Week 19

09.05.11 - 15.05.11


The pain in my shoulder was unbearable as I tried to reach up and wash my hair on Monday morning, my arm dropped limply back to my side and my thoughts moved onto Wednesday swimming... Hmm, would I be able to swim. This was a big concern for me as I was working late on Thursday and wouldn't be able to make the lake swim... I immediately started to re-jig my training plan for this week. It was my rest day today and with a 12 hour work day ahead of me and a duathlon time trial on Tuesday I was quite glad of this. By the end of the day my shoulder had eased up but only slightly and I decided to stay away from the water for the rest of this week, just to be safe. 


I woke up on Tuesday morning with my shoulder still incredibly painful but a little more mobile than yesterday. I was really looking forward to tonight as it would be my first BAR for the season and having done LOADS more exercise than last year I was eager to see an improvement in my times from last year. However... it was not too be. Thanks once again must go to work for keeping me at work for over 13 hours without any warning. I got home fairly late and feeling knackered I made a simple supper and crawled into bed, sulking a little, just a little.


I was determined to not let Wednesday go by without at least a little exercise. It was an early start at work and so no chance of an early morning workout, and with my shoulder still hurting there was no chance of swimming. I ended up staying at work longer than planned again and got home exhausted, however I got my lazy ass off the sofa and my feet into my running shoes and set off for a run. I got back an hour and 15 minutes later feeling on top of the world with a renewed sense of energy and purpose. I managed to run at a pretty decent pace for the whole time and still felt like I would be capable of running longer and further.


I had Thursday morning off as I was running a dinner at work and so after a relaxed breakfast I climbed on my bike and headed to my 'favourite' hill... I am feeling much more comfortable on my bike and the legs were turning nice and easily as I hit the hill. I cruised over the hill in a much higher gear than normal, shot over the top and screamed down the other side. I turned around and headed back up the hill and crested it STILL feeling strong. I got home almost bouncing with excitement at how much stronger I was feeling on the bike. 


My shoulder was feeling much better on Friday morning and there wasn't a hint of the shooting pain that had been plaguing me throughout the week, instead it was replaced with a very sore throat and a little snotty nose. I finished up at work at a reasonable hour and once home, I looked up the course for the 10k race I was doing on Sunday. I slipped into 'something more comfortable'... for a run and went into town to try and follow as much of the course as possible. I ran a little further than the distance but still managed a PB over 10km's (51 minutes) and this made me feel very positive for Sunday.


The alarm sounded very rude at 5:30am on Saturday morning as I left dreamland behind and stepped into a  reality of cold air and a still very sore throat. I munched down a nice breakfast, woke Laura up, made some coffee to go, woke Laura up again, loaded my bike into the car, dragged Laura out of bed, paced up and down in the lounge waiting for Laura to get dressed and eventually set off for the Lake... I was a bit wary about the shoulder as I squeezed into my wetsuit and dived into the lake. It was beautiful, the sun was out, the wind was nowhere to be seen and my shoulder felt good. I managed 5 laps before I felt a small twinge in my shoulder and called it a day, well at least until the Pre-Blenheim coaching sessions. As with last week I was involved in taking open water newbies out in preparation for their first open water triathlon and once again thoroughly enjoyed passing on my experiences to others. I climbed out of the lake, threw my wetsuit into the car and climbed on my bike and headed off home. I recognized the feelings in my legs from the Reading triathlon and worked hard at getting them used to being used. I made it home in good time with a headwind the whole way. As the day progressed I started to feel a little down, as the last 5 weeks training just hadn't been going according to plan and I was feeling as if things were just slipping away from me. I tried to push these thoughts out of my head and spent the day with Laura trying not to think about training or Ironman. I think I was over tired from working crazy hours, fitting in training and feeling ill, what I needed was an early night and by 9:45 I was in bed, snuggled up and heading into a ibuprofen induced dreamland.


I was a little nervous as I sat and ate breakfast on Sunday morning in preparation for the 10km Oxford Town and Gown. I was hoping for a sub 50 as I had managed a 51min on Friday, I had jokingly said to Laura that I would aim for a 45min race...yeah right, I would be lucky to make a my PB with the way I was feeling (snotty, coughy and a sore throat). I lined up on the start line in the sub 50 group, spotted a couple of other OxTri guys and set off. I tried to go away with the OxTri guys but by the first corner they were gone and as I glanced at my Garmin i realised I was running way too fast... I Settled into a nice pace, faster than normal but thought that I would see how long I could last before slipping into my normal pace. I just kept going and going and with 2 km's left I felt like I was able to make it in 45 mins. I sped up just a little bit, rounded the last corner and saw the finish line, I put my hea down and went for it and as I crossed the line I looked down and saw 43:58!! 43:58... I had shaved 7 minutes off my personal best, I couldn't believe it but it was there. I was over the moon and all the negativity I had felt the day before disappeared. I had managed a sub 45mins for a 10km race... 


So this week had its ups and downs, injury and illness mixed with a couple of Personal Bests. Work is getting more demanding and with more and more early morning starts I am struggling to see where I can fit in morning training sessions. However I make my weekly plans and I stick to them as much as possible. This week I managed 9 hours and covered a rough 150kms... not enough but better than nothing.


W