Easing Back into a World of Pain...

...but this time most of it was self inflicted. Crikey, work, life, fun and everything else have kept me waaaay too busy to write. Camping, fire side sing songs, too much to drink and some belated hard core veg planting have all been achieved. More later......maybe.

So - after a nightmare on the ESCA 50, how would I fare on the Southern Counties 50 at the end of June? Well I'd been to see the Doc after my shoulder pains refused to sort themselves out. A thoroughly unpleasant cocktail of valium and diclofenac didn't agree with me. So I stopped the former and used the latter when it became necessary.

Shortly after the ESCA 50 I attempted some interval training which went disastrously wrong, I was getting over a cold and just.....crap. In the build up to the SCCU race all I did was a few short twiddles on the bike to make sure everything still worked (me and it) and a 45 min easy session the day before. I've been feeling too tight to train, worried that too much exertion might mean I had to miss the race.

Race day comes and off I go in breezy conditions. I felt much better than on the previous race, got my drinking regime into better shape and with a good knowledge of the course I knew when to push and when to save a bit. I began to feel some pain in my knee after about 30 miles. This was due to some adjustments I'd made to the saddle which had cured some other discomforts, one door shuts, another opens.

The final four miles I had the wind behind me so gave it everything (well everything I had left anyway) and blasted over the line with my heart rate well into the red, and a time of 2.22.38. That's a PB by 3 min and 14 sec. Happy with that, oh yes indee.....ppppsssssssssssssss. My tyre blew about 15 metres after I crossed the line, boy that could have been a real bummer.

A plus for the day - I managed to stick my tongue out for the camera, well you've just gotta do it.

Two days after the race and I've made the shoulder a bunch worse straining to take the pedals off my daughter's bike :( Back to the Doc again this Friday. Got the SCCU 100 at the end of July, worried how I'm going to fare with so little training these past few weeks....we'll see.

Snoop