Monday 10 May 2010

No harm in a bit of X training



Donna smiling before her 47mile Tour.

My first race date of the year is coming up in a couple of weeks. It's only a short 10-11 mile mountain race. I say only! it's still near 2,900ft of climbing and a 'balls out descent'. I'm having a little trouble with my left patella not tracking properly which has affected my descending confidence and consequently rubbing off a bit of speed in recent training. Having said that I have put some fast (for me) training times in recently, running 11.5 miles over 1,400ft in 1hr 52min just last weekend. Ran it comfortably, even with slow descent speed (due to the problem knee) This bodes well, although I'm just picking up a cold which is going to force me to rest for a couple of days. I've also been putting in a bit of cross training with the odd road cycle ride (I've bought my other half Donna a road bike for her 45th birthday) We both enjoy following the Tour de France on the TV this time of year, so now we have bikes we can get a few decent rides in as a bonus. Donna's first ride was 33 miles (hilly) and her second 47m a bit flatter but a fantastic effort for someone who's never ridden a roadbike in her life! For me, I've iInevitably set myself a 'distance challenge' - The ride from home (N.Wales) to work (Cheshire) is about 50miles one way - I've been thinking of riding into work and then riding back home which will be a nice round 100m. Maybe I should throw in a lunchtime hill run in the middle!