12k lunchtime jaunt

10K in 50:40 and 12K total in just under the hour. Nice easy run and didn't feel any strain, bit of a sore toe on left foot but hip was fine and with no painkillers....

5K runner

So first run since my injury at the weekend. 5K with the dog and everything felt OK. Then I did a Cooper Fitness test and the results were good with a 2.67km run in the 12 minute window. Hip was OK this morning. I'm out for dinner tonight so I'll do a 12K run at lunchtime.

When skin meets the road

So 90KM fun run to Namur and back on Sunday. Its been sunny and nice all week. I had a full rest day on Saturday after 7 straight days of training, so i should have been fresh. On Sunday its pissing down and we're back to standard Belgian weather. I faced this trip with a little trepidation as the previous outing was a lot of hard work and at least it was unknown then. This week its fresh in my mind what is coming.

We set out in something just short of torrential rain. The first 40 minutes giving us a full and thorough soaking. I was cold for the first 20k and it was hard hard work and Philippe was way out in front for much of the way. I was struggling to get above the 30kmph mark on the flats and my legs felt heavy and it felt like I was cycling with the brakes on for the first hour.

My right knee was sore and I was getting cramp in my right calf. I'm sure it was down to changing the pedal cleat positions last week, this was in an effort to try and put the pressure point more forward onto the ball of my foot and to stop my heel rubbing on the crank. We got to Namur around 5 minutes outside the 3 hour 90K schedule. I was slow and fighting the bike the whole way out but this wasn't as bad as I thought.

On the way back I was getting a bit of a second wind around the 60KM mark and Philippe was pulling less distance in front and if I got the draughting just right I could stay on his wheel on the flats and uphill.

Disaster struck around the 70KM mark, we'd been in a good rhythm for about 10KM and I was starting to really feel good. Sitting right on someone's wheel you can't see in front, so you just watch the your front and his rear wheel and pedal. Philippe hit a big puddle with a hidden hole. I followed him a fraction of a second later. We're doing between 32 and 35kmph, so not slow. My front wheel washed out and hit the kerb. I'm up in the air and thinking 'this is going to nip a bit'. Crash right onto the road, still attached to the bike and then it hits the road and flies off my feet and into the middle of the road. Luckily no traffic on the road. All the hard points on the right of my body have taken a hit. Ankle, knee(below,on and above) , hip and elbow are all now minus skin. My hands are fine as I had gloves on and my head is intact as I have my helmet on. Bike handlebars took the brunt and handlebar tape is ripped away on right hand side and left hand brake lever is bent and some metal removed , same for left brake but less so. Apart from that its working.

Last 20KM were painful once the shock passed. I tried to get back on the bike as quickly as possible as clearly hanging about while soaked but with nothing broken isn't sensible as I'd just have stiffened up. I clocked off the 90km in 3:18 but there was some dispute over the actual distance as Phlippes odometer said 80 something and mine said 90. Regardless it was the same distance as last week on the same device and I was 4 minutes slower. So OK in my view despite the conditions, obviously apart from the fall.

I'll be out of action for a few days as my hip is swollen and still very painful. I'm also off to the UK for work tonight so options are limited. I have photos of the injuries and I might post later.

Quick Fix

Change of plan tonight, I was looking to hit the big 50M pool and try the long swim session. However it only opens at 6pm and late on Wallis got offered a sleep over elsewhere for a change so Alison and I decided to take the chance to go out for dinner and the table was booked for 7:30pm. I did a quick 33K wandering around locally on my bike and returned just before 7 to get showered and out. 1Hr10M for the 33K so not mega fast but a nice run on a nice evening, I even raced a moped.

I burst the blisters tonight and the toes are not so painful now.....I've trained every day in the last week.....

Spinning

I tried a spinning class at the gym last night, pretty good workout on the cardio side and the legs took a fair bit of punishment. Its hot in there too so plenty of sweating. I suppose on the bike this normally evaporates in the wind but it just builds up in the gym. Good fun.

Round and Round

I went swimming late last night, after what felt like a hard swim the other day I decided I needed another look at my swimming again. The pool was empty, just me. Its 17M by 8M so I decided to swim round in circles non stop...I managed to do it 22 times without stopping then someone came in. So I then went on to do 17M lengths and banged out 50 x 17M but didn't breathe at the turns. When they left I then churned out another 10 full circuits non stop...I'm worried that swimming in a pool with the breathing at the turns is too easy in comparison with swimming non stop. I was certainly swimming slower as I was turning a fair bit but I did manage to swim the distance without stopping so panic over.....I was swimming for a full hour.

Early bird, gets the 17K

Up at 7am and out. Its as good a day as we get in Belgique and I needed to make the most of it. I did first 10K in 53:10 and the whole lot in 1:29:43. I've not run off my training blues yet so this was a slog and a drag. I don't feel like it and am fighting the demons in my head with every session. I was wearing my new schoolgirl type compression socks and managed to pick up two blisters on two toes on each foot....bravo. I'm flying to the UK for a couple of days work so my training opportunities are very limited till Thur/Friday as I won't get back till around midnight on Wednesday. If you want to see what hard work looks like on my toes...click the photo :O)..Its not safe for work or anywhere else for that matter

Monday Monday

Monday Monday first day of the week. I slept like I was in some type of coma for most of last night but woke about 4am and was strangely disturbed about something, I'm not sure what but was just generally feeling bad. The sensation reminded me of those dark nights following a weekend session on the beer, ooh how long ago that was.

I was a bit stiff this morning but not dead on my feet or anything. Swim session at lunchtime with Philippe the Dolphin was interesting. It was my first time in a longer pool(30M) and the distance was very very different even though its only an extra 13M each lap. I was OK but a little tired after the first 8 or 10 laps. It was pretty different and I needed to adjust. It was also busy and you had to just keep swiming in your lane to keep your place in the circle. Overall the longer distance is better and I obviously just need to do more. I lost count somewhere as the whole thing was a bit disorientating to me but I swam for about 40 minutes and probably did about 1km.

I came home around 6:30 and thought I'd try and change the bike settings a bit as I'd said yesterday then do a few hill sprints. I raised the saddle another 1.5cm and moved my cleats forward and a little to the left.

I left and right away I wanted to throw the towel in just cycling to the hill and its only 4km away. However I told myself I'd do 1 climb then go home. Then once I got back down I said 2 , then I'd stop at 5 then once I'd done 6 I needed 7 to make it sound reasonable for my blog. At 8 I was almost at 10 and so kept going. I did manage to get about 80% up the hill on the last try without getting out of the saddle and without getting out of the big chainset. I'll get the whole way up without getting off the saddle if it kills me. Not a session I enjoyed and I think I may have actually cried at one point and may even have done 11 as I think I double counted 5 as I was too busy finding ways to lie to myself and added in one extra.

This is not a high point in my training, I'm just existing and torturing myself to get fitter.

The Suffer fest 90K

I called Philippe late on Saturday . It was originally his idea for us to do a mid life crises Half Ironman, on reflection I'm surprised I'm actually still speaking to him. I asked if he fancied a duo bike ride on Sunday. The weather was looking to be good and he was more than up for it. At this point I'm getting my excuse in early in that he has been cycling about 20 years longer than my rather youthfully exhuberant 3-4 months experience. We'd do a straight 90K by going to Namur and back. A distance that Philippe himself said he'd think twice about doing in his car, just to get to Namur.

Out down N5 then N93 and back the same way, so our sense of direction isn't too strained. We left about 11 and at the 5K mark I knew it was going to be a very long day for me. I was struggling to keep the same pace from the off. We ticked off the first 20K in 40:30 which shows me that sub 40mins for the 20k is actually physically possible if not mentally at the moment.

I was OK when draughting him but I couldn't the whole way and I lost his wheel at every rough spot on the tarmac. Then struggled to get it back. This pattern would continue and he would continually add 5-10M to the gap at every rough part of road or on any hills and I was needing to bust a gut to keep the distance between us to a minimum. I was better on the smooth tarmac sections but I was dependent on the traffic lights being red or Phillipe having a regular picnic stop to make sure we got home the same day as each other.

A few learning points from today though which is surely the point of the whole madness. Firstly my saddle was too low and I did adjust it and it felt better on my legs if not my nether regions. I might actually put the saddle up a little more. I might also look to see if I can raise the bars a bit too. Secondly my cleats are not straight on my shoes and so I'm rubbing the crank leg with the back of my shoe on every revolution of the crank. Therefore I need to adjust them to keep my feet straighter in the pedals. Thirdly and most surprisingly I got very little speed benefit of getting out of the saddle and could see I wasn't making much more progress on Philippe or the frequent gap despite punishing the thighs , the only real time it made a difference was on one hill where I needed to get out the saddle to make sure I didn't need to drop out of the big chainset.

I definately got pulled along by trying to keep up with a faster cyclist and the time for me was pretty amazing at 3:14(bike computer) for the 90K. I can say with a very high degree of certainty that I would not have got that time on my own as I'd have went slower on some(many) sections. I can safely put that down to my low pain tolerance when I'm out on my own or in fact at anytime.

Anyway a top session and its much better fun and more rewarding than doing it on my own. So 'Chapeau et Merci' Philippe.

King of the Molehills

Its difficult training to be King of the Mountains in Belgium, with the obvious exception of the magnificent Lucien Van Impe even in the Professional Peleton the Belgian and Dutch riders are known for being weak on the real hills. :O)

So another hill sprints session awaited my return on Saturday afternoon. The same venue as last time, up the Policeman's hill. This time with a couple of fans(Policeman and a Gardener) who chatted and watched my repeating torture with no more than a nod of the head on each climb.

I did 10 repeats so 10K up and 10K down with a total climb of about 500M...Nothing huge but I managed it all without stopping and my average lap time was quicker than last time out. It was pretty hard but I didn't die and I managed it all on the big chainset so a 6% gradient on the big chain. If I started to lose traction I just got out of the saddle and went up a gear or two depending on how sore it was on my thighs. If it was especially painful I would go up the two just for punishment, its a great way to switch off the pain as your legs soon learn that pain= more demanded effort.

I've know I've got time to go to improve and I know I will get better if I keep up the sessions so its all pain in the bank. My next goal will be 20 non stop repeats but I'm not thinking about it too much or I'll have nightmares. I did a quick 20K warmdown run and after the hill climbs it was a real pleasure, even the other hills I rode on the warm down I just powered right up them as they were never anything as steep as I'd been doing. I actually enjoyed just blasting right up them at full tilt :O) So a total of 40K , a wee jaunt in distance terms but a good hill practice session.

Noordzeefest

We were in the not so sunny Netherlands for a couple of days to end the Easter school holiday week. A chance to have a beer or two and hang out with my 3 girls, we stayed at Hotel Noordzee in Cadzand Bad which is just over the Belgian border, not that you'd know as there is no indication of Belgium

ending and NL starting .

No exercise other than a few big walks with the dog and a 15 minute swim the the North Sea....A chance to try getting into an out of my wet suit and of course to see what its like to swim in. First thing is that its as tight as a Dutchman's wallet so not easy to get into or out of.

On the positive side it adds massively to your bouyancy and of course I'm in the sea so the salt water helps. You could just lie back and even when fully exhaled you didn't sink. The air temp was about 14C and I think the water temp was around 5-8C so pretty cold. However apart from my hands, feet and face you would not really know. I swam out a fair bit but the salt water was murder in my mouth and the big waves/rollers were difficult to swim against plus the tide was going out. So I was a wee bit worried about getting too far out :O)

Coming back in against the tide was much harder than going out but it wasn't particularly difficult or worrying. I just had to keep checking I was heading roughly back into the shore and of course it took longer.

5K Appetite Builder

Quail for dinner and Wallis is at her friends so Team Kennedy Manager and I need to eat 3 each. I went out for a 5k run with the dog....nothing serious just a leg stretcher in to finish off a great evening. 32:41. Weather been great all weekend....now for my dinner

Hill Sprints

I've checked the bike race course in Switzerland again and 320m climb over 10K TWICE is way more climbing than I've been doing. I found a little 1km long hill nearby with a 43M climb over the distance. I went up and down it 10 times....nice way to spend an Easter Monday holiday. I managed it all in the big chainset and even had fun chasing down 3 other cyclists who took the same route, oh how they laughed when they saw me turn round at the top and go back down. I found the chase gave me a lot more oomph than just doing it myself. Its hard to be just as self motivated when you are not in competition.

Out of the Saddle

Pretty tired this morning but I was nicely wakened by Team Kennedy manager with a cup of tea. Then a surprise visit by the Easter Bunny had myself and Wallis scrambling round the garden looking for Creme eggs. So not the worst start to a Sunday. I had breakfast and read some more of my latest cycling book "A Dog in a Hat" by Joe Parkin. A fantastic read if you are into Cycling and very funny if you are a foreigner in Belgium.

My hands were still numb from yesterday and my backside is pretty sore, I've taken to lathering on the Sudocrem(No I don't know either how we managed to have nappy rash cream in our bathroom). This has helped a little but probably only mentally. I'll need to check my books but the cream lathering may be a part of the Team managers job.

I choked down 3 expressos and a couple of bags of Quavers followed by a sports drink and a bananna. You are what you eat as they say. Anyway I'd put it off long enough and needed to get out there.

I was going to do some repeat hill climbs but with the race still 8 weeks today away I decided to leave that a bit longer and nearer the race. A quick time trial on the 20KM circuit will be the best test to see if my week away has helped.

I'm away quick and really hammering the first 4km. The first hill is Hedgehog hill and its about 500M in length with a climb of maybe 50M-60M, so not a wall but steep enough for you to know its there. I decided coming through the village that I'd climb all the hills out of the saddle today. I'd also try to stay in the big chainset the whole trip. No messing about like a mountain biker now I'm on a serious bike...lol

I'm about 75% of the way up when I'm forced to finally drop into the lowest gear in the big chainset...I'm pivoting the bike side to side but managing to keep the wheels pretty straight. I'm panting like a dog in the heat, although its far from being hot. Over the top and I've stayed out of the saddle the whole way and then down the steep drop into Ohain, 55kmph on the computer. It would be great if the road wasn't like something you'd expect in a warzone with holes and cracks covering most of the surface. Its impossible to miss all the bumps so I just brave through trying not to think what it would be like to leave a shoulder on the road at this speed.

The next hill starts right away and is about 700M long but not quite as steep. I manage to stay out of the saddle about 50% of the time. Its too much for my back and legs to take and they are turning to jelly. I do however still manage to stay in the big chainset.

Along the flat section and up the hill past the Church at Ransbeche, I'm feathering the pedals as the lights are at red. they change to green but I'm still too far away to make it so I flip over to the pavement and cut the corner then cross over and am back on the road.

The next 3KM are nice road surface and wind only slightly in my face. I'm keeping above 30kmph on most parts. Down past Carrefour and onto the cycle path down the N5. I know I'm going well as I've been pushing it most of the time. Up the hill to La Retro Club and past the Brothel. I don't look at my time as I want to keep it going regardless and I'm worried my head will kill off the effort if my time is OK or not OK. Down into Plancenoit and then up the last big hill again its about 500M in length and a rise of maybe 50M. I creep to the top having been out of the saddle more than 75% of the way up.

Down and into the house 42:29 is the time and I've smashed my previous best....it must be the cream. I'm pretty tired at the end and need a couple of minutes to get my heart rate down and drink my bottle.

108 not out

I had a reasonable sleep on the flight back but was still a little out of it in Heathrow waiting for the flight back to Brussels. Trying to change money at the BA customer services desk thinking it was Thomas Cook Travel proving the point that I wasn't quite switched on. I managed to stay awake till 23:20 last night to try to get myself into a normal sleep pattern. That was difficult as I was nodding off most of the evening. I woke up the first time around 7am and then at 8:40 I was forced to leap from bed as Team Kennedy manager went downstairs without switching off the house alarm. So its as loud an alarm clock as is imaginable so I was definately up then. A shower and easy breakfast of Museli, two bananas, two expressos and a 350ml sports drink.

I filled my bottles with my sports drink mixes and added some ice. The new bottles are 500ml each so plenty of juice to make sure I avoid the Bonk. I'm mixing my own drinks now using Isostar powder, it seem to be OK if a little sticky and the Orange one stains the plastic bottle. I picked up the map, just in case :O) and my mobile and away I went.

So as promised a big bike ride was on the cards. I had the ton in my sights and I went for it. The approximate route is here as near as I can remember andI did take the odd wrong turn here and there.

The bike computer said total mileage was 108.47km and my legs said it was about 508.47. As ever the first 10K was a little stiff as I was still a bit tired but it was a great day here so once I'd been spinning the legs for half and hour I got into it.

I ticked off the first 25km in about 40 minutes and then sank half a bottle of juice. I was on the Bruxelles-Charleroi canal at 50km and finished the first bottle. I managed to stay on the bike today without any mishap but had a couple of near things at junctions. Once where the foot would not release from the pedal at traffic lights behind some doddery old guy whom I expected to go quicker and I ran out of room and another where I released my left foot as normal but for some reason the bike started falling to the right. Panic and quick release of right foot saving my red face...only just though.

I spent a fair bit of the ride out of the saddle on the hills. I was trying to keep my speed above 20kmph and where it dropped below I was forcing myself to add a couple of gears and stand up. I'd stay up as long as possible then drop a gear as I sat down and hold that as long as possible. I would also sometimes when sitting on a hill go up a gear then down after 20 seconds or so to fool my legs into thinking it was easier...surprisingly it works as a technique even though you know its a trick.

Once I was struggling to keep the pace sitting again I'd drop to the next gear then watch the speed and then repeat the whole exercise till I got to the top. I definately found it easier to stay out of the saddle as the day went on. So the exercise was obviously good practice. I even raced a tractor doing 25kmph. I had to time it right so I could get past and then get the hammer down. I just drafted him for a bit then on a straight added 2 gears and got up and belted away. It was bloody magic :O) I was in the big front chainset for the whole ride so standing was making sure I was staying in the fastest mode possible.

Quite a few folk out on bikes today and I found people ahead would spur me on to catch them and drop them.... :O) I was never caught and dropped the whole day but one guy I caught after a 1km chase and then drafted for about 1.5km as we were going down a big hill dropped me going up the next hill. He was out the saddle and I stayed in and he only drew away slowly and got about 200m on me, enough to show me who was boss though . I was over the 95KM mark at that point and I wasn't driven enough to chase him and he went right and I went left at the next junction...lucky for us both I think.

The last 2km were very hard and I think thats really a mental thing. My legs were literally shaking uncontrollably when I got off. My back was sore and my hands/wrists were sore. I still have a bit of numbness in the two smallest fingers in each hand amd the outside of both wrists is painful to touch. My left hand is the worst of the two.

My 90km time was 3:36 and 100KM time was 3:53. I was 4:15:57 for the whole 108.47km This did not count map reading stops as my bike computer stops the clock when the bike stops. According to my watch I was out for 4:28 in total. I took 250ml of juice every 25KM and didn't really have any issues with energy levels. So average speed os around 25km for the ride. I think now I'd be happy with 3:30 in the bike section of the triathlon. I'll do some hill sprints tomorrow following a tip from Karen on this as a way to add some overall speed.

I did a 5km run as a warm down when I came in and took the dog, effectively dropping her at the 4km mark....she is gettting too fat. 5KM time was a leisurely 29:42 but included stopping twice to put the dogs lead on as there were people out on horses. The first 2km were very stiff and my legs felt like they had changed shape. After that the big hills were hard but not enough to make me stop. I could have ran on and 10K would have been OK but I was more than happy to stop.

I have no pain in my foot from last week and all the damage seems to have been repaired.

Ohh the shame the shame

Landlords, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed.
Karl Marx -





So I'm getting ready to take my flight back to civilization, lushing it up in the lounge. Much as I enjoy the US for a visit, its just never really been my cup of tea. The portions are too big, the driving is too random and its the only place in the world where I'm a pessimist. I laughed all the way to the airport as the guy on the radio ranted about the evils of socialism and the inherent dangers of free universal healthcare. So sleep easy mes amis Belgium still safely retains her crown.

I've been a very bad lad this week. No training since Saturday and it'll be Friday 3pm before I'm home and one day of my holiday weekend is so easily gulped down without mercy by business travel. Good news is my foot and ankle pain is all gone.

I managed to sleep till 5:30am this morning, just equalizing in time to come back. So I'll be hitting the bed on the plane as soon as the seat belt sign is off. I'm hoping for a deep sleep fuelled by a BA G&T. I'm not thinking too much about the punishment I'll need to inflict on my tired bones this weekend.

It may not be all about the bike for big Lance Armstrong but it will be for me over the weekend.

Alas Alas Alas.......

Pushing my luck - doubling down and going long

I had intended to run on Friday night but Team Kennedy manager did her ankle in on Thursday at her Bozu class and after she had a very uncomfortable Thursday night in bed I was once more on Friday morning at Accident and Emergency in L'Hopital Braine L'Alleud.....this time suspected broken ankle. I did get my Frequest visitor card stamped.

X-Rays show no broken bone but ligament damage...so to cut a long story short I needed to take Wallis(Team Kennedy Mascot) to her regular physio session after her leg break ski-ing earlier this year as the TK Manager could not drive. You can see a Darwinesque type pattern emerging here...one I'm lucky personally to be avoiding.

So by the time we got back from the Physio I was too hungry to run and then once I'd eaten my Cheesy Pasta I couldn't get motivated so I spent the evening drinking tea and tackling the EU Chocolate Digestive mountain.

Saturday morning and I'm up and feeling good, raring to go in fact. I decided to run today and I'll bike tomorrow on the theory the road is quieter on a Sunday for the bike. I'm thinking 17k route for my run and finished for the day. I can then spend the rest of the day punting via TV and betfair at the grand national meet at Aintree.

I had my museli, banana and necked 500cl of sports drnk. Spent 10 minutes sorting my MP3 and listening to David Coultard(presenters calling him DC) spouting jibberish at the Malaysian Grand Prix, as confused about the race as he is about the difference of being British and Scottish I suspect. The first 4K flashed by and I was very surprised to be into my runners high after 2K and the boys from Keane giving me a very motivated soundtrack.

Top of Hedgehog Hill at 5K and time is OK and I'm feeling OK. I continue and its getting a little warmer so I take off my skins type undershirt. I get to 8K and my time I see is pretty poor. I realise I'm running using my old short stride and everything I learned myself last week has been forgotten.....

I hit 10K in a rather lethargic 52:08...after such a good week in the pool its a big let down. I head down the N5 and reach the turn off for home at 13k but decide to keep going. I'm going long to see if I can run a decent performance out by going long. I get to about 15K and I'm getting pain in the middle outside of my right foot. I loosen my shoe to see if it helps......it doesn't

I keep heading South stupidly away from the hot shower and a drink. I keep going till I get to the cut off for Glabais and then head east again at least no longer getting further away. I stagger out a painful and very tiring 26K in 2:18. I've got a handful of sore toes and blisters and a sore right foot and left knee. I have stretch and a shower/shave. I then hit my bed for half an hour to get some heat into myself. I get up and finish off 500cl of sports drink and a couple of handfuls of dry roasted peanuts.

I don't know why but what started a great session deteriorated to a near disaster and I'm left with a handful of minor injuries. I was wearing my under support shorts and this is the only thing I can see as different from normal. I'll leave them out as my previous problems with groin strains have not been seen for nearly 6 months. Maybe just a dull training day or not enough time from eating to running. I'm not overtraining as I've been checking my resting heart rate every day for the last month and its been getting lower.

L'Homme de Atlantide

So up early to get my first swim of the week in. Don't think I spring out of bed like some hyperactive toddler. I love my bed and hate going to bed and hate getting out of it even more. Once up and dressed I neck 2 expressos and some fruit bread and 500cl of sports drink.

This is a clip from a favorite program of mine from when I was about 10, I can't believe it was big in France as well. All this swimming reminds me of being at school and spending whole days in the summer at Clydebank baths and being forced out of the pool every 40 minutes at the end of the 'Session' to then queue up to go back in again. Then eventually the guy on the door would say "You're not getting in again as your lips are blue" or "You're not getting in again as your towel is too wet" usually in a way too angry voice. I never swam seriously as a kid although I was better than the average at Primary School my lack of height was always a handicap. I never really stopped growing till I was 20 and at the end of 1st year in highschool(I was 12) I was still only 144cm.

I'm in at the open at 8am, in fact a little earlier and even then there is someone already in the pool banging out the laps. I've been reading a bit about swimming this week as I don't feel I'm really making any progress. In fact I'd thrown in the towel on going any faster. Therefore today I decided to dismiss all the gung-ho American theory I've been reading and swim just how I was taught nearly 35 years ago. Long stretch, cupped hand on entry, flat hand on deep pull and put a little muscle into the pull just enough so you feel it in your shoulder. Over arm movement slightly quicker than through water pull so that there needs to be a slight pause in the stroke to keep it all level.

The first 20 laps were sore on my wrists and on my shoulders. However I felt quicker especially at the end on my turn as I was speeding into the wall. Well I thought I was. At 40 laps( nearly 700M) the pain was gone and I was cruising. I needed to concentrate as my mind was wandering and I was losing count then not pulling enough to stress the shoulder a little. Just taking it a little too easy when I was not really thinking about it.

At 70 laps I'm fine, it feels like I could do this all day. I'm still not sure if the short pool makes it harder or easier than a long non stop swim. I try not to breathe now on the turn but its hard and knocks out my rhythm. The stopping at each end kills your momentum and although you make some up with kicking off the wall I think the returns are negative.

I finish my 100 laps and 1.7KM in a rather astounding 36:47 and I powered the last 10 laps and could have just kept going without any issue. I think the new stroke with the added strength I'm getting from the weights sessions is making the impact. I'll obviously be sticking to what I learned when I was first swimming at school. All this rubbish I've been reading about underwater S stroke like your're hold a barrel in front of your chest is obviously not quite working for me.

My previous best for 100laps is 40:13 so I took 3:26 off this which is a big leap forward and I wasn't worn out at the end at all so there is maybe a little more juice in the fruit. I won't be challenging this guy though.....He was a big hero of mine and his stroke was my strongest stroke as well...I wonder what he's doing now.

20K Time Trial

Quick trip round my regular 20K time trial route on my bike to make sure I'm improving. East wind today so first 4.5K are all dead into the wind. Its sunny but air temperature is still cool. I've got my new cycling shorts on...nether region padded up like I've got most of a burst couch down there.

First 4K done and I'm up over Hedgehog hill and I stand out of the saddle about 25% of the way just to get it done. Not so bad and down and onto the next big hill through Ohain, again you know you are going uphill and you're right down the gears but I did the same two hills after 50K on Saturday so its all the less daunting. I stood up about 10% of the second hill.

Its rush hour so the queue at the lights is long and quite a few cars block my ability to go up the inside side, so it takes me longer to creep up but I don't actually have to unclip from the pedals which is good. Round at Ransbeche and its now wind in my tail on smooth tarmac. Flying along cruising between 35 and 40kmph and hardly working.

I reach the carrefour at Carrefour and throw a left through the car park. Back onto the cycle path down the N5, wind from left to right now. I'm 33 minutes to the Nightclub at the far edge of the Waterloo battlefield. It would appear that the locals have little or no reverence for such a historical battle site as there is also a knocking shop(Club Victor Hugo) 200m further down the N5 on the other side of the road. Handy for Napoleon and his Officers I suppose as all the available action is at the French end. It all adds to the rich mix of living on the Condiment.

Sub 40 is a non starter from here at this time split. Down to end of N5 section turn left straight into the wind but its smooth road here so hinderence from the wind is minimised. Down the big hill and up the other side, finish in 46.27 on my watch and 45:47 on the bike computer(it stops the clock when the bike stops). So only 4 seconds faster than my previous time of46:31 but much much better condition at the end with heart rate at only 116 and not really feeling like I've worked too hard. In fact I'm hardly sweating to be honest.