Fantasy versus Reality

So I've been ill most of the week and I had always planned Saturday to be the first session of the week as I should be OK by then. I'm still a little blocked up and coughing but it was a great day in that it was minus 3 and the sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky. Days like this rarely coincide with a weekend so something needed to be done.

I've just finished a great cycling book, "The Beautiful Machine" by Graeme Fife and it inspired me to literally get on my bike. I even wrote a review on Amazon...

My new 'racing' bike is due for delivery on Tuesday/Wednesday next week, so I thought I'd try a 20km ride on my mountain bike on the road. Then I can do a back to back test on the new bike and see how much better my investment makes me as a cyclist. I bought the Mountain Bike in Germany a few years ago and its hardly ever been used if I'm being honest. Its more of a Tiger tank than a racing bike as it weighs in at a rather chubby 14kg. Thats nearly twice as heavy as my new bike and the tires as you can see are more suited for Belgian mud than sleek Swiss tarmac. It does have 24 gears though....and I successfully adjusted the gear change this morning as the highest chainset at the front wasn't engaging. I didn't know how before and therefore its been like that for a few years , I had recently bought and read a bike maintainance book and it was easy enough to fix. I can hear Gavin and Brian laughing at my new found mechanical genius in being able to adjust a gear cable.

I knew the route to take and had actually ran it before when I was training for my half marathon in Sept last year. Its got quite a few hills on it and its a reasonably busy road through a few local villages.

I'm out and off, as you know I've just been training indoors on an exercise bike at the gym and a few people have been saying its nothing like riding a bike and I'm wasting my time. Now I'm no expert on cycling given I've only ever owned 3 bikes in my life(Raleigh Chico, BMX and Mountain bike above), however if 10-15 hours a week on an exercise bike is good enough for Chris Hoy then its OK for me.

First 4km were strange, you certainly get a much clearer image of how poorly the roads in Belgium are maintained...where does my 55% tax go. The traffic is also a little unsettling, however Belgian's appear to be quite tolerant of cycling given its a national sport. At 4.5km mark I have the big hedgehog hill to take on. Its every bit as painful on a bike as it is running. I think being on the bike makes you a little too aggressive as you expect to be going faster than you run, its not easy to achieve that going up a very steep hill.

At 10km I'm up the two worst hills now but the saddle is starting to change from a support to a torture device. Its a pretty aggressive racing type saddle and at this point I think its trying to actually become part of me via a process of osmosis. This process is unfortunately painful and very uncomfortable in a rather delicate area.

At 15km all the romance of the cycling books has been forgotten. I'm struggling with the bike, my neck, my back and my lungs are starting to bring up all my unwellness from the previous week. The heroic half idea I had of a 10km run after this cycle ride is tossed aside without a second of guilt. I just need to get home and lie down. I'm clearly out of my depth and the thought of doing 90km is actually totally unimaginaginable at this stage. I finish the 20k in 56 minutes and 26 seconds and am pretty whacked. Its about as tiring as a 20K run and the only positive thing is that it takes half the time.

Exercise wise it felt on a par with a fast 20k on the bike in the gym using the mountain program with some sprints thrown in. The timings are also similar. So I think I'm vindicated in my previous indoor training. In fact it may actually be a little easier on the real thing.

Now I know the new bike weighs half the mountain bike and the tyres will make a faster run easier. The problem is that the saddle will continue to try and split me down the middle and I still have another 70km to do on top of the 20km I just did. Then of course I need to get off the bike and run a half marathon....What the hell was I thinking...Too much reading not enough training....

I'm hoping the mixture of wrong bike, no training for 5 days and not fully recovered from my Man-Flu is the cause. I'm glad I did it though and after a shower I felt great.....honestly I did...

Dropping like flies

Spent most of last 2 days in bed, I can hardly get up the stairs never mind put on my trainers. Cough ,splutter, sniffle...yes its officially Man-Flu.....So no training for me till Saturday at least.

I must say a public hat tip(Chapeau) to Philippe in the office who is also signed up for Switzerland.He managed to put in a 50k Mountain bike ride and 18k run on Sunday.....I've got some catching up to do I think. You have to keep an eye on the quiet ones.

Slow Slow , Quick, Quick, Slow

Eventually dragged from bed at 10am as Alison has the Highland Pipes CD blaring, the "Coming Home" adverts are having an effect with Scots in Belgium. I'm not sleeping late but actually reading a book of the fascinating account of the Belgian WWII resistance fighters. Who it seems had as many problems dealing with the weather as they did fighting the Nazi war machine..

Breakfast and papers delivered by the Team Kennedy Manager, it'll be my turn next week then. I eat my fill and settle down reading Sunday Torygraph, I'm an avid reader of the paper as my maxim has always been , "get to know your enemy". I'm of course equally concerned about the views of the likes of Colonel Jameson-Smythe from Surrey and his ilk in relation to current world events(Johnny Foreigner/latest Labour Government faux pas/ bloody rebellious Scots/Bloody work-shy Northerners etc etc)...its takes about 15 minutes to finish it and my blood pressure is usually a good deal higher at the end. Its probably a form of exercise.

I have a couple of medical issues.....Firstly, I have acquired a head cold, nothing serious just a runny nose and a sore throat. Secondly I managed to pick up a splinter(skelf) in my foot from the wooden floor in the house. I merely mentioned the facts to the Team Kennedy manager and was greeted with her usual bedside manner of "Man-Flu" and "how can you get a skelf on that floor" all delivered with the usual upturned eyebrow and sceptical tone.

I stutter that I'm not looking to avoid my run, it's just that I'm not feeling at my best..........

I sulk off and get my gear together; I also put on a pair of ski long-johns so save my legs from the possibility of another week of corned beef legs. It’s sunny but cold so I stick on a Nike compression training top and a normal running top over it, stupidly both short sleeved.

I'm in the mood for a run and have been since last week. I start off at a good pace 4:10minutes per km on my watch. The run is fine and I'm feeling great, if a little cold round the arms and head. Yes I'd forgotten my hat too. Biggest problem is my MP3 player keeps switching itself off and re-initialising, which would not be a huge problem except that it goes back to the start again, so after 4km I've managed to listen to Mama Mia by Abba 5 times....

At the 4km mark I turn and head up a long, steady and steep hill, it is about 1.3km long and rises about 200feet over its length. I'm starting to get a little windy and of course your mind wanders. Mama Mia plays in the background again.... I'm then wondering if Phil Oakey of Human league used Abba as the template for his group........

Anyway, I'm looking for a fast 10km time and then an easy run in. I'm doing great because at the 7km mark its 32 minutes. The last km I do know is uphill towards the Butte du Lion ,so I hammer the pace a bit on the remaining flat and downhill sections. It’s much harder to race fast when you are on your own and just training but I can get a reasonable pace up but I know it’s always possible to go faster. In this case my legs are lying to my brain and I can do nothing about it. I drag myself up the last km of ankle breaking Belgian pave and finish 10km in 49:23. That was a good pace for a training run for me. I turn the corner and head south down the N5 towards Charleroi, the wind is now right in my face. I pass another guy running in the opposite direction. I've got a tee shirt on; he had tracksuit bottoms and a big thick fleece on with hood up. I laugh to myself and wonder if his Duffle Coat is at the cleaners.

The wind is a killer all the way back, I'm running directly south and it’s taking my breath away. It’s also bloody cold. I eventually turn the last corner on the way back, now east towards Lasne. I'm at 14km so just 2km or so to go and as ever it starts to feel free and easy. I finish 16.49km in 1hr:24, average speed of 5:04 minutes per km according to my watch/distance/HR monitor thing, I'm pleased.

Once in and showered its time for a feed, I'm starving. I've read that you need to be careful what you eat after a training session. I therefore have 2 pork pies with HP sauce, 2 packets of Quavers, handful of fruit pastilles and two pints of lime cordial and sparkling water....you are what you eat as they say...

Haggis tonight and Alison is making Dumpling... I can't wait

Time for a Quickie ?

Can we go swimming daddy ?

Why what a good idea, some fun with Wallis and give me a chance to lift some of the guilt of only doing a solitary kilometre last night...why yes of course lets go.

Now a training session with a 10 year old(must say nearly 11 in case she reads this) is never going to be full on. Its a busy session fixing goggles, mandatory duckings, swimming tips, show me how do you do those underwater turns, can I use your nose clip daddy?, watch me diving under these hoops and how long can you hold your breath for ? All great fun and better than the usual monotony of just swimming up and down the pool.

I managed 100 lengths at 17m so 1700m or just over a mile in old money plus we had fun into the bargain. We were in for 50 minutes and left as cold was beginning to get into the wee bones.

Thinking about a run tomorrow but as its not my turn for the papers and croissants.....then a wee long lie might be on the cards.

Burns night tomorrow and its his 250th birthday, unusual longevity for a Scot. Its a chance for some Haggis, Neaps and Tatties....its all over STV at the moment with Eddie Reader singing Caledonia and reciting Burns...lots of lumps in the throat and things getting in the eyes at home...must be the weather we're missing.

So yes we do miss home sometimes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENq8CLKEnJo

The bike...the bike

Let a man find himself, in distinction from others, on top of two wheels with a chain -- at least in a poor country like Russia -- and his vanity begins to swell out like his tires. In America it takes an automobile to produce this effect.

Trotsky, Leon
1879-1940 Russian Revolutionary


The deal is done, invoice paid. As predicted the original race budget was ignored. I've bought a 54cm Carbon bike. It weighs in at a feather-light 7.1kg, without pedals...a bike without pedals, what is that all about. I now need to pick up the clicky tap like cycling shoes and a set of pedals. It should arrive late next week...all the way from Germany.




It looks slightly different from the Eddie Merckx time trial bike that is on display at his very own Metro station in Bruxelles. I wonder if Chris Hoy will get an underground station named after him in Glasgow...

Can I not pay someone else to do the training

Up at 4:45am on Thursday for flight to Munich and home around 9pm...Really hard to get up this morning and I'm glad its Friday. however the Triathlon Devil doesn't allow more than 2 days with no exercise. This means tonight I needed a session. Left work around 17:30 and just could not be less inclined to go to the gym, torrential rain, turning to sleet, dark already, bad drivers and 0 Degree Celsius. Got home , packed my swimming and gym gear. Smiling through gritted teeth.

I didn't have a plan before I left, however on journey to the gym I decide on a fast swim and and fast bike ride just to get it over with. Short speedy training does add to fitness(remember the art of lying to yourself)..... 1km swim in 22mins the pool all to myself, 10km bike ride 20 mins, can I really cycle 10 times faster than I can swim....

I was told today that the average swim time for the 2km in last years Rapperswill Triathlon was 38 minutes...a long long way for me to go then....

Time stands still

Hit the gym at opening time, well actually 10 minutes later as I forgot my wallet and had to go back home and get it to get my card to get into the gym.

This meant by the time I got in that my favorite 2 bikes were being used as a couple of props to chat on by two ladies . I'm sure they must just go to the gym , do nothing and then go home and say hey "I've just been at the gym for an hour" but in reality they only exercised their tongues the whole time.

Legs still very stiff and sore from Sunday's run, did 10 minutes on stepping machine to sort out my calfs. After that and 100 bench situps(plenty of rests in there and yes that is my diaphram I can feel aching) the ladies decide to move their chatting to another part of the gym. No need to clean the bike ladies you've not spun the wheels never mind broke sweat.

Anyway to quote the late great Tom Simpson, "Get me back on the bike"...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Simpson


Program was 55 minutes, mountains program level 7...what distance can I do. I fantasize its the Ventoux I'm tackling...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Ventoux


10K in and its going well...legs are good, breathing fine. I average 82RPM and I need to up the pace a bit as I'm coasting, so I push to 90RPM...first few minutes are hard but I soon settle into the rhythm..another 5k drops off and I'm getting hot but not bothered. Not sure what all the fuss is about.....

I decide to up to 95RPM...again a little early discomfort but it goes by the time I hit 18K...I am just watching the distance ticking off now, racing to get to 20k mark and then check how long it took me.

I up the RPM above 100, its all getting a litle noisy and a little ragged...just 2K to go, my head tells my legs I'll stop at 20K regardless of the time....so they keep going...My head is of course lying to my legs.

I get to 20K and still have 9 minutes left, I keep going and try to think of nice things and thrive on the fact I'm in single figures time wise now...you can actually block a fair bit of discomfort out but you need to get your mind to work and think of other stuff...if you don't manage it then the time drags on and on. I manage to rattle off 3.4 KM in 9 minutes and I'm done. I get off the bike and my legs are a bit shaky..my breathing returns to normal in about 2 minutes.

The last 5K was messy and noisy but I was just happy to be able to just keep going and push myself....I achieved my furthest distance yet at 23.4KM

It was of course less fun that it all sounded...legs are a bit sore tonight, tomorrow will be interesting...time for a paracetamol or two.