Sunday 15 March 2009

Solar power

Yo, 

I'll get straight into it tonights chaps as Sparky is a happy but tired little boy. 

This week has been a joy, seeing a return to the buzz of training and the contented feeling of ticking off a few more little goals. 

Getting back in the pool has been great, the legs are still a tad tired but the 1km worth of kick in the Tuesday morning session flushed out a lot of the junk. I'm getting a lot of pleasure & satisfaction from my swimming at the moment, seeing some really noticeable improvements in strength, pace & technique. Saturdays session saw a great set of 100m (@ cruise), 50m (@ above cruise) x 15. I lead the lane and managed to hit 1.31/1.32 per 100m and 45 secs per 50m consistently. We're off to the 50m pool at Bath Uni again on Sunday, so another big session will be in store. Bring it on Coach Kev!

A real bonus was riding to & from work on Friday. Its only 9 miles each way, so a nice little blast on the mountain bike was a great way to start & finish the day. I'm hoping to do this more often now that the longer days are on their way. The plan will be to set out earlier, adding on mileage to make it a worthwhile session. Hopefully, these will be some good miles in the bank to complement the longer weekend rides. 

Speaking of weekend rides, today I got out on my new stead for the first time. I'm really stoked with the bike and it was a truly beautiful day. We went through some incredible countryside and it was one of the days when it is a pleasure to be out and you could just keep on going. In the end, I covered 60 miles in just over 3 hours - so really pleased with my return to the saddle. 

My focus will be on building the bike mileage up - getting in some mid-week rides (as per above) and then increasing the weekend rides. The swim is coming along really nicely, we know the run will take care of itself (some speedwork will help), so the bike is the area to focus on. 

This weeks shout-out goes to my mate Ian. Ian completed the Paris Eco-race, covering the 80km throughout the night in 9.5 hours, finishing by running up the Eiffel Trail. Great work buddy!

Let's hope for more & more of this fine weather....natures own energy gel!

Have a great week all, 

Sparky