Get back on it

Firstly I need to say a massive sorry for to anyone that has been following my progress so far, if there is any one left still reading this. It has been ages since my last post and I am really sorry for that. There has been loads of stuff going on recently and my training and this blog have taken a back seat whilst I have been trying to sort it all out. I have still been keeping a bit of my training going and with just 10 weeks to go until the start it is time to get back on it.

Since my last post I completed the Reading Half Marathon. This was my first race of the year and I had given my self a target time of 1hr35mins. It was a great day for racing, not too hot, not too cold and the course is pretty flat. I think over 18,000 people turned up on the day and it was great to be have that pre race adrenaline buzz again. My start wasn't great and I got caught in quite a bit of traffic for the first 2km. I got a stitch by 3km and was thinking that it was going to be an awful day, but by 5km it had gone and I started to open up my stride. I had kept pretty close to the 1:35 pace setter but as I felt good I thought I would have a crack at the 1:30 guy. Moving through the crowd just spurred me on more and I think I caught him at around 14km. I ran with them for about 1km or so before I gave it another push and battled on to the end. The last mile was really tough as I had given it my all, but the finish of reading is in the Madjeski stadium and what a finish it is. You run about 400m into the stadium and with loads of spectators it really feels like your own Olympics. Sadly that moment was over all too quickly but as I crossed the finish line I stopped my watch and was thrilled to see that I had completed the half marathon in 1hr 27min 43secs. A new PB and much better than I had hoped for. I paid for this in the days after the race as my legs were pretty sore and my whole body was quite fatigued.

Since then I have been keeping up with my training although my usual strict routine has become a little bit more sporadic as I have been sorting stuff out. I did my own little duathlon a few weeks ago with a 5km run, 40km bike and 10km run. Another tough day but my legs are starting to get used to the battering of transitioning between bike and run. Swim sessions have increased to 3.5km with a mixture of intensity and endurance. The biggest revelation is the onset of spring, which just makes training soooo much better. I am running and cycling in shorts again, my race wheels are back on the bike and gone are the days of trudging through the snow and ice. I think this is the happy period before it starts to get really hot, but then France is going to be like a furnace.

The next few weeks are looking equally hectic but my focus is going to be to stick to the big endurance sessions. I managed to cycle 85miles in 4hr45 over some pretty big hills and completed a punishing 18mile run in 2hr20 this weekend. My legs are certainly starting to feel this longer distance stuff and my calf muscles are generally in agony most of the time, note to self; must stretch more! I am off to the Marshman triathlon in a few weeks time for my final race before France. I am going to try and make sure that I keep the blog up to date in the last few weeks in the build up to France and hope my body holds up !