back from MIA!

Morning Campers :o)

OK so I have been missing in action somewhat - apologies for that. I am now sitting here, having already done my 20k bike + 4k run this morning (it's now only 8:46 and I've had breakie too).... so where have I been.

Well if I'm honest I'd have to admit this last month or so I've been somewhat inward looking. As you may recall I had a bit of a lurgy in May followed by a bigger nastier lurgy in June. Since about mid-May I've had a bit of a dodgey sensation on the left side of my face. Didn't bother doing anything about it as I thought it'd go away. Got to the end of June and it was still there so went to my GP.... and that's when he basically frightened the living b-jessers out of me and referred me to a neurologist. Now all along I thought that the problem was either relating to my ear (which I had major surgery on as a kid), or to do with the dreaded recurring lurgy thing. AND after waiting to see the neurologist and having an MRI on my swede (brain for you non-English), I can now happily report there's nothing nasty or sinister lurking ... and breath a huge sigh of relief...... Even though I was pretty confident this was never going to be anything nasty it's always rather reassuring to hear it's all ok .... so I'm sacking my GP and getting a new one - I don't need such a panic quack in my life!!!! Although I guess you have to be safe then sorry. As I'm still getting this numb feeling and as every time I train hard I get a sore throat I'm having some blood tests done to rule out a couple of other things, but essentially it should all clear up and get better at some point. HURRAH!

So on to training and the impending weekend event. OH MY GOD IT'S THIS WEEKEND. As you can see I'm relatively calm about it all ;o)

Obviously training in July, like June, hasn't gone to plan. However last week I got a really good, and much needed, confidence boost by having a great training session with my training partner Leanne. We set of with the intention of a relatively easy 2 hour bike followed by easy 1 hour run... trying to get the fueling right for the big day. We covered about 38k on the bike in about 1:50 and then an hour running (no idea of distance)... it was a great session :O) Very relaxing, great countryside surrounding and most importantly of all ... DRY! Since then I've had an open water and a pool swim, a couple of runs, a bike and this morning a good brick (45mins bike and 24mins run). So although I'm not where I'd want to be I'm confident I will finish come Sunday afternoon. I have two major concerns for the day itself;

1. The heat - having had the wettest July on record with pretty mild temps we've suddenly started summer and it's looking like it'll be in the 80s for Sunday lunchtime..... hey ho... will just have to make sure I drink plenty!
2. The numbers - there's over 400 people in my heat!!! 400 starting an open water at the same time from a floating start.. OMG.. it's going to be like a fish feeding frenzy. Survival will be my objective.

I'm beginning to feel very excited about the race. This is something I first dreamt about a year ago and I can't believe I'm here. Regardless of the lack of ideal training I am so excited about participating, after all I will be setting a PB! :O)

I'll write some more later tonight or tomorrow before I go, but after I've packed my bags :O)