Etape countdown...4 weeks to go

I'm a very impatient person and I rarely plan much in my personal life therefore I've quite surprised myself with the Etape. I must admit though I am getting to the stage now where I just want to get on with it.

So what has the last week been like and what's between now and the Etape?

I work as a freelance analyst/consultant in IT. I don't particularly enjoy it and could think of a thousand things I would rather be doing with my time but I have chosen my path and will have to put up with it. People of my age 'with responsibilities' don't start new careers. Sorry for the life stuff here but now and again in one's working life significant career opportunities pop up. Thinking back I have had 3 significant ones. The 1st one I turned down because I was too immature; the 2nd I grabbed with both hands; the 3rd I grabbed and then stupidly within a year let go because I didn't have the patience to wait for the reward. And now I have a 4th. Without exactly turning it down and burning bridges I tried to put them off me by telling them I had no experience in that subject matter, not shaving, not tying my shoelaces, being rude and spending too long in the gym. It didn't work. Opportunity knocked, I pretended I didn't hear, it knocked again and with a due sense of exhaustion and dread I answered. From entering the first project meeting like a man going to the gallows (a very rude unshaven man with his shoelaces undone) I'm now a dedicated IT professional once again. Fandabidozi.

Etape impact? Training suffers. Diet suffers. Sleep suffers.

I have also found myself to have a rather odd injury. I will call it an injury even though it's not stopping me doing anything [yet]. A few weeks ago I had a sharp throbbing in my left calf muscle. I've still got that. In the last week I have felt like my left leg was not doing as much work as my right. It felt like my upper leg was not quite properly connected to the lower bit and there was no power coming through. I've now got a sore knee on the inside bit of the leg and today I've got a pain down the left hamstring. Ummm...I'm guessing that this is because I am a bit lopsided due to the calf pain.

Etape impact? None really. I am going to try to stretch more and I have ridden quite strongly this week even though the left peg feels a lot weaker than the right.

Looking forward I am still hopeful of fitting in a sportive probably next weekend. Then there is the Cycling Plus sportive which starts fairly close to home but takes place on the weekend before the Etape. I don't think this would do me any harm do you?