Lay Off

My sore throat persists and the antibiotics don't seem to have had much of an effect yet. I had a chat with Joe this morning about it and he scheduled me in for a few days rest. I'm not allowed to touch my bike until Saturday. On Saturday, I will see how I feel and if I'm feeling recovered and well, I will do a 30 minute ride to stretch the legs. After that, I'm going to contact Joe and we'll come to a decision about the Three Counties Challenge.

The most important thing right now is to recover, get rid of this sore throat and tiredness and get back to full health ready for July 20th. I've done all the training and I've put in some stonking sportive rides over the last few months - that is what is going to see me through the Etape, not the rides I do in these last few weeks. I explained to Joe that there is always a doubt in my head that the illness is imagined and the symptoms are somehow generated by my subconcious. For example, when my heart condition was undiagnosed and I was experiencing breathlessness and shaking on climbs, it did occur to me that the problem was in my head - that not being able to breath was somehow a problem of the mind and I just didn't have the mental strength to get up the climb, either that or I was just unfit. Obviously, this is a load of bollocks! I had a heart condition - the condition was physical and was real. Just as my sore throat now is actually there.

So, rest and recovery is the order of the next few days. Wednesday is normally my big ride day so instead I'm going to hit the sofa and try to have a sleep.