Finished on a high

Today was the best day of the week.  Great weather, wind was slightly less and we covered 75 miles.  The mad roadies (the cyclists) went off to beat each other up over the hills but my strategy was to go out in a small group of 4 that were more interested in an easy ride as their legs had covered more miles than mine during the week.
At the first coffee stop we met the roadies who were puffing and panting - they would have left me for dust if I'd tried to tag along.  We didn't maage the original target of 90 miles but all the statistics on the 75 miles made good reading for me - right on Ironman pace and considering we climbed 4,200 feet and still averaged 15 mph I was happy with that.
I came to Lanza wanting to get through the week without creating a problem following the flu.  I feel so much fitter and also more able to tackle the hills which are always a challenge.  So in May I have the etape caledonian, in June the 70.3 IM and in September a 90 mile race with huge hills.  This will all help prepare me for Lanza IM 2012 and I now feel I can do it!  Back to the rain and snow tomorrow.  In the meantime a few well earned beers and pizza are the treat tonight - tomorrow's a day off!