Frustration

Sometimes it just doesn't happen. Yesterday was one of those days. Sport, more generally exercise, can be a strange thing. Every now and again you inexplicably fail to produce. Occasionally it's difficult to explain why. In the case of yesterday the answer probably lies in Monday and Tuesday when I did back-to-back bike rides. Of course this shouldn't qualify as an excuse seeing as I will have to do 12ish consecutive days soon, but when you throw in a subsequent early shift and a sore throat it doesn't really offer the R&R that is needed. Alternatively, it may just be because I'm not made of the hard stuff!

Either way I woke up in the morning not feeling like P Daddy (for those familiar with the 'genius of Kesha), but particularly lethargic. Then, due to a number of reasons, the primary one being procrastination, I didn't actually get on to my bike until 2pm. For the first 10 minutes I felt fine - again because the wind was on my back - but then I hit my first hill. Immediately my legs felt as if they'd done 50+ miles.

From this point onwards I was physically and mentally in the wrong place. Usually I just get on with it. Yesterday I was very suddenly aware of how much further I had to go and how tedious it was going to be. Additionally weather-wise it was what I like to call a nothing day. I began to get very tetchy. I started wearing a fleece top. In itself this was a bad sign as it contradicted my policy of 'be bold, start cold'. So, naturally, I overheated. But within minutes of stripping down to my base layer I was getting cold. I then reinstated the fleece. This cycle continued.

I was stopping regularly. Even a cheese sandwich and packet of crisps didn't bring me rhythm or any life to my legs. It's at this point you have to decide whether to struggle on or stop short of your target. Usually my stubbornness forces the more difficult option, but in this case commonsense prevailed. I decided that it wasn't worth impacting on my training for a prolonged period so called it a day after 20 miles.

Although I felt I had made the right decision, I still ended the day rather grumpy. Somehow I managed to lift my spirits to tell the good people of East Anglia that the Bank Holiday weather was going to be rather uninspiring and the good farmers of East Anglia that they weren't going to see appreciable amounts of rain. All this after a 4am start.

I'm currently on the way to London. My legs and throat still ache. The sun isn't shining. But it will.

Back to work

I have been back at work today. And despite two consecutive strenuous days on the bike, a third would have been more appealing than a 3am alarm call.

Generally I was a little surprised at how (relatively) fresh I felt when I began the bike yesterday. In order to mix the training up a bit I decided to experiment with some interval training. I selected a route around my 'home-patch' of Stradbroke, Hoxne and Eye, which was 13.5 miles in length (about half-marathon distance). I estimated each lap would take me around an hour, with a 15 minute(ish) break between each lap.

It was still pretty windy if honest, in fact I noticed little difference to the previous day. And yes, this meant sore eyes again! Here's how it went:

Lap 1 - 61 mins 07 secs - Fairly uneventful, eased into it. Much of the second half of the lap was into the wind. I swore a little.

Lap 2 - 57 mins 35 secs - Stepped it up a bit, particularly at the beginning with the wind on my back. Was pretty relieved to dip under an hour. Was nearly undone by resurfacing works outside of Stradbroke...winced several times as loose chipping smashed against my shiny new frame. Over my subsequent lunch break I selected a new route of equal length through Redlingfield and Occold.

Lap 3 - 64 mins 22 secs - The least enjoyable lap. From my swimming days I learnt that the third part of any race was always the hardest and slowest (before the adrenaline truly kicked in). This was further compounded by a hastily prepared and eaten lunch and subsequent cramps. A brief minute or two to investigate my clicking chain also slowed me.

Lap 4 - 55 mins 58 secs - Anyone who knows me will know that I'm mildly competitive, at the least. I can even get very competitive with myself. I knew that if I didn't set my fastest time of the day I would consider that last couple of days a total waste of time. So with gritted teeth, a bit of pain and multiple cursing as a seemingly never-ending headwind slowed me to a crawl at times, I hit my target.

Interval training made the cycle a little more interesting, but I came to realise that there is only so much biking you can do by yourself before getting bored. Additionally, I realised that I really dislike the wind. This could be a problem.

Further, it didn't help that the wind had eased a little more today, the day I spend 12 hours indoors working...with John Law and Chris Bell! Maybe I would rather be biking...

Still windy

I managed to cycle for 4 hours yesterday and it was very tough. By far the windiest conditions I have ever biked in. The one comforting thought that kept passing through my head was that this was rural Suffolk, not the Scottish Highlands, where it was blowing a gale. Of course the real deal will be through the Scottish Highlands...

When you're on the bike for hours at a time you get plenty of time to think. Here are some thoughts and observations I had/made yesterday:

I need to get a haircut...
My hair isn't long but a little scruffy. The first time your hair flops into your eyes it's a little annoying, after the thousandth time it's VERY annoying. Therefore, I plan to get a good haircut before heading to Scotland.

Secure all straps on the helemt...
Similar to above. Loose straps can be painful when flapping about in the wind and against your face. Secure them.

Don't forget sunglasses...
Sunglasses are not only good at blocking UV rays. They save your eyes from insects, bugs and debris. With yesterdays wind there was a lot of vegetation flying about and quite a lot of it ended up in my eyes, which is quite painful.

Wind nullifies gravity...
Generally the only bit I look forward to on my travels is the downhill. I can't describe how frustrating it is when you're trickling down a steep (by Suffolk terms) hill because the wind is howling into your face. And of course, the more you go downhill the more you go uphill - I'm sure there was a point yesterday I was actually going backwards.

Don't get ahead of yourself...
Thoughts of 'This isn't to bad' or 'This wind was over-hyped' shouldn't be had. Invariably it's because the wind is on your back and you truly discover how windy it is as soon as you turn the next corner.

These were just a few thoughts I had yesterday. Today, I'm off work again. That means it's time to jump back on the bike. It isn't windy today, it's breezy. That means it should be easier. But I still don't have my sunglasses...

Wind

I've never really attempted any blogging before but have decided to take the plunge. The main reason for this is so it can act as a nice memoir to my forthcoming John O'Groats to Land's End attempt, while keeping friends and family up-to-date with progress.

For those of you who don't know, myself and two friends, Gareth and Jonny, have decided to attempt to cycle from John O'Groats to Land's End. The three of us met while studying Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. Since graduating in 2009 Jonny has been working in Bristol, Gareth has been studying/working in the Bedford area and I've been working in Norwich.

It kind of goes with the territory of being 'ENVers' but we've always been the outdoors type, travelling (sometimes together), participating in triathlons, running half-marathons and hiking - to name but a few.

So why are we attempting this? This is one question I have difficulty answering. In my head I always think of the famous George Mallory quote 'because it's there'. And without wanting to sound pretentious this really does sum it up quite nicely. It's just a challenge, an experience and hopefully (ultimately) good fun. I know it's going to be painful, sometimes miserable and use up two weeks of annual leave, but there is no substitute for that feeling of absolute elation when you finish something like this. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, IF we finish!

While it's something we've mentioned between us before, we hastily decided to jump in and have a go at it a couple of months back. While I won't bore you with the details we quickly realised that a lot of organisation was required before heading off - booking trains, planning routes, finding places to stay/camp etc. In my case I needed to start by buying a suitable bike...there was little chance that my piece of rust with two wheels attached to it was going to make the grade.

While I still need to buy more bits and bobs, the most pressing concern has been putting in the miles to get myself in the best shape possible. I think I'm aided by a decent underlying level of fitness, but I soon discovered that shift-work isn't too conducive towards extensive training. After a 3am alarm call and an 11 hour shift the sofa is far more appealing than a couple of hours on the bike. Basically this means I have to make the most of my days off. While this sounds like a great opportunity to get in some miles, it invariably means that most of my life at present is spent at work or cycling!

So today and tomorrow are days off and I'm currently on a train home from visiting my girlfriend in London. As soon as I get home I plan to get in a 4-5 hour bike ride, followed by something of a similar length tomorrow. Today is one of my first real tests because there is a fresh southwesterly wind. Wind is by far the biggest annoyance on the bicycle and despite thinking of cunning ways to avoid it I've decided its probably best to tackle it head on, quite literally. After all I can't really expect to avoid a head wind for two whole weeks across Britain!

It's probably best to sign out now as I'm sure this became unreadable after a couple of lines. Before I leave, we have also decided to raise money for Macmillan. I'm sure you're all aware of the work they do and any support would be gratefully received. To give please visit our Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/GarethJonnyJoe

Thanks for reading!