Oh no, sorry to hear that. 🙁 Was it on the road?

Hope you heal quickly…take arnica tablets and use the cream for bruising.

Today is my last day at work before I’m off for a month long cycling holiday in the sun 8) 5hrs and counting…

How far do they go in?

I love acupuncture, think its amazing.

Looks ace Mcmoonter, been enjoying your blog 🙂

But seeing this has made me more excited about our trip and more distracted today *three more sleeps to go* *jumps up and down*

I downloaded it the other night, not started it yet though.

Cramp can be caused by muscle fatigue so Emsz cheeky comment might not be far off it 🙂

Otherwise electrolytes and plenty of stretching should help.

cool, thanks for that 🙂 planning to book somewhere in the next few days so may ask for more info at some point.

Nothing specific in mind – we plan to stay in hotels, hostels and camp but haven’t planned anything yet (other than start and finish point). Good area recommendations would be good – also places to avoid would be useful!

I drink coffee regularly without problems, Aldi junk and I’m wheezing like a bad ‘un.

Simples. Don’t drink Aldi coffee. 😀 Asthma is/can be random though – mine atm seems to flare up for odd/random reasons or allergies that don’t normally bother me.

I didn’t think i had an addiction (usually only have 1 coffee a day but 2 at the weekends) but can only go about 24 hours before I start to get a headache from not having any.

*slurps latte*

<hijack thread – DS, my bf and I are touring from Lisbon – Madrid soon, can you recommend anywhere to stay/eat? </hijack thread>

Yup, my commute also hell today as the council have shut too many roads in a close space/put up road works on the other. Russell Road is now also shut to bikes too – could get through yesterday but fences up covering the pavements today.

Usual 10m commute took me nearly 25mins and a bus nearly ran me off the road too. 😡

About £48 a month for Virgin Active for me.

First ride was returning from dropping TSY off up north and we had about 4 hours of riding in the dark. 8) Really enjoyed it – aside from not being able to see potholes *ouch*

Second one slightly less successful due to thinking we’d not need lights as it was mid summer – we did and had to ride with my tiny/useless commuting light on country roads until we got back into town at the back of midnight.

Planning to keep the Tuesday road ride going throughout winter for as long as possible and planning other night road rides.

I have a tent you could borrow

Mustard is going to email you about this – but we aren’t camping when we arrive in Lisbon/depart Madrid.

When I started running i discovered my glutes were weak. I got some physio exercises to do to fix it and worked on weights in the gym. Work on your core strength too.

FWIW i found with a high running mileage I was a waste of space on the bike. I reckon running shorter distances 1/2 times a week helps my cycling, but upping the miles/runs per week has a negative impact on my riding. I don’t think the two complement each other.

Emzs, I used to be funny with food too but have found that eating more has seen huge improvements in my running times and riding performance too. It took quite a lot of hard work on my part though to eat more and ‘properly’ too – looking back i can’t believe i could go for a 10k run and then just have a bowl of soup as my main meal afterwards!

To the op, keeping a food diary will help you see what you can cut out.
Once a week mtb’ing isn’t a big calorie burn at all. Try to fit in exercise where possible i.e can you walk to the supermarket instead of driving? Can you go for a short walk during a lunch break?
Be organised – once a week cook up big pots of healthy meals that can be frozen for during the week/lunches.
Snack on carrots, peppers etc instead of chocolate/crisps. Its hard but you will get used to it.
Ditch any fizzy drinks – nothing but empty calories.

Emsz, i dunno how you can go to sleep hungry – i can’t sleep if i’m hungry! You don’t sound like you eat nearly enough for running either.

I’ll swap with you too – its getting dark early, the wind was freezing yesterday and the sky is grey today. It looks like winter already 😥

Thanks, i love it too 🙂 I’ve been after another one since I got it done but have no inspiration after coming up with that one!

Mine, also designed by myself.

Yes to the video. I should have asked you to build me a bike instead of trying to make my new one fit me! 8)

Can you leave me your flat please if it all goes wrong? 🙂

I’ve got a blog post to publish tonight with my thoughts, but it feels like its all wheels. Its a little too big too, despite Mustard geeking out over stats/measurements. ATM if i sit on (my very expensive) saddle properly, i can’t reach the shifters. If i reach the shifters, I’m perched on the nose of the saddle. Borrowing an inline seat post and shorter stem tonight, and hoping that fixes it. Plus the curve of the drops seemed to give me pain in my hand too. Not yet managed a proper ride on it as a result!

Heh, i knew it 🙂 I guess as long as you recover ok you’ll be fine. All sorted for your nutrition for it?

Work? What is this you speak of? 😉

We go on 2nd October *can’t wait* I’m having issues with my new bike, it don’t fit atm and i’ve been dreaming about bike/the huge to do list 🙁 Still waiting on the tent arriving and need to buy maps too….

As for the tapering, a hunch would suggest that you aren’t? When do you go?

Solo, TSY could easily eat a huge bar of G&B everyday and still look buff. And he looked very lean during LeJog, despite eating numerous meat sarnies and a huge amount of cakes during the 2 days I was with him!

I likes biscuits too and ate loads last night 🙂 I’m figuring that cycling 2,000m in a month = eating as many biscuits as I like 8)

TSY, something wrong with your phone?! 😡

Russell road is still open, and the cycle path is as well. There is signs up saying RR is due to shut til next year due to tram works – supposed to be shutting this month. If that happens, they will have shut two of the three ways I can go to work, forcing me to use the road from hell 🙁

I’ve had all 4 wisdom teeth taken out. First out was at the dentist with the usual injection. It was pretty horrible so I asked for general for the next three as two hadn’t come through.

The general and removal of the other 3 was way worse – woke up looking like i’d been in a fight with finger print bruising on my neck etc, split lip etc. Truely horrific experience. I was told it would take about 30mins – it took 4! My blood pressure had dropped so low because I bled so much that they wouldn’t let me out til i ate something. They gave me biscuits. 🙄 I was a mess for about 10 days after the op. 🙁

Don’t feel bad emsz, just go for a run later to burn it off. I had chocolate mid morning so my run at lunch = calorie neutral…until the biscuits hijack me tonight 😀

But it was post exercise TSY, so that’s allowed (as is the yoghurt i’m now eating) 😛

I went for a run. Twas good. As is the leftover pasta from last nights tea which I’m currently eating.

Aw cute kitty solo 🙂 I feel a little like putting my head on my keyboard too!

Today i am mostly counting down the days/hours til i go touring 😀

*waves hello*

Me, but i’m a girl and its allowed.

Shaved legs on men shouldn’t[/u] be allowed unless its on pros.

Lol at mustard. It is also purple and black, in addition to being super pricey 8)

Yeti, its all very personal preference and depends on where she gets pain/rubbing.

I got my sitbones measured on specializeds arse-o-meter and chose a saddle based on that. I’m impressed with my selle italia slr lady gel flow…it ain’t cheap but money back guarantee on all selle italia saddles so worth trying out. A friend recently got the Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow and she seems to like it.

Not as good as seeing me wet and dirty it would seem.

. You were wearing your see through lycra again then? 😛

The bulk of my riding will be done outside as normal, except for when the snow is too deep, and then it’ll be turbo or spinning classes. Gym (weights), running and climbing will be the same as the rest of the year 🙂

In winter i’ll sleep in mine. In summer, a few hours depending on weather – i think i read somewhere that a minimum of 2 hours was needed, but i might just be making that up.

I feel the benefits more if i wear them for longer – if i’ve done a hard interval ride mid week and only put them on for a few hours before bed, my legs are sore/tired the next day (and i’ll then wear them at work if that’s the case) but if i sleep in them, my legs feel fine the next day.

When i was running lots, i often had an ice bath at the end. The only benefit(?) was my ex lol’ing at the swear words coming from the bathroom. It did nothing for my recovery but i did lose weight (suspect it was from lots of running, not the ice baths!)

High viz for commuting. Have just bought a new waterproof for road riding which is fairly bright – compared to my old black and grey one. My winter road top is bright turquoise!

I can’t remember as we were talking about so much and I don’t yet have my full breakdown. It was very interesting and I’ll get one down again – i have at least 4kgs to lose as well now 😥

It was good actually – very comprehensive. I get a full report (just scanned the results on her laptop) and how I compare to other female cyclists too. She even did bone size measurements too! My biceps are slightly smaller than A’s – i knew i should have upped my bicep curl weights in the gym again! 😉 Going to go back for a full VO2 test before we go away 😀

You mean the going out for a ride with no water and weighing yourself before and after test? I really suffer if i don’t drink enough, not just in terms of performance exercising, but also i’m more tired/don’t have my usual energy levels either.