Back on the road again!

Well, it has been three weeks since my last blog and three weeks since I have been on my bike! Not ideal preparation but a nasty bought of tonsillitis laid me low for a fortnight and I required a further weeks respite after NOT running the Stratford upon Avon half marathon - more on that later.

Last week went in a flash and the Bristol Heads of Office meeting provided Sasha with the perfect opportunity to get on my case, highlighting my lack of training and poor fund raising to date. I accept that on the training front I will generally only do the bare minimum to get by but I do now have to up the ante if I am not to let my colleagues down. The sponsorship is under control and I will start marketing over the next few days.

Anyway, back the the running. Readers of my earlier posts may recall that I had half marathons planned a month before L2P and one a few weeks after. Unfortunately, my running training has been non-existent over the last 2 months and consequently I had all but written off the Stratford run. However, on the Thursday evening before the race I decided to check whether I could run the distance and to my great surprise found that I was able to jog 14 miles home from work. I didn't feel too bad the following day & played in the AIB golf day - not a good idea. The problems began on the Friday night when I started to stiffen up and after a long drive to North Norfolk on the Saturday I almost had to winched out of the car. To cut a long story short I had to write off the week as my body slowly recovered from my foolish exertions.

With Sasha's cautionary words ringing in my ears I resumed training this weekend but with important Cup Final matters to attend to on Saturday & client entertaining at Arsenal on Sunday my normal cycling routine was disrupted. I decided to go out on my own and did 2 early morning rides of 60 & 40 miles. A 100 mile weekend should be good preparation for the Stratford 100m event with Geoff Thomas and Gordie next weekend and a 150k sportive I will be doing with my cycling club the following weekend. I have also resolved to try and ride into work over the next month and if I can manage not to get knocked off this will add a few more useful miles.

To wrap up I must acknowledge the power of positive thought and prayer. I did much of this during my Saturday morning ride and was delighted that my prayers were answered when my team finally lifted a trophy at Wembley. I didn't think the weekend could get any better after that but Villa's win at The Emirates rounded off a perfect football weekend - and the cycling is back on track. Take note Sasha!