Anna Does The Etape

Etape du Tour Done!

2010-07-23T10:04:00.001+01:00

So, it's all over! I am writing this whilst watching the Tour de France doing the same stage, Pau to Tourmalet, that we did.

Map of the route

We arrived in Pau really late on Friday, thanks to Easy Jet. Saturday was spent sorting out bikes, and registering. I also went on my bike for the first time since coming off, luckily all was fine and I was raring to go

Remi in the pen

Got up at 4am on Sunday and had a big brekkie. At 5.45 the Sky group and Simon set of for the pens. Simon peeled off to his pen and I headed off to ours. We settled in our pen, turning the bikes upside down, sitting on the floor and waiting in the dawn light until the start. At just before 7 we turned our bikes up, shuffled forward and got ready. At 7am we were off, cycling round the park, into a short descent and off down the road out of Pau.

My friend Remi passed me on the ascent (he later came 3rd in our team) and I caught up Rachel and cycled with her. The effort required was minimal, even without drafting anyone the pack was so big that the air was clear and we cruised along. We headed off to the country side chatting to each other. We arrived at the first small climb, something like Box Hill, all good and fairly easy, I can't even remember it now. Off we went down the other side, unfortunately I lost Rachel on the way.

One of the descents

The next section was to the top of Marie Blanc, 64.5km in to the ride 9km long kicking up to 11% for the last 4km. The first 5km wasn't very steep at all and we had been told to take it easy. The ride soon kicked up, I found it tough, but ok, i was pleased to be passing people. All was going well until for some reason everyone in front came to a sudden stop. I couldn't get my dodgy left pedal out quickly enough and toppled over, grazing my left arm. Once this was treated I set off again, but unfortunately on foot. There were too many people to get back on the bike and I had to walk the next kilometre or so at a much slower pace than I had been cycling! As soon it widened out I got back on my bike and headed off to the submit. Going over the submit and down the other side I got a feeling of elation, this ride was great!

I soon got to the feed station and topped up my water. I had a feeling Simon wasn't too far behind me and soon enough he came down, so we rode of off together. The next section was flattish until the Soulor, we cycled along, me hiding out of the wind behind Simon or other groups. We passed the half way mark knowing that the worst was yet to come!

At the bottom of Soulor we stopped at another feed station, by this time I knew things weren't quite right, I couldn't eat anything and felt a bit sick. We headed off to start the ascent, 22km with the final 11km being a proper climb of around 7.4%. Part way up i felt really bad and we stopped, my stomach was just churning, we set off again only for me to stop about 1km later. I was riding well, over taking people, I just felt ill. At this point I thought I was going to have to drop out. We set off again, but at another stop later I persuaded Simon to go on without me. A bit of a rest and I started to feel better and continued to cycle to the top. I had to keep stopping which was frustrating as I was passing people and then passing them again!

Route profile

I reached the summit, 126km into the ride, had a quick water fill up and a comfort stop and headed down the mountain. I raced on knowing that the Sky stop wasn't far away. On reaching the stop I was in a fluster, I knew the broom wagon couldn't be far behind. I told them my stomach was playing up, I'd had to keep stopping and I hadn't been able to eat anything (i was worrying I'd run out of energy). They filled my water bottle with just water, took my powders off me and gave me some gels. One of the guys Oli, who I had ridden with a bit at the start and before Soulor was at the stop, he was on the team to help us out. He set off with me and turned out to be a superstar!

Tourmalet profile

Oli and I set off for the Tourmalet, creating a little Sky train, with him acting as my "Domestique", which basically means I was right on his back wheel drafting him. We sped along and I was surprised no-one jumped on the back, but most people looked shattered. I still felt pretty good. We continued on through one of the villages where we saw some Sky employees cheering us on. Soon we were at the base of the Tourmalet, in the tunnel we picked up another Sky team member, Adam who joined the train for a bit. Shortly we came to a time check in one of the villages 8h59, we'd made it ahead of the sweeper, it was a great feeling!

Oli and I cycling up the Tourmalet

Progress up the Tourmalet was slow, I was still suffering from a bad stomach and had to stop for it as well as my legs which were beginning to suffer, each time I stopped they shook. I had no strength to put my left pedal in so had to leave the shoe attached and take my foot out instead. My pace was good when moving and I was over taking people, lots of people were walking. Adam caught us up after one of my stops and got a bit of help from Oli as he was suffering cramps. Oli was a star, he carried one of my bottles and also chucked water over my head, as did lots of French people. Living in Spain Oli felt the heat less, it was over 30 degrees. At the feed stop, with 9km to go they announced people could drop out, but we carried on. We did a few couple more kilometers, Adam got a second wind and went in front. At a stop we saw another Sky rider coming up, Harri and she joined us. Oli helped us both out enormously, physically pushing us at times to take some of the strain. Harri made her way up, I was still suffering, we only had 2km or so to go. I plodded on, Oli still helping, the climb ramps up towards the top, we stopped at the corner with 400m to go, so near and yet so far. I wanted to walk, but Oli wouldn't let me. With one last push we set off and slogged it to top. I barely realised I had even made it!

A 5/6 km ride downhill to the village followed where i collected my medal, a great feeling, I almost cried but didn't have enough energy. I was broken!

My lasting top memories are:

seeing Simon and calling out to him after the Marie Blanc
elation coming down the Marie Blanc
silence as people climbed the mountains
after the Sky stop being picked up by Oli and riding down the left hand side of the road passing everyone
seeing Robyn, a colleague cheering us on in one of the villages
going through the time check at the bottom of Tourmalet
"riding the line", a blue line painted by some Sky supporters on the Tourmalet when I was feeling absolutely rubbish
the crowd- simply amazing, cheering you on, shouting bravo la femme/la fille, throwing water over, allowing you to shade next to their camper vans, allowing you to use the loo in their restaurants!

What a ride, what a day. We cycled 181km, we climbed over 4500m. I'll remember it forever.

Simon and I with our medals the following day

The day has almost arrived

2010-07-16T11:09:00.001+01:00

So, I'm sitting here watching a DVD of the route 15mins before we leave for Gatwick. Never had such butterflies!

It's been a tough week, I went over the handlebars of my bike on Monday and spent all day in hospital. I had to have sugery on my elbow. The big dressing was removed yesterday, but I have no idea what sort of pain I'll be n when I cycle! I am hoping it will be ok though. Luckily the bike is fine, my lovely Sky jersey has 1 or 2 holes though, but it is still wearable.

I'll try and do some facebook updates on the ride. Wish me luck!

Too busy to blog!

2010-07-02T15:21:00.001+01:00

It's been a busy and odd couple of weeks both on and off the road, what with lots of training, a sunny Glastonbury, a TV interview and being put on risk of redundancy!

A couple of weeks ago Simon and I went on a "Tour de East Sussex", a lovely route from Crystal Palace to Battle, Hastings, Bex Hill, Pevensey, finishing with ice creams on Eastbourne beach. The intention was for me to reach that illusive 100 miles, we didn't quite make it, mainly because we had to keep stopping to map read, but it was a good ride.

The following week saw me give it another go on the Thursday before Glasto, the route was lovely, but I just didn't feel right and I ended up going home to Mum's falling asleep for the afternoon- very unlike me.

The event is all consuming at the moment. I am finding when not on my bike I am either talking about it, thinking about it, buying stuff for it or sorting it out, so it was great to go to Glastonbury and completely get away from it. I wasn't even tempted to jump on the electricity generating bike in Green Fields!

Monday was a weird day; we got up early, made a mad dash from Glastonbury to London to get to Si's Mum's 60th. On the side of the A303 I found out I my job is at risk of redundancy, we had birthday tea (v nice), got home and I was on the news, went out for birthday dinner (v nice), got home and I was on the news again!

The redundancy has come at a really bad time with the Etape slap bang in the middle of the months' consultancy period, luckily training should calm down a bit and hopefully I'll be able to work on my CV and apply for jobs etc.

In the middle of this hullabaloo I accidentally clocked up my 100 miles on Wednesday, ok so I did 30 in the morning and 70 in the evening, but at least it confirms I can do it (I knew I could)! In hindsight I am really pleased as Wednesday evening was a bit of a low point psychologically for me. We went on a group ride and I got dropped off the back several times (again!), what's more our leader wasn't very encouraging and was actually quite critical. This put me in a really bad place and I was questioning whether I could complete the Etape at all. A couple of days reflection and a team get together has helped though and I am back to my focused self. Sod him!

We have just over 2 weeks to go now, we do our final long ride this weekend, some intense hill training next week and then that's it, off to climb the Tourmelet! I get butterflies even thinking about it!

So, that's about it for now, I'll post next week with a pic of our new team kit which is really cool, we turned a few heads on Wednesday

It's a month today!

2010-06-18T16:01:00.000+01:00

It's a month today and even writing that gives me butterflies! We were given some advice on how to tackle to the ride psychologically today- I'll be reading in great detail. We've also got our race numbers, mine is 2660 which means I am in pen 2586 - 3000 out of 10,000 odd people, so fairly close to the front, which is good as I am going to need all the help I can get! Si is further down the field which he is miffed about but I know he'll be fine and will probably pass me anyway!

I've had a pretty good week, the ride last Sunday turned out to be 80 miles not 90, which has sort of thrown my training plan out a bit. However, it went really well; I felt pretty good most of the way round, enjoyed the hills, and could have done more!

This week I have had my new handlebars and saddle put on, so my bike is much more comfortable. I have also put the new pedals put on, they have proved to be really problematic though and I can't actually get my left foot clipped in. This means i can't wear my new carbon soled "bling" (according to Rachel Jarvis) shoes!

Physically i seem to be bearing up ok, I've had some RSI problems in my left hand which seem to be going. My left leg muscles were pretty tight and my knee has hurt a bit but the physio did some acupuncture on it so hopefully that will help. I ride with my left knee strapped now so that is all ok!

Here is the Evans Sportive route from Sunday 13th in the North Downs, it was nice and sunny which always helps :-)

Weekends? What are they then?!

2010-06-11T16:12:00.000+01:00

Training has really stepped up now and it's been a pretty hard week. I haven't done as many short rides as I'd like but I did 86 miles with of 3 of the girls and Si on Saturday, followed by 50 odd miles on Sunday, a bit of turbo training on Tuesday and then a ride with the Sky boys on Wednesday. The ride with the boys was really, really hard work, as they glided along I really struggled to keep up. We did 57 miles out into Surrey, up Box Hill and back, I wanted to stop at Leatherhead and catch the train back but they wouldn’t let me! I didn’t really enjoy it but I think it was very good for me.

Tomorrow I have a 3 hour ride planned and on Sunday I have a 90 mile sportive, basically, except for Glastonbury, the next 6 weeks weekends are not my own!

All in all I think I am on top of things with regards distance but I definitely need to get my speed up, the elimination times came out and apparently they aren’t very generous.

Training week commencing 7th June
Monday -REST
Tuesday -REST
Wednesday -ROAD HARD 3hrs
To include 4 x 15 mins efforts (10 mins Z3 then 5 mins 80%) 15 mins rest in between efforts.
Thursday -REST
Friday- TURBO – 1.5hrs
20 mins warm-up
10 min ramp effort to Z5 (build slowly over the 10 mins so getting into Z5 in the last 1min), 10 mins easy.
You are now ready to go – 3 x 5 mins (in each minute effort = 40 sec Z5 then 20 secs Z2).
10 mins rest between efforts
Saturday -ROAD EASY 3.5hrs Hilly club ride if possible with no structure
Sunday -ROAD ENDURANCE 5hrs Hilly club ride if possible with no structure

Never try a bike that is more than your budget

2010-06-04T11:38:00.003+01:00

Here is a picture of my shiny new (though with one chip-grrr!) Pinarello FP3. I ended up with it after "trying it for size" as the shop didn't have a small FP2. It's a 2009 so had a good deal of money off it and it's 1kg lighter than the FP2, so all in all I'm happy!

I took it for a rainy 76 mile "spin" on Saturday in the Tour of Wessex sportive and it rides really well. It needs a couple of "minor" adjustments for comfort- new handlebars as the Pinarello ones have massive reach and a girly saddle. I'm also investing in some knee protecting speedplay peddles.

As for training, that hasn't gone that well this week really and I'm getting a bit anxious :-S

Groovy new helmet!

2010-05-25T15:17:00.002+01:00

My new Sky helmet arrived today, it's really comfortable and light and comes with a surprising amount of instructions!

I've had pain free cycling for a week now and it's been great, it makes such a difference. Saturday I had a great ride with the Dulwich Paragon in the sunshine. Saturday afternoon we went to a bike shop to try a Pinarello, "unfortunately" they only had my size in the next model up. I took it out for a spin and it was great! I've managed to find the same bike a bit cheaper in Evans and have ordered it in to try! I've completely blown the budget but have justified this by it being my birthday yesterday, by not having traded in my car for the soft top I wanted and telling myself at the age of 90 I'm hardly going to look back and say "I wish I hadn't spent that extra money on the bike". Just hoping I don't turn round to myself next year and say it!

Pragmatism or Passion?!

2010-05-19T13:30:00.003+01:00

Progress was a little slow after the long ride in my last post, in subsequent rides my good right knee decided to play up. So i decided to stay off the bike (again) for the next few days. I was due to take part in the Little Lumpy Sportive at the weekend but decided that hills should probably be avoided. Instead I joined mentor Matt and fellow etaper Kevin for 2 laps of the flat-ish Windsor triathlon route, which was good and not too painful! A trip to the physio confirmed the right knee issue is not too serious, he strapped it up and now it's feeling much better. So, onwards and upwards!

I went for a lovely ride round Richmond Park this morning, it was great to be out in the sunshine. I definitely need to get fitter though, my heart rate was far too high and I was at the back of the group. I am determined to nail this though and am all the more spurred on by the workshop we had a Sky yesterday.

On to more positive things: bike shopping! My Specialized Dolce Sport definitely isn't going to cut it! I've seen a bike fitter who has looked at my bike and recommended sizing for a new bike, he has also managed to get me a really good deal on a Pinarello FP2 in Sky colours. So now I have a dilemma, the Boardman or the Pinarello ?? White or Blue? British or Italian? Value or extravagance? Pragmatism or passion? Rival or Shimano?! A bike test on Saturday should be the decider, watch this space...

Barker is back!

2010-05-10T11:58:00.002+01:00

After a couple of test rides in the week I did my first long ride for 4 weeks on Saturday, it was 86Km and much harder work than it should have been! However, the knee held out and I don't seem to have any aches and pains. I could kiss my physio! I have definately lost a lot of fitness though, I was struggling to keep up and am going to have to work very hard over the next few weeks.

Still off the bike

2010-04-26T14:51:00.004+01:00

I've been off the bike for a week and a half due to my knee injury, am trying not to let it get me down and am hoping that it'll be ok. The physio seems good, I think he has pin pointed the problem. In fact he pin pointed it quite literally with some deep muscle acupuncture last week!

In the meantime I have been putting my spare time to good use: I've ordered my wedding dress, sorted out our spare room, ordered a funky new Sky team helmet and checked out new bikes! I met a girl on a ride with Dulwich Paragon whose partner builds bikes, he is going to put together a spec for me and I am also considering the new Boardman women's specific carbon bike, the men's bikes get great reviews and are really good value, the women's bike looks pretty nice too.

255km in a Week!

2010-04-15T15:30:00.004+01:00

Last week was a BIG week, it started with a 52km windy ride in Somerset on Easter Monday and culminated in a 93km ride in Surrey with the completion of my first "Sportive".

The Sportive was good, I wasn't as fast as fellow Sky Team etapers Rachel and John, or Simon, (of course!), but I wasn't too bad. I completed it in a ride time of 4 hours with none of the expected muscular aches and pains. My main problem was severe pain in my knee, which meant I had to stop frequently to stretch it out and small slopes seemed like massive mountains- not good if you really have massive mountains to climb!

I've been having knee problems for a few weeks and have been seeing a physio at work, however it is now bad enough that I am concerned I won't be able to take part in the Etape. So, I am off the bike at the moment and have an appointment to see a new sports physio at the National Sports Centre in Crystal Palace, if anyone can fix it surely they can!

I'll keep you posted, hopefully this isn't the end of my short lived cycling career...

Training Week Commencing 5th April

2010-04-09T16:08:00.002+01:00

8 hours
Monday - REST

Tuesday- ROAD AEROBIC 1.5hr
15 mins warm-up, 2 x 15 mins RACE EFFORTS! Go as fast as you can for 15 mins on a stretch of road. Did you go as far as last week? 15 mins rest in between efforts. The rest of the ride in Z2

Wednesday - REST

Thursday - TURBO 1.5hr 15 mins warm up, 15 mins 70 rpm high Z3, 5 mins easy, 15 mins 70 rpm high Z3, 5 mins easy, 15 mins 7- rpm high Z3, 20 mins easy

Friday - REST

Saturday - ROAD ENDURANCE 2hr To include 3x20mins Z3, easy in between efforts

Sunday -ROAD ENDURANCE 3hrs Hilly club run ride if possible with no structure

Training Plan Week commencing 29th March

2010-04-01T17:12:00.001+01:00

Monday -REST

Tuesday - ROAD AEROBIC 1hr 15 mins warm-up, 1 x 15 mins RACE EFFORTS! Go as fast as you can for 15 mins on a stretch of road. Check how far you travelled. You will do this again next week! The rest of the ride in Z2

Wednesday -REST

Thursday - TURBO 1hr 15 mins warm up, 4 x 5 mins hard riding Z4 with 5 mins recovery in between each. Then roll down after the fourth 5 min hard riding for 10 mins

Friday - REST

Saturday - ROAD ENDURANCE 2hr to include 3x20mins Z3, easy in between efforts

Sunday - ROAD ENDURANCE 2hrs hilly ride if possible with no structure

Training Week Commencing 22nd March

2010-03-25T15:50:00.000Z

Monday - REST
Tuesday - ROAD AEROBIC 1hr Simple 1 hour Z3
Wednesday - REST
Thursday - TURBO 1hr 15 mins warm up, 4 x 5 mins hard riding Z4 with 5 mins recovery in between each. Then roll down after the fourth 5 min hard riding for 10 mins
Friday - REST
Saturday - ROAD ENDURANCE 2hr To include 3x20mins Z3, easy in between efforts
Sunday - ROAD ENDURANCE 2hrs Hilly ride if possible with no structure

A Cruel Irony

2010-03-23T13:21:00.002Z

My chief bridesmaid Vix visited at the weekend so I didn't really do any training- I went wedding dress shopping instead! I did manage cycle to one of the bridal shops on Sunday; most brides turned up in their Sunday best with Mums and bridesmaids, I turned up in lycra with bike oil all over my hands. Still, I managed to redeem myself by not looking too shabby in the dresses and by liking the most expensive one. It's a cruel irony that wedding dresses and fully carbon bikes have pretty similar price tags!

Training Week Commencing 15th March

2010-03-16T10:39:00.002Z

Intermediate 5 hours

Monday - REST

Tuesday - ROAD AEROBIC 1hr 15mins warm-up, 4x5mins hard riding Z4 with 5mins recovery. Then roll down for the last 10mins

Wednesday - REST

Thursday - TURBO 1hr 10mins warm-up, 15mins 70rpm high Z3, 5mins easy, 15mins 70rpm high Z3, 15mins easy

Friday - REST

Saturday - ROAD ENDURANCE 1hr To include 2x20mins Z3, easy between

Sunday - ROAD ENDURANCE 2hrs To include 3x20mins Z3, easy between efforts

London to Brighton for a Party!

2010-03-15T17:02:00.007Z

Bit of an easy week this week, well except for the end, due to worries about a bad knee. I have a Physio is booked and proper strecthing seems to be helping though.

Simon has succombed as we thought he might and has also decided to do the Etape! He has secured a charity place with Multiple Sclerosis Society and we'll both be working hard to raise sponsorship for them.

The highlight of this weeks' training was a ride from
London to Brighton, the excuse, or rather reward at the end being a friend's birthday party. We set off a 9.30 with some other beginners from work, the ride took just over 6 hours, but the actual ride time was 3hrs 50mins.

Stop off for tea

We made it up Ditchling Beacon without stopping, Simon and I both felt really good afterwards and I reckon we could have cycled back the next day had it not been for the hangovers!

Anna coming up Ditchling Beacon

Boozy night out after the ride

Training Plan Week commencing 8th March

2010-03-10T13:24:00.002Z

6 hours

Monday ROAD ENDURANCE 1hr To include 2x20mins Z3, easy between

Tuesday ROAD AEROBIC 1hr 15mins warm-up, 4x5mins hard riding Z4 with 5mins recovery. Then roll down for the last 10mins

Wednesday REST

Thursday TURBO 1hr 10mins warm-up, 15mins 70rpm high Z3, 5mins easy, 15mins 70rpm high Z3, 15mins easy

Friday REST

Saturday ROAD ENDURANCE 1hr To include 2x20mins Z3, easy between

Sunday ROAD ENDURANCE 2hrs To include 3x20mins Z3, easy between efforts

The Training is Paying Off!

2010-03-08T13:38:00.002Z

It's either the improving weather or I am getting better but there was a marked improvement in my riding this weekend. On Saturday Simon and I joined the Dulwich Paragon's again, we did the same route but it seemed much easier and I was a lot quicker. I even over took people on the hills! It was a fantastic ride, I had enough layers on and we took home made fridge cake (recipe on request!) to eat along the way. Had brekkie in cafe afterwards and talked cycling with other riders (am becoming a cycling geek).

On Sunday I went to Richmond Park, it was a lovely morning, a bit tough heading into the wind at times, but a good ride. All in all training has gone pretty well this week and I think I have done almost the required hours. Next week is an easy week, which is great as I am exhausted!

Owww

2010-03-04T09:23:00.003Z

Cycled home with Rachel via Richmond Park last night, you can see the route and stats here. It was dark so the Park was closed to cars, which was really nice. There were loads of cyclists though! The whole ride took 2 hours which was bang on what the training schedule required. Noticed my knee has started to hurt though...

Fixed new Polar cycling computer (bought from Rachel who has a new fancy schmancy one which does GPS) to bike last night, it tooks ages! It measures heart rate, as well as speed and cadence, this should help me monitor what I am doing and whether I am doing the correct kind of training. Tested it this morning and my average heart rate was a little high, this means I can ease off a bit. Having said that I didn't ride the full hour I was meant to as my knee is really hurting, so I had to give up and take the bike on the train :-S. Gonna take a couple of days off to see if it gets better. Also think I am knackered- I fell sideways whilst stationery this morning at a junction even though I had unclipped one of my pedals. Very amusing for the cars behind me!

First Sportive booked

2010-03-03T11:20:00.003Z

Booked my first Sportive, a 60 mile race in Surrey on 11th April:

"Description: After starting from the event centre, we warm you up gently on the undulating minor roads to the West of Guildford. The challenging, long climb up onto the North Downs is a great achievement with the reward of beautiful views down over the Surrey countryside. The quiet lanes at the foothills of the North Downs provide a welcome break after the climb, time for you to recover before re-ascending the Downs then a brilliant fast descent back to the event centre for a welcome cup of tea!"

Cycling is expensive!

2010-03-02T11:43:00.004Z

Last night I bought, a Turbo Trainer (above), padded boxer shorts (!), over shoes, a repair kit and a saddle bag. Today I am buying a cycling computer.

I can't help but think the money I am spending on cycling could be being spent on our wedding. Sorry Si!

On the bright side, all these things will help me with training, especially the Turbo Trainer, it will mean I can sprint train indoors in front of Holby City :-)

I cycled 17 miles this morning in bright sunshine- good weather certainly makes a difference!

Training Plan Week commencing 1st March

2010-03-01T10:31:00.002Z

Lovely ride in to work this morning the sunshine this morning, heart rate in zone 3, need to do some sessions where I get it a bit higher, but at least I am putting in some miles at last and I am getting quicker!

Training this week:

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - TURBO 30 mins easy gear, spinning and working hard to rev. without a high power. Save your legs but work your CV fitness and burn some calories
Wednesday - NO FRILLS 2 hours Zone 2 steady pace
Thursday - NO FRILLS 1 hour Z3/4
Friday - Rest
Saturday - HARD AEROBIC 2 hours Z2/3 pulse, constant paced hard session
Sunday - ENDURANCE 3 hours Z3

2010-02-25T15:48:00.004Z

Training week commencing 22nd February

Monday

Rest

Tuesday- TURBO

30 mins easy gear, spinning and working hard to rev. without a high power. Save your legs but work your CV fitness and burn some calories

Wednesday -HARD AEROBIC
3 x 10 minutes in Z5 with 5 mins rest in between. Each 10 mins is a series of sprints with incomplete recovery. So each 10 mins there are 20 sprints (1 every 20 seconds). Warm up for 10 mins, then start with a 10 second sprint, then turn the same gear for 20 secs lightly, still pressing on a little, then sprint for 10 secs, and repeat. If you have this right, your pulse should be in your Z5 band by 3-4 mins, not the first 2! These are tough but great for fitness

Thursday-NO FRILLS
1 hour Z3/4

Friday

Rest

Saturday-HARD AEROBIC
1 hours Z2/3 pulse, constant paced hard session

Sunday-ENDURANCE
3 hours Z3

Ok so this is how the week has panned out, I haven't exactly followed the plan!
Monday - I did indeed have a day of rest :-).
Tuesday - cycled to work, 14ish miles
Wednesday - cycled home from work via Tooting, 7 miles I tried to keep the cadence (revolutions per minute, I only learnt that word last week!) up but it wasn't exactly cardio.
Thursday - I was sick, so rested
Friday - 1hr and 30mins pretty much in zone 3.
Saturday- swapped Saturday and Sunday round, so today Simon, Graham (future father-in-law) and I did a 28 mile bike ride, zone 3-5 with the Dulwich Paragon cycling club. See the route here . Note to self: next time wear more clothes and take something to eat!

Intro to the first week's training plan

2010-02-23T11:49:00.000Z

"After an early morning you will take to the start line along with thousands of fellow bike riders. It could be chilly and you will be facing a 7-12 hour journey over 180 kilometres. There are 3 climbs in total. The first, the Marie Blanque, is 9.5 kms long with an average gradient of 7.5%. The second is a lot longer, at 22 kms, but much less steep; the average sitting at just 4.9%. The final climb, the Col du Tourmalet, will be the toughest; a 19km climb with an average gradient of 7.4%. At an elevation of 2,115 metres, temperatures could be extreme and your fuel reserves will be running low. These challenges make the Etape the adventure that it is. "

Not to make us nervous or anything!