Sarah Walor photo
May 21 Goochland/Richmond: Up at 4:30 a.m. Fed dog and cats. On the road to town at 5 a.m.; 43 degrees, driving with roof down. Perfect morning, beautiful crescent moon, dawn just breaking. Everything so fresh and clear; early morning smells especially of honeysuckle. You see so much driving with the roof down each season. Joined the group for 45 minutes of intensive spinning (cycling), followed by 15 minutes of intensive core work. 12 p.m. for meeting in town, stopped off at gym to run 3 miles. Temperature up to 73 degrees. Running's not my favorite but has to be done. 6 p.m. Weather perfect. Swam 40 lengths to finish off the day. May 22 Goochland/Richmond: Up at 5:30 a.m. Another perfect morning. Mist across the pastures with the horses looking somewhat surreal, Again driving down River Road with the roof down. 55 degrees. Into the Commonwealth Club, training with Mark Burnside of Maramarc Fitness. Heavy cardio for about 15 minutes — sprints, suicides and the like; then 40 minutes or so of gym hockey. Fast and furious — three sticks got broken. Close game. 12 p.m. To Country Club of Virginia for training with Emily Chandler. 20 minutes of cardio and 40 minutes of machines and core work. Then met with Lynn Farmer (dietitian/trainer) to talk about correct meal plan to both lose weight and still be able to train at maximum. 7 p.m. Finished the day with 40 lengths in the pool. May 23 Goochland: Up at 5.30 a.m. Weather perfect. To West Creek for triathlon training with Mark Burnside. Mark's schedule for my training required me to bike 28 miles and run 6. Went well, although the first two or so miles on the run were somewhat difficult as the legs are tired from cycling and the body is asking what are you doing. After couple of miles all well and can really appreciate the scenery. Honeysuckle very prevalent and strong. Found a confused box turtle on the road. He/she had given up trying to cross and had retired into his shell. Helped him/her on the way. Hopefully it was where he/she wanted to go. Finished the day with 40 lengths in the pool doing drills. May 24 Goochland: My birthday. Took it easy with pool drills schedule. So did my drills, so many laps arms only, so many laps legs only — not fun. May 25 Richmond/London: Fly to London. May 26 London: Took double Decker bus bus to Naval & Military Club, affiliated with the Commonwealth Club, so good gym and pool to use. Great view from the top of the bus. Went by Harrods with crowds of tourists; I suspect most not buying. Up by Hyde Park, you can see a fantastic rose garden. We were stopped by mounted police at Hyde Park corner for Household Cavalry passing by, resplendent in red coats and gleaming breastplates. They were heading for a practice for the Trooping the Colour — the Queen's official birthday. Biked, ran and did weights. May 27 London: Cold and wet. Back to the Naval & Military Club. Four mallards circled above me as I was heading to the bus. I thought this odd especially as they decided to turn and land in the middle of the road by me. Must be London city ducks! On the bus saw an example of British manners. A young lady in a wheelchair needed to get on the bus. The bus has a ramp but people have to move to use it. Everyone rallied 'round and helped her on. She told us she needed to get off at the Royal Academy and this message was passed person by person to the driver. At the Royal Academy again everyone rallied 'round to help her, especially a one-armed Asian man clutching a painting with his good arm. Courtesy still exists in England in spite of what you hear. Swam doing pool drills. Not a big pool but adequate. May 28 London: Weather cool. Back to Naval & Military Club. Biked and lifted. May 29 London: Back to Naval & Military Club. Swam doing pool drills. May 30 London: Weather much improved. Ran a few miles in Hyde Park. Place is packed with runners, in-line skaters, riders, boaters, touch football. In fact most sports you can think of. However, most were just enjoying the weather, sitting in the sun eating ice creams. Hyde Park is where they will be holding the 2012 Olympic Triathlon, so some swimmers in wet suits were out there in the water — not the cleanest with all the ducks and geese beside them. I am scheduled for a triathlon there in August — hope the water is cleaner! May 31 London/Richmond: Back to USA. Pool drills on my return.
