This week has been about calf care, OK not the cute little cow above but my right calf. Annoyingly I don’t recall exactly what or when I injured it apart from somewhere in the mud of the 5 mile Corsham Court challenge run.

So a week focusing on swimming and cycling was ahead. Swimskills was about body position, engaging our cores, keeping head still, balanced rotation and streamlining. Really learnt a lot and nailed the 10/10 drill which coach videoed for group use. Although I nearly drowned on the torpedo drill ! I managed three swims this week and without having a time trial for a while I feel I am swimming smoother with less effort even if not getting faster. Time trials in future will tell for sure in time.

Wednesday I headed out on my local sprint tri route, 15 miles on 20/20/20 – easy/steady/fast. The first 5 miles include Snowhill which is an early challenge the last 5 miles battling into the ever present headwind ! But 3 minutes quicker than last week and calf felt fine cycling.

Still enjoying Pilates in the underfloor heated room, concentration on arms and shoulder with bands, felt it on Saturday morning as I carried my shotgun across the sodden ploughed field for the last shoot of the season. It’s been a great shooting season that has gone so fast. The shoot has been soaked but generally mild conditions, only one sub zero day. Pheasant, Woodcock, Guinea Fowl, Teal and pigeons have filled the game bag. I’ve had some cracking challenging shots as well as some howling misses !

I joined the Cotswold & Wiltshire Lady Guns at Barbury Shooting ground on Monday. We shot about 100 clays each with a mix of tuition and team flushes. Followed by bacon butties, coffee and chat. I plan to join the ladies on the monthly Monday meeting and then hope to catch up with a few the other weeks for some summer practise so I’m a hot shot next shoot season !

Following my bonk on the bike last week I bought a FitBit FLEX to track my activity hours, calories In V Burnt, sleep time & quality, steps taken, distance walked. This gadget is worn on the wrist, it’s lightweight, discrete and wirelessly links and updates data to my iPhone for instant feedback. I have it linked to MyFitnessPal so I can ensure I’m fuelling my rides & runs correctly in future. I’m learning how much energy I need for activities and I’m looking to get good fuels into me. Generally been OK since I got the FitBit FLEX apart from the Indian meal out with friends on Sunday with a couple of pints of chilled Kingfisher !

So far as a gadget girl I’m loving the feedback, data and details of the FitBit FLEX, I have also found two local friends so we have a Calne Challenge going on. I will do a full product review when I have more data and use as not had the Flex for a week yet. But so far this is way more than a posh pedometer as a few reviews have claimed. As I have full integration with my iPhone, MyFitnessPal and Dailymile I seem to have all avenues covered. The more I formation you put in the more feedback you get out – simples !

My daily posts on DailyMile seem to be more like a continuous string of atrocious weather reports. The weekend was no differnt. I knew it was bad as the cycling club pre shorten then cancelled the Sunday ride. Since September this is only the third time they’ve cancelled – gales, ice & wind & rain.

Sundays weather made me head to the gym and thankful for my membership. Gym staff rolled a spin bike into the gym for me and I set about a brick session. First a hard AudioFuel Joe Friel Cruize 60 minute interval session followed by a test run on the treadmill.

I have started to log my walking distance each day tracked by the FitBit FLEX into Dailymile. It’s all active minutes and helps me adjust my good food fuel intake and calories burnt.

The calf has responded to RICE treatment with a few ibuprofen to assist along the way. So one more week of training at home then I’m off to seek and shred the snow on my snowboard at Sun Peaks Canada 🙂 Shooting season finishes and snow season begins whilst ironman training is adapted – cross training at altitude I’ve told my coach. He tells me just to be safe and return healthy !