The last two weeks have been really busy work has been full on. I have been working hard to also get some new coaching courses off the ground and tie down dates for my first ever series of women’s ‘back on your bike’ sessions. As well as having to arrange plasterers and plumbers for our house renovation! All of this has led to not a great deal of training time. I know ‘not enough time’ is an excuse that I personally don’t believe in, I think if your committed to becoming better at something whether that is a sport or something else in your life then you have to look at your time and how you can use it better. That being said the last two weeks it has been important to focus on sorting out Pedal 2 Pedal and so training has been shifted down my priority list.
With this in mind I decided to try and go running, I knew it would challenge me but also you can fit a 30/40 minute run (this is about all I can manage) into your day quite easily where a 2/3 hour training ride is a little more challenging.
I am not a runner, I used to run a lot at school and I have done the Race for Life with my Mum a few times when I was a teenager but I haven’t run for ages!
My plan was to run every day for the two busy weeks, I soon found out my body was not so keen on this idea! The impact from running on joints etc is far greater than cycling and even with a good stretch I had to adapt my running plan to every other day and so far (with the odd training ride) I have fit it in!
I really have enjoyed running! I went running with friends Lauren and Stu and our dogs Lola and Luna along the sea front which was fun, I did feel like I was cheating slightly as Luna pulled me along!
Lauren and I have been running in our lunch break as well and I have found that this is a great way to spend a lunch time as you get outside away from your computer and switch off, we always come back to the office feeling full of endorphin’s’ and ready for the afternoon after food of course! I highly recommend this all you need is your running gear a packet of baby wipes and a deodorant.
As I am aiming towards some quite big cycling goals this year it is important that I keep training on my bike but I think these two weeks have been good and I will continue to run as it builds bone strength and other muscles that I’m not using as a cyclist.
Sometimes life gets busy but don’t let life get in the way of what you want to do. Remember to make time for yourself even if it is just a 30 minute run your mind and body will thank you for it.
January is an odd month, after the high from Christmas it can be quite a low month. Low on funds, low on effort and low on dedication to stick to those New year’s resolutions you made one the first. Myself included in this!
This makes it an odd month to decide to set your yearly goals. Talking to a friend recently I asked what were her new year resolutions she said “oh I don’t set them in January, I know what I want to achieve in the big picture and then every other month I re-assess” I can see the benefit in this, it adds in an important part to goal setting, which most people don’t think of and that is the analysis of those goals on a frequent basis. It makes your goals/New year resolutions more tangible by setting mile stones you can celebrate and know you’re on/off track.
This is why I like to have a plan of how I am going to get from A to B and then on to C. It’s sensible really you wouldn’t start driving your car without planning the journey. The same comes for setting fitness goals you need to plan and assess that plan as you go. So I have been thinking of ways in which I can help you with your fitness goals and make sure my own go to plan at the same time!
Your goals need to be SMART. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed. It is alright setting out to ‘get fitter’ for the New Year but what does that look like? How is it going to feel when you get there? How will you know, what stepping stones will you go through on the way to your goal of ‘fitter’.
One thing I have found over my years of training is if you don’t know if your improving you tend to ‘flat line’ going out thinking you’re working hard only to find out when it actually matters that you probably could of pushed harder in training. So it is important to set yourself markers so you will know if it’s going well or if you need to sit yourself down and have a chat! This can also work the other way of course sometimes your pushing so hard towards your goal you forget that rest is the valuable time when your body recovers, re-energises and gets stronger. As a woman I think it’s sometimes harder to properly rest. Or at least that how it seems in my house, my rest days involve house work and a number of other things which mean I don’t always properly rest. A way to test how well you’re recovering is with your heart rate (HR) measuring your resting HR in the mornings will give an indication over training. The best way is to measure when you’re lying down 5 mins after waking, record for 5 days if you see an increase over 2 beats per min you could be heading towards over training. Give yourself a day off.
Heart rate is a great, cost effective way to measure your fitness and create controlled training sessions. By measuring your heart rate you can work out your HR zones and from there you can develop your training in these specific zones.
So my top tips for your 2017 goals are:
Set SMART goals
Measure your progress whether that is in a diary or using Garmin/Strava
Take time to properly rest
Spend time running/riding/walking with friends
Create milestones to work towards
Drink plenty of water
I’d love to hear your goals for 2017 please comment below.
The shortest day of the year may be behind us but winter is in full swing! Winter is a great time to put in some base training and work on your overall fitness for the spring/summer.
Here are my top tips:
Running: I am not a natural runner, but during the winter I like to put on my trainers, wrap up warm and head out for a 20/30 minute run to stretch my legs, release some endorphins and enjoy being active outside. Try adding some squat jumps or lunges to your run to build leg strength.
Strength & Conditioning in the gym: Working on your general strength is really important, cycling is a non-load bearing sport so putting in some time during the winter to build on your bone strength, build bone density and do some resistance training could really pay off and improve your cycling.
Pilates: Pilates is a fantastic way of keeping your core strength up. Your core muscles keep you in a good riding position, with correct alignment enabling you to ride for longer.
Fartleck Training: Fartlek is Swedish for “speed play,” and that is exactly what it’s all about. Unlike tempo and interval training, fartlek is unstructured and alternates moderate-to-hard efforts over a period of time. After a 15 / 20 minute warm-up, play with speed by cycling faster for short efforts (how short and how hard is up to you), then use an easy effort to recover, this should always be slightly longer than your hard effort. This can be great fun in a group to bring in a competitive element sprinting to the next lampost or end of the road. (Please be aware and careful of the traffic and obstacles)
Training explained
This session mixes up working anaerobically and aerobically.
Anaerobic exercise is a physical exercise intense enough to cause lactate to form. It is used by athletes in non-endurance sports to promote strength, speed and power.
Aerobic exercise is any physical activity that makes you sweat, causes you to breathe harder, and gets your heart beating faster than at rest. It strengthens your heart and lungs and trains your cardiovascular system to manage and deliver oxygen more quickly and efficiently throughout your body. Aerobic exercise uses your large muscle groups, is rhythmic in nature, and can be maintained continuously for at least 10 minutes.
I have been really impressed with the products I have tasted and this is no exception!
During my 3 hour training ride I used this as an energy snack. The session was mid to high intensity and I found I had to slow down to eat this bar. However the taste was brilliant a mixture of wholegrain oats, fruit pieces, pumpkin seeds and peanuts. It was the right balance of flavours and the mix sweet and savoury.
The texture was like a normal cereal bar and it was easy to chew when riding at a steady pace.
I found later during my ride that my energy levels had been maintained and I did not get a sugar rush or a low which was great. On long rides you want your fuelling to maintain your energy levels for the duration of your workout without major changes in your energy levels.
Nutritional Information:
Nutrition Information
per 100g
per bar (40 g)
Energy kJ (kcal)
1549 (367)
620 (147)
Fat
7,2 g
2,9 g
of which saturates
2,6 g
1,0 g
Carbohydrate
65 g
26 g
of which sugars
22 g
9,0 g
Fibre
5,8 g
2,3 g
Protein
7,2 g
2,9 g
Salt
0,33 g
0,13 g
Magnesium
180 mg
72,0 mg
(48%**)
(19%**)
I would recommend this bar for a pre-training snack and on long steady training rides its great to have as a crunchy snack.
Sorry for the long period of silence it has taken me some time to put my thoughts into sentence form!
Since competing the Trans Alp at the end of July life has been somewhat bizzare… I came back full of memories of the highs and lows and buzzing from achieving my dream to complete my first stage race.
The Trans Alp was a magical time where life was completely consumed by racing. The year leading up had also been consumed by training, after a week of re-telling the story and the excitement that we had achieved it, I hit the ‘what happens next’ wall. I found it difficult to describe how I was feeling, but down pretty much covers it, after such a high it was a massive low and for a good few weeks I couldn’t get on my bike for the shear fact that I didn’t know why.
I decided to take the pressure off trying to find the next thing and spend some time enjoying cycling with friends and family which was fun.
Getting out and having some chilled time on my bike was great and gave me time to clear my head and think about what was next.
After a coffee ride with my Mum one day she said why don’t we do a challenge together! after lots of discussion we have now decided to do London to Paris next year which I am super excited about!
THIS WEBSITE USES COOKIES
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services. You can review our Privacy and Cookie Policies and at any time change or withdraw your consent from the Cookie Declaration on our website.OkPrivacy policy
