I woke up this morning feeling really tired, and very full after last night's curry-filled celebrations, and the scales were so shocked (and shocking) when I got on them, they asked if it was actually me! (The scales I use have different profiles for different users, and I'd put so much weight on overnight, they thought I was someone else!).
There was only one way thing for it - it was time to blow away the cobwebs, and burn off some of last night's calories, with a long bike ride. Fortunately Andy Next Door and I had already agreed we were going to hit the road this morning, and when we met up at 1015, Andy had got a couple of potential routes already planned - a "shorter, lumpy one" or a "longer, flatter one". As I was feeling unadventurous and wanted to a more gentle ride, I opted for the latter option.
We headed down into Lambley (the vast majority of rides from here start that way as it's where you can start feeling like you're riding in the countryside, rather than suburbia), and it's also nicely downhill... We'd got a good pace up and were riding out towards Lowdham, when Andy spotted a cycling jersey in the distance, and instantly recognised the colours of his cycling club - Ashfield RC. Andy's been a mad keen cyclist for many years and a leading light of the Ashfield club, and was delighted when we caught up to the lone cyclist ahead and discovered it was his old friend Richard who he hadn't seen in quite a while.
After a quick discussion about who was planning to ride where (it turned out Richard was just going to make his route up), it was decided that we'd ride together on the route Andy had mapped out towards Southwell. It was great to have another companion for the ride, and I sat happily at the back as they chatted - it meant I got an easier ride, and also that I could try to find creative ways to warm my fingers which were turning to numb blocks of ice every few minutes (I really need to start wearing suitable gloves!)
The roads were relatively traffic-free, though we did see a surprising number of other cyclists, and we kept up a good pace along the back roads near the Trent, before turning towards Southwell, where Richard started to struggle just slightly with the hillier terrain. We continued up and up, to the top of Oxton Bank, before the fun speedy run down the long hill (top speed today only 37mph) and then parted company with Richard as we turned for home and up to Dorket Head (the highest point around here).
After a final blast home (averaging well over 20mph for the last couple of miles), we arrived back having completed just under 30 miles, at an average well over 15mph and feeling really good about the ride, which was my longest since the beginning of October. By this time my fingers had finally warmed up, but my toes were really numb and feeling almost frozen solid which meant walking was quite a struggle for a while!
This afternoon was memorable too, as it was another "longest ever run" for Sarah, who hadn't been able to run for a week due to an inflamed Achilles. We decided to try somewhere flat and just see how she got on, so drove down to the Trent, near Wilford Bridge and ran a loop down the river towards Trent Bridge and back. As we got back near to where we'd parked, Sarah was feeling really good, so we extended the route and kept going further and further (partly due to a couple of turns down cul-de-sacs), before finally ending up back at the car after 4.55 miles - over half a mile further than Sarah had ever run before!
Tomorrow promises to be another memorable day, as Sarah and I are being treated to a spa day (Christmas / birthday present) and then in the evening it's the first training run for over a week with my half marathon buddies. It's going to be a shock when I have to work a full week next week!
Here's how things are looking so far this year:
Running: 88 miles
Walking: 13 miles
Cycling: 84 miles
Swimming: 0 miles
Total: 86.68 miles
Run streak: 54 days (started 23/11/2011)
PS. I almost forgot - I'm still doing #Plankaday - today was a new record : 3:52 and #Pressupathon - which today was 15 pressups of course...
No comments:
Post a Comment