A coffee catch up....from my friends at Après Velo

Planning for 2012 with Apres Velo

You may have noticed I have not been writing much on my blog lately. Since I finished the season last November in the USA I have been busy.

No, I have not taken the current philosophy re periodisation, particularly recovery and base period training and turned it on it's head. I have instead been busy physically and mentally recovering from the season, considering and setting plans for 2012 and slowly getting back into it rebuilding a solid foundation to successfully meet the goals ahead.

This has meant lots of time with my family and the pleasure of some great catch ups with lovely friends from our village, our local region, the UK and even Australia. I have also continued building my skills for my next phase of development as a coach with the British Tri Federation and a great group of Lv 2 coaches in training from around England.

Different sports have filled significant portions of my early season training (no I have not got into bog swimming competitions as Chrissy Wellington offered for the offseason in her blog on recovery time) instead preferring the delights of cross country skiing, randonees over the snow covered mountain trails and occasional distraction of telemark alpine skiing on powder days or with the boys as they fly down the mountains with their usual fearless abandon.

Winter mornings in our home in the Alps has also provided the indulgent pleasure of drinking great coffee with Rob planning and preparing for the year ahead. 2012 is going to be a big year and we have been preparing in our house to take it on with our usual mix of idealism, realism, courage, trepidation, fortitude, focus, flexibility and as a team.

Although triathlon is an individual sport, the team that helps get you to the start line, supports you and then assists you as after, is incredibly important. I see it as one of my competitive advantages as I have the best support team in the world! Rob equally will have to deliver in his new job to individual expectations that can only be achieved if effectively supported by and working with his team, both at home and in the workplace. I am really pleased to say that my sponsors from last year including La Clusaz resort, Team TMT Annecy, Hotel Beauregard and Swimovate are again part of my team for 2012. Thanks all!

The coffee for our planning or catch up sessions lately have been delivered in stunning new cups from a business based in Sydney that seems to epitomise my attitude to life. Après Velo is a Sydney based clothing and design company that makes stunning, high quality relaxed clothing for wearing after cycling with funky cycling based designs with many French themes so you can feel hip, comfy, warm and look like have enough street cred to have been out with the 6:30am Coluzzi bunch as you down a coffee or three with friends. It is also one of my new sponsors for 2012. Thanks guys!! Check out some of their latest range here. They will ship all over the world so you can look the part whether you are based in Portland or Perth, Paris or Plymouth.

http://eu.apresvelo.com/index.htm

As a triathlete from Sydney, living in France and being slightly (ok a little more than slightly!) cycling and coffee obsessed and loving high quality casual gear with edgy designs rather than big brands with made in China swooshes, all meant Après Velo a perfect match for me. Just before Christmas, Leonard and the team sent me a package of their latest gear. More pics will follow as it's been a bit cold for photo shoots lately, but needless to say I am in love with the range. My current favourite is my Cogs and Cables Biker Jacket, which despite it's name and design may look cool but is in fact soft, warm and cosy for the cold winter days we have been having lately.

http://eu.apresvelo.com/womens-gear-1/cycling-jackets-and-hoodies/cogs-and-cables-biker-jacket

So to the latest member of Team Hemphill, a big thanks. The cup is finished now, time to head off for a swim.

A bientôt / See you later
Christine

"Oh the places you could go" Dr Seuss at his best

I saw this video today and just loved it. Please have a watch and I can 98.75% guarantee you'll love it too.

Dr Seuss is a great source of many things: funny characters (think Foona Lagoona Baboona who eats sizzling hot pebbles that fall off the moon); giggly silly stories; lovely, crazy, colourful illustrations; good rhymes and rhythms; tongue twisters (Fox in Socks) and lots of great options for early readers to get their head's around certain sounds (Hop on Pop) or numbers (10 Apples up on Top).

However intertwined between the rhyming phrases and funny pictures there are some real messages for all ages. Given my focus on health and nutrition I have always loved the message in Green Eggs and Ham, "try it and you may (like it) I say". Oh the Places You Might Go is another awesome book, one of Seuss's best. This video made at the Burning Man Festival in the USA desert does it justice. Enjoy!

The message is simply told and simply inspiring. Go, take your feet and brains and heart and discover, be inspired, be creative, find your own path. Lose it, get through the tough times, find another road, learn to be alone and be with others, to be what you can be.

So, whether you're currently on a prickl-ly perch, flying your banner high, have leaky sneakers, on top of your mountain, solo or in a great crowd, I hope you enjoy your journey because,

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places.

You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.

Happy New Year! Transitioning into 2012

I love the new year!

It is a great time to think ahead and get excited about all the potential opportunities that lie in those 12 open months ahead. After a Christmas, hopefully fully enjoyed with family and friends, it is a great time to consider your priorities, goals and objectives and put in train the plans required to get to Christmas next year, feeling really good about how the currently new and shiny 2012 calender filled out.

For us, 2012 is going to be another big year in our household. We are now in France for the long haul. Although we are not sure how long that really is, we are no longer a transitory family, as we had been, just here for a year or two of extended leave from our "real lives" in Sydney. Rob starts work in a new organisation in Europe in February, and with that we have the ability and confidence to know our home is now here in the Alps. The change will however involve another transition period for the whole team Hemphill.



Transitions can be challenging moments 

For those triathletes amongst you, you will understand when I say that it is the transitions that often are the hardest phases. During T1 and T2 between the different legs of the race, you have lots to do mentally and physically and your body has to transition the blood flows from one set of muscles to another while you run through the crowd of spectators, volunteers and other athletes. It is at these moments that things can get challenging and go a bit awray.

Like well trained triathletes I think our family is well drilled and prepared for transitions, however just like in a race, there is still going to be a period in which it feels like all the blood is in the wrong place and the muscles just don't respond as they do once you are settled in. Rob will have the biggest adjustment to make, so as his support crew we need to make sure he has all he needs to feel happy and settled into his new routine and role back in a corporate environment. Besides losing some time with Rob, the boys and I will need to become a lot more self sufficient as we have relied heavily on him in the past 18 months to keep us all where we need to be, on time and in good order. I will have to wear a watch again and re-learn how to fit my training into much more clearly defined and segmented parts of my week. I have had the luxury over the past 2 seasons of being able to train in the afternoons after school is finished and on Wednesdays (there is no school at Primary level in France on Wednesdays). Before we came here I managed to train for triathlon, work 4 days a week in a corporate management role and look after two kids, often alone as Rob travelled to Melbourne a lot. So I know I have the ability, I just have to get the blood back into my more time disciplined parts of my brain!

Despite the challenge of the major transition heading our way, I am actually really excited with the opportunities that this year brings for all of us. For Rob, the work and travel will be demanding, however  I hope he will thrive within the new community and challenge of being back in what appears to be a really interesting job and team. As we are now here longer term it makes all the focus and effort learning French and building a lovely community around us here more important. Ok, particularly for me. The boys are pretty well fluent now and Rob is improving rapidly too. I really must get my French learning back into each day as I was a bit frustrated with some missed conversations when I was helping out at the school today for nordic skiing. 5 yo language can be relatively simple, but sometimes instead I find it simply incomprehensible at the pace and pitch that it arrives.

On the triathlon front I have committed to another year in the pro ranks. My key races in the first half of the season will be Ironman Lanzarote and Ironman Switzerland with a good range of lead up races including some local favourites with my team, TMT Annecy. With Rob back at work travel will be harder, so local races will form a larger part of my schedule this year. After a lovely break following the World Championships I am now back in base load training to ensure I make the most of the opportunity ahead. With our house well above the snow line I am using skate skiing to rebuild a good aerobic base with each of the disciplines still ticking away as appropriate. The need for all bike sessions to be on the HT is keeping Amazon video orders at pre recessionary levels! Coaching will also take up a bigger portion of my time and effort I hope as I complete my next level of coach training with the BTF and develop my skills, mentored by my coach, Dave.

So, the new year therefore offers us a great opportunity to plan for the transition about to come and hopefully by next Christmas we will feel we have all settled well into our next phase. As with tri transitions, it also pays to focus on where you are in the race at any point in time and not look too far forward or back. So having done some planning, it must be time to enjoy this stage, and go ski up some hills to rebuild my fitness in a lovely way. Then for some French homework and school pickup. Better stick the watch on today!

Meilleur voeux / Wishing you a great 2012
Christine