by Mollie Millington | Jul 11, 2017 | cycling, fashion, product review, travel
|
| Small portion of the food I plan to pack |
I cannot believe we are leaving for Paris (on our bikes) on Friday. When Elle, Sophie, and I planned this trip eight weeks ago, we had all these ideas for blog posts and link sharing…. and then training took over. These ladies have made extra effort to get high mileage in every week. I have joined in on as many long rides as I could, but have been sharing my time with weekend working, races, and marathon training. I can’t believe there are only a few days left before we get on our bikes and go.
Our Whatsapp chats have ranged from what to pack to what of we gets our periods to what food we are going to eat along the way. The hotels, trains, and ferries are booked. On Sunday, I started putting together the items I will need on this adventure. I was hoping to bring only 1 pannier bag but after piling up just the clothes, I have a feeling I will need two. Yesterday, I put aside from of the food. There isn’t nearly enough so I will bake flapjacks tonight. I need to think more about what other portable food to bring so I don’t hit a wall three times like I did to Brighton a few weeks ago. We are leaving the Velodrome at 6:30am on Friday but will have at least two hours of London rush hour traffic to navigate through before we are headed to New Haven at a smoother pace. Sure, there will be stops along the way, but I prefer to limit the number of stops we need to make.
Here is what I know I am bringing so far:
 |
| Pile of clothes. How is there so much? |
- Altura short sleeve cycling jersey, courtesy of ZyroFisher*
- Decathlon sleeveless cycling jersey
- Altura bib shorts*
- #Fitbitfifty shorts
- 2 sports bras, courtesy of Shock Absorber*
- 1 regular bra
- 4 pairs of underwear
- 4 pairs of socks, one pair thanks to 1000 Mile Socks*
- Shorts and t shirt to sleep in
- Toiletries
- 2 spare inner tubes, thanks to Decathlon
- 4 tubes of Nuun
- Ride Skincare sunscreen
- Clif bars
- Nutri Advanced MegaMag Muscleze
- 2 water bottles
- Outfit for the last day in Paris (jeans, shorts or harem pants?)
- Oofos recovery sandals?
- Puncture repair kit
- D lock and cable
- Sunglasses from Decathlon*
- Cycling gloves*
- Leatherman knife
- Spork
- Gels
- Sports tape and scissors
- Cycling cap
- Plastic bags for wet clothes
- Bath salt? (we don’t have a bath at home so this might be a nice treat for my tired legs. But it is heavy)
- Bike lights
- Chargers for phone, ipad, Fitbit, and bike lights plus converter
- iPad?
- Euros
- #Fitbitfifty gilet*
- #Fitbitfifty arm warmers
- #Fitbitfifty jacket
- Hi vis vest (required by French law)
- First aid kit (required by French law)
*wearing at the start
 |
| Shock Absorber bras |
Having just finished the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed, I really want to pack everything before Friday morning and see 1. if it all fits and 2. how heavy it is. The training I did never involved too much extra weight, making me a bit nervous about carrying two pannier bags for the trip. I am going to keep chipping away at packing and re-packing every night this week to ensure everything is essential. There are a few things I need to wash so they are dry before Friday too. The five of us are trying to think of what we can share in terms of packing- like pumps and multi tools. Those are neither bulky nor heavy so it isn’t too much help. Luckily, I can share carrying the heavy locks with James along the way.
 |
| Thanks Decathlon for the cycling essentials |
What do you think of my list? Am I forgetting anything? If you have any tips on cycling to Paris, please leave a comment below. I am starting to get nervous about this. What were we thinking?
I would like to thanks Zyco Fisher, Nuun, 1000 Mile Socks, Shock Absorbers, Ride Skincare,
Nutri Advanced, and Decathlon for their generous support of this epic trip. I have tried all of these products on training rides and am confident they will help me get to the Eiffel Tower. Brita provided me with a Fill & Go bottle for the trip but I need a bottle with a larger volume. I use it at work every day, however, and love how convenient it is. It also doesn’t leak!
by thinkmarsh | Jul 11, 2017 | cycling, fashion, product review, travel
|
| Small portion of the food I plan to pack |
I cannot believe we are leaving for Paris (on our bikes) on Friday. When Elle, Sophie, and I planned this trip eight weeks ago, we had all these ideas for blog posts and link sharing…. and then training took over. These ladies have made extra effort to get high mileage in every week. I have joined in on as many long rides as I could, but have been sharing my time with weekend working, races, and marathon training. I can’t believe there are only a few days left before we get on our bikes and go.
Our Whatsapp chats have ranged from what to pack to what of we gets our periods to what food we are going to eat along the way. The hotels, trains, and ferries are booked. On Sunday, I started putting together the items I will need on this adventure. I was hoping to bring only 1 pannier bag but after piling up just the clothes, I have a feeling I will need two. Yesterday, I put aside from of the food. There isn’t nearly enough so I will bake flapjacks tonight. I need to think more about what other portable food to bring so I don’t hit a wall three times like I did to Brighton a few weeks ago. We are leaving the Velodrome at 6:30am on Friday but will have at least two hours of London rush hour traffic to navigate through before we are headed to New Haven at a smoother pace. Sure, there will be stops along the way, but I prefer to limit the number of stops we need to make.
Here is what I know I am bringing so far:
|
| Pile of clothes. How is there so much? |
- Altura short sleeve cycling jersey, courtesy of ZyroFisher*
- Decathlon sleeveless cycling jersey
- Altura bib shorts*
- #Fitbitfifty shorts
- 2 sports bras, courtesy of Shock Absorber*
- 1 regular bra
- 4 pairs of underwear
- 4 pairs of socks, one pair thanks to 1000 Mile Socks*
- Shorts and t shirt to sleep in
- Toiletries
- 2 spare inner tubes, thanks to Decathlon
- 4 tubes of Nuun
- Ride Skincare sunscreen
- Clif bars
- Nutri Advanced MegaMag Muscleze
- 2 water bottles
- Outfit for the last day in Paris (jeans, shorts or harem pants?)
- Oofos recovery sandals?
- Puncture repair kit
- D lock and cable
- Sunglasses from Decathlon*
- Cycling gloves*
- Leatherman knife
- Spork
- Gels
- Sports tape and scissors
- Cycling cap
- Plastic bags for wet clothes
- Bath salt? (we don’t have a bath at home so this might be a nice treat for my tired legs. But it is heavy)
- Bike lights
- Chargers for phone, ipad, Fitbit, and bike lights plus converter
- iPad?
- Euros
- #Fitbitfifty gilet*
- #Fitbitfifty arm warmers
- #Fitbitfifty jacket
- Hi vis vest (required by French law)
- First aid kit (required by French law)
*wearing at the start
|
| Shock Absorber bras |
Having just finished the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed, I really want to pack everything before Friday morning and see 1. if it all fits and 2. how heavy it is. The training I did never involved too much extra weight, making me a bit nervous about carrying two pannier bags for the trip. I am going to keep chipping away at packing and re-packing every night this week to ensure everything is essential. There are a few things I need to wash so they are dry before Friday too. The five of us are trying to think of what we can share in terms of packing- like pumps and multi tools. Those are neither bulky nor heavy so it isn’t too much help. Luckily, I can share carrying the heavy locks with James along the way.
|
| Thanks Decathlon for the cycling essentials |
What do you think of my list? Am I forgetting anything? If you have any tips on cycling to Paris, please leave a comment below. I am starting to get nervous about this. What were we thinking?
I would like to thanks Zyco Fisher, Nuun, 1000 Mile Socks, Shock Absorbers, Ride Skincare,
Nutri Advanced, and Decathlon for their generous support of this epic trip. I have tried all of these products on training rides and am confident they will help me get to the Eiffel Tower. Brita provided me with a Fill & Go bottle for the trip but I need a bottle with a larger volume. I use it at work every day, however, and love how convenient it is. It also doesn’t leak!
by thinkmarsh | Jun 26, 2017 | product review, water sports
In my home state of New York, everyone has to pass the Red Cross level 5 swim lessons in order to graduate from high school. Every since I was little, I have always loved the water (maybe because I am an Aquarius?). It just feels relaxing and soothing to me. When my Achilles tendinitis began to persist in my late 20s, I decided to do triathlon to ease off the pressure on my joints. I am an OK swimmer. I get around in open water or in the pool but can’t do flip turns. I can breathe on both sides but always swallow lots of water. My last summer in Michigan, I signed up for masters classes at the suggestion of a friend to help improve my technique. Instead, I found myself suffering through the drills as I was the only non-competitive swimmer and hence the slowest.
The first few years we lived in London, we signed up for a few triathlons. With these events in the diary, we spent one night a week at the local pool doing laps. I knew my technique still wasn’t great but I was able to get quicker yet no more efficient. I tried to find lessons for adults who wanted to improve but didn’t have much luck. Until now.
My chance finally came when Swimming Nature contacted me to try out four complimentary 30 minute lessons. The lesson would be 1-on-1 tuition with one of their accredited instructors. My coach is Sam and he and I will be meeting for the next 3 weeks in a follow up to last week’s lesson.
 |
| First First Baker Street pool |
I arrived a little early at Fitness First Baker Street to make sure I knew where I was going and in case I needed to fill in any paperwork. The front desk staff were very friendly and lent me a padlock as I didn’t know I needed to bring one. I brought my own towel or could have hired one for £1. The women’s locker room is pretty big with lots of showers and lockers. The pool is 18 meters with 3 lanes. One lane is dedicated to lessons and the others are for members to use. Sam and I shared the lane with another 1-2-1 lesson but it didn’t really any impact us or our drills.
To start with, Sam had already watched me during my warm up laps across the pool, so he had me kick without using my arms to see my technique up close. He said it looks like I have tight glutes because the range of motion from my hips isn’t that great. I quickly let him know that I am a runner and that could be way the glutes are tight. (Note: I now need yoga lessons). He also observed that I don’t pivot too much at my hips while most people would a bit more.
Homework #1 Kick like you mean it from the hips.
Next we worked on 8-10 kicks on my back, rolling onto my front for 8-10 kicks and then back to my back (without getting water up my nose)- all without using my arms. I start sinking before I can get on my back again which doesn’t always end well for my nose.
Homework #2 Practice this drill
Finally, we started to talk about arm positioning on the ‘catch’ of the front crawl, which is when your hand first enters the water and then pulls you along. Of course, my technique of an S shape and “zip the dress” are old school. We worked a lot on proper arm positioning for the catch and started to build it into one stroke but ran out of time.
Homework #3 Work on my catch and follow through of the stroke.
This week we will add in breathing but I have a lot to work on between now and then. Sam said it was a good idea to meet every week but that I should try to practice at least once between sessions. The Olympic pool is near enough to home but between the Salomon Sunet Series and riding to Brighton, I ran out of time for a swim.
Have you ever taken swim lessons? How did you fare?
Thanks to Swimming Nature for these lessons. All opinions and experiences are honest and my own.
by Mollie Millington | Jun 26, 2017 | product review, water sports
In my home state of New York, everyone has to pass the Red Cross level 5 swim lessons in order to graduate from high school. Every since I was little, I have always loved the water (maybe because I am an Aquarius?). It just feels relaxing and soothing to me. When my Achilles tendinitis began to persist in my late 20s, I decided to do triathlon to ease off the pressure on my joints. I am an OK swimmer. I get around in open water or in the pool but can’t do flip turns. I can breathe on both sides but always swallow lots of water. My last summer in Michigan, I signed up for masters classes at the suggestion of a friend to help improve my technique. Instead, I found myself suffering through the drills as I was the only non-competitive swimmer and hence the slowest.
The first few years we lived in London, we signed up for a few triathlons. With these events in the diary, we spent one night a week at the local pool doing laps. I knew my technique still wasn’t great but I was able to get quicker yet no more efficient. I tried to find lessons for adults who wanted to improve but didn’t have much luck. Until now.
My chance finally came when Swimming Nature contacted me to try out four complimentary 30 minute lessons. The lesson would be 1-on-1 tuition with one of their accredited instructors. My coach is Sam and he and I will be meeting for the next 3 weeks in a follow up to last week’s lesson.
|
| First First Baker Street pool |
I arrived a little early at Fitness First Baker Street to make sure I knew where I was going and in case I needed to fill in any paperwork. The front desk staff were very friendly and lent me a padlock as I didn’t know I needed to bring one. I brought my own towel or could have hired one for £1. The women’s locker room is pretty big with lots of showers and lockers. The pool is 18 meters with 3 lanes. One lane is dedicated to lessons and the others are for members to use. Sam and I shared the lane with another 1-2-1 lesson but it didn’t really any impact us or our drills.
To start with, Sam had already watched me during my warm up laps across the pool, so he had me kick without using my arms to see my technique up close. He said it looks like I have tight glutes because the range of motion from my hips isn’t that great. I quickly let him know that I am a runner and that could be way the glutes are tight. (Note: I now need yoga lessons). He also observed that I don’t pivot too much at my hips while most people would a bit more.
Homework #1 Kick like you mean it from the hips.
Next we worked on 8-10 kicks on my back, rolling onto my front for 8-10 kicks and then back to my back (without getting water up my nose)- all without using my arms. I start sinking before I can get on my back again which doesn’t always end well for my nose.
Homework #2 Practice this drill
Finally, we started to talk about arm positioning on the ‘catch’ of the front crawl, which is when your hand first enters the water and then pulls you along. Of course, my technique of an S shape and “zip the dress” are old school. We worked a lot on proper arm positioning for the catch and started to build it into one stroke but ran out of time.
Homework #3 Work on my catch and follow through of the stroke.
This week we will add in breathing but I have a lot to work on between now and then. Sam said it was a good idea to meet every week but that I should try to practice at least once between sessions. The Olympic pool is near enough to home but between the Salomon Sunet Series and riding to Brighton, I ran out of time for a swim.
Have you ever taken swim lessons? How did you fare?
Thanks to Swimming Nature for these lessons. All opinions and experiences are honest and my own.
by Mollie Millington | May 30, 2017 | fashion, product review, running
|
| Pretty darn comfy, even in the heat |
At a recent event at
Ellis Brigham, I was chatting with the lovely folks at Osprey about running. I explained how my
new phone doesn’t fit into the bum bag I usually use, which has made marathon training a bit of challenge. For long runs, I need a small bottle of water, my Oyster card, fuel, keys, and my phone. The phone allows me to listen to my Harry Potter audio books or My Dad Wrote a Porno podcasts. Bum bags often make me feel like I need to use the bathroom too (I think this is because it repeatedly bounces on my lower back, encouraging my digestion system to go into overdrive).
 |
| Soft mesh lining |
The solution to my bodily function woes seems to be the Osprey Duro 1.5 rucksack. Of course, I was worried that I would get too hot running in this so I took it out on a few short runs during the brief London heatwave we have been experiencing. On the first run, I wore a t-shirt because I was afraid the mesh lining would chafe my skin. I was pleasantly surprised that the bag was really comfortable to run in. The adjustable chest straps helps make the bag unisex, so any shaped body can fit in. It does feel a bit weird when I initially put it on at the start of a run because the 250 ml water pouches lay right over my breasts. Maybe I need to adjust it somehow so the pouches rest more on the sides? The straws have a bite valves and are bent at an angle to make them easier to reach while on the go. There are pockets everywhere and half of these have zippers to keep important items tucked safely away.
Last week, I wore the pack to an Adidas Runners cruise interval session while wearing a vest top. I knew it was going to be hot out and that I would need sips of water along the way. The Duro allowed me to have water but keep me hands free. The bag also held my phone, which I like to have for snapping photos on the runs, but hate carrying. I barely noticed that I had the bag on. It never once irritated my skin nor did I have to adjust it. It was so helpful to have the water available every time I needed it with the high pollen count in the air. I could also take a few photos of the group when we got to the park without too much faffing.
 |
| Back side of the bag with more pockets. |
The Duro 1.5 is going to be really handy when I start marathon training next week. Chicago Marathon is 19 weeks away and will my 3rd Abbott World Marathon Major. This bag will make my long runs much more bearable and I might use it during the race too. One thing I learned during London Marathon was not to carry too much water because there were so many water stations. I could have carried less weight, which would have made the run easier (I think?). I am going to have to look more closely at the Chicago course and weather forecast before I decide though. I have plenty of time to trial different combinations of kit and water before October.
 |
| Chafe-free equals victory |
What do you carry with you during a marathon? Have you found the less you carry, the faster you run? Leave a comment below and let me know.
by thinkmarsh | May 30, 2017 | fashion, product review, running
|
| Pretty darn comfy, even in the heat |
At a recent event at
Ellis Brigham, I was chatting with the lovely folks at Osprey about running. I explained how my
new phone doesn’t fit into the bum bag I usually use, which has made marathon training a bit of challenge. For long runs, I need a small bottle of water, my Oyster card, fuel, keys, and my phone. The phone allows me to listen to my Harry Potter audio books or My Dad Wrote a Porno podcasts. Bum bags often make me feel like I need to use the bathroom too (I think this is because it repeatedly bounces on my lower back, encouraging my digestion system to go into overdrive).
|
| Soft mesh lining |
The solution to my bodily function woes seems to be the Osprey Duro 1.5 rucksack. Of course, I was worried that I would get too hot running in this so I took it out on a few short runs during the brief London heatwave we have been experiencing. On the first run, I wore a t-shirt because I was afraid the mesh lining would chafe my skin. I was pleasantly surprised that the bag was really comfortable to run in. The adjustable chest straps helps make the bag unisex, so any shaped body can fit in. It does feel a bit weird when I initially put it on at the start of a run because the 250 ml water pouches lay right over my breasts. Maybe I need to adjust it somehow so the pouches rest more on the sides? The straws have a bite valves and are bent at an angle to make them easier to reach while on the go. There are pockets everywhere and half of these have zippers to keep important items tucked safely away.
Last week, I wore the pack to an Adidas Runners cruise interval session while wearing a vest top. I knew it was going to be hot out and that I would need sips of water along the way. The Duro allowed me to have water but keep me hands free. The bag also held my phone, which I like to have for snapping photos on the runs, but hate carrying. I barely noticed that I had the bag on. It never once irritated my skin nor did I have to adjust it. It was so helpful to have the water available every time I needed it with the high pollen count in the air. I could also take a few photos of the group when we got to the park without too much faffing.
|
| Back side of the bag with more pockets. |
The Duro 1.5 is going to be really handy when I start marathon training next week. Chicago Marathon is 19 weeks away and will my 3rd Abbott World Marathon Major. This bag will make my long runs much more bearable and I might use it during the race too. One thing I learned during London Marathon was not to carry too much water because there were so many water stations. I could have carried less weight, which would have made the run easier (I think?). I am going to have to look more closely at the Chicago course and weather forecast before I decide though. I have plenty of time to trial different combinations of kit and water before October.
|
| Chafe-free equals victory |
What do you carry with you during a marathon? Have you found the less you carry, the faster you run? Leave a comment below and let me know.
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