It aint over 'till it's over

The Etape is getting so close, I am starting to get that end-of-term feeling.
Clearly, last minute revision never helped anyone pass their exams .. did it? But that doesn't mean that I'm lazing around watching Wimbledon for the last 10 days. I feel there are definitely some more mitochondria and capillaries to be recruited between now and the 16th. I want to do a few more hard rides and then taper down next week.

So on Thursday I got up early and was out on the road at 7am. It was very windy, cold and there was rain threatening. I really didn't relish the prospect of a 3 hour session. However, like so many times before, once I got going I started to enjoy myself. The plan was to take in as many tough hills as I could find and keep my heart rate up around the 80-85% mark. I also wanted to avoid using my lowest gears and keep my mardy bum firmly planted in the saddle. I'm trying to get myself a little bit stronger. On the flatter sections, I made sure I had a few hard sprints. I made sure I took in the Zig Zag road. Does anyone recognize the location of the photograph? My last 10 miles were directly into the horrendous wind but I got my head down and just tried to think of a nice pot of tea. I like my tea. I'd hardly got back in the house before the skies turned black and we had another afternoon of torrential rain. I had a nice self-satisfied glow. I think it's them there endorphins.

I'm feeling reasonably happy with the way things are shaping up. I've got the bike sorted the way I like it. I've formulated my drinking and feeding strategy. I've been told by Jacko that my race-day go faster suit is ready, and I've got all the other bits and pieces together. I've got to work out the detail of getting to Gatwick in time to check-in for my flight next Saturday... this could be tricky bearing in mind that I'll have to get a ridiculously early ferry. Most important of all, it looks as if I've avoided catching the wife's cold.

I'm going to take a look at my training diary in the next few days and see just how much (or little) time and distance I have actually done.

Finally, I'm pretty confident that I'm going to hit the £1000 mark for The Prostate Cancer Charity. I hope so.