The Training

Ah, yes, the training. Well I'm not particulalry good at practising for stuff, I'd rather just get on with it & get stuck in you see. On this occasion, as I was probably not very fit (could run 2miles in 18mins, so not unfit, but not exactly the picture of physical fitness either) and had not been out on a bike in about 3yrs I decided a bit of practice was in order.

• Day One, Saturday 8 April
  
  Balham-Richmond Park (1 lap) -Balham
  25 miles, 2hrs11mins, 11.42mph average speed
  
  Overslept today, but it was such a lovely day I decided to finally start doing what I have been dreading all along... Having had my Trek bike for two months now, and not having been out on a bike properly in 3yrs, it was about time I started riding the thing: after all, I'm planning on taking off on a 1,000 mile trek only 6 weeks from now! The aim was for a bedding-in run, to find out what my true level of fitness currently is, and check out the bike for any loose items & niggles. Had tightened everything up when I first got the bike & ridden it around the block, but they have a habit of working the odd item loose on longer runs so this needed to be a mixture of surfaces & gradients, to make sure it got a good rattle and bump, and all the gears enjoyed a good pasting.
  
  I chose a known route, from my London to Brighton (L2B) days: Richmond Park & back, via Tooting, Garrett lane, up through Wimbledon Village (avoided the main street at first) & then along the common, briefly along the A3 and then in to Roehampton before heading up to Roehampton gate. I was quite tired this week & didn't feel particulalry energetic, so decided there & back would be enough for a first run (about 18 miles). I read somewhere that to be fit for the E2E, you need to be able to maintain a 14mph average for 2hrs. I reckon I have 15% extra performance in me as an easy win, but getting more than that in 6 weeks simply won't be possible, so I'm hoping I will be near enough the benchmark that I can make up my fitness to the required level as I go along (it is 3 weeks of non-stop riding, after all!)
  
  The ride was tough; I don't know that it was any tougher than I expected, I haven't really thought about it up to this point. I have simply been fixated on the goal, getting from Lands' End to John O'Groats, and bugger the time it takes or how hard it is. My thinking thus far has been "I will grit my teeth & see it through". I am going to do it, End Of. It's a stubborn streak which has helped me through life as many times as it has gotten me into trouble; I have yet to figure out which category this little adventure will fall into!
  
  The wind was against me riding towards the park, which I found encouraging - my direction was south-westerly and so maybe there's some truth to what I've read about the prevailing winds being north-easterly, & plumping for Lands End as the starting point increasingly seems like the right decision. With the wind against me it made life much more difficult though; even just the odd gust felt like someone tugging on the brakes. I used my dipped bars when the wind got up; also tried standing in the pedals occasionally when my arse got sore. Helped the arse but I couldn't do it for very long, didn't have the legs. Tried sitting on one cheek at a time as well, that helped too but I kind of get the feeling there might be areas of difficulty & pain to this ride I hadn't fully appreciated when I decided to take it on!
  
  I covered 25miles today, which was more than I had been anticipating on my first run - I knew it wouldn't be the lap of the Park that killed me, but the last leg home, uphill from Garratt lane through Tooting in to Balham. There are two steep bits in the park if you do a lap though, and I was keen to get up them without stopping just to mark some sort of progress, even for my first run. The first 2 (or 3!) days of my ride, in Cornwall & Devon, will reputedly be the toughest, as the countryside is characterised by undulating lanes; not so much long hills, but alot of ups & downs to test your legs & your resolve right at the start of the ride.
  
  Day Two, Monday 17 April
  
  Balham-Richmond Park (2 laps) -Balham
  32.5 miles, 2hrs45mins saddle time (3hrs 15mins total), 11.65mph average speed
  
  Easter Monday. Felt rotten after a few cocktails in Richmond on Easter Sunday; rail engineering works meant a trip home was going to be a nightmare so kipped in Kingston, and felt like I slept all of about 3hrs. Still, I was determined to get out there, & conscious of the limited opportunities to train, I got home to fetch the bike, setting off around lunchtime, after fuelling up on a big bowl of pasta.
  
  The ride wasn’t so bad; considering the state I was in, would have expected it to be far worse. Ran out of water, the bottle is only 500ml it turns out which is pretty useless to anybody. Had to ration it for the second lap of the park, and still had the trip home to contend with. Weather was lovely, warm and sunny for the most part. No real problems with the wind today. The bike’s working well, pleased with it although I’m sure something will come loose on the event & I will curse the YTS trainee who put the thing together…. All things in due course!
  
  Only managed to add a quarter of a mile an hour to my average speed, remembering I’m meant to be able to hit a 14mph average for 2hrs to be fit enough for the ride. To be fair I did add a lap of the park, and the ride was 7.5miles longer than the first one, so simply achieving the added distance let alone at an overall faster speed left me chuffed. Don’t think I’m at 14mph over 2hrs yet if I limited myself to the distance, but I am definitely getting stronger & that was the aim. Oh, & to top it all, I didn’t have to disembark for any of the park’s up-bits, even on the second lap, and when I eventually made it home my legs were definitely tired, but they didn’t feel like heavy logs that I had to drag around everywhere, which was how they felt last week….
  
  
  Day Three, Saturday 22 April
  
  Balham-Richmond Park (3 laps) - Balham
  39 miles, 3hrs03mins saddle time (3hrs 45mins total), 12.80mph average speed
  
  Woke up today & realised I am starting to get a tan. On top that, my butt has definitely slimmed down & hardened up somewhat; girls, if you think your butt looks big in that, GO CYCLING!!! I wonder how I will look when I finally get to JOG: 3 weeks of unshaven beard, exposure to sun, wind & rain for 6-8hrs every day, and a ton of exercise along the way. Could be a picture to remember…
  
  Today’s choice of fuel was a big bowl of porridge, with a couple of tablespoons (yes, tablespoons!) of honey drizzled over it. Went down a treat & the fuel worked well, but I was starving by about 2/3 of the way through the ride; will have to give consideration to en-route refueling for my final ride. Came home to a BIG bowl of pasta, qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix for which Schumacher will start on pole for Ferrari: perfect day really. Have consciously been watching the diet, beyond the yoghurt & cereal in the morning, salad for lunch: I’m trying to make sure I eat a good, balanced meal every evening, with fresh veggies & plenty of protein. Love my steak so the protein hasn’t been a problem, but you can’t have a steak without a white wine & mushroom cream sauce, and of course a good, large glass of Chianti which is good for the heart (!). Ok, so maybe the experiment here is to see if a general office wallowing lardy can achieve this kind of feat with virtually no training!
  
  The ride was good: I felt strong, my legs seemed to be quite happy keeping me chugging along nicely, & didn’t appear to start waning until around the 16 mile mark. They were tired by the second lap around the park; the third one I had to push, & then the ride home was the usual painful slog. Seems like each time, the last lap is tough but doable, & the ride home is where I really make the gains – out beyond what my legs are capable of, demanding more from them so they step up to the plate for the next outing. The tactic seems to be working so far, let’s wait & see how the final ride goes…. 4 laps around Richmond Park is going to be hard work, but I’m determined to not get off my bike for those little steep bits. Haven’t had to yet.
  
  Made 13.65mph average for the first 16 miles, which came down to 13.08mph after 30 miles, so I’m definitely getting closer to that 14mph barrier. I only have one training ride left, don’t think I will hit 14mph, but I may get to 13.50 which is – wait for it – a whole half a mile an hour more than I had planned on finding! Lol Crazy to think the record for the End to End is some 44hrs, which implies an average, non-stop speed of somewhere around 25mph…