Weeks 6-8

Running totals at the end of week 8:
Bike: 700 km
Swim: 32.7 km
Run: 125 km (thats a conservative estimate I've found out!)
Commuting 200km!

And I thought the previous weeks had been interesting! I have managed to keep the shin splints under control, they pop back occasionally but having gone back to my old trainers they seem much better, that was 80 quid well spent...! The knees appear to be holding up, am off to see a specialist in a couple of weeks because the doctor doesn't think a podiatrist will be able to resolve it, and neither him nor 2 physios can work out whats wrong!! But hopefully it should be on the mend soon....(touch wood!) I was also hit by an athletes 2nd most feared thing (after injury) which was illness that put me in bed over the weekend, meaning I missed 4 sessions of training that week and lost a bit of strength and fitness! Annoying! However I seemed to have overcome it now, other than this damn annoying cold, and everything is back on track.

In terms of running, this last week (week 8), I have finally managed to do a full weeks worth of training sessions, for the duration I wanted to! It's still about half of what I should have been doing without the knee injuries, but I am happy to be back on track. I just need to make sure I don't overdo it now...

Swimming has gone from strength to strength, with a new PB for the 2.5km swim test, which I took 3 mins off to 49 mins, even with having cramp on length 98 and having to stop and stretch it! Very happy with that, and it should continue to get better as I start back on the coached sessions and continue building on my fitness.

The cycling is its usual strong self, finally getting some long(ish) rides in of close to 3 hours, which will gradually start to build up, and I'm really enjoying the tough climbs the peaks have to offer, as well as the 50 mph descents! Have put in a lot of commuting over the last month, which has taken it out of my legs slightly but I have gradually adapted to it, and they give me a bit of time to work on speed and extra calories to burn!

Speaking of burning calories, I have begun on the annoying task of calorie counting, which is something I haven't done since having to make weight for rowing. The idea is to put myself in deficit of about 500 calories a day, so the amount I eat varies with training. This should help me lose about a kilo a week in the last remaining bits of winter fat I have on me, but also serves the purpose of ensuring that I am actually eating enough when training heavily (I can burn 2000 calories in a 3 hour ride, thats on top of the 2500 I need a day anyway, its a lot to eat!). This deficit will continue for around 4/5 weeks til I make my racing weight which I think will be around 68kg, but will tailor it when I get closer down to my minimum weight.