Feel Fit with Lucy

FREE Coached Transition Training session supported by Women in Tri
York Sport Village, Wed 12th August, 6.30-8.30pm.

https://www.womenintriuk.org/events-1/wit-uk-york-bike-run-session-brick-transition

Got a race coming up? Or want to practice transition ahead of races next year? Then come along and join us.

We'll be answering all your questions and practicing transition until you feel race ready!

🗨 We'll start off with an informal talk answering your questions about race day
🚴‍♀️Then move onto the track from 7-8pm to practice transition
🙋‍♀️And wrap up with more time for questions, to finish by 8.30pm

All women welcome, please do let others know. Suitable for all levels but especially those who are newer to triathlon.

>> Sign up essential - For more info or to sign up see https://www.womenintriuk.org/events-1/wit-uk-york-bike-run-session-brick-transition

The session is completely free as part of Women in Tri's mission to support more women, particularly inactive women and beginners to enjoy the mental and physical benefits of swim, bike and run. Grant funding allows Women in Tri to provide the sessions free of charge.

Racing Ironman Leeds? Have you got your race plan ready?

Ironman Leeds is a brilliant race, but it's undoubtedly a tough day out. The more you've tried and tested the key elements of your race day plan in advance, the easier race day will feel.

Race day is stressful enough - it's hard to make good decisions when your brain is already overloaded. Testing everything beforehand means you know it works. Then on the day, your 'only' job is to execute the plan.

The key things I include in race planning are nutrition, hydration, pacing, kit and, most importantly, mindset. I also think about how those might need to adapt on the day - for example, if the weather changes or you're at a different point in your menstrual cycle.

If you haven't got a plan yet, it's not too late to develop one now. Just look back at your latest training to see what's worked and what you want to tweak.

Find out more in my latest blog - https://www.feelfitwithlucy.co.uk/post/ironman-leeds-race-plan

With Ironman Leeds and Outlaw races looming, the last few weeks have been about clients testing out their race plans so they know that they are ready for race day.

Larissa and Alex had great races at the Lakesman Half Ironman and Swashbuckler Half Ironman. The goal wasn't go all out but to practice keeping it steady at full Ironman pace so they could finish strong, and get straight back to training the following week.

Easier said than done, but they’ve all done really well with some great racing in some hard conditions.

Half the battle in going easy is not worrying about others around you - being ready to race your own race rather than letting each hill turn into a sub race.

This is an essential skill for the main race as well – it’s so easy to go too hard coming out of transition when everything feels good, but resisting the urge to go too hard makes the following hours so much easier.

Not long til race day, keep up the great work both!!

Great day at the Ripon Triathlon festival.

Love the course and the mix of pretty villages plus out TT section for the bike, followed by an interesting run through Ripon racecourse and along the canal.

Brilliant trophy and it's not every day that you get given one by a double Olympian!

Great afternoon with the lovely teams from Supporting Women and Girls in Triathlon and Women in Tri and talking to women there about how we can break down the barriers stopping more women getting into tri. And brilliant to see the increased number of women racing at Ripon. Well done TBF Events

And really happy with my result and that things seem to be going in the right direction.

I've never podiumed at sprint distance before, and this was a Euro Champs qualifier so it was fairly competitive.

Only a few years ago menopause was kicking my arse - mentally and physically things were a mess and I had no idea what I'd get each day.

Things have been so much better in the last year and this race helped give me confidence that I've turned a corner.

And I've decided that sprint is much more fun than long distance racing! Which is a shame because I've got the European Middle Distance champs in a few days!

Ripon Triathlon Festival

How much do you eat on race day?

Here's what I had for a recent sprint triathlon.

Most women I know underfuel their training and racing.

We've learnt - consciously or unconsciously - that exercise is about burning calories, so deliberately eating more can feel really uncomfortable.

But I promise you'll feel the difference. Racing feels easier and you'll have more energy afterwards too.

Fuelling well is essential for longer distance races, but it can also make a real difference in shorter races.

Just don't leave it until race day to go for it. Like any part of your training, your gut needs practice too, so gradually build up how much you eat during training sessions.

And if your mind is struggling with the idea of taking on fuel, remind it that the goal is to fuel the exercise, not to create the calorie surplus that leads to weight gain.

In this race I burned around 800 calories, but only consumed about 600 calories of carbohydrate. So even though I was trying to get in as much as I could, I wasn't replacing everything I burnt. 

Have you ever tried increasing how much you eat on race day? How did it go?


VOOM® Nutrition
TORQ Fitness UK

Come and say hi if you're at the Ripon Tri Festival this weekend!

An exciting summer of events working with some great organisations.

🏃‍♀️This weekend I'll be speaking about "Training as a Woman - menstrual cycles, menopause, mindset and more!" at the Ripon Triathlon Festival.

Come and find me in the the Yorkshire & Humber Supporting Women & Girls in Triathlon Network gazebo where you'll find a whole series of great talks over the weekend

🏃‍♀️Then I'll be running a Transition Training session and more coached run sessions working on run technique and fitness, all supported by the amazing Women in Tri.

WIT run sessions like this to support more women, particularly inactive women and beginners, to enjoy the benefits of swim, bike and run.

🏃‍♀️And finally I'll be speaking at the BusinessBelles October meeting, a brilliant network of kick-arse York business women, on how to be more active.

▶▶To find out more and book, see https://www.feelfitwithlucy.co.uk/whatson

Booking essential for all except the "Training as a Woman" talk.