Now don’t get me wrong I love racing, the buzz of arenas the blood sweat and sometimes tears that have got me to the race. The starts, fast and furious, seeing my heart rate busting over 180 and knowing ive got laps to go, and having the determination to keep going! It’s all a huge adrenaline rush. BUT there is a part of racing which this week ive found really tough and that is not being able to just get out and ride. I love being on my bike, but training and riding are very different. I have a training program which I have to stick to and I understand the importance of structure to my training but this week I just wanted to ride my bike, not worry about the pressure of training and enjoy the satisfaction I get form cycling.

To me cycling has become more than just a hobby it has become a routine, a lifestyle choice to train, eat, sleep, repeat (okay not that regimented) but you get the idea! My goal this year was to take on longer races and challenges and so far I have done one… I got sucked back into chasing points in XCO but have had goals set out to change this and so I shall starting next week with my first ever six hour race. I will continue to race XCo because I love it but have re focused my attention on endurance.

Last weekend Martyn and I went to London which was fantastic it was nice to spend some quality time together and as I find it almost impossible to relax when I’m at home it was nice to feel totally free of any worries.

I came back this week hungry to ride and not ‘train’ I wanted to get out and explore not get out and do hill reps!

I feel okay about feeling like this after all im only human and the pleasure I get from cycling is not training it’s the pleasure of being on my bike pushing myself towards my next adventure.

So this week I made a decision not to race on the weekend instead, I would concentrate funnily enough, on a long training ride and do something new! A charity road ride, my charity Dreams Come True were entering a ride where some of the proceeds will go to the charity, having done Ride London two years in a row I have done road rides before but I thought it would be really fun to cycle with new people and enjoy riding my bike.

Saturday I am going to put in a long five hour ride to fulfil my training needs, I am feeling very positive about my up and coming first ever six hour race next weekend followed by my first ever 24 hour race. My training has gone well I feel physically up for it and mentally prepared for hours turning the pedals.

When you set yourself a goal is is important to revisit the reasons behind setting that particular goal and see if that still sits with who you are and where your going.

This year my goal was to do some endurance races to see whether this suited the type of ride I have become and so far I have completed Battle on the Beach. I have two six hour and one 24 hour race on the cards and am on the look out for more challenging events I can accomplish.

To me the motivation of achieving what I set out to do is what I strive for. Knowing that I said I would do it and then doing it! I have also decided on a big challenge for 2016 so watch this space….

Bring it on!