Last night was not a good night. I have already learnt that more exercise lowers your immune system, and have successfully seemed to catch every cold going since Christmas. However last night I learnt that it's not a good idea to drink too much either.
It was a work function, and great fun, but I did not enjoy the after effects of the alcohol. I kind of got out of the habit when Fraser was alive anyhow. We never quite knew when we would be rushing into hospital with him, and Jules and I never felt too great about being drunk under those circumstances.
Hence a combination of that, plus me cutting out most alcohol due to the training plan, plus my dumb idea of drinking flat-liners after a few bottles of wine.....nuff said methinks.
Not looking forward to my ride tomorrow morning. Have been trying to counter the dehydrating effects of the alcohol all day....
Friday, February 1, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Here's to the other halves...
I was back on the turbo on Tuesday night, and felt fine. I was pleased about this given the miles I'd done over the weekend. I did a full hour, and approx 15 'turbo miles'. Note: I've set the resistance on my turbo such that my average speed, and normal gear & cadence mean that my heart rate is similar to what it would be on the road. This is not an exact science, but I reckon my 'turbo mile' is about as near to a real mile as I'm likely to get. Having said all that, 15 miles is the furthest I've gone in an hour so far; hence I was pleased.
The plan was to Turbo train tonight too, as I have a work function on Thursday. However, I managed to get home before Jules did for the first time this year. She has been so great about letting me train, and ensuring I have something to eat when I've finished, that I decided it would be nice to treat her to a meal and have an unplanned relaxing evening.
So....another one of those days of rest
The plan was to Turbo train tonight too, as I have a work function on Thursday. However, I managed to get home before Jules did for the first time this year. She has been so great about letting me train, and ensuring I have something to eat when I've finished, that I decided it would be nice to treat her to a meal and have an unplanned relaxing evening.
So....another one of those days of rest
Sunday, January 27, 2008
It's light at 07:30 now
Simon and I set out around 07:45 to meet Rich in Windsor at 09:30. We get there in fairly good time, although we did a slight detour via Horsell which added a couple of miles. Tried my first energy bar. Quite tasty.
Rich sets off at a fair old pace (seemed like 18-19 mph, where we had been doing 14-15 mph). I think Rich eased off a bit, and also we got used to the faster pace, and we cycled round for an hour or so ending back pretty much where we started in Fifield.
To be fair to Rich, we met at 09:37, and said we needed to be back at Fifield to head home at 10:30. He got us there at around 10:32. This is most out of character for Rich. Lucy has trained him well!!!
Poor Simon was getting a bit tired towards the end, but he did twice as many miles as I did on Saturday (he cycled to Twickenham and back).
Enjoyable ride. Pretty much 60 miles in 4 hours (ok just under 60 miles and just over 4 hours, but near enough to feel like progress).
So thats 90 miles this weekend, and over 400 miles so far.
Rich sets off at a fair old pace (seemed like 18-19 mph, where we had been doing 14-15 mph). I think Rich eased off a bit, and also we got used to the faster pace, and we cycled round for an hour or so ending back pretty much where we started in Fifield.
To be fair to Rich, we met at 09:37, and said we needed to be back at Fifield to head home at 10:30. He got us there at around 10:32. This is most out of character for Rich. Lucy has trained him well!!!
Poor Simon was getting a bit tired towards the end, but he did twice as many miles as I did on Saturday (he cycled to Twickenham and back).
Enjoyable ride. Pretty much 60 miles in 4 hours (ok just under 60 miles and just over 4 hours, but near enough to feel like progress).
So thats 90 miles this weekend, and over 400 miles so far.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Lonely ride to Beyond Mountain Bikes
Today I set out for a short 30 mile route via Beyond Mountain Bikes. I remember when I bought my bike from them back in December, I joked about cycling home on it (thinking it was a long way). Now I cycle there, and do a further 22 miles afterwards...
I was hoping to pick up my new cadence sensor, but it had not come in yet. Bought some new shorts, a new light (my old one packed up), some energy bars and some Zym electrolytic drink. Oh yeah, and bought a bum bag to put it all in so I could get it home!
Bumped into Paul just after Milford. We were both looking for the Shackleford road, but neither of us thought we had passed it. Paul had been out for a while, and needed to get home (he'd already almost got to Farnham after a wrong turn at Elstead). Hope he's not too late!
I managed 30 miles in 2 hours. Felt much stronger today, and am looking forward to another long ride tomorrow. Planning to meet up with Rich near Windsor. The scary bit is Rich has organized the ride, so you never know what will happen....
I was hoping to pick up my new cadence sensor, but it had not come in yet. Bought some new shorts, a new light (my old one packed up), some energy bars and some Zym electrolytic drink. Oh yeah, and bought a bum bag to put it all in so I could get it home!
Bumped into Paul just after Milford. We were both looking for the Shackleford road, but neither of us thought we had passed it. Paul had been out for a while, and needed to get home (he'd already almost got to Farnham after a wrong turn at Elstead). Hope he's not too late!
I managed 30 miles in 2 hours. Felt much stronger today, and am looking forward to another long ride tomorrow. Planning to meet up with Rich near Windsor. The scary bit is Rich has organized the ride, so you never know what will happen....
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Back on the turbo
2 nights of turbo training following a long day in the office. Not good. At least the cold feels better (must be that hot toddy). Thursdays session didn't start til 8:45, so I didn't do a full hour.
Pretty busy at work now, not seeing much of Jules. She's been great so far giving me time to train & making sure I've got food to eat afterwards. This is going to be tough on both of us though. Might book a day off work so we get some non-Race-for-CHASE time together.
Pretty busy at work now, not seeing much of Jules. She's been great so far giving me time to train & making sure I've got food to eat afterwards. This is going to be tough on both of us though. Might book a day off work so we get some non-Race-for-CHASE time together.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Blummin colds
I still can't seem to shake a cold I've had since Christmas. Everyone seems to have it at the moment. Today my throat was sore again, and I started coughing. Decided not to do turbo tonight and get an early night.
One of the guys at work was complaining of a "one sided sore throat", and I think I've got the same thing.
Nice hot toddy and an early night. Probably worth noting my hot toddy recipe here. It really is a miracle drink if you want a good nights sleep:
1. Place a thick slice of lemon & a good squeeze of lemon juice in a large tumbler
2. Fill the glass 3/4 full with boiling water (use a teaspoon to stop the glass cracking)
3. Add 2 generous teaspoons of honey
4. Add a good slug of Bunnahabhain single malt scotch (I know....sacrilege...but it tastes great...trust me!)
5. Drink, enjoy & sleep :-)
One of the guys at work was complaining of a "one sided sore throat", and I think I've got the same thing.
Nice hot toddy and an early night. Probably worth noting my hot toddy recipe here. It really is a miracle drink if you want a good nights sleep:
1. Place a thick slice of lemon & a good squeeze of lemon juice in a large tumbler
2. Fill the glass 3/4 full with boiling water (use a teaspoon to stop the glass cracking)
3. Add 2 generous teaspoons of honey
4. Add a good slug of Bunnahabhain single malt scotch (I know....sacrilege...but it tastes great...trust me!)
5. Drink, enjoy & sleep :-)
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Lost cadence sensor
I set out for another ride this morning. Only 27 miles (when did the words "only" and "27 miles" get permission to sit next to each other in my vocabulary?!). My bum was a bit sore to start with after the ride on Saturday, but soon warmed up.
As we set off, I noticed my cadence sensor had fallen off - have to order a new one I guess. The ride was good; except my knee was aching a bit on the up-hills. We adjusted the saddle a bit & that seemed to help. We finished the ride in under 2 hours.
On arriving home, I realised I could figure out where I lost my cadence sensor by looking at the route from the Garmin - there would be a point from the ride yesterday where the cadence would go from "something" to "nothing". I found the point on the ride & went to have a look, but it just happened to be near the junction between the Hogs Back and the Farnham road into Guildford - not an ideal place to find a small piece of plastic with a magnet in it.
As we set off, I noticed my cadence sensor had fallen off - have to order a new one I guess. The ride was good; except my knee was aching a bit on the up-hills. We adjusted the saddle a bit & that seemed to help. We finished the ride in under 2 hours.
On arriving home, I realised I could figure out where I lost my cadence sensor by looking at the route from the Garmin - there would be a point from the ride yesterday where the cadence would go from "something" to "nothing". I found the point on the ride & went to have a look, but it just happened to be near the junction between the Hogs Back and the Farnham road into Guildford - not an ideal place to find a small piece of plastic with a magnet in it.
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