Sunday 22 May 2011

Vietnam Cycle Challenge 2012 - the decision

I was determined last year that I would do a charity challenge to celebrate turning 40. For one reason and another, (those who know me well will remember) I didn't do it.  So many of my friends are achieving amazing things and I can see how energised they are for the challenge.  They all continue to inspire me in their own  ways. There are so many excuses one can make for not doing something amazing but as I teach the messages 'you can do anything you set your mind to' and 'life is too short' on a regular basis through my work, I find that now is the time to put myself to the test. Not so much about challenge,more about adventure!
With Steve devestated that he can't do the Inca Trail because of his ruptured achillies, he's now looking forward to the next challenge up. Vietnam Cycle Challenge and I have decided to join him.

I play squash, I run, I hike what I don't do is cycle regularly. I have recently started to cycle into the city to work on the occasions that I am there, but that has amounted to about 3 times in the last few weeks. So this is a huge task for me, at the moment I just don't have the stamina required to complete a challenge like this. However, the way I see it is that I have 11 months to get bike fit and training starts right now!

I decided on Thursday 19th May, on Friday at 06.15 I was sitting nervously on a spin bike for my first ever session.  Talk about hard work, I found it quite intimidating getting the bike set up for me and I'm not sure that I did it correctly, I think the seat was too high and the bars too far away but instead of stopping and adjusting, I just carried on.  The tutor said that I worked hard for my first session and most first timers tend to take it easy, so I was pleased with that.
By Saturday, despite feeling very bruised from the hard racing seats of a spin bike I went for my first 10km on a static bike after a pilates class. I cheated a bit sitting on the seated bike because I knew I would be spinning again on Sunday but I managed 10km in 27 minutes. I have no idea whether this is a good start, but it is a start!
Sunday, I put the pressure on myself to attend another spin class and I really went for it this time.  I haven't sweated that much since I last went in a sauna, I now have jelly legs and feel even more bruised...but training for my adventure has certainly begun! 

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