Training… Or Trying To

Doesn’t life just get in the way of the important things? Recently I’ve been training for a Sportive that a friend and I are taking part in.

The problem is that everything seems to get in the way of it, life, work and anything in between. Granted I’m sure my enthusiasm has dwindled on the odd occasion. OK, more than one occasion. But when you look out of the window and it’s either chucking it down with rain or howling a gale, do you really want to go for a long ride?

Now, we have a habit of never actually reaching the distance of the Sportive before the day. We like a challenge, and it seems to have worked out well so far but I shouldn’t really count on that. Training this time around was the most difficult.

Recently I have been working away a lot and that means that I have had fewer opportunities to sit on the saddle, let alone spend the day clocking up the miles. I’m not trying to make excuses, it’s just a fact. Having said that, looking back through my Strava history from the beginining of the year, and so far I’ve done the most miles to date for a while. Maybe my enthusiasm isn’t as bad as I thought.

Still, as tradition would have it. I got nowhere near the total miles of the event (80 miles) during my training, the max I think was just over 30. I have always been told that before a big event you should have up to a week of rest. I was very happy to take this on board. To be honest, I find it helps and by the morning of the Sportive, I was itching to get on my bike.

There will be a separate post about the Sportive itself but I will say that I did manage the distance, just. Next time I will have to plan for some slightly longer rides beforehand.

Until next time.

Jack