Over the last month I’ve been getting into the training. The weather in November and December were of a beautifully cold but dry condition, It’s changed drastically coming into January with an artillery of rain barraging from every direction seeming to be the regular occurrence, especially nippy when that north huey blows!..
I’ve been trying to venture out on the bike as much as possible generally getting a pre-work ride in at least once a week and getting a few hours in the saddle over the weekends, this adds up to a total of around 30-40miles a week with an elevation gain of around 900-1100m. It feels good and I’ve felt improvement, but ideally, I need to double this over the weeks to really feel in the shape I’d like to approach this fundraiser in. I’ve been riding with some ballast in my bag (spare riding shoes, 4ltrs of water, 2ltrs of washing detergent and all the regular spares) bringing the total weight of the bag to around 7.5kg. For the actual ride I hope it to be a little less than this. When fully laden with water, dropping roughly a kg per litre of water consumed I’m aiming for 5kg and the rest of the weight distributed around the bike. I intend to have a 3ltr vessel on my back, handy to have the extra storage if required but more than likely when re-filling I’ll keep it to 2ltrs (this will be covered in more detail in the Kit selection blog)
In addition to riding my bike I’ve been swimming three times a week pre-work putting in roughly 2000-2400m a week. This has definitely had a massive effect on my cardio, barely swimming 5-10 lengths front crawl three months ago, whereas now I’m happy smashing 1km if I have the time. As a whole, I’m hoping this not only will help with my cardio but also help with my lower back strength. Kind of killing two birds with one stone here, my surf fitness and wave count has improved considerable too, bonza!
Finally, I started partaking in yoga which is something I’ve wanted to try for a while, and now I’ve had a taste, it may well become an integral part of my routine even post ride. I had considered CrossFit which I would still love to try but time and money are not on my side at present.
Goals over the next few weeks, to increase my ballast to around 10kg, double my riding time, one day of swimming may have to be axed to achieve this but I guess sport specific training will begin to play a more intrinsic role in preparation. I have a few trips planned over the next few weeks to hit up Bike Park Wales, where I’ll be using the pedal up track whilst my mates take digs as they kick back in the nice up lift van! Also, a trip to FOD is on the cards and yes Mr. Ballast shall be attending all riding outings from here on in...
Catch you soon folks...
Drop me a line if you have any tips or want to ask any questions...
This is my official donations page if you fancy reading more on my story: uk.virginmoneygiving.com/peterlacey3
As mentioned previously any steem generated by these post will be going directly to the hospital and the account closed once it no longer generates steem!