Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Wednesday and my legs have not been 'pinging' this week. Not at all. Though they feel slightly better now. My HR is up at 49-51 too. This is down to the hard training over the weekend. I felt well shagged on Monday. I really didn't want to go to the Primrose Hill session on Tuesday evening, I felt quite tired as I left Leamington. But, the first few minutes of warming up I didn't. I even left a tee-shirt on until almost the start of the first hard session. This was different to all we've done before, put some resistance on ! So put 2 clicks on, & used a middle gear for the 3.5 mins @ 90-100 rpm, used 53x15, then into 53x13 for the 30 secs of sprint. 5 times with 1 min rest, 10 mins of abomnible addominals, then 3 20 seconds flat-out from standing start sprints. Grrr. Then another 10 mins of ab work, then 3 sets of the 3.5 mins & 30 secs sprint, then cool down & stretch. Oh what fun. I think the nett effect is to perk my legs up. I am going to do Mondays session this evening, which I seem to recollect is 90 secs at 100 rpm in top gear repeated 12 times. Ugh. I think I shall do myself a few press-ups a couple of times each week.
Roll on Flanders.
Dra zijn te Vlaanderen !

Tuesday, February 25, 2003

Monday, no Tuesday. Already Tuesday. And on Friday I will be in Flanders. So Friday I did the session I should have done Thursday. Felt fine. Saturday was a misty day with a cold East wind. 20 minutes warm-up, 20 minutes level 3, 10 mins level 4, 5 mins level 5, 10 level 4, 20 level 3 and 30 level 2 then slow home. Sort of Hopwood, Barnt Green, Tardebigge, Stoke Prior, Stoke Works, Hanbury, Elcocks Brook, Webheath, Tardebigge, Barnt Green, Hopwood. Difficult to keep to level 3 uphill & downhill, even harder to keep level 4 downhill, hit the hill from Stoke Works up to the road to Hanbury for level 5, so staying at level 5 was easy. Well, hard as it meant keeping my HR over 156. Sunday off to Becketts, out to Wooten Wawen, did a longish spell on the front first with Beans, then Mark Wilkes ? the guy with the goatee. Then on the main road at Binton they went to Wellesbourne, but I turned right with Mark Barfield & we went home through Bidford & Sambourne. Left Mark by Primrose Hill and went round Hopwood and through Lea End to bump up the ride. Felt tired. Felt even more tired throughout the afternoon collecting Dad & taking him back. Legs felt tired yesterday. I was going to do session then realised I left my training book in the office in Leamington. So instead I drank a tin of lager that was in the fridge and a bottle of red. Washed down with a glass of a mixture of whisky, kahula and Irish cream stuff. Ugh. Feel fine now, after breakfast & some Red Bull from the motorway services. Talked with Paul yesterday, I think he is getting overwhelmed with work at I-R, and I hope they may ask me to come back soon. I also need to go to Grimsby for 2 or three days. Ugh.