by | Jul 16, 2015 | Training
The pressure of moving house has really impacted on my training and in the last three weeks ive missed two races including the national championship race and hardly sat on my bike for more than 30 minutes!
Martyn and I are now finally settled in our first home together and ready for the challenge of renovating! I do wonder sometimes how im going to manage renovating, working, coaching and training but where there’s a will there’s a way!
The decision to not train over the last couple of weeks has been really hard I feel guilty for not training but with so much going on my body started to show signs that it needed a break from the pressure before it cracked.
I am now feeling more settled and having unpacked most of our stuff the house is starting to feel more like a home and so I feel comfortable enough to start training again and not feel like there is loads of other jobs to do on top of that.
Training started with a bang yesterday. A tempo session for two hours, after 20 minutes I wondered how I could even ride for two hours let along at any pace. Luckily it did get easier and I finished my two hours feeling good for achieving something I had felt was impossible.
After uploading my results to training peaks it’s clear to see that my time spent at tempo was low compared to what I’m capable of. This I aim to change.
I think this break has made me rethink my priorities it is really important when you have such a small focus to sometimes step back and see if that still sits with your values and I believe that training and racing does still belong as a big part of my life, however I would like to keep challenging myself. Part of this development has been moving from cross country to longer endurance rides which so far seem to suit me.
My next focus race is now the Scott MTB Mega Marathon at the start of August. After this I will be preparing for Torq 12:12 and taking it on solo!
Wish me luck…
Thanks to all my sponsors and support network I couldn’t do it without you. x
by | Jun 5, 2015 | Training
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!
by | May 1, 2015 | Biking Adventures, Training
My latest training ride edit, from Dunwich Forest with my highly skilled videographer Dad! (thank you Dad). I love heading home to Suffolk and racing around Dunwich forest it is an unspoilt part of the countryside with wild natural trails and secret spots of singletrack.
One of my favourite rides involves a plank ride through the marshes, a path of steps to hop down and a beach ride past Sizewell nuclear powerplant with the waves crashing against the shore and the sea air you can’t help but fall in love with the beautiful landscapes you can reach on two wheels.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYSI-1Jzl0M&w=420&h=315]
by | Apr 3, 2015 | Training
My latest video on how to perform a front wheel lift. This is my first ever You Tube video, it was great fun to make, although took longer than I expected, watch this space for more to come!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJHz7tKzMwU]
by | Mar 8, 2015 | Training
I have been training hard for Battle of The Beach since returning from my snowboarding holiday. It took a couple of weeks to get back up to my original training pattern because of having a slight cold.
During the week I have been working on skills and thought I would share with you some tips and techniques.
Cornering
Cornering is an essential skill for any type of riding, but especially when you’re off road and finding your way through trees having a good cornering technique which means you’re not losing speed and flow by breaking in the wrong place or not looking far enough ahead.
This session takes around an hour and you should include a good 10/15 min warm up and 10 min cool down.
Find a quiet field or off road area where you can lay out some markers for two corners, or if you are lucky enough to live near some good single track where there is a couple of flat corners you can use without getting in anyone’s way.
Then set up your phone in a good position to video yourself taking the corners, to start with work on nailing the technique, then speed the process up timing yourself at getting round a short loop or just through the corners themselves.
Write down the times and conditions so over the weeks you can see how you are improving.
Then work on the technique;
• Ready position as you approach the corner
• Enter at a controllable speed so you don’t break in the corner
• Look towards the exit as you approach the apex
• Weight positioned over the centre of the bike, slightly forward of the saddle
• Inside leg up, outside leg down and apply pressure into the outside leg
• Angle your hips into the bend
• Apply pressure to the inside handle bar and lean the bike into the corner
Great video found on the British Cycling website.
by | Jan 28, 2015 | Training
Over the weekend I went on two long endurance rides, on Saturday I had planned a long four hour off road ride along the South Downs Way (SDW). The ride started well working my way through QE Park which is one of my favourite places to train. I crossed the a3 and continued up Butser Hill which is a hard climb on and off road. The view from the top was spectacular across the Meon Valley.
I then followed the SDW along towards Old Winchester Hill, the weather was brilliant but days of rain made it sticky going, when I reached the top of Old Winchester Hill a walker said I wouldn’t go down there it’s very muddy I doubt you will be able to break! I thanked the man and thought how bad can it be!
It turned out breaking was the least of my problems! The cloying mud stuck to my tyres like glue until there was such a thick layer my wheels wouldn’t turn! A new game presented itself, how much mud can I allow to clog up my wheel before I have to find a good stick to pull it all off. Progress was painfully slow and all I kept thinking about was getting to the road. I could hear a road ahead but on asking walkers found out it was around 3 miles to Exton and the escape from the mud! I continued for a while push, get stuck, pull all the mud off. By this time my over-shoes kept coming off my toes because to the build-up of mud and my feet were soaked. Thinking of the positives I was out in the fresh air in the sun what better way to spend a Saturday. I soon met a mountain biker coming in the opposite direction his destination was QE Park, where I had come from all those hours ago! By now I had been riding for 3 hours and riding and walking for around 10 minutes. He said it would be worth carrying my bike the rest of the way, which I decided to do and although my beautiful carbon Silverback is usually as light as a feather today, clogged with mud and unrecognisable it was far from it!
Carrying went okay but in bike shoes with very little grip it was slow going through the group.
I finally made a rideable bridleway and headed towards to sound of the road slowly but surely I made it!
By this time I had been going for nearly four hours had very little water left and had only one decent snack left so I had an energy gel, something I would usually only have in a race. It gave me a little boost which got me to my destination of Corhampton to look at a house Martyn and I are interested in. I then turned round and rode back where I had come from up through a pretty village called Warnford, turning right back towards Old Winchester Hill the climb was slow and with little energy every pedal stroke was tough. I finally made it to the top and decided to follow the road as far as I could to miss out any more climbing! I met my outgoing path in a small village and re-joined the SDW. I was relieved to be going down instead of up Butser Hill, I rode slowly passed people and then let my brakes off and let the bike go it was exhilarating the speed and feeling of freedom as I made very quick work of the hill that took a good 10 minutes to climb!
I crossed the A3 and made my way up the blue section of QE Park towards Buriton and home.
Sunday was a new challenge, a three hour tempo ride these are designed to increase my aerobic capacity and my vo2 max, to do this you have to work in a heart rate zone mine is between 148 – 158. I set out spinning to warm up, my legs were a little tired but generally good, I felt in good form as I made my way out of Petersfield towards South Harting. I had a new nutrition plan, to eat a jelly baby or two every 25 mins this worked well for the first hour and a half I felt good and was able to keep pushing a good pace.
About 20 minutes later I hit the proverbial brick wall, after battling with my legs telling me to slow down and my head telling me to stop I turned for home. I reached into my bag and pulled out my last ration, a USN protein and energy bar, these are great and worked well on Ride London, the problem was I was already too fatigued to recover so instead gritted my teeth and pushed on, every pedal stroke seemed like hard work, but slowly and steadily I won the battle and turned my final corner towards home.
Part of my lack of energy was potentially the after burn from Saturdays ride and depleted glycogen in my muscles which I hadn’t managed to completely replace on Saturday before my Sunday ride. This is a factor to think about and plan for in the future.
Sometime you have to listen to your body and know when to call it a day. Looking at the bigger picture if you’re too wiped out to then train for a couple of days, then you’re actually not progressing in your training. Being a time crunched athlete fitting in a job and business I am aware my recovery and training time is a delicate balance between too much and too little.
Our bodies adapt and improve when we are at rest, being a bit of a training nut it’s important to remember that while you might feel great and strong when your lungs are bursting and your racing up hill, that your body actually adapts to this strain when you’re sitting at work or on the sofa.
So for all those just one more mile and then I’ll go home people out there, have a look at your training and recovery load and take a check on how your fitness is changing.
