BBC Breakfast’s Louise Minchin on life in the countryside

What do you love most about living in Cheshire, after living in London for so long?

I love lots of things about it, but particularly the access to the countryside. We’re close to the Welsh mountains, to the beaches and to the beautiful countryside, of which I love to cycle through. In London I didn’t have much access to countryside, but here I’ve absolutely loved it.

What sort of adventures have you been up to around the countryside?

I’ve ventured around Delamere forest quite a bit and I’ve done the ‘Go Ape’, which I thought I’d be terrified by, but actually I really enjoyed it. I’ve also cycled through there as well… It’s very, very beautiful. I like to go swimming at Manley Mere, and I’ve also kayaked there, so I’ve done quite a lot of outdoor swimming around Cheshire as well.

What possessed you to try ‘Go Ape’?

I actually did it twice! I went with two different groups of people; I did it with a group of my university friends, which was very funny and in the end they absolutely loved it. And then we went back with the children, who were much braver than all of my friends.

You also support the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. Have you always had a passion for outdoor activities?

I have a Bronze Award for the Duke of Edinburgh, and I think that’s probably where my love for outdoor activities started. I’ve always loved being outside, but when I lived in London, I couldn’t really get out as much as I love being able to. So moving to Cheshire has been a complete change of lifestyle.

Day 1, Louise with Bill Turnbull in Mongolia

You always seem up for a challenge. If VIVA could have joined you on any of them, we’d definitely liked to have attempted the ‘Around the world in 80 days’. Was it as amazing as you’d expected it to be?

Bill and I actually managed Mongolia all the way through to Los Angeles, which was incredible. I’d love to do the whole world, but we only did that section of it, which took us about three weeks. It included going on the Trans-Siberian Express, which is just an extraordinary experience. You go through expanses of completely untouched land and forest, and then there’s a kind of weird atmosphere on the train. Because people are travelling on it for around 10 days at a time, you get to know people on the train quite well. We only did about three days on the train, and we ended up Vladivostok; when you get there, you sort of feel like you’re falling off the edge of the continent.

Sounds ‘other-worldly’!

The other thing about the Trans-Siberian is that you’re crossing time zones too. So even though we thought it was lunch time, they might not be serving food for hours. Sometimes, in the night, we might have crossed up to two or three time zones, so it’s quite confusing. It’s almost like being on your own universe on that train, or like a time tunnel, travelling through the night.

BBC Breakfast Cycling Challenge

A massive congratulations on qualifying to represent Team Great Britain in the World Triathlon Championships.

Thank you! I’m absolutely over the moon. I get to go to Chicago in September to compete in the World Triathlon Championships, but never in a million years did I ever expect to be doing something like this; I’ve never even represented my county, let alone the country.

It was suggested to me that if you do well in your age group, it could be an idea to go forward and represent the GB team. I couldn’t believe it; I thought, at my age, “am I really going to represent Team GB?”, so I figured I’d give it a go.

How are you finding the training experience so far?

I started training about nine months ago and I literally train six days a week…which is difficult to juggle in between work and the children. It’s tough, but I try to do two swims, two bike rides and two runs a week. It’s been a real juggle trying to fit it all in, but also immensely rewarding as well. When I started out, the chances of me doing this were so slim. I realised that my trainer knows what to do, as she’s a really brilliant athlete herself, so I thought, if I vaguely follow what she tells me to do, maybe it will happen. So I tried as hard as I possibly could and then I qualified about three weeks ago, and it’s the most exciting thing.

 And all of this training sounds like the perfect excuse to get out into the beautiful Cheshire countryside?

Exactly. The other thing about the training, and because I live in this fantastic country side, is I can go outdoor swimming in the River Dee, in the Mere, and then the cycling around Cheshire. I’ve cycled so many miles, in fact, I had my car serviced the other day and I do more miles on my bike, (apart from going to work), than I do in my car.

Do you have a strict diet regime to follow?

Someone told me a while back that I have to try the See-Food diet, and I was like, “What’s that?” thinking ‘sea-food’, but no, literally, you see food, you eat it!

Sounds like our kind of diet!

I expect if I stop the training, it might not be the best sort of diet. I don’t really count the calories but I definitely know that I’m consuming more that I would normally, which has been great.

Louise and her training champion, Waffle

Do you encourage your friends and family to get out with you?

I actually train mostly with my dog, Waffle. She’s been brilliant. I do about an hour, but although she’s very fit, because she’s a Labrador, she can only do about half an hour, so I do half a run with her, take her home and continue running on my own! I finally outran the Labrador, I’m quite proud!

And then Franklin, my husband, does quite a lot of cycling with me and my friends often join me too, so I try to get out with them when I can. When cycling, I always try and go out with people, because it’s probably the safer way to do it.

 Sometimes it’s easier to have a training buddy, but how do you stay focused?

At my age, quite often people are trying to drive their children to clubs and competitions. But, the other day, we had to drive down at 4.30 in the morning to get to the event that I qualified in. My children have been so sweet and so supportive. I also couldn’t do it without my husband. My family have just been absolutely brilliant all the way along, so I suppose that’s where most of my focus comes from. They were: A. really surprised and B. really proud.

And I couldn’t do it without my dog, she’s been fantastic too. She started me on running, and it’s been great company running with her, I love it.

As part of her training plans, Louise will next be competing in the closed road Tri-Liverpool event on Sunday 26th July. Good luck from VIVA, Louise!