Jill wrote:This probably isn’t the right place to post this, but I have been doing some training for a while now, so that I can compete in a 100,000m WR relay attempt on Saturday.
Earlier in the year, I was contacted, through Plummy, by Georgina Price, ( Forum Flyers ) and asked if I would be interested in joining a club called the Diamonds, an over 60’s group of rowers who were interested in taking part in various competitions.
I was rather taken aback and thought ‘ no way ‘ but Georgina was charmingly persuasive ( she said that lady rowers over 60 were like gold dust - flattery is a very cunning and successful sort of ploy ). I said okay.
Since then, I’ve experienced all sorts of emotions, the dominant two being doubt and fear, and I’m constantly worrying all the time that “ I’ve bitten off more than I can chew ". On the other hand, I’m going to be with an experienced group of great rowers who have all been very supportive. We will also be setting a marker with our attempt which has taken the pressure off somewhat and helped me feel a little more confident.
I’ve been practising 10 x 200m sprints with 3 minute rests - have been able to hold 50 seconds for each 200m - don’t think I can go any faster than that without running into trouble. Just hope that I won’t drop the pace too much or conk out altogether.
We were originally 5 ladies and 5 men but I think we are now down to 4 men and possibly 5 ladies still, as one of us, Denise, tore a ligament in her foot a few months ago and she still isn’t 100% fit.
Flying down to Newquay tomorrow ( Friday ) and returning home on Sunday.
I’m determined to give it my best shot - I’ll not only be flying the flag for the Diamonds but also for Free Spirits.
I’ll let you know how we get on.
Barbara, I shall be wearing your lovely gift to me, The Pink Star socks.
Jill, the very best of luck tomorrow. I was originally due to take part, but Jennifer and I were invited to a wedding on Saturday. It's the daughter of a very good friend of ours and, much and all as I would like to be in Newquay tomorrow, I felt it wouldn't really be considered a valid excuse for not going to the wedding!
I took part in a large mixed team 100k relay as part of the Diamonds in Shrewsbury in January this year. They're a great group of people and the camaraderie and support that everyone gave to everyone else was amazing. We covered the 100k in just over 5 hours 50 minutes, well inside our target time of 6 hours. It was tough, but not as tough as I expected it to be, because there was a great buzz and adrenalin kept everyone going. One member of the team was so determined, she kept going long past the point of exhaustion and actually crawled away from the machine after each of her last few intervals.
We had a lovely meal afterwards and I was really looking forward to meeting up with the group again, but can't make it for the reason mentioned above. I'm sure you'll have a great time and will probably surprise yourself. Joe Keating is great at keeping things going and at editing the approach on the fly if people are struggling. He got us to reduce the length of our intervals in January when it became apparent that they were just a little bit too long for the type of sprinting we were doing.
Enjoy! And please tell everyone I said hi and that I send my best wishes.