40 Goals

Went out for just over 2 hours yesterday and felt dreadful for the first half an hour. I'm beginning to realise that I'm not really cut out for this endurance running melarkey. I think I'll stick to cycling after the marathon. It hurts too much during the run and then in the recovery afterwards. My ankles are sore, my calves are a little tight and knees have a tweak. You don't get that on the bike. Maybe I need to get rid of the negative head and run more regularly ... or maybe less. Yeesh.

We're both in. 2:09 events have got us uploaded and we've got our numbers for the NY marathon. Long, Long run of 16 miles on Monday. Its all getting a bit more serious. Sorted out some decent routes around the canals in Brum, which is nice cause canals tend to be pretty flat!!!!

12th of 120, 4:45 and a Gold medal. Gotta be pleased with that. It turns out that all these months I missed out the last climb of the route up Staples Lane. The weather was forecast for torrential rain but I was gonna be riding this event even if the whole route was flooded. It bookends my cycling year. Last year I rode it in just over 6:30, with a bit of getting lost and a lot of being knackered and overweight. It kick started my attack on Alpe D'Huez and the FWC and of course, L'Etape du Tour so I had to race it again to see where I'd got to. Ironically, in the 4 weeks since Etape I've had back problems, stomach problems and biscuit addiction problems so I'm back to 80kg again. Didn't make much difference on the day though. Met up with an old acquaintance from Weybridge RC and rode with him for a while, he punctured at Box hill and I kept on going, keen to get that Gold medal. Spent most of the ride on my own, it felt just like a training ride despite the wind...

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to go for a Tour of the Surrey Hills after running a half marathon the day before. Especially since I'd done nothing for the week prior. To say I was hurting would be an understatement. Imagine my relief when approaching the Coldharbour lane route to the top of Leith Hill upon finding the road closed ... oh shucks, I'll have to avoid the hills and take the A25 home :-) Still, looking at my average speeds and heart-rate on the hilly bits I'm in ok shape and certainly haven't lost much, despite having stuffed my face for 14 days straight (!). Nice to get back in the saddle and enjoy the glorious (and oh so hot!) weather ... From Grimpeur to Roleur ...

Mad dogs and englishmen. Not exactly Etape heat but not far off. Another hilly long run in the heat and faster than last week. Not a lot left in the tank at the end and the heart rate average is 10 bpm higher than last week but that'll be the heat anyway. Quite pleased since I've done absolutely nothing all week, except eat a tonne of unhealthy biscuits, chocolate, cake etc. Doing a ToSH tomorrow in prep for the real thing on the 19th and turning over a fresh leaf on the "fuelling" front. I think I deserved a bit of fun.... A nice run in the sun, temperature in the 30s!