Recovery week ...

Well after around 9 months of training it was about time but this week has been tougher than I thought. Over the last year I have become somewhat addicted to training and spending a week without doing any swimming, cycling or running has been really tough. Of course it has had its benefits and all the annoying twinges and muscle pains have started to fade but the lack of endorphins has left me rather deflated.

Taking this time off has meant I have been able to spend some quality time with the family though. I have had breakfast with the girls every morning and been at home for bath time and tea every night. I have cherished this time as I know in a few months time once my Ironman program starts full time I will not have so much time for these moments. I plan to make the most of the next few weeks before I start getting to obsessed with training again.

I didn't realise quite how tired training made me. The last week I have been struggling to get to sleep at night, and I blame this on the fact that I haven't been out exercising. The usual routine meant that by the time my head hit the pillow I was out for the count. But taking a week off I have found that I have been much more awake and not sleeping as well. I think I actually feel more tired this week as I don't think I have slept so well, but that could just be me as I seem to always feel tired !

Eventually I cracked on Saturday and decided if I was going to give the new forest 100 miler a go I would need to do some cycling and went out for a 92km ride to Cranleigh. It was great to be out on the bike again, but with the threat of rain I put on my waterproof jacket. It didn't rain and I ended up very dehydrated as I sweated my way around quite a hilly course. On Sunday I went for a slow but hilly 18km run with my mate Tom who is training for a half marathon. I don't think I am ready at this stage to stop training, I still need to build a strong base, especially for France.