The tail end of 2017 hasn't worked out too well for me as far as staying fit goes. I've not done any swimming due to the pool being closed at the gym. They opened it just in time for me to succumb to a chesty cough and cold. I've managed a little indoor cycling and a little bit of running but found that running before being completely over the cough has had me having attacks of feeling faint. I felt totally fine but apparently wasn't totally better. I've been to the doctor and had an ECG which has proved normal and I seem to be over the problem now. I've also developed a pain in my left elbow which I suspect that I might be stuck with for good now. I'm starting to feel my age a bit, I suppose it was inevitable that I would eventually, I'm sixty this year after all.
With my 'A' race penciled in for June 17th I now have to get moving again. Liz and I did the Cleethorpes New Year's Day 10k, I felt quite rough over the first 5k and started to think that I needed to pull up. What I actually did was pull over to the side and have a coughing fit followed by a fairly revolting clear out of the chest. After that I felt fine and legged it to the finish, obviously posting a negative split. I did the same course two years ago in 2016 and was encouraged to see that I beat my previous time by about thirty seconds despite the problems. So, this weekend I've done a park run, a 1500m swim and a 12 mile bike ride. It was a lovely sunny afternoon for the bike ride but I had to watch out for icy patches. Now I can look forward to my alarm being almost permanently set to a time that starts with a four. Why am I doing this again? Well most of the time I feel great, Slowing the progress of my diabetes is important, and triathlons are great fun, even the really long ones.