Mountain Biking Angels...

Last weekend Adam was on nights which I hate because I can't get anything done during the day (musn't be loud!) and then he is gone at bedtime. :( I fitted in my first cycle by myself which if you have read previous blogs you will know is big step for me as I hated cycling by myself during my build up to Ironman Germany in 2006. It always seems a faff and a big deal but last Saturday I was brave and just backed the bikes into the car and got on with it. I tried to extend our normal route a bit but ended up on the A5 - hmmmm, so had to turnaround and go back up the hill I just zoomed down. About 90mins and a happy bunny.

This week has seen some fairly consistent training despite the fact that I have had a sore back. My back is normally one of my strong areas so I was very surprised for my mid-back to feel stiff and a bit sore come Monday night. I woke up on Tuesday and it was ok but I think I exasperated it by doing Weights on Tuesday morning especially as I have moved on the higher weight, lower reps phase of training. It was sore Tuesday afternoon and I asked various forumites for advice on whether to swim or not (I think I just wanted an excuse!) - naturally responses were 50/50 so, as I know it is important to keep moving with a sore back, I eventually hit the pool. The session didn't seem to make it any worse so that was good. Hot water bottle and icing session Tuesday night relieved it slightly but I stuck to only swimming again on Wednesday and, knowing I had a meeting on Thursday, figured training could wait until Friday. The day off on Thursday probably did it good and, bar a little stiffness, we were ready to go by Friday.

I replaced my interval session on Friday morning with the long run missed on Wednesday. I did 8.5miles in 80mins and it felt very comfortable which I was really happy with - hopefully all bodes well for my first proper 'race' of the season, the Henlow 10 in October. I also got promoted at work - hurray! - so we had champagne after training and then an early departure mid-afternoon.

This weekend Adam has been on days which is by far my preference - I can get LOTS done in the day-time without him distracting me but then he is home for dinner. :) I gave the house a good clean as it was long overdue and, as last weekend, bit the bullet and headed out for a cycle. I was even braver today as I set off from home so had to navigate getting out of Milton Keynes which actually went without a hitch which, given my sense of direction, is a miracle! There is a steep-ish hill about 7miles from our house which Adam had attempted during the week to make sure he was prepared for his duathlon next weekend and he challenged me to see how I did on it. So I headed off for the hill and, whilst it was a tough, out-of-the-saddle scenario for me I managed to make it to the crest of the steepest part, lungs bursting, legs driving down against the pedal and........break my chain!! I nearly toppled off the bike as suddenly my legs started spinning and as I had no speed, had only a fraction of a second to yank my foot out before I fell off. I tried to put the chain back on and it seemed ok so I started off again the long but much more gentle climb that finished off the hill. Within a few moments the chain had come off again and I was back to a precarious, nearly-falling off scenario. This repeated a few times until I admitted defeat and decided to walk to the flat at the top to see whether, once it was on the flat, the chain would settle as there was less pressure going through it. As I was walking along I noticed that one of the links was totally squint and realised I may have more of a problem then I thought!

As I didn't bring a chain tool out I was going to be stuck. At this point, a group of mountain bikers passed me on the way to the top. Most of them offered cheery greetings, probably thinkgin I just couldn't manage the climb. Luckily, I had left the chain dangling and one of the finally noticed and asked if there was a problem. I explained the situation and the whole group stopped at the top to help. There had multiple chain tools amongst them and one very organised person even had 9-speed chain links. We managed to fix the chain by removing the broken link and I went gingerly on my way. I cut the ride short as I didn't want to put any pressure on the chain especially as Adam wasn't around to rescue me if needs be so only managed around 75mins including the stop which was disappointing as I had wanted to do over the 2hr mark. That will have to wait til next weekend now!

Anyway, a big thanks to my mountain-biking angels - it would have been a long walk home without their help!