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.

Fall down 6 times, get up 7

I know what I said, no easy outs and plenty of structure.

Thing is, the man with the plan has decided to have a little fun and its seemingly at my expense.

As the saying goes though, if you fall six times, you must get up seven.

The tight chest I mentioned in my last post was diagnosed as a chest infection.  A course of antibiotics later and I am starting on the road to recovery-ville.  That is until the follow up cold made itself known anyway, gained fitness was lost, then gained and lost again and before I can say pissoffcoldyouareboringmeknow three weeks as passed with only a few miles of running under my belt.

I got out for a ride last weekend and actually felt pretty good.  Reading my Wentwood 50 partners tweets about new bikes and reucing waistlines did little for either my confidence or mood however and a piss poor 9 miles in the saddle is unlikely to have Al worried about keeping up.  More likely that he'll be packing the emergency oxygen tent and ensuring he has the number of the local air ambulance in his phone just in case I get a relapse.

This week I have managed a few runs, including a session of hill reps and a long run yesterday which saw me ticking off just over 10 miles in an hour and 20 minutes.  Something has to be working because that is quicker than I was managing a few weeks out from the last half marathon I ran.

So, I may not be completely doomed to failure for my quicker time for Wentwood,  I just need a few good weeks of training without succumbing to the next bug that is doing the rounds, wall to wall sunshine and for everone else to get the date wrong.

;)

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.