One month down …

So the first month of Project 2015 has drawn to a close, so I figured it was time to take a very quick look back to see any signs of progress.

Overall, it was a good month in terms of the goal. From a cycling perspective, I covered 549.3km in January. Looking at Veloviewer, this was a significant improvement on past years. I managed a 100km+ ride, though not sure how well I would have run off it. Most of the mileage was done on my winter bike, so there was no real pace in the rides, but I’m feeling good for this time of year. I still get a bit saddle sore towards the end of long rides, but I’m hoping that will settle down over time. I also think I need to mix up moving around in the saddle a bit more. The real problem is nutrition, as I tend to get back exhausted with no energy after the Sunday long ride. I need to think about what I will be eating during the ironman cycle, and start working out and trialling a fuelling strategy.

From a running perspective, it would have been disasterous, had I not been able to jog 10km on the final day of the month. This was definite progress. With a background of a number of marathons, I don’t feel worried at all about run fitness. The only concern is avoiding the dreaded calf strains. Hopefully with regular foam rolling, stretching, calf raises and massage I can keep it under control.

Swimming is always the discipline I like the least, and that’s not a close contest at all. The swimming has come on a bit. I now can swim 500-600m non-stop from the off. Unfortunately, that’s not much when you need to swim 3800m. Still, you have to start from somewhere. I really need to go more often this month, and starting swimming a bit longer each time, even if some of it is breaststroke or I take gaps inbetween.