Why does it always rain on me?

I wish I could have written this yesterday as I would have had closer to the forefront of my mind the bone numbing fatigue and cold I was feeling some 23 hours ago when I dragged my soggy self through the door of my house and took 20 minutes to literally peel of every item of clothing. As it is I have happily repressed that memory so this description of Sunday's training will be through rose tinted spectacles.

Setting of at 7:30 (still dark) is depressing enough but add to that rain which means you're sodden within 5 minutes and you know it's going to be one hell of a long day! Arriving at the club house with some 5 minutes to spare and after myriad wrong turns I signed up for the A time bracket, having managed to write my name correctly and not destroying the form with my dripping hair I was informed the A group had already left. I had 2 choices, find a small group and go slow or nail it on my own... I went for the latter.

Having started at a blistering pace passing some 30 riders I managed to just about follow the signs and thought I was making good time. The things started to look familiar and I realised I was back at the start! I had done a 10 mile loop having misread one of the very blurred signs which had been saturated with the over night rain. My map then proceeded to disintegrate in my hands along with any hope of breaking 3:30!

In the end I joined forces with 2 guys who had made the same error and we plodded on hoping to bodge together a course of about 100k, and bodge we did, eventually finding our way to bison hill. I don't much riding with rodies but one distinction quickly became clear... they can climb and I can't. On the flat I was pacing them and having to hold myself back (in fact 60k in I decided to go it alone) on the climbs I was destroyed, they span up seating while I struggled for breath out of the saddle, I'd love to blame the aluminium hack bike vs. their carbon efforts but I think I'd be kidding myself.

After 99k of made up route I ended up back at the club house alone, excluding stops I only just missed the 3:30 min cut off but including stops it worked out nearer 4 hrs, to be honest I was pleased to finish. The 20 mile ride back was hell: wet; cold; windy; depressing. Even my Garmin decided to call it a day, water resistant my backside.

At least next weekend is easier, only 7 hours of cycling and Watford 1/2... oh no, wait a moment...

Happy training.

P.S. Yes, that IS the rose tinted version

Wall 1 - John 1

The big rematch was Saturday at 12, armed with a Nutrigrain and half a banana I began the 2hr effort. After overcooking lap 1 (6:07min/miles) I throttled back, ate every 40 mins and managed to maintain a steady ~6.18min/mile pace. A little slower than I want to hit at Bramley but solid. Including the cool down I finished with a little over 19 miles covered in the time and an avg. HR well under AT. A solid day at the office.

Sunday was a 4hr ride and a 45 min run. As anyone who bothered to step outside on Sunday will have realised it was a tad gusty and this may have hampered progress. Also, after my victory over "the wall" on Saturday I was brought back down to earth by a crushing defeat (appropriate choice of words) to my crotch at the hands of my saddle... more tweaking needed me thinks.
The ride came in shy (72 miles in 3:40) but the run was tough. I was aiming for 6.6 miles in 45 mins as I want to hit 1:30 at Watford in 2 weeks time having cycled there, and I just held on... just.

How is my rest day already half over?

Wall 1 - John 0

Well, this weekend was the first long bike in 4 weeks and then a long run. The bike was rubbish, as expected given the lay off. It was also bloody cold and unless I wanted a High 5 flavoured iced lolly instead of a drink I was pretty stuffed. But 3 hours later it was done and dusted, role on the return of my bike legs.

Sunday was a different matter. In 5 weeks I'll be racing the Bramley 20 miler and it'll be my first real test of where my running is going into South Africa. I've got 2 or 3 long runs before than and I need to start raising my game, and that means preparing to run sub 6.15min/miles at Bramley. It was all going well today, ran through the half marathon in 1.20 and then the wall decided to make an appearance. Despite a stop for a banana it wasn't enough I was never able to find my rhythm again. 17.2 miles covered at 6.25min/mile is OK but next weeks repeat will need one key addition... bananas, lots of bananas!

Milford New Year's Eve Duathlon

Check out the race report on the Tri247 home page, pictures included. A great race and a pleasure to compete again after missing the last one due to injury. As an extra special treat some more exclusive pictures below from the event.

Entering T2 in 3rd - note the colourful new Mizuno Wave Idaten race shoes, thanks to Keep on Running in Sheffield for their usual great adviceLeaving T1
Just about the start the last run leg

All that remains now is three days of total rest before we begin training phase 2 , 12 weeks tomorrow I fly to South Africa...