"So are you ready?"

So are you ready?  This is the question I'm being frequently asked, now that I've finished all my 'big' training.  I answer this question by saying "I guess...I hope!".

The Peak period of my training has been done and I'm now in Taper.  The race in Copenhagen is just over 2 weeks away and it's starting to feel very real.

During Peak, I managed to do two 100 mile bike rides, one in strong winds and rain (which, as we all know, I'm used to by now but still get mightily cross by!).  I also did a 73 mile ride along the up and down roads of North Pembrokeshire, followed by an hour's brick run.  Two long runs - one 2.5 and one 3 hour and a handful of threshold runs here and there.  One 3.2k lake swim, one 3k swim (6x500m) in Cardiff's 50m pool and my usual BadTri club sessions during the week.  I'm quite happy with all that.

A few days into taper and I can certainly feel by body crying out for some downtime!  I went for a sports massage the other day and some of my muscles felt quite different....and not good different.  I usually like having my calf muscles massaged but this time it felt torturous.  Being hit from behind whilst sat in a car at red lights a few weekends back hasn't helped ease the knots in my back either!  Fair play though, my body's done well to withstand the miles and hours of training.

So, for the next couple of weeks, I need to keep ticking over, doing short, sharp sessions and enjoy having more time to do 'normal' stuff at the weekends. 

I'll check back to blogworld in the week leading up to the Big Race!

Train. Eat. Sleep.

Train. Eat. Sleep.  This is all I did over the weekend and I loved every minute of it.

On Friday night, I made sure I wouldn't need to leave the house for anything else over the weekend by buying more than a weekend's worth of food.  I made a big pot of vegetable pasta for Friday's dinner, making sure I'd have leftovers for quick lunches on Saturday and Sunday.

The alarm went off at 5.30am (again!) Saturday morning.  Today I was to do 'The Big Swim', a 2 mile swim event in the Cotswolds.  I ate my big bowl of museli and half a bagel (what I'm planning to eat on race morning) and set off in the torrential rain, picking up Andrea on the way.  The last 3 times I've driven to the lake in the Cotswolds, I've gotten lost and I got lost again.  After mild panic and failed attempts at finding where we were on our fancy but useless 'smart' phones, we found the lake and arrived with ample time.

There was a lovely pre-race atmosphere, the rain had stopped and sun was starting to peep through.  I carefully got into my wetsuit and lubed up.  I was slightly apprehensive, mainly because I get quite bored swimming in open water, especially when there's little or no visibility.  This lake, however, is beautifully clear and there's plenty of underwater entertainment.

The scary fairground siren sounded, and we were off on the 2 loop course.  It wasn't the simplest of routes and kind of zig-zagged all over the lake.  There was the usual scrap at the start but I soon got plenty of open water to swim in and set about maintaining a good, strong steady pace whilst occupying my mind by checking out what was going on with the lake's wildlife.  I saw interesting cotton-wool type plants, tiddlers, a tesco bag and a giant black fish, which shocked me somewhat.

I'm not sure if my sighting was succesful or not.  I took what I thought was the most direct route to each buoy but everyone else seemed to be swimming WAY over to my right.....was I going off course?  Are they rounding the buoys too wide?  Anyway, I found myself  approaching the buoys quite tight and having to turn around them quite abruptly.

I felt good and was enjoying it.  The first lap passed quickly and about 2 thirds into the second I began to wonder what time I was on for.  I imagined something like 1h15.  A little sprint to the finish and I'd finished.  I went to stop my watch and was surprised to find I'd managed it in 1h02.  I was pleased.

A quick change and we were heading back to Bristol.  I ate my flaskfull of porridge so that I was loaded up again for the run Andrea and I would do when we got back.  Home, quick change into run kit, and I was out the door again on a 2.5 hour run.

I ran to Andrea's and we headed towards the harbourside and back towards Temple Quay.  From there we ran through an area I'd never seen before - St Philip's - the site of Bristol's dump.  Nice.

We soon found ourselves on the Bristol to Bath cycle path and maintained our nice marathon pace.  I wanted to test out my race outfit so I'd worn my new tri shorts, tri top and a t-shirt over (I didn't want to feel a tit running around Bristol just in my tri gear).  It was humid and the sun soon came out.  I was desperate to do some training in warm(er) weather so was pleased with the conditions.

Towards the end of the run, my left knee started to complain again and my hamstrings started to tighten but nothing I couldn't manage.  2.5 hours elapsed just as we got back to Andrea's house so it was a perfectly thought out route!  I think I covered around 13.5 to 14 miles and I was very pleased with myself for having done a great morning's training.

I braved an ice bath when I got home and after some Pasta and a For Goodness Shake I promptly fell asleep on the sofa.  Lots of potatoes for dinner then it was time for bed again in preparation for Sunday's 100 ride.

For the third day in a row, the alarm went off at 5.30.  I was quite excited about today though as I knew there was a big group of us heading out and that it would most likely be a fun day out.  Another massive bowl of museli and a bagel and I headed towards Andrea's to meet her and Pete before heading down to the start of the Bristol to Bath cycle path.  There were 9 of us riding!

It was a great ride and I felt good throughout.  Our route took in the Cotswolds, Wooton Basset, Avebury, Calne and Chippenham and was more or less nicely rolling.  We hit a few nasty hills (mainly when we got lost!), Andrea had a nasty fall when her bike acquainted with the curb and I punctured, which made me cross.  It gave me another chance to practise with my new CO2 pump though.

In the last 10 miles my tummy really started to rumble and I was hungry! I always think I'm eating too much when I'm out on a ride but evidently not.  Most people seem to bring snacks like sandwiches and non sports-nutrition cakes so I'm going to need to consider something new (and exciting) to eat.  I think I'm gonna go with Kate's snack of choice - pitta bread spread with peanut butter, cut up into small bits.

When I got home I put on my run shoes and headed out for a quick 10 minute brick run.  My legs felt ok.  Finally, my big weekend of training had been done and all I needed to do now was eat and sleep.....and that I did!

I can't wait until this weekend.  It'll be more of the same but this time in Cardiff with Dan.  Yay.