Lessons learned?

Friday 18 Jan 2008

Tonight's ride was not the most enjoyable ride I'll ever do!

I've not really spent much time with Clare this week, Monday she was doing thank-you cards for Amy's birthday, Tuesday I was out on the bike, Wednesday I did my tax return (I'm still angry about this!), Thursday I was out at the Alpha course and last night I was out on the bike. It won't be any better tonight as Clare is out babysitting. I'm looking forward to Sunday night! I hope she knows how grateful I am for her support!

I think it's starting to dawn on me how much training for this ride is going to take over my life for six months...

Anyway, my ride tonight? Well apart from the wind, which was incedibly strong, I wasn't in the right frame of mind at all. I didn't want to be out on the bike. It's Friday night, I wanted to be at home with Clare having a nice meal and a glass of wine! But, as I have only been out once this week, I needed to get out...

Having taken Joseph to football, got back about 7:45pm - put him to bed - which took till 8:30pm, had a sandwich, drank some water, got changed, stretched, it was gone 9pm. Getting on the bike I just could get comfortable. I felt scrunched up, feet slipping all over the place (I must sort out my clip-in shoes, hamstring was tight (despite stetching), no energy in me at all.

It was a slog, an hour and a half of me thinking I don't want to be on the bike, I want to be at home. I kept thinking;

"What can I get away with?",
"where can I turn back early?",
"I can't face that hill at the end of the ride"

Even the down hill runs on the ride were against the wind and not that enjoyable. I felt like I was riding at about 2 miles an hours, and was worrying about whether I'm going to be able to go at an appropriate pace for the rest of the team. I've still not riden with anyone from the team and has no idea what it's like to ride with others!

Despite my negative attitude, I kept thinking about what I was doing this for, for CHASE, Fraser, and for Iain and Jules. This kept me going and avoiding the easy decision to give up!

Getting back home, after a lovely shower I sat down in front of the TV for the first time this week.

So what were my lessons learned?

1. Eat well before I go out on the bike, or I'll have no energy
2. It's not always going to be fun!
3. It's going to be hard work!
4. The reason for doing this ride is worth the effort!

I'll give Tim a call tomorrow and see if he's ok for a ride on Sunday

23 miles; 1hr 35mins; Avg HR 150; Max HR 165