back into the swing of things

16 degrees, sun, sea, summer?

Well not quite, but for March this week has been one of the barmiest weeks of weather I've experienced. Not complaining though as it has allowed me to get some great training in.

After taking the decision to miss Circuit du Morhiban race last Sunday, due to leg issues, I made a last visit to the physio on Monday. Now I'm gonna be quite blunt and to the point here. I'm not that convinced or impressed with the service I got. This is mainly due to the physio being quite laidback and really not seeming bothered about finding the source of the problem. To be honest he seemed more interested in dealing with two other customers (at the same time as my session) than trying to concentrate on getting one customer sorted. Not impressed.

Anyway as you probably guess I wont be rushing back. In better news I did though get a good massage from my team mate on Monday, for free and an hours session which was really appreciated, and needed!

 So is my leg sorted? Possibly. I say possibly as I think I have diagnosed the problem, with a bit of advice from a couple of other people. I actually don't think its the leg at all. The trigger point I think could be the glute/hip abductor/back area. Not entirely sure but I have been stretching, foam rollering and compressing like a mad man this week and it seems to have eased/got rid of the symptoms.

With the leg feeling 10 times better I now need to know why I got this problem and if the source is the gluteal area!? Possible options are bikefit? cold in muscles (was incredibly grim first few weeks here) or just bad luck? Either way racing this weekend will be the true test to see if problems gone for good.

Anyway as the title of the post suggests I have been getting back into the swing of things and with such good weather and my leg feeling good I've managed to get a good block of training.






Monday: rec spin, not much to say just keeping legs turning

Tuesday: Best session of the week this was. Did an hour steady then met up with Sam Allen for some sweetspot/hill efforts. We used the climb upto Quistinic, a couple of miles long, with a hairpin and such sections hitting 9%.

With the great weather (both ridiculously over dressed for the session! Sam in a thermal undervest!) and such a great climb it felt like we were in Majorca. 5 efforts up the hill some sweetspot some above. A good session followed by an hour and a bit steady afterwards made for 3 and a bit hours on the clock and a great days riding. Only downside was me forgetting to charge the Garmin the night before so only got an hours worth of data and the fact we could have done it in shorts and short sleeves and not ended up cooking!


Wednesday: team ride. Another 2pm start so did an hour and a bit before. Compared to yesterday's structured session this couldn't have been more different! Six riders and tapping along nicely a shout soon began to start through and off. Yet within the space of a minute riders were soon sitting on and after 10 minutes only three of us were going through and off. Not surprisingly it was stopped!

Only for a few miles later to start, a more gentle, through and off again, again ending in just Sam and myself doing through and off with the occasional turn from one of the others, not ideal.

After a few random sprints and attacking one another for no apparent reason! I was home. 140km on the clock and ready for some dinner.


Thursday: Out by myself, working on my poor sprint, 10 sprints along the canal, think I'm getting a bit more of a jump. Only time will tell! Bit of a spin afterwards, again in the sun, to end a nice 3 day block before easing off next couple of days for the race on Sunday.


So a good little block and now the real test will be Sunday. Fleche Locmine Elite National. 100km loop then a "save some energy" finishing loop with a 300 metre steep climb every lap to make approx 150km.


After missing last weeks race I can't wait to get back into it again..its gonna be hard and fast but will be a good test to see if injuries sorted, Fingers crossed for a good race, good sensations and if possible a good result!