Saturday 3 March 2012

Hills, wind & heat

Yes tomorrow I am off to Lanzarotte for 30 hours of swim, bike & run training.  The plan is for 2 disciplines a day with the bike being the main feature.  I want to be sure of the hills I will be tackling on 19 May and also confident on the descents which are fast and tricky with side winds.  I need to get used to swimming in the sea which will be a first for me i.e. 2.4 miles in the sea rather than run in and run back out screaming!  I will also be testing out my nutrition and hydration which is critical to my success (and health!).
Yesterday was a rest day but I had a meeting with my coach to go over my previous weeks results.  In addition I needed a sports massage as my glutes were playing up again giving me lower back pain - not ideal before a hard weeks training.  However they are now better but my wife (and yoga teacher) will be giving me some exercises to help while I'm away.
Today is all about packing including the most important item, the bike.  It takes time to get it into the bike box and you have to be so careful with these carbon framed bikes.  It's a relief when you get it to the other end and it's still in one piece!  This afternoon I am giving in to 3 years of pressure and will be shaving my legs so I can pretend to be a real cyclist.  It will certainly make the sports massage easier but I have no idea how good it will look! I'll blog while recovering after a hard days training but if I don't have access to the Internet then you will need to wait till I return with my tales of woe.  Now where did I put that razor.....ouch!