I have a logo!

After much arm twisting, coffee feeding and outright harassment my minion has created these fab logos. What do you think? Why pink? I like it. Why a sheep? I’ve always been a bit odd. Anymore questions?

Sports massage is happening NOW, so contact me for availability welshewe@aol.com. My booking system not quite up and running yet.

Events are in the pipeline, I will be organising a ladies MTB skills session and general off road thrills just as soon as it gets a little warmer, brrrrr…

Training Camp Prep!

It will be 5 days before I shall be rolling through the beautiful hills of Mallorca. In reality, this also means I need to get my life in order before I can go…
For instance, bike, kit, work, life, emails, travel insurance….Oh god the list endless!
Breathe Corbett, just breathe!!! PANIC!!!

So, while sitting here at my local launderette munching on my apple, gazing at my apple screen (ha, that sentence just made me giggle)… I guess I really do have to pull my finger out of my derrière, and get training camp planning!

When you have a life as crazy busy as mine (no really)! Living in a small flat in with your long term, who in turn owns just as many bikes, if not more than I do, and races just as much as I do, if not more, then our lovely little home can sometimes feel like bike shop….

So I have been here an hour now, and apart from reminiscing back to the 1980’s Levis advert where Mr hunk strips down to his boxers to the song of “I heard it through grape vine” I haven’t actually seen another person come in… Anyway, Unlike today’s adverts like Insurance or wonga!! Like seriously WTF!!! I reckon the TV should bring back Mr Hunk stripping down to his boxers and screw the ad’s of today… Corbett, this isn’t getting your insurance done!

Send…… Fab, travel insurance sorted and paid for! Of course with a history like mine of falling off mountains, this is quite an important task not to forget.

The alarm goes off and it is 02:45am in the morning, plane leaves at 06:30am… This is the last time I ever take an early morning flight!!! The panic of trying to drive down the M25 on route to Gatwick with a half eaten piece of toast, and sleepy dust in the eyes, really isn’t appealing any more, hell am I just getting old? No, unless you are on a tight riding timeline, then it’s afternoon flights all the way from now on!

Arrive at airport, check in, weigh bike, yawn…Bike weighs exactly the same as all the other million times before I have travelled, but airport man still needs to weigh the box and stick another bloody 20kg sticker before I can say Bon Voyage to the little steed………. Zzzzzz……..

Whooohooo…..Hello Mallorca, but who said there was going to be wind, rain and SNOW???????? Hang on, I didn’t sign up for bloody snow!!! Thank goodness for the bike shops have a great selection of winter kit! Luckily the weather did improve over the week, and the sun did shine and managed to clock up over 1,400km in 2 weeks…

Mallorca is such a great place if you are looking for great riding, amazing views, and normally, really good weather. If you search around, your can get some great deals, and look out for easyjet early sales to make it even cheaper!

Notes for travelling:
Do make a list of what to take before travelling
Don’t do early morning flight, unless you are time pressed
Do check-in with your apple phone and save boarding pass to phone
Don’t buy cheap travel insurance, look into “dog tag” insurance
Do arrange pick-up from airport, which is bike box friendly
Don’t pack too much, visit the local bike shops instead, which are great and cheap
Do pack medical supplies – big warm miles can cause chaffing
Don’t pack anything but your bike in your bike box incase it doesn’t turn up
Do carry helmet, shoes and kit spare in carry luggage in case you need to hire bike
Don’t forget to take youy DI2 charger as you wont find one in the bike shops!
Do check the weather reports before you go, for appropriate clothing

Les Filles Women’s Race Team

Well it certainly has been a years of changes for me…

Not only have I switched careers, I also decided to give myself a kick up the backside and join a new racing team! I love club riding / racing, but it can make you a little complacent… Therefore I contacted Nicole Oh, who is the head of Les Filles Women’s race team read: Les Filles (A highly successful women’s race cycling team in London) to see if they had a space for a new rider…

I was so lucky to have been accepted on the team of 12 as it was just the tonic I needed – I have put a solid winters training in, and now looking forward to a 14 day cycling camp in Mallorca with the Team. It will be a gruelling 2 weeks of training, and hopefully a little bit of sunshine! I will keep you updated with news through the summer, but we also have a Les Filles website which all the team will be keeping very active on!

Barre really does work!!

Winter Guilty Pleasure – Well, I don’t know about you, but just the thought of going outside and doing exercise when its freezing can make you feel Zzzzzzzzz… As a personal trainer working in London, I guarantee the weather during the winter months is wet, windy and damn right freezing cold. So what is the solution? Well, the good news is, there are lots of things you can do to help beat the winter blues and get yourself back into shape and feeling amazing!

Get Inspired – Look up to see what fitness events or classes are happening in your area and see if anything appeals to you – My amazing ‘winter blues’ find was Barreworks studio in Richmond. This is a unique women’s only class that replicates ballet training, and even if you have 2 left feet like me, these classes are so cool, and will leave you feeling like you could audition for swan lake (OK, well maybe not swan lake), but it really is something different to your usual fitness class!
To find out more about Barreworks visit the website www.barreworks.co.uk

Follow your dreams…

You may or may not know, but In July 2012 I was competing in the Trans Alp Mountain Bike race which covers Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy in 8 days. They say its one of the most gruelling mountain bike races to come out of Europe… Well, they were not wrong as by day 6 I was riding along one of the tracks and a rock came away from my back wheel, and fell through a waterfall fracturing my Lumbar 1, broke my elbow and had to be rescued by medics in a helicopter.

I was in hospital for quite a while in Italy while they nursed me back to health and sorted out the repatriation back to the UK. The Italian doctors said I was extremely lucky to be alive, and I still to this day count my lucky stars that I survived the fall.

The accident certainly changed my view on life as it exactly 1 year since I left the big city to follow my passion in Fitness and Sports Therapy! I trained with Lifetime to become a personal trainer and also qualified as a sports massage therapist gaining an ITEC qualification with London School of Osteopathy.

Since qualifying I really haven’t stopped!! I have been lucky to freelance with businesses like Summit Wellbeing, where I have concentrated on Sports Massage Therapy and gained valuable experience dealing with different sporting areas / injuries and rehabilitating athletes back into their sport with various techniques.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I run a ROWFITT circuit session at Fulham Reach Boat Club with contains high cardio and functional strength exercises. If you would like to give it a try, the first session is free to see if it’s for you.

When I’m not doing Sports Massage, you will find me personal training cyclists and triathletes to help achieve the goals and aspirations… Therefore no rest for the wicked!

So since following my dreams, I have met the most incredible inspiring people, and really have changed my life… Be bold, be inspired, be brave….

March 2015 has BIG changes happening for me, so watch this space!

TC xx

Eat – Sleep – Hate Work – Box – Repeat…

Having a bad day at the office, then book a session with me for some down right, and get dirty sparing action!! It will be the most fun you have had in a long time! You may even break a sweat too!

“Welcome to Fight Club. The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: you DO NOT talk about Fight Club! Third rule of Fight Club: if someone yells “stop!”, goes limp, or taps out, the fight is over. Fourth rule: only two guys to a fight. Fifth rule: one fight at a time, fellas. Sixth rule: the fights are bare knuckle. No shirt, no shoes, no weapons. Seventh rule: fights will go on as long as they have to. And the eighth and final rule: if this is your first time at Fight Club, you have to fight.”

Welsh Pancakes – The Food of Champions!

2 medium free range eggs
100 grams of plain flour
2 tlbs spoons of agave nectar
1 tsp baking powder
75ml semi-skimmed milk
50 grams of sultanas
50 grams of finely chopped apricots
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Method:

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder sultans and apricots
Next add the eggs and a small drop of milk. Mix together until smooth
Next add the dried fruit and honey.

If you don’t have a griddle, then use a large frying pan
Heat the pan and lightly brush with oil.
Once the pan is hot add a spoon full of mixture to the pan
Cook for about 1 minute each side until golden brown.

Sweet serving option

Great served with fresh fruit like melon, blueberry’s, kiwi fruit, and Rachel’s Organic yogurt and chopped pistachio’s sprinkled over the top

Savory serving option –

Smoked cured bacon
Mushrooms
Laverbread*
1 poached egg
A pinch of grated Caerphilly cheese melted over the top

*Laverbread or bara law in Welsh is a very tradition Welsh delicacy and is very much a required taste.

For more information on Laverbread – see http://www.laverbread.com

September 21st brings the Richmond Fitness Expo to Old Deer Park!

For one day only the Richmond Running Festival will feature the Richmond Fitness Expo to bring you all the latest in fitness technologies from sports wear and accessories to health products and nutrition.

Don’t miss out on the best sporting discounts and advice from your local sports shops, clubs and health experts. Local running clubs will join us at the Fitness Expo on the day giving information to unaffiliated runners and providing the oportunity to sign up and be a club member. Our Physios at St Mary’s Clinic will be on hand to give free massages and health advice.

If that isn’t enough, local Olympians will be there soaking up the festivals atmosphere and announcing the King and Queen, Prince and Princesses of Richmond.

More details from Fitness Expo Website

Autumn re-jig!

As the summer nights draw in and the Autumn chill is in the air, there is never a better time to re-think your training strategies!

Here are some great tips to help you on your way….

First things first, get yourself a training diary, and I don’t mean of the electrical kind either! Having a good old fashioned hardback training diary means, it will probably stay with you longer than your current iphone (fact). Not only is it a great bench mark tool to look back on, it also holds invaluable training notes which will stay with you for ever.

One thing with the fitness industry, no matter what new fads come it, the old principals will always remain the same. I still hold my old rowing training diaries from 15 years ago and it is facinating to see what core and strenghth work I was doing back then, what my max weights were at the start season, and what mileage I was clocking up during the week. The most valuable point of all though, was what useful training tips my coach had said to me and to which, I still refer back to even today.

Ok, so now that you have your hard copy training diary sorted, now lets look to see what’s out there on line….

Strava (www.strava.com)
Strava is a great website where you can be competitive against yourself, your mates or anyone around the world for that matter! Whether you run or cycle, athletes from all over the world can connect, and share their experiences of training. Strava tracks your training though your GPS device, iPhone or Android, and then it compares your data to other training althetes training segments all over the world. Strava have also recently linked up with Sufferfest (which in turn, is another very highly addictive website) – www.sufferfest.com