Twice is nice

Thursday 29th March 2012

Cycling
01:00:00 – 17.20 Miles (17.20 MPH / HR Zone 1 / 69% Max / Cadence 86rpm)

Unfortunately I had to do this session on the Turbo this morning early on as I need to jiggle things around today to fit in with the missed sessions because of being in London yesterday.

I haven't been on the Turbo for a while and it was noticeable that it was quite a bit warmer than when I was using it in the winter.

It wasn't long before there was quite a puddle on the floor below me. (Sweat - in case you were thinking something bad!!)

I realise that I actually did pretty well on the Turbo in the winter as this was quite hard going from a boredom point of view.  It makes me appreciate being outside on the bike.

I need to squeeze in a Brick session this evening - so it will be interesting to see how I go with 2 bike sessions in the one day - this is a first.

Brick Session

Cycling
00:50:41 – 13.33 Miles (15.80 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 77% Max / Cadence 80rpm)

A really good ride - I purposely chose a bit of a challenging short route,  About 200M of climbing in the first 5 miles - then the rest was flat or downhill coming home.  Pleased with it.

Running
00:15:00- 1.77 Miles (08.27 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 81% Max)

Heart rate seemed to go haywire for the first half mile.  It came back under control and felt grand.  legs were not too bad after the tough wee cycle before the run and also the fact that I had done 17 miles this morning too.

Hot Surge.

Tuesday 27th March 2012

 

Cycling
01:06:58 – 16.22 Miles (14.50 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 76% Max / Cadence 82rpm)

Rather then hit the hills I just opted for a straight out and back ride.  pace was steady and I am delighted that I found the big hill coming up home pretty comfortable.  I even had a couple of gears spare, and it could possibly be the best I have ridden up the hill.  Very pleasing.

Running
01:00:00- 6.61 Miles (09.04 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 85% Max)

It was fantastic to be running in a bit of heat today.  The pace was steady and HR perhaps a little bit elevated possibly due to the heat. 
I am happy with the pace and felt pretty strong at the end of the run - even managing to put on a bit of a surge up the hill home.
I was a sweaty heap when I finished by felt good and the little niggle in my foot had pretty much disappeared and caused me no bother at all.

I think I am going to have to get a new pair of running shoes - I have checked back and I think I have logged about 7-800 miles in the current pair - and the cushioning is starting to lose it a bit now.

I am thinking about a pair of K-Swiss Blade Max Glide.  I haven't tried them on yet - but they get good reviews and seem to be reasonable value for money.  They look pretty cool too.

Wait your turn matey!

Monday 26th March 2012

Swimming
00:22:48- 1000M

I had to try to squeeze in a swim today even though it is meant to be my rest day because I am due to be in London on Wednesday and won't be able to make my usual Wednesday morning swim.

I went to the pool in the Gym at Lunchtime.  That was a mistake!!
It was bunged and I literally waited for 15 minutes at the side of the pool for someone to get out so that I could get a bit of space to get in.

While I was waiting another guy came along and just jumped in and got in the way of everyone else - what an Arse he was.

I eventually got in and by this stage time was running out on my lunch break, so I just had to do 1000M. 

It was a bit disappointing but at least I get something in rather than missing it altogether.

TW3 IMFF Week 23

Monday 26th March 2012

Week 23 completed

Hours Trained: 11H 24Mins
Swimming: 5.5K (3.41 Miles)
Cycling: 78.09 Miles
Running: 22.94 Miles

Week 23 saw a slight drop in overall time trained and mileage covered – mainly due to a poor performance on my planned long run and having to abandon it down to 8 miles instead of 16 miles.

I don’t feel too down about it and am pretty comfortable that I will pick up again in the coming week OK.

I had probably my most enjoyable bike ride in a long time as the weather finally decided to be kind to me, and I think it was long over due as I have suffered through awful weather in the winter.

The week ahead is another step up in distances – most notably the long run going out to about 17 miles and the long ride due to be 4.5 Hrs – which will hopefully be about 60-65 miles.  I am looking forward to it.

Oh Ho MoJo is a No Go but then I get a Go Go

Wednesday 21st March 2012

Swimming
01:03:11- 2500M

Early swim which went pretty well again.  Swimming is definitely pretty boring once you get past the point of not being knackered every time you turn at the end of a length.

Brick Session

Cycling
00:46:01 – 11.58 Miles (15.100 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 71% Max / Cadence 80rpm)

A reasonably steady ride for the start of the brick - the wind was with me on the way out but hammered me on the way home again.

Running
00:13:55- 1.68 Miles (08.17 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 82% Max)

A really good pace on the brick run - faster than expected and it felt pretty good too.

Thursday 22nd March 2012

Cycling
01:00:00 – 14.80 Miles (14.80 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 75% Max / Cadence 81rpm)

 
Steady bike ride and happy with the way it went.

Friday 23rd March 2012

Running 01:00:00- 6.43 Miles (09.19 per mile / HR Zone 3 / 87% Max)

A really bizarre run tonight.  I felt tired and really thought this run was hard work and not all that enjoyable and I was just glad to get it over with.  Pace was slow and so was the MoJo.



Saturday 24th March 2012

Running 01:18:44 - 8.00 Miles (09.50 per mile / HR Zone 1 / 77% Max)

Another awful run to back up yesterday's MoJo sapping nightmare.
This was meant to be my 16 mile long run taking about 2.5 hours. It became pretty clear to me after about 3 miles that I was going to struggle today as I just felt tired.  Interestingly my HR was fine and my legs felt fine - I just felt tired and my Bum Bag that I use for long runs for carrying gels and a spare drink was absolutely doing my head in.  It was bouncing around like it was on a bungee cord.
Disappointingly I decided to cut the run short and head home having only completed 8 miles.

Now that I have had time to reflect on it, I am not too worried about it as I have had a couple of weeks of 15 mile runs that have gone well and I know that this will not be too much of a setback.

Sunday 25th March 2012

Cycling
03:45:18 – 51.71 Miles (13.80 MPH / HR Zone 1 / 70% Max / Cadence  71rpm)

Steady A really nice long ride today with my friend Jim.  We had a beautiful day for the ride and it must have been the hottest day of the year to date.  The sun was out and the sky had a little bit of haze and there was only a light breeze.

We did a nice out out to Ballinderry, Aghalee, Lurgan, Dromore, Ballynahinch, Temple and back in to Lisburn.
There were an awful lot of small hills on the ride and it amounted to over 520M of elevation. Lots of little short sharp climbs.

It was just great to get back out in good weather and not have to wear loads of layers.

Although the pace was relatively easy that is a reflection of the hilly up and down terrain.  Great fun and I know I could have knocked out another 20 miles or so.
]

Not too bad.

Running
01:00:00- 6.83 Miles (08.46 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 83% Max)
A Decent run tonight and keeping up the slight improvement in pace anddistance during the 1 HR time limit.

TW3 IMFF Week 22

Monday 19th March 2012

Week 22 completed

Hours Trained: 11H 57Mins
Swimming: 3K (1.86 Miles)
Cycling: 71.30 Miles
Running: 36.06 Miles

Week 22 went pretty well.  The highlight was obviously the long brick session on Monday, but I am pleased that I was able to build another decent week of training in again, even though I missed a couple of session due to my Wheezy Chest.

Thanks to those who have enquired about my chest and encouraged me along the way over the last week or two.

This week ahead is pretty much more of the same, except that the bike ride this week is scheduled to be 4 hrs which should see me head close to 60 miles – the furthest I have ridden for while.

Here it is:

A Big Brick

Monday 19th March 2012

Big Brick Session

I had always planned to use this Bank Holiday as a chance to put together a longer brick session that I have been doing up until now.  This is a good way to see how things are progressing and give a bit on insight as to how it may go for the Half Ironman Distance race in May.

Cycling
03:15:34 – 45.63 Miles (14.00 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 73% Max / Cadence 77rpm)

I joined up with my triathlon Pal Donald for a long ride then a run around North Down.

The weather was pretty good and we had a lovely ride around some parts of the Strangford Lough Coastline that were new to me.  There were some really beautiful little hidden gems of places along the way and I am glad Donald chose this route.

Saying that . . . there were also quite a few hills and we made out way up towards Scrabo Tower between Newtownards and Comber.  I remember doing this climb last year as part of the Strangford Triathlon and I recalled it being quite tough.  This time around I actually found it quite comfortable and not too hard.  A good sign that the training is paying off.

We then headed through Comber and along Cycle Route 99 towards Killinchy along the back roads hugging the shore for a large part of the way.

You can tell you are on a rural cycle when you have to give way to Horses, not once but twice during the ride.

Some more typically Co Down short sharp hills followed and we then headed back along the main road to Comber.

Donald then suggested taking another road back up towards Scrabo Tower to join the road we had cycled on the way out.  I must admit my heart sank a little bit at the prospect of a few more hills, but it passed OK, but he had saved the sucker punch until the end. A ¾ mile hill out of Newtownards to the carriageway back to Bangor. A Horrible experience on a nasty hill.

Overall we did 511M of climbing, which was not bad in just 45 miles.

Back to Donald’s to drop off the bikes and head out on the run.  Overall I am pleased with the ride part of the session, albeit the pace was hard to keep up die to the nature of the small twisty up and down roads and the horses etc…

Running
01:17:54- 8.15 Miles (09.32 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 82% Max)

As we headed out on the run I had that feeling familiar to most triathletes – Numb Toes!

Thankfully it went away reasonably quickly and we made a steady pace for the first couple of miles in to the wind and then thankfully we turned off the road and in to a more sheltered trail run.

Once again Donald picked out a lovely route and we had a great run through the trail down to Helens Bay and then up through the trails in Crawfordsburn Country Park (even spotting a Heron) and then back up to Crawfordsburn Village and back towards home again.

I have to admit that had Donald not been running with me, I may have been tempted to walk some stretches where we just kept going.

So we finished off the day with a round trip of over 53 miles on wheel and foot and left me feeling reasonably confident that I can handle the Half Ironman in May OK, but with a realisation that I have a hell of a lot of work to do still before July for the main event.

I know it took quite a bit out of me as I went to bed early and slept like a log.

Thanks to Donald for the company along the way and for keeping me going and for picking a fabulous route.

Flapjack? Don't mind if I do.

Saturday 17th March 2012

Running
02:20:21- 15.00 Miles (09.22 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 85% Max)

Long slow run for the week was a straight out and back affair.

Saturday turned out to be a nice spring day and as I was running along, I appreciated how much I have missed a bit of decent weather and was able to run in just shorts and a long sleeved t shirt.  Such a difference to running wrapped up in many layers and long running tights.

I tried to keep the run very evenly paced and by and large it worked out pretty close to the plan, although I did lose about 4 mins on the second half of the run compared to the first half, which equates to about 30 secs per mile slower on the way back again.

I am happy enough with the run and managed to “practice” my on the run nutrition.  My food of choice for fuelling on the run and on the bike is the Flapjack.  These are fairly dense and packed full of calories and are quite easy to digest, so I am sticking with them as my fuel of choice.  It also helps that they come in all sorts of flavours like Yoghurt topped, strawberry Jam, oaty, Choc Chip and my favourite – Caramel.

A long run or ride is a great excuse for a flapjack or 2.

Viral Wheeze? Nope, me neither.

Friday 16th March 2012

Swimming
01:17:20- 3000M

Early morning swim and a nice comfortable 3000M done. (120 lengths of the 25M pool)

I am more or less abandoning doing drills as I have decided that any improvements I make in technique between now and July will be relatively minimal and I am better focussing on the endurance side of things.

Realistically if I improve my technique I may save myself 3 or so minutes on the swim at an absolute best case scenario.  Whereas by focussing on just doing the longer distances in training, I am hopeful that I will have built up the cardio fitness to see me come out of the water feeling relatively fresh (if this is possible after being in a Human washing machine with 2000 other people for 3.8K) and hopefully re-coup the 3 mins or so along the way on the bike or run.

This is probably all pie in the sky but I am hoping it works for me.

Following on from my medical worry about my dodgy chest, I went to see the Doc.

He was very good and checked a few things out, including Asthma.

I had to do a lung capacity test which was to check for Asthma, and it fortunately ruled out Asthma as I scored 107% of a normal healthy adult’s lung capacity – and that was with me feeling a bit chesty still.  I am very pleased with that.

The Doc levelled his best guess at the cause as “Viral Wheeze” and prescribed an inhaler and a course of antibiotics in case it was not something viral.

Hope it works and that inhalers are not on the banned list of substances for Ironman!!

Heavy Breather.

Thursday 15th March 2012

Cycling
01:05:34 - 17.602(15.60 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 75% Max / Cadence ??rpm)

A really decent run out this evening on a nice route out towards Ballinderry and Glenavy.
Still having to ride the Bianchi as the Cube Wheel is with the Manufacturer for repair.
It is lovely riding in decent weather again - it has been a long time coming.

Running
00:58:05- 6.20 Miles (09.21 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 84% Max)
[@10 mins Insert 5 Mins @ Z4 HR with 2 Min jog recovery in between]

I am still suffering with the bad chest that has been with me for the last 4 weeks or so and I must admit I did feel a good bit slower tonight on the run.
I don't want to put it all down to the chest problem, and it could be that the run was close to the bike ride and I was just a little bit jaded.

I missed all of my training yesterday, the swim and the brick session as I had another funny episode on Tuesday night where I woke in the middle of the night and could not breathe.
Off to see the Dr tomorrow to find out if anything can be done about my severe breathing problem that flared.  It is very scary as my airways seem to close over and stop me breathing.  Hopefully the Doc will get it sorted.

Summer time is here. Is it?

Tuesday 13th March 2012

Cycling
00:43:06 - 8.65 (12.00 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 77% Max / Cadence ??rpm / Elevation Gain 312M)

The hill session rolled around quickly this week and it went very well.  It helped that it was another lovely morning and the sun came up at about 6.15 this morning.  Summer is on the way!!
I had to do it on my Bianchi bike as the Cube bike has a dodgy rear wheel and needs to be fixed.
I am delighted that it went ab it better than last week and hope to see steady improvement week on week.  The +300M of climbing gain is quite tough.

Running
01:00:00- 6.71 Miles (08.56 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 82% Max)
[@10 mins Insert 2X6 Mins @ Z4 HR with 2 Min jog recovery in between]

I must admit that I am finding the interval pace sessions in these runs really hard going and I probably slowed down a bit before he end of the 6 minutes as I was tubed.  It is really hard work.
The good thing about it is that I seem to recover pretty well from it and get back to a steady pace at a decent heart rate fairly easily.

Off to London tomorrow so I am trying to squeeze in a 2K swim before going to catch my flight then hopefully a brick session in the gym in the hotel.

TW3 IMFF Week 21

Monday 12th March 2012

Week 21 completed

Hours Trained: 12H 35 MinsSwimming: 5.25K (3.26 Miles)
Cycling: 82.98 Miles
Running: 30.41 Miles

Week 21 was good for getting back on the wagon again after the injury impacted last weeks and a half.

Everything went pretty well apart from a couple of minor setbacks as I came back to fitness and battled a couple of technical issues on the bike.

I feel pretty good after the week and am looking forward to more of the same this week.

 

I think I might miss one of my planned swims this week as I am away to London with work, but we will see. I am also planning to swap the bike ride planned for Sunday and take it as a rest day and then do a long brick session (my longest to date) on Monday 19th, as this is the St Patrick's Day Bank Holiday - probably a 45 mile bike and then a 1Hr run.  This will be a good test bed ahead of the Half Ironman planned for mid May.

 

Here is the week ahead with maybe a few minor alterations to come.

 

 

I feel good - the bike feels rubbish.

Sunday 11th March 2012

Cycling
03:12:37 - 45.63 (14.20 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 71% Max / Cadence 78rpm)

I felt brilliant on my ride today.  I was feeling strong on any of the hills or rolling countryside - average pace was great and I felt under no pressure at all.

If only everything else had gone as well as I was feeling.

I had my bike back to the shop yesterday to get the really annoying rattle looked at.  Rather disappointingly it turns out that the bearings on the hub on the rear wheel have gone and it is creating a lot of play in the rear wheel and causing the rattle.  As it is still under warranty I am sending it back in the hope of getting it fixed or replaced.
This has the downside of meaning that until I get it back, I will have to train on my other bike, the Bianchi.  It is a good bike but just not the same as my beloved Cube.

Anyway, that was a long way of explaining that on the ride today after coming down a nice hill at about 30 mph, I noticed that there was a bit of vibration and noise from the rear. (The bike not me!)
I stopped and the wheel was completely loose and had shaken the Quick Release mechanism open.  Not good at all and I am very lucky I didn't crash.
I got it tightened up but lost a bit of confidence in it.

Then . . another 10 miles up the road. PUNCTURE!  Balls!

It took me about 20 minutes to fix it at the roadside as the spare tube I carried had a short valve and it took forever to get the pump to fit and get some air in to it.  Unfortunately it would not inflate totally which meant that the rest of the rise was done with probably only about half of the  pressure I would normally have.

The delay in fixing he puncture meant that I had to cut down my route to get back home in time and typically I had to sop at 13 (Yes 13!)  sets of traffic lights in the last 8 miles home - that buggered up the average speed.

Despite everything I am pleased at how I felt on the ride and that I got myself sorted with the puncture in tricky circumstances.

Tastes like Chicken?

Saturday 10th March 2012

Running
02:23:26- 15.13 Miles (09.28 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 81% Max)
The long run for the week and it was destined to be my longest run since the Belfast Marathon last May.  I really noticed the distance kick in around 12 miles and my legs got that familiar sore legs feeling that you get with Marathon training.  All you Marathoners out there know what I am talking about.
I am pleased with the session and felt reasonably comfortable throughout apart from the sore legs.

I saw one of the most bizarre and quite sad things I have see on a run today.
A Dead swan at the side of the road.
It was a relatively young swan as it still had a few bits of grey on it and it was just lying at a hedge beside the road.  It must have been hit by a car as there were feathers strewn up the road. 
Something struck me about it and I thought it was quite sad seeing this big animal dead at the roadside.
Although . . I do have to confess that I did actually wonder what swan tastes like.  I felt bad for it, but then thought it is probably just like duck only more to go round. 

It's amazing what your mind thinks when you are on a long run.

Blowing out my arse- but thankfully not in the pool.

Friday 9th March 2012

Swimming
2750M - 01:07:02 in 25M pool at Lisburn Leisureplex
2750M straight through
Total 2750M
A bit further today for my ridiculously early swim this morning. Out of the pool at 6.50AM.  Not Bad.
I am pleased with this swim today - it felt good throughout and the sore arms from Wednesday had more or less cleared up.

Running
01:00:00- 6.84 Miles (08.46 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 85% Max)
[@10 mins Insert 7.5 Mins @ Z4 HR]

These interval sessions are blooming hard work and I am questioning their worth in my training and I am not trying to get faster but just build endurance.  I literally wanted to throw up after my 7.5 mins at Zone 4 today.  It was so tough.
The plan says I should be doing it and I have to trust the plan so I will stick with them but they are really tough.
The rest of the run subsequently felt tough for the next few miles as I was recovering from the battering of the interval.
When I finished I was delighted to see the average pace was 08.46 per mile - this was helped by a sub 7 minute mile as part of the interval, but the overall pace was steady enough throughout.
As they say in running - I was blowing out my arse!  Never a good thing.

STOPPPPP Rattling. Purleeease!

Thursday 8th March 2012

Cycling
01:01:33 - 16.54 Miles(16.10 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 79% Max / Cadence 79rpm)

Another chance to get outside on the bike and once again another bit of wind to greet me.
I wanted to press on a bit and I manged to do this OK even though the wind was stiff enough at times.

I had my bike serviced a couple of weeks ago and no doubt about it there is a real improvement in most of the mechanics on it, however there is a REALLY annoying rattle coming from the crank area and it seems to get worse when the crank is under a bit of stress and being pushed hard.  It is now driving me potty!

I am going to take it back to the shop and ask them to sort it out for me, hopefully before my long ride on Sunday as the idea of 60 miles with that noise will destroy me.

Oh my poor legs.

Wednesday 7th March 2012

Swimming
2500M - 01:03:16 in 25M pool at Lisburn Leisureplex
2500M straight through
Total 2500M

My First swim in 2 weeks and i was a bit nervous about it as I find that my swim fitness leaves me quicker than my run or bike.  The best thing was just to get up early and hit the pool.  So I did.
The first 10 lengths were tough enough and my arms felt pretty tight, but I loosened up and got back in to the swing of it by about 30 lengths.

I took splits at 30/60/90 lenghts and the first 2 were very even but the 3rd on was about 2 mins slower - so that tells the real story about the fitness.

Still, I am glad it went OK and I am looking forward to getting back in again at 5.30 on Friday Morning.

Brick Session

Cycling
00:45:49 - 11.69 miles (15.30 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 78% Max / Cadence 65) I decided that now that the weather is supposed to be getting a bit better that I would start doing a lot more cycling outside than indoors on the Turbo.  The weather was certainly not better!!  It blew an absolute gale and I was nearly taken off the bike a couple of times and the first half was straight in to a block headwind and then hailstones.  Nightmare.

The good news was that I got about 4 miles back with a strong tailwind.  It was lovely but still a bit dicey with the strength of the wind.

Running
00:15:00 - 1.76 Miles (08.32 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 832 Max)
Now - here is where the real difference in outdoor cycling versus indoor cycling become apparent - when you get off the bike to run.  Most of my Brick runs have been straight off the Turbo in recent times and this one came as a bit of a culture shock having just been battered by the wind and hailstones.  This felt tough and the legs were really heavy and cold.

After about half a mile I was thinking "Oh my God, I have to do a marathon after a monster cycle in about 4 months time, how can I ever do it?"

However, I just dug in and it got a bit easier and I slowed down a wee bit.
The pace was actually OK and HR was fine too - it was just the legs that were suffering a bit - but that is supposed to happen and that's why these training sessions are so important.

Nice up top but wheezy at the bottom.

Tuesday 6th March 2012

Cycling
00:47:05 - 9.12 (11.60 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 79% Max / Cadence 79rpm)

This was the first of my cycling sessions that have replaced one of my weekly swims.  I am using this session to do some Hill climbing and today kicked it off.
Up and out of the House at 6.00AM and straight up the Pond Park Road which takes me towards the top of White Mountain. (Not much of a mountain but a pretty decent hill)

3 sets of climbs up and a cruise back down to recover. It was hard going and the hill starts out quite steep and then flattens after about 1/4 of a mile, then steepens up to close on 10% for about another 1/4 mile - then it lessens a bit right the way to the top.

The lovely clear morning started out pretty dark but dawn started to come through at about 6.20 and I was rewarded with a lovely sun rise over the Lagan Valley for my efforts.

I am pleased with the way it went and I know that if I keep this up and increase the number of repetitions the speed and climbing legs will improve.  Not easy but actually very enjoyable - When it was all over!

Running
01:00:00- 6.68 Miles (09.00 per mile / HR Zone 2 / 85% Max)
[@10 mins Insert 2X4.5 Mins @ Z4 HR with 1.5 Min jog recovery in between]
This was my first run since having my chest infection and it was a tough enough session to come back to.  Obviously the chest infection is not totally cleared away, as after the faster sessions (Zone 4) I was struggling a bit to catch my breath - I have no idea what Asthma is like but this gave me a very slight indication.  the 2 sets in Z4 were run at approx. 6.50 per mile pace - this is pretty swift for me.

A couple of minutes after the last speed session I was pretty much back to normal and was pleased to round out the run averaging 9mins per mile and staying in HR Zone overall.  Not bad today, but I know I am not totally back to fitness yet - but definitely very much improved.

TW3 IMFF Week 20

Monday 5th March 2012

Week 20 completed

Hours Trained: 2H 07 Mins
Swimming: 0K (0 Miles)
Cycling: 30.02 Miles
Running: 0 Miles

Week 20 was the week that never was. The only activity was a bit of a token cycle just to get back in the saddle so to speak.

I am being positive and looking forward to getting back on track with  my training.

 

Here is the week ahead.

 

 

Back in action and feeling positive.

Sunday 4th March 2012

Cycling
02:07:13 - 30.02 (14.20 MPH / HR Zone 2 / 78% Max / Cadence 80rpm)

I broke my duck today of non training for a whole week.  Because of the Chest infection / cough type thing I had picked up I missed the whole of last week's training.  That was a nightmare and I really felt like I needed to A) Get back in to training again, B) Check to see if the chest would hold up to the activity and C) clear the demons of inactivity.

I purposely chose to do a shorter ride than my plan said I should do, as I wanted to break back in again but not risk doing myself any major harm.

So . . all in all I am reasonably pleased with the way things went, even though I coughed and gagged quite a bit of the way round and brought up some fairly unpleasant substances,  NICE!!

At least I am on the road again and I plan to get back to a full week of training next week. I am going to be positive about the near two week lay off and and focus more on the 17 weeks still to go and the need to get a really strong run of training in.

To that end I have decided to drop from 3 swims per week to 2 and swap one for an extra bike session.  I am thinking of doing this as a Hill session each week and using it to ride up and down a few steep hills at home and build strength.  The better weather and brighter mornings and evening should allow me to do a lot more outdoor riding now instead of Turbo session, which will be great.  I am well motivated for the next 17 weeks - and suddenly it doesn't seem all that long.