2018 a year of possibilities

2018 a year of possibilities

by | Jan 11, 2018 | Adventure, Inspiration

Back in January 2017 I sat down and worked out what my goals for the year would be. I set myself seven goals:

  • Whistler heli-ski for the first time – Went ski-touring instead
  • 24 hour mountain bike pairs race – Didn’t come off
  • Complete the South Downs Way – not quite!
  • 24 hour solo mountain bike race – completed and came 2nd whoop!
  • Walk up Snowden with Martyn – in the diary for 2018
  • Bike Snowden and film it – Swapped to cairngorms bike pack in 2018
  • Bike packing adventure with Mum in the UK – not quite!

What I learnt in 2017 is that goal need to be movable and sometimes things just don’t happen and that is okay. I think the trouble was I set too many ‘fitness’ goals for one year considering I also had the goal of growing my cycle coaching business Pedal 2 Pedal.

There is only so many hours in the day and in 2018 I plan to make the most of them to create change in my own life and make the most of the opportunities I have. To help me I have started using a Best Self diary which helps you set goals and weekly milestones in order to keep focused and on track. So far I’m on week 2 and it seems to be very helpful and I would certainly recommend it.

For 2018 I have set myself three goals which cover three areas of my life and follow my ethos for living these are:

  1. Never stop learning – in 2018 I will complete my L3 Pilates instructor course which will allow me to educate others in Pilates.
  2. Healthy body, healthy mind – in 2018 I am focusing on building my fitness level to improve my power to weight ratio and also increase my endurance ability on the bike and also running. I want to try new adventures on two feet and two wheels so plan to bike pack around the Cairngorms in May and find a running challenge as well. Leave me a comment with your ideas!
  3. Be creative – for 2018 Pedal 2 Pedal (my cycle coaching business) is taking a side step into adults coaching, I have already done several one to ones but now also offer tailored coaching for adults on improving their mountain biking skills. I have already sold out my first women’s weekender and cannot wait to develop more ways to help others get outside and explore the countryside.
  4. Challenge my comfort zone – Mont Blanc, Martyn and I are preparing to climb one of the 7 summits in August.

Good luck for 2018 I hope it is an adventurous one with plenty of possibilities to get out and explore the countryside. Thank you to Grip Grab and Dogtag for supporting my journey into 2018.

Share your goals for 2018 with me on Facebook.

End of season review 2015

End of season review 2015

by | Sep 13, 2015 | Racing

It seems a very long time ago that I was lining up at Battle on the Beach for my first race of the season.

Battle on the Beach soft sand push

I went up to elite this year which was a bit of a baptism of fire! My first nationals were a real eye opener to the speed needed to be competitive in cross-country. Although the race was really hard I learnt a lot from the experience. I went away and worked on my technical skills.

Over the winter I had been doing some longer rides and found these suited me. I have always found the power and pace of cross-country a challenge but this year decided to try endurance racing.

My first six hour solo was tough but showed me that I could turn to endurance racing. I worked hard to improve my endurance building up from 3 hour nonstop rides to 5 hour nonstop rides. These were hard but I enjoyed pushing myself in a new direction and worked hard on my fitness.

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The next challenge was a 24 hour race with Martyn where we got an unexpected 3rd place.

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After Mountain Meyhem I had my own time of mayhem with buying our first house my training was disrupted. I decided to use this time when I was feeling rather stressed to concentrate on training and getting used to being on my bike for long periods of time and perfecting my nutrition during those rides.

I entered the last round of the Southern XC series and was happy that my training had paid off when I managed 3rd place.

Hannah Attenburrow

My next priority race was Torq in your Sleep, my first 12 hour solo. I didn’t really know what to expect but I had a plan which I stuck too and that paid off. I learnt so much from this race like make sure you eat little and often so that you don’t get stomach cramp, don’t take the dodgy head torch light out as coming back to change it costs a lot of time (20 mins to be precise).

TORQ 12-12 2015

The next few months I will be working on my endurance and stamina clocking up the miles and building a good base over the winter.

My aim for 2016 is to race the Trans Alp and continue to improve on my endurance results from this year.

Thank you to my coach Mark at Velo coaching for your help with my training.

Thanks to my sponsors Grip Grab and Bike Fixers. Thanks to Silverback for my brilliant Syncra which has kept me competitive all year.

If you would be interested in supporting me in 2016 please contact hannah@peal2pedal.co.uk