Garmin Connect -
Activity Details for GTC ride- Crow Road- 20th Feb
Monday 22 February 2010
Thursday 18 February 2010
Tuesday 16 February 2010
13th, 14th and 16th Feb
Armstrong...Indurain...my hero Djamolidine Abdoujaparov...Mckerracher...
These were the names to inspire we to greatness over last weekends cyclefest.
For a chap who hasn't really spent longer in the saddle then 2 hours (other than the living nightmare of Augusta), the weekends total of about 7 hour was significantly longer than usual alas, the greatness i aspired to had gone awol.
Things did get off to a promising start on Saturday when the generous staff at The Kirkhouse Inn made me a lovely cup of coffee. Once we got riding though things took a turn for the worse as my flimsy gloves and scrawniness of build meant the sub zero temperatures were hard to bear. My fingers got so cold I was close to vomiting. Fortunately my cycling PA Charlotte was on hand (!) with a warmer set of gloves. These, paired with Duggies wise call to take a coffee and cake stop at Aberfoyle, allowed me to get some feeling back in my hands. The rest of the ride was great, pretty leisurely and scenic, lots of fun and good banter. Photos from the ride are two posts down. Thanks to everyone present for making it such a fun ride and to Duggie for some excellent cycling tips.
Sunday was another bike ride (first time I've cycled two days in a row, legs felt fine although bum was a little touchy on first contact with saddle), accompanied by my faithful PA Charlotte, this time responsible for getting my overshoes on. Some would regard this as an easy task, i'm not one off them. Once Charlotte explained I didn't need to unscrew my cleats to put them on things did speed up and we got out on the Coulport Loop.
Lovely morning, sunny and still, good steady pace, nothing crazy. Got out close to Coulport and the road was closed so our only real option was to climb the dreaded Peaton Hill (17% gradient). Much moaning and groaning ensued, washed down with gels, before we commenced the assault on the hill. It was tough, think my heart rate stayed in check but the legs were going. Both made it to the top unscathed, great sense of euphoria before Charlotte kamikazed back down to the loch side, followed gingerly by me. Followed the route back round to Faslane, up in to Glen Fruin (which didn't seem half as hard as usual after Peaton Hill) and back to Rhu. Garmin stats are in post below.
Swam this morning with Mr Forbes. 2.5k set, lots of short, fastish stuff, arms felt gubbed as they generally do for some reason in the morning. Girls had a morning off, tut tut tut!
Monday 15 February 2010
Saturday 13 February 2010
GTC Bike Ride- 13th Feb
dougie and gemma approach top of the world
craig and ewan successfully attempt the gayest pose ever
charlotte and david pretend they are not tired and cold, great views
this makes it all worthwhile- coffee and cake
Jacket Off- Jo vs Ewan
Start your votes for who is wearing this seasons bang on trend mens jacket best- Jo vs Ewan.
Thursday 11 February 2010
11th Feb
Another beautiful morning run, freezing cold (bout -2 at kick off) but clear blue sky and quality sunrise, i felt almost inspired at the top of the hill climb a couple of k's in. Said hello to my new friends around the same spot, two Shetland ponies and a squad of dirty sheep, while taking the pic above.
8k all in, usual big climb at the start then flat or down hill the rest of the way. Check out the Garmin stats in the previous post. Felt pretty tired considering I've come off a rest week and had two rest days this week- boo.
Tuesday 9 February 2010
4th - 9th Feb
Pre-swim ginger afro in good order.
Thursday was the supposedly recovery week at running, the time spent running was down but the tempo certainly wasn't with Big Brian and another gunning it off the front and the rest of us scattered along the pavement in the distance. Heart rate sneaked in to the 180s i reckon, possibly not ideal for recovery?
Friday was a swim session that looked like it wasn't going to happen when a group of us met at the Glasgow Uni pool, got changed and poolside only to discover it was closing in 15 minutes for the canoe club. Back in to civilian clothing, in the car, minus one, on to Scotstoun for, roughly, 3k swim set, the bulk of which was 300 reps. Good squad out with Ken 'Gambrino' Owen, Chris 'i don't swim down the middle of the lane, honest!' Hay, Brian and I left in Ele's wake as usual.
Post swim we had a farewell dinner for our good friend Chris, who is heading out to sunny Australia for the next year. He should be in good nick when he gets back what with the weather and training conditions out there. He's also got a few tasty races lined up- the Perth to Rottness swim and the Busselton 70.3 that I know of.
I reckon we gave him a solid send off, excellent food and drink, dodgy banter and some vintage storytelling from Kendo.
Saturday was some rest.
Sunday, Gemma and I went out on the Coulport loop (see garmin below). Nice steady pace, relaxing ride. Gemma was not loving the climb up in to Glen Fruin mind you, but she made it. I kept telling her after, next time will be easier.
Rest on Monday.
This morning was a surprisingly comfortable swim session with the girls and Bri, some 100s, 200s and a 1200 thrown in for good measure. Getting fitter and faster, bring on open water and the comfort of a bit of neoprene!
Monday 8 February 2010
Thursday 4 February 2010
31st Jan + 2nd and 3rd Feb 2010
Howdy fans. Completed the last session of a pretty hard week on Sunday with a bike ride on actual roads, outside, in the fresh air. A lot of my detractors will not believe this but it is true, i did cycle outside and I did go up a couple of wee hills (check the Garmin stats below). Photographic evidence will follow when I work out how to get pics from phone to pc (no green screen involved).
Weather was beautiful for the ride on Sunday, blue skies, not much wind and mild compared to what its been like for the past month (and even the last couple of days for that matter). Adorned in my new keep warm kit- thermal tights, arm warmers, thermal mid layer, swanky gore jacket (which Jo PM had the audacity to copy me and buy one, I am her muse i think!), hat etc.. ladeda i headed out all alone and had a fun ride. Still shit at cycling but suppose I can only get better, those gentle slopes of Lanza should be a good test.
All in was about 60k, which for me is a long one, done in about 2.5 hours. I will hope to see some fellow club members and fans join me at some point.
Rest day Monday.
Tuesday. Early morning swim session with the super fast girls and the big Irishman, exclusive Menswear consultant, Brian Forbes.
(Brian was a Tuesday morning swim virgin and was therefore ill prepared for the challenges that faced him that morning. Firstly being chased out of one lane by territorial locals (two middle-aged woman and a man sporting a rather fetching cock duster) for unsportsmanlike behaviou, then having some argy bargy with a little Glaswegian man in the open swim area. All in all a typical introduction to swimming at Scotstoun).
The actual swim set proved a bit easier to negotiate with Brian and I being left in the wake of the girls. Ele, the one armed bandit, even claiming to have passed us while doing single arm drills (we were using both arms!). The main part of the sessions was 600s, tough going, especially with being lapped on numerous occasions, please let it pay off come the summer.
Last night was a killer circuits class at GHK. I was separated from my usual partner in crime, Lewis, for the session and instead had to work hard to avoid total humiliation as my new partner was young and fit and enthusiastic. Ouch, squatting running, burpees, press ups and side planks, one after the other, could barely lift my arms to the wheel as I drove home through the snow afterwards.
This is supposed to be an easy week as well!
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