Last couple of weeks have been quite strange. I have been quite relaxed and relatively unfazed by the thought of doing the Forestman in a few weeks. I should point out that I am not saying that in a 'look at me, I'm so blase / aren't I cool' kind of way, but, shouldn't I be freaking out a bit? On a number of occasions and in a number of different contexts I have heard or read people saying 'respect the distance'. It's a phrase that has just kept popping up while I have been listening to podcasts and reading a few blogs and every time I hear it I think to myself, 'You're being too calm, you 're not respecting what you are trying to do'. But no matter what I don't seem to be rising to the bait. I am going to take that as a good thing.
It's taken a while but I'm really enjoying being back on the bike and in the pool and I think a big part of that is because I am genuinely not worried about pace / HR etc. Everything is on feel, RPE and duration of effort and it's liberating to just be out there enjoying a swim, bike or run. I really do feel that I can do the Forestman and most importantly enjoy it. I want to finish it and feel that I want to go and do another one, but only better.
Anyway, what's been going on? Lots of cycling. Commuting to work and then taking a longer route home with a Boxhill ascent has been a real pleasure and gives me a nice 1hr 20 ride home. On Sunday I was up at 5am to meet Simon for us to do a long ride. Simon had already done a 75 mile ride the day before and was remarkably strong as we completed approximately 80 miles. I kept a cork in it and let him skip up the hills ahead of me and towards the end of the ride he was feeling it and I was really pleased that my economy of effort saw me finish the ride strongly. A massive boost. This Sunday we're heading off to Ditchling Beacon and back. Might have to stop for an ice cream. ;-) The next day I went out for a long run to try a 9/1 run walk strategy. I am very much in the camp that says ' run the run' when it comes to the marathon leg of an Ironman but common sense has to prevail. It's a tough course anyway and I do not have the volume to run 26 miles so this seems like it could be a reasonable compromise. With a well paced bike leg (read slow) I am hoping that I can put in a pretty good run. I was quite surprised at how long 9 minutes felt and of course how short 1 minute is, but it gave me enough time to stretch my hamstrings (jeez they get tight) and powermince for a bit before getting going again.
Swimming is improving and while my technique gets ropey very quickly (my catch no longer exists) endurance is coming back and the bad cramps I was suffering have all but gone. I'm stroke counting again and just trying to keep it loose, relaxed and long, but the fact that I am on 21-22 strokes per length highlights my lack of technique and fitness.
I have discovered Training Peaks. It looks pretty good and I have started using it to log my sessions and can see that it could be a really useful tool. Something to tinker with anyway.
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