End of February Update

Am quite upbeat at the moment. The numbers are probably modest at best but I have indeed built a pretty reasonable base upon which to really build in the next couple of months and then fine tune over the final month.

The raw numbers say February saw me punch out pretty much exactly 1,400km. This on top of January's 1,360km. In reality it has been only a consistent month rather than anything super impressive. I really enjoyed the 400km weekend with the Audax guys and I do really need to incorporate much more of that style of cycling into my training. It is a case of making the time available.

The rest of the kilometres have been just doing the commute with very little weekend riding. I do really miss riding with Dave and Benny who aren't just good blokes who ride bikes but also very entertaining and give me hope that not all Tasmanians are narrow minded puissant bigots.

I can comfortably do the commute into work over pretty reasonable hills and be just as strong at the end of the week as I was at the start. Punching out 80km a day will build a very good base. I feel better when it is really consistent and able to happen days a week but well understand the need to help and be around for Michelle as well.

I am really feeling the need to do bigger rides from about now. Time to step into the lions den so to speak. One of the best parts of the Bronte Park and return ride was feeling so much better on day two than day one. I think you have to go and experience the pain  every now and again. Dip much deeper into the far reaches of your own endurance. I haven't done anywhere near enough of that yet. Have to let the body and brain know what they are in for. I do worry a fraction about how I do that if I am cycling on my own. I have a couple of ideas but nothing firm at this stage.

I did have a couple of dizzy spells last week which worried me a fraction. I have never had anything like that at all before. The first one was at work and I had been staring at the computer screen for too long maybe. Very sedentary. Quite a severe episode where I thought I was going to fall off the chair I was sitting on and queasy enough to worry I would throw up. It passed quickly but did worry me for a bit. The second episode was right at the end of Monday's ride and may have been a bit of over exertion or possibly under-hydrated? I did not have a great ride on Monday evening despite excellent conditions and a very happy day at work. Just wasn't a good day on the bike, happens sometimes. A bit like sometimes without reason you have a very good day. I will keep an eye on things.

My diet has been much better the last few weeks and certainly less alcohol. Am guessing that is a good thing. My weight is right down to 74kg. I don't want or need to lose too much more before the start of the race. It is good to be back to a much healthier weight range and need to consume much better nutrients than I probably have in the past.

Course research is going much better and think I have the top half of the course much better researched. It is one of those areas that you can spend a lot of time and it is probably all well spent in that the more you know, the more flexible you can be. It is all about options and cause and effect. I was hyper aware when I was out there last time how bad my course knowledge was, need to avoid the same mistakes next time. I probably should write things down much better this time as well rather than just attempting to commit things to memory although a lot of it is pretty ingrained now.

I do not have any longer rides or weekends blocked out in the calendar but really need to. I am trying to be a fraction opportunistic and fit in with weekends that Michelle has other things planned. Will work well this month and early April but will have to bite the bullet and force the issue a bit more after that.

Am I fast enough. I don't know if I am going to be able to get much faster. I have noticed that I can have a reasonable commute where I just sit at a comfortable speed and pedal easy until I get home or if I feel great and really push it I only arrive home maybe 10 minutes faster. When I am out on the course, I may well be better suited to never try and push it hard but make sure I just don't have that extra 10 minutes off the bike.

Unfortunately it looks like Robin isn't going to be a starter this year. I had been really looking forward to catching up again but doesn't look like he will be ready. Lots of Australians amongst the starting list. Looking forward to meeting them. The pure number of riders worries me a bit. I am not really interested in a big mass participation ride but after the first couple of days it doesn't feel like that anyway. From what I know of some of the other riders, it is going to be fast up at the front and there are going to be a lot of guys thinking that they are a chance to win this. I will just ride my race but I do want to go much faster than last time. I want to surprise myself.

One thing I have been obsessing a bit about lately was how much I slowed down last time. There were guys passing me who I had been much faster than earlier in the ride that I just couldn't keep with later on. I don't know whether that was a lack of strength on my part or poor nutrition before and during the race or maybe I became ill? I had always pushed it aside n the past and attempted to believe that once Walter got hit, I kind of switched to touring mode. I suspect that all falls into the kidding myself category. I did not have it in me to go faster in the second half of the race, it wasn't psychological, just purely physical. I am hoping to be stronger and healthier this time.