B(revet) day minus 5 ....

Its 5 days till the Brevet and I feel fine. I have prepared as best as I could (I could do better) and I am looking forward for the day. On Wednesday I have a arranged for a full medical check up amd I will go to enroll and collect my card on Thursday from the organisers .

I feel good in the sense that I feel that the completion of the Brevet is a feasible target now, and that by itself is a major achievement for me. I did not prepare as well as I originally planned - did few midweek rides and did not do more that a 100km ride. I really wanted to have a 130-150km ride under my belt by now but family commitments did not allow it.

I am confident though as after the two metric centuries I did, I felt great. I suspect that in the Brevet it will feel great at the 100km mark, and I will start to hurt after thw 150km point. I have a feeling that the last 50 kilometres will be tough. This week I will get on the trainer no matter what just to get the legs spinning lightly. I may go out for a short 30 kilometre ride on Friday to 'open up' my systems.

This Sunday I did a 85kiometre ride which involved some climbing for the first time after about two months. During my last similar ride I hurt a lot - this time absolutely no back pain. That is very encouraging. The new saddle and the time on the bike have helped. In addition during that previous ride I felt very tired and now I feel ok - just some muslcle soreness but by tomorrow it will be gone. I think to myself 'what if' I had stuck to the original plan and also rode during the midweek days but again I am happy just the way things are.

I have started to hydrate myself. I plan to drink lots and lots of water in order to be properly hydrated for the ride. I do not plan to eat enourmous amounts of food this week though - I have enough stored under my skin and do not want to be the only person to gain weight after the brevet. I will eat a normal sized plate of pasta every night with some high protein / low fat food - either cottage cheese or tuna meat or chicken.

I have started to "revise" all the related articles I have found in the Internet regarding long distance rides and will try to memorise their advise. This week will be a 'mental preparation' week.

Week ending 12/2/06

Weight :
Resting HR :
Waist :
Odometre : 1,152kms