I apologise to my legs for the pain and hurt.....

I figured I could do with a proper rest week as I can't sleep and feel shattered which are classic signs of overtraining. Im soo glad it rained virtually everyday as both bikes were ready to go at a moments notice. Monday/Tues were total rest days with minimal sleep and I drove to work. I promised Lee from Rochdale Tri club that I would go running at Spring Hill School's track as I hadn't been for months and not many people were showing up. I had to do as he said as he leant me his Fulcrum racing Zeroes as Im looking for a new pair of wheels for my commuter :). Actually that reminds me he gave me the wheels at a swim session on Tuesday so that wasn't a rest day, it was a hard session too.

I really didn't want to run on Wednesday but I had promised my mum that she could look after the baby so off I toddled thinking Im not going to do very well. Completed 5 laps warmup then did a 5km timed run. Ideally we were told to do the first 200m 80% and the 2nd 200m at 90% of each lap. About lap 5-6 I started to get a stitch due to stuffing my face full of Maccy D's at lunch. I took the 2 laps easy until it died down and from lap 8 onwards I felt great, going faster and faster. 12.5 laps later my legs were crying, burning and can't carry on. I got timed at 21mins 30secs and couldn't believe it. I have always aimed for a time of 25mins and wasn't expecting to beat that by much. The fast guys got 17.5mins and Lee didn't lap me! Woohoo I was ecstatic! I think he's scared I might beat him at the only discipline he can thrash me at :P A few laps, drills and a warm down later, it was time to feel agony for 4 days. So thats until Sunday I did nothing but drink milk and try to sleep. The knee was fine too.....for now.

SUNDAY 28th March

My thighs were still a little achey but knew it wouldn't affect my cycling too much. The weather forcast on MSN around 10pm showed clear, dry and still air from 4am-7am with wind speed and chance of rain increasing exponentially as the hours passed. I went to bed at 11pm after devouring chicken curry again and doing final checks and brake pad change on Scottie then realised the clocks went forward in the morning so set the clock to 12 and was due to wake up at 4.45am to avoid the shitty weather.

Crawled out of bed at 5am and made a filter coffee, looked outside, it looked promising and txt Pantani what a lazy git he is. Was out for just after 5.30am and it was raining very very slightly. The Fulcrum racing zeroes are very light,stiff with superb silky bearings but performance out of the saddle is where it excels with very little drag and flex. They sound super with a hint of buzzzzz and whirrrr. I decided to do Holmfirth Rd and the Moss. The wind hadn't materialised yet until the top of Holmforth Rd and I was thoroughly enjoying the ride and the speed, due to the wheels? or the rest? or training? or slight tail wind? I didn't drop below 10mph which is fantastic and when I did hit the top the gales started and 40mph was too easy. BIG PROBLEM I rarely venture past 40mph as I dont like going fast downhill but since I wasn't going downhill ish I was well over but the computer can't register ( Blackburn Delphi 6) and sets itself to ZERO until the speed drops to 36mph. What a ball ache. The speed did't last long as I soon 'U-turned' onto Woodhead Rd to Holme Moss. 25miles ish completed. The rest of the journey would see me go into a terrible head/cross wind virtually all the way home. I was at 19mph! average at the bottom of Holmfirth rd-Yorkshire side. The Holme Moss climb was difficult but I didn't give in and the wind was trying to force me back down the hill it was that fierce. It was hard work to get above 6mph. The down hill bit was scary as the wind was straight across the bike and I had to lean the bike into the wind. If the wind let up for a split second the bike wobbled as I tried to rebalance then the wind applied the pressure again causing me to shit my pants even more. At the bottom of this one the wind was worse, if it could get worse but since I decided I wasn't going to ride my normal 100miles I'd really go for it.

That was easier said than done. My thighs were killing but I knew it would help so kept powering through as best as I could. I don't think I've tried that hard on flat sections before. The worst was when a long downhill bit approached and went without going over 20mph - now that is demoralising and that's when I was trying my hardest. A couple of miles on Oldham road, uphill, saw a change in direction of road so a slight tail wind guided me on the awaiting head on stuff further up on Broadway. Some cyclist tried chasing me on Victoria Av but he gave up very quickly. More pain was to come in the form of Wood street, the last climb home. Previously not too long ago I hit a top speed of 15mph at the top steepest bit. OMG 8mph is all I could manage.

I hadn't looked at my average for a long time but I was pleasantly surprised.

Average Speed 17mph

Distance 69miles

Ascent 5400ft

I got home unable to stand, thighs were on fire. I literally had nothing to eat or drink all ride, just 2 swigs from a 1litre bottle but that wasn't the problem. My ickle legs had suffered all week so I am sorry. I quickly downed 4 pints of milk to aid recovery.

It was difficult to get a good proper experience from the racing zeros but initial impression are quite good. Im not sure they are worth £215 more than the dura ace cl which I suppose is the cost of ceramic bearings but its breaking surface is miles better than what Im used to. Also the 'orange' anodising is ghastly and won't go with any bike it's paired up with. The tyres were Vittoria Diamante pro? which seemed very bouncy and gave a comfortable ride especially on my stiff Scottie bike. Shame I have to clean the wheels and give them back. I have ordered another set of RSP lights as Im fed up of swapping and changing them.