That Time I Nearly Died

I was fairly consistent over January apart from one weekend - what happened was the weather report suggested no wind on a Saturday so I swapped my ride from Friday to Saturday and the wind did the same so I hit the indoor bike instead. Keen not to make the same mistake I ventured into the wind last Friday, almost froze on the bike and scraped myself back home. This week I was treated to a calm, semi-warm ride and was counting my blessings before I came across some other people making the most of the good weather.

The first was on a busy roundabout at Penzance. I was crossing during a lull and encountered a guy who approached the junction at full speed and slammed his brakes on just in time to miss my front wheel. He should have been checking for cars anyway so had no excuse for pulling out like he did and almost had a human milkshake to explain to the children in his car.

Lo and behold, on my 28th mile, I came to an easily sighted junction that joined the road I was travelling on. One car crossed my road in front of me and one pulled out of the junction as both realised they had plenty of time to do so. Another car at the junction hesitated big time and went to pull out as I was almost in front of her, again slamming on her brakes just in time. 

What really struck me about both of these incidents is that I went to put my hand up to both which would have looked like an apology, however neither saw this because they both looked away as quickly as possible in embarrassment. I know this all sounds a bit preachy but I will admit, as a driver, cyclists can be annoying. They're slow, can be unpredictable and take time to pass on the road. That said, both of these drivers had to wait less than five seconds before I was out of the way and they could carry on. Five seconds! Is my life really worth less than that? Actually, don't answer that. It doesn't take much to allow cyclists a bit of courtesy, especially since they're possibly building up mileage and therefore knackered.

The good news is that I didn't die; this isn't some American Beauty style post with a big twist. Also, training is still going well.

Into It

What a difference the weather makes.

I made it out Friday and decided to try out a new route, following the road to Hayle for ten miles before opting for the back roads towards Camborne and returning home. I mapped it out to be a 20 mile ride which should have taken under two hours, getting me home just in time for it to get dark. Unfortunately I took a wrong turn, made it back on to my intended route and then came across a closed road, meaning I had to divert a mile or so out of the way. A mile or so turned into a few miles or so and I finally made it back 50 minutes late, well after the sun had descended and the roads were pitch black having covered just over 31 miles.

Today I decided to take it easy on myself and went for a route that I knew well, towards Redruth on the back roads and returning along the same route. While on the course I noticed a massive descent into the village of Stithians (I know, the place with the reservoir...of course there are going to be descents, right?). Having climbed to the top of the hill to go down it I decided to get back on to the road for the return journey so I wasn't doing 20 miles of hill training and this gave me a great idea - I should do this all the time. Thus, I am now planning back routes to neighbouring towns with a nice, fast paced return through the traffic of Cornwall.

Both journeys had little rain and limited wind, although on Friday the wind started to pick up as the ol' sun disappeared. I was on my way home by then though so didn't much care.

I also had a relaxed, almost two mile run on Saturday with my lovely children as we're all working towards a virtual running 10K medal each.

This is my weekends from now on.

Definitive Differences

Wednesday (inside), Friday, Sunday training is going to work really well. However, I've just finished my second outdoor ride of the week and both were considerably different - Friday's 25 miler was very wet with no wind, today's 15 was very windy with no rain. I hated them both. 

I've also noticed some big differences between cycling and running aside from the well documented 'they use different muscles'.

1. Cycling is 100% uphill. There's no such thing as a flat in Cornwall as the whole county has been built on a V or ^ foundation. This means there are downhills but, as Ella Eyre noted, gravity gravity, oooooooh, gravity and even on a bike you can conquer a twenty mile downhill section in four minutes...just in time for the next twenty mile uphill section.

2. Cycles take maintenance. I never once had to check the pressures on my shoes or lubricate my chain, if you know what I mean. Shoe up, bugger off. That's running. Also there's a lot to turn off when returning - I left my lights on after my ride on Friday and, being a very cheap set, they're now good for nothing.

3. Riding takes longer. A 100 mile bike ride is equivalent to a 26 mile run, so a ratio of around 4:1 in London Marathon organiser standards. However, while a six mile run takes me around an hour a 24 mile ride is just over two. I have to put this down to being at the start of my training but I need to get an awful lot faster to make the running/riding ratio stack up. A 15mph average will get me around the course within the eight and a half hour limit so that's my initial aim, though this is still just under an hour and a half for a 24 mile ride.

4. I cannot ride empty. When partaking in a marathon I would have four breakfast biscuits, go to the toilet seventeen times and then run. I'd take on a few gels towards the end but I wouldn't eat much at all until after the race when I would binge on everything in sight. I was knackered after my ride on Friday and put a lot of it down to hunger, meaning I also have to eat before a ride which takes up even more time.

There are plenty of similarities, such as the need for layers in the cold months. I had one pair of socks on in the wet and my feet were numb by the time I got home. Today I put two pairs on because I figured they don't take up much room in the washing machine and hey presto! Warm feet. I'm more than a little looking forward to riding in the Summer, however if I wait until then I will have no stamina so I'm not too concerned with the shorter rides for now.

Incidentally, is this the world's shortest cycle path?

2018

This is it, now. This is the gig. I don't mind admitting I've been a bit slack over December - very slack, in actual fact - however this was a planned inconsistency that was achieved through complex planning and training from previous adventures.

There are many athletes out there who can happily compete in their sports over and over again, a state of mind I have become familiar with when running. I love to plan a distance, nip out and achieve it, get back and know that I've got those miles in the bag. When training for a specific event though I can find very long runs stagnate and I end up resenting my chosen sport for a period of time until the actual event arrives. I found it with the London Marathon, vowing never to do another marathon again as the training needed to do such a distance is so time consuming and gruelling. After a few adjustments to my training plan I then managed to do two marathons within seven months of each other.

The adjustments were things I'd never considered possible during training - relaxing, allowing myself to fail and reducing training to fit in with my life. Rather than doing four 20 mile runs before tapering I did four half marathons and it did the same job as long as I did some faster short runs as well. Applying this logic to my current situation I'll be using the indoor bike to try and increase my speed which should allow me to ride sensibly and get used to being out on the roads, perhaps making 60 or 70 miles my end goal before RideLondon rather than creeping up to 90 miles. It all seems a bit wishy washy at the moment but consistent riding on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays is a concrete plan and the only thing that really matters when training is consistency. I'll also be running on Tuesdays because I can't bring myself to give it up, even for six months.

Today is the first day of this concrete training plan. This is it, now.

Taking the Wrong Route

I should've known. I've been here before, I should have recognised it.

When I started running I had a mixture of advice, both good and bad, ranging from getting the correct shoes to avoid injury to eating cake before I go out because I'd need the carbs. I was also advised on beautiful routes to take, most of which involved ridiculously steep hills along coastal paths that added nothing to my road running training. I know many, many people who take those paths and enjoy running them but I am not one as I like to remove my brain and run like a zombie for hours on end.

The same can be said for cycling; although I need to be a bit more switched on as there's traffic to avoid and the speeds can contribute to nasty accidents I still need as many long, steady routes as I can find. I have a good idea of which routes will be most beneficial in my training however I was struggling to get motivated to go out this afternoon and Mrs L suggested a nostalgic route that used to serve her well back in the day.

I made my way along a couple of familiar roads to get my mileage up, finding them to be congested as it was time for the schools to empty. I then decided to go along the sedate, traffic free route that I knew would be slightly more inclined and prepared to ride up it. What I came across was the filthiest, wettest, cow-pattiest road I've ever come across. When running this is not such an issue as shoes don't tend to spray the collection up and over the user, however it turns out a bike is a very efficient muck spreader. It should have clicked when I was told to 'go towards the dump and turn left'. The smell from both was out of this world.

I will now stick to what I know and leave the cows alone. Sorry cows.

The Training has Begun

Yesterday I officially started my RideLondon cycle training. I am nervous and excited, like that time I signed up to a marathon and thought 'now what?' I did 25 miles in 2 hours and 10 minutes, averaging 11.67 mph, way below what I'm hoping for next year. I promise not to post all of my stats, mind.

I've also just arrived back with this little beauty - 

It's occurred to me that I may struggle with timings for training as I currently have time available on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays but don't want to do nothing for four days and then cram it all into the weekend. I'm therefore combining family time and cycling on Wednesdays, leaving actual cycling to Fridays and Sundays - starting with shorter distances as 25 miles seems too much for early training. What can I say, I'm keen, but I know the risk of injury is high from overtraining. Been there, done that. Now it's time to stick to the plan.

No More Running for the Rest of my Life

I'm amazed at the cynicism of some people. I've just come off a pretty rigid ten week training plan that involved a lot of healthy eating, very little drinking and absolutely zero pizza or pasties yet when I mentioned that I would be taking this weekend off completely before switching to cycling next week I received a few knowing looks, more than a few titters and one person almost flat out suggesting I was giving up.

Although I have to put a lot into cycling I do have eight months to prepare and have to ensure I don't get bored of it so thought I'd have a week to myself to recover. This means I can celebrate a friend's birthday guilt-free and actually live a little before putting myself through yet another ordeal.

I promise you all though, I will be back. Oh yes. Back I will be.

Here's me looking knackered after my Autumn half marathon events.