Monday 28 November 2011

Getting my head in shape.

I'm writing this so that I can keep myself motivated to train through the winter for next summers Bob Graham Round.  The more people who are watching over my shoulder, the more likely I am to do things properly and tick off all 42 of those hills early next summer.

Perhaps I should start by putting down a list of things that didn't go so well last time out.

*  Not enough long training days, I didn't get out for over 8 hours enough times, so when I did, it was a shock to my system.  I figured if I could do 55 miles and feel fine, then I could get around the BGR, I was wrong.  More long days this time.
* Not being prepared for running out of energy.  Sounds silly, but when I hit empty on the way to Bow Fell I collapsed so spectacularly that I must have done something wrong.  More days training on little or no food to get me used to it this time.
* Eating wrong, I didn't eat enough on L3, eat more next time.
*Eating wrong 2, I didn't like setting off up the climbs full of food, eat at the tops or on route next time - soup/sandwich?
* Bad weather - don't set off in shit weather next time.  Have a small moveable team.
* Pain killers, play around with paracetamol and ibuprofen to get used to how it works with me on long days.

That should do for now, I will post back next week to keep anyone informed of how things are going.

Andy

2 comments:

  1. Andy,

    1. eat more food, don't let yourself get to empty.
    2. don't wear shorts in crap weather

    Good to hear that your recent bike ride followed these simple guidelines...

    Pippa

    ReplyDelete
  2. Today on the bike was hard, decided to bail onto the grass verge half way up a climb and ended up being blow head first into a ditch.

    Point 1 - I did manage 40 miles and 4 hours with no food, which is a success, despite how silly it sounds I am going to stick with this fasting programme in the hope it has benefits, one of which will be that your husband doesn't have to give me a hug on Bowfell next year to keep me on my feet!

    Point 2 - noted.

    ReplyDelete