Countdown to Germany days 5 and 6

Germany here we come. I travelled to Germany on Thursday. Thankfully it was a scheduled rest day and it's a good job. Flight delays and getting a bit lost in Cologne meant that despite leaving home at 11:30. I didn't arrive at my hotel until 10pm (German time).

I was knackered when I arrived but thankfully there were no real dramas about the journey. I didn't realise how dehydrated I had gotten on the flight but on landing I devoured a litre if water. I literally couldn't get enough down my gullet. Not the best prep for racing but another lesson learnt. 

Cologne is a beautiful city. The cathedral is awe inspiring. When we arrived last night I was blown away by the scale of the building. This morning after paying €19.50 each for breakfast after I misheard the receptionist during check in. Me and the Mrs went for walk around the race site which is only 10 minutes from our hotel. 

After finding where to register and scoping out the swim and run courses including some more amazing architecture, it was time to go for my warm up jog. 

After #turbogate when I fell off my turbo trainer on Wednesday and tweaked a muscle in my ribs. I was dreading this run. I'll admit to being soft as sh*t when it comes to pain I think this is half the reason I struggle to really push myself with running unless I am being paced. 

The plan called for a 15 minute jog. After relaxing into my run and learning to ignore the pain in my ribs, I settled into my rhythm and felt okay. There was a constant pain but nothing that wasn't bearable. My run was well within my recovery zone and in the 15 minutes I stormed through 2.5km. 

I had been dreading the run because the pain in my ribs at times has caused me to question whether I could compete on Saturday. But thankfully this run served as a massive confidence boost ahead of the race. I know that I can bear the pain for the 5k run. 

Now I just needed to make sure I could swim with the pain. Thankfully my hotel has a pool. So after a few tentative lengths I realised that swimming is achievable tomorrow. This means I can banish all thoughts of not making the start line tomorrow as these have been at the back of my mind since #turbogate. I need to #MTFU and get the job done. It's not everyday you get to represent your country. Bring it on. 

My race starts at 2pm tomorrow UK time and is being streamed at www.wettkampf-live.de if you're interested. 

The rest of the day will be spent chilling out and relaxing ahead of tomorrow. I also have to go and register this afternoon. 

Thanks for reading

Michael

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