I got a 20 mile walk in yesterday. But honestly I suspect it was a mistake. I’m still not properly over the Xmas/New Year cold and it did feel like it. Furthermore I left it a bit late setting out, so by the time I got to the stretch of the Thames Path from Shillingford to Little Wittenham I was losing the light fast. I caned it to avoid having to get the torch out and I really paid for that over the last 5 miles.
VB
As long as you didn’t die you’ll benefit
Disclaimer: purely subjective experience-based non medical opinion
5k run at lunchtime- playing around with fartlek type intervals (snigger snigger)
Interestingly, I was able to hit a much higher heart rate than I was able to before. When I tried to run 5k as fast as possible I could only get my heart rate up to 180’ish whereas today I got it up to 194
I’ve got it into my head that I want to run a sub-20 minute 5k (whilst fully recognising that it’s daft). I did a couple of 1 minute intervals at >10mph where my heart rate was 190-194 which would take me under 20 
Hope for some of you fuckers yet…
Perfect for Wayne
Maybe she just can’t get over being called Bacon ?
VB
Wondered who ripped those pages out of my diary 
I wish she’d just slipped in, “Was feeling a bit peckish this evening so just nipped out for pie, chips & curry sauce down at the Golden Plaice”
My news this week is that I picked up a nice Garmin running watch (forerunner 410 plus separate HR monitor) off eBay last week for £35 delivered and have spent the last three or four days understanding how to use the touch bezel; it’s tap, touch, hold and touch and drag controls. Finally I have sussed it and was able to verify it is fully functional and that, very pleasingly, the battery appears to holds a charge far longer than the spec suggested. The main two reasons I wanted a watch is that the map my run phone app is difficult to use accurately as a GPS timer and was not very helpful in getting me to understand the right running pace for any run. I can also report my first Yoga session went well enough for me to try again next week.
I wonder where you can get Brain Dust - I think I might need some…
Email Trump - he uses gold Brain Dust every day
65 miles cycled so far this week. Targeting 100 by Saturday.
103 miles done in 7 days, with no riding yesterday. A good three hour ride off and on road today. Faster than last Sunday, I can feel my form returning.
Good going as it’s hard to keep going over the winter.
I’ve only been doing my commute to work miles as I can’t shake the cold I’ve had since New Year - really missing getting some miles in especially since the weather has been quite calm.
It’s definitely helping having a riding buddy to hook up with at the weekend. We used to meet at least twice a week for off-road rides, but parental responsibilities put paid to that years ago!
It does help keep motivated. I’ve pencilled in the 23rd for my first outing with my mate so fingers crossed this shitty cold has cleared up.
You got any cycling events on the cards Gareth ?
I don’t really go for organised events. We are discussing a return to Snowdonia in Spring for a long weekend of riding. We did ride up the Llanberis path to the top of Snowdonia a couple of years ago, which was great fun. We have tended to base ourselves in Dolgellau where we know a great MTB-friendly guesthouse run by a slightly mad mountain climber. When I started cycling more as a teenager, it was to get out of the city into the peace and quiet of the countryside. The health benefits, while welcome, have not been my prime motivator.
Edit: I also love fettling and tinkering bikes.
Edit2: As a former rugby player (front row), I’m not your typical cycling build…
When I bought the road bike a few years back it was primarily to get fit again.
I went through a period of doing loads of sportives but as my fitness increased I’ve scaled back on them as I can now ride the same roads for nothing and without a hoard of other cyclists.
Generally only do sportives that are a bit different from our norm now and I agree with you there’s nothing quite like really getting away from the rat race.
We’ve a few ideas for this year but need to see how it pans out as far as timings go.
I want to do LEJOG or JOGLE before I pop my clogs. I reckon on a nice, leisurely 3 weeks.
That would be quite an achievement - I’d love to spend a week cycling all about Skye
