New Shoes

The visit to Xscape also allowed a quick visit to Evans Cycles to get some new shoes :

Specialized Road Comp.

I got my current shoes when Matt and I rode Land's End to John o'Groats about 25 years ago. Recently I have been getting cramp in my foot arches, so hope these will help.

Not so convinced by white, but everything on the shelf was the same, so not a lot of choice. Puts me straight into the all-the-gear---no-idea category :o)



SiS Fuel

Went to a presentation tonight from SiS (Science in Sport) energy drink people, organized by HCRC.

I would like to think I know the theory of fuelling for racing,training and the etape, (x grams of Carb per Kg of bodyweight per hour, etc etc) but I do need to put it into practice. The slide showing his intake for last years Marmotte was a little scary!

Need to get some samples and start working out what I like / what works for me.

Seemed to get volunteered as the long distance rider example. A little self conscious as almost everybody in the room rides further than me, but nice to see that people are interested and supportive in my etape attempt. I had thought it would just blend into the background as nothing unusual. It is obviously a big-deal for me, but pretty run-of-the-mill for many club riders.


( Had a dodgy stomach on Sunday - may be down to the out of date Block I had on saturday. Or may just be the beer / pizza / general crap I've been eating :o/  )

170 Days to go.

A mixed weekend; the passing of Steff left me feeling a bit lost.
But it was also Josh's 7th birthday on Sunday, with a party in Milton Keynes Xscape climbing zone on Saturday afternoon. Good to see everybody again and an enjoyable time, but I did feel guilty for being happy.

This left me Saturday morning for a bit of training. Managed to drag myself out of bed before dawn (actually about 8:15am !) and got ready to go. Tried my new gloves out. Daylight didn't seem to arrive, and I set off into the gloom at about 9am. Very cold, and after about 15minutes it was obvious that the new gloves were not very warm. Went home and swapped back to the el'cheepo Aldi ones !

A nice run down towards Walton / Bruntingthorpe and back for a total of 40 miles. Felt OK at the end, and could probably have done a few more miles if time had allowed.

Bike compuer was a bit wierd, indicated speed jumping around and often 3x actual values. Need to investigate.

Tried the tube of Cliff Bar shot Blocks . Really nice. Had been lying around in the cupboard since Jo's Marathon, so were well past their sell-by date. :o/  but seemed to do the job. One cube every 20 minutes, and then bites of a zipvit bar for the last hour.

Steff - R.I.P.

The sudden death of my Rugby Skipper and Friend Steff Kenny on Thursday has left me in a bit of a daze.
Steff was a "rock" in every sense : a physically solid prop, who never went backwards, and also a dependable clubman who has been a significant part of Earlsdon RFC since I joined 20+ years ago. He will leave a big gap in many of our lives.


.

January Training Continues...... or not.

I don't know where January is going!
Having missed a load of sessions over Christmas, I'm now two-thirds of the way through January and I don't seem to have done any more.  Sunday 9th was good - managed to get out around Bruntingthorpe, Lutterworth for a total of 35 miles (Map).  Didn't feel too bad and found a couple of nice hills.
Last week just flew past. Had a trip to Winchester and a load of prep to do for that, so didn't have time to go to the gym, or get out on the bike at all. Another week gone.

A bit better this week. Rugby on Saturday, with a good win over Newbold-on-Avon, also my birthday, so had a couple of beers and a take away for supper. Sunday was spent with the family in Leicester for Sunday lunch (would have been my dad's birthday). Managed to get out on the turbo for an hour when we got back. Tried to do the CTS field test : 2 x 8minutes at 100%. Not a great idea really, feeling the effects of the day out and eating too much, but interesting. Managed to average 288 and 279 watts. Heart rate not as high as I expected at about 155bmp.

Managed a good session on Tuesday. 4 x 6min @ 255 watts, 4min between intervals.
Gym again on Wednesday, and then a quick 45 minutes on the turbo in the evening.

Been to the Gym twice today :o)
Once at lunchtime for the usual session, then back again to receive delivery of our new rowing machine. Played with it for a couple of minutes and pressed all the buttons and experimented with the resistance settings - that does count as training doeasn't it ????

Need to keep pushing myself to go out.

Christmas !

Happy New Year !

I've not been able to trainer much over the last few weeks. The cough I had before Christmas lingered all through the festivities, and is still there now. I'm not sure at what point a cough becomes a chest infection, becomes bronchitis, becomes pneumonia, and at what point you go to the doctors. whatever it is/was it is on it's way out now.... hopefully.

Maganged to get out on the bike again for an easy 20miles to Lutterworth and back on Bank Holiday Monday. Slightly faster than last time, and feeling pretty good. The new Christmas present overshoes from the boys fitted nicely, and helped keep the toes warm.

HRM worked a bit better this time, but the transmitter did detatch itself from the chest strap at one point. I'll have to keep an eye on that, wouldn't want to loose it.
sportstracklive

This week is back to work, so went to the gym on Wednesday and Thursday. Usual rounds of 11peg, but felt quite difficult. Feeling a bit of a strain on both inner thigh / groin, not sure how I've done that. Not good for rugby this weekend (Shipston away)

Need to get back into the routine and start building up the miles.