The Adventures of Podge & Tubbs

Today, Debbie and I are off to meet Nick when he completes his first Magnificat. For me the day has mixed emotions. I was also supposed to be doing this ride. It’s a ride I’ve done before and really enjoyed it: The organisation and general atmosphere makes it, and the riders, feel that little bit more special. Unfortunately, my heath stopped me.

When I awoke this morning however at 8 O’Clock to the sound of rain on the window I kind of gave thanks for not being able to take part, but then the feeling of envy came when I saw that Nick had already left for the start. I knew that no matter what the weather, Nick and the other participants were going to have a great time and I knew that I would have as well. Still spilt milk and all that: I just need to up my game a bit.

I’ll set myself some goals (realistic ones) and get myself back out on those roads and ‘do’ another sportive and aim for next years Magnificat when maybe Nick, Matt and I can all do it.

Go Podge.

Hi there, here is my training update for week ending 30th January 2011:

Date        Distance        Speed       Weight       Peak Flow
30/01          52             14          210           420

Although my mileage is up from last week, it’s not as ‘up’ as I wanted it. I’m afraid I never got a chance for a weekend ride as I had two days of family errands to do. Never mind though, the main thing is, I did more and that’s at least going in the right direction. Even better my weight has dropped by 1lb. My breathing seems to have dipped but I put that down to the cold weather (it always make my breathing a difficult), and it’s certainly nothing for me to worry about.

So, last week, I increased my mileage by 10, maybe this week I should go for 20+. we’ll see 🙂

As previously intimated, I found that I can import previous ‘real’ rides into the iMagic software and simulate the ride on the Turbo Trainer. I therefore tried out a 25 mile ride yesterday to Burbage and back via Great Bedwyn: It worked. Better still, when I started the simulated ride, the software linked up with Google Earth and provided me with a rolling Arial view of the ride. I have to say, the workout was really good. Google Earth was good and I felt as though I had actually ridden 25 miles and that I’d actually climbed all the hills on the way.

Anyway, with another 25 miles under my belt, the miles clock up, the legs get better and sooner or later, hopefully, my tummy will start to get smaller. Today, I hope to try a short recovery ride with another big (for me anyway) ride on Sunday.

Go Podge Go

Greetings: It’s been a long time I know but just to assure you all, I’m still alive and even better, back on my bike and pumping those pedals. Okay, it’s been on the iMagic (actually, I think the iMagic is harder than real life) but at least it’s a start.

Some of you may recall my rather bold boast that I intended to undertake the two longest sportives over the over the weekend of the longest day. Unfortunately, what I had forgotten was that at that time, it is likely that I’ll be in Russia so I need to replace it with an alternative challenge. All ideas welcomed.

Anyway, what I would like to do is start to publish a weekly report on my progress. I’m hoping that that doing this will move me to better last week, and so on and so on (at least in distance if not speed).

So here we go:

Date        Distance        Speed       Weight       Peak Flow
23/01          42             16          211           440

Now, the observant amongst you will notice that my weight may be a little on the high side: The unobservant will also know this too now that I’ve highlighted it, but no matter. I take comfort in knowing that the weight is probably just winter blubber which will surely fall away with exercise and sensible eating :-). I will also point out that my average speed will always be higher on the indoor trainer than outside so the figure will drop as I move out onto the open roads (hopefully, this week).

The sessions that I’ve enjoyed on the iMagic have gone well and overall I felt really good after each session. At the end of each week, I will weigh myself and take a peak flow reading (a measure of the air flow from the lungs) to see if the reading changes. Currently, my COPD sits somewhere between Stage 2 & Stage 3 and I would love to see this drop back to Stage 1 / Stage 2 (I believe it will).