What a day!

It was a 5.15 am start to the day and a big plate of porridge before setting off for one of the most beautiful areas in Scotland, the Trossachs.  It was zero degree when we set off for the 100 mile hilly course and for the first 20 minutes I had lost all feeling in my fingers despite wearing winter gloves!  The first hill warmed me up and I worked hard with my 4 team mates.  This resulted in a time of 6 hours, 1 hour under the time I mentioned yesterday and with an average speed of 16.7 mph, this is the fastest I have cycled in a race of this distance - actually only the second time I have completed this distance.
The course involved 5,500 ft of climbing which is 2,000 feet less than Lanzarote so ideal as a training race before Lanza.  Cycling past lochs that were shimmering in the sun really made the journey a pleasure.  So home for pasta, hydration, a bath and into my compression gear to promote my recovery.  A day off tomorrow from training so this will help me recover but on Tuesday I have a 2 hour 35 min run in the morning and a swim session in the evening.  The next couple of weeks are going to be tough.