So now I’ve completed my 100km ride my coach decided it was time for a new plan change.  Previously it had been running and Strength and Conditioning, then Running, cycling and strength and conditioning with focused running sessions and enjoying the bike ride without focussing on specific training goals.  However with a Sprint Tri coming up in September it is time to start dialling in my sessions.  This called for a meeting with Coach Zoe in her garden to discuss progress and how I am feeling with my training.

We agreed training and weight loss was going well and to be perfectly honest we were a little ahead of targets thus far on the weight.  However one thing we talked about was the intensity of training.  I have been training 4/5 times a week since January with no break and we agreed to introduce a ‘REST WEEK’.  Well, we’ll call it rest week.  What it actually means is every 4^th week will be a much reduced intensity week, with 2 short steady runs of 30 min and a 1 hour ‘brick’ session on Saturday – which means Bike ride and into Running with max 90 second transition time.

I also had a big achievement last Sunday – on my usual weigh in I had hit the magic 5 stone weight loss mark.  For the first time I took a long hard look at myself and to be honest thought ‘Feck me’ this is getting serious.  I can see the changes for myself now.  Clothes I’ve not worn for a long time are getting worn and new clothes are being bought.

This week has actually been my rest week, I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Tuesday I went for a run at lunch with no heart rate goals, no pace goals and a massive smile. This is my body’s way of recovering for the intense training I am going to put it through 😊. Then Thursday a good friend Sam joined me for a social distance run. We chewed the fat all the way round talking like a couple of old ladies. Remember folk running can be fun 😊

So a few months ago I wrote down my goals on a scrap of paper. These were the goals for the next 2 years effectively breaking the Ironman into tangible chunks. key amongst the goals were an Audax called the Staffordshire Lanes 100KM audax that I was to ride with my friend Nigel. However Covid has since come along and the audax has been cancelled. A few weeks back I mentioned this in my Blog. Nigel, read this and sent me a text saying we would ride it ourselves!

So here we are near the start of our ride. We met at the great northern at 09:30 in horrible rain conditions. We quickly got to following the route. Nigel has planned it out and it was to be a lumpy ride round the Staffordshire lanes :-). The first 45 KM the rain was Biblical. It seemed to be coming from every direction. About 45KM point the rain subsided and glorious sunshine, which quickly dried us out. However I had learnt a couple of key lessons here; 1) my waterproof gloves are not so and 2) my waterproof coat was equally non-waterproof. I was cold, wet and miles from home. But, this was not something a Picnic wouldn’t fix. We quickly found a south facing bench and sat in the sunshine eating soggy sandwiches. But no bother, I had a litre of tea in my flask. Nothing is a problem after tea.

Right, halfway point and the legs were still feeling great. We set off and headed back through Rolleston on Dove and the heavens opened again. It was special extra cold rain I think. Saved for cyclists. So we got drenched again. Then we stopped under a tree at the 70km mark at the gateway to Catton Park and my legs were on fire. I stretched and shook my legs out but it didn’t help. What ensued was the toughest 25km of my Ironman training thus far.

Now endurance sport is all about ‘digging in’ when the times get tough. At Tattenhall we had to cycle up a huge huge hill that about did me in. My legs were rotating the pedals, but my hamstrings were on fire and cramping. They are not used to this level of exertion. But the friendly and supportive encouragement of Nigel kept me going. I was told all I had to do was keep the pedals moving, it didn’t matter how fast. We stopped for another cup of tea and a stretch. Getting back on the bike was incredibly hard.

When we got to Hilton the rain was getting so bad we took shelter in a bus shelter for 15 minutes. This did the legs good. We then turned from there down to Sutton and over the back roads to Radbourne Lane. Now anybody that has rode that lane would know it was a gradual climb for 10km. Damn. Legs on fire. However at the top of the road is the football ground, it turns out they are selling beer in your own containers, so we duly filled our cycling bottles with beer. Nice!

Overall, I am really happy with today and super proud. I can’t thank Nigel enough for giving up his Saturday to help me. Here’s the route GPS