Out with the old and in with the new.

After the brief period of rest and injury management following Skipton Triathlon, I needed a new focus and training plan. I had been following a 14 week sprint triathlon plan which did get me through Skipton but with an Olympic distance event (Ripon in July) being the new target it was time to up my game.
After looking at a few plans, I choose the following http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_trainingprograms/tno_10wOly.asp Source: tri-newbies online training programs.
In short, the plan involves 2 swims, 3 cycle and 3 run sessions per week with increases distances as the weeks progress. Anyone who can do the above disciplines with average to fair fitness levels (and time to do it) can certainly cope with this schedule.

Training Week Monday 15th - Sunday 21st April.

Monday to Wednesday slight injury to my left calf so rest and more rest. Thursday 30mins easy swim. Weight training on Friday.

On Saturday my leg was feeling ok so I ran a 10k at 10.4 km/h pace which I was pleased about and followed this up with a mamoth 3hour cycle ride with my brother Peter covering 62k. The ride went from Shipley, Bingley, Steeton, Skipton, Bolton Bridge (seen below), Addingham (seen below left, Ikley and round to Menston, Guiseley ending back to the car in Shipley. Although I felt ok in terms of fitness, I still struggle on the inclines and hills. My leg power to weight ratio is poor (cycle legs as they call it) still and it frustrates me seeing my cycle friends disapear into the distance as the hills loom.

The ride was fairly straight forward right into Skipton where we rested for a bit before moving on. The second part of the route was more challenging and had a lot more rolling hills and short sharp ones. Although not a major obsticle on their own, I did start to feel it as fatigue started to set in. Peter took me on a side road which was is popular with other cyclists and it was good 20k traffic free stretch with the most beautiful surroundings. I already knew that this area would be my main training route for my long weekend rides.
As we dropped down into the Aire Valley region near Burley I was behind Pete and but moving up alongside him for a chat as cyclists when it is safe to do so, when I misread his intended direction and he turned his bike into my path and I hit him straight on as I had no time to react. I went crashing to the ground and banged my knee on the floor and was rolling around in pain much to his amusement. He managed to stay on his bike ok, but I was now flat on my back. Rather bizzarely a few minutes later my other brother John (I have 5 brothers) arrived on the scene with his pal Steve to see me rolling around in pain. Eventually the pain subsided and I was ok to continue. Luckily there was no lasting damage.