If I'm honest, the last 24 weeks have been a bit that way too, but right now, there is little else on my radar.
I'm off the scale in training terms - never in my life have I been anywhere like this before. I've trained hard for a lot of things - trekked to Everest Base Camp; climbed the three peaks (Ben Nevis, Scafell and Snowdon) in 24-hours, run a marathon and last year's half ironman and loch swim, but I can honestly say that I have never trained as hard as this. It's laughable that I'm probably fitter in my late 40's than I was in my early 20's!
But to keep going, I've had to stop taking sleeping and eating for granted. I'm not a nutrition expert but I'm working on the basis that 'if it's not doing a good job, there's no point in putting in my gob!' Chocolate and wine do a good job in my opinion. But I'm stocking up on carbs, protein and super foods. Last week I OD'd on beetroot, it had me thinking I was suffering from a nasty case of internal bleeding! My long bike rides are normally fuelled by porridge, so an after-work 70-miler, needed some planning. I made a go-faster salad for lunch, full of quinoa, puy lentils, red peppers, tomatoes, salmon, hard-boiled egg and watercress. Topped this off with a batch of home-made flapjacks and I was good to go at 4pm!
As for the sleep bit, well I've found myself creeping off to my bed for the occasional afternoon nap. Normal behaviour for many, I know, but the last time I regularly resorted to napping in the daytime I was pregnant. There's even been a few occasions when the classroom floor has looked an appealing place to lie down for a short while during lunch break - not resorted to that yet!
I need to get through these next 4 weeks in the best shape I possibly can; they count; they matter and so if I have to eat beetroot and quinoa and sleep in the daytime - so be it!
The other thing that's been occupying my time is wardrobe dilemmas. The weather's changed and being such a newbie cyclist I've got nothing to wear. A drawer full of lycra is useless - I need a proper summer cycling top with big pockets at the back, otherwise where do I stuff my gels, etc. To think I once wondered what the hell those pocket things were for other than a pack of sarnies for the picnic. So I've ditched my Aldi nappy-style cycling shorts that have served me so well for so long, and
invested in a nice pair with a gel-pad. But the top, I wasn't prepared for that, so I had to raid IronPhil's wardrobe. I chose the only one that sort of fitted me and looked the part. "Don't fall off and rip it," he said "that's worth about £100!" I must add, that he didn't buy it ... long story.
I had wondered if there would be a shiny, new, summer bike top in my birthday gifts. For several years now IronPhil has had a particularly interesting line in gifts. This was kicked off with an Orca tri-suit languishing amongst my other gifts under the Christmas tree several years ago. OK, so that doesn't seem such an odd pressie now, but at the time I'd never done a triathlon and I hadn't even entered one. In fact, I don't even think I was considering doing one. His response to all that was. "It only cost £6 on eBay, so if you decide not to put it to good use, then it's not a problem!"
This was followed a year later by the road bike ... I hadn't asked for. Topped off with a Mother's Day gift of a nicely packaged CO2 inflator valve! "A bunch of flowers will be absolutely no use when you've punctured and you're miles from home," he said. Can't argue with that.
So having cleverly set me up to tri, what does my husband buy me this year. I mean, what do you buy the wife you've nurtured, encouraged and supported on her Ironman journey? A new tri-suit, not worn by anyone else? A snazzy cycle shirt? Or a cheeky little pair of Calvin Klein pyjamas?
"I figured you've had enough lycra and bike bling over the last few years," he explained to my surprised face!
Well, as sleep is high on the agenda, they're coming in very handy .... that was what was intended, wasn't it?!
Life's a bit like this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B03dFMG8nR4
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