Retribution

I was on last flight home on Wednesday evening, so I got home around 11:30pm. I had managed to smuggle in a large consignment of British goodies past the ever vigilant Belgian Douane including Tea bags,Walnut Whips, Peppermint Aero's, Minstrals, Ripples, Fruit and Nut, Wholenut and Galaxy chocolate. As you can see since I have(almost) given up drinking I have managed to pick up a new vice. Tea and chocolate treats.

I went to the gym before work on Thursday morning, I really really wasn't in the mood and it took a great deal of personal effort to get my head off the pillow and then into the shower. Even after a shower the thought of getting into my training gear made me want to just go back to bed. However I had a couple of conf calls early in the morning and if I didn't do it before 8am then an evening session was the only alternative.....Switzerland felt a long long way away.

I get to the gym and its pretty busy even this early, obviously post new year guilt trips help to keep the bikes and treadmills of the world busy in January. The pool is way too busy to swim so I decide to do a big session on the bike as I’d been reading bike magazines on the plane and have an exaggerated vision of my abilities..

I choose the mountains option, like a hero I dial in a 20km target at level 7 of 12....remembering I'm not Fausto Coppi ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fausto_Coppi ) ...I'm mentally targeting an hour for the 20km. This is much slower than I expect to do on a real bike on the road, well that’s my hope anyway. In reality the gym work is just to try and get my biking muscles up to a reasonable level before I actually get on a bike for real.

I get into it and as ever the first 3-4 km are hard, I find indoor training very difficult as I always find its too hot and stuffy. I also struggle with exercise early in the morning. Even last year when I was regularly doing 10-20km outdoor training runs I could not easily complete a 5km run indoors in the gym on the treadmill.

I'm at 14km and well into my rhythm, its going great, the punishment of missing 3 days training is being taken with a wry smile and I’m thinking I’ve just got 25% left to go. I'm really feeling good, pleased with myself and in no real pain, although I'm certainly red in the face and I know my heart is beating...lol.

The cardio equipment of the gym is all upstairs on the mezzanine floor, you can see all the people coming and going. Its a great place to people watch and watch the TV's hanging from the ceiling. In come a group of about 20 students, I'm sure I've seen them before and I think they are part of a school sports group. Two young girls take up machines either side of me. There is plenty of other free equipment, maybe they want to see my suffering up close. One takes a bike the same as mine and one this strange machine that you sit on and pedal but in a Sinclair C5(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5) way rather than in the fashion of a regular bike. They mess about for ages moving/organising their stuff , changing the bikes and just general faffing about. As you can see my level of patience with other people is not good in the morning.

They start their exercise and continue their conversation without missing a beat. Its a little distracting as they are effectively talking right across me and I really need all the concentration I can muster to finish my 20km. Then it hits me right at the back of my throat, that heady teenage musk mix of cheap perfume and spearmint chewing gum. Now much as I enjoy the flashback to my own youth, its definitely putting me off my stride and burning my throat and nose. Who the hell wears perfume to the gym and who can exercise, chew gum and keep a conversation going all at the same time....I turn up my MP3 player to block out the constant French bavardez….I know I’m pushing my limits on the bike as my previous max is 12km on a real bike and 10km in the gym. I’ve got 5km to go and I feel like throwing in the towel as I’m effectively being gassed in public. I put my head down and grip the front bars, I need to finish this and get out. I go for a 1km sprint at the 17km mark and raise my cadence to above 100rpm. Its extremely hard going but now I’ve started I need to finish the 1km….I can hardly hear the music for the heart beat noise and the noise of my breathing in my ears. I’ve done 17.75km, its only 250m to go but I think I might faint…my cadence drops a bit to the low 90’s. I push a bit harder and get it into 3 figures again but its very erratic from 98 to 105…however the last part of the km ticks off and the 18km mark appears I immediately drop back to 80rpm. It feels like I’m standing still its so much easier. I still feel like I might black out and fall off the bike.My 1km sprint is all too much for the teenage fan club they bugger off elsewhere and leave me to my remaining 2km nightmare. I’ll remember to use that technique again to get some peace ,quiet and fresh air. I finish the 2km in a dizzy daze and get off the bike. I need to hold onto the bike as my knees buckle a bit and my thighs feel about twice the normal size, the sensation of the blood trying to squeeze out at the bottom of my cycling shorts is far from comfortable. I finished the 20km in 55 minutes and am pretty pleased with myself.