A great weekend

Well that's the weekend almost done and I'm still sticking to my plan - no beer, better diet and get on it as far as exercise goes.

Thursday was my rest day, and I was ready for it after 10 days of doing something, then Friday saw me and Herb out at lunch in lovely weather running up through East Morton and down through Riddlesden.  It's the reverse of a daft run Chris Tomes took me on a few months ago, where we went along the canal for a couple of miles then a ludicrously steep climb for a mile then a gentle, fast (and no effort) downhill back to work.  This way you get a good two miles of uphill before a silly downhill and a flat run back.  Felt reasonably strong on the up, which is good, as between now and April I've got to get quite good at up.

Then yesterday I took Izzy out for what will become my "long run" day, normally off road.  We went along to Halton east then up the green lane to Halton Heights, which felt ok, instead of the usual lung-bursting grovel.  We then crossed over onto the moor and began the climb up to the top, pausing for a quick snap for Izz:

The cunning plan was that Izzy would haul me up the climb to the top, but she decided that she'd rather run alongside me, so all the effort was my own.  As with Friday I felt ok most of the way up the climb, so despite the fact I seem to be staying resolutely hefty perhaps I'm getting a bit stronger.

At the top we turned left to head back down via Eastby and the church - 8 miles, about 70 minutes and tired legs.  I've got about twelve weeks to be able to do that distance three times over.  Blimey...

A really cold night last night, so I was quietly hoping Herb would declare it too sloppy to cycle - no such luck.  Even my feeble excuse that I couldn't get my bike out because the shed lock was frozen fell on deaf ears, so just after half nine we were off over Halton Heights, wheezing and blowing like the old blokes we  are.

We decided to stick to main roads, so at the Wharfedale road we turned last and followed our noses.  It was absolutely beautiful, with half the valley in shade and so still frosty, and the other half green(ish).  At Grassington we decided to keep heading up the valley and add in the climb up to Kidstones, the watershed between Wharfedale and Bishopdale.

Herb north of Buckden

We had both forgotten what the climb up to Kidstones is like, having only done it once during a sportive from Richmond, but I'd forgotten it slightly less than Herb so had a vague recollection of "uppy bit, pub, another uppy bit, top" - and so it proved.  Both of us found the climb reasonably easy, and were then surprised when we came down it to find it felt quite steep.  Either way, the extra height meant the views were spectacular, and I took the opportunity afforded by getting a slight lead on Herb to take some pictures at the top.  I still surprise myself sometimes with just how stunning the area we live in is - constantly changing, always beautiful.

Looking back down from Kidstones

The ride back down the valley (via a rather splendid egg butty in Kettlewell) took about an hour, with the blast down from Cracoe enlivened by having a lad to chase, who seemed to go faster than us on the flat and a lot slower than us on the hills - we caught him just before the turn off to Brackenley Lane - male pride satisfied.

Herb hitting the heights

The final bit of drama was Herb having a massive blowout about half a mile from his house, so we decided it was better for him to walk home, rather than start messing about mending punctures.

A grand day to end a grand week - about 22 miles of running and 70 miles of biking - not quite the 30 and 100 I'd like to get to, but it's getting easier each time out.

Still at it...

Well today is my first rest day in 10, and if I say so myself I think I've earned it.

Red meat - none
Beer - none
Runs - 6
Spin classes (sorry) - 1
Bike rides - 3

Weight lost?  No idea - but I feel a bit fitter.  Dragged myself to the track on Tuesday on my own, where I did 6x800 with most of the reps being in the 3:05-3:10 space - nowhere near as quick as a couple of years ago when they'd have been 2:50 or so, but it was blowy and being on your own does drag the enthusiasm down a bit, meaning I wasn't busting a gut (not to say it wasn't tough).

Three Peaks entered, so whilst I'm not intending to have the sort of planned schedule I did for my marathon last year I do need to start thinking about getting some long runs in.  I think I'll aim for march though, as February is taken up with skiing, rugby and wedding anniversaries.

Onwards and upwards - back to running tomorrow and hopefully first longish off road run on Saturday (my first of the year, Izzy's first ever).

A double sesh

Not content with the no beer/more running/less meat start to the year today I achieved (for a fat, under-motivated biffa) a bit of a milestone.  Firstly I went for a run at lunchtime - it was lovely - temperate, sunny and still - just the job for a 4 and a bit miler at just under 7:40 pace (which felt comfy, another good sign).  Nothing remarkable in that, you may say - but that meant I've done something every day for a week.  Not high mileage, not fast pace, but I either rode a bike or ran somewhere every day for a week.  Hurrah.

Then later this evening I went with the Herb to Aireville Pool and did a spin class - so a "double" exercise session.  I'm still unconvinced by spinning - even though I try to crank up the resistance there was only one exercise where my legs felt they were getting a good seeing to.  More effort needed or just a bit of a sweaty gym-bunny con-job?  Don't know - but we're going back next week for another go - well, given that The Herb has purchased some skin-tight muscle gear (think gay disco meets speed skater) he needs somewhere to go other than Queens Court in Leeds...

Happy new year, fatty

Well back in November I said I was going to lose 10lbs by the new year.  You're probably wondering if I managed it.

Did I buggery.

So I hit the new year still pretty unfit (ticking over exercise-wise, but still too much beer and fatty stuff to drop any weight).  But as usual with the new year came resolutions, and I do feel like I've started off better than either of the last two years.

Eat lots more fish - tick
Eat less red meat - tick
Soup at lunch - tick
No beer til Feb - tick
More running - tick
Get out on my bike - tick.

Now I know it's only a week, but the "calendar" view on Rubitrack looks a lot more healthy - 4 runs and two bike rides this week, including a gnarly lump-fest over to Pendle and back today with Herb.

Now just got to stick with it...

I've decided that if I get a stone off by the end of March I can have a new bike - a Rose Bikes carbon jobby with Ultegra Di2 is looking favourite, so I'd better start taking this seriously!

It's been a while...

Ages since I posted anything, but not from want of trying.  The bloggy thing on my iPad has chosen to conk out, losing several posts, so I gave up.  Which I suppose IS "from want of trying"...

Anyway - since the Jennings I've been doing a bit, interspersed with doing not much.  The cycling's been fairly consistent with a commute most weeks and out with the club pretty much every weekend.  The running's been pretty pants though, with just a couple of runs average, and some weeks just the one.

We had a brilliant, brilliant day out at the Cumbrian Cracker, which goes from Grasmere, over Red Bank and down Coniston to Cartmel, then comes back through Grizedale.  Did it with Herb, Rick, Rich and Dave, and even the newbies managed to stay with us to half way.  There's quite a climb over Field Broughton to the A590, and we split into two groups there.  There's also a proper pull up from the visitor centre at Grizedale before dropping back into Hawkshead and back to Grasmere to finish.  Great day out on an utterly perfect day.

Coniston on the way up - Perfect...

Since then, which was 6 November, I've had a couple of ropey weeks, mainly driven by work and last week the cold from Hell, which just knocked me out for three days.  I recovered enough to get out with the club on Sunday, when we did a nice steady ride (good job it was steady, as I was pretty snotty and I the summer bike's gone away for the winter now).

The most significant event has been having my now-annual medical, which showed me that I haven't imagined the fact I've been getting fatter.  I was a bit overweight a year ago, but I've put on a stone since then, my cholesterol is up (although not massively so) and my body fat % is unbelievably high.  Something Must Be Done.

I think this might be the jolt I need to get fit (which is good, as I've got the Brass Monkey in about ten weeks and I don't want to be humiliated).  I've set myself the target of losing 10lbs by the New Year and another 10lbs by the time I take the kids skiing in February.  That would have me back at my proper "fit weight" over a sensible timescale, and hopefully in good shape for the Three Peaks in April.  We'll see - progress in the first five days has been good anyway!

I'm only going to weigh myself once a week, so this Monday's weigh-inis the baseline.

Wish me luck...

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...