The rest period is over

After two weeks of complete rest I'm now ready for a new season. The time off was fantastic. I spent good quality time with Kate and James and did a few walks together (in the area). On Sunday morning (26th Nov) I decided that despite the poor weather we were going outdoors - for a walk and breakfast. We walked up Leith Hill to the tower and ate our breakfast in the howling wind. Despite this we all enjoyed it - James fell asleep on my back - Kate wondered into the pools of water and mud and Bridge snapped away taking some great photos.

TRAINING:

The email arrived. My brand new training programme for the season ahead. Plenty of base miles in Dec, Jan and Feb with a testing 40km TT in Feb to pin-point my level of fitness. From there all my power values will be gathered. I always seem to be bad getting this sort of feedback to Erica, but I'm determined this time to get it right this time.

My training programme looks a bit like this: commute during the week (3hrs/day) with roller sessions and then some long steady stuff at the weekend (4hrs Sat and 5hrs Sun). I see that Erica has got me to train on Boxing day, but have Christmas day off.

I'll try and keep my blog up-to-date with training-type entries so you can follow my progress.

There is also some good news I need to share with you.... (coming soon)

Whats everyone up to?

Richard and Amanda (Smith) got married

On Saturday, 14 October 2006 I joined Richard and Amanda (Smith) for their wedding. In Farnham we met up with old teams mates; Riggy, Dave and Mel (Worthington), Peter (Graham), the Drings (and partners). We had a great time - when the folk got a bit tipsy I left and made my way home.

Duncan and Claire got married
I recently (Saturday, 28th October) went to Duncan and Claire (now Urquart's) wedding reception in Farnham. The theme was...oh... you guessed it... Scottish! We had a lot of fun dancing to all the various routines. Dunk seemed to be particualy proud and pranced around the dance floor in his 'skirt' - the highlight - when he donned his mask and wig.

Good luck to both couples!

Ottershaw 3 - last race of the year

Again superb weather - I will remember these last two races for their enjoyment. I finished second to Martin Smith. I had a little play and attacked up the first climb starting the break of the race. I worked hard in the break and wanted to help Martin get the overall series. I must admit I expected John (Veness) to be up there with us, but he must have been sleeping on the first of the climbs.




Race lasted exactly two hours - my average heart rate 175 beats per minute. Check out the graphs.

Plan for the rest of the year

Had a brief chat (email) to Erica (my coach) about goals, rest period, testing and nutrition for next year. With my programme for next year being so flexible I'll be concentrating on both road and mountain bike racing for 2007. Wicked! Can't wait to do more off-road racing. Erica is very good incorporating both disciplines in my training programmes - I find this is refreshing as it adds variation to the many hours of training I do.

So, Erica was quite clear with me - YOU NEED TO HAVE SOME TIME OFF! She recommends two to four weeks off between seasons. I've decided that two weeks off is more than enough. So I'm completly off the bike from 13th - 26th November. This means that my Afan mtb weekend is the last bit of riding I do before hanging up my wheels for two weeks. During the two weeks off I'll need to make some adjustments:
1. Alternative commuting transport - train, lift with Kevin, ride my RX100 yamaha or drive my Mini? (spoilt for choice I am)
2. Alternative form of exercise - I'm an active guy so I think I'll be doing loads of walking with James with my 'new' Macpac Kuola child carrier. We'll head up the hill to the tower on Leith Hill. This'll take us two and half hours up and down. I might also play some squash in Dorking or Crawley (K2) or maybe hook up with Cliff (my brother) in north London during the week.
3. Eating pattern - I'll have to watch what I eat as I could pick up quite a bit of weight.

During my time off I'll have to sort ouot a few things like my bikes, race programme, training schedules, nutritional stuff like meal preparation and kit.

Then once I have the early race dates and can fune-tune my programme with Erica. Based on the last two years Nov, Dec and Jan will contain many five to six-hour rides on the weekend and loads of intervals during the week. This combination works a treat for me. [If you are interested in seeing my new early season programme let me know]

One more 'race' to go - the SL Ottershaw #3 (5th Nov) then Afan MTB next weekend and finally two weeks off.... THEN THE REAL FUN BEGINS.