I’m just back from leading a training camp in Malaga. Training time was limited so my goal was to maintain my fitness and be fresh enough to complete the Etape du Dales, the day after our return to the UK.
I still had a slightly sore Achilles when I left so my goal was to complete 2-3 x 30min workouts and wake up the next day without any pain. I’ve managed to do this so I’m happy that the problem is now in the past.
Yesterday we (some of the Malaga camp athlete and I) completed the Etape http://www.etapedudales.co.uk/. It was a tough day with a tailwind for much of the 2nd half of the ride and rain for the last 90 mins… which is exactly what I am expecting for the Norseman, so I was quite pleased.
I’ve proved that my endurance is good and I guess my strength is sound too as I was never red lining on any of the climbs BUT I’m not sure I could have run a marathon yesterday. I also developed a pain in my right glute at about 90 miles which then developed into tightness in my right adductor (inner thigh) It happened a few time son long rides last year and I thought that I had managed to overcome this with stretching and specific gym work. I suppose it’s back to the drawing board.
In summary the last 2 weeks have been good. I’ve moved on from the Achilles problem and finished a very tough endurance ride. In the next 12 weeks (10 actually if the last 2 weeks are tapering) I have some work to do but I’m very confident that I’ll be on the start ramp in good state.
In the next update, I’ll outline just what I aim to achieve in the next 10 weeks.
Stay healthy & have fun
