The last week in numbers

Its been a week of ups and downs personally speaking ... coming off an injury to the foot and then a tummy bug or IBS or whatever it was I was starting to panic that there was too much 'wrong' going on in my training.

What didn't help was my Wednesday morning work out, supposedly a 37 minute run. 18 minutes into the run an my breathing was laboured, I had a stitch and I couldn't continue, and there it was, one of the biggest knocks to my self-confidence I've had since I started training. 9.5 weeks away from the race and I can only do a 3k run without needing to stop and walk. And walk I did, followed by another jog, another bout of walking and some more jogging. Instead of the 29:30 that it should have taken me to do the 5k, it took 34:30 ... cue disappontment.

Thursday night and another shock to the system. Swimming was the idea, using the new technique I imagined I would improve my stroke rate and my time ... I was very very wrong ... my stroke rate is the same and (29-31 strokes per length) and the time for a 750m distance actually went up to 23 minutes. I was slower and in much more discomfort and pain. I swam about 1.2km in total and it wasn't pretty. Cue more disappointment.

Friday is supposed to be my 'go 4 it' day with a long workout (I'm going to change that to Saturday because I simply do not have the time on Fridays). Instead, I decided that another run was in order, and run I did ... the difference was remarkable ... 18 minutes came and went (as had the 3km marker by then) and I felt comfortable ... not sitting on a sofa with ice cream in my hand comfortable but not gasping for breath like a drowning man either. I upped the speed somewhat and ended matters with a 'mini-sprint' ... well it felt like one for me. Verdict, 5km in 29:15 and a total of 6km run non stop. I was BACK!!! ... cue hope.

Saturday came along, and my second meeting with my swim coach. I may or may not have told you (i forget what's in my earlier posts) that my wonderful new Zoot wetsuit actually ripped at the neck seams the first time I used it. So i returned it and am waiting for its replacement. In the meantime I still had to do an open water session in the lake with Mike, my coach. SO he lent me a wetsuit (a touch tight but just about ok) and off we went. My shoulders and arms were still quite tired from the swim on Thursday (note to self - I need at least 48 hours in between swim sessions until my shoulders and arms get used to the technique) so while the technique was good, the stamina wasn't ... I ended up throwing my head quite a bit, and though I managed to lengthen my stroke, the result was nothing to write home about ... a touch disappointed but then again, I'm not a robot and I need to work hard at this to master it and get comfortable. ... a slight down but with hope ...

In the evening, having decided that I'd been off the bike long enough and had to catch up on a few workouts I spent 45 minutes on the spinner doing intervals, working the legs. It felt ok, my legs responded this time (rather than last time when they didn't quite want to co-operate) and it was a good intense session (not too intense though - you'll find out why soon enough). Two workouts in one day, I was feeling tired, but satisfied ... I need to improve but then again I'm still a novice so its all part of the learning curve.

SUNDAY - i woke up nervous. I met my cycling coach, Stewart for my 2 hour session. I'm a complete novice on the bike and having a racing/road bike first time around isn't ideal or too wise. Anyhow, I'm getting more confident so I decided to take a 'lesson' before hitting the roads on my own. Two hours, some wobbly looking over my shoulders and signalling later Stewart is confident enough to tell me to get out onto the roads and practice. Nothing too busy but I need to build confidence ... NICE ONE ... we didn't cycle very far or fast, but I was cycling on the road and that's a big boost to my confidence. I can now replicate race riding on the road ... so watch out Medway, there's a new cyclist on the road.

Not content with just the cycling (it wasn't intense enough to be a proper workout) and finally being injury free I decided to head back to the gym to follow my programme. Day 1 of week 4 ... which is the taper/recovery week. I'm not too keen on tapering but I figure it'll stand me in good stead having just come off injuries and maladies and whatnot ... so I'll do the taper (in terms of time and distance) rather than push and then push on in week 5. So a swim it was (please note ... not 48 hours after the previous one ... in fact ... just about 35). The programme said 800 metres, but sod the programme ... hehe ... I did a 100m warmup followed by a 750m race pace distance ... and guess what ... back under 20 minutes ... 19 to be exact ... even though its not particularly comfortable and I still do far too many strokes per length. Still, I'm happy with the time ... we're getting back on track! Hope is returning, I'm tired generally ... my body aches a bit, but I'm happy.

The shoulders are sore today, and a footy game (I play keeper) won't have helped, but my next swim is not until Wednesday now so its ok. Tonight I run ... an easy 35 minute run. I'll keep it steady, do some (very short) intervals in the run and we'll see how it goes. Early to bed tonight ... tomorrow is cycling on the road time. I'm a bit nervous, but I'm sure I'll be ok. I'll get out by 6am so there shouldn't be much traffic, and aim to be in by 7. Its more a confidence building thing than a workout. If I feel like it wasn't enough I can always do some spinning in the evening.

till the next update ...