Andy: With the six nations starting it was going to be hard to stay away from the party atmosphere so I allowed myself the first weekend to succumb and get amongst it.  I travelled to Cardiff for a real blow out of a weekend, and what a weekend.  Much needed ‘rest days’ under my belt… 

Feeling fresh from my weekend away I set my goals for February:  to concentrate on my running, clocking up the necessary miles and improving my long distance times.  With the weather still bad I knew I would find it difficult to get out on the bike as much.

Consistency is key it would seem, I ran two to three times per week and racked up an average of 30km’s per week.  This paid dividends when it came to the Hampton court half marathon towards the end of the month.  This effort didn’t come unpunished however, I managed to pick up a niggling hamstring injury which is still persisting.

Cycle training was confined mostly to the turbo trainer for February.  An uninspiring, lonely, sweaty place, made worse by the fact that it’s done in the front room to the annoyance of everyone present.  I downloaded some punishing ‘sufferfest’ dvds which really put you through your paces.  These cycle sessions indoors could not be further from where my cycle adventure through rural France took me last summer.  I long for a sunny afternoon jaunt through the Cotswolds.  Bring on Spring!

Lastly, the swim…Pool, what pool? I’ve truly neglected the swim…I hope this doesn’t come back to haunt me.  Must try harder.

In summary I clocked 4km in water, 292km in the saddle and 120km on foot.

So now to set the aims for March:

1. First of all get in the bloody pool and swim! Consistency is key you idiot.  You know that already.
2. Take to the great outdoors on the bicycle, increase time in the saddle to harden the haunches.
3. Introduce brick sessions, eeek, these are painful.

Create a specific conditioning routine to rid myself from this hamstring injury