It’s a rest day today so I thought I’d take the opportunity to reflect on the first week of formal training.
I’m very happy with how it’s gone. I can see a very clear difference in both my ability and attitude to cycling from a couple of weeks ago. During the Easter holidays I commuted to work (about 10 miles) for three days and although I managed it each day I didn’t really enjoy it which left me in a bad place when thinking about tackling 100 miles in August.
As I mentioned yesterday I am not great at cycling in the mornings. This means that I found the journey in to work at 8am very difficult. Knowing this each morning did not make it easy to set out in a good frame of mind. Knowing the husband and kid were snuggled up in their beds and off work and school also didn’t help!
The journey home should have been better were it not for the nasty hill on the way home. This hill really is my nemesis but I cannot figure out why. I have done much worse hills successfully but for some reason I really struggle with this one. It gets in my head and I worry about it for a mile or so beforehand which obviously makes it worse.
These two factors mean that commuting by bike was not for me and really made me doubt my ability to do the sportive.
However, the past week has really adjusted that mind-set. I have had a brilliant week. I’ve had no problem sticking to the training (with my tweaks) and doing all the cycling recommended with no trouble at all. I have enjoyed my rides and feel really confident that I will get better and better through the next 11 weeks leading up to the sportive.
Now I just need to use my new found confidence and drive get that hill conquered!!
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