Getting in the miles and ticking off the milestones

I've mentioned on a previous post how satisfying it is to be able to tick off milestones on a training plan, and this past week has had a stack of them so I should be feeling very satisfied. The truth is that with under 2 weeks to go I'm more nervous than I've ever been at this point in the run up to the Cross.

During the week I tried out my first run to bike changeover. This turns out to be quite tricky when you live in a small top floor flat with no bike storage apart from the spare room; never the less with a bit of pre-planning and organisation I still managed the changeover (including running down the stairs with my bike!) in just over 5 minutes. I'm going to try it again this week just to make sure I'm confident which gear I need to put in my changeover bag.

On Saturday we had our last long run. We went for 16 miles round Loch Ard, a route we did on the mountain bike earlier on in our training. The running was hard going as it was forest trail all the way round, the theory had been this would be better for our ankles but it was pretty hard going on the knees and relatively boring scenery compared to our more recent runs. I am also nervous it was not long enough (though I did 17 miles if you include mustering*); but Colin has a pretty active job and has been knackered after the runs, so we didn't dare push our distance further for fear of causing injury. Running magazines say that not making the distance before the race shouldn't be such an issue as excitement and adrenaline gives you an extra push on the day, but I'm not so sure it applies to runs with a 30 mile cycle on the end!

The big milestone for both Colin and I this week was a cycle ride up Duke's Pass between Callander and Aberfoyle. Colin had been wanting to cycle this pass since before we'd moved up to Stirlingshire. It's well known amongst local cycling enthusiasts, and personally I had been dreading having to do it as it had reached iconic epic status in my head! Our research informed us that there are two ways to tackle this pass: head North, the short steep way; or head South, the long slow uphill grind. We decided that because our knees were a bit tender from the run on Saturday, and I suffer from sore knees cycling up steep hills at the best of time, that we would do the Southern route and went out to Callendar via Doune, then across the pass to Aberfoyle and then back via Thornhill. Around 45 miles in total and right at the top of my daily distance since I first got on Mum's road bike in April (actually, possibly the furthest I've ever cycled in a day!!!!)

As we reached Callander and Bridge of Turk I was feeling great, and the sunshine picking out the hill tops around us made for really enjoyable riding. However I couldn't help but feel a bit of trepidation as we passed the sign for Dukes Pass. As we started the up and I heard a voice say "don't put so much effort into the cycling" I may have said some rude words, but much to my surprise steady pedalling got me to the top much quicker than I had expected... I suspect the strangely East/North Easterly wind giving us a push had a lot to do with it but I wasn't complaining! Then came the down, and I actually enjoyed some of it - well, until the steep hairpins which I think I took at around 5mph with my new back brakes being tested to the limit, but honestly I do think my confidence has improved a little bit!!!! We had reached Aberfoyle after 28 miles in 2 hours & 10 minutes so I was really pleased, in fact I was practically beaming and at that moment there was hope that I would be convinced to keep up road cycling after the cross; something that has never been done before. I've only ever done it for training!

We then had a discussion about whether or not to stop for a cuppa. I felt fine and wanted to get the miles under my belt but Colin wisely reminded me that we were returning into a head wind the whole way back from there, and so we stopped, and he got his chocolate slice. I was very grateful that we had stopped as the head wind back was absolutely draining, by the end of the relatively shorter 17 mile return journey which took just over 1.5 hours I was very thankful to be home. I now know what way I hope the wind is blowing in a fortnight, 30 miles of that effort after a run and I'll be a wreck!

Now for 2 weeks of taper with my fingers firmly crossed for favourable weather. Please do remember to support us on the day, you can do so by:

• keeping your fingers crossed for good weather and the best wind direction between now and then


• cheering loudly between 11am and 5pm


• and even if you don't have time or inclination for the above then you can sponsor us too
  

*Mustering is when the front runners run back to the back of the pack, in this case my running back to Colin, to keep the pack together.