Halfway point! What I have learnt

Well we are officially over the half way point of the 30 week training plan, less than 15 weeks to go now and overall things are looking pretty good! I am completing more than half of all the distances so that must be a positive... right?

Not my greatest week as time training goes. But still a lot of positives to be taken from the week... The bike is up and over 4 hours now, still holding a good speed that should see the bike leg completed in around 6 hours (hopefully!).

The bike route has been released over the last week, which looks good, and I am hoping to ride the route once or twice before the race to get a feel of what I will be up against.

Running is still pretty solid, and I'm still finding it the easiest of the three to do, currently running around 26km in my long runs (taking just under 2 hours) which is a good pace at the end of some pretty tough and long weeks. Will start to add 10 minutes a week i think to get more comfortable on even longer runs.

Saturday afternoon after my long bike I decided a "steady" 30 minute run would be good to keep the legs loose... Obviously this didn't happen and I ended up smashing it as hard as i could for 5km! (stupid I know but it's the way i always am) I was very happy and surprised to look at my watch and see a 18m51s 5km... Personal best by about 30 seconds!

Should I be getting faster when I am meant to be going longer?

Swimming is also going OK, still difficult as my regular pool is still closed, but I'm making the best of it and swimming regularly... only about a month until i can get my wet suit on again!

Sponsorship is going great! I am now up to £200.... 25% of my £800 goal, which is great at this stage with over 3 months still to go. Still quite a bit to collect in and a few people to tap up for some money!

The sponsorship really is pushing me to work harder for this too, I know it sounds like a bit of a cliche but it does.

If you do want to sponsor me. The link and details of the charity are all on the right hand side at the top of the page. Thanks again.

Lessons learnt

Lessons I have learnt from the last 15 weeks...

• A lot of this race will be mental strength, if I can beat the voice in my head telling me to stop, or learn to ignore it, I will be more than fine!

• People are very generous with sponsorship, even when they can't really afford it.

• A lot of people think I am mental... but they only hear half of what I actually do... if they heard the rest they would want me sectioned!

• Eating and Sleeping... you can never have enough of both, when doing something like this

• Missed sessions at the start of the week are virtually impossible to catch up later in the week. One (maybe) can be caught up, but no more.

(Note: The last two lessons, I may have learnt, but I still regularly fall foul of both of them.)



Hoping the next 15 weeks don't go as fast as the last 15, as I might not be ready, also hoping that the next 15 are warmer... I want to actually cycle and run in shorts at some point!

Onwards and upwards!