quick note on a reality check though. caught the highlights of the mens race.... they went through 20k in 59 minutes!!!...... enough said i think you'll agree.
i kind of wish i had raced... just to see how I’d do, but i know it would ruin my training for the rest of the week and serves no purpose for my goals right now.
Saturday was a good day. managed a decent enough swim in the morning then proceeded to miss a local 5k race I’d planned to do because i didn’t get out the pool early enough. the afternoon however was GREAT! Firstly because it was the first time this year I’ve been able to ride in shorts, sleeveless top and fingerless gloves. fabulous day and it was a joy just to be able to do what I do. It’s easy to take for granted being able to train, ride a bike or even do it in some of the places i do. surrey has got a little boring for me recently but its good to remember just how blessed i am to be here and have surrey, Sussex, berks etc to train in. I’m sure there are plenty of people around the world who'd treasure riding through a royal park and past Windsor castle on a sunny day........ hmmm getting off point a little.....but hey.
the second great thing about the ride, was the ride itself. it was easily the best I’ve felt on the bike for A LONG TIME and the numbers backed it up to. having power as a tool means that analysis can be so much more valuable and well... powerful in what i can learn about a session. the numbers from Saturday were good to see and hopefully an indicator that the start of the quality (or in other words plain ugly hard) interval sessions on the bike is bringing me into the bike form i want and need for racing. Tuesday will show more when i race again at Hillingdon, but its good to know that its still in there..... somewhere. i just need to make sure the training keeps bringing it back and in larger quantities too.
its funny and something I’m striving to change , but sometimes too much of my confidence and even current state of mind is effected by 'a recent result' or the last hard training session I’ve done..... and basically how well or not they might have gone. my numbers on the bike recently haven’t been good, up to 3kph off what I’d like or expect. whilst its not been a HUGE issue, its still played in the back of my mind more than it should. since doing the last 2 weeks solid training I’ve felt stronger and Saturday was a culmination of this i guess. whilst there is a lot to be said for the endorphins released by training and enjoying feeling good and training reflecting this, its definitely something i want to change till I’m at a point where little or large blips genuinely don’t influence my confidence. if its (performance level) been there before, then its still there now..... and then some!
at the end of the day, the biggest part of who i am is my faith as a Christian and my relationship with god. all else falls behind this and therefore slowly but surely is being given less weight.
oops.... fallen into 'blogging personal philosophical' rant there. sorry. not a bad thing i guess, just hope u managed to hang in there ha ha!!!
one final thing to mention was Fridays swim test. I’ve tried to do a 1500m TT each month since October with Bridgitte my coach; though i missed last months. i was slightly disappointed to miss out on seeing a 21min time on the watch by a couple of seconds, but was still delighted with the time. it under paced it and miss counting the lengths didn’t push enough for the last 200m or so. plus i was swimming up against the wall which i know in that pool makes you slower. all in all, i recon there was at least 30-45 seconds more i could have taken off this time. whilst not fish like I’ll be the first to admit, its a vast improvement on previous times. baring in mind that i turn like the QE2 and i swim faster in a wetsuit, my target of a low 20 minute swim time by June is looking possible. glens expert advice and coaching is really paying off. i honestly believe i can swim well under 20 sometime in the future.... I’ll keep plugging away until i do...... I’ll still get my backside whooped by a bunch of 13 year olds at masters though ha ha. i genuinely hope that when i do, this will give some others out there the belief that going from a 28min swimming to a sub 20 man is possible for anyone.
right that’s all for now. I’ll hopefully post more tomorrow after the Hillingdon crit.
