Training becoming structured ? Well..

The weather continues to haunt me and every ride is a battle of will against the elements; and I am afraid to say that the elements are beginning to win. In order to retain some type of fitness I have resorted to cross training and am putting in 1 km per day swimming.  However I did manage to complete another 100km + ride last week and this time had just the single 15 minute stop for lunch. I also remembered to take along some fluid ( Nunn tablet in 500ml of water ) to provide some salt replenishment. The ride itself went well despite the fact that the freezing and foggy conditions meant that my glasses froze over and hence visibility was reduced. Perhaps that was a good thing as I could not see the steepness of the hills in front of me. I just hope that London is not as severe as the Derbyshire Peak District for hills!

My self made training plan consists of getting comfortable with 100km rides before gradually increasing the distance in 20 km steps until I can manage the 160km the London100 will demand.

The route can be seen here :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_MDOooZbjA

As I have said before it is the 100 miles at the required pace that could well be a challenge too far. I seem to currently ride at the same pace whatever the distance, 20km or 100 km, but perhaps the tow of the 20000 strong peleton will pull me along. Ideally I need to increase average speed from 19 to 21 km/hr

This week a structured training plan for beginners arrived. It gives a day by day plan for the full 12 weeks prior to the race but I am beginning to suspect that it also assumes that the cyclist is in the full flush of youth and pretty fit before embarking on this regime.  What I need is a structured plan for Old Age Pensioners who are about to undertake the longest and fastest ride of their life when they are new to cycling. Some challenge!

This plan makes a great deal of training within particular Zones and my test rides are showing this is difficult. To keep within Zone 2 as recommended, which for me is <121 bpm heart rate , is proving impossible on even the slightest incline though the ride overall stays within that Zone.

So, to the statistics, for whatever my excuses these detail my progress

Total distance cycled  886km

Total climbing            6481m

Total calories expended  21000  ( which MUST be worth a slice of cake :-) )

Longest ride 108km

Total distance swam  22.65km  ( My annual goal here was 25 km so I may have to revisit this )

Any suggestions on training are welcome..providing they are constructive!

And finally, a request.

I am doing this challenge in aid of the mental health charity Mind.  Thank you to all those who have already sponsored me but more sponsors are urgently needed.

You can do this at

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/teamroberts

and for everyone who does contribute, however small, I will send them a copy of

Cycling Food on the Go - Recipes for Success