Witness the Flatness

Had the pleasure of getting away for 4 days with Els over the long weekend. We headed over the hills and far away, off to Marlo, in East Gippsland.

Lovely spot. Right on the coast, at the mouth of the Snowy River, small town, good pub, not too many people about. We stayed at Cape Conran, where there are a few 'eco-cabins' inside the National Park. Basic but comfortable accomodation, and only 100 metre trek down to the beach.

No bikes, but took the kayak in the vain hope of catching a fish. I managed 1x 4hr session on the water, thought I could have been a chance for a bass. But no. Donut for me.

The weather crapped out for the last 2 days, which meant no more paddling or fishing, so we just mooched around, read, went for drives, and slept. Not a bad way to spend 4 days.

But, it has been an awful long time since I sat on a bike properly. Last week was a disaster, I've fallen into a hole with my training diary, and can't even remember when I worked, let alone rode. I suited up for the Wed Night crit last week (downhill time trial), absolutely blew myself up on the first trial, and then pulled the pin. Ave HR 187 for a 7:20 downhill run - and a grand total of 7km. Go figure?!

And then nothing until last night. I thought I'd head over to Nail Can again for the crits - a handicap race. Well. By the time I got there (hadn't even raced at this point) I was feeling absolutely shitful, dizzy, faint, nauseous, and Grade 1 'intestinal distress'. Oooh was not feeling a happy camper, that was for sure. Don't know what was up, whether it was the heat, lack of hydration, hadn't eaten properly, slackness from not being on the bike, or a combination of all of the above. I seriously thought I was going to pass out. HR had been running high the whole way there, I think I was conservatively 10-15bpm above where I should have been.

So I went and sat down in the shade and sucked on a bidon for a little while. Took the wuss decision not to race, just hung around and watched for an hour, and cooled down.

Felt a little better on the way home, managed to climb the racetrack and all the way up to the picnic table without too much drama (never normally is, but it's a testing little climb), then down Terminated and Final Terms, and home. Rolled over the Causeway ok at 25-ish, which is reasonably fast for me on knobbly tyres.

All of this is slightly (nay - extremely) concerning, considering I am 3 days out from a 110km enduro, which I am feeling significantly underdone for. Having done 2 100km plus events in the last month, I was hoping the improved base fitness would pull me through, but I could be wrong, although I sincerely hope not.

I'm seeing what today brings before any real panic starts, plus spending 3 days hydrating and eating properly. Still feeling a bit grey about the edges now though.

BLoody frustrating really. Finally get yourself sorted-ish, and then WHAM! back to Grade 1.

[/rant]