Back in the saddle hip hip hooray! After all the madness of the last few weeks I actually feel better than I have in months. I am officially back in the saddle and raring to go!
Monday 8th March
Still on the road to recovery and finally back to work. Now I can start to think about how I’m going to pick up my training after what has been a pretty serious medical ordeal.
I have been reassured by my doctors that it’s absolutely fine for me to start training again as long as I don’t overdo it. So now I am looking at a much interrupted training schedule. I have a lot of ground to make up but at the same time it’s dangerous to think about training in this way as if I do too much too soon I will end up in trouble.
So my tactic is gently does it and of upmost importance, listen to my body – if it tells me to stop I have to listen.
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Katie’s Uphill Battle – Week 4 – on the mend…
Katie’s Uphill Battle – Week 3 – disaster strikes!
Katie’s Uphill Battle – Week 2 – a world of pain…
Katie’s Uphill Battle – Week 1
Katie’s Uphill Battle – Getting Started
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Wednesday 10th March
Spinning – back in the saddle
Ah, its good to be back! An endurance session with Richard and it feels like I’ve never been away!
32 minutes of climb which was perfect as my return to exercise. Strangely, or not, I actually felt better than I have in ages and ages – my heart rate was a bit higher than normal but I think that’s the medication and I’ll check this with my doctor next week.
Warm up – 3 minutes
Hill Climb increasing resistance as we go – 39 minutes
Cool down – 3 minutes
I have also asked Andrew from the pedal studio to look at my new training schedule which I’ve devised to accommodate for my time out and illness.
Thursday 11th March
Now that I am back from the depths of darkness I thought it’d be timely to go and see my friends at Fullcity and let them know where on earth I have been and also that i’m back in the saddle! I showed them pictures of my hospital food and they were suitably sympathetic – we also talked about my ongoing gear issues (see embarrassing episode where I seemed to loose the ability to change my own gears…. So, Lawrence’s new plan is to change over my triple crank to a double. So, I left my beloved Principia there for him to work his magic and got the bus home.
Friday 12th March
Andrew has given me feedback and my new programme looks like this: Programme 2 – post illness. I’ve incorporated more hills and am potentially cutting down on my commute. I’ll have to get a good book and succumb to the minimal delights of the Number 38 bus a little more regularly. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to achieve your goals! Now where is my Oyster card?
Saturday 13th March
Long Ride to Cambridge – flat – 50 + miles
Health and weather all good so I was able to cycle out with my cousin and two of her buddies to Cambridge. Its about 50 miles so a good distance. The girls aren’t hardcore cycle nuts so Liz promised me the pace would be slow.
The basic plan was to head out of London then get onto the more minor roads. You can see our route here (minus the inevitable minor detours due to inevitable map reading downfalls!)
I have never been so happy to be accompanied by three fluro jackets as when we cruised over the main roundabout taking the A10 over the M25 – hairy stuff – but once we got off the main roads we were treated to some stunning countryside and some amazing weather.
With regular stops and a very casual pace – it took us most of the day to get there but with not even one flat tyre, and anything other than positive spirits we trundled casually into Cambridge just in time for tea! Thanks to Liz for organising such a great day out and for her brilliant map reading skills – and to her friends Emily and Flo. Particularly high recommendations go to Flo who did the entire ride with a sainsbury’s bag round her left foot and a tescos bag round her right, she’d been advised to do this in order to prevent getting cold feet – did it work? I’m not entirely sure but it was definitely a strong look.
We got the train back to London and received some odd glances as we carried out a few stretches on the train. I looked at our fellow passengers all dolled up for a night out in London and then looked at myself, resplendent in my lycra and North Face jacket – when did I become such a nerd, I mean for God’s sake, just look at me in that picture!?
Katie Gormley, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
