Upping the ante!!

Upping the ante!!

If I thought the Jan training plan was hard that was nothing compared to February’s! When I got the plan I realised the swim was really getting long now – 3km each time, and Brian had included a 30mile bike ride each week and one of the ten mile runs had a wee surprise – hill reps up Ratho Hill! Still, I know it is what I need to do to be ready for the half Ironman distance.
The first week went really well, did it all and managed it, even if it was not pretty at times. The first time I ran up Ratho Hill I thought there was no way I would do this four times, but I gritted my teeth, dug in and managed it, although the final cool down mile was a grind. The swim sets also took a bit of getting used to, but they now seem like a normal swim, it is amazing what you can get used to.
Although I have been training hard and done almost everything on the plan I have struggled with a few things. I have been travelling for work every week in Feb so this made things a bit tricky, and a lot of sessions were done in gyms rather than outside. Also, I was fighting off a cold until ten days ago when I really went down with it so that put a whole weekend out for training. At least it coincided with snow so I did not lose out twice! The hardest bit has been to do the 30mile bike ride. One was done in the gym – I have now found something more boring than treadmill running! Last weekend I was able to get outside on the bike and it was fantastic to be out. I am so looking forward to the better weather and lighter nights.
I have a bit more travel coming up but am then hoping that things will become a little more reasonable and I can get my life back.
Most weeks have been 10-11 hours training and it has been tough to squeeze it in, but then again when travelling there is little else to do in the evenings so a gym session can be a good way to fill time and stop myself eating too much and spending the evening in the bar!
For interest, my distances to date are:

Jan: Ran 82.5 miles; Cycled 160 miles; Swam 8.9 miles
Feb: Ran 75 miles; Cycled 101 miles; Swam 13.6 miles

Roll on March!!