My second blog takes me from the beginning of November until January 2022 which means less than 4 months until my 1500 miles cycling challenge begins. 115 days in fact. That suddenly doesn’t seem much time at all! November saw my 50th birthday – I very much see age as a privilege and not a right, and so embraced this milestone wholeheartedly. It also sees me in better shape and fitness levels than at any point in about 30 years – especially now I am cycling and running in roughly equal measure.
I realised one of my bucket list ambitions in November when I participated in a velodrome taster session with my cycling group, the Severn Belles. We headed over to the Geraint Thomas National Velodrome of Wales in Newport for an evening of laughs, amazing encouragement and I think all of us surpassing our expectations with what we could achieve in an hour. I am so lucky to have these amazing ladies in my life – a more inspirational and fun group of people you would be hard pushed to find. I went from being completely terrified to (it seemed to me anyway) absolutely flying round. Completely loved it and cannot wait to return.
I’ve managed to get out for a few great rides locally, albeit feeling I am dressed like the Michelin man most of the time due to a few cold snaps. It’s always that balance of work, children, other commitments and fitting in a good long ride. I’m still working from home and flexible working does allow me to start early and then take a couple of hours out in the day, for which I am very grateful. I managed one longer Sunday ride with a couple of friends with very welcome mince pies half-way round – just took me the rest of the day to warm up! So Zwift has come into its own. It was fantastic to participate in both the Voxwomen meet up and the 12 Days of Voxmas Social Ride – great rides with brilliant chat, the time whizzed by. I’ve also been Zwifting with a couple of the other cyclists going to Portugal – again lovely to have that encouragement and really see each other getting stronger as we get closer to the event.
Christmas came… and so did Covid unfortunately. Not for me but for my 14-year-old son, so a couple of days isolation waiting for PCR results and then a few days of anxious LFD testing. Remarkably no one else in the house caught it, such a relief. New Year in Whitby and unfortunately couldn’t take my bike so a few days running instead. It was truly the windiest 5 days I have ever known and so a relief in a way not to be tempted go out and get blown away!
But now it really does get serious… training, nutrition, rest and recovery all at the forefront of the next 4 months. Precision Hydration and Supersapiens continue to offer amazing input and advice which will just become more and more valuable as the training intensifies. So looking forward to what I can achieve in the next few weeks and months.
