Training Update

Typical! 2 days before my first proper test and I've been suffering all night with what the doctor once told me was a trapezius spasm or a stiff neck to you and me. Likelihood is that it will wear off by Saturday but if not I'm going to have to take a few MTFU pills and tough it out. As Chris Martin once sang, "Nobody said it was easy but no-one ever said it would be this hard"

Capel Curig

Llyn Ogwen

Anyhoo, aches and pains aside, training has been going pretty well. Pulled out 51km on 6th Nov in 5.5 hours without any undue discomfort. The scenery on the way round made the run all the more enjoyable, especially around Llyn Ogwen and past Capel Curig. I almost had a mad urge to nip up Snowdon and down the other side into Llanberis but that urge was quickly repressed. Felt a bit stiff at the end but the really good news is that I'd recovered well enough the next day to cut about work with no aches and whacked out 14km on Tuesday. So all in all I'm feeling pretty confident about a half decent performance on Saturday. If I can manage to achieve exactly 40th place 'll win a spot prize of a pair of Bloc sunglasses. 40th place last year was not far short of 10 hours so that'll do me nicely.

Last Friday saw my first session with Adrian and Ed at Bangor Uni Sports Science department. This consisted of a lactate threshold and VO2 Max test. No offence to Sam who tested us a couple of months back but it was far more comfortable doing this sort of thing on a treadmill rather than exercise bike. Felt that I did OK and performed as hard as I could, even getting my MHR up to 182 at one point. Saw a few graphs at the end that meant nothing to me but they looked impressive!! Results to follow.

Next post will be due on Sunday assuming that I've made it home in one piece.