Posted by Alan Bull | Posted in Training | Posted on 08-06-2009
It’s been real hard work in the last 4 weeks. Before deciding to attempt this challenge, I was far too lazy for too long – not doing much in terms of exercise and eating far too many ‘good things’ and through the winter I was very much turning into a couch potato.
So because of this I have started my training with a pretty bad level of general fitness. I have certainly paid this laziness in the last 4 weeks. Starting in week one with getting out of breath very quickly, feeling dizzy and sick and with legs that felt like jelly – and that was from just 30 minutes on the bike!!
Still, having this challenge to aim for has mean’t that I have had to push myself. I contacted a few people who already cycle long distances, visited a few online forums, read some books and from all this I set-up a training plan which you can see on The Training Page. This has now become a constant reminder of what I need to do, when I need to do it to get me to the point where I can achieve success and power myself from London to Paris by bicycle.
By the end of week one, I was pretty sure that I had gone mad agreeing to do this trip, but thankfully I pushed on with the training and I am now starting to feel the benefits of it.
Yes, I am exhausted after the weekly 2 hour cycles and my back-side hurts from being on the bike saddle but at least the legs are getting there and the dizziness gone. I have been quite surprised at how quickly the body gets back into regular exercise. The weekday cycles are enjoyable (when the weather is good) and I am now just concentrating on trying to keep up the pressure on myself, slowly increasing my average speed and trying to build up the strength in my legs. I’ve got a long way to go for sure, but I think I am on track and am looking forward to the big cycle trip itself so much that the training time I have had to put in is now starting to become a pleasant routine.
Here’s an interesting stat that I found whilst researching for the training plan:
In terms of intensity and endurance, comparing cycling and running is about 4:1. So a comparable cycling distance to running a marathon is about 100 miles.
Now, I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. If that’s right, then that means in just 4 days cycling from London to Paris we would have done the equivalent of 2.5 marathons!!
Anyway, here is where I got the stat from, it’s a rather useful guide: An Amateur’s Quick Guide to Long-Distance Cycling