I was actually quite a keen runner when I was at school. However that enthusiasm all ended in an instant when I was turning the final bend of the 1500m race and I heard and saw Chester Copperthwaite* making fun of my bounding chest. That was it! Running career over in the 4^th form.

Five years later around 1987, my parents came to watch me play netball. After the game I said to my mother, “so what did you think?” Her reply was, “you need a decent bra”. So by the following Saturday my mother had purchased me a new bra. You could hardly call it a bra, it was more like a combination of a corset and armour! The row of hooks down the back could have kept a commercial fisherman happy, the straps were about two inches wide and it went from my collar bone to almost my belly button and worst of all it was beige!!! Yuck – but it did the job. The only thing bouncing on that court was the ball.

When I started running about seven years ago the bra issue came up again. Luckily sports bras have been invited but I am still searching for the perfect bra. I feel like I have tried them all. I want a bra that gives me maximum support without giving me the mono boob look. It seems that I have to make a choice – support or shape. Why shouldn’t we be able to have both? My bra of choice at the moment is the Shock Absorber. Doesn’t that sound impressive! It is a great bra but I struggle doing up the upper catch so it is a bra that needs two people to get it on me. Not very convenient when I am on my own. My 12 year old son refuses to help and fair enough, many a friend and the odd stranger has had to lend a hand on the start line which grosses them a little – lucky for me I have no shame.

No matter how far or fast you run you need to be comfortable. I need to feel that I am locked in and confident that my bra is going to go the distance with me and not have my chest go off on its own journey.

Ladies if you have any recommendations, let me know.

Pauline DD Lay

*real name used.

It’s raining. Rats. Last weekend was glorious! But together with Fleur we always have a ‘plan B’ if not plans C and D as well sometimes! I really love having a coach that relieves me of having to think about all the ‘what ifs’ so I can be better prepared. Taking this load off me has meant I can assign myself to other tasks that also benefit from the same approach. I see this as a form of mental cross training. I’ve learned heaps lately. I’ve been so busy that the last two weeks have just flown by. I’ve been challenged too, the training programme is beginning to bite, but in a good way, the way that tells you this is working.

At the risk of sounding both a bit obsessed and a lot derivative, I am reminded of the motto ‘does this make the boat go faster?’ first used I think for rowing or sailing but is a useful catch all for thinking about what you’re doing, or about to do. I certainly don’t lack for motivation, my everyday hero page has received some awesome and very humbling donations this fortnight. That’s the goal, that’s my ‘boat’ going faster and the training for the 2UPTT event is getting my personal ‘boat’ going faster.

I can’t rate power yoga highly enough, I am finally starting to get the ‘power’ part as strength returns to long underused muscles. Recovery from the surgery is a long process and I will always have these physical limitations that I didn’t have before. Yoga works on both the physical side, lengthening and strengthening the body and on the mental side, being present with whatever the situation is at that time, accepting that this is how it is right now, and only right now.

Someone a lot wiser than me said ‘everyone feels pain but you choose whether to suffer’.

So the event I refer to in the title is the CP Team Brunch Ride. For me this is an event. The first group ride I’ve undertaken in years. I am a bit nervous but I am really looking forward to meeting more of the CP Team and what’s more I have my CP team kit to show off. Shame it might have to be hidden under a rain jacket though. See you out there!

I wasn’t sure on what I wanted to write about this week, I had a few ideas but I just couldn’t really decide. My health has improved from my last update (yay, I’m not sick anymore), it took a bit longer to get better than I expected. I felt fine most of the time but I lost my voice which took a long time to get back; it showed that my body wasn’t really fully recovered. I was excited to get back into training more this week especially since Spring Challenge is slowly creeping up.

So the training session set was a cycle called rolling hills, 2hrs, sweet. My friend had asked me the week before if I wanted to go cycling, so I thought this looked like a good session for him to join me on. Spending 2hrs cycling around the cashmere downs didn’t sound overly exciting, so I decided I would go on a mission to find some other rolling hills.

We started at CPIT after class and rode up Dyers Pass road (it definitely doesn’t count as a rolling hill), and then down the other side and on to Lyttelton. I did not think this section of the ride through. It was awesome riding along Governors Bay Road, with some kinda rolling hills which is what I had been hoping to find and awesome views. It was going pretty well until we reached Lyttelton……so…. it turns out you’re not allowed to bike through the tunnel, oops and the only other road out is over the hill, which is closed…… My friend talked to a guy on the street about some options. He was about the walk up the bridle path…that’s a good idea. So we decided rather than to bike all the way back the way we came, we would push/carry our bikes up the Bridal Path. 🙂 It was one of those moments where it was convenient that I currently use mountain bike cleats and shoes on my road bike. It was a bit of fun going up that hill, and I had some good conversations with the guy who gave us the idea. Once at the top of the hill we got some nice views. We turned right at the top of the bridle path and only had a little bit more hill along summit road before turning down Mt Pleasant Road and whizzing downhill, which was awesome. We ended our little adventure back at CPIT where I picked up my backpack full of my study stuff and biked home.

The day wasn’t quite over yet, I made it home for short while before heading out for a paddle with the TeamCP kayak group. We had a good session working on technique and power. No mini adventure luckily, one was enough for the day. Unfortunately not much study was achieved other than attending class.

The ride didn’t quite go to plan but was a good training session and fun. It’s the things like this that are what make training interesting and fun. The reasons I love training and racing is because it’s lots of fun, sometimes comes with adventure and because of some of the small but exciting moments, like reaching the top of the hill and the awesome places it can take you. 🙂

Have now completed my first “official” Brevet, albiet a short one. The Coaster micro-adventure, 230km, 2400m of climbing and 13.5hrs riding over Saturday 1st August and Sunday 2nd. While most decided to ride the entire distance on the Saturday, a friend and I decided it was far more sensible to overnight in a comfy motel in Cheviot. I rode with my full kit on the bike on day 1, as a test, then decided to strip out all the non-essentials for the “sprint” on day 2.

What did it show? – 1) – after a very slack 5 months of training since Challenge Wanaka, I’m not as fit as I used to be!!

– 2) – There is still a large amount of “residual” stamina tucked away in the body and as long as I keep my heartrate down around 75% of max, I can keep turning the wheels for sustained periods of time

– 3) – After a bike fit and a few reasonable rides, my bike seat / posterior are still at odds with each other.

To solve no 3 above, I have now purchased a Brooks B17 leather seat. All the reports I have read and people I’ve talked to about the Brooks seats appear to be 100% correct. For touring, these seats appear to be supremely comfortable. A 3 hour first ride, followed by 2hrs the next day and no issues, on a seat that supposedly takes up to 3 months to break-in.

On the “exciting new toys” front, I am expecting my new handlebar roll, Top Tube bags and Stem Pouches from Stealth Bike bags shortly.

September is shaping up as a big month. Micro-adventure 3, a weekend of biking around the Methven area is shoe horned in between a ride from Timaru to Twizel and return on the 12th and 13th, and a 3 day weekend (South Canty Anniversary) on the 26th – thats 3 days to bike instead of two!!

I’ve also got my A into G and started swimming again, just to keep some variety in life

The Coastal mini-brevet, Gore Bay

On the back road to Culverden

Last time I updated the blog I was finishing up my first four weeks and embarking into the unknown of the next four weeks.

The last few weeks have involved spending more time on my feet and practicing carrying compulsory race gear and nutrition. For the last two Sunday’s, I have headed out on two 3 hour walks with my partner in crime Jenn who is also training for the marathon distance in the Taraweras. We’ve headed out come hail, rain or shine.

I am usually a fair weather runner/walker and of course, the weather has not been obliging the last two Sundays. The first Sunday I headed up the Rapaki, traversed the Crater Rim joining Mitchell’s track and Gilpin’s Track before heading down Mount Vernon and to Fava for a well deserved coffee and slice. It was great getting up into the hills and you will all remember the beautiful fresh snow up there.

Last Sunday I headed out again but this time in the rain. It was non-stop for 3 hours. This time I headed up Bowenvale which is one of my favourite ways onto the Port Hills. The terrain is so mixed and it is a fun way to make your way up to Summit Road. At the top, I jumped onto the Crater Rim and headed down the Harry El track and back round to Bowenvale. By hour 2 I was a bit over it as every inch of me was wet and sodden.

I have learned a lot about wearing the right gear. The first week I headed out I wore quite minimal gloves and I did well to keep all 10 fingers. I upgraded for the second week and kept my hands toasty for the first two hours before they submitted to the rain.

The next few weeks will be more gym sessions along with lots of ab work. If I happen to laugh or cough in a weird way, it’s because my abs feel like they may explode. Good to know there are some muscles in there though! As well as the gym work, I am also doing my first hill run up the Rapaki along with a 10km time trial. Almost 8 weeks into the training and I’m still loving every minute of it. Now it is only 12 weeks to race day…almost at the halfway mark.

I think I’m starting to ramble…a bit like my long walks so I’ll leave it there.

Until next time…

I was halfway through writing an update for this blog last week, which was based on how my training was progressing and the enlightenment that occurred with my second coaching session with Richard, when the unthinkable happened.  A post on Facebook announced that due to the ever-increasing PC nature of the world that we reside in, Bedrock50 for 2016 has been indefinitely put on hold due to the increased health and safety pressures put on the organisers.  My initial response to this was a resounding, “Noooo!! Do you people not know how much this event takes up most of my thinking space and, at times, is the sole reason why I actually move my butt and exercise? Seriously you are going to cancel after I have braved snow, ice, numerous frosty mornings, wind and rain to train for this?!”  Keeping things in perspective I can completely understand the organisers position but there is a part of me still hoping that someone else will take over the organisation of this event.

My poor husband had to put up with me bemoaning and whingeing about this change in events and after feeling like I was in limbo for a few days I began to trawl the internet to look for another event that excites me as much as the Bedrock50 did.  It feels odd and a little disconcerting having to change tack after being focussed on this event for so long.  As of yet I haven’t signed up to another ultra marathon so my focus has been shifted to the Queenstown marathon for now.  My reason for doing the Queenstown marathon is that I am away for a month over Christmas time and completing this marathon was going to be my psychological race – if I could complete 42km in November, I kind of figured I could do 52km in February even with a bit of a lull in training.

For me having a goal and making plans to achieve that goal is important.  I need to know where I am going and keep the destination in mind.  However with the recent shifting of my ‘goalpost’ I have had to learn to sail with the wind and not against it and recognise that unexpected changes (something that I am not always so comfortable with!) can lead me to new adventures and still bring success.  So what’s my new BHAG – still unsure at this stage but am sure a new experience will open up. I am realising that we can choose to be transformed.  This is how we grow, how we learn and why we are here.

Hi everyone! Back into the swing of things this fortnight. Surgery went really well and I am healing nicely but am still under a good behaviour bond! I’ve caught up with Beck and Fleur and Apollo Power Yoga and am not expecting any further interruptions from here on. That’s the really neat thing about having training tailored for you, it’s infinitely adaptable.

So… I’m hoping that the weather forecast isn’t too accurate for this weekend, I have training to do on the road and I really don’t fancy riding in the rain. Now before anyone calls me soft, I know I am! It’s not that I can’t handle being cold and wet but more that I really don’t want to slip and fall. I can’t afford the drama. I’ve had enough knocks lately and I really, really want to get fit for this climb so plan B will be bolt the bike to the trainer again. My next short term goal is to be able to join you for the Spring Brunch ride on the 30th. I know I can really nail the coffee and cake part, but please be nice to me on the bike part!

My fundraising site received a really generous hit of $105 this week and talk about fizzing! I nearly popped with excitement! I certainly don’t lack for motivation. Do please head over to https://2uptt.everydayhero.com/nz/isobel to see what on earth I am going on about.

Til next time, pedal on…

Today my new running friend Pauline (who is also coached by Richard) and I showed we were totally committed to our marathon training by not only running in the Port Hills, but running in the Port Hills while it was snowing!

We set out from the Sign of the Kiwi just after 9am, it was cold but no rain or snow – we thought we had done pretty well in getting a nice day to do our hill run. The further we got along the Summit Road the more the weather turned, it started with what I though was a few drops of hail – nope it was snowing!

Now, I am one of those people that really love running in the rain, I know weird, this was literally the coolest run I have done in ages – not only because I had some company but because it was snowing. There was a point where the snow felt like it has pin pricking our faces, this is the point we decided to turn around and head back – we decided that we were totally committed to the training that we would endure this sort of weather just for a run!

It was actually really lovely running back to our cars, the road looked nothing like it did when we set out an hour earlier, was pretty cool.

We has such a great time chatting as we ran but also completing these vital runs for both of our marathon’s. Pauline’s marathon is a month before mine so it was nice to be able to chat and pick her brains on things like nutrition, the Queenstown course (as the one I am doing was her first marathon) and a few other things that us runners sometimes have issues with.

Till next time….can’t promise there will be as pretty photos as today!

Pauline and I at the half way point, it was so bad Pauline couldn’t keep her eyes open! 

I have big feet*. I have had them all my life. I also have very flat feet. I have had them all my life.

This, as you can imagine makes it slightly difficult to find shoes. Bigger feet in women is more common these days, but this unfortunately doesn’t mean that it is easier to find bigger sized shoes.

I am a women’s size 11*. I do find it hard to find shoes sometimes – I am thankful for places like Willow Shoes (who specialise in larger sizes) and Nine West (who have lovely shoes in my size). Running shoes are a different story – I am an Asics women’s 12* – as you can imagine, shoes this size aren’t exactly easy to source, especially since I need the shoes that have the most support.

This brings me to today. I FINALLY have a new pair of running shoes (or 3), the Asics Foundation 11, after waiting five months, yes FIVE months. They were ordered from Australia and took that long. It turns out that Asics only brings out eight pairs of these shoes in the whole of Australasia, only eight! Can you see now why I find it so hard to find the right shoes for my big flat feet?!

So I have new running shoes and I am pretty excited to finally get these on my feet and get running! They are probably the most important part of my “running kit” along with my amazingly fabulous Garmin running watch!

Till next time!

*please don’t tell me I have big feet, I am more than aware.

It’s official, the entry fee is in, I’m now committed to racing the 2 day Coast to Coast but before Coast comes is Spring Challenge! It’s an all women adventure race in teams of three. This year will be my 3rd time racing Spring Challenge and I’m super excited that it’s in Wanaka. I’m excited to be racing it with Kathryn Bunckenburg(a previous team member) and Nicole Ranger.

Over the last few weeks I have had some good and bad luck. I got sick not once in 3 weeks but twice, which has been annoying a bit of a set back for training. The first time didn’t impact on training too much. It just meant I wasn’t feeling so great and I was a bit worried as it was 2 weeks out from a race. Luckily I got better and I was ready to go by race day. I smashed out Twin Peaks a 26km run/hike with compulsory gear (like 10kg of gear). It was an awesome course with a mix of hills, ridges, ice and mud. It even snowed while we were racing! I was really stoked with how the it went. I was 2nd place female most the way until the 2nd big hill where I overtook the 1st place female. This gave me a massive metal boost which powered me to the finish (5-6km ish). I was super stoked to take out 1st place female individual.

A few days after Twin Peaks I had an avalanche safety field trip in the Craigieburns so there wasn’t much time for training. I started to get sick on the field trip, which was just annoying – lots of coughing and a fever. It’s taken awhile to get over being sick but I’m nearly better and am looking forward to getting back into more training soon.