Friday 31st July

Getting ready to head to Antwerp - Wili is packed and in his bike box. I am excited but very nervous about the 70.3. I have not done enough training for it but it is too late now to worry about that! 11.17am is my start time on Sunday morning. Fingers crossed that I get over the finish line in one piece....

Tuesday 28th July

2200m in total of swim sets tonight with the tri club. Very good session.

Monday 27th July

Half hour speed session on the turbo this morning. No running yesterday unfortunately due to having to work on the house again....

Sports massage tonight (kindly given to me as a present)- one word to sum it up though- OUCH!!!!

Saturday 25th July

45 mile cycle in 2hrs 48 along the Ards Peninsula to Kircubbin and back. Took on lots of water and ate at regular intervals but my energy levels were up and down a bit - probably from drinking a little tiny bit too much wine last night!! Still another longish cycle in the bag. I was a bit lonely too - have to start getting out with a group. I also had a topple in slow moving traffic in Newtownards so my knee is now a lovely shade of blue! I am starting to get nervous now at the thought of the Half Ironman next Sunday....

Friday 24th July

Half hour tough early morning turbo session.

Thursday 23rd July

Approx 1500m sea swim tonight - very choppy and I swallowed a bucket of salt water with the waves. 2 mile run after the swim which felt quite good and took away any remaining stiffness in my legs after Portaferry.

Tuesday 21st July

1600m early morning swim in 30 minutes. Easy pace and felt good.

Portaferry 10 mile road race tonight. Not a good idea to go out and run 10 miles with so little training recently! My house is in better shape than I am at the moment!! Very scenic course - bit undulating but a nice evening for it. I ran it very steady and was pleased enough to finish in 1 hr 34 with an average pace of just under 9.30 minute miles (10 minutes slower than last year). I just wish I had some more miles in my legs before Antwerp. Very stiff and sore going to bed - I MUST get a massage booked for early next week.

Monday 20th July

Well, the house won the battle over the last week. Total chaos and just at the wrong time too before Antwerp. Did 1.5 hours on turbo tonight on a heavyish resistance - it was raining and windy when I started but a bad call as it dried up, wind dropped and the sun came out... Still, a longish cycle to get me back into things. Need to cram as much as I can into the next week and forget about a taper - that was last week!

Monday 13th July

Battle going on at the moment between training time and sorting out my house with the ongoing renovations. So training won today and I did a 58.75 mile cycle in 3 hrs 43 mins. Not bad considering I had 30 mile per hour head wind for most of the first half. Cycled around the Ards Peninsula so flat in a lot of places but undulating in others. Nutrition stops working well but I need to drink more. Legs tired now and my back is stiff. I hope my back will last out through the 70.3. Still another long cycle done. Need some running and swimming now this week too.

Friday 10th July

45 mile cycle this morning. Good conditions - slight wind and warmish. 5 mile undulating to warm up and then 40 miles on the flat in two 20 mile loops. Average speed including slow bits for traffic lights of 16mph. I drank Nuun and ate two bars - half a one every 10 miles. This worked out fine and I feel good now after it. Definately could have gone on further. Just need a few more longer cycles now before Antwerp.

Wednesday 8th July

6.7 mile run in 57 minutes with the club tonight - hill session through Belvoir Forest. Good run but I felt a bit sluggish - I must get a massage booked to get my legs freed up again.

Tuesday 7th July

1800m of swim sets tonight with the triathlon club. Very good - certainly should help my swimming if I keep going

Monday 6th July

21.2 mile cycle tonight in 1 hr 19. Good enough pace except for the wind at times. I don't think I put Wili back together again quite right - need to adjust the saddle and handlebar levels.

Sunday 5th July

Legs still very tired after Friday's Half and very windy today so I decided to do 1.5 hours on the turbo rather than battling the wind outside. Steady cycle in big ring with medium resistance and probably covered about 25 miles equivalent. I wish I had someone to cycle with to push me now for the next few weeks.

Friday 3rd July

Ran Ards Half marathon tonight. Hilly course. Paced a friend of mine but it worked out a very slow run due to frequent stops by her (40 minutes slower than my normal pace). Still 13.1 miles on feet and got her round - a bit of progress. Very hot and humid for first half of the run. Stiff and sore now - time for a massage

Thursday 2nd July

Half hour session on turbo this morning. Still stressed but sweaty now too...

1600m sea swim - tough enough tonight with the current and not swimming for a week.

Wednesday 1st July

Half hour turbo session this morning. First training session in quite a few days. Getting big refurb of my house done and I had to devote the time to getting things back in order. Head messed up again with everything going on in my life at the moment- very stressed and tired with it all. Just don't know if I will be ready for Antwerp or even whether I should try to run the Ards Half Marathon on Friday night. Not good...