4 months to go....

I woke up this morning with a jolt, partly because of my piercing alarm, but also due to the sudden and rather terrifying realisation that there are now only 4 months until the biggest physical undertaking of my entire life thus far.  That's 16 weeks until tapering kicks in; Civil servants make daily decisions in timeframes longer than that.

Oh. God.

But I'm an athlete now (yes, a real one) so I've just got to get on with it.  A lingering cold is hampering my training but I cannot ignore the fact that with the candles still smoking on the Queen's second birthday cake of 2011, I will be lining up to start 70.3 miles of swimming, cycling and running.

Today is unequivocably about lemsip.  But tomorrow?  Tomorrow is about swimming. And running. And no more chocolate.

To the (VO2) max

Ah January.  The month of tight waistbands, cold mornings and bleak bank balances.  Frankly it's great to see the back of it!  I have also rounded off my least favourite month with a training bang, helping to usher in February with open arms.

Looking forward to the next couple of months before the season begins, it's all starting to come together again after a wayward winter.  My sparkly new turbo trainer is demonic but amazing, and with 5 weeks until my first half-marathon, I've got ample reason to ramp up the running.  An upcoming 9 day training course for the Army Cadets is going to set me back a little, but my colleagues have instructions to make sure I train every morning, no matter how hideous the weather...