Looking back... and forward

At the start of 2013 I sat and prepared a post which looked forward to what I hoped to achieve during the coming 12 months.

With the calendar rolling from one year to the next I find myself repeating the exercise, with one eye on the previous year whilst the other gazes at the potential filled new year.

So, 2013..
Goal One was to complete the Wentwood 50k in a good time, as my post at the end of May explained, I could have done better.  The illness which dogged me for the first three months effectively sealed my fate and a dogged approach to riding wasn't going to out do poor preparation.
Goal Two was to ride 2013 miles.  Again, not good, by the end of may I had managed 358 miles, a new job, illness and new baby all ensuring that riding time was limited.  During the next six months I added just over 1400 miles to that, bringing my annual total to 1760 miles.  Good (in fact my highest mileage year to date) but falling well short of my target

Goal Three was to learn to jump, I'm happy with this, I'm not tail whipping off every bump in the trail but I'm now getting happier with my wheels leaving the ground, regaining a love for riding has helped with this but I see it as a work in progress that will only improve with time

Goal Four initially to complete a half iron man, amended to complete an imperial century was completed with panache at the Malvern Mad Hatter in September.  After giving it some thought, I'm shelving the idea of completing a long distance triathlon.. I just don't like the triathletes I brushed shouders with during training.

So, a strike rate of 50%, not bad, but plenty of room for improvement!

2014 then..

With my biking mojo back I again want to challenge myself, but I'm keen not to rehash last years..

Goal One
Ride 3000 miles
Yeah yeah, I know it's a rehash, but this will prove challenging, equating to around 60 miles a week I'm gong to need to have consistent riding through the year to hit my target.  It's my target though, so I'm going to include road, offroad and turbo riding.  Miles gained by turning pedals counts ;)

Goal Two
Blog more and improve my writing style
I keep trying, keep failing, but I want to make this site work.. I'm going to make sure I take a camera with me and document my biking adventures for the coming year.  I also am aware that my writing style is pretty dire at times, I'm going to try and develop more flair and finesse in my writing.. it's a goal, but I don't know how I'm going to get there yet!

Goal Three
Get 15000 page views
Tied in with the above, I want to double the traffic through the site.  I hope that reviews and more frequent posts will allow me to achieve this..

Bristol Bikefest Pre-amble

Pre-amble Pre-amble
I'll admit to some hesitation when sitting down to write this post, I've made a decision to keep the blog up to date though and I guess this forms part of the thought process which I set the site up to record.

Bike Races hold a love hate grip over me, I love the thought of something to train for (I very often find that without a date on the calender my training fades).  The problem is, in the past I've got myself stressed out over fitness, weather, tyre choice, food choice and a thousand other items which really only deserve as much air time as it takes to dismiss them.  Kate finally sat me down  a few years ago and explained the impact this was having on her, since then, I've stepped back and taken events as nothing more than an opportunity to ride my bike surrounded by others.

Historically, admitting that I felt fit was setting myself up to be beaten down by others, this is the next step in my 'rehabilitation' and proving to myself I've changed my outlook.  Yes, I'll be racing against mates, but if they win then fair enough, I've got a 7 week old baby and a 3 year old toddler who between them ensure that sleep is rarer than rocking horse shit.  Getting to the event in itself is going to be an achievement.  Trying to teach Dash that it's the effort and the ability to keep trying even if that means an acceptance of failure has highlighted my own past failings, so yeah, here's my own thoughts on me ahead of time, if I'm proved wrong, then I'll be proved wrong whilst giving it my best effort..


I've contemplated the Bristol Bikefest for a few years, it looks like a fun event, it's close to home and the course receives favourable comments from the biking forums.  Unfortunately, it's always fallen just ahead of the Mountain Mayhem, an event which was always the big part of my biking year, more recently, it's been only a few weeks ahead of exams.

When my old buddy Ad sent a text and asked if I was free to join him as a pair for the 12 hour race I had a few minutes of contemplation, with exams a (temporary) thing of the past and Mayhem now longer holding any real interest I admit to being very tempted.
The chance to catch up with some friends I've not seen for a few years and the option of riding somewhere new sealed it.  It also filled a nice space in my training diary between the Wye Valley Sportive and the Triathlon in August.

So, where am I then in terms of preparation for a race?

Whatever happens, we're going to get a top 10 finish, checking the entry list, it appears that there is only 10 pairs signed up for the Singlespeed category, see? it's all about finding positives.  The Singlespeed may be an issue; I've only recently converted after a number of years as a geared rider.  I remember that the events I did with only one gear went well, speed wasn't an issue but the way of riding is slightly different and that is something which I'm short on practice at.

I admit I'm getting fitter, distance is no longer a thing of concern, I'm knocking out 35-40 mile rides without issue at present and running wise, I can get out and do a half marathon distance run happily, that's an improvement on previous years; probably not quite to the level I was at 2 years ago, but life has changed since then and I'm probably fitter in a more sustainable way now.

The good thing about the increased fitness is that I feel better in myself about clicking into the pedals and rolling out onto a race track, that, along with the chilled out attitude I'm working hard to foster and I can honestly say that I'm really looking forward it.

Review

At the run in to 2013 I wrote a post about my goals for the year   In this I had sat down and identified several things which I wanted to achieve during 2013.  I guess they were set to be challenging, a target for the year which is achieved in 2 months is never going to stretch or motivate when the clouds gather and rain is more likely than wall to wall sunshine.
I guess now that we are approaching mid-year it's wise to revisit.

Goal One - Ride Wentwood in  decent Time
hashtag fail.. Crap preparation, crap fitness, crap time, crap crap crap

Goal Two - Ride 2013 milesOk, so at the start of the year this required me to ride 39 miles a week, every week to achieve.  Not a massive distance for roadies, who probably knock out 500 miles a month.  For a slack mountain biker however, this is not the case.  At present I have ridden a grand total of <fanfare> 358 Miles, more a wet fart than a high energy fireworks display I think you would agree.  I do feel confident however, I've started ramping up the mileage and hopefully, with the persistent illness which dogged the start of the year behind me I will start catching up during the next six months.

Goal Three - Learn To Jump
Yeah, still trying, still crap.

Goal Four - Complete a Half IronmanThis is something I still really want to do.  When I discussed it originally with Kate she was quick to reign in my enthusiasm and inject a dose of reality.  We've got a new baby and new babies are renowned for their ability to deliver sleep deprivation with ease.  Training for something as challenging as an 1800m swim, 90k bike and 21k run on minimal shut eye is going to create problems (and is possibly the reason I was struck down by so many bugs during the new year).  I'm still incorporating Running, Swimming and Cycling into my weekly plans however.  I've completed several half marathon distance runs in training already this year and can happily swim sub 30 minute miles whenever I make it to the local pool.  In all honesty though I think that discretion is the better part of valour.  I'm swapping out the half ironman for 2013 and in it's place will sit an imperial century on a bike, possibly by completing this  Still a challenge to someone not used to riding that sort of distance, but something slightly more achievable.  I'm viewing 2013 as a base year however, and will hope that the completion of a half ironman next year will become infinitely more enjoyable with a far increased level of fitness than I can really hope to gain in the time I have remaining before my target event.

Small Steps

My post at the start of this year laid out my plans, I have to be honest that whilst I am good at making plans, my ability to dot I's and cross T's can leave a little  a little to be desired, hence the name of this blog I guess.

The first step is always the most difficult, that doesn't just go for a training plan I know but I generally find that once started I am able to sustain an effort.

Since deciding what I want 2013 to look like from sporting perspective I have felt a pretty high level of motivation to get started.

I know that inspiration can come from strange quarters but reading sports biographies seems to do it for me these days, given the triathlon slant this year has taken I've added a fair few tri books to my Kindle reading list and have had a massive motivational mainline.

The one thing that we can't create more of is time, this means that I have to make use of the standard 24hrs we  get in a day, as before, my preference is early morning training, I seem to have more energy and a higher willingness to get out and push myself before most people hit their snooze button.

During the last few weeks I've been doing at least 3 runs a week, running is my weak point but I'm starting to get the pace back, I've even managed a 10 miler in under 90 minutes, a level I attained only after several months of pre half marathon training in previous years.

I was in Manchester a couple of weeks back, the hotel had a pool so I decided to start my swim training.  A mile on two consecutive days was a hell of an introduction, but I was pleased with my speed through the water..both miles ticked off in just under 30 minutes, not bad for a starting point.  Since then I've been swimming in the local pool and again knocked off miles in each session.

Cycling is another matter, time weather and opportunity have conspired against me so far.  Distance for the year is disappointing.   A road ride and an off road trip through hub deep snow pretty much sums it up.  The off road ride was fantastic,  hard work though and each of the 20 miles were haard fought for.

Overall though, I'm pleased, I think the year has started well, now, I just need to keep it up.. and keep this blog up to date too!

Week One

As is always the way, as soon as I make a plan and commit it to virtual paper something comes along to kick sand in my face.  In this case it was the cold which I managed to hold off throughout the Christmas period.

Multiple cold and flu capsules and enough Vitamin C to shock a fair sized elephant appears to have worked so far.

With a return to the day job, poor sleep and the aforementioned cold, training has been lacking this week.  I did get out for a 3.5 mile run Friday but my legs and body grumped enough afterwards to make me question whether the run was not 5 times that amount.  A rest of sorts over the last two days (if two days looking after dash whilst Kate is at work can be considered any form of rest) should see me right for a restart tomorrow.

Line in the sand

I guess that's the decision I have made about 2012, initial plans for multiple events and an ultra long ride have failed to materialise, in fact the only thing which has been successful is the quality of excuses for not doing the stuff I wanted to.  Whilst training and competing have been lacklustre to say the least other areas of my life have been incredibly successful; a new job (which has changed our lives completely),  Dash will have a little brother come April and to complete the trio we moved house.  Looking at the list I'm pretty happy.  Despite feeling less fit than I have for a long time I have still managed a few decent runs lately.  My trip to America during early December saw me fulfill an ambition by running around Central Park - that run turned out to be just shy of 14 miles.. I was chuffed with that, I didn't even ache, I just need to build on it to achieve my 2013 plans.

So, 2013 then.

It's going to be a big year.

MTB plans are fairly simple..
1) Complete the Wentwood 50k in a time which is significantly better than 2012's which ended up being close to 5hrs..so, around 3.5 then.
2) Learn to jump.. Simple in theory but something which is holding me back in my riding, I really think that jumping will speed me up, even if only psychologically.

Other Stuff.
1) Ride 2013 miles, I've seen a fair few people do this sort of thing and fancy a go!
2) Complete a 70.3 Triathlon.. that's a half Iron Man to you and me

So will it be easy? No, probably not, especially the jumping! And doubly so with a second baby due April but I'm determined to give it a go, I hope you will be along for the ride.

Doing It All Wrong.. and I'm almost too tired to care

Almost, but not quite.

Ok, so maybe things aren't as bad when you stop to really consider, but I'm tired, work is 100% stress and I can feel that weight is piling on.

I know that last week I mentioned it was good to be back, but I can't say a comeback that lasts 3 rides is going to set the competitive world of 2012 alight, nor send my opponents scurrying for cover.

The thing is, I seem to be stuck in an endless cycle (no pun intended) of 10 or 11 hour days, poor sleeping patterns, worse diet and zero motivation.

I know that the general lack of exercise and constant trips to a rather fine Indian restaurant are doing nothing for me, but I really am having a crisis of focus.  All worlds away from a month or so ago when I felt great and happily managed 12 or so hours of getting out and exercising per week.

The catalyst for this post though comes from Kate, talking on Skype tonight she happen to mention that I'm starting to look a bit fuller in the face.  I love her for it, it's a good sign that she can say something which she knows will probably not make me feel particularly happy.  But was said nonetheless because of the motivation it'll give me for putting it right before it becomes a bit more serious (for me anyway).  She's right too, I can feel that my middle is 'thickening' and my level of get up and go is starting to flatline.


So, last week was a false start, this week is the real deal...

2011, Here We Come

Look at any sports blog at present and you'll either be witness to New Years Resolutions, or lengthy posts about the  writers achievements for 2010.

I'm only jealous, 2010 for me included Mountain Mayhem and 24/12.. neither of which I won.

The idea of this site for me, was to chart progress toward any events I want to take part in.  2011 is lining up to be a pretty full calendar at this rate, with a fair number of different events having already caught my eye.

I guess the easiest thing for me to do is break it all down into category.

Biking Events
Wentwood 50 - 06 March
This is a new event and seems to close to miss, I've not ridden in the woodland the enduro is going to be taking place in, but a look on google earth and a search on the net has come up with a site explaining all about a downhill track there, nothing else on the XC side of things, but it's looking good and the organisers are promising a tough challenge.  My entry is already in for this one!

Mountain Mayhem - June
I'm umming and ahhing about this one at present, I've done it for the past 6 years, it's billed as the biggest 24hr event in the calender and is run only 20 miles or so from my door.  If I did it, it would be for tradition and the comaraderie, as a trail, I find it unrewarding.  It's also expensive - something like £70 per rider for a team of 4.  I guess this is a watch this space, I may get talked into it once the entries go live.

Twentyfour/12 - July
This is held in Newnham Park, Plymouth and gives the option of either doing a 24hr race or a 12hr.  We did the 12 hour last year in pairs and I loved it.  The course is challenging and fun enough to ensure each lap pushes you to go that little bit harder.

Forest Of Dean Enduro - September / October
My LOCAL local event.  I love it, ride the trail on a fairly regular basis and last year finished in 11th.  I want to go there this year and break top 10.

Running Events
Forest Of Dean Half Marathon - 27 March
I've done this once before and it's currently my training focus.  It's gaining popularity but I've got my entry in early and am working hard to try and beat my previous time

Runners World FOD 10k - 22 May
This is also a new event and is taking place the day after my birthday (hint hint), seems like a nice way to celebrate and it'll be a new experience for me having not done a 10k before.

Multi-Sport
Not sure here.. I'm kind of stepping into the unknown a little, a few which have caught my eye are;

Monmouth Tri - 10th April
Ross On Wye Tri - 12th June
Eastnor Tri - 03 July

That's quite a lot isn't it?, in fact, it's a hell of a lot.  That is obviously the dream list and I'm well aware
that life is going to get in and mix things up a little.  I've got concerns over the triathlons too, purely because I'm lacking in pool time and present, I'd hoped they were later in the season, but hey oh, push comes to shove I'll do just one this year and change the blog name to thatbikerunbikething ;)