Less than two months until Worlds, it's getting
serious now..... The countdown begins..........
The fast few weeks have been extremely busy so
apologies for lack of posts, I've taken part in London Ride 100, Bewl Water
Sprint Triathlon and was lucky enough to go on a training weekend with Olympic
triathlete Helen Jenkins which was an amazing experience. So where to start:
London Ride 100 was an incredible experience. I
had a hard training week leading up to it, with the World Champs now being my
main focus at the moment so there was no need to taper. I wanted to keep my
Duathlon training up. I was then a little worried, realising 100 miles is a
very long way. 80 miles being my max distance so far. We left at 5:40am
scoffing down some peanut butter, rice cakes and banana before leaving.
Everyone has their preferred pre ride/race meal. I struggle with cereal as the
yogurt and milk makes me feel queasy cycling. The theory is peanut butter (high
in good fats and protein gives you a slow release energy, keeping you feeling
full), rice cakes (good carbs for energy but also wholegrain so a slow release
on long rides) and the banana for instant energy and potassium to prevent
cramps! 8 miles cycling to the start and we were in our pens ready to go! We
met the other two in our San Fairy Anne team there.
The closed roads and crowds were great, very encouraging and
the first 30 miles flew by! Chatting to cyclists and hanging on the back of
different pelotons was great fun! I lost the team after Leith Hill which was a
10 minute battle trying to get past others on the narrow roads, with many
people walking which was disappointing. It was a tough hill but 10 mins of
steep climbing and you were at the top!
Box Hill was very enjoyable with a beautiful smooth road and an easy
gradient up. The last 40miles I was on my
own and at mile 75 my belly started rumbling. As a cyclist this is not a good
sign, it means that I was soon going to run out of energy and “bonk/hit the wall”. To keep your energy levels up and performance at its peak science
suggests we should have 0.5-1g of carbs per kg each hour. With all the
excitement I had forgotten to eat enough and so refuelled at Hub 3, bananas,
flapjacks and good old fig rolls! This perked me up for the last 25miles and I
even had a sprint finish, which was quickly halted by an ambulance with a
casualty at the finish line….
I therefore included some tips for long rides
below;
Tips for Cycling Fuel:
1.
Eat little and often. Set a timer to remind you to eat if
necessary. Eat even if you are not hungry, when
your hungry its too late..
2.
Eat 0.5-1g of carbs per kg each
hour.
3.
Try to drink at least every 15
minutes to hydrate and prevent cramps.
As a guideline;
• A 500 ml of typical sports drink mixed at 6% will give you 30g of
carbohydrate
• 1 gels = 30g
• 1 fig roll (12 g of carbohydrates each) = 12g
• 1 mini pitta breads with peanut butter =18g
• 1 brioche rolls with jam = 28g
• 1 banana = 27g
Now its just putting this into practice on the
next ride!
I was very pleased with a quicker than expected
time of 5:30hrs (maybe I could have been quicker if I ate more regularly!) 
The ride home was not so enjoyable, it was hot
and the crowds made leaving the park take forever. The next 8miles
back to Greenwich was slow and frustrating with my goody bag on my back and
traffic slowing us down. We got through it and stopped for a well-earned drink
round the corner from home. The wine hit me pretty quickly! Two sodas were needed to water it down...
In summary the event was a fantastic
experience, the crowds and closed roads
were amazing, it was very well organised and I recommend it. Overall we cycled
117miles that day, this gave me a taste for an Ironman…..
(so watch this space!)
I would also like to give a shout out to our
friend Shaun who finished Ride 100 in a decent time and on a Brompton Bike for
charity. Now that’s impressive!
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| Legend! |
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| What I won? |
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| Happy Podium |
Now to ditch the swim training and get ready
for the big event of the year Duathlon World Champs….
