My cunning plan

I took this picture of my bike last week when the temperature was 19 degrees C. In the background is the rapeseed on the fields by the English Channel along the Military Road. I was about 4 miles from home at this point and swealtering hot.The next day it was down to 6 degrees and I haven't seen the sun since. Hopefully it should be warming up later today.
(Don't my water bottles look rubbish. Kit deficiency.)
Anyway, blogreader nmcgann has pointed out that I should be doing longer mileage endurance sessions, and I absolutely agree with him. I wish I was! The problem is....I just can't fit it all in. I'm sure I'm no different from many other people who have busy lives and family commitments. 2 children, a wife and a job.
There are two other factors for myself; football and avoiding getting injured.
Firstly I play club football which basically is a saturday afternoon match and training on Thursday evening. This means I need a rest day on Friday, and Sunday is recovery day. Football is an impact game. I also have to take my son to his football match on sunday which keeps me busy until early afternoon. Then, even if I was feeling OK and not still aching I couldn't really disappear again for the rest of the day...can I? So, on a Monday I might try and cycle to work instead of drive (25 miles). But, last week I was injured, and this week I have work commitments until 7pm. Tuesday is hopefully my 'big' ride of the week.....meaning that I need to recover on Wednesday, or perhaps cycle to work again....except I've had to go to parents' evening last week, and son's footy match the week before that. So, it's difficult. When the football season finishes in the next week or so, I'll obviously free up a lot more time and not be carrying soft tissue injuries. (Bearing in mind that the footy fitness is almost certainly a good thing, and gives me more strength and power).

I'm also deliberatley holding back a little in these early weeks. Remember I've gone from zero to 50 miles in three or four weeks. I'm 47. There is no doubt that the heart and lungs are stronger than the tendons and ligaments and I know only too well how middle aged sportsman tend to get overuse injuries and chronic annoying tendinitis.

Finally, I've also got other hobbies. Kitesurfing for one, fishing another. My motorbike. And I play guitar in a regularly gigging band. I'm prepared to make sacrifices for L'Etape but on a windy sunny day, I'm going to go kitesurfing. And when the bass start running, I'm going fishing.

So, the plan. I've built up to 50 miles with another 15 weeks to go. I aim to have a weekly long ride, increasing the distance by between 5 to 10 mile increments. Within a week or two the football will be over and that will enable me to get out early on a saturday and put in a long one. Also, I won't need to worry about resting before a game and recuperating after one. I'll be doing a bit of kitesurfing, and this will be good for strength and suppleness. I've got at least a couple of weeks annual leave between now and L'Etape and that will let me have a week-long-blitz and really go for it. I may go to France or Spain to really try and get acclimatised to proper hills and the heat.

I'm also planning to have three organised events:-
The IOW Randonnee is 100km on May 6th. That should be fun, cycling aroung the Island with hundreds of other people.
May 20th is the Hampshire Hilly 100. Sounds tough.
June 17th is the Circuit of the Cotwolds. Probably very very hard.

In between the big ride, with football out of the way, I'll do shorter hard speed sessions. I strongly believe there is a lot of benefit to be gained by mixing it up, and training at different speeds is vital. These marathon rides can be a bit boring, can't they?
That's it. I told you it was cunning.
By the way, my wife has totally banned me from shaving my legs.Final word.