thoughts on cycling....

I did that 10 mile loop again this morning, but added an extra mile on. I competed it in 1hour 18 minutes; which means it took me five minutes to do my extra mile! yoiks. Hardly a threat to the Olympic competitors! Still in my defence I am not all that well and have a bad chesty cough which keeps threatening to turn into a chest infection. In fact I had hoped to do 20 miles today, but decided it may not be wise; and I think I was right. I was exhausted by the time I finished!

Anyway on my way round I was pondering to myself as one does, while enjoying the beautiful somerset country side (it really is a fab way to spend some time you know). The thing is I already run (well jog - slowly) and have done for about 18 months now, and lots of people had said to me when I signed up to do this, about how having a basic level of fitness will help, but that cycling is very different to running. Now I am quite slow to catch on, I know, but it was only today that I twigged that not only are the muscles used differently but your whole aerobic/anaerobic system is used totally differently too.

When i run, I make a point of not stopping because if I stop I can't go again. Well not without stopping again a bit further down the line. Stop / start running is exhausting and, for me at least, a sure way to get a slower time and a less effective workout. It is of course though vital that you have 'rest days' and rest is widely acknowledged to be as vital for a training schedule as the training itself, so when I was training for my half marathon I trained every other day, for someone super-fit they would vary their training and a 'rest' to them is a gentle 8 mile run on the flat!

Cycling however, is a completely different ball game. You have to stop and rest during the actual session. You have short bursts of moderate effort on the flat, followed by a burst of extreme effort up hill, followed by a nice little sit down, wind-in-your-hair, rest as you zoom down the hill again, and by the time you get to the bottom, your legs are rested enough from the uphill slog to do it again - even tho as you reach the top of each hill you feel like you will never recover! Consequently each hill can be faced as an individual challenge, in the firm knowledge that what comes up must come down! and doing a circular route as I am, I know that however high those hills are, sooner or later I will have the sheer joy of free-wheeling down again on the other side.

(of course though I am a wimp at going down hills and do use my brakes a bit - but am getting more confident and learning to trust myself and my bike a little bit more!)

So there you go, its growing on me. Quite allot. And in fact I look forward to putting in all those future miles necessary. A fortnight today will see myself and Alison, plus Caz hopefully, taking part in the British Heart Foundation Surrey Cycle around Leigh, and we have to complete 37 miles for that, so its a good incentive to get going. We have also been invited on a training weekend organised by the charity. That takes place in September and will be two consecutive days of 40 miles each, so will be a good chance to suss out how we are doing compared to everyone else!

With regard to fundraising we are storming ahead, with plans coming together for my dinner and auction and maybe a knitting day in the offing....as always, any support from you guys is MUCH appreciated.

so there. you go. There is now no avoiding it. we have to start training. Alison is now the proud owner of a bike (good start) and Caz has decided to resurrect hers from the shed tomorrow. I in the meantime had some precious child-free hours this morning so completed the following route.... which isn't long but IS fairly hilly. and I cycled the whole way! yay!