TRAT 2010 – Another month another cold

Another month another cold…this week’s is my third of 2010 and although it’s no monster it’s been enough to stop me doing any kind of meaningful training since Monday. So it feels like another week’s been lost in the drive to build up that all-important base fitness.

It’s so hard to resist pushing it when these minor ailments hit. I just want to go and get the miles into my legs but that would probably be the worst thing I could do. If you’d told me a year or two back that the discipline I’d be struggling to find would be restraining myself from training when feeling ill I’d have laughed in your face.

But it’s so hard to feel the good work slipping! It’s depressing to contemplate taking another step or two back before the next forward step is possible.

As ever in these circumstances I’m now looking back on the past fortnight or so with rose-tinted spectacles. It feels like I was really starting to reap the benefits – the prospect of hitting big hills had become enticing rather than appalling (well, sometimes at least), I’ve lost nearly a stone, I’m more toned, the number of miles that constitutes a big ride has been steadily climbing… With the turn in the weather it seemed as though I’d entered the spring phase of training – that the harsh winter foundation building was behind me. Perhaps that’s not quite true yet.

Anyway, with a view to kick-starting the spring training regime I’ve signed up for the Burgess Hill Springtime Classic next weekend, which promises to test my not-very-considerable hill climbing skills. Anyone else going to be there?