Jackie D - Week 39

Week 39 - starting Monday 11 June 2007

Actual hours: 8hrs 33mins

Recovery weeks don’t seem to get any easier. I have been mooching around like a lost soul this week and I feel sorry for my husband having to put up with me. It got so bad with me not having to do much that I ended up not wanting to do anything. In fact one day this week, I had an hour easy bike ride to do. Kids were at school and I just kept putting it off and off. It’s not that I don’t have other things to do (I am trying to landscape our garden) but I just didn’t want to do them. So at 2.15pm (first of kids gets back at 3.30pm) I decide I have to do this bike ride or I will regret it. But I become a bit of a rebel. I don’t change clothes into cycling shorts etc. I just put $5 in my pocket and hop on in my civvies aiming at Starbucks for a nice chilled drink to sip on my way round my easy bike ride. Of course once I get going I felt much better and just pedalled around….and I never did stop at Starbucks - although I did make myself a wonderful, healthy smoothie when I got home J

Since that point I have got out my book of Mental training and have been working my way through that again - after all they say Mental training is another of the aspects of Ironman.

However, there have been lots of positives this week. Many small, but they all add up. I managed to zip my own wetsuit up for the first time ever. I wore my new running skirt for the first time and it felt so comfortable and made me feel all girlie. I got a flat tyre on the way back from an easy ride and I successfully changed it in under 15 minutes (first time ever for success on this bike out on a ride). OK I checked the pressure when I got home and it was only 70psi but a vast improvement for me- and I managed to get the tyre on with my hands (must be my old bike that is just very difficult).

As an aside, I noticed towards the end of my long bike last week that my left hand got really weak and I had trouble using my fingers to change the gears - in fact I ended up having to push with the palm of my hand. I assumed it was just overuse (see Mary, changing gears lots, that’s good for Placid right?) and it would go away quickly. Well it’s taken the best part of a week to feel normal again. Have to see what happens next week.

The week ended on a big high note. Early Sunday morning, I met some people I have got to know from a triathlon website for my very first ride around Canandaigua Lake. I got introduced to some hills I have only heard about (and others pointed out to me) and it was a thoroughly enjoyable 2 and a half hours. Even though I was called a cissy for going into my granniest of granny gears pretty much at the bottom of Millers hill. I got up it - before anybody else - so it must have worked. Spin spin. They were just jealous they didn’t have a granny gear bike like me! It was all in good humour though- perfect weather, perfect scenery and great company. This was my first group ride as well so it allayed some of my fears about that. It was casual and one of the guys taught me a bit about drafting. I had a go but really don’t like being so close and not being able to see much in front of me. He told me I had pulled him up a hill though so at least I can say I took a turn at that. When I got home, this ride was followed by bike ride to a restaurant with the kids and hubby for lunch, orienteering in Webster park and then miniature golf - an excellent day!

Now I have to get my training head back on for the last 2 big training weeks before we go into the 3 week taper to race day.

5 WEEKS TO GO