Training rides and runs, and the odd swim over the last two weeks.

A month pretty much off from training prior to now: heat, mojo and circumstances before I left the sandpit; very much felt now; starting from scratch; hoping that progress will come quickly.
Seeing the farmers hard at work, whatever the weather: I chose to get up and out in the rain, they don’t have the choice, necessity dictates; I once liked the thought of being a farmer, not now; certainly not an easy life.

Noticing changes in the fields: one day long grass, the next day cut for winter hay and rolled into bales; cows moved to new pastures; sheep with the winter coats shaved.

Very hilly in la Creuse: my thighs are taking a hammering and need longer to recover; cold shower on the legs after a run helps; heart rate too high; need to sort my breathing out – steady and relaxed is the key; good interval and strength training but little opportunity for speed, not that it is a concern just yet; great views and a delightful change to the flat; downhill is harder than up!

Changeable weather each day: 14^oC, cold for me – need to get used to real weather; wind and gales not for my deeper rimmed wheels; 25^oC the next day and caught out by midday sun and a little heat exhaustion; following day, walls of rain coming across the valleys to toughen the softy, fair weather rider I’ve become; like the famer, necessity now dictates that I get out regardless of the appearance of my favourable sun.

Winter bike clothes: local bike shop has end of stock 50% discount sale; purchases made for the colder months the assistant asks; I’ll probably wear them tomorrow I think.

French country lanes: a handful of cars passing on a four hour ride and always giving a huge amount of distance and respect when passing, except for the black Audi with a GB number plate; hedgerows away from the roads’ edge allow me to see around the next bend on a 70km/h decent and are safer than English country lanes; much more practise on descending is needed before the Alps as still feeling nervous; perfectly smooth road surface makes me wonder if le Tour has passed this way recently; enforced rest on a climb as a herd of cows come the other way.

Off road running: great to have something other than concrete underfoot; care needed not to roll the ankle and bugger it all up; the lugs on the fore-foot of the Newton trainers not ideal for mud; sun on my back as I run with my top off without having to worry about cultural sensitivities of the sandpit.

Birds of prey: waiting nonchalantly on fence posts; I would like to know their names; maybe I will order a book of European Birds of Prey.

Rural French villages: economic downturn and credit crisis is not the cause of the abandoned feel some hamlets have, the buildings have been shuttered up for many generations; bakeries and grocers shut every time I am hungry, no wonder there is no thriving economy – every time I want to spend my money the shops are closed; where is everyone?; where do the older generations and those without cars go for shopping, the towns are miles, or kilometres, away for the daily provisions – how do they survive?; some of the farmhouses are so well cared for and in fantastic condition while others are totally neglected – why?

Cycling and running on these roads: rural farming countryside; up and down hills, through dense forests, around fresh and inviting lakes – not stunningly beautiful compared to other regions of France, but rather just pleasant, peaceful, delightful and lovely; an absolute joy being here and the freedom I feel.

Garmin Forerunner: set a Virtual Race route; 13.9km over rolling hills (every route is rolling hills here!); will race myself weekly to monitor progress; 1:01:31; 20 seconds faster this week compared to the first; much more still to achieve; aim for sub one hour race time within two weeks; 1min30 to take off; I’ll feel ready for Vichy if I can run it in 55 minutes; another personal challenge.

Strava: will upload rides and runs; do I need internet at home to play with this; can it be linked to this blog; to investigate.

Water on long runs: still discovering taps and standpipes on farms for rehydration; one benefit of the sandpit was regular water fountains; may have to run with a water belt as the summer progresses and the length of the run increase.

Hayfever: an absolute bugger!

Swimming:  at the municipal pool with totally irregular opening times; little lane etiquette and so it is better to swim in the main pool and use the weaving in and out of others as good sighting practise; pool swimming has the aim of getting me ready for the nearby lakes; aim to go every other day if possible but to never go more than three days without swimming, in fact – should be no more than two days; must be less than 25m in length as recorded 19min18 for 1km, small pool, far too fast for me at this stage; lots of swimming still to do.

Three weeks back in France have nearly passed: I feel I have made progress but still much more to do; training plan designed, with plenty of colour coding; August will really be the big month; consideration given to other commitments but focussed; aim to keep limiting circumstances to an absolute minimum; to be resolved with communication and planning; desire the goal; want the outcome; no more pissing about. 

The sun is most definitely out this morning and so five hours out on the bike with a smile on my face, and more posts to follow... Bo