It has taken time and a bank holiday thrashing by my club to bring on any substantial improvements in my performance. Last bank holiday i reminded myself how i used to ride and set myself a target to start tryin' on the bike like I remembered I should. It is tricky when you are trying to get your run up to distance (and speed) and log some miles in the water. I have managed it on and off. With Slateman last week and a week long recovery we went out for a training ride today.
I didn't feel like doing the same old roads but when Andrew suggested we drop in on a friend's art exhibition in Rowley it seemed like the obvious choice.
I have sprinted out on the flat and thrown myself at the hills as best I can and TSK admitting I had given him a run for his money made me quite proud of myself. I managed to cling to his wheel into the head winds up the Rivelin Valley and he didn't have enough time to get his camera out to take my picture on the hill climb on the way home. On the flat, all the endurance rides are finally turning into an ability to turn the pedals faster.
I am now in the bath easing out the tight tendons in my groin. I just don't seem to have the ability to retain my core stability anymore so I am prescribing myself daily yoga until things improve. Sudden twinges of pain are not good.
So tomorrow, some listening to the body but a lot of thinking about Deva tri. Now I have had my rest week, nothing else will do and generally, it's good to know when these things are... three weeks away is the answer.
Where do I want to improve before deva?
I want to keep my bike riding good but speed up the swim and run. I probably need to add a pool session on a Thursday evening and a couple of lunchtime runs which is easier when I know I am focussed on speed not hills. Whether I can make it work is another matter.
From Slateman I need to remember to be fast in transition and stay on it throughout the race. It's not an Ironman and I am not going to regret a bit of discomfort.It's about Re-learning that cold and fast is manageable and trusting myself to do more short, fast sessions and bricks. I think i will actually enjoy it. Flat running!
Last night I did a bit of research on following my dreams. About whether to throw my name in the proverbial hat. Someone who is an alsoran but sometimes comes close to being tenuously capable of meeting incredibly detailed mathematical criteria set down by a committee in suits somewhere in an office in London.
In the end I decided it's not about whether I can commit to make all the progress I can, it's about whether I would be more disappointed to fail than to not have tried and to find that I could have done it, could have made the technicalities and made my dream come true. Let's see if I can make 133% into 120%.
(For anyone unclear about what I am on about, I am being cryptic intentionally and will announce my plan as soon as I am successful... that may be a matter of years.)
(For those that do know what I am on about, please don't think me foolish. I am having a go and we all know it's the taking part that counts. I am pinning my hopes on those technicalities).
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