Enduro Training - Final Day!

I made myself get out of bed at 6.30am this morning, and I have to get up even earlier tomorrow to make it to Dan's by 6.45!

The advice from everyone was to rest, eat loads of good carbs and drink loads of water.

So:

2 bowls of muesli with soy milk

1 granola bar

2 bananas

1 small orange

A few prunes

2 wholemeal toast with peanut butter

2 wholemeal toast with 2 fried eggs

1 chicken breast with wholewheat pasta and a head of broccoli

Loads of water

That should do it!

It was very frustrating not being able to do a training ride in the sunshine and in the end I decided to take a very slow trundle down to Halfords in town. I kept in the small gears and took it easy. I was very worried to find that my left knee was aching - maybe a result of the hill climbing yesterday?

I saw Adam, Nic and Nat - the lads at Halfords - and they told me they'd enjoyed checking out the Coed Y Brenin video on our website. They took a look at my front brake, changed the pads [for free!] and cleaned the front disc. Good blokes, hopefully I'll get to ride with them soon.

At home I contemplated doing a spot of weight lifting but decided not to risk it. I did some vacuuming instead.

Well, there's nothing more to be done. I know my training was not as good as it should have been but there's no use worrying about it now. I'm pleased with the amount of miles I've put in, but I'm disappointed with my eating habits over the last 2 months - I really could have been so much more sensible with my diet. I've lost a few pounds but nothing significant. Hopefully, the miles on the bike will have made me mentally stronger if nothing else.

My personal plan for tomorrow is to go full tilt out of the blocks in order to get to the descents as quickly as possible, get my breath back, lay off the brakes, and then hit the climbs full-on once again. Repeat until finished...

Good luck to Dan, Lloyd, Matt, Nick, Pete, Nathan and Dave. AMBS for the win!

Enduro Training - two days to go!

I'm finally back home after two fantastic weeks stopping with Lucy and the girls. It was a whirlwind of homecooked dinners, bike rides, Pokemon, homework, waiting for the bathroom to be free, and having my knees licked by MontyDog.

I still managed to ride a bike every day and even took Lucy out to Cannock Chase. My diet was crap - but that was all down to me and not Lucy. She was very restrained while I gorged myself on ice cream, chocolate cake and rice pudding.

I've arranged to go for a ride with Solihull Cycling Club in a couple of weeks' time so that I have something to focus on after the race: I don't want to go back to a 'couch and XBox' lifestyle with every weekend lost to drunkenness.

Anyway, today:

Breakfast was muelsi with semi-skimmed milk. Lunch was ham and cheese rolls, two oranges, a banana and a small flapjack. Dinner was two huge chicken breasts with green beans. Then I had more muesli cos I was hungry.

I did a bike ride after work. I took the mountain bike out and really went for it. It really hurt and I aimed for the biggest hills in the area:

http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/Teece/4kf3847thjfhl1a2

Not feeling nervous about the race yet, but I imagine that will start tomorrow.

I'm 10st 6lbs.

Enduro Training Day 46

This Saturday, I journey to Cannock Chase with Brendan, a chap interested in taking his mountain biking a little more seriously. We met at 9 and then headed to follow the Dog. Brendan doesn't really have the bike he needs, but it's certainly good enough to make a start in the sport. He tackled Follow the Dog and was eager to have a crack at The Monkey Trail. The main thing was, he was loving it - he said it was even better then he expected!

On the Monkey Trail, Brendan had two crashes, bleeding from his shin, knee and elbow, and still threw himself down every descent with the same fearless he has displayed at the start of the day.

Here's the video:

In the afternoon, Mom spoiled me with a lovely sandwich and tea.

In the evening, Lucy and the girls spoiled me with homemade curry, loads of junkfood and booze!

Enduro Training Day 45

Up early for the usual muesli and skimmed milk and then cycled into work. To my dismay, I realised that Lucy wasn't at college today and so I wouldn't receive my flask of homemade soup! After the initial panic had simmered down a little, I made my way to the canteen and purchased vegetable stir fry with rice, followed by a flapjack. Phew.

Cycled home and then loaded the car with my two bikes, tools, cycling gear and 56 Star Trek-Voyager videos.

I got to Lucy's at about 6.30 and immediately downed my one and only beer of the evening. Tilly had made a lovely dinner of homemade fish fingers with chips and salad. It was fantastic. I had accidently brought a load of ice cream and Maltesers with me which Tilly, Mouse, Martha and I got stuck into as soon as Lucy went out. We played on the Wii and got very over-excited. When the sugar-crash started, we played Monopoly until Lucy got home and then it was time for bed.

Training? What training?

Enduro Training Day 45

Breakfast: Muesli with skimmed milk

Cycled into work

Got really bored so cycled home for lunch.

Lunch: Lucy's homemade soup with 6 oatcakes

Then I cycled to Lucy's parents' house, then back to work.

Cycled home after work

Walked to Venture Bikes to visit fellow AMBS member Ben.

http://www.venturebikes.com/

As it turns out, Ben wasn't sure what the AMBS was, but never mind that. Picked up my mountain bike with it's newly-serviced brakes. Immediately set off on a 17 mile ride on the canal and on the roads:

http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/Teece/e0arsediks8l8nns

The bike now feels horribly slow and sluggish compared to the Boardman and I'll probably never take it out on the roads again!

Dinner: two veggie burgers, two veggie sausages, pasta and broccoli

Mini-workout:

80 push-ups

70 tricp-dips

80 sit-ups

3 sets of dumbbell curls at 15kg

Snack: three wholemeal toast with peanut butter

Enduro Training Day 44

Breakfast: Muesli with skimmed milk

Cycled to work

Lunch: two dry wholemeal toast with baked beans and a veggie sausage.

My mate Trev turned 61 today and he brought loads of cakes and biccies into the staffroom. They were there all day, constantly calling to me as I sat at my desk and suffered, watching everyone else munching...

I was glad to get out of there and cycle to the pub to have 2 pints of Guinness [good source of iron!] with Trev and then cycle home.

Dinner: veggie burgers with pasta and broccoli

When I'd completely sobered up I did a mini workout whilst drinking loads of water:

Press-ups: 80

Tricep-dips: 70

Sit-ups: 80

Barbell squats: 3 sets at 42kg

Post workout snack: three wholemeal toast with peanut butter and a cup of Redbush tea.

Enduro Training Day 43

Woke up tired.

Breakfast: Muesli with skimmed milk

Cycled to work [2.6 miles]

Lunch: Lucy's homemade carrot soup with 6 oatcakes

Cycled home [2.6 miles]

Pre-workout snack: three wholemeal toast with peanut butter

Mini-workout

80 press-ups

70 tricep-dips

75 sit-ups

Went to martial arts lesson for an hour and a half of kicking and punching and generally getting sweaty.

Dinner: chicken breast, pasta and broccoli

My back and shoulders hurt.

Team B for the win.

Enduro Training Day 42

Monday

Breakfast: muesli with skimmed milk

Cycled to work [2.6 miles]

Lunch: Lucy's homemade soup with 6 oatcakes

In the college gym with Deadly Dan:

Jogged 1 mile on the treadmill

Then 3 reps of:

squats at 25kg

dumbbell curls at 16kg

military presses at 20kg

bench presses at 40kg

rows at 14kg

leg extensions at 32kg

leg curls at 32 kg

Dan used a lot more weight for the leg exercises!

Cycle home [2.6 miles]

Dinner: chicken breasts with pasta and a yellow pepper

Evening Exercises:

75 push-ups

65 tricep-dips

75 sit-ups

Snack: three wholemeal toast with peanut butter

Team B for the win!

Enduro Training Day 41 [late report]

3 weeks until we race!

Today was a rest day although I did do some exercise in the morning:

75 push-ups

65 tricep dips

70 sit-ups

Then I cycled to Lucy's, did a bike ride with her and Martha, and then cycled home. Lucy took me to the race track in Tudor Grange park so I could have a quick blast:

http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/Teece/b9qm9ci6knvfe41n

So that's about 20+ miles of gentle cycling for today.

I had beef chilli and a beer and other naughty stuff today.

I'm hoping a relaxed today like today will give me some of my energy back for the week!

Enduro Training Day 40

Saturday was a nice day, with a nice balance of training and chilling out.

Up at 7am

Breakfast: Muesli with skimmed milk

7.30am ride: 15 miles with average speed of 15 mph.

http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/Teece/d8t7vr2iuctdroma

Then I hopped on to the mountain bike and cycled up to the bank at Kings Heath and then over to Ben's shop in Stirchley. He is going to bleed both brakes for me sometime over the next few days.

Lunch: Beans on wholemeal toast.

At Lucy's: 4 cookies and a cup of tea.

Then Lucy, Martha and I attended Little Martha's naming ceremony. It was a lovely afternoon and I was really glad that I'd been invited and had been made to feel part of it.

At the party: One small glass of Champagne, glass of lemonade, lollipop, three triangles of tuna sandwiches.

Back at home: one and half bottles of beer, another tuna sandwich and another bowl of muesli!

Enduro Training Day 39

Breakfast: Muesli with skimmed milk

Cycled to work

Spent an hour and a half in the college gym - half hour of cardio and then worked on the legs for an hour- quads, hamstring and calves.

Lunch: 7 oatcakes [cheers Dan]

Cycled to town to collect photos from Jessops

Cycled home

Pre-ride snack:sliced chicken breast on wholmeal pitta

Very slow ride around town with the Critical Mass people

Cycled home

Dinner: chicken breast with a red pepper and wholewheat pasta.

Critical Mass was a strange experience, It was a painfully slow ride and my hands were throbbing from constantly tugging at the brake levers. There were around 140 of us with people riding old racers, single speed things, BMXs and mountain bikes. I saw two other Boardman road bikes there! I was uncomfortable riding through red lights which I didn't think was right but I didn't see anyone being rude to motorists. It was fun having people shouting and waving at us - especially pissed people up Broad Street!

My weight was 10st 3lbs this morning which is the lightest I have been for over 2 years [possibly a lot longer as I have lost any records of my weight from previous years.]

The legs feel good these days, but it's only a little over three weeks before the race and there is plenty of room for improvement...

Enduro Training Day 38

I've been lazy with my blogging so far this week, but we did go back to work after our long holiday, so maybe I've been too traumatised to write!

Today:

Food

Breakfast: Muesli with skimmed milk

Lunch: 4 oatcakes

Pre-ride snack: 2 slices of dry wholemeal toast

Dinner: huge chicken breast with cabbage and a yellow pepper.

Exercise

Cycled to work and back [5.2 miles]

Messed about in the college gym with Trev, Raye, Dan and Stan

Road cycle [36 miles]:

http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/Teece/5d8drbn4rik46mha

Booze

One glass of white wine with dinner.

I was aching during the last 10 miles of the ride - hands, feet and bum. I'll toughen up, hopefully.