Am I still ill? Indeed, an on point question. I thought I was better, so hit the training megga hard, and now I'm back to square one again: Lemsipping myself up, indoors with the heating on when it's a beautiful sunny day outside and I'd really rather be riding or running. I'm sure it's no coincidence that I started to feel bad again the evening of a very heavy training day, in which I did a hard spin class, followed by a hard body-pump class, then a run. I was so weak and wobbly as I shakily stepped through my front door that I needed a sit down and a strong coffee just to give me sufficient energy to contemplate a shower.
I briefly touched upon Strava in my last blog post. That site is dangerous! Particularly so for me as I am the type of person who constantly compares myself to others, invariably only to find myself lacking. I go back and forth between the rational, 'That training volume might work for them, but you are not them, you are you, your body is different, and that doesn't work for you', to the irrational, 'Look at the hours they are putting in, day after day, week after week, and they aren't getting ill or needing rest; you are just lazy and saying that that volume of training isn't for you is a cop-out excuse to further fuel your laziness'. It's the same internal debate that is raging in me today, 'I feel too unwell to train, I should probably rest' vs 'But January is my month off work; this is my time to hit the big base miles and put down the foundations for the rest of the season, maybe just a short, easy run?'. Which voice do I listen to? They are both equally compelling in their own way.
One thing's for sure, swimming when you aren't one hundred percent is an absolute no go. If you are feeling in any way under the weather, swimming will find you out. In fact, it's fast becoming my most reliable tool in knowing when I'm about to come down with something: I'll have a bad swim and be unable to swim continuously without getting out of breath and needing rest breaks.
I know, I know, it's a cold, get a grip love. It's just the timing of it that's frustrating as I don't work in January (my employer, the National Trust, closes the property in which I work for 6 weeks to undertake maintenance and cleaning), so it's my time to hit the training hard. "Your month of being an unemployed bum", as Matt jokes. "No, my month of being a professional triathlete"... only minus the professional triathlete income and endorsement deals! My tri club awards evening on January 6th got me all revved up and remotivated to train: it was such an inspirational evening, celebrating success and personal achievement, that I remember why I love this sport. Too bad my mind is now ready to rock and roll, but my body isn't.
My haul from the N1 awards do: Queen on the Mountains jersey for the hill climb competition, the President's award for services to the club, and the winning female of the Westpoint summer duathlon series.
Last January, when I wasn't ill, I put down a good block of endurance and strength training and that set me up for the season. I have been trying to assess, by looking back at last year's training diary, where I'm at now at in relation to this point last year. I'd say my biking is in a better state, but my running is slightly behind (no surprises there, I've hardly done any for the last past 4 months!). Last January I did an FTP test on the Watt Bike and my power came out as just shy of 200W. I am keen to test myself again one year on and see if there are any improvements, but that will have to wait until I can breathe normally again first!
I mentioned in the December blog that I was still deciding on whether or not to go to the European Duathlon Championships in Soria in April. Well, I've now decided: I'm going to go. I need a goal, a focus. The logistics of getting there have so far proven tricky... well, no, not so much tricky, just expensive. We initially thought to take Brittany Ferries down to Santander and take our own car, but once you add on the cost of a cabin, plus an overnight stay at the port the night before as the ferry times don't work, it was going to be in excess of £400. The Easy Jet flight times from Bristol aren't great either. They get you into Madrid late in the evening, and there are only two trains a day to Soria, meaning another overnight stay. In the end we decided that Heathrow to Madrid with BA or Iberia is the best option. Canonndale will make his own way there separately with the Ship My Tri Bike service (£200 for him, making his transport more costly than our return flights!).
So I have planned my Spring race season around Soria, with the following being my key races:
19th February: Castlecombe Chilly Duathlon, Wiltshire
18th March: Clumber Park Sprint Duathlon, Nottingham
29th April: European Sprint Duathlon Championships, Soria, Spain.
Castlecombe is designed as an early indication of form and a chance to try out my bling new cycling shoes (a bargain, down from £299 to £69!). Clumber Park is the event I did last year to qualify for Soria, so I am familiar with the course. It's also a qualifying event again this year for next year's Europeans so securing early qualification again for the 2018 will be the aim. The run and bike routes have just been released for Soria and the bike course is mighty hilly: 900ft of climb over the 20km course. Climbing: great! Love it. Can climb until the proverbial cows come home as my power to weight ratio is quite high. My only worry is that what goes up must come down, and descending - particularly if technical - is not my thing. You can lose so much ground so quickly if you are a nervous descender, as I discovered when descending the Llanberris Pass at Slateman last year! Either way, the consensus on the GB Team facebook page seems to be that roadies are the way to go in the mountainous terrain around Soria, not TT bikes. Sorry Black Ninja, you'll have to make your debut another time!
New Fi'zi:k cycling shoes: aren't they just divine?!
So, a busy few months ahead, what with these races, plus a trip to Winchester with Matt next weekend, then to the Yorkshire Dales in February, and then Matt's sister's wedding Easter weekend in Bibury, it's going to be a hectic Spring. So I need to shift this bloody cold. Maybe best not to run today..... although.... it is nice and sunny out..... ELLIE! STOP! ENOUGH!! Go and get yourself another Lemsip and watch some awful day time TV like normal sick people.
