6km
Today's Tune:Even more Icelandic plinky plonking..
Comment: Found the snow...

Had an afternoon off today and it was an amazingly beautiful day so after a cup of tea & catch up with my mate, Jnr and I set off up Cairn mon Earn. We were well up into the snowline and Jnr was shocked that snow could be as high (higher) as him. I tried to explain that quite a lot of things were higher than him, including the hill we were walking up but he was having none of it. Never try to rationalise with a four year old. It will drive you insane.

And here is the Argumentative One next to his snow drift. Yes, I know he looks like he wants the bathroom urgently but actually that's his serious National Geographic Scientific 'Find of the Year' pose.

 

 Kerloch & Clach na Beinn

 

Looking west from Cairn mon Earn

It was lovely up there and made all the more lovely by the scent of freshly sawn timber and the sound of a harvester and forwarder working on a clear fell. My forestry days were amongst the best of my life and I am always happy when back amongst it, watching or working. On the way back down, we stopped and chatted to the operators. Much humming and tutting about the fact harvesters did me (and most woodcutters) out of a job (ayef*ckinbastardhooerin'machineseh!), who we all worked for (ayekenBeelfaeStrichenayeweelnohimbuthisbritherfaeEllon), the price of timber (f*ckinatrociousmin), state of the timber industry (f*ckinabominablemin) and the re-telling of the Mine'-the-boy-fit-wis-crushed-tae-death-by-the-harvestin-heed-fae-Strathdon? story that seems to crop up during every meeting (accidental or otherwise) of forestry types up here. Anyway, Jnr got to sit in the lads harvester and was happy as Bills Brother from Ellon.

We left them to it and carried on down the hill discussing Jnrs plans for the future. I'd go into them with you but as he inhabits in an universe where linear time does not exist ("I was working on fishing boats when I was older mum and you was a baby") you'll appreciate how hard it might be to try and put it into type..

Glad to be up a hill again and pleased that James handled it with no problems especially as the snow was up to his shins and 6km up a hill is a long way for a 4 year old! I'm making tentative plans for a run on my own  up there or Kerloch again in the next few days to make the most of possibly the last snows of this winter.

Looking towards Kerloch (centre) and Clach na Beinn (to the right) with the wooded slopes of Mongour near-left

Today, I feel rather ace..

 
Weather: Where did all the snow go?
Activity: Total 10k trail run - split 5km in morning and 5km tonight
Today's Tune: Jónsi & Alex's 'Riceboy Sleeps' album
Comment: No comment, too busy being serene and stuff


Today I feel rather ace. I have a grin on my face that won't leave and an inner sense of serenity and general calm thats been missing for a long time. I'm not sure whether its something to do with being plugged into the most chilled out album in the wurrrld for near 24 hours, the roast beef dinner my husband cooked for us this evening (he's been at home all day with Jnr) or Things just settling down - its been a period of change, worry and stress but I think I'm finished with those emotions for a while now. 'Something' clicked back tonight within me - its been blatantly obvious of late to you, I and the gatepost that I've been struggling with the whole exercise thing - reading back through my more recent blog posts I see the excuses and the worry and the negativity in my writing and to be perfectly honest dear Bob, on top of genuine injury and ilness, theres loomed this big black cloud of can't-be-arsed-ness, in fact it went further than that, it went as far as I-don't-even-want-to-try-ness. However, tonight the sun shone and though I'd already done my 5k for today this morning before work as per BG's training plan, I knew I wanted to be out doing something and so when N said he was going into Banchory and I automatically said I'd cadge a lift and run back....well, I knew then and there the Jo I prefer is back. I definitely knew it when I started running and felt a pain in my groin and didnt panic or stop but just ran through it gently until it eased. About bloody time too :)

Bike Shop was good laugh again today. Mental busy but thankfully am blessed to be working with a Boss and Bosses Son who have wicked sense of humour even under stress and even when I ask questions for hours on end :) Changed the Colnago's chainset and cassette and learnt that Campag bits come in very expensive boxes, are a complete pain in the arse and require a second tool set as they don't play ball with 98% of a standard set. Also help set up this womans race bike - Kuota Kebel. Kuota is not a make I had even heard of before today (though ok, thats hardly surprising as I'm a newbie lol). Its a very nice bike though! All these gorgeous bikes coming in are not helping in making my choice of road bike any sodding easier!

 













And to top off a bloody brilliant day, all the snow below 250m has gone (3-4 inches disappeared overnight!) which means that on aforementioned evening run, I was running along an almost green riverbank, whilst the hills above me are crystal white against an azure sky. Quite, quite breathtaking....