I’ve had a bit of a setback. I missed last Sunday’s 100km time trial. I like to complete regular time trials as a measure of my progress on the bike. I have been putting in some good base hours on the bike and was looking forward to testing myself.

It was a cold morning at Walloon, the site of our time trial course. Someone recorded 2 degrees C. It’s about the coolest place in South East Queensland. By 10am it was up around 18 degrees, so the cold doesn’t last long.

I started my ride but I had to pull out after only four km. I couldn’t sit on the saddle. For several days I’d had a sore testicle. I often get a “sore ball” after long rides. Always the same one. This time it’d been sore for fours days. I’d wake up through the night with it. When you lay there in the middle of the night with an aching ball, it’s hard not to think about Lance Armstrong.

As I’ve shed my excess weight before the start of my Hawaii preparation, I’ve noticed a slight bulge above my pubic bone. I thought it was just the way fat deposits stay around on a body as we get older. I had no pain or discomfort in the area. Only a sore ball, which came and went over a year or so. I always blamed the pressure of cycling or sitting around in tight jeans.

Anyway I booked into  see a doctor on Monday. Through Sunday, I got the idea that my bulge might be a hernia. I massaged it, pushing whatever was pushing out, back in. This wasn’t a big bulge, it was less than the size of half a boiled egg.

Anyway my diagnoses seemed to be right, massaging it back totally took away the pain from the testicle. It seems the nerve that connects to the testicle was being put under pressure by the hernia. I went along to the doctor and explained my story. She examined me and agreed with my diagnoses. As a precaution she has ordered a scan.

I’ve just been for the scan and am happy to report to the world that I have two good balls. Even though I retired from the stud many years ago, I still like them. They’re like old mates.

Anyway, enough of testicles and onto training. I’m able to manage my hernia up until after Hawaii. I’ll get it fixed then. I’ve had it for a long time now.

My totals for the past week have been 3 x 1hr swim sessions, 3.5hrs on the bike and 2hrs on the run. Eight and a half hours training for a week doesn’t sound much, but  last week ended with a six and a half hour workout, which knocked me down for a while. Then Wednesday was a 2hr bike followed by a 2hr run. These two workouts can influence a few days after.

So a weekly total of 8.5hrs training, I’m happy to have two good balls and I look forward to another good weeks work.