For the last thirty days I've been doing a cycling challenge. I'd like to say it was intended to raise money for a much needed charitable cause or that record books will now have to be re written to reflect my achievements.
But no, the only goal was to ride every day for thirty consecutive days and the only achievement has been a minor (but much needed) weight loss.
The rules for this challenge were simple. Every day I had to ride my bike, on road, rollers or turbo trainer for a minimum of 20 minutes. However a ride of 20 minutes would have to be a flat out sprint time trial and not a bimble. Bimbling 'recovery rides' of 30 minutes were allowed to give my poor aching legs a break. To keep it fun I split the sessions up and planned a week ahead to ensure I didn't get a weak head and bottle it on any given day.
Week one: various 'real life' dvds of routes on the turbo trainer
Week two: Sufferfest dvds on the turbo trainer - painful sessions of 50-60mins but at maximum effort
Week three: Sessions on the rollers, that ended up being Sufferfest on the rollers, like watching an elephant trying to sprint across a floor covered in ball bearings
Week four: longer distance turbo sessions 60-120km
It's been difficult to force myself to ride everyday, there've been days when my legs were still dead from the previous day's efforts, when I was hungover or when I had a dodgy stomach... So it's been as much a mental challenge as a physical one. Today was the last day, I'll now take a day off all training then start back on a proper 24 week program that should get me fit for Ironman Germany in July.
The Challenge in Numbers:
Distance cycled: 1122 km
Calories burned: 23,000 (approx)
Weight lost: 5.5kg
Litres of water consumed: 60 (approx)
Number of times fallen off rollers: 2
Shirts worn: 36
Think I'll have a wee rest now, I'm knackered.
But no, the only goal was to ride every day for thirty consecutive days and the only achievement has been a minor (but much needed) weight loss.
The rules for this challenge were simple. Every day I had to ride my bike, on road, rollers or turbo trainer for a minimum of 20 minutes. However a ride of 20 minutes would have to be a flat out sprint time trial and not a bimble. Bimbling 'recovery rides' of 30 minutes were allowed to give my poor aching legs a break. To keep it fun I split the sessions up and planned a week ahead to ensure I didn't get a weak head and bottle it on any given day.
Week one: various 'real life' dvds of routes on the turbo trainer
Week two: Sufferfest dvds on the turbo trainer - painful sessions of 50-60mins but at maximum effort
Week three: Sessions on the rollers, that ended up being Sufferfest on the rollers, like watching an elephant trying to sprint across a floor covered in ball bearings
Week four: longer distance turbo sessions 60-120km
It's been difficult to force myself to ride everyday, there've been days when my legs were still dead from the previous day's efforts, when I was hungover or when I had a dodgy stomach... So it's been as much a mental challenge as a physical one. Today was the last day, I'll now take a day off all training then start back on a proper 24 week program that should get me fit for Ironman Germany in July.
The Challenge in Numbers:
Distance cycled: 1122 km
Calories burned: 23,000 (approx)
Weight lost: 5.5kg
Litres of water consumed: 60 (approx)
Number of times fallen off rollers: 2
Shirts worn: 36
Think I'll have a wee rest now, I'm knackered.
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