Monday 24 November 2008

All is quiet on the Western Front

Busy fighting the cold front coming from the North at the moment.

Whilst I was not able to get out over the weekend due to the weather and other factors (football, school fair, dinner with friends, school exam revision), I did leave a puddle on the garage floor doing 22 miles (1 hour 25mins) on my ancient turbo (I have not yet had the chance to get hold of the imagic with the Ventoux programme that my brother has agreed to lend me). Even in the garage with the door closed I had to wear two layers this snowy Sunday morning.

The ancient turbo produces such a racket that I observed a mouse scurrying under the garage door out into the cold to get away from the noise. Perhaps if things don't go well here after the Lloyds takeover of HBOS I could go into pest control.

The coming weekend is still in the hands of the gods, or The Wife.

Got the result of the cross country I did last week in Richmond Park, I came 75th out of 137 male finishers. I am pleased with that. I don't know whether I will keep up the running, I think it compliments the fitness so I would like to try and get a few runs in over the winter.

Wednesday 19 November 2008

Cross Country

This Wednesday I had the cross country race in Richmond Park. After only three lunchtime runs of four miles each in preparation and a very sore calf I was ill prepared for the cross country run in Richmond Park.

Monday I was looking for my spikes ready for Wednesdays cross country run. I know where I last saw them (OK it was some time ago, maybe three years), in the bottom of a box of shoes under the stairs; were they there when I looked? – No.

I tipped he house upside down looking for them but the shoe fairy appears to have stolen them.

This necessitated an urgent trip to the running shop Monday lunchtime to buy a new pair. Fortunately they had a couple of pairs in Runners Needs off Bishopsgate, the first was in fluorescent green (New Balance) and the others (Saucony, my regular make) in gold. Why do they only make them in loud colours when they are goig to get covered in mud?

I purchased at great expense the Saucony shoes in gold.

Wednesday came, it weas a lovely bright sunny day and I met my HBOS team at the Bank of England Sports Ground in Priory Lane Roehampton. We all went to the start just inside Roehampton Gate and watched the women’s race. Our ladies team won the ladies team trophy.

I put on my gold spikes (brand new and not worn in) and took off my warm clothing. I think I was the only runner on the start wearing long sleeves. The race started and we were off for 5.75 miles of hills, mud, and sweat. I was lying about the middle of the field and spent most of the race 10 metres behind one of my team mates. I managed to overtake him at one point but he came back. I struggled up the hills but kept going making up most of any ground lost on the flat.

With a mile to go I could see the finish and it was flat or downhill all the way. I put in great effort and caught my team mate, overtook him and two others on the run in. This final sprint was despite the feeling I had had for some time that I had a stone in my sock at the back of my foot. Once I finished I quickly took off the spikes to discover a very big blister on the back of my foot. That is going to be painful for a few days for sure.

I didn’t score for the team (only the first four team members home score) but my target was 45 to 50 minutes and I achieved 41:45. I think I was about half way down the field of 160 runners. This would put me on for a 44 minute 10K which is what I achieved about three years ago on more training. I was very pleased with that result. Our men’s team was third in the men’s event but our vets won the Vets event.

HBOS has gone out on a high. Lloyds was about the only financial institution that did not have a team in today’s event.

Hey-Ho Off I ride to Bognor

Saturday my wife agreed to take my son to football and stand on the touchline whilst I cycled to Bognor Regis. She would then drive down later after football with my son and his cousin and we would stay Saturday night in the family holiday home.

I hate cycling on my own so Saturday morning at 9:30 am I gave Big G an early morning call to see if he wanted to join me for some of the ride. As he had had to wake up to answer to the telephone he agreed to join me for half my trip to Bognor.

We went through Epsom and Leatherhead and over Leith Hill then headed down through Forest Green and Ellens Green, stopping there for a coffee and a croissant before Big G headed back along the A29 and I went off to Bognor on the A29.

It took me five hours door to door (4:16 actual time on the bike) and I was knackered when I got there. I had clocked up 58 miles and I could not have cycled back if I had wanted to, my fitness is that bad.

My wife and the kids were already there when I arrived so I cycled straight to the café on the front (The Lobster Pot) and was enjoying beans on toast with sausage and a cup of coffee when they arrived.

My son had won his match and remains unbeaten this season - a very good result. His Saturday team have won the league and are proceeding through the cup. His school team have also remained undefeated.

On Sunday I came back by car with the others rather than cycling.

Sunday 16 November 2008

Etap Logistics et al

Have you considered the logistics for the 2009 Etap yet? I have and have been working on a cunning plan.

As yet I do not have an entry or permission to put one in, but I was brave enough to bring the subject up last night with The Wife.

The way I introduced the subject was along the lines of, "How about next year we holiday in the Auvergne area of France in late July. There is a nice four star caravan park with excellent facilities near Allegre. The site has British built luxury mobile homes (see Eurocamp or Keycamp intersite for details) 4 swimming pools, restaurant, canoes, tennis, fishing, lots of walking cycling and rafting, it is near the sea (sort of) and, oh, the Tour de France passes through the area about that time and we could actually be there to watch a stage".

"Oh, and funnily enough the Etap is on the same week in the area".

After I had recovered from the stern glare, I stood my ground as I was lectured on how I needed to spend more time with my son, not out training for the Etap or wandering around like a zombie all the time exhausted. My response (not that I had my strategy all planned you understand) was that I stood up well on the Guilford Pootle-on reckie of the Tourmalet and Hautacam this year with little training, and my entry into next year would be on the basis that training not be a priority like in 2007, and that my attempt would be on a best efforts based on whatever fitness I have.

Besides, we usually holiday at a similar camp in the Southern Vendee (near La Rochelle) and it would be nice to see a different part of France.

Anyway, the conclusion I have taken from the conversation is that I can enter the Etap, but participation still requires more discussion. The intention would be to drive down leaving on the Friday July 17th and the caravan site might be the accommodation solution. The family could fly down and be picked up from the airport any day and they could fly home as well.

The advantage from a travel point of view is that I would get to drive there and back at my own pace without the back seat driver, the wrong type of music on the CD or the constant bickering that family harmony engenders on long car journeys. You may also remember that in 2007 M and I missed the Paris Periphere and ended up in the centre of Paris, this time I have TomTom with French maps.

This might also solve the problem that the start and finish are some 167 Km apart, in that The Wife could drop me off and pick me up.

Now if the other Guilford Pootle-on families plan holidays in a similar vein then there might be other synergies that could be advantageous.

My big problem now is getting an entry only package. As Sports Tours are sold out of entry only anyone else got other sources?

Trust you are all training this weekend. I am hoping that I will be allowed to cycle the 55 miles down to Bognor Regis this weekend (to the family holiday home there) whilst The Wife takes my son to his football Saturday morning before driving down to join me.

What we also need to kick start training is the reintroduction of the Guilford Pootle-on Monthly Mont Box time trials (3 laps of a 8 mile circuit around Mont Box), oh, and has has anyone started planning a 2009 reckie trip yet?

Monday 10 November 2008

Brentford FC for the FA Cup - Come on you Bees

Big G and I were planning to get a Surrey Hills ride in on Saturday morning. Big G usually rides in the afternoons at the weekends to allow him to catch up on his sleep as he rises early during the week to go to his important investment bank job where he works long hours. On this occasion he had kindly agreed to go out early to fit in with my family duties.

Saturday morning was looking OK when I got up. I was dressed in my baggy cycling lycra and had the bike and cycling related paraphernalia in the middle of the kitchen being prepared for the ride whilst as a family we were trying to breakfast in the same room, my son was watching CBBC on the television whilst playing on the Nintendo, homework books on the side awaiting attention, family love and harmony blossoming (not).

The weather outside was getting worse and I was considering how wet I was going to get when I received a text from Big G to say that it was pouring where he was and he had gone back to bed. I telephone him just to make sure he didn't go back to sleep.

I decided that he was probably right so I took the bike back into the garage and hung it up. I then psyched myself up for a session on the turbo. As the turbo is somewhat noisy and the kitchen was being used for homework I was banished to the garage for the session. At least this meant that I didn't get bits of rubber over the kitchen floor while The Wife was present to notice.

I proceeded to do an hour and twenty minutes on the turbo, garage door open, facing out the up-and-over door into the Close and the pouring rain watching the comings and goings of the neighbours.

This time there were no punctures. The new tyre (or old recycled tyre, see previous entry) was much smoother and seem to change the whole gearing meaning the data was not comparable to previous sessions so a new comparative profile will need to be built up before I can see how not training enough means no improvement.

I burnt my boats a little (negative brownie points!) in that my turbo session did not finish until after the time my son was supposed to leave the house for his football match. The Wife had to take him and stand in the rain on the wet touchline for the warm-up and first 15 minutes of the match in rain heavier than she was prepared for. When I turned up having had to catch the bus up to the park she just was a little sopping wet. I was left with detailed (and unworkable) instructions as to how he should be wrapped up warm and dry after the match until she arrived to pick us up. As you can imagine this requires his agreement and co-operation which was not going to be forthcoming as kids of 8 do not feel the cold until it is too late. He won his match (he hasn't lost this season either at school or in the Saturday league) and I had to take the tongue lashing when she turned up to pick us up and all he was wearing was a soaking football shirt and shorts (with me holding a bag with the dry kit). Why me not him, he was the one who had refused the dry kit!

In the afternoon I had to chauffer him up to north London to go to a go-kart party in a leisure centre in Northwood which he enjoyed but it was after 6:00 PM before we got home.

Sunday morning training was missed as it was Remembrance Sunday and the Cubs and other uniformed groups had church parade which meant I had to accompany him. More importantly Sunday afternoon was the Mighty Bees (Brentford FC) playing last years giant killers Havant and Waterlooville in the FA Cup on ITV so we spent the afternoon watching Brentford go through to the next round with a 1-3 win.

Big G has told me whilst he didn't get out Saturday, he did get out on Sunday on his Bianchi (only Mont Box and back), however, whilst he stayed dry the wind meant it was not a pleasant experience.

Wednesday 5 November 2008

Cross Country - oh no!

I received confirmation that my entry for the inter-banks cross country in Richmond Park on November 19th went in - rather unfortunately. I emailed the organiser of the HBOS team with the excuse that I had done my back in and that I had not been able to train but he was quite happy for me to run anyway.

So, as I have to do this cross country I thought I had better start training for it. At lunchtime I jogged down to Westminster bridge and back (about 4+ miles). It took me some 42 minutes whereas it used to take me 34 minutes only 4 years ago - a full 42.5% regression. I was going so slow I was overtaken by a number of people whereas no one used to overtake me, I even got overtaken by a woman!

I was worried about my back going again. This afternoon I can feel twinges but as yet it has not ceased up. We shall see how it feels in the morning.

When I got back to the gym after the run I did 1000 metres on the ergo (rowing machine) and 20 minutes on the bike to finish off the session and followed that up with a roast gammon dinner with roast potatoes, veg and gravy at my desk( he boss was away today so no one keeping tabs on my time).

So, if anyone can do me a programme that, if I follow, will enable me to achieve sub 5 minute miles on the day and not get injured in the training running up to the event - or suggest an inappropriate cocktail of performance enhancing drugs and pain supressants that will have the same effect, then let me know.