Only Seven Months...

Back in February I had realised that for the second year running I wasn't anywhere near fit enough to stand a chance of completing the DW, and so, for the second year, I put it on hold while I tried to work out what I was doing wrong. The answer was obvious though, it's simply not enough experience and not enough mileage under the belt. So I tried a different tack.

Now 500 seems a nice round number and 500 miles is the distance that would bring the BCU gold annual mileage award and would provide a good incentive to keep going. It also seemed reasonable to suppose that if I completed that distance by the end of the year I would then be in a better position to judge whether another three months work up to Easter would see me in with a reasonable chance of finishing the race. But, to get 500 miles in by the end of the year would also mean doubling my previous best annual mileage.

But it seemed like a plan, so I've left the DW decision on the back burner and concentrated on getting the miles in. And now it's worked to the extent that I've just passed the 500 mile mark with three months to spare. Which is just as well because I realised lately that December would really have been leaving it too late to make a go, no-go decision. Bearing in mind that the first three months of the year can be very iffy weather wise, it would be prudent to get going as soon as possible.

 Luckily I have been putting in some effort into increasing speed across the water and duration and they are still a work in progress, but they are improved over the pathetic performances put up at the start of the year. I've got a definite improvement in strength and endurance and I haven't felt as fit as this in a long, long time, but will it be good enough to make the distance?

So, I've now got to the point that I'm faced with making the decision three months earlier than I thought I'd have to. I have the feeling that this is something of a last chance as these old bones don't train as easily as they used to, and I know how easily hard earned fitness drains away while sidelined by red boards preventing access to the water, and how six months becomes three, then two, then none. It feels as though if I don't have a go this coming year then I probably never will. Will six more months of effort against all the vagaries of the English climate be enough?

Decisions, decisions.