No Pain No Gain

Well I'm a week into my training schedule and it's going well so far.

The diet which I thought would be the worst part isn't so bad - in fact at some meals I feel really stuffed. A typical day is as follows:

Breakfast:- bowl of porridge with ground cinnamon and chopped banana, two slices of wholemeal toast lightly buttered, glass of milk and my supplements.

Lunch:- feta, spinach and potato fritatta, apple and banana.

Dinner:- wholemeal pasta/whole rice, three portions of veg and steamed chicken/fish.

This week I've lost 5lb so far and 3% body fat.

Training this week has consisted of gym sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday with rest days on Tuesday and Friday.

Saturday was a really hard interval session comprising of the following:-

4:00 minute warm up
1:30 tempo riding
2:00 high speed tempo riding
15 kilo efforts with 1:00 recovery between the efforts
4:00 warm down

It was complete and utter agony from the 6th kilo onwards and upon getting off the bike I really struggled not to vomit. After reading Sir Chris Hoy's autobiography I kind of expected this but asked his advice via twitter and got the following message from him.

@AndyCreer sadly it's just all part of the fun I'm afraid. Bad news is the better you get the more you are able to hurt yourself!

Saturday evening was the final trip down to the National Cycling Centre for the climax of the Revolution series featuring a certain Chris Hoy. If you've never been to one of these meetings before you get to see a real cross section of talent competing in a wide range of track disciplines.

This morning I've been out for a chilly base building ride but the legs are a bit sore after yesterdays efforts and from ignoring the 'why stand when you can sit' part of the cyclists mantra.

Riding a bike -The Great Escape.

The cleats on my shoe enter the pedals with a click, my fingers curl around the thick newly applied bar tape and my arse kisses the saddle. I'm man and machine as one as I roll down the road.

I check what I'm carrying - £10 note, spare tube, multi-tool, tyre levers, pump and CO2 inflator. The main decision is where do I ride today? How strong do I feel today? How long before the wife misses me? - then my mind has wandered.

The thoughts that usually occupy my mind are slowly stripped away. The distracting usual thoughts first - did I lock the door? Should I get fuel tonight or in the morning? What's for tea? I then progress to the more important thoughts - what is my Grandson doing? Should I change jobs? Should I buy another house?  - then suddenly my mind has switched off.

The pain comes now and again of course, but the pros do say suffering is optional, but brains own pain killers, endorphins, are more powerful than Prozac and suppress pain and induce a feeling of wellbeing. I think it was Diane Ackerman the American port who wrote "When I go cycling...the world is breaking someone else's heart."

I ride a bike for few reasons - to keep fit, to enjoy the countryside and to travel but mostly I ride to escape I ride for the silence, I ride to empty my brain, I ride for the void. Random thoughts do enter this void - lines from songs, lines of poetry, an old girlfriend - but mostly they are like snowflakes falling on water.

Sometimes I get home and I'm not even sure where I have been until I download the data from my Garmin.

On the bike my brain switches off and recharges - its the Great Escape.

New Year - New Start

Happy New Year.

Well I now know what kind of shape I'm in after being tested on a rig. The tests show that my functional threshold power and VO2 max are reasonable for my age and that I have a good peak power output but the major downside is that I am just too heavy (or fat if you don't want to be PC).

If I can shift 90lbs then I have the potential to be okay at time trials and sprinting but I need to make sure that I lose fat and not muscle. Currently I am 43% fat which is pretty piss poor by anyone's standard but with a strictly monitored nutritional plan and training plan we should be able to turn that around. The plan is to lose 45lbs this year and 45 lbs next year.

Training is roughly two to three months of long steady rides to get the body used to burning fat and then in March/April the speed work will start to bring up the speeds together with the distances.