Can’t believe it’s been nearly two months since my last blog
and the signing off of the racing year.
The last two months have been crazy with moving house and
day after day of trying to get so much work done on top of day to day work and
training and just general life.
In part training has suffered but we have managed to limit
the hit and planned in my two weeks off the bike around moving (which turned
into nearly 3 weeks) but being the way I am it wasn’t a case of do a few bits
then put my feet up and enjoy, its been a complete renovation of room after
room and stupidly long days which inevitably lead to me getting ill and missing
yet more training and meaning extra off the bike strength work has gone out the
window.
To be honest I don’t think it did me all bad, the complete
shut off from the bike and training gave me a mental break and ended up with me
desperate to get back to training rather than thinking how to fit it in and the
fact I was pretty much dead on my feet trying to juggle a million things, I don’t
need a ton of sleep and I’m always up early but when it’s a constant stream of
late nights and early mornings I really struggle.
Training is back into full swing now and it’s bloody hard
but massively rewarding, I haven’t lost my strength on the bike but I’m feeling
the fatigue of everything but il soon get back to getting my best sessions out.
Moving has put me back onto the old roads I first rode on
and its been a massive boost riding routes that take me back to times when
getting up tog hill once was a major achievement let alone the six times I did
it last week , and getting lost out in the middle of now where and trying to
find my way back to a road I know only for that to turn into my favourite
training route.ive nailed down a perfect sweetspot route now and pretty much
can time most rides to get back home just in time to hit the length of
session.my commute has gone up double the length and is bloody hilly but its
keeping me on my toes and I’m loving being on the bike.
I’ve always generally had a fair bit of spare time ,but with
moving and having a little one on the way racing and training have become something
I need to justify and make time for and that has really fired me up to make
sure I’m putting everything into ever session and really focus on making the
sessions count.
My mission was to get a turbo den set up by now but the
garage is still full of all sorts of stuff and the list of jobs indoors takes
priority so its ideal really that the weather has been fairly kind and warm at
least to get everything done on the road at the moment, I’ve just got to clear
some space and finish building the turbo tt bike and I’m ready to go for some
sessions in the tt position which should really build my strength up and
something I really missed last year.
So many thinks seem to be happening at the moment with
planning for next year, pretty much everything is changing but more about that
in the next blog, but some really great things in the pipeline ,but for now I need
to focus on getting back to and go beyond last year , getting my race weight
sorted ( about 5-7 kg over at the moment woops ) and just work on me , I’m
leaving all the other bits of equipment,nutrition,skinsuits,getting aero etc. etc. to the people who know what they are
talking about and trying to clear my head of worrying about every single detail
and totally focusing on what I’m doing and what I can control.
So how does the rest of December look, basically I need to
get back into the routine of training hard and recovering well, at the moment
we have no cooker connected and I broke the fridge / freezer moving it around
the kitchen so life has been takeaways and microwave food which really isn’t helping
me recover well or feel great generally but luckily Alan Murchison at newly
formed Performance Chef is going to help me get back on track and help improve
my performance and recovery through nutrition which is an area I’ve made big
mistakes in this year and its cost me a lot in many areas.
I’m going to try some new courses next year and race abit
more local , I’ve stuck a entry on for the TOC crono and really want to ride
the thruxton event , I’ve also been helping two riders out with some free
coaching which I’ve loved and would love to do more of in the future ,but for
now its about focusing on my racing and making me a better rider but its great
to see others improving and feeding off the buzz they get from hitting their
goals and setting targets. The key for me next year will be enjoy it and
everything will nicely slot into place, I spent way to much time this year
worrying about way to many silly things , what people might think , was I letting
myself and others down if I put in a bad race , blah blah ,blah , but thankful I
know the people I’m working with next year have my back 100% and that’s all
that matters,im genuinely gutted to not be working with some great people from
this year and one of the most genuine people I’ve met in racing , but things
change and opportunities to progress and be pushed harder and have extra
motivation have to be grabbed, and whilst I’m still slightly shocked and
honoured to be given the opportunity I have next year ,I’m the hungriest I’ve
even been in any sport to prove my place but more about that in the next blog
in the new year.
For those that enjoy the blog and my ramblings, part 3 of the
podcast with mark Florence and the cycling time trial podcast will be out very soon,
and I’ve done one of the Velouk Xmas specials with Larry which should be on the
site soon, for the people who are bored of me going on apologies
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