Well the week started a bit slow with a touch of the dreaded “Man-Flu” coming to visit early in the week when I started to feel a bit crook late on Sunday. Most mere mortals would have quietly curled up in the corner and silently expired, however an Ironman (or wannabe one at least) is made of much tougher stuff!
So, after a bit of a sleep in Monday morning I slowly dragged myself out of bed and made my way to work. Clearly desperately ill, I made sure to cough strategically so that the girls in the office knew exactly how close to death’s door I actually was and to portray my absolute dedication to the job, simply by turning up whilst most would have called their lawyer to ensure their last Will & Testament was up to date.
After putting on a brave show for the majority of the morning, I finally agreed to accept the advice of my peers (as well as their sympathy…………yeah, right!) and head home at lunchtime for an afternoon of napping on the couch and feeling sorry for myself.
Upon waking with the alarm at 5.30 Tuesday morning, I still didn’t feel 100% although I was somewhat better. Clearly not well enough to swim though!
By lunchtime I had the guilt’s and made my way to the pool and got my swim session done and after work got my 30 minute run in as well as advised by Ruley. So it was back on track! The rest of the week I got through all of my scheduled sessions including a 10km run on Thursday morning in the smoking time of 56 minutes. This was my first 10km run in over 2 years………although I did “run” 21km at the Geelong 70.3 in February 2010. You will note I use the term very, very loosely.
So that brings us to the weekend (and a kid free weekend at that) so I was looking forward to getting some key sessions in across both days – a run and swim on Saturday, with a ride and an optional swim on Sunday.
Leaving work on Friday night, my old mate “C’mon it’ll be fun” Fee says she is running Saturday morning if I was interested. Given I was scheduled to run we agreed to meet at 7.30am for a “moderately” long run.
So, all ready on Saturday morning and off we go. We get literally just around the corner when we are passed by friends Ron & Deb on their way to footy. I find out later that Ron commented that “Ayto looks to be running pretty well”. Very kind of you Ron and very much appreciated. However Deb’s response of “C’mon – he’s only just run around the bloody corner!!” leaves a little to be desired. Come on Deb. Get with the program!!!!
Once into the run for 10 minutes or so, Fee says “so, let’s go a little longer” and we are just “going to cruise” this morning. All good thinks Ayto, thinking that slightly longer might be perhaps 11 kms or so.
Unfortunately, when we hit the 11km mark we were way to buggery over the other end of town and the only way home was to run. A quick water stop and it was off again to trudge home. With about a km to go Fee mentions that “this is where I normally pick it up a bit” and sprints off. Not wanting to be shown up too much I also pick up the pace from snail to tortoise and huff and puff my way through the final kilometre back to Fee’s place. I could see Fee’s hubby Grant up ahead out the front of their place doing some work out the front. Despite my cracking pace it seemed to take forever to finally get there. However, we finally made it and I stopped for a quick chat with Grant and to offer some tips on the fence painting that was presently happening…………I am VERY handy.
So, after a break of 5 minutes or so I made the comment that I had better start the 1km run back home “before I seize up”. Hahahahahahahahah – too late!!!
I managed to run around the corner and to the end of the next block where I was stopped by traffic at which time I attempted to start again. Sadly, my hamstrings didn’t think that was a very good idea……….at all. So the final 500m or so was done at a walk, a very slow walk at that.
After getting home and showering, I was curious how far we had actually run, so a quick check of Map My Run reveals a lazy 16km has been chalked up…………Dickhead!!! Shhhhhhh, let’s not tell Ruley.
Time for Brekkie of some scrambled eggs on toast and then a bit of a sit down on the couch. It was about this time that, with hamstrings screaming and knees creaking, that I thought that maybe it hadn’t been such a great idea. So on with the compression tights. That’ll fix ‘em up! Surely……..
Once on the couch and you know what’s gonna happen here right? Yep, lasted about 30 minutes before it was off to the land of nod! 3 hours later, and feeling very much refreshed, it was time for a late lunch. Sadly, in this time my legs had decided that I was indeed a dickhead and that in protest, would pay me back in spades by concurrently locking up, seizing, aching and creaking!
Just gotta give the compression tights some time, right?
So, a low impact afternoon for me and then off to the Footy at Deakin reserve for the Shepp United / Kyabram game and then off to a 40th birthday party. Great recovery right?
Sunday was scheduled for the Shepp Tri Club Winery ride to Monachino winery. A pleasant 50km ride along quiet back roads followed by an afternoon of platters and wine tasting. A bus had been organised to get all home later in the day. A group of 10 left the starting point (and other 2 were riding from the winery to meet us after dropping off the bus) in pleasant conditions with only a little bit of breeze to contend with. Surprisingly the legs felt pretty good. I love those 2XU compression tights!
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| This can't be right - Guysy is on the front of the bunch!! |
At about the 40km mark we finally met the other 2 who turned around to ride in with us. Only 10km to go thinks Ayto, as it was about this time that the benefits of the compression had worn off and my legs were knackered. It was also about this time that Ruley mentioned it was 30km to go given we had taken a bit of a roundabout route. Damn you Ruley!!!
I’m not sure about anyone else but when someone tells me how far we are going, my mindset is on that distance and that distance only. So when it changes, such as it did on Sunday, it cocks me up. It’s not a major thing but enough to make me query why we do all this.
Anyhoo, got here in the end and I must admit it was a great ride. The weather was perfect (and I have the sunburn to prove it) on nice quiet roads with some great company.
Upon arriving and loading bikes and gear up in the trailer we were treated to an awesome spread of cheese and other goodies, along with a selection of great wines to taste. Some chose to taste a few more than others and, as a result, there were plenty of great stories to be heard. For me, I was good and stayed away from the wine and enjoyed a couple of coffees instead.
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| Carol & Row enjoying just a wine or two! |
With such a great afternoon underway no one was overly keen to get going quickly, so it was a late return to Shepp by 5.30 so sadly, the pool was already shut……..Shame really!
Was a great way to finish the week, sitting under the trees with some great company. Awesome.
So the scheduled training for the week was mostly done except for the sessions affected by “Man-Flu”, as follows:
Monday Man flu
Tuesday Swim 1500m (inc 4 x 200m @ 4.05). Total 32 minutes
Run 4.5km (inc. 3 x 1 minute walk). Total 32 minutes
Wednesday Oops – soft
Thursday Run 10km. Total 56 minutes
Friday Bike 44km, Avg 32.1k/hr. Total 1 hr 22 minutes
Saturday Run 16km. Total 1hr 45minutes (approx. 6.30 pace)
Sunday Bike 69km, Avg 29.2k/hr. Total 2 hr 21 minutes
So, all of this resulted in a weigh in on Monday morning of 112.5kg representing a loss of 1.3kg for the week. This is a total loss so far of 7.5kg in 5 weeks. This is probably a bit quick, but it will naturally slow as more comes off over time. Still heading south at the moment, so all good I suppose.
Looking forward to the next week and the extended break over Easter. Will have the kids for a few days of it, but looking forward to getting out and doing a bit as well. Might need to invest in another pair of compression tights!!!
Train safe
Ayto
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