Alford wheelers presentation night

My first presentation night of the year was at the masonic hall in alford, a sit down meal and prize giving put on by the Alford wheelers,
With the club's founder still a active member and the club running for over 50years there is a lot of heritage with one of Lincolnshires most prestige clubs, as a triathlete surrounded by dedicated bikers I wondered if I was really welcome amongst them all but it soon became apparent we were all there for the same reason, our passion towards cycling. With a few speeches from long standing members the message of why we ride was universal, its for the freedom we sence when out on the bike,  our connection with nature and the challenges bought on by the change of seasons and the beautiful countryside that surrounds us there really isn't much point in trying to compete at a high level in any sport unless you are passionate about what you do, but for me cycling really does take the top spot, from time to time when everything comes right when your out on that bike there really is nothing quite like it.
With the meal out the way and entertainment provided by a few club members who are as competitive in there drinking as they are there cycling it was time for the presentation,
being new to the club and having to split my training time between 3 sports I was more than happy to walk away with a large shield for finishing 1st in the club's 18mile circuit handicap race and 3rd overall, It gave me a real sense of achievement that night and allowed me to reflect momentarily on the past season , it gave me a few more goals for the up and comming year,and I hope to be able to come back stronger next year and claim a few more trophies for my collection!.

It has to start somewhere

As another month passes by im now starting to get back into the full swing of training over winter, bit by bit upping distance, the aim of the game now is to build a good base of fitness that I can work on over spring and summer,
So what does that entail for me? A lot of miles and hours hopefully but no real desire for speed work at the moment so a lot of my training can be done at a sociable speed (although a lot of my training isn't always sociable hours)
Its at this time of year I also like to try and build on strength with some core work in the gym.
One change in my training plan for this year is to incorporate more stretching into my routines in a bid to stay more supple and hope to keep injury at bay. All was going well until one of my runs was cut short when I went over on my ankle with a misplaced step. As I lay on my back with my leg in the air, all I could think was 'well this ain't ideal', I rang home for a lift and began the process of rasing,  icing compressing and elevating (R.I.C.E) my left ankle a couple of days have passed and the swelling is starting to die down, If I was soley a runner this would ne very bad news for me as it would knock back my training quite a bit, however the big plus of triathlon is I still have two other sports to go at!
So as I rearrange my schedule for the next few weeks to cancel out my runs and up my swim and bike!

Recovery

After a long successful season i found it hard to stop training nearly every day. It became part of the routine, part of my life style. Im the first person to tell somebody else when I think there overtraining or to lay off when there injured yet I seldom listen to my own advice, in heign sight I should of had some time off at least a month earlier than I have done but my own stubbornness forced me to continue for a while longer. Finally I gave in and convinced myself a month off would allow my body to rest and be beneficial in the long run, hoping that it would leave me fresher and more motivated for the oncoming training and eventually racing.

During this month I also decided while the stresses and distractions of training were no longer present I would try shed a few lbs I had put on after my race season 'hair down' moment had come to a close. I did this by cutting out snacking and cutting meal portions down. Im a big snacker and stopped this my constantly telling myself  'im not missing out' by not eating and that I had no need for the extra food. I shrunk the size of my breakfast and lunch portions down but kept my dinner the same, dinner is a family time for me and it's unfair to change there eating habits just for my own gratification, we don't eat excessively and our meals are fairly healthy so this didnt cause a problem, In the month I managed to lose around 5/7lbs and hope now my training has started back up to lose another 5lbs over the following months to get closer to my racing weight.

My first session back to training was a slow steady, light weight session, with a aim of slowly building good form before moving onto heavier weights, I focus on my core muscles to make the most of my time in these sessions and if I have extra time I usually focus on specific areas ive had problems with injurys in the past to strengthen these areas up.

The next few months I will start with slow short training sessions building on both intensity and duration as time progresses, but for now its just nice to be back on the road to Geneva ! .