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Thanks everyone :-) It's not hard too miss racing Ewen when you've forgotten what it's like. In fact I have often distanced myself (even further) from racing by choosing not to spectate at races that R participates in. Constantly getting ask why you aren't racing gets a bit old after a while - not to mention after 2.5 years!

I wouldn't say I am back in the game Chris. My 'run' leg revealed that I have a heck of a long way to go in terms of being able to control momentum, particularly when running off the bike. This is going to be crucial if I am to remain injury free as the distance (hopefully) increases over the next few months. But at least I am getting a much better awareness of how my body functions (or doesn't as the case may be!)

I felt incredibly tired earlier in the week but working from home on Thursday & then taking Friday off work helped to make me feel human again.

Mon: swim squad after work was a relatively easy one as most of the squad was backing up from the Nepean Tri the day before (2.45km)

Tue: rest

Wed: 60min pilates w/ Carly

Thu: 8hrs of sleep - unheard of on a school night - and I was feeling almost human again. This allowed me to smack myself during the Spinervals "Big Gear Strength" DVD on the windtrainer in that garage at 6am. 56min including 3 x 10 lunges. 20.6k

Fri: an early start despite being a day off work (yippee!) in order to head down to the Regatta Centre for an open water swim. 1km only today as it was my longest open water swim since Yeppoon in August; the distance will slowly increase over coming weeks.

Sat: after weeks of cr*p weather, I was very relieved to see a beautiful clear blue sky when I got up. With a 3.5 long hour ride on the program & only 9 weeks until Alpine Classic, there was only one thing to do; psych myself up & head for the hills! First I went headed out towards Richmond (which is flat & dead) before turning off onto Springwood Road for the trip up the 'hill' to Springwood. The first part of this is tough; a short steep incline followed by lots of switchbacks but then it eases off.

Once I got to Springwood, I had some extra time to make up so I turned right & headed further up the mountain. I discovered that is a vortex between Linden & Woodford; it turns out there is nowhere to turn around so you get sucked along the highway all the way to Woodford. Of course, this also has to be one of the hilliest sections - go figure!

I was surprised how reasonable I felt - I won't say I was feeling good - when I got to Woodford (el. 609m). It put both my goal of riding to Katoomba this summer and Alpine Classic in sharper focus.

Finished with 82.3k in 3:46 (21.8k/h av - aver HR145)

Sun: after my mum's surprise 60th birthday party last night, I wasn't too enthusiastic about getting out of bed this morning for my ride. But another beautiful clear blue sky made the decision a bit easier. 80min ride on the program today so I did an out & back along Northern Rd which is basically flat with a detour via Chain O Ponds Rd which is like the local equivalent of Matthew Flinders Drive in Port Macquarie but on steroids. Legs were feeling a bit flat & without much speed in them. So aside from Chain O Ponds, I just focused on keeping my cadence steady & disregarding speed. Finished with 30.8km in 1:19.

The next 6 weeks are incredibly hectic so time to focus on looking after myself as much as possible

MTD:
Swim: 9.05km
Bike: 247.3km