XC Race

Today I had the second round of the County XC championships and loved every minute of it! It was slightly longer this time as it was 6km. The course was fantastic because it was so muddy and I got stung, spiked and wet which is what XC is all about. I lead from the start and the pace was suprisingly comfortable, over the over the first lap (2 laps of 3km) me and a team mate built up a lead of around 20seconds. I pushed harder through the second lap to try and drop her but she stuck with me. We continued to put more and more time into the others. With about 500m to go I picked up the pace into a sprint and crossed the line in 1st place with 2nd place 10seconds behind and the rest of the field over a minute behind. You can see by this very unflattering picture just meters before the finish line that i was giving it my all, you can always tell when im tired beacuse i bring my knees up!

This afternoon I headed to the pool again for more club champs. We only had time for a 700m warm up but that was ok because it was only 50m f/c sprint. I did 30:21 which was a few seconds off my pb so it was disappointing but expected after the XC race.

Sunday morning i felt pretty sore from the hard bike session i did the day before so i decided to do an easy 30min run on the treadmill in the gym followed by 45mins of stretching and core work to loosen me up. Then instead of our usual 2 hour swim session we had club champs so it ended up being a light day. I did 1km warm up of f/c and b/c followed by a 200m backstroke race... which didn't go too badly.
Monday i had a "legs off day" and just did a 4.5km swim session. We did lots of drills and small efforts but the main set was 10x100m off 1:20, which was tough because i was coming in on around 1:13 so i was only getting a few seconds rest!
Tuesday morning i got a longer ride in, i rode out and back 2hours, the route was really flat but it was somewhere i hadn't been before so it was interesting. The only down side was it was a really busy road but i figured the chances of coming across a dog where slim so that’s why i chose it! lol.
Then in the afternoon we had a 4km swim session and we did 8x125 backstroke, 4x150f/c and 4x8x50 as 25m IM stroke 25m F/c. I also got to do 2x200m pull while everyone else did kick after begging my coach.
Wednesday i met up with my running partner Jutta, we did 30mins at moderate pace then a small set of 3x600m hard followed by 20mins at moderate pace. I felt so light and smooth in the efforts and felt as though i could have done more comfortably, i told Jutta and she says next week i have to do 10 repeats.
Thursday morning I did a 40min run on the treadmill which felt ok but was rather boring as the music/TV in the gym was broken.
In the afternoon I did a 4.5km swim and I wasn’t happy because we did soooo much kick! However we did still get to do some f/c swims as one set was 5x200m target time 2:30 or below.
On Friday my legs were so sore from all the kick and when I went out for a bike session I felt like I was riding with flat tyres. The more I rode the better I felt so I did a 90min loop and headed home to do some serious stretching.
Saturday was a really easy/light day because I wanted to be fresh for my X country race on Sunday. I did a light 30min run then headed straight to the pool for more heats of club championships. I got 900m warm up in before I did a 100m backstroke race.

I've grown!

I drove to Nottingham on Thursday for a full medical and x-ray to prove that i am fit and healthy for my visa back to Australia, and it seems i haven't stoped growing! I even asked the doctor to measure me again because i really didn't want to break out of 5 foot. :-(
So now im 180cm or 6 foot. That has to be it right? no more growing!?
But on a positive note the doctor said i was the healthiest, fittest person he has examined!
Well that took up most of my day but i got back just in time for the swim session, we did 5.3km, nothing exciting mostly 100m repeats and quite a bit of backstroke.
On Friday i went out on my bike and my new chain felt amazing i couldn't believe the difference it was really smooth. I rode for 1hr15mins on mostly flat ground, just turing the legs over and getting back into it after being off for a good week or so.
About an hour later i did a 35 min run on the treadmill as it started to pour with rain. Lame excuse i know.
Saturday i got up and did a 50min run, the pace was pretty good, it wasn't hard and it wasn't easy, afterwards i felt like i had done a good workout. Then i went to my Aunties for a huge lunch with the family which was nice.
Later that afternoon after recovering from lunch i did a 1hr30min ride on undulating ground, some of the hills were good so i was working hard and the wind seemed to change and i ended up being in head wind the whole time. That was probally the hardest session on the bike since being ill, so i guess i will see how i pull up tomorrow.

Feeling weak

Damn I hate being ill, I started training again on Monday but i felt really weak and tired so i took it really easy. I went out on my bike for what felt like the first time in weeks, i rode for about 1hr15 at a comfortable pace. I did have to do a few mins at absolute max pace as i was being chased by 2 big black dogs, which really frightened me. What is it with me and dogs lately? i am actually getting scared of going out running or cycling.
Later that evening i did a swim session, the main set was 4x300m off 4mins but i only did 3.5km then got out, i felt like i was swimming with an elephant on my back!
Tuesday morning I did a 35min run on the treadmill, I started off really easy moving up the pace every few mins until I got into a comfortable stride. Then I had a swim session and although the elephant was still there I did manage the whole session. We did 4.3km which included lots of small distances such as 12x25m, 10x50m, 8x75m, 6x100m followed by 6x150m of drills.
I took my specialized bike to the bike shop for a new chain and retaping of the handlebars so it looks like the cobwebs are coming off the Trek bike if I am going to ride on Wednesday...

Past 7 days

The past week i have been off training becasue i have been ill with gastroenteritis. I am feeling much better today and will start easing back into training tonight with a swim...

I got up early on Wednesday and went for a 2 hour ride, it was really windy and doing a 10% climb into head wind is not nice!
In the afternoon I went on a 13km steady run with Jutta, she was tired so she only made me do 3 short efforts of about 30 seconds. It took me a while to get into the run but once I was warmed up I felt good.

On Thursday I did a 30min easy run then I headed over to the gym where I did 45mins of stretching, some core work and a few light weights.
Later we did a 5.3km swim session. We did 6x250m off 3:30 which was ok because we got loads of rest, followed by 10x100 alternating between backstroke and f/c.

I only did 1 session on Friday, I did a 2 hour ride, nothing eventful, I felt ok even though it seemed to be head wind in both directions!