Not Exactly the Pro Way...

It's been another solid week of training. A steady run Tuesday followed by a couple of more focused interval sessions on the bike and treadmill on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. They were medium to high intensity rather than at the limit as I was mindful I was hitting the Parkrun today to gauge where I am on the 5k front. A course PB maybe? It's not an ideal route for a PB but stranger things have happened...

I have to admit it went a bit wrong yesterday. It was meant to be an easy recovery ride completion of Stage 7 of the Tour de Zwift (bike) but I royally ballsed that up. The start came - and then it went... My virtual avatar refused to move as the field of 652 left me alone to my thoughts. Thoughts like, f~*% why aren't I moving? Cue twenty seconds of faffing to realise I was connected to my footpod - not a lot of good in a bike ride.

So, I got connected and set off, dead last. I almost got off as it's a bit boring with no other riders around, but I continued, thinking I'd catch up if I pushed a little, but I didn't want to go too hard. After a few minutes I was at the back but no longer last. Even at an easy effort I was moving through the field. I didn't really realise it at that point, but the racing part of brain had kicked in and I was little by little putting down more and more power. Suffice to say, by the end I was up to 175th and eye-balls-out, hitting pretty much my PB 30-minute power average. Doh!

Anyway, I decided to get up and do the Mallards Pike Parkrun knowing I was probably going to fail but I didn't think I'd be far away as my legs felt surprisingly good considering the hammering I'd given them yesterday. I had my course PB pacing worked out and decided to stick to it. Lose time to the first half climb and then gain it back on the descent home... I hit the halfway point, puffing like a bastard. Heart rate 178 but importantly, inside the schedule by a few seconds. I then hit the accelerator and nailed the descent to hit home in a new course PB by 48 seconds but better yet, a new PB by 19 seconds. 22:11. It is not going to be long before it starts 21..,..