Flu causes early season hiccups

The more things change the more things remain the same. It was snowing when I left Donegal at Christmas and it has been snowing since I came home this week to celebrate Easter with my family.

I’m convinced that the snow is following me from country to country. I thought it was just bad luck when it started snowing in Girona in March forcing me to relocate to Gran Canaria to prepare for Catalunya but this is just taking the biscuit.

Cold and wet weather really affects me and it’s no surprise that I’ve caught a really bad dose of the flu.

It started coming on just before the start of Catalunya which was frustrating because I had completed a solid block of training in Gran Canaria and I was looking forward to racing.

I talked to the team doctor and his advice was to start the race and to play it by ear each day.

I struggled through the first few days but I was crawling by Saturday. I was not serving any real purpose finishing in the gruppetto and continuing on was just making me worse.

This dose has been hard to shake and the headaches, sweats, sore throat and aches have been lingering all week.

I’m on the road to recovery though and it’s back to business on Tuesday with the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe in France.

The four-day race is not easy but it’s not as hard as a race like Paris Nice or Pays Basque so it’s ideal to regain my condition in preparation for the Ardennes classics later this month.

My training in the run up to Catalunya went really well. All of those miles and training are still there so it shouldn’t be hard to regain my condition after a few days rest and recovery.

I’m more in tune with my body this season that other seasons and that comes with experience.

I’ve concentrated on mixing endurance rides with high intensity rides and I’ve gotten better at getting the balance and conditioning right.

In the past few weeks I have switched over to doing an increased number of intensity rides which are more about getting in quality miles than clocking up big distances.

If I’m doing a two or three hour ride I might break that up with two to three 20 minute threshold workouts or an hour or more at 320 watts, but I can’t be giving away too many secrets other than that !

My from has taken a knock and my training has definitely been set back a bit but I have learned from experience that the pendulum can swing the other way in the space of a few short weeks.

The Ardennes classics continue to be a focus and I’m looking forward to Liege-Bastogne-Liege more than Amstel Gold and Fleche Wallonne.

I’ve ridden Liege-Bastoge-Liege four times and last year was the first time that I succeeded in being really competitive in the final kilometers. I was riding for Simon Gerrans then so it will be interesting to see what options I have this year if I can recover my good form.

Right now I’m looking forward to spending time with my parents Gerry and Kathleen and to catching up with my sisters Louise and Helen and brother David who are always a great support.

It’s rare that we are all at home at the same time so I’m enjoying my few days off and making the most of family life before getting my 2010 season back on track. I just hope my flu isn’t contagious !