I've been on holiday for the past 4 days which has given me a break in my routine.
On Thursday morning I went for a run for an hour. I felt really good and if it wasn't for the fact I was desparate to get back to my toilet I think I could have gone on a lot longer.
I then went on holiday to Whitby. On Saturday we must have walked over 12 miles. The day started with awalk from the campsite to the beach and back. We then did a 6 mile walk up the coast. Then we went in to Whitby and did the Whitby Treasture Hunt (there's one available for most places actually) and after that we went on a ghost walk.
On Sunday we went for a stroll around Scarborough which was by no means short! We passed a shooting gallery on our travels too!
Yesterday we walked into town and did some shopping. In the evening my car broke down twice (different problems - I have the kiss of death when it comes to cars I think) so I'm biking to work for the time being. I found out this morning that the final hill to work is an absolute killer!
Monday, 28 July 2008
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
Grand Old Duke of York (intervals)
Spurred on with your going to the gym in the mornings (and how much better I feel when I've done exercise before work) I got up this morning and went for a run. It was a nice sunny morning so it was a pleasant thing to do.
I did the old interval training I used to do up the Grand Old Duke of York route. Whe I left the house I felt pretty rubbish. My running felt laboured and I felt like I was suffereing from the normal morning lack of real energy when I try to exercise in the morning.
Although, I never felt great I was surprised when I got a lot further on the route (it's done on time, not distance) than I normally did. To be honest, though, I think it's the fitness I've gained from cycling that got me through it rather than any element of good running.
I did the old interval training I used to do up the Grand Old Duke of York route. Whe I left the house I felt pretty rubbish. My running felt laboured and I felt like I was suffereing from the normal morning lack of real energy when I try to exercise in the morning.
Although, I never felt great I was surprised when I got a lot further on the route (it's done on time, not distance) than I normally did. To be honest, though, I think it's the fitness I've gained from cycling that got me through it rather than any element of good running.
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
Ride!
My legs are tired today.
I did a ride last night that was a lot harder than I expected it to be. On reflection, I think the difficulty stemmed from two factors: the strong wind and my choice of route out of Sheffield.
There's a road that gets me to the peaks that, in my head, seems like a quick and direct route out of town and not too hilly. However, all the rides I do that use it end being horrible. The second ride I did with Tom on that May Bank Holiday used it and was almost a disaster as I hit "the wall" one third of the way round. That "No Flats" ride I did was indescribably difficult considering how short it was and last night's ride was pretty gruelling. When I got home I went on mapmyride.com to see how far I went (48.19miles) and have a look at the profile of the course. To my surprise I found the top of the road I've been using is only around 100 feet lower than the top of Mam Tor. No wonder it kills me!
When I was half-way up it a guy turned onto the road behind me on a nice bike but just wearing normal shorts and a t-shirt. I thought I would drop him easily but 30 seconds later I had a cheeky glance behind me and he was only 20 metres back. I put in a bit more effort and struggled on against the wind. After another minute I looked back and he was still only about 40 metres behind. So I decided to really put the hammer down and imagined all the phrases the Tour de France commentators use ("he's really putting the hurt into the other riders"/"they're shovelling coal now!"). It really hurt and I felt I was struggling so much I was scared he was just going to cruise past me. I also felt I couldn't have another look back as it would be too obvious that I was trying to drop him so I had to wait until the top of the hill where the road sweeps into a big "C" shape that covers about 600 metres. I looked over my shoulder nearing the top of it and couldn't see him. "He must be right behind me!!" I thought. Fortunately, he wasn't and I'd managed to drop him good and proper. Unfortunately I'd pretty much ruined the rest of the ride for myself and I'd only ridden 8 miles!
As I rode towards Winnats Pass I was genuinely worried that today would be the first day I wouldn't actually make it up. Although, when it came to it, it wasn't too much of a problem my legs felt drained of energy and the wind was relentless.
Then came a revalation. The return journey was great. My bike felt like it had a motor on it! It didn't stop the last hill hurting though. It's 4 miles of nice smooth road that's very satisfying to get to the top of. Especially yesterday.
On the way back to Sheffield I really expected my legs to get those shooting pains but fortunately I avoided them again.
I did a ride last night that was a lot harder than I expected it to be. On reflection, I think the difficulty stemmed from two factors: the strong wind and my choice of route out of Sheffield.
There's a road that gets me to the peaks that, in my head, seems like a quick and direct route out of town and not too hilly. However, all the rides I do that use it end being horrible. The second ride I did with Tom on that May Bank Holiday used it and was almost a disaster as I hit "the wall" one third of the way round. That "No Flats" ride I did was indescribably difficult considering how short it was and last night's ride was pretty gruelling. When I got home I went on mapmyride.com to see how far I went (48.19miles) and have a look at the profile of the course. To my surprise I found the top of the road I've been using is only around 100 feet lower than the top of Mam Tor. No wonder it kills me!
When I was half-way up it a guy turned onto the road behind me on a nice bike but just wearing normal shorts and a t-shirt. I thought I would drop him easily but 30 seconds later I had a cheeky glance behind me and he was only 20 metres back. I put in a bit more effort and struggled on against the wind. After another minute I looked back and he was still only about 40 metres behind. So I decided to really put the hammer down and imagined all the phrases the Tour de France commentators use ("he's really putting the hurt into the other riders"/"they're shovelling coal now!"). It really hurt and I felt I was struggling so much I was scared he was just going to cruise past me. I also felt I couldn't have another look back as it would be too obvious that I was trying to drop him so I had to wait until the top of the hill where the road sweeps into a big "C" shape that covers about 600 metres. I looked over my shoulder nearing the top of it and couldn't see him. "He must be right behind me!!" I thought. Fortunately, he wasn't and I'd managed to drop him good and proper. Unfortunately I'd pretty much ruined the rest of the ride for myself and I'd only ridden 8 miles!
As I rode towards Winnats Pass I was genuinely worried that today would be the first day I wouldn't actually make it up. Although, when it came to it, it wasn't too much of a problem my legs felt drained of energy and the wind was relentless.
Then came a revalation. The return journey was great. My bike felt like it had a motor on it! It didn't stop the last hill hurting though. It's 4 miles of nice smooth road that's very satisfying to get to the top of. Especially yesterday.
On the way back to Sheffield I really expected my legs to get those shooting pains but fortunately I avoided them again.
Monday, 21 July 2008
2 walks
Over the weekend I did 2 walks. The first was pretty strenuous and the weather was terrible.
Yesterday's walk was easier (on 5.5miles), half of what we're going to be doing every day on holiday with the tents on our backs.
The weather looks fantastic this week so it looks like I'll be doing some good rides!
Yesterday's walk was easier (on 5.5miles), half of what we're going to be doing every day on holiday with the tents on our backs.
The weather looks fantastic this week so it looks like I'll be doing some good rides!
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Football and Ride
I've been lucky with the weather over the past couple of days.
On Tuesday I played football after work as usual. Yesterday I ached a little more than usual but nothing bad enough to stop me going on a bike ride.
Last night I went on a ride with someone from work. We rode a pretty good pace all the way round and with all the extra bits (ie me riding to this guy's house to meet him then riding home via his house I rode around 45 miles, which is a decent ride.
I was ravenous when I got home - my stomach was actually hurting because it wanted food so badly. (I'd taken food on the ride with me but gave it to my colleague as he started to tire on the first of two long climbs.)
On Tuesday I played football after work as usual. Yesterday I ached a little more than usual but nothing bad enough to stop me going on a bike ride.
Last night I went on a ride with someone from work. We rode a pretty good pace all the way round and with all the extra bits (ie me riding to this guy's house to meet him then riding home via his house I rode around 45 miles, which is a decent ride.
I was ravenous when I got home - my stomach was actually hurting because it wanted food so badly. (I'd taken food on the ride with me but gave it to my colleague as he started to tire on the first of two long climbs.)
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
What's thing called, "outside"?
Over the last few days I've actually managed to do exercise outside. Admittedly the rubbish summer meant that I got wet on two out of three of these sessions but at least I was in the fresh air.
Last Thursday night I went on a run in the pouring rain. It turned out to be pretty short (just over 25 minutes) as I went with my new neighbour who struggled a bit as he'd not been out for a while. Still, it was probably nice to have an easy session after the difficult turbo training session I had the previous night.
I went camping in the Lake District over the weekend and did a big walk on Sunday - combining two of the walks outlined by Wainwright (Crinkle Crags and Bowfell). We were out for six hours and by the time we got back the car I was really glad to sit down. And then, after 4.5 hours of driving to get back home, I was really pleased to get to bed!
I was please that I didn't feel too tired yesterday and managed to get out on my bike for first time in ages. In my head I was thinking, "I've not been out on my bike for ages, I'm going to be rubbish" but I'd not taken into account the turbo training I've been doing so it was a pleasant surprise to find that I felt really good. It was horribly wet last night so I nearly shortened the route I intended to do as I didn't want to ride in the rain all night (I was only wearing shorts and t-shirt). However, as if by auto-pilot I turned down the road to do the full route rather than continuing back into Sheffield when I had the opportunity. It added 10 miles to the route, including a 5 mile climb, which is rapidly becoming my favourite climb in Sheffield. The road is really smooth and the scenery changes all the way up. Best of all, the rain stopped so I felt I'd really made the right decision.
Last Thursday night I went on a run in the pouring rain. It turned out to be pretty short (just over 25 minutes) as I went with my new neighbour who struggled a bit as he'd not been out for a while. Still, it was probably nice to have an easy session after the difficult turbo training session I had the previous night.
I went camping in the Lake District over the weekend and did a big walk on Sunday - combining two of the walks outlined by Wainwright (Crinkle Crags and Bowfell). We were out for six hours and by the time we got back the car I was really glad to sit down. And then, after 4.5 hours of driving to get back home, I was really pleased to get to bed!
I was please that I didn't feel too tired yesterday and managed to get out on my bike for first time in ages. In my head I was thinking, "I've not been out on my bike for ages, I'm going to be rubbish" but I'd not taken into account the turbo training I've been doing so it was a pleasant surprise to find that I felt really good. It was horribly wet last night so I nearly shortened the route I intended to do as I didn't want to ride in the rain all night (I was only wearing shorts and t-shirt). However, as if by auto-pilot I turned down the road to do the full route rather than continuing back into Sheffield when I had the opportunity. It added 10 miles to the route, including a 5 mile climb, which is rapidly becoming my favourite climb in Sheffield. The road is really smooth and the scenery changes all the way up. Best of all, the rain stopped so I felt I'd really made the right decision.
Thursday, 10 July 2008
Yep, still raining
Arghhh!!!! The weather today is sunny until 4pm then rainy all night! I WANT TO GET OUT ON MY BIKE (but don't want to get wet!)!!
Think I'll go for a run tonight for a change from turbo training.
Last night's turbo training was very hard. Made up a new session (need to introduce some variety in order to relieve the tedium brought on by so much bike riding in my cellar) which involved 5 minute repetitions where half the time was spent on the hardest session on the trainer only three gears from top gear on my road bike. I only went on for half an hour but I was shattered. My legs today feel similar to when I've done a much longer ride.
Think I'll go for a run tonight for a change from turbo training.
Last night's turbo training was very hard. Made up a new session (need to introduce some variety in order to relieve the tedium brought on by so much bike riding in my cellar) which involved 5 minute repetitions where half the time was spent on the hardest session on the trainer only three gears from top gear on my road bike. I only went on for half an hour but I was shattered. My legs today feel similar to when I've done a much longer ride.
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Stormy Weather
The weather is truly rubbish at the moment. I want to go on a bike ride but it's constantly raining. Looks like I'll be turbo training AGAIN tonight.
Last night was football. As usual I ran and ran and ran.
Last night was football. As usual I ran and ran and ran.
Monday, 7 July 2008
Ploughing ahead blindly
At the moment I don't really have a specific event that I'm training for and it makes it difficult for me to decide what sort of training to do.
Although I'm doing another 24 hour race in August this isn't with a particularly fast team so I don't have the pressure to train like I did for Mountain Mayhem. I'm debating whether to do the Hathersage Hilly Triathlon but I'm put off by the fact that I'm camping that weekend so I'll need to rush across Derbyshire at 6am on a Sunday morning to get there along with the fact that I'm TERRIBLE at swimming. And when I say terrible I mean terrible - old ladies keeing their hair dry swim past me while I flail about, trying to get from one end of the pool to the other.
I'm going to go swimming one night this week to see how long it takes me to swim 420 metres.
So, with the absence of anything definite to train for I've just been trying to keep up the same sort of level as before the mountain mayhem.
On Saturday I went mountain biking - terriblie weather but a great ride.
On Sunday I went for a long walk. Again, the weather was terrible to start with but then the sun came out as a reward for our optimism. It was on eof the best walks I've done out of my walk book, going past big mills by the river - loads of really interesting history. As usual, the walk left me feeling shattered. I get much more tired doing these relatively low level activities for a long time than when I do bike rides or play football. In the evening I played a gig and could barely keep my eyes open.
This morning I got up and did half an hour on the turbo trainer. Today I got the distinct impression that my legs are definitely getting stronger.
Although I'm doing another 24 hour race in August this isn't with a particularly fast team so I don't have the pressure to train like I did for Mountain Mayhem. I'm debating whether to do the Hathersage Hilly Triathlon but I'm put off by the fact that I'm camping that weekend so I'll need to rush across Derbyshire at 6am on a Sunday morning to get there along with the fact that I'm TERRIBLE at swimming. And when I say terrible I mean terrible - old ladies keeing their hair dry swim past me while I flail about, trying to get from one end of the pool to the other.
I'm going to go swimming one night this week to see how long it takes me to swim 420 metres.
So, with the absence of anything definite to train for I've just been trying to keep up the same sort of level as before the mountain mayhem.
On Saturday I went mountain biking - terriblie weather but a great ride.
On Sunday I went for a long walk. Again, the weather was terrible to start with but then the sun came out as a reward for our optimism. It was on eof the best walks I've done out of my walk book, going past big mills by the river - loads of really interesting history. As usual, the walk left me feeling shattered. I get much more tired doing these relatively low level activities for a long time than when I do bike rides or play football. In the evening I played a gig and could barely keep my eyes open.
This morning I got up and did half an hour on the turbo trainer. Today I got the distinct impression that my legs are definitely getting stronger.
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
Football and TT
I played football after work last night and ran and ran and ran! It's a running joke (no pun intended) at football with some people how much I run.
When I got home I was shattered - not helped of course by the fact I'd already done some time on the turbo trainer before work!
I'm seeing Beck in Manchester tonight so I got up this morning and did half an hour on the turbo trainer before work again as I'm going to be sat in the car/standing at a gig for much of tonight.
When I got home I was shattered - not helped of course by the fact I'd already done some time on the turbo trainer before work!
I'm seeing Beck in Manchester tonight so I got up this morning and did half an hour on the turbo trainer before work again as I'm going to be sat in the car/standing at a gig for much of tonight.
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Early in the morning.
I missed out on any exercise on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday! I spent the entire weekend sitting down making a website and on Sunday evening I was in a foul mood from having done nothing else all weekend.
Last night I REALLY wanted to go for a run but I was recording some bits for the new album and it took longer than I expected and I ran out of time.
So... I got up early this morning to get on the turbo trainer for 35 minutes. I felt really good going to work having fully exerted myself before breakfast so I'm going to do the same thing tomorrow.
It was weird doing the turbo training with no specific race in mind that I'm training for. A real motivator for me is imagining myself overtaking people as I'm pedalling but this seemed weird when I'm not sure what my next race will be!
Last night I REALLY wanted to go for a run but I was recording some bits for the new album and it took longer than I expected and I ran out of time.
So... I got up early this morning to get on the turbo trainer for 35 minutes. I felt really good going to work having fully exerted myself before breakfast so I'm going to do the same thing tomorrow.
It was weird doing the turbo training with no specific race in mind that I'm training for. A real motivator for me is imagining myself overtaking people as I'm pedalling but this seemed weird when I'm not sure what my next race will be!
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