Better week with a soggy finish

This feel I finally felt like a combination of travel, idleness and other stuff hadn't conspired to make it impossible to get out and do stuff.  I managed to run Monday and Tuesday, then cycle in on Thursday, run again Friday and finished the week with a decent 53 mile ride with the club.

I ran on my own on Monday, with a cheeky little 6:40 mile in the middle, which surprisingly didn't feel completely eyeballs out.  Then on Tuesday I ran at work with Herb, with a steady 5m on the canal feeling nice and steady.

Thursday was time for my first ride in on my Boardman winter bike, and all seems lovely, although the nobbly tyres will have to go.  I wasn't quite as much of a drag on Herb this time, but I was still struggling to hold his wheel a lot of the way.

Friday's run was a change from up and down the canal, with a trip down to the Fisherman's and a hillier return through the streets of Bingle.

Saturday saw me at Xscape in Castleford watching M & L reacquaint themselves with skis and snow and stuff - which thankfully went very well, so the next couple of lessons are booked in.  They both enjoyed it, and M was clearly getting some of the "muscle memory" back as she was snowploughing pretty confidently by the end:

Today's club run was planned to be a A+B ride up to Arncliffe then over to Malham, but with a big group and slippy roads Herb and I decided we'd probably cut off and come home a different way.  It was good to be out with a larger group, but the leader(s) didn't do much of a job as there were people being spat off the back all the way up Wharfedale.  We sort of regrouped at Threshfield, but then we were off again at a fair old lick.  Herb and I came back down the Hawkswick side of Littondale, which is a beautiful little road, then headed home through Hebden, App'trick and a cuppa at CAv Pav.  53 rather damp miles, but we were saying if we can keep up a decent mileage through the winter we should hit the spring in better shape than this year.  Which will help as we've booked a September trip to Pollensa for a long weekend's cycling, and I really want to get up the Puig Major without struggling this time!

Long time no post

Seems ages since I last posted anything, and it would be nice to say it's because I've been eyeballs out training - but sadly not.  However I've not been idle, and it was good to get my bike mileage over 300 in September.  I reckon 300 miles a month in the summer has to be about par, with really 100 mile a week being nearer what I should aim for.  My running mileage has been shocking - I suspect I'll be lucky to be averaging 10 miles a week over the summer.

However, I do seem to have got back into the habit of doing something three or four times a week, and I'm pleased to report I've forced myself to cycle into work once a week three out of the last four weeks.  My new Boardman has now arrived, so the bike shed's looking a bit crammed til my summer bike goes on its hibernation trip to The Herb's cellar - but I'll probably keep that out for the Cumbrian Cracker at the start of November.

New bike - discs and nobbly tyres...

I'm enjoying my single speed, although it's amazingly hard work on knobbly tyres compared with slicks - I rode in on Friday with a very understanding Herb who patiently span along as I gave it full beans at about 1,000 rpm to just hit 20mph!  On Sunday we forced ourselves down to Ilkley and did a very soggy 30 miles up to Linton and back down the main road.  One of the lads did a "Wiggo-esque" stint on the front so we averaged nearly 25mph on the 3 miles from Cracoe to Embsay.

I've also been buying stuff to make the winter commute more bearable (as well as bikes!) - new Hope lights front and rear, slick tyres for the single speed and the CX and other assorted bits and bobs.  Just need to drag my arese out and do it now - we've decided to run tomorrow and bike Thursday as there looks to be a slight improvement in the weather, but I think I might aim for 2 commutes a week plus a couple of runs, then try and get a longer run in at the weekend plus club run Sunday.

All depending on passouts, of course...