Well, in all the excitement, I'd completely forgotten that this blog ever existed! Dedication to the training at the expense of everything else, and all that.
It's actually not going too badly. Winter cycling was tough, especially the trip to Ulleskelf (near York) where we saw every different type of weather, including horizontal freezing sleet which even rendered full waterproofing useless. Then punctures. Punctures in tubes which when fixed, deflated instantly. Only carvery turkey sandwiches can fix something like that.
That one disaster aside though, it's pretty good. My swimming is solid; not fast, but solid. I just can't wait to get back into open water again! This year I want to get in as much practice as possible and the warmer water just can't happen fast enough! Also, we're doing the two-mile Great North Swim this year (I did the one-mile last year) because I want as much open-water race practice as possible. If I'm honest, I'm really not looking forward to the 'washing machine'.
Running-wise, we completed Liversedge half-marathon (Richard completed it much faster than I did!) in February with no great dramas. For a fiendishly hilly course, it was actually really good fun!
Which brings us to hills. It appears that I've got over my mental hill thing in which I convinced myself that I couldn't climb (on foot or on the bike) at all. Turns out running up the giant Liversedge course hill in the snow and the dark one January evening meant it didn't seem too bad during the race. And I can now wibble up Hollins Hill (my previous nemesis) like I never thought possible.
But it's 10 more long bike rides until the event. On Sunday it'll be exactly three months to go. Eeeeeek...
