A better week (and staying warm on the bike)

Well, a better week than last week, for sure.  A total of 12K swimming, 112km cycling (with no dramas!) and around 35km of running.  So the distances are slowly coming up, and I am undoubtedly feeling fitter already, but my mind keeps telling me that there is so much still to do.  Due to pressures of work, I had to re-jig my training plan for this week, which meant that most of the longer sessions happened at the end of the week, so I finished properly fatigued and also having to miss one 70 min session on the bike.  So, today’s rest day is very welcome!  Also, the final few sessions were not of the best quality in terms of adhering to the required heart rate zones, but as this challenge is about doing the distance, I was more focused on this aspect and treated the sessions as an opportunity to improve my mental toughness.  On that subject, I’m about halfway through Jason Selk’s book, called ‘10 minute Mental Toughness’.  It’s actually quite a good read – it’s really a ‘how to’ book, which takes a complex topic and turns it into something practical that an athlete can use.

I also had my first session with a sports nutritionist this week.  An hour spent with Helen Walker confirmed a lot of what I suspected – all my favourite foods have to go and the rest of my life will consist of surviving on a diet of cardboard and water.  OK, not that bad, but I am eating too many simple carbs, and not taking enough water and could do with increasing my protein intake.  Helen also had some really interesting things to say about the timing of eating various foods.  She’s recommended a couple of books on the subject so will be looking into this further.

Most pleased with the swimming this week, one session of 4.2Km and another of 4.5Km, so I’m learning to establish a sustainable, if slow, pace.  It ain’t half boring following that line at the bottom of the pool though!

Big week this week, with Ian Murphy putting in some hard sessions, before an easier week at the end of the four week cycle.  I get to mix it up in March a bit with a week in the French Alps, so some running and cycling will be replaced with some cross-country skiing at altitude.  Also, just for fun, I decided to enter a 5 hour endurance race (mountain biking and trail running) which will take place in April.