It’s now two weeks since the Gold Coast marathon and the energy seems to be coming back to my legs. I’ve put the experience of being beaten by my wife in the 100km time trial in the log. It’s just one of those things that had to happen.

Every season I have to make the same mistake at least once where I don’t prepare well enough for a workout and run out of fuel. Once I make the mistake, I re-learn the lesson and I’m right for the rest of the season.

This past week has been a good one for weather. It’s mid winter in Brisbane and the days are beautiful. Brisbane’s winter is like Paris’ summer. I’ve managed to get in ten and a half hours of cycling, one and a half hours of running and two, one hour swim sessions.

By Friday I was tired. I had increased my cycling kms fairly rapidly. I was due to do a swim at lunchtime on Friday. After my morning bike ride I was feeling a bit flat. I had a bite to eat so I wouldn’t be swimming with too empty a stomach. I was ready to go but felt shattered. I looked in the mirror and saw Keith Richards looking back. I slept for one and a half hours.

I decided I would gain more from a sleep than a swim session. I felt bad because I had set up a challenge with Sue, the “blonde dolphin” who I train with. She had beaten me over 100m the week before. This Friday was to be the 400m challenge. I used one of my “blue cards”, these are a “get out of jail free card” which my coach Trent has made for when I want to get out of a session. I only have four cards for the whole season. Now I have only three left. Not bad really as I haven’t missed a session in four months.

So last week had three bikes, two swims and two runs. The most significant run was on Sunday after a four hour hilly bike ride, I ran sixteen, one km repeats  on a five minute time base. Doesn’t seem that fast, especially since two weeks earlier I ran forty-two of them at five minute pace. But that wasn’t after a four hour bike.

I’m training myself to be fuel efficient at five minute pace off the bike. I did feed myself properly for this workout. When you run one km, then have to get a drink or a GU in before the clock is on five minutes, and it’s time to go again, there is a bit of pressure involved. We do them on an out and back course, so we have drinks etc at every two km.

So a successful weeks work, fourteen hours training, health is good. Food intake has increased dramatically. I’m getting good sleep hours. I have to watch the Tour de France highlights, I can’t stay up to watch the live coverage.