Sunday 6 January 2008

Rarely one without the other....


Very strange, very very strange. Firstly to be writing this in time to get to bed early (usually it's a mad dash and a later than planned Sunday evening) but secondly because I'm on my own (the reason why I can get to bed as planned!) Tom's currently snowboarding with his pa in Vancouver, in fact right now it's midday for him and while I prepare for bed no doubt he's preparing for an afternoon on the slopes. Our posts are going to be separated by the time difference so Tom's won't appear for a few hours.


I wasn't sure how I'd be on my own it's been so long since we spent any time apart and it's really peculiar being in different time zones. Luckily I'm good in my own company and have great friends around me. I sat with Lies after dropping Tom off at the airport on Friday hoping that she would give birth there and then. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that and babies have a tendency to do what they want when they want, this one being no different! And this afternoon I sat with good friend Jackie in Starbucks chatting away for a solid 3hrs, marvellous, a perfect Sunday.

This weekend was the start of getting used to being in the saddle for a good few hours and it was great to do. On Saturday I went out and did 80miles into the very hilly Dales, I loved it. The weather was crap, really windy on the way out and I had the joy of rain in heavy bursts on and off throughout the ride. It was great to be out again though after all of the hours I've spent in the garage on the turbo so as long as there wasn't a drop of ice or snow I didn't care I was out and I was staying out. Today I did a 60 mile ride and the sun was out, the sky was blue and the scenery was fantastic. Having my foot injury is helping me maintain my planned efforts to focus on the bike this season. I'm only running twice a week at the moment and don't expect great achievements in any of the running races early season, but as long as I can hold this injury off then I don't need to worry about that. For me, as Lance (Armstrong) would say... It's all about the bike! And as long as the weather stays in the positive numbers then I'll be out there riding and riding and riding.

Only another few weeks to go and then I'll be in the 20 week zone and it'll be game on and full steam ahead, race season will be starting and it'll be time for the dog to see the rabbit. After a chat with coach Yelling this afternoon he reminded me that the next couple of weeks are about getting strong so that my body can cope with the intensity of the gruelling Ironman schedule. I've had my share of Winter sneezes now so I'm planning an illness and injury free rest of year.

Right now I'm going to make a hot chocolate and get to bed ready for my 5am start for the usual 5km mixed technique and speed session in the pool.

So goodnight to all in England and good afternoon to the other half of me in Vancouver. Being fine on my own is one thing but being without the other half of you is another so I'm excited about next Sunday when I get to feel complete. X

Until then you'll only see half of me.

H. x

6 comments:

Khara Mills said...

Happy New Year H!
Just thought I'd say hello. Great to hear your ankle is holding up well and what a great result in the Chevin Chase - well done! Your blog continues to inspire me and I'm looking forward to keeping an eye on your progress at the start of what is going to be an amazing year for you I'm sure. Hope to see you next week at runclub, as after a few weeks rest my knee is doing great so I'm running again (just short stuff, no marathons for me this year!) until I can get my scan sorted. Dewsbury 10k for a sub 50 here I come...!
Khara xxx

H said...

Happy New Year to you too Khara. Good news you're back running again. It's a hard slog when you've not done it in a while isn't it! We're doing Dewsbury too although I'm not holding out for anything ground breaking! See you on Tues eve. H. x

Anonymous said...

You can come round to ours for tea if you get lonely H.
Keep smiling

Ady

H said...

Cheers Ady, when I start looking at the turbo in the garage as a way of whiling away a few hours for the evening I'll be on the phone and asking if there's space at your table!! Luckily I'm a busy girl at work this week. I'm planning to ride at the weekend again if the weather's okay if you're not working and fancy a ride into the Dales?

Jevon said...

H... cycle down to us if you like... I reckon it's only a 360 mile round trip.... should be back for tea.
:-)

Jx

H said...

Hi Jevon, Happy New Year. Your comment made me laugh, if I hadn't got such a girly sense of direction I'd have been half tempted to cycle to yours for dinner! Hope all i well with you.

H. x