RouleurBaby

Back again! I sense that this is getting silly now... It was going just fine. I had about a week and half of eating well and dipping my toes back into a structured workout plan. Then I got covid! I wasn’t going to try and train feeling rubbish with a respiratory illness so I stopped. Then I went back to work and was playing catch up. 2 weeks off turned into 4 and now I find myself here in March. How time flies. My overall plan will be very similar to January and I’ve delved back into the habit building blog posts, they really are fantastic reads. My first workout is complete and hopefully I’m back on the fitness train.

Ah thank you both! Yes, many mistakes made but I do feel better prepared this time around. I’m trying to make a few minor changes which will hopefully add up to something I can be proud of.

So I find myself respawning again. Logging back in, I have come across my old threads. I’m surprised to see that my hopes and dreams back then are almost exactly the same again today but there will be more on that in my challenge thread. They say that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I will have to closely manage my routines and expectations as I try to succeed where I have previously failed. For now I have a spring in my step and I can’t wait to dive in again. I’m the wrong side of 30 now and it feels like time is running out to make meaningful changes. When I was here before I had tremendous support, I want to repay that this time around.

Going great! Come on bike catch up!!

Crushing it!

Don't overlook the wins. You've managed to get out on some mornings and have your eating back on track, well done! "On Friday I went for a nice hike in the mountains." Sounds lovely! I'd love to live somewhere closer to greenery!!! That obstacle planning list is a good idea, I may need to do something similar. I like lists... 😍

Ahh thank you very much! ------------- So, we're back in lockdown for at least a month which means the gym is shut. It doesn't mean that I'm off work. School's are still open, probably even more stressful and bonkers than this last half term! I just have to work around this. After hearing the news, naturally, my priorities shifted towards seeing the family and friends that I am permitted to see. There hasn't been any riding since Thursday but I hadn't really planned on there being any anyway, the benchmark session was brutal and I needed to recover from that. I've kept going with my 5-a-day and my hydration. Again, like last time weekends are annoyingly my worst time which just doesn't make sense! I've got more time to cook and drink so why do I fail here? Maybe poor planning? Maybe a mentality issue? Next week's sessions are all planned out... I'm back at work... Have to juggle life... Where's that paper because I need to write some lists!!!!!!

The benchmark It’s not good! Thursday morning FTP time… why do I do this to myself!? I did the standard indoor 20minute FTP test. At the end of August it came out at 192 watts… this morning’s result - 166 watts! Ouch! I’m also about 3kg lighter which doesn’t make my power to weight ratio that bad but it’s still a 13.5% loss of power. It’s depressing what 2 months of inactivity can do to your fitness. As far as pacing goes I think it was pretty much spot on. The first 10 minutes seemed quite ok, then I ramped it up for 5 minutes then pushed really hard for the last 5 with the last minute being absolute hell. Heart rate was pretty much maxed out so I don’t think I could have pushed any harder. Now I need a plan to get that power back and hopefully surpass it. A while back, long before I came to NF, I followed a Chris Hoy inspired plan that served me well. The base was two indoor interval workouts of around an hour with a weekend longer ride. I’m looking at a total of around five hours to begin with, possibly rising to a maximum of around eight hours. That should comfortably be an acceptable balance of work/ life and fitness. I need to recalculate my training zones (zwift does this, I just need to look) and pick 2 interval sessions per week and then do a longer zone 2 ride on a Sunday. Something like a sweet spot short on a Tuesday, a 2x10minute at ftp session on a Thursday and then a steadily increasing endurance ride. I will throw in some anaerobic stuff like the gorby to mix it up and hit different areas. Damn, I’m excited.

Mmmmmm might make a frittata! Do prefer them to a quiche, more like a big omlette! Mmhmm

Your side quest is amazing! It's made me work out that I commute 71 miles per week. A shopping trip is an extra 4.4m. More bike miles than car miles is perfectly doable in a standard week, if I get my act together.

Thank you very much you two! I'm only missing half a week so a solid week this week should see me right. I think I'm coming into this challenge a lot smarter than last time, which isn't hard to be honest. I know my problem area is work and having the motivation to exercise after work (and before is a no go). I need to get into a solid routine and work around this issue this time around.

w00t another cyclist! Just jumping on your bike and doing 30 miles isn't as easy as it sounds well done! Fantastic set of goals too, our challenges will look very similar!

Eat well - Get fit! RouleurBaby Welcome to my new challenge. It’s fair to say that my first challenge was a stupendous fail. I probably shouldn’t even be leaving the beginner section! This time around I feel like I have my determination back. Did I say that last time? Anyhow, I have a plan and some time now in half-term to get back on track before work begins again. Some things from my previous challenge worked really well and some elements from my old battle log are also must haves. I’m also really refreshed from my break away with my better half. Let’s do this! I’ve been massively inspired by the posters here in the scouts forum and in particular from @BarefootDawsy’s RPG points game. I won’t go in much detail yet but I intend to implement a D@D style points game using tasks like BFD has but cycling related, not running. This is because my scouting focus is all about levelling up my prowess on two wheels. Due to my previous epic fails, I just want a nice and easy challenge to ease back in with. Ride 3x per week Continue to eat my 5-a-day Drink 8 glasses of water per day I consider these three to be my main quest goals. I want to prioritise cycling over gym work, at least until the grips of winter. When I’m forced to be riding indoors week after week I’ll drop my cycling to a maintenance level and then prioritise a winter gym regime. Something that I have continued to do off the bike from my very first days here is to eat my 5-a-day of fruit and vegetables. I’m really enjoying this and feel great so this has to continue. I’m loving cooking and yeah I have a few problem areas like work lunches and occasionally slipping on a weekend but this is an area that I’m really proud of. Something that I have noticed though, especially reading other challenges, is that I really don’t drink enough. I’m hoping that improvements here will benefit all areas. Go to the bloomin’ gym Sleep Work/ life balance My sub-quest goals. I’ve mentioned the gym, yes I want to go but if I am feeling tired then this will be the first to be dropped. Linked to the previous point, sleeping well will be essential if I want to stay on track. I’ll be aiming for a good 7 hours nightly again. I’ve had a pretty rough time at work the last few weeks. School life in a covid world is bonkers and very stressful. I need to make sure that I’m putting enough hours into my job but at the same time too many work hours + fitness hours = unhappy home. I’ll be making sure that I’m keeping a check on this. I’m sure that I’ll get told if I’m not! It’s a bit of an odd time to start is a Wednesday/ Thursday but why wait? Today has been all about setting up a bike plan and making sure I start hydrated and fuelled. I’ve been rereading the NHS eat well guide and I’m full of ideas for cooking, shopping lists and meal prep! All I need next is my beauty sleep and I’ll be good to go for tomorrow!

Well this challenge has been an absolutely catastrophic failure. Not helped this week by weekend sickness, but I was failing this week even before then. Zero midweek rides, no gym and I was already one day behind last week in my 5 a day mission. It just isn't working at the minute and one thing for certain is that I really don't deserve this spa!

Sunday update. I left you at quite a precarious point this morning. The good news is that I got changed and went on the bike. A ridiculously difficult 1hr indoor session. After smashing 3 of my 5 a day just at breakfast I was also expecting another thumbs up for the last meal day... I think technically I just scraped 5 but I can do better so leaving that this week. End of the week totals = 9/12, one thumb better than last week. Next week's focus: Carry on the good work with the bike/ be less reluctant!