Ahhhh! I was meant to keep up to date with my blog a bit better than this!
I’m now finishing the first 8 weeks of my plan tomorrow – this being my second recovery week. (Coach and I opted for a three week build followed by a one week recovery week as the foundation of ‘the plan’.)

It’s been going good…I think?
It’s weird following a plan I haven’t written myself. At times it feels very easy (too easy) and then other times I feel a little pressured to do stuff because I don’t want to disappoint my coach who will be watching on training peaks.

All in all though I think this is the better way. I have a tendency to push myself to hard, expect too much of myself whilst paradoxically on the complete flip side I sometimes am so lazy and don’t get out of bed. It’s all or nothing with me. Having Arran help me out has actually made my life much more balanced.

Me and R went to New York and Boston on week 6 of the plan and I was fretting about getting the training in but coach sent me a little message saying to enjoy myself and don’t panic. The important thing was I got my long bikes and long runs in anyway, and I don’t think I suffered for that at all! By the way New York and Boston was fantastic, highly recommend both. If in Boston do the freedom trail, great way to see Boston.

So January and February have some consistent training in the bank and we are on to March.

24 weeks left to Ironman Copenhagen 2019. No niggles yet but we are going to be pushing the mileage and hours up a bit in the next few weeks so fingers crossed I’m strong for it.

In other news, my parents have booked flights out to Copenhagen and are looking for accommodation now too. I think it might be an emotional finish line with my family and R there but I’ve got to get there first. The focus must remain!

In other other news…I have my first year scan (mammogram) on 1st April. Trying not to feel a bit worried that I’m having it on April Fool’s day. I’ve been anxious for a while about this – not sure if a mammogram is going to be helpful in ruling out any wee nasties but I guess I got to leave this up to the professionals. If there is any doubt they will likely book another scan, like a 3d mammogram or MRI.
If I’m honest I’m slightly less anxious now I have a date for it but am sure the scanxiety will be real closer to the time. It’s literally just an appointment for a scan, there won’t be any results on the day – have to wait a few weeks for that! Scary…ok not thinking about it anymore.

Once I get that over me I’m going to start a just-giving page for my Ironman endeavours. I want to raise money for Macmillan. I’m afraid to start it just yet until I know I’m in the clear. Paranoid and superstitious doesn’t even come in to it!! (It will be 5 months till Ironman so that’s plenty of time to raise a little fundraising money.)

Anyway, that’s my update. I’ve probably missed a lot but will try to be a bit more frequent in my posting for the next few months.

Thanks for listening.