Sunday double

I was lying in bed around 7am this morning looking for excuses in my mind as to why I could not train today. The best I could come up with was calling Philippe to say I'd forgotten that it was mothers day and that I had booked lunch for Alison and so I could not train.

I went out for the papers and croissants just after 8:30. I came back and Team Kennedy manager asks me right away. Have you called Philippe ? I said not yet but I've sent him a text as he may have been out last night and he doesn't need me getting him up before 9am. I was secretly hoping he was also looking for an out....no such luck. He'd done 60k on his bike yesterday and was as keen as ever.

Texts were exchanged and I managed to negotiate us down to a 45K cycle and 17k run. Philippe was looking for the full 90k cycle plus a run of 15k minimum. I said I'd do the full 90 on the bike but not the run as well....Thats how it goes when your heart isn't quite in it yet. Even once we agreed 45K and we were out on the cycle leg I was still lying to myself that I didn't need to do the run leg when I got back anyway....

It was a fantastic day weather wise, sunny and blue skies. Only downside was that it was a little windy. We set off for Namur and traffic and other cyclists excepted I was managing to hold my own and not drop back too much. Only fly in the ointment was that after 20 minutes when I had a look at my computer I could see my pedaling cadence wasn't showing up . When I looked down I could see the crank attachment had fallen off at some point. Needle in a haystack to find it on the way back and I was pretty pissed off as I only bought it two weeks ago..

We were soon heading down the N98 and I was as usual sitting just behind the point where all the hard work was being done, straight into the wind. Once on the main road and off the cycle path and into our rythm I didn't get dropped. I had to work hard on the hills but I managed not to fall too far behind at any point. After what felt like no time at all Philippe said we were halfway and had to turn back. I did at this point offer the 90K option but no run but Philippe said we needed to do a double session. He was right of course and I was thinking well I could just do the 90K and be done. Avoiding the horrors of the bike-run transition on a sunny Sunday is well worth cycling another 45km for. We turned back and the run leg was still on.

On the way back I even had the cheek to lead for a couple of km's but it was with the wind in my back and it gave Philippe a chance to have another picnic on the bike. Normal service resumed on the N5 and I did drop back a bit with about 8KM to go as I was looking for the bit that fell off my bike. Amazingly I saw it and picked it up and so I now just need to put it back on. We finished 45K in 1hr:28min which is a good time and I felt OK.

Running gear on but my watch wasn't working right as I needed to change the battery and didn't have the time to mess about. I ran again in my cycling shorts and just changed my tee shirt. I managed to stretch my legs on the bike by standing up on the pedals for a few hundred metres and they were not as heavy as they felt last week when I did the bike-run session.

It was pretty hot now and I was happy I'd downed 500ml of sports drink on the last 2km on the bike, I knew that last time out I hadn't taken on enough fluid and I could feel the positive difference this run. I was however having to drink when I didn't feel like it, just ramming it down my throat for effect. Like drinking cans of warm lager before a school disco.

Our pace was pretty even around the 4:40 per km mark for the first 4km. Then we dropped to around 5:00 per km. We went round by the school to avoid M.Hedgehog but instead of one big climb you get faced with a much longer medium climb that really saps your legs.

I was pulling a little distance out on Philippe as he was suffering in the heat as he had a black top on and with long sleeves. His knee was also taking no prisoners. I was though expecting him to pass me like a steam train at any moment.

I finished the run and although the last 2km were a little sore on my legs I was still in pretty good shape at the end and adding another 4km would have been possible for me to do the full 21k.

I ordered tri bars and a tri suit this week to hopefully claim me a couple of minutes on cycle and on the transitions. The suit you wear for the whole race and despite it making you look like the wettest gay in the village it does speed up transition as once out of your wetsuit you are only ever changing shoes. I saw the positive side of the suit for others in the race two weeks ago.

The tri-bars allow you to have a much lower position on the bike and improve your aerodynamics. Therefore making it easier to keep a slightly higher pace, especially on flat sections.

Legs currently feeling OK but I know I've been out. I'm in the UK this week so training opportunities will be limited. I will be taking my running gear and my swimming gear though.