Training - My Plan

There have been two main factors in my personal preparation for the ride next month.

• Weight Loss
• Physical Fitness

Weight Loss

I am what is politely called in cycling circles a "Clydesdale" a 200lb + cyclist. Carrying excessive weight whether it be on my person or on the bike is never ideal when it comes to climbing hills and as you probably noticed in my last post there is definitely going to be lots of those.
In the first 2.5 days I will climb over 10000ft, now admittedly there will also be close to 10000ft of down hills but those will fly by all to quickly. Ten thousand feet of climbing is pretty darned significant so to reduce the strain on my body and the bike  I decided I must go on a diet. Starting New Year's day I set myself the goal of losing 40lbs, an average of 8lb per month. With significant will power, portion control and being calorie conscious (no fad diets for me) as well as a significant amount of cycling thrown in for good measure I met my target at the end of April a full month before I had planned. I have now extended my diet and if I can manage to lose another 5 - 10lbs I will be ecstatic. I still qualify as a Clydesdale but the hills, whilst never easy, will be slightly less taxing. 

Physical Fitness - Building the Mileage in the Legs

For me the core component of cycling is leg fitness. Being able to grind out 13.5 consecutive days of 75 miles per day is about stamina. and the only way for me to build this stamina is to amass time in the saddle peddling.

January and February this year were basically the winter from hell for a cyclist, snow, ice and freezing temperatures. These didn't stop me totally from venturing out on two wheels but did limit the mileage to an average of 80 miles per month. So thank goodness then that I also have an indoor trainer, which basically converts a regular bicycle into an exercise bike. I find the trainer to be good for spinning and logging hours in the saddle but not being able to vary the "terrain" as it were and having a pretty much constant level of excursion, along with no variation in scenery makes these trainer sessions tedious and boring.

So once March arrived and the thaw started I was able to get out as often ( 2 - 3 times per week) as weather and time permitted. I started out with regular short rides 20 - 30 miles when time was available interspersed with 15 milers. As March progressed and April approached I increased the length of the rides by 10% per week so by early April I was comfortable, once again, with rides in the mid 40's.  But one thing that worried me was being able to do long rides day after day, with little to no recovery time. So in mid April I set myself the goal of 3 rides in 3 days. These rides on a Saturday, Sunday and Monday totaled 190 miles ( 70, 69, 51). With no significant complaints from the body I am now confident  of being able to do the 13.5 days required to get to John O'Groats. I am sure the body is going to hurt but hopefully it will be bearable.

In addition to recreational rides, that are now regularly between 60 and 70 miles, I have started once again commuting to work, a 30 mile round trip, 2 days per week as my schedule allows. The main goal here is to cycle regularly with packed panniers and handlebar bag, to get used to the handing of a fully laden bike and the effort required when climbing hills. All I can say is that thank goodness I lost some weight, because when lugging a laptop, clothes and other necessities the bike must have an additional 30lbs on it and I sure feel the extra effort required.

With just over 4 weeks to the start of LEJOG, I am continuing the training & commuting rides and feel comfortable that the base fitness & stamina is there. I am sure that the first two full day in Cornwall will severely test me and make me wonder whether I should  have done more training and lost more weight. Only time will tell.