Suddenly...It All Fitted Together!

Discipline: Run
Distance: 4.3 miles
Time: 33:06
Shoes: 2100 with heel raise (sorbothane)
Av mins/mile: 7:42

Okay. Should have done this run last night. It's three days since I last ran, but I was really up for this one. I did start with a slight twinge, which I didn't have yesterday, but still thought it was worth it. And boy - was it worth it! I went the same route as a few days ago, but my body just felt a lot better balanced and I was a lot less achey and more aligned. That's how I felt - what would the run reveal?

Well - the first few hundred yards were easier - no sharp twinges in the knee - just gentle aches. All great. I felt like I was going well as I went up Mulgrave Road, and as I neared the 0.9 mile mark, I glanced at my watch and saw 6:05! Or I thought I did - must have got that wrong - as about fifty yards later it said 7:30, but even so that was 15 seconds faster than the other night. So far so good, but nothing fantastic. The ache had really eased off by now, and I just felt very fluent indeed. Things seemed to get better and better. I fly down West Drive, and turned left still feeling great. My breathign felt easier, everything just seemed a lot less effort!

I climbed Howell Hill seemingly effortlessly, and ran the last few yards to the turnaround, where I stopped my watch and took a drink. Just over seventeen minutes - fantastic! Well on for about 34 mins if I could do the same on the way back. I stretched for a bit and then set out.

Again - I flew - I just seemed to eat up the ground. I was running on the verges a bit more which may have helped, but there wasn't a huge amount of grass to run on. Anyhow - I headed back towards the roundabout, and back towards West Drive, all the time feeling fantastic. I got half way down West Drove and my watch was showing 23 minutes. Plenty of time left - twelve minutes to go to beat my time from three nights ago. I didn't let up though, but kept pushing - not worried about my knee for the first time in ages (okay - I was a little, but tonight - it just didn't seem to be giving me trouble). I whizzed back into Mulgrave, and cruised on through feeling comfortable, in spite of pushing harder. Right into Cornwall, and then left into Worcester Road. Five minutes to go to beat my time from the other night. Should be a doddle. Could I make it with two minutes to spare - i.e. do it in three minutes? That would be a strong finish.

The answer - an emphatic YES! I had nearly three minutes to spare. I was about 40 seconds per mile faster than the other night. Quite ridiculous really - everything just seemed to come together. Just goes to show when things are working that I still have it in me. Now if only I can do that every run and not get the runs where the knee gives me grief. I did do a fair bit of back stretching before settign out - wonder if that helped?

A Shorter Run

Discipline: Run
Distance: 4.3 miles
Time: 35:48
Av mins/mile: 8:20

I decided that the constant increasing mileage every run was a bit mad - I'd never normally do it, so decided to intersperse the longer runs with shorter ones. So - 4 miles today (although I got the route wrong hence the extra 0.3) and then another 6 mile plus one in a few days time.

My inner left knee twinged a lot - which was worrying - it seemed worse on the uphills.

Overall though, not a bad run - just wish I could stop the twingeing as it always makes me wonder if I should stop.

Not so sore the next morning as usual - I think I should be able to run again tomorrow night.

Getting out of Bed for Less than 10k

Discipline: Run
Distance: 6.2 miles (10km)
Time: 51:06
Av mins/mile: 8:15

Added a loop on to my last run to bring it up to 10 kilometres, and tried adding one of the sorbothane heel rests into my shoe instead of the old insole. probably not a good idea to do that at the same time as my longest run for six months, but what the heck!

The first couple of miles did give me quite a few twinges, but I kept going, and things did seem to settle down. I forgot to look at my watch at the end of Mulgrave Road, but I looked when I was on the other side of Sandy Lane at the next turning off to the right, and it said 8:15, so I reckon I hit the end of Mulgrave around 7:20 - 7:30 - good going. It didn't feel too hard either.

It was quite hot, and there were some nasty climbs, but I survived okay, and took a rest at the half way point (Ewell Bypass). My right inner quad was okay today, but my outer quads (TFLs) were a bit sore, which had been a problem after the last run. I stretched a lot and downed some water before turning back. A particularly nasty climb soon after, and then the tough downhill. I was still hoping to break 50 mins for 10k, which would have been great, and I think on an easier route I would have done. Took me back to my first ever 10k in Richmond at the rugby club, and the sprint finish to get under fifty minutes!

I started to tire once back in Mulgrave Road - not good, but just about kept going, although my hip flexors and quads were feeling it. Only having a cup of tea before I left home probably didn't do me any favours either, and I did start to feel a bit spacey. Still - I reckoned I could still beat fifty minutes, and it was only once I was back in Grange Road that I started to doubt it. The extra loop round Camborne was just too long, and I missed my target - but still my longest distance yet, but done at the fastest pace for a while. It all bodes well - now if only I can get these niggles to settle!

I stretched and iced - a lot!

Swimming in a Fish Tank

Discipline: Swim
What: Lesson
Distance: About a mile?

Mad rush out to Leybourne Lake in Kent to do a swimming lesson with Christine who ran the swim camp last weekend. After some debate about wearing a wet suit (it was windy) I decided to go without one and kicked off swimming along the banks. It was odd to be doing open water swimming again, but I was impressed by how much clearer the lake was that South Water. Instead of a murky green soup, it was clear enough to see to the bottom, even when it was quite a long way below.

In fact, it was so clear, I could see the pond weed, which looked remarkably like a larger version of the stuff you get in fish tanks! There was a car wreck that had been submerged too for the benefit of the SCUBA divers, and apparently a concrete shark (glad I was warned about that first!), and I was just waiting for a plastic castle or something. Very weird.

The first thing Christine drew my attention to was the way my hand entered the water - too far away from my head - so we talked about this for a bit and then I set off again. It made such a difference to my swim! My whole stroke slowed down, and I glided more. This did rather mess up my breathing though, as my usual "once every three breaths" were now more spread out as each stroke took longer. Every two felt too often, so we settled on a 3-2-3-2-3-2 pattern whihc gave bilateral breathing but still allowing me to breathe on average every 2.5 strokes. Clever stuff (not my idea)!

Other things to work on - getting the fingers more closed, and of course the leg kick! That was one that never really got going - I must spend time drilling it like crazy and increasing feet flexibility. The closed fingers is also a habit I can slip out of very easily. There's a lot of things to think about - so lots of drilling over the next month to ingrain it into my brain.

We also did some sighting stuff - which was a useful tip - but I need to work to get it perfect - there were times when it didn't feel that smooth. It can be practised in the pool though.

Overall - a very successful session - I felt like I'd improved enormously and a lot that had been a bit 50/50 after last weekend had slotted into place, although it still needs practice. More chicken wings and zipper drills!

You Gotta Roll with It

Discipline: Swim
What: Drills - but about half a mile

Mad day - after work, went for a haircut, dumped the scooter off for a service, and walked down to the pool. It wasn't too packed, but the people who were there thought they were taking part in a Six Million Dollar Man swimming episode. They did everything in slow motion. Don't think I've seen anyone swim that slowly. It was hard getting any clear water.

I did a few lengths practising elongating the body, and also tryin gto keep the head looking pretty much down as I rolled from side to side. This did seem to help a lot, particularly when I remembered all the chicken wing/zipper stuff as well. Only trouble is I often mucked up the breathing! I had good moments, but also some bad ones, although I did manage several lengths of 17 strokes (my best ever), and was under twenty for all of them.

You may remember those placards by the side of swiming pools with the bit saying "no petting". Well - there was a young couple who seemed intent on doing just that, only not just in the general swimming bit, but in the middle of the feckin' lane swim!

I kept practising, carefully avoiding the various obstacles, and had some real moments where swimming did feel really easy - as if I was swimming downhill. I won't say I got to do it consistently, but the frequency of the good bursts is increasing. Remembering all the bits is hard though!

One thing I'm unsure of is what to do with the bottom arm. If I roll far enough for the recovery arm to come along my side and past my armpit, the arm doing the "pull" underwater tends to cross the body, which I don't think is meant to happen. Something to sort out on Saturday. Hopefully Christine will notice some progress :oD

I did do some timed lengths - and did about 55 seconds without working too hard, but that included some good spurts and some bits where I seemed to lose it. i think if I can do two consistently good lengths, I should get well under 50 seconds, and that's before I try to up the power.

Swim Work Run

A double session today - first swim, then run in the evening

Morning - Swim
Distance: about half a mile
Drills - Zip and chicken wing

My first sesh since Saturday's swim camp, and I was determined to work on what we'd done. I basically spent a lot of time swimming up and down practising getting my body to roll more, and recovering my arm up the side of the body, rather than swining it around flat.

I found I was rolling almost too much, and felt quite seasick! I did however manage to do several lengths of about 17 or 18 strokes, so I'm pretty pleased with that. I'm looking forward to my lesson on Saturday and getting feedback on the changes I've made and more input.

Evening - Run
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 46:09
Surface: Tarmac
Shoes: 2100s with thin heel wedge
Av mins/mile: 8:23

I decided I wanted to get up to about 10k distance by the time I went back to the chiro on Saturday, so it was a case of quite a big jump since the last run (4.5 miles). I decided to go for it, and found a five and a half mile route by adding a couple of loops onto the last run.

My inner left knee niggled at first, but settled down fairly quickly, although on right sloping cambers it did twinge now and then. Left sloping cambers seem to suit it a lot more. The first mile or so flew by, and I got to the end of Mulgrave Road (about 0.9 of a mile) in 7:30, the fastest I've done it for ages (since pre-injury). I just felt an awful lot better than my previous run that had been quite hard work.

The next mile went easily, down to the roundabout, and then the climb up to the top of Howell Hill. After that, a big descent, which slightly worried me, but it didn't jar the knee too much. Then - another climb up Queensmead, but this did have a very steep downhill and I put the brakes on a bit to avoid too much hassle for the knee. The climb up after that was hard work, but it passed without incident, and before long I was heading back along West Drive - feeling fresh.

I ran out of steam a bit in Mulgrave Road (not sure why), but still kept up a fair pace. I thought I was on for an excellent time - sub 8 min miles, and nothing happened to change my mind for quite a while. I had actually gone down Worcester Road and was halfway back along Grange, dreaming of finishing in a smidge over 43 minutes (and therefore about 7:45 miles), when I remembered that I'd added an extra loop onto the route! This was done at a fair pace, to make sure I finished under 8:30 miles, and I finished feeling pretty strong.

The knee's now giving a few minor twinges, but hopefully will be okay tomorrow. The main issue on the run was the inner right quad being tense, but this was still a bit sore from Sunday's cycling. It's settled down now.

Third of the way there!

Discipline: Bike
Distance: 37.8 miles
Time: 2:46
Av Speed: 13.6mph
Max speed: 38.1 mph (new PB!)

Out on the bike for a ride with Kath (Green Eyes from the RW forums). The thought of some company was great - long bike rides get pretty boring! Her new road bike hadn't arrived yet, so she was on a fairly heavy looking upright style bike with flat handlebars.

The plan was to ride out through Epsom, down to Oxshott, and then out through Leatherhead and to Headley, and then back through Tadworth and down the A217 and into Epsom again, via the Drift Bridge Garage. I was then going to stick another few miles on the end (Kath was up for doing 25 but not 35, which is what I had planned).

We met up no probs, and set off round the Epsom one way system, and then out along the Oxshott road. I slowed now and then for Kath to catch up, but managed to hit the pavement as I looked round and fell off the bike! We kept going, making steady (although slightly slower than normal for me) progress. Eventually, I opened up down one of the hills, as I hated climbing the uphill without a good run up!

We turned left towards Leatherhead, and while we were chatting side by side, some stroppy woman in a car on the other side of the road stopped and yelled at us, I'm not sure what for! The bit I heard made no sense whatsoever. Anyhow - we rode on up the hill, and then enjoyed the downhill! Now things got complicated - I knew what I'd done wrong before when I came out on this route, and avoided making the same mistake, but a few roundabouts on I was lost! I thought I remembered seeing Bookham in the same direction as Headley (it isn't - it's in the opposite one!), and led the way. We had a pig of a climb, and Ieven in the lowest gear I couldn't spin at anythign above 70. My legs were burning like crazy! I stopped at a convenient point, and waited for Kath. Setiing off was a problem, as it was on a hill, which isn't easy with clip in pedals, so I did a detour down a flatish drive to enable me to clip in. The rest of the hill wasn't too bad after a break. We reached the op, and Kath (who works round there) pointed out that we were headed for Guildford. ANyhow, she knew a way back and led the way down a nice hill, although even freewheeling I overtook her. The speed crept up past thirty, and I decided to welly it and see if I could beat the 37 mph I'd done the other week. I managed it! 38.1mph. I should really have kept going for 40mph I guess, but I was knackered!

Phew - a road signposted for Headley, and what looked like another downhill. This lasted about 15 seconds however, before we started another climb, and another that went on and on. I made it to the top, or pretty much the top, and stopped about 30 yards short at a convenient point, and waited for Kath. Unfortunately, this meant clipping back in on an uphill, and I fell off at least twice before giving up and walking the remaining few yards. There was then a steep downhill, followed by another nasty climb, but I made it up there without having to stop. My legs were killing though! We then recognised the road (it was the one I had originally intended being on I think) that headed for Headley, so we pootled down a flat bit, which was a relief!

Then - we got the the A217, and headed back down that. I was going to keep going to Fir Tree Lane and turn down to the Drift Bridge that way, but Kath had another route that had a brilliant long downhill. It was twisty at first, so I just coasted, but I wish I'd pedalled then, as by the time it widened and I started pedalling, it had started to get less steep, but even so I managed to hit 38mph again! I reckon I could have made 40mph if I'd pedalled earlier, although the limit was 30mph and there's a speed camera. Anyone know if they can fine you if you're on a bike?

We came back in past NESCOT, to the petrol station where I'd met Kath. I was going to keep going, and she was heading home, but we stuck together for another mile through into Ewell Village, before I headed off towards Tolworth. I then turned left past Garrison Lane and Chessington World of Adventures, before turning left back into Epsom and then home pretty much the way I'd come at the start. I was really knackered the last five miles.

My longest ride so far then, and although my average speed has slowed, I was pleased with it. I think the majority of the slowing was due to running out of gas (must eat more gels), and the hilly nature of large chunks of the route, although probably a smalll amount is due to slowing down a bit to wait for Kath. Only a small bit though. The company was great - must do that again, and hopefully get a larger pirate contingent out on the roads. I think I'd avoid that route though - the hills were killers. Okay - I know I need to do hills, but maybe I'll save them for a separatte hill session for now, and keep the long rides relatively flat - otherwise it's just too much at once!

Later in the day - I'm feeling knackered, rather like after an 18 mile run, and my quads are - well, not sore, but have that dull ache that means they could be sore. An exhausting weekend - better have a rest day tomorrow before heading back to the pool to drill all I learnt yesterday :oD

Swim Swim Sugar...

Discipline: Swim
Distance: no idea
Time: 6 hours :os

Today was the day I'd been looking forward to - swim camp at SleekerSwim. A chance to find out what was wrong with my swimming (well - or why I wasn't going quicker) and to start the process of putting it right. It was quite a journey for me down to Ashford in Kent, but all went to plan, with no problems following the directions, other than a slight worry when the road into the police training venue just seemed to go on for ever, and I wondered if I'd gone the wrong way.

The session started with us introducing ourselves, and then we watched a video of Christine (one of the coaches) swimming - she's an ex-international and therefore obviously rather good, as she talked us through the stroke basics. A fair amount I'd heard before, but there were several bits I didn't know, but that made perfect sense. We watched demonstartions of how NOT to swim, which included many common errors. Then we watched some film of the Olympics 1500m final, again with Christine's commentary, which included some underwater footage that really emphasised a lot of technique points. Fantastic stuff :o)

Next - to the pool, and Christine and Nicki (the other coach and international triathlete in her own right) started videoing us, after a quick warm up. They split the videoing into two halves, and I was going to be videoed at the end of the session. We were split into two groups of four to work on the legs, which I know are one of my weak points! My legs just don't add anything to my swim, as I demonstrated by "conking out" half way down the lengths. We put flippers on, and did a variety of drills to strengthen our kick (or make it more than nothing in my case!) while also practising position in the water. I found this really tough, even with the flippers, as I found it hard to get the hang of the kick and kept sinking! A few words of advice from Nicki and things started to get better :o) By the end of the session I'd got the sideways kick fairly well, but was still kicking too high (and hence out of the water) when I was on my front. One to work on over the next few days in the pool.

Then - my turn to be videoed. I decided not to bother with the legs as if I tried to think of them as well it would much up my arm strokes, and so swum without using my legs at all, which I normally do. Then, off to change, eat the rather scrummy cake that Nicki had provided, and watch the videos!

Mine proved interesting - I looked totally different swimming to how I had imagined, and I noticed how flat my arms were and what a "splat" they made as they hit the water - something that Christine had earlier pointed out when watching the "common swimming errors" bit. And of course, she spotted it in my video. We had a nother swim later which was going to focus on the arms, and I resolved to work at it then.

Off to the gym for a break from swimming, and to have a go at some core strength exercises with the Swiss Ball. Nothing revolutionary I guess, but several that I'd not seen before that certainly made my abs ache, and I'll be trying over the next few months. There was also a funny elastic rope contraption to practise the stroke, which I think I might get, and helped demonstrate the final push at the back end of the stroke.

Then - book to the pool! Time to work on the arms. I thought this was going to be easy, just a matter of lifting my elbow higher so that the arm entered through the same "hole" as tyhe hand (and turning the hand to 45 degrees), but what ended up happening, according to Nicki, and it felt like it too, was that rather than rotating about my spine, I was twisting my bum sideways, which meant my legs "snaked" behind me. Perhaps a bit more video would be interesting, but I've thought my legs did this when at the pool before today. Snaking legs equals more drag, so this had to be cut! I was taking in an awful lot of stuff at once, and was finding it a bit hard to put it all into practice, but I did manage to swim what felt great for several chunks, although consistency was hard to get. I think I found the balancemore on my side a bit tricky. This is an area I'll definitely be working on. Nicki said that when I got it right I was going a lot faster (which it felt like too) and it seemed relatively effortless. So - just need to work on doign that consistently!

The final bit of the session was spent doing stroke counting. My first length was 20 (21 really), the second 17, and then 19 and 18. Not bad all things considered - the best I've ever done with my old style was 17, and just after learning the adjusted technique and without refining it, I managed to hit 17, and get close to it on a few other lengths. Apaprently my videoed length was 26 strokes, so it was a vast improvement!

Finally, a Q&A session and filling in a feedback form. I really enjoyed the day - it was well tauht, had a great atmosphere, and I learnt an awful lot about my swimming. I guessideally I'd have liked to come out of it being able to consistently swim in my "new improved" way, but that would obviously be rather too much to ask! I now know what I need to do and how to achieve it - it's just a matter of practice practice practice. We're getting sent drills to focus on, and I bet mine includes the "zipper" drill and "chicken wings". I'll be doing these over the next few days in any case.

Can't wait for my lesson with Christine next Saturday :oD

Life in the Slow Lane

Discipline: Swim
Distance: One mile

My stomach seems to have recovered, so went for a swim around 6:15. Got there to find the lane pretty crowded, mostly with breast strokers, which is never a good sign. And worse still, chatty ones who do a length and then stand at the end. Argh!

It was a case of fitting in lengths when I could, and pausing along the way. I concentarted on honing my technique, and seemed to make progress - I spent a lot of time feeling nicely aligned. I decided to try a 100m to see how fast I could go. Three lengths went well, and then the fourth was scuppered by a couple of people deciding to come off the wall just as I got there. I hesitated for about five seconds, and did the length behind them, and still finished the 100m in just under two minutes, so I reckon there's a sub 1:50 in there pretty soon.

I did manage to do a 50m time trial, but even then, someone was coming the other way and I had to stop dead before restarting, and I had to veer quite sharply to the side at the end (adding extra distance) to touch the wall. Even so:

50m PB: 49.6 seconds

Only by 0.1 of a second, but progress nonetheless! I expect a lot more when I can get a clear run at it!

Only real problem tonight was cramp in my right foot - this was cramping a bit when running last night too. Possibly the tow problems I'd had didn't help

Swim camp this weekend, which hopefully will also help me advance in leaps and bounds. Just hope I can avoid lurgies for a few weeks now and get some solid training in.

Used vaseline up my nose before and after the swim - it seems to help but not be perfect.

Up and Running

Discipline: Run
Distance: 4.55 miles
Time: 41:24
Av speed: 9:05 min/mile
Shoes: 2100s with thin heel raise


Right - first of all the weekend - absolutely fab, spent with great peeps - socialising, watching the Great Scottish Run (fab event) and going to see otters and seals near Oban. Must write a proper blog entry on all this - it was wonderful!

My knee has been giving me gyp for the past few days, as well as my toe on my right foot - it's one I've had osteoarthritis in, and Vrap's daughter jumped on it for fun at the weekend! On top of that, I spent half the night feeling absolutely yuck - a bad acid stomach and explosive wind from both ends :os Worst of all, I have no idea what caused it! I was taking gaviscon all through today, and really did wonder at the wisdom of running, as I thought I had some sort of bug as I felt quite dizzy and off balance at times at work.

Anyhow, set off and my knee twinged - I kept going in the hope it would ease off, and it did. I wasn't feeling fantastic, but not getting much trouble from my right ITB. I do wonder if this is something to do with swimming. Must keep an eye on that.

ANyhow, the miles passed, but with about three on the clock, the front of my left ankle started aching, which never really eased off. perhaps if I hadn't had all the trouble, I'd just view these as normal running niggles, but now everything takes on a great importance.

I'd measured the route without the loop down Worcester Road to the join with Grange Road, but my time wasn't looking like the route would be as long as intended (4.5 miles), so I added that bit on. Turns out that it was a pretty good adjustment!!

Right hip-flexor feeling a bit sore/tight afterwards, otherwise just minor twinges. Average speed a bit disappointing - slowing all the time the further I get, although not too much of an issue at the moment - building up distance is the prime objective

5km for the week :o)

Discipline: Swim

Distance: 1 mile

Time: about 45 minutes, but took breaks!

Struggled out of bed not much after 5am , ate two bagels, and headed off to the pool for a 6:30 start. Rather daftly, there was a queue of us, but we couldn't be served until the clock showed 6:30, so there was a real build up of people by the time they started! I eventually got into the pool about 6:40, and there were already four people in the lane, including "Mouldy swimming cap man", who....well - the name says it all! He was there Wednesday as well, as were several other people.

I knew I was tight for time, so didn't take too many breaks, but I did take five to ten minutes out, so probably all in all a time of somewhere between 35 and 40 minutes for the mile. If I can scale that up to the IM then that works out about 1:36, but I really want to beat that. I know my technique really suffers after a few lengths though - I need to work on that!

The Morning After!

Hmmm - legs not bad this morning - just felt my quads a bit climbing upstairs! But that was more like fatigue rather than soreness, so no probs there. The back and neck also seemed to have calmed down.

Forgot to mention two sore bits last night - the perineum (even with padded shorts) and the inside of my left elbow - think I'm taking weight on it or something.

Weight down to the lowest it's been for ages:

98.5kgs - or 15 stone 6.5lbs :o)

I - Quarter of the way to Iron!

Discipline: Cycling
Distance: 27.33 miles
Time: 1:46.51
Av Speed: 15.4 mph
Max speed: 37.2 mph

Hadn't meant to go quite that far (near as damn it a quarter of the 112 miles for an Ironman), had meant to do 25, but it's fiddly measuring accurately for a long route.

The route is shown here, and starts off with a lot of uphills, which of course has the plus side that there's a lot of downhill to come later! Flat and downhill I can really enjoy, or even short uphills, what I hate is the long grinding uphills where you have to drop to the lowest ghears and even then the quads burn. I think a regular hill training session up Banstead Road South is in order as well as the long ride.

Once I crossed the M25 though, things got easier - almost too easy, as there's a long and very steep descent into Reigate that was pretty scary at times, and I maxed out at 37.2mph, and could have gone over 40mph if I hadn't sh@t myself and hit the brakes and stopped pedalling!

I'm gaining confisdence at taking roundabouts quickly now, and more getting the hang of the gears. The route is distinctly busy though, and I don't think I'll be trying the aero bars on this route for quite a while! I did however like my cycling top I got at the weekend and my orange flavour high 5 drink :o)

I reached the turning point (stop going south, go east) at about 10.5 miles in 45 minutes, which I was well pleased with, given the amount of climbing involved. The next section was mainly flat which I find easy to do, and a couple of miles later I turned north up the M23. This was a mix of ups and downs, all mainly short, so not much that really hit my legs. The longer downhills were a chance to make up some time, and I made a point of finding a gear that actually did some work (about 90 cadence) rather than just not turning my legs over at all. However, one of the longest down slopes had a major tail back on it, due to roadworks, and I missed out on a really good long 25mph+ section, instead just going down the inside at about half that speed. Rather disappointing.

Then left round the back of Croydon, and a horrible long, gradual hill that killed my legs and saw speeds dipping to 7mph while my legs fried! However, eventually it was over, and I had a great downhill to come. Then left down Woodcote Lane (I think) past the smallholdings and farms, which rollercoastered up and down and made me use the gears a lot. Finally, right at the roundabout, and a major downhill past the prisons that really had the speed going close to 30mph. Finally, a short trip down the Brighton Road and then turned into my road for the last quarter mile.

All in all a great ride - the only really sore bit now is the middle of my neck at the back - we'll see what that feels like tomorrow, and of course everything else too!