A fresh wind.....

Given that everyone else has an alias on the blog I've been pondering on a suitable one for our friend Derek. Any suggestions by email greatly appreciated.

We met for lunch today, preceded by a wee 50k in the wind. We went down to Culross and then back up the cycle path. It was windy and for once I have to say I was pretty grateful - you may be thinking that I'm so dedicated at this training malarky that I would happily thrash through hurricanes to train to a fitness peak. Sadly you're well off the mark.

I'd say Derek's been training pretty hard this week. He had the air of a man who have been training hard all week. Sadly I had to share the same air......

It was a good quick blast today finishing off with the climb that leads back into the village. It's not a huge hill but pretty steep at the top. Derek's Heart Rate Monitor told him he'd gone through his maximum heart rate but that old calculation of 220 - your age is a bit iffy at the best of times.

So, we're fully sorted for tomorrow's practice run on the Etape course from Pitlochry. We're skipping a few miles but plan to do 75. Really looking forward to the run out. I'll take my usual energy food. I've done 2 ironman races on the same stuff and it works wonders - mum's cake! She made me a race cake for NZ - nothing artificial in it and packed full of energy. I got the strangest looks from 2 elite athletes in NZ when I tried to explain my strange food strategy.....They thought I was mad but then maybe I am.....